A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 114

The two children were curled up together in a sleeping bag as they continued to sleep while the trucks drove down the highway. The sun rose early this far north in summer and the sky tended to brighten much earlier, but the world was dim to those without Heartfire.

Most of the newcomers or unfired traders were sleeping on the moving trailers. Some were unable to sleep on moving vehicles and blinked groggily into the faint light as they tried to figure out what had possessed them to come along on this trip.

Ace was the exception. Ace seemed far too awake at this time of the morning for someone who wasn't fired. He was so awake that I was losing this game of chess quite badly. Ace gazed at the trucks in front of us as the boilers hissed and slowly increased their speed as they heated up to prime operating temperatures.

I moved my one pawn and looked up at Ace, "Your turn."

Ace looked down at the board and moved his bishop to take out one of my other pawns. Only about half of the pieces were left on the board at this time. What could I do to salvage this game? Perhaps distraction would work, although Ace was likely too sharp to fall for that tactic.

I counted spaces for my knight and asked, "Do you plan on getting fired so you can teach the classes better?"

I couldn't figure out which spot was the best for my knight. Two spots might be good ones.

"I do plan on getting fired. Most of the others who joined us do as well. I spoke with Roland and the others will have to wait a full month to learn what they are getting themselves into. Since I have known about the side effects even longer than him, Roland has given me the go ahead to get fired once I am at Sanctuary for at least three days."

Roland was breaking his rule? That was surprising, but then again, Roland had only made that rule since obsessions only lasted about three weeks. The month was to force them to take time and think about what they were planning, as well as to learn about it.

Ace had clearly thought about it and he knew all of the details. He also knew of the difficulties that Diane had encountered. I glanced at Diane, but she also looked a bit surprised. Diane made a face and groaned, "You are just doing that so you can kick my butt in practice."

Ace chuckled as he turned to look at her, "I had not thought of that yet, but that is a good incentive."

I giggled at Diane's expression as she envisioned getting beat in practice. As it was, Ace was incredibly fast. He was faster than anyone else in Wainwright Fort. I was curious to see how the Heartfire would affect his speed. I quickly stole one of his bishops from the board and hid it while he wasn't looking.

Ace didn't see it, although I knew that Diane did. She raised an admonitory eyebrow and I ducked my head sheepishly. I knew she didn't like cheating, but she let it pass since I was bound to lose this match against Ace anyway.

I tilted my head at Ace, "Everyone's blood turns color and they are usually different. Did you know that my blood turns pink?"

Ace grinned at me, "I knew that they often turned different colors, but I didn't know that yours turned pink. What shade of pink is it?"

I smiled in excitement, "A bright pink and it shimmers too."

Many been eager to discover what color their blood would turn. They would often see the faint tint of color if they got a scratch doing something. We had seen almost every color and different shades of the same color pop up. A couple of people had gotten deep cuts and had seen their blood turn the solid color only to realize that the color they thought they had was actually different.