A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 53

I sat beside the window inside of the small house as I watched Smokey graze in the fenced backyard. The fence would protect Smokey from the zombies. I heard Diane digging in the cupboards behind me. We had made a lot of distance today after we had left the Fort.

I didn't weigh much and the saddlebags mostly held our sleeping bags so Smokey wasn't weighed down. Smokey had moved between a trot and a lope most of the day. Diane figured we had covered roughly the same distance that the Traders did in four or five days.

"Slim pickings, the Raiders were obviously in here. They did miss a couple of things though."

I turned to look at Diane. She had two packages of pasta, a can of stew, and a tiny bag of rice. I grinned at her, "They obviously need more practice then."

Diane chuckled at my boldness. She had also relaxed as the day wore on. It came as no surprise that she wasn't tired. Our pace had been set by Smokey, and had not been limited by Diane. I helped her take the stuff outside and cook some of it for supper.

I yawned, we hadn't stopped until late since we wanted to put as much distance between us and the Fort as possible so it was already getting dark outside. Diane checked my walkie talkie, it had charged all day as it sat on the saddlebag. She nodded, "It is fully charged. I still have to go for a run, but I will stay close. Give me a shout if you need me."

I nodded, "Okay." Diane had checked out the house and we had pulled the old bedding off of the biggest bed and put clean stuff from the linen closet on. We would get to sleep in an actual bed tonight. This room faced the fenced backyard, so no zombies would wander by the window either.

I got ready for bed and gave Diane a hug before she left. I closed the bedroom door just in case a zombie came calling, but I doubted it was necessary. Diane would probably spot any zombie before it got to the house and lure it off. Once she was inside, I wouldn't be worried either. I quickly fell asleep.

I yawned and got out of bed. I blinked and smiled at the new toothbrush and tube of toothpaste on the nightstand. Diane must have found them and left them for me. I had run out of toothpaste last week with the Traders. I didn't mind Diane's homemade herb version, but I preferred the minty toothpaste.

I followed my nose downstairs and peeked out of the window before going into the backyard. Diane sat by a fire with flatbread, salad and roasted rabbit waiting for me. I quickly made a wrap and munched on it while watching Diane. She was holding her green Forager badge with a contemplative expression.

"The badges and name tags are something only seen in Wainwright Fort. Outside of it, they stick out. We really don't want to stick out if we can possibly avoid it. I am putting mine in my backpack with a letter, in case something happens it asks the person who finds it to return it to Matthew."

I glanced down at my paper name tag. I hadn't even thought about it, I had put it on out of habit. Diane slid hers into a plastic baggie with a paper letter. After I finished breakfast she helped me make a similar letter. I slowly took off my name tag, it was harder than I would have thought. This name tag declared that I was in Diane's care.

I slid it into the bag and stored it in my backpack. Diane was right. We didn't want to stick out. Truth be told, I had never wanted to stand out. If we encountered more people, the more I could blend into the background while following Diane, the better.

I leaned over to look at the map that Diane had spread out in front of us. It was a map of Alberta and Dave had helped Diane note out the location of each known settlement with landmarks. Some bridges had washed out which made some rivers hard to cross.