Rick was teaching me some different things. He was showing me what to do in various situations and how to hide almost anywhere. It wouldn't work against a zombie, but if Diane had to break up a fight, it wouldn't leave me exposed to an attack. He told me that someone might use me as a hostage and I had to avoid that if it was at all possible. If the people didn't know I was around, even better.

I still wasn't sure why they all figured that she would be breaking up fights. The Guards usually did that, but we were often in places with no Guards present, so maybe she was a substitute, like a substitute teacher from my old school.

Diane was off training with Ace. Thankfully I didn't see any bruises despite how Ace had spoken the first time. Diane seemed somewhat tired when she came back from her training though, which I thought was odd. I had never seen her tired before.

I missed spending most of my evening with her, but I had been training with Rick almost every night. The other nights Trish and Nathan took me to the playground. It had taken some pleading, but Diane woke me up when she came back and we got to talk some before going to bed. She often didn't get back until very late.

I yawned as Diane gently shook my shoulder, but I sat up. She didn't let me talk for long before she decided it was time for me to go back to sleep. The room was still dark, but her eyes were easy to spot since they were glowing faintly.

I smiled sleepily, "How did your training go?"

"Pretty good. I am starting to block most of Ace's attacks and I am getting one or two blows past his guard, so I am improving. What did you learn today?"

I grinned, "We practiced how and where to hide in different situations if you had to break up a fight." I tilted my head, "Why is everyone so certain that you will be breaking up a fight? Is it because of the people who were fighting when you had to leave me with Donovan?"

Diane was silent for a moment and her eyes seem to darken with sadness. I was worried, what had I said to make her sad? Before I could ask she replied, "That is a good thing to learn. Yes, it is similar to the fight that the guy got into. The reason people want me to learn is because Tom's injuries were so bad that he died. His funeral is in two days."

I gasped, I hadn't realized that the fight had been that bad. I thought he might have had a black eye or something, but that didn't even cross my mind. "Did the person who hurt him get into trouble?"

She glanced off to the side as her eyes seemed to harden. Her voice was somewhat gruff, "Unfortunately, we don't know who hurt him."

I was sad, other than Auntie, I had never had someone die before. It reminded me of how much I missed Auntie.

"I can come back early tomorrow afternoon and we can spend more time together since we have been so busy in the evenings."

Diane's comment distracted me. "Really? I would like that. I miss you when you are gone."

She smiled, "I miss you too. But it is late, so let's go to sleep and we can talk in the morning."

I nodded and lay down. Moments later I was fast asleep.

We still had some time after supper before Diane had to go for her training. Trish decided to hang out with us since Nathan had training right after supper.

"Do you want to go to the playground?"

I slowly shook my head. Knowing there was funeral tomorrow made me think of Auntie's funeral. I didn't really feel like running around with other kids. "Can we play a board game instead?"

Diane nodded, "Sure. Let's go to our room since we have a couple there."

I giggled as I rolled another six. I was in the lead. Someone knocked on the door and we all looked over at the closed door from where we were sitting on Trish's bed playing the game. Trish got off of her bed and opened the door, but the door prevented me from seeing who was there.

"What do you want?"

I had never heard Trish sound so angry. I glanced up at Diane who was watching the doorway with narrowed eyes. Rick's words echoed in my head. If possible, hide before anyone knows you are there.

I quietly slipped off of the bed and sat on the floor. If the person came into the room, they wouldn't be able to see me.

A man's voice answered Trish. He didn't sound mad, "I would like to speak with Diane for a moment."

Trish was furious, "I do not think so! She is not that type of person! Unless you want your ass kicked, I advise you to go bug someone else."

I peeked under the bed and saw Diane's boots approaching the door from under the bed skirt. "What do you want to speak with me about?" Diane sounded calm. She obviously knew who it was.

I still couldn't see the person, but he sounded somewhat nervous now. "Uh, is it possible for us to speak alone?"

Trish practically exploded, "What do you think you are planning on doing?!" I didn't understand why she was furious when the other two were calm. She obviously didn't like this guy. I wondered who it was.

Diane spoke quietly, "Would speaking in my room alone suffice with Trish out here?"

I glanced at our door. If they walked this way, they could see me. I silently squirmed under the bed, the bed was just high enough for me to get under it. The bed skirt would hide me since it almost touched the floor. I tried not to stir up too much dust in case I sneezed. Trish really need to dust under here.

"We need somewhere private."

Trish sounded insulted, "She is my best friend and I am not about to let you lure her off. You can say whatever you have to say here in front of both of us."

The man's voice was slow, but firm, "No, this is for her ears only."

That just made Trish madder, "Oh, so you want to get her alone? For what, may I ask?"

I was beginning to see why Diane wanted training. This was beginning to resemble a three-way argument. Something had really upset Trish, but I wasn't sure what it was. She was a Guard, she shouldn't lose her temper so easily. At this rate Diane was going to be keeping Trish from hurting the man.

Diane sighed, "Frances, my room is about as private as you can get in this base without attracting a bunch of attention. If that does not suffice, would a location a short ways outside of the fence work?"

I saw Trish's boots turn to face Diane. Her voice was shocked, "Are you serious?! You are actually going to go with him?"

The man ignored Trish's comments. "I guess that can work. What did you have in mind?"

Diane replied, "There is a barn about half a kilometer outside the base. It is secure and has a small fence around it. We keep a caged zombie inside for observation and no one will be out there at this time of day. Will that work?"

The man sounded dubious, "As long as we can get out there without all those people noticing and commenting."

"Come inside so no one can see you. I don't need comments floating around about you hanging around outside our door. Give me a moment." Diane's boots walked towards her room. I lifted up the bed skirt a little bit since the man was still near the door. He wouldn't be able to see this side of the bed.

Diane looked out the window for a few moments before walking to her backpack. She pulled her radio out, "Diane to Matthew, I hope I am not disrupting your guests. Over."

I heard Matthew's voice reply after a few moments, "Diane, this is a surprise. No, I do not have any guests at the moment. Over."

There was an edge to Diane's voice, "Can you please confirm that no one else can hear us? Over."

"Affirmative. What is up? Over." I had never heard Matthew sound so serious before.

"I have a possible lead here. We need a quiet place to talk and I think the barn is the best option as no one will be out there. We have eight people outside the West entrance who need to be distracted and the main gate sentry has to ignore the cloaked man who will be passing through to study the zombie in the barn with a new theory. I can get out and get around easily enough with no questions being asked. Over."

She obviously wanted to keep this a secret, but I wasn't sure why. I was completely confused as to what was going on.

"Give me five minutes. I will have a word with the gate guard and empty that side of the building for a short time. Have him wait in the secondary corridor until they leave and he can head straight for the gate. Take your radio. Give me three beeps on the radio and I will distract them again as he returns. Two beeps if you need immediate assistance, four if you need my presence without anyone knowing. Five if you wish to speak with me over the radio and I will get to a quiet place and radio you. Over."

Diane nodded without surprise, "Copy. We will head down right now. Out."

Diane dug a cloak out of her dresser and pulled a mop from behind our door before leaving her room. I dropped the bed skirt down and watched their shoes again.

"That was going to be gift for a friend, so I want it back. Use that to cover yourself up. Once you are heading for the gate, pull up your hood so no one can see you. You heard Matthew's instructions. I will go out a different gate and loop around. Meet me outside the barn door and we will go in together once we can both see that there are no tracks entering it."

Diane's boots went to Trish's door and opened it. "Coast is clear. Take that mop down to the main floor janitorial closet, it will be a good excuse if anyone sees you."

Trish seemed confused, "Uh, why did you have a mop in your room?"

I grinned as I remembered the prank Diane and me were going to play on Trish tomorrow. I guess we wouldn't be able to do it now. Diane's voice was amused, "You will find out next week sometime."

The man passed through the door and closed it behind himself. I breathed a sigh of relief. Diane's shoes went back to her room and I heard the rustle of her cloak before she came back into Trish's room.

"Laura, you can come out now."

I crawled forward and poked my head out from under the bed skirt with a grin. Diane grinned at me, "Good job. Rick is training you well."

I crawled out from under the bed and stood up while brushing the dust off of my pants, "You are going outside of the fence?"

She nodded, "Yes. Please stay with Trish. Perhaps you two can go find Nathan and keep him company for a bit. I should be back within an hour. I will drop of my pack here and head down for my session with Ace. Hopefully Matthew will let him know that I will be late."

I nodded slowly, but the things I had overheard made me worried. "Promise you will come back?"

Diane grinned at me and I saw her eyes brighten a bit. "Oh, I am coming back. Whether certain people like it or not. I have Matthew for backup and if I radio him for help, he will come with quite a few people. I don't think I will have any problems though. Don't tell anyone about this though. It may cause trouble."

I grinned at her response. She wasn't at all worried, almost like any problem she might encounter was a mere speedbump. She had no doubts that she was coming back. Deep down, I wasn't surprised. I went to give her a hug, which she returned before she went out the door and down the hallway.

I glanced up at Trish, who was watching the door with an uneasy expression. "What just happened? Who was that guy?"

Trish jumped a bit, as if she had forgotten that I was there. She shifted her weight nervously as she turned to look at me. She seemed at a loss for words, "Uh. Umm... That guy was someone who did some, uh, bad things in the past. And, uh... I didn't think it was good for them to be alone, but the training that she got should keep her safe."

I blinked slowly. She was plainly trying to avoid saying something, but I didn't know what it was. Adults always seemed to try and edit their responses to hide things from kids. It was confusing and somewhat irritating. I didn't mind it when Diane did it, since it was probably angel stuff that she wasn't allowed to talk about.

Trish glanced at the door again, "Let's go find Nathan and pass by Matthew's office on the way and see if he is in. We can head to the playground."

We got our winter clothing on and headed out. Trish did not want to talk about the guy or the conversation so after a few attempts I didn't talk about it anymore. I also didn't comment on the sword that Trish had on her belt. She usually didn't wear it if she wasn't working. Something had her nervous and I bet it had to do with that guy.