A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 115

I was going over my textbook and trying to memorize it. It was hard to focus on the road this time with so many extra people. We had those from Wainwright Fort, but we had also picked up around fifty more people at the last settlement. They had been that big group that Roland had been speaking with.

Almost half were young adults who wanted to be fired and originally planned to join the traders. After hearing about the fine details of the Heartfire virus, they now had a different dream. They wanted to be messengers and run from town to town delivering letters and small items. Roland was thinking about it, but had already said that if they did this, then they would have to have a lot of training and have had the Heartfire for at least three months.

They had readily agreed to that as well as to the one month waiting period. Roland was working out plans on how to let them live their dream without a high risk of dying. It was one thing for Diane to drag me across the province on foot, but she had more training than anyone else here. Even Ace didn't have the Forager training or most of the survival training that Diane and I did.

The rest of the group was a mixed bunch. Some had heard of the huge area that had been fenced and wanted more freedom without the risk of a zombie attack. Others were lured in by the rumors of our weaving and loom group. There were even six couples with kids. It looked like that playground was going to get used well after all.

Ambrose was riding on the trailer ahead of us. Roland had been happy to accept him, especially once he knew that he originated from Bethany Fort. The trailers were heavily loaded with so many people.

There wasn't much room and I stuck close to Diane even though I knew that none here meant me any harm. They were still unknown strangers and it triggered my shyness. The shyness was still not that terrible shyness, but something more moderate. I bet I could blame the Heartfire for removing the extreme shyness and I was grateful for it. The past shyness had almost been painful.

One of the traders pointed, "Oh, look. You can see the palisade from here. Home sweet home."

Many stood and peered ahead at the tall palisade that was nestled between the two tall cliffs. The gates were still closed, although we could faintly see the houses and ridges on the far side of the valley since the ground in the meadow sloped slightly uphill.

"Wow. I have never seen walls that high before," One of the guys hoping to become a messenger looked shocked.

Danny chuckled, "You should have seen us trying to build it."

One of the fired people beside him snorted, "Right. You were playing with solar panels as we built that."

Danny grinned at him, but didn't reply. Several of us chuckled at their exchange. I giggled as Danny was caught in his tall tale.

Someone jumped on top of the first truck and held something in her hands. I knew it was a mirror that signalled that all was safe and that the sentries could open up the gates. I glanced back to see Ace watching in slight confusion.

Diane noticed as well, "She has a hand mirror. It means that it is us and we are just bringing new immigrants. If she hadn't done that, then they would have known that something was amiss."

Ace nodded, "That is a good precaution."

The gates rolled open as the trucks approached. Quite a few of the new people didn't realize just how huge the gates actually were until we passed through them. Even on the trailers, there was no chance of jumping and tapping the top rail that the doors rested on.

One guy peered up at the massive doors as we went under them, "How on earth did you get those doors up there? They must weight a ton!"

Danny chuckled, "From what I saw, it took a lot of effort and great care."