A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 50

I sat on top of the trailer on high alert while watching for any trace of a zombie. I could hear the loud music from across the river, but I ignored it. Joel had hooked up some loud speakers and a CD player to the one trailer and parked it on the ridge that overlooked the far side of the town.

The noise had lured most of the zombies away, but Diane had asked me and one other lady to stand as lookouts. I was taking my job very seriously. Half of the Trader group was raiding the store that Diane had originally found the extra solar panels in.

Only Diane and I had any sort of Raider training. The others normally avoided any building like the plague. Diane had cleared the store while the music had lured the zombies away. They were trying to get as many solar panels into the two trailers as fast as they could.

I called out, "Diane, we have a zombie coming. It is half a block away." It had just rounded the corner and the other lady had been watching the other direction. Diane immediately appeared and jogged towards it before luring it behind a fence, she jumped the fence and came back. The zombie wasn't smart enough to go back out of the gate since it could see us.

Diane returned to help load more solar panels. She was the only one who wasn't sweating in sheer nerves. Well, I wasn't either, but I was a sentry, besides no zombie could climb on top of the trailer that served as my lookout post to get at me.

Only three zombies had appeared and Diane lured them all off. I had offered, but she had declined in case something went wrong. We finally had everything loaded and we headed out of the town as fast as we could.

We regrouped with the two who were guarding the horses before heading towards the third trailer that was making all the noise. The music was really loud even all the way over here. I noticed that Diane had put earplugs in, so the sounds must be too loud for her. Thankfully a couple of people on the horses raced ahead and the noise stopped before we got there.

As soon as they got there, the third truck started and we all headed down the road as fast as the trucks could. Even with the bright sun, the horses were only going at a canter. Diane opted to run alongside them.

Everyone was excited about their first raid. Nothing had gone wrong and the solar panels would be welcomed and appreciated by the Fort. Dave was hoping to get another solar truck built with some of them.

I grinned as we made camp that night. Diane was as energetic as ever and the others simply couldn't believe that she had not passed out yet. It didn't surprise me, even the once or twice I saw her tired after an intense fighting workout with Ace and the other fighters, she had recovered within hours.

Only four days left until we would arrive back at the Fort.

Well, it would have been four days if the clouds hadn't socked in merely two days from our destination. Despite the overcast sky and drizzling rain, I was happy. This delay meant more time on the road.

Joel ended up hooking up more solar panels to the trailers and even then we barely moved at a crawl. Even I could keep up on foot. I loved being able to walk beside Diane. She often had to leave to lure zombies away since we were going slower than they were.

I helped out too, luring them through the gate of a farmer's barbed wire fence and crawling under the fence. Most zombies were unable to get past a barb wire fence easily. This slow pace chaffed on most of the group. I noticed that Diane's evening runs kept her out longer and her morning run started earlier.

What should have been a two day trip had turned into a five day crawl. Diane was watching the dark grey clouds that showed no signs of breaking up. At least it wasn't raining at this exact second.