A Different Virus - Laura's Story

Chapter 136

Ace seemed his normal self in the morning, but that didn't stop Amber from insisting that he take it easy today. She had already spread the word to the others who had donated blood. Diane seemed quite amused as she watched Ace oil the squeaky hinge on the small cubby door under the table.

Diane chuckled, "Well, there goes my wakeup call if I doze off."

Ace tested the now silent door, "If I had realized just how terrible that thing sounded when one was half asleep, I would have fixed it long ago."

Diane grinned silently in mirth and I was pretty sure I knew the source of her amusement. Ace was refusing to admit that he had fallen asleep last night in that chair. It was pretty funny.

We headed off for breakfast. I nibbled on some fried eggs as I listened to Ace and Diane.

"So what do you feel like doing today? Amber and Todd are keeping a close eye on everyone today and I think they will object if they see you doing our usual tasks."

He made a face as he realized that they were going to be keeping him from most of the tasks we normally helped with, "Why don't we help collect eggs? Laura enjoyed that previously and they don't mind additional help when collecting that many eggs. We can help pump water to the drier fields afterwards."

It sounded good to me. Once we finished eating, we headed off to the largest chicken enclosure. The run for the chickens was the size of a football field and some hens didn't like using the nesting boxes, so it was like an easter egg hunt some days.

We went to the pens of all the egg laying birds. Sanctuary also had pens or coops for egg-laying ducks, turkeys, quail, and other breeds of chickens. That made for a lot of eggs. In the end it took us four hours to help others collect all the eggs.

Diane pushed a cart that was loaded with eggs in carefully packed layers. I skipped along beside her as she pushed the cart. We would have to make several trips to get all of the eggs to the kitchen's coldroom.

A couple of guys with blue eyes intercepted us, "Here, we can take that for you. Amber is looking for you two. She is up in her office. Laura, can you please show us where these eggs go?"

Diane glanced at Ace in surprise, but he also did not look like he had been expecting to have Amber looking for them. We hadn't been working that hard, so I wasn't sure why Amber wanted to talk with them alone. Diane gave me a nod, and I looked at the fired men as one started pushing the cart, "We are taking them to the kitchen's coldroom. It is this way."

Ace and Diane headed off towards a different part of the cliff where Amber's office was located. I looked at the one man, "Do you know why Amber wanted to see them?"

He shrugged, "All I know is that Amber was talking with two Messengers and requested Diane and Ace to join them."

It sounded secretive. Sanctuary had never had any secrets before. It sounded funny to me, and Diane clearly had no idea what it was about. Perhaps the two Messengers had done something wrong and Amber wanted advice on how to handle it until Roland returned from his current trading expedition.

The only thing was that I couldn't see the Messengers doing anything wrong. Diane and Ace put them through a lot of training before even letting them approach Roland to be released for their first official trip.

I showed the men how to move and stack the trays of eggs before we went back for a second load. Once the eggs were all moved, the men kept me company on the playground. The game of tag was fun. They had a hard time fitting into places I could easily go. They weren't used to my speed either, then again, perhaps I was just accustomed to dodging Diane and Ace.