A Different Virus: Heartfire

Chapter 11

I slowed to a stop as I noticed a cloud of dust rising in the distance. The trees prevented me from seeing what caused it; but considering it went in a straight line, it was almost certainly some sort of vehicle. From the size of the dust cloud, I suspected that there were at least several large vehicles. I wasn't exactly near the Fort, but the various groups were known to travel far and wide. Could they be Raiders? Foragers? Or someone else?

My curiosity was piqued, and I started running at my fastest pace in that direction, both for speed and just in case I would have to sit still for a while.

As I neared the location where the dust had stopped, I slowed down to a walk since it would be less noticeable. I reached the top of the hill and paused as I examined the activity at the farmhouse with interest. I was currently about half a kilometer away, but I easily recognized the familiar vehicles below.

The grey and light brown uniforms showed that the group was mostly made up of Raiders and Foragers. Eight blue uniforms hailed the bearers as Guards.

I tilted my head in perplexity as I took a closer look at the people working. I only recognized a few of the people below – the rest were strangers. Slowly, I crouched down so that I would be less noticeable on the top of this grassy hill. Then again, that simple action alone was noteworthy. No zombie crouched down unless it had prey, and considering the coordination of the average zombie, they were lucky that they were unable to starve to death. No one seemed to have noticed my movements, so the tall grass would make it very hard for them to spot me now.

I kept watching the large group as they started organizing themselves into small teams for various tasks. Why were there so many Guards? Half of my runs with Raiders only had one or two Guards, if we even had any accompany us at all. I tapped my finger on my knee in thought. I was missing something.

The last month had taught me odd things about life and time. It had also taught me patience. I recalled my own joint runs with Raiders, and I knew from experience that it would take them several hours to thoroughly search this small farm.

They would be here for a while yet. I had time. I sat down in the long grass and watched the activity below. As I watched, some things began to stand out.

Most of those below were between the ages of twenty and thirty-five, which wasn't that surprising. Older people tended to be slower, usually preferring a safer position inside the Fort. I was pretty sure that two of them were in their forties though.

The behavior of the Foragers and Raiders showed that they were still in the early stages of training. I had not yet spotted a green or grey name badge, which meant that they were all trainees – this also explained why I didn't recognize them.

Despite watching for the Group Leaders, hoping to see someone I recognized, I didn't see any of the leaders in charge of the various groups below. They had to be around though, so they were likely inside the buildings or out of my line of sight at the moment.

From the way the two groups interacted, this was their second or third run with another group. I knew it was not their first run since they didn't have enough nervous energy. This also meant that they were not as alert due to lack of nerves - and their lack of experience didn't help in that area either. I had only recognized two of the Foragers so far, and both had switched positions to become Foragers just before I ran. They were both still trainees.

Something about the Guards seemed off though. The usual posture and air of relaxation while being subtly alert was absent from most of them. Two facing the forest on the far side were an exception, and I recognized one of them from my previous runs.

The Guards were loosely scattered around the perimeter as they protected the numerous trainees around the farm buildings. The vehicles were parked by the gate, which seemed to be on the edge of their perimeter. I watched in disbelief as the two Guards by the gate meandered closer to one another and began talking. They did not have any attention on their surroundings. I blinked slowly in confusion; I had never seen a Guard behave like this.