A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 58

Finding a good camping spot was really important since we needed a fence for Smokey that was capable of keeping zombies out. Towns often had quite a few zombies, so we avoided actually going into town. Sometimes we found a house with a fenced backyard in the countryside.

People outside of town rarely had a good fence like that. Most livestock corrals and farm fencing had three horizontal bars or strings of barbed wire that would slow, but not stop a zombie. We needed to find a sturdy fence that I would be unable to crawl through and was taller than me. We also needed something tall and climbable nearby for us to hang our hammocks on.

It was hard to find such locations. We got better at it though. Baseball diamonds were made of chain link and had a tall section in one corner where the batter stood. They were often located just outside of a town and made good camping spots.

Sometimes we found a smaller livestock corral and Diane managed to find a roll of fencing in a nearby building and used it to make the corral safe for Smokey. A couple of times we ended up traveling even after the sun had set until we could find a safe place to camp.

I carefully piled the sticks in a teepee shape around the crunched up old newspaper. The sticks were the driest I could find. I added some bigger sticks to the edge of the pile. I could barely see the newspaper through the sticks.

I lit a match carefully and held the small flame against a small twist of newspaper that I had purposefully made stick out of the mound of kindling. The second the paper caught I dropped the match on top of the sticks. I didn't want to burn my fingers. Again.

Diane was more than happy to help me light the fire, but I really wanted to do it. My Dad had never allowed me to light our campfires. He said I wasn't old enough yet for such a responsibility. It helped me feel like I was proving my worth to Diane. I had a silent fear and suspected that I was more of a burden than a help on a road trip like this.

I wasn't able to do most camp chores since I was small and not strong enough. I did my best though. I even managed to mostly groom Smokey every day, even though I had to climb onto his back to reach most of the spots.

The newspaper kept burning as the flame worked its way inside. Small twigs were catching as the flame passed by them. I gently leaned some bigger sticks on the sides of my growing fire. I grabbed the pot and went to the creek to grab some water.

I kept my eyes open for any zombies and noticed a dog coming out of the thick undergrowth nearby. I hadn't seen a dog since we left Wainwright Fort. It caught sight of me and laid its ears back as it dropped into a crouch to stalk towards me.

I inhaled in surprise, but didn't even have a chance to call out or climb a nearby tree before Diane appeared between me and the snarling animal. I wasn't sure where she had come from, since she had been checking the area for zombies. Her sword was at the ready and her body stance clearly told the world that she was ready to use it.

The dog was startled by her sudden appearance and backed up with a growl. Diane took several slow threatening steps towards it and it turned to run away. My heart was still racing, "Why did it start to come after me?" Most animals ignored you unless you got them mad.

Diane shook her head as she sheathed her blade with barely a whisper of sound, "Many dogs went feral and will attack if they are hungry enough. We will have to keep an eye out for more, they often create packs."

I slowly nodded and continued on to the creek being even more careful. I may be able to easily outrun the average zombie, but a dog was much faster than I was. It was another reason to always keep an eye out for any nearby object I could climb even if I thought I had no reason to climb.