Diane woke me up early and we went for a run before the sun had cleared the horizon. We ate a light breakfast of greens and some jerky. We kept to the trees as we moved across from the platform that had held the bystanders last night.

Phil and two others were already standing there waiting. I remained hidden in the trees as Diane slowly walked out of the trees and across the grass. My current location was halfway up a tree, I didn't want to chance a zombie or bear showing up unexpectedly and distracting Diane.

Diane hailed them once she was within speaking range, "Good morning!"

She kept slowly approaching the tall wooden wall as the three watched her come closer. The two with Phil had loaded bows, although they were pointed at their feet. Phil responded, "Good morning. I hope you slept well."

Diane nodded courteously. Her stance told of her faint amusement, although I doubted that it showed on her face. "Yes I did, thank you. How was your night?"

He replied, "Pretty good."

This guy could sure beat around the bush... Why did he not get right to the point? The fact that he was on the platform and not coming out of the gate told of their decision. We had not heard any hammers yanking out nails, so the gates and doors were still barred.

Diane sighed as she shifted her weight, "Well, what is the consensus? I did save the place from a Swift and I was not injured or bitten."

Phil winced and looked embarrassed, "A vote was made. It was brought to the attention of everyone that your eyes were glowing - which is not normal by the way, as well as the fact that you were in close or direct contact with a zombie. The vote was made by the people that you are not allowed inside the fence since you are likely infected."

The potential infection I could see, but the first thing he mentioned was Diane's eyes. Why were they that bothered by glowing eyes? It had never bothered me even when I had first spotted her.

"Is it possible to trade for some supplies? I would also appreciate it if someone could bring Laura out here."

Phil fidgeted, "The people do not want your goods in case they are infected, but with all the work you did, we will give you some supplies if they are within reason. Unfortunately, Laura doesn't want to talk to you. We did try to convince her, but she says your eyes scared her."

Diane tilted her head skeptically at the man above, "What do you mean? She has known about my eyes ever since we met, and has turned down every offer to stay with someone else."

He looked embarrassed, possibly at getting caught, while he tried to backtrack and attempt another tactic "She also knows that you attacked the Swift and she is scared that you will turn."

Diane took a slow deep breath, tension visible in some of her muscles. It remained to be determined if it was because of the lie or with the possibility that they had almost succeeded in separating us.

"Tell her I said good bye, I will try to swing by again one day to see her. As for items, is it possible to get another two coils of rope, a coil of snare wire the same length, and ten pounds of flour? Some flatbread won't go amiss for lunch."

My heart fluttered as she 'left' me behind so easily. It hurt, even though it had been part of the plan. She couldn't exactly force them to turn me over when I wasn't inside.

Phil was speaking with someone on the ground inside the palisade before he turned back to Diane, "We will bring it to you and lower it over the wall."

Diane waited and five minutes later they were lowering a bucket with the supplies inside. She walked forward to stow them in her pack. Her muscles were slightly tensed, as if halfway expecting one of the two above to shoot their arrows at her.

Diane swung her backpack up on her back, "Thank you. The best of luck to you, perhaps we will see one another at a later date. Take care of Laura for me."

He nodded slowly and seemed sad, "Stay safe on your journey. We will look after her."

Diane looked straight up at him and his eyes widened slightly as he finally had her eyes focus on his. He didn't even blink, as if entranced. I knew how that felt from past experience, although the Heartfire in my blood seemed to prevent me from getting caught in her eyes now.

Diane broke the eye contact as she turned and headed towards the highway that led to the east. Phil was watching her walk away with a surprised and regretful expression. That was interesting, he didn't really want her to go. He had given into popular demand pretty easily though, so I didn't think much of him as a leader. He could have asked her to remain outside the fence for eight days to prove she wasn't infected.

Diane's one hand made a few subtle signs and I climbed out of the tree. I carefully followed her while sticking to the trees. We knew that there were sentries spying on the road for several kilometers along each highway. Diane would let me know when it was safe to come out of hiding.

In the meantime, I skulked through the undergrowth ensuring that none in the trees above might spot me. Diane never looked directly at me, but her manner didn't fool me any. She knew exactly where I was. She always did.

I could tell from her body language that she was upset at being turned away. I sympathized with her and wished I could give her a hug, but I didn't dare come out of hiding yet. It was so unfair to be kicked out just because her eyes glowed. The infected part could easily be disproven in a week. They hadn't even tried...

We occasionally passed a sentry. My Heartfire enhanced senses allowed me to spot them. None of them saw me though. They were mostly focused on Diane as she walked down the middle of the highway.

Diane occasionally lured zombies to the other side of the road and trapped them behind a thicket or half fallen tree. We rounded a big bend and Diane carefully looked around before signalling 'All safe to come out'.

I eagerly skipped out of the forest with a grin plastered on my face. We had pulled it off and they hadn't even realized that I had simply walked away. I wondered how long they would search inside the palisade for me.

The moment I got close to her, she moved into a jog. I quickly matched her pace, eager to both stretch my legs and put more distance between this place and myself, in case they came looking for us. I doubted they would though. If the sentries didn't see me, they would assume I was hiding in the settlement somewhere. I always had been the best at hide and go seek...

After less than ten minutes Diane scooped me up and put me on her shoulders while she took off at a fast sprint. She probably needed to burn off some energy and it was a pace I couldn't keep up with on my own. Yet.

I started cheerfully whistling. We were on the road again. Wasn't that a song name? I wasn't sure and I couldn't remember. I preferred traveling with Diane like this, opposed to remaining in a settlement, but I knew that we would need a settlement once winter hit. Even I didn't fancy sleeping in freezing temperatures in the whipping winds while hanging in a hammock in a tree...

Although if Diane was going to attempt it, I would surely try it as well. That reminded me of how easily she had left that settlement though... I dropped my cheerful easy whistle as I became serious.

"If anyone ever tells you the same thing that they did, they are lying. I don't think I will ever get mad at you, but if I do, I will tell you myself." I didn't really see myself ever getting mad at her. I had never really been at odds with her yet.

Diane chuckled in amusement, "Honest Laura, if you were still inside I would not have left without speaking with you. Besides, that walkie talkie of yours still works, and if someone ever kidnaps you, try to use it as soon as possible."

Despite her amusement, I could sense her complete honesty. She would never leave me without first speaking with me. That was a huge relief. Although I suspected that any kidnapper would have bitten off more than what they could chew if they tangled with Diane by attempting to kidnap me. One of the Guard Group Leaders had once said that Diane was like a grizzly bear guarding a cub and I fully believed it. She was very protective of me.

I tried to contemplate what would have happened at Toga Place had they managed to keep me inside, "That would have been something to see. Would you have broken down the wall or tried to sneak in?"

I could honestly see both scenarios occurring, although she preferred to be subtle if possible. Diane found my question hilarious and laughed, "Considering they had no intention of harming you, I would have waited until it was dark out and used some rope to get up the wall and sneak inside to see what was going on."

Yep, I knew she would have picked the more subtle route. I would probably do the same thing though. I tilted my head in curiosity, "And if I had been screaming your name?"

Considering that I had caught a glimpse of her expression when she had saved me from that Swift, I was pretty sure I had a good idea of what would have happened. Diane scanned the horizon with bright eyes and her grin looked rather feral.

Her voice was lower than normal, "Let's just say that their wall would not have been tall enough to stop me."

She glanced up at me and I grinned down at her. Oddly enough, her answer comforted me instead of scaring me. Diane pointed off to the side and changed the topic, "How does that look for a lunch table?"

I looked over to see a large flat rock beside a small stream. "Looks good to me."

Diane slowed and put me on the ground as we went to inspect our new picnic spot. The creek was very shallow and the sun had warmed it enough that it wasn't freezing. I sat on a smaller rock before taking my socks and shoes off. My toes splashed gently in the water as Diane dug out some flatbread and jerky.

She always had food in her backpack, just in case we were out later than planned. A simple lunch was fine by me. I still remembered those boxes of stale crackers and various preserved foods that I had eaten far too much of. Flatbread and smoked meat were far preferable to that.

"What do you say that we stop at every location that usually handles our letters and see if we can catch that letter that should be coming back from Matthew? That will also give us a chance to see how much we like each location. We can travel all summer if we want, but we are going to have to find a place to overwinter."

I looked at Diane as I mulled that over. It came as no surprise that we would have to find a place to overwinter. She had still taken the time to ensure that I understood that detail, and I appreciated her approach.

Diane knew the locations of the places that the letter would stop at, so we would only have to stop at those locations. I knew there were a lot of them. We would end up stopping at almost every place between here and Wainwright Fort.

I didn't like the thought of stopping at so many strange places, but I understood the necessity of it. I also wanted to intercept that letter. Diane would keep me safe. I nodded my acceptance and understanding, it was the best plan we had at the moment.

Diane smiled in enthusiasm, "Great! We should reach our next stop by nightfall since we made so much distance this morning."

I made a face, I should have known that we were getting close to a settlement. Diane snickered at my reaction of her falsely enthusiastic tone. Thankfully I knew that she wasn't entirely happy to be stopping at all of these locations.

I watched the tiny settlement come into view. The most surprising part was that no one was watching for company. Not a single sentry. We walked right up to their closed gate. I could only imagine what Rick would have had to say about their lack of surveillance.

I looked up at Diane, who glanced at me with an unreadable expression before she knocked on the small gate. I heard footsteps clambering up a wooden ladder and a young man's head popped over the top of the palisade as he looked at us in surprise. He was speechless as he assessed the two of us on foot.

Diane sighed quietly before calling up, "Hello, is this Whispering Hills settlement? We are coming from Toga Place, do you happen to know if Marvin is in?"

The man recollected himself with an uneasy look and disappeared from sight without saying a word. Huh. That was odd. I heard him clatter rapidly down the ladder before quietly calling someone over, "Hey Marvin, they are looking for you."

A deep and slightly wheezing voice responded, "Looking for me? I assume there is a reason you want me to climb up that rickety ladder instead of opening the gate?"

"The one is loaded with weapons, I don't feel like becoming minced meat today."

I giggled quietly and glanced up to see Diane grinning faintly. To tell the truth, the man was kind of justified in his observation. Diane was carrying her glaive, sword and dagger, as well as her bow and arrows.

Heavy slow footsteps climbed the ladder and an older man peered cautiously over the logs as if expecting an arrow. He blinked in surprise when he saw us. Diane grinned at him in a friendly manner, "I assume you are Marvin?"

He nodded as he studied us. He had obviously been expecting to see a bunch of heavily armed men, not a woman and a child on foot. "That would be me. Do I know you?"

Diane chuckled, "You have been ferrying my letters between Toga Place and Ryan's Vale for half a year. I am expecting one on its return trip and was hoping that you happened to have it."

He smiled as he was finally put a face to the name he had seen on several letters. He looked down on his side of the palisade, "Open up the gate and invite her in you buffoons." He climbed back down the ladder slowly. I heard him muttering, "Tell me you want me to stick my head over the fence to speak with someone who is heavily armed... Made me think I had a bandit out to get me. Idiot. Next time tell me if it is a lady and a child. You would think that you had been taught manners by monkeys..."

I grinned widely, the people in this place were unintentionally funny. The gate clunked as they unbarred it. I sidestepped so that I was partially hidden behind Diane as my shyness made itself known once more.

Marvin came out with a smile, holding out his hand for a handshake. Diane walked forward to shake his hand and I tagged along. Diane seemed at ease with this man, "Nice to finally meet you. Thank you for transporting my letters for me."

"Nice to meet you as well. What brings you this way?"

"Heading back east and I hope to find the letter I am expecting along my route."

He waved us towards the open gate, "Unfortunately I have not received a letter recently, but I can definitely offer a guest house and supper for the night. Nothing fancy though."

Diane nodded, "Thank you for the invitation. My name is Diane and this is Laura."

I quickly looked around as we entered the tiny place. I counted 28 houses. This was the smallest settlement I had ever seen, well, besides the one we helped relocate. Diane said that only about 60 people lived here from what Taver had told her.

There were no kids my age here. The closest ones were a two year old and a 14 year old. One woman asked me if I wanted to stay, but I quickly declined and hid behind Diane. This place was fairly welcoming, but they were happy that we didn't plan on staying.

Diane made them nervous for some reason. Perhaps it was the weapons she was carrying, although I was leaning more towards the fact that Diane wasn't hiding her abilities as much as usual. Her eyes didn't glow, but her smooth flowing movements weren't camouflaged quite as much as normal.

It was so subtle that I doubted the people even knew why they were uneasy around her. I kept my own abilities under wraps, but I had not yet acquired the grace that Diane naturally displayed. We were just staying the night though, and considering they didn't post a sentry, sneaking out for our midnight run would be a piece of cake.