A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 101

I passed Diane one last box to be stored away in the trailer. Others were already starting to dismantle the fence.

"I do not think that you have any idea what you are planning on doing." I had never heard Roland speak in such a disapproving tone before. It surprised me. I peeked around the trailer to see him speaking with six young men from the settlement.

I was too far away to hear their reply, but from their hand gestures, they were trying to convince him of something. Roland's voice was loud enough to overhear as he remained firm.

"I somehow suspect that neither your parents nor your leader are aware of what you are doing. I do not wish people to consider me a kidnapper and have people on my trail hunting down my crew because you decided that you wanted a life of adventure."

Who would consider trading a life of adventure? The long road trips often bored even the seasoned traders out of their minds. Sometimes even I found it boring. I looked around and noticed that Diane had gone to help separate the fence panels. I could tell she was also listening, as most were as they worked.

I quickly went to see if I could help her. Diane passed me a handful of pins that held the hinges together. I glanced back to see the six young men heading back to the palisade, most seemed quite dejected and disappointed.

Diane helped a couple of traders remove a stubborn pin from its bracket, "What do you think that was all about?"

These two had been quite close to Roland when they had went to put the previous fence section in the trailer. They had probably overheard what the men had been saying.

The one man shrugged, "Seems like they wanted the virus so that they would be immune. Word has spread that their leader previously turned away someone with it. He must have remembered you since he said that he flatly refused to allow anyone to live in the settlement if they had glowing eyes. He has no problem with us outside of his fence trading, but he doesn't want us staying for any length of time inside the walls."

Another man glanced towards the wall, "Those six were ready to join Roland's group, but they obviously had not talked to anyone else about it. He told them to say goodbye to their friends and family if they were serious, and to return with a written reference letter from them."

Oh. Settlements rarely turned away new people and it would have been easy for the leader to connect the dots between the virus comments and the glowing eyes of the only person he had probably ever turned away. At least he didn't object to us trading here. That was one good thing.

Diane tilted her head in confusion, "How are they going to say goodbye to over fifty people in less than thirty minutes?"

The man chuckled, "That is the point, isn't it? They will only have time to visit those dearest to them, those who won't want to see them leave. So they won't have other young enthusiasts following or supporting their half-baked plan when facing their loved ones. If they are delayed even for a short time, we will be long gone."

Diane was clearly amused, "He is devious."

The guy grinned as he and his friend lifted the fence panel to carry it away. I was quite impressed with Roland's quick thinking. He hadn't just said no and refused them. That could have caused resentment from them later on when we returned to trade. Instead, he put conditions on his acceptance. Very reasonable conditions too. I doubted that any of them would return.

I helped stack pieces of wood for the boiler on the wood stand, taking them from Todd and Diane as I piled them up neatly.

"Well, looks like we have new people to torture."