A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 146

I put all of my skills to use as I carefully squirmed through the undergrowth. Most people thought I was in the larger trees near the back of the cliff above the houses, but I was about as close to the wall as I thought I was allowed. I was being secretive simply because I didn't want anyone to realize I was here.

I looked around. Some other people were on the other side of the cliff also waiting to see if the bandits were going to react to the trap. Most were below following various pursuits or tasks. Nathan was on the wall on guard duty. He wore his heavy Raider gear that he had brought from Wainwright and carried a big crossbow.

Trish was in the weaving room with her bag of wool. It would take her a few hours to spin it all. I had told her I was going to go play in the trees on top of the cliff before I left, so she wouldn't be looking for me. I had taken the time to make sure that she saw me carrying a math textbook. The book had just been a decoy.

Trish hated math and would be thinking that I would either play or study by myself for a bit. I didn't carry my backpack inside the cliff, so I had hidden the textbook under a bush near the ladder. Only a couple had seen me go up the ladder and they weren't any of the ones who may follow to play or come to talk. No one would be looking for me for at least a few hours.

I raised my binoculars and took a good look at the bandit camp. The details were clear since I was only about a kilometer from the wall. I had been this close with Diane that one morning with the catapult, but I hadn't taken time to look at the smaller details.

They looked really, really bored. Quite a few were napping, but they were ready for a surprise attack or a zombie. They all wore armor of some sort and had weapons close by. A couple had helmets with an odd green thing in front of one eye. I peered closer, it looked like a mini binoculars, but it was meant for just one eye. It was green. I had never seen green lens in binoculars before. Maybe they were supposed to be some sort of camouflaged variety.

I glanced above my binoculars before pointed them towards the forest. There were people near the forest. The binoculars showed me that there were ten blue-eyed women slowly meandering their way beside the treeline. They pretended to talk to one another as they walked parallel to the forest.

A stir occurred in the camp as someone finally spotted them. Considering how long it took them to spot the women, I think their sentries must have fallen asleep. A few small groups of men elbowed one another as they left the camp to approach the women.

A few slight movements in the trees told me that most of our fighters were in the forest close to the camp. I knew that the glimpses I saw were not Diane or Ace. They were too skilled to be seen since they had plenty of time to get into position.

One of the women looked at the men who had nearly reached them and pointed as if just noticing them. The group of women paused to look at the still approaching men. I couldn't believe that a dozen were falling into this obvious trap.

I shifted my binoculars and frowned. Almost all of the bandits were now watching and almost a third of them were slowly following the dozen bolder ones, although they hung much further back, as if wary about arrows.

The dozen in front were now within crossbow range of the treeline. One of the women took a step back and turned to jog for the trees as if alarmed, and her friends started to follow. Both the small group and the huge group further out gave chase. The women disappeared into the trees, they were going slowly enough that I knew they wanted the men to follow them deep into the forest.

The big group had to have at least two hundred armored men who ran after the women as if they forgot that anyone who entered those trees never came back out alive. This didn't make any sense. Even I knew better and I was just a child. A few seemed to hesitate as they approached the forest edge, slowing their pace to a stop.