I sat in the largest room in the nursing area and listened to Diane intently. Twenty others also listened with rapt attention as she once more went over how she called up the chill. She often lacked words to describe how she did it.

Heartfire reacted to emotion, and it was sometimes hard to explain an emotion in a way that others could feel. This was the situation Diane was struggling with as those around her asked her various questions or tried to clarify the abstract process. Some questions like 'how do you hold onto goosebumps?' could only be met with Diane's shrug and an equally vague answer of, 'There isn't any way to describe it, but you will see if you manage it.'

Most here were from the first group that Diane had fired with Roland. Roland, Amber, and Todd were also part of the crowd. Todd was determined to try since he had been fired before the others by almost a month.

"...so there is no real trick we can use? It never gets easier?"

Diane nodded, "Even for me it is as hard as it was the first time. It isn't like the heat you feel that you can manipulate so easily. It resists you. You get more familiar with it and know how close you are, but that is about it."

Kerry was watching with a handful of needles in hand, "Okay, why don't you all try it? I have a bunch of needles here to get samples. If they glow and don't burn people, then we are ahead of the game."

Everyone nodded seriously. The fact that only one person was able to make their blood glow had them somewhat concerned. Many closed their eyes to see if they could do it, since they had always seen Diane do that. I also closed my eyes and tried.

It sounded simple. A strong desire to help. It was actually deceptively and fiendishly complicated. The desire was so strong that Diane had never felt such an intense desire to help before, so strong that it created a migraine level headache. Oh, and you couldn't try to resist or push away the headache or the chill wouldn't come.

Minutes passed and I got nowhere as I imagined trying to save close friends from zombie bites. With a quiet sigh, I decided that Diane was right, I was simply too young to learn this trick. I looked around, but saw that no one else was having any more luck than I had.

Diane, Kerry and several other nurses were watching silently. The nurses planned to get a small blood sample to get a better look at it. A handful of people who weren't fired had volunteered to touch it and see if it burned them.

The clock proclaimed that ten minutes had passed. No one had gotten goosebumps. I really hoped that Diane wasn't the only person who could learn this trick. I noticed that Ace had joined us halfway through and was also attempting it despite being fired much more recently. Perhaps the self-discipline that he had learned from numerous forms of fighting would aid him where others failed. He had been ahead of most when it came to reaching milestones such as being able to feel and use the heat.

The one guy sat up with a sigh and opened his eyes, "I get a bit of a headache, but nothing more..." His wife rubbed his shoulders from where she sat behind him. She was expecting their first child and had not been allowed to partake in this exercise.

Diane furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to think of a way to help, "Try again, but imagine if your daughter wasn't born with the Heartfire and had somehow been bitten by a zombie. What would you feel?"

His eyes flared blue with the strength of his emotions at that thought. His wife's eyes had also gotten brighter. Heartfire made one more protective of friends and family. He would fiercely defend his wife and unborn child if any danger made itself known. Perhaps it would work to our advantage in this situation.

He closed his eyes with this new lead. Less than two minutes later, he inhaled a deep breath in surprise as goosebumps appeared on his arms. Kerry had been watching us and swiftly came over with her needle.

His eyes opened as she inserted the needle. His eyes were a dark purple, which was the color of his Heartfire. I looked at the blood as it filled the vial. I tried to figure out how a dark color could actually glow, but the blood was clearly glowing.

Diane murmured to his wife, "Take a look at his eyes."

She quickly moved around to see them. She smiled at his purple eyes and the glowing purple color of his blood as it filled Kerry's vial. His blood had the same faint shimmer of numerous colors that Diane's did, although it was harder to spot since his blood was so much darker than her light silver.

He had a look of concentration as he tried to hold the chill, a skill he had never had the chance to practice, but suddenly needed to learn - and fast. His breathing quickly got heavy and he shook his head as if to clear it. He suddenly mumbled, "Lost it."

Kerry removed her needle and put a cotton ball over the site, "Hold this."

I glanced at the clock, but he had only held it for about fifteen seconds. That was about half of Diane's average time, but then again, she had practice on her side. He wasn't quite as disoriented as Diane usually was, but the time difference would have an impact.

Diane blinked as she watched him with a faint look of confusion. I suddenly recalled that this would be her first time of seeing someone after they had called up the chill. We had all seen her like this numerous times, but this was a new experience for her.

Diane glanced at Kerry and murmured, "Do I usually look like that?"

She nodded without turning around, "Yes. Actually, you are usually worse since you are able to hold it for longer."

Diane blinked as she tried to wrap her head around it. Another nurse handed him a cup of hot milk loaded with honey. He sipped it slowly as his breathing started to slow down. He looked at Diane and grinned tiredly in triumph, "Well, that felt weird." He yawned and looked somewhat surprised.

His wife chuckled, "Looks like it will be an early bed for you tonight." He grinned at her in agreement.

Others had been watching and closed their eyes to try again, imagining if those close to them had been bitten. I didn't bother trying again. I had tried dozens of times with no success. If they could manage it and I couldn't, then it was an age thing. Although Roland might chase me out the door with a comment like that.

A shocked inhale made several people turn their heads. Todd had goosebumps now. Another nurse moved to get a sample of his blood. His bright green blood looked really neat the way the colors shimmered across it as it glowed. That was two so far and it looked like some others had decent sized headaches. I didn't see any muscle twitches though.

The big hand on the clock kept moving slowly. Two more had managed to get their blood to glow and over half had headaches. The problem was that the body tries to avoid pain and it was difficult to welcome a migraine-level headache.

A muscle in Ace's arm twitched and Kerry saw it the same second I did. She came over and watched him. I was startled. Ace had barely been fired for eight months, how could he do this so easily? Regardless of the reason, he inhaled slowly as goosebumps spread down his arms.

Kerry was more cautious around the top fighter, "Ready?"

He nodded as he opened his eyes. They were the same turquoise color of his blood when it turned. Kerry inserted the needle and glowing turquoise blood started to fill the small tube. He had a look of concentration as he tried to learn to control this new ability on the fly. He was doing pretty good. It had been fifteen seconds already.

Kerry had stopped with one vial since there was no need to take more blood until we knew if it worked the same as Diane's did. Ace tried to see how long he could hold it as his breathing rapidly got heavier. Diane watched intently, still off balance watching someone else doing it instead of being the one who looked like they were in medical distress.

Ace shook his head, "Lost it..." His voice was more tired than I had ever heard it, even after a too long bout of sparring practice with Diane before he had gotten fired. Kerry passed Ace a mug of warm milk and honey. He took it with quiet thanks and sipped the sweet liquid. I hated to break it to him, but it wouldn't give him that much energy. Not when he was like this. Although it might help him get to the deck.

Diane was regarding him with bright eyes and I took a second look at Ace to see what had piqued her curiosity. Despite being in better shape than most in the room, Ace was more tired than the others who had managed to get their blood to glow. He looked a bit worse for wear than Diane normally did.

It might have been because he hadn't been fired as long as the others. That was my only guess at any rate since he hadn't held it as long as Diane usually did. Ace looked surprised at how exhausted he was as he shook his head and moved his legs.

Kerry glanced around the room, but it had been almost an hour and most had enough for the first attempt. Kerry spoke up, "All right. Good enough for our first session. At least we know it can be done now. No sense getting worked up until we know if the new blood also works the same way. Head off to whatever you normally do and take it easy tonight."

People were ready to leave and filed out of the room. Diane remained sitting across from Ace until the hallway was clear. With a deep breath, Ace got to his feet and started walking to the entrance. He was just as slow as Diane was after a blood donation. It was almost disturbing to see the ever-capable fighting trainer barely able to walk across flat ground.

Ace had to rest on a bench at the halfway mark. Diane stood beside him as she looked around Sanctuary. Her eyes were oddly bright. I looked around and noticed that Diane's eyes were not the only ones that were faintly glowing in the evening sunlight.

Two who had managed to bring up the chill were resting in loungers and looked half asleep. The other three weren't in sight and were likely in bed already. Seeing several fired people like that, and knowing that there were more around, stirred up my Heartfire more than normal. I knew that my own eyes were very bright as well.

Diane was feeling it for the first time and may have not been aware that we had all felt something similar when she had been like this. I still wasn't about to be the one to tell her. That can of worms was better left untouched.

Ace rose to his feet once more and I saw that two people were already waiting in the elevator counterweight platform. Ace got in first and took the chair. Diane and I also squeezed into the tiny lift. Those on the counterweight were heavy enough to lift all of us up. We pulled the brake and got out at our destination.

Ace took a slow seat in his usual chair and I dug out my chessboard. I got to play with Diane as Ace simply watched tiredly. Several games later I packed it up and bent down to put it away under the coffee table in its little waterproof cubby.

The cubby door was squeaky and always had been. Ace's eyes opened, and from how he blinked, I suspected that he had been sleeping. He shook his head and slowly stood up, "I think I am going to head to bed."

Diane glanced around the decks that she could see from here, "Most of the others are already sleeping. I will take Laura out for a run so we will see you in the morning."

He nodded and slowly walked to the front door. We watched him disappear inside and close the door. Diane glanced at me and I grabbed my backpack from where I had put it by my chair. Diane also had hers by her chair and we headed off for a run.

After running so often with Ace tagging along, it was odd to just be running by ourselves. Predictably, I tired long before Diane and she escorted me inside the gate before heading out for a longer run. I headed towards the cliff and climbed the ladder. I was quiet as I entered the house and went to bed.