It was supposed to have been a normal supply run. Just through the woods and down to the town to see what I could scavenge.
"Come in Runner 5, come in Runner 5." Came a voice through my head set.
"5 here what's up Sam?"
"The Doc asked if you would run by Abby Fig's house she usually checks in every evening with Jack and Eugene but she didn't yesterday." Sam sounded worried. Abby Fig was an old woman who was tough as nails. You had to be to survive on your own after the zombie apocalypse. Abby Fig had a house that was about 3 miles outside Able Township. She refined vegetables into oil that could be used in the decal engines that we used, if something had happened to Abby then Able would lose a major source of power.
"OK Sam I will look in on her for you. Runner 5 out." with that I picked up the pace a little and headed to Abby Fig's house in the woods. Had it not been after the destruction of human civilization I would have been able to enjoy the day. The sun was shining; there was a light breeze, and zombies moaned in the distance. "Sam this is Runner 5, I hear zoms out here. Do you have anything on the radar?"
"OK 5 just let me find you on the on the cameras." Sam said through a mouth full of something. Probably another marmalade and Marmite sandwich, I don't get how he could eat those things.
"Janine will kill you if she finds you eating at the coms desk again Sam." I had grown to like the quirky communications operator since I had wound up at Able, even to the point that I enjoyed some of his jokes.
"Only if she can catch me 5 only if she can catch me. Oh boy. 5 there is a pack of them right ahead of you. Better head west for a while. You should put on a burst of speed they are close." I veered to the right off the dear path I had been running on and into the woods. Zombies usually didn't come this close to the township during the day. If there was a group of them this close to Abby's that was defiantly not a good sign. I couldn't take too much time to think about that as I needed to avoid tripping over rocks and protruding roots. After what seemed like ages Sam's voice again came through my head set startling me after the silence. "You should be clear to start heading back to Abby's house Runner 5. The zoms have moved off to the east."
"Thanks Sam." I change directions so I would head back towards Abby's home.
"Hay that's my job Runner 5." I could tell that Sam was going to say more but the coms station door banged open loud enough for me to hear it across my head set. "Janine what are you doing in here?" Sam asked her.
"There should have note on the coms desk Mr. Yao that if you had read it would have told you I am going to change some of the wires in here. Is that marmalade on the key board?" Janine sounded curt as usual.
"Does it have to be now Janine I have a runner out with hostile in the area?" Sam protested feebly. He had pointedly avoided the marmalade question.
"Yes it does Mr. Yao and I would not have to change them so often if somebody refrained from eating in the coms station. This isn't the mess hall Mr. Yao stop bringing food in here. Now tell what ever runner you have out there that the coms station is going down for a few minutes." I felt a little sorry for Sam. Janine was going to harp on him for eating at the coms desk the entire time she was there.
Sam sighed into microphone "Sorry about this Runner 5, Janine needs to change some wires and apparently it can't wait till you are back. You are going to be on your own for a bit." He sounded dejected. "If you get to Abby Fig's place and it seems safe wait there for Runner 8 and Runner 4 to come get you if it is not safe, head back home. Stay safe out there 5." With that my head set went dead. I was well and truly on my own out here. I hoped I didn't run into anymore zombies. Thanks again Janine.
When I got to Abby's house something felt wrong. It was too quiet. The oil making process was usually very noisy. No sound came from the vacant looking home. No signs of movement, no noise from the radio she kept on tuned when she wasn't working. I looked around for a sturdy stick to use as a weapon.
"Abby. Abby are you home?" I called tentatively called out there was no sound inside or outside the house. I stood, tense and waited for a response. None came. I got that feeling you get just before something bad happens.
"Runner 5 are you there?" Sam's cheery voice in my ear made me jump.
"Jeez Sam, you nearly scared me to death." To be honest I was glad that it was him and not a zombie.
"Sorry about that 5." He sounded a bit chagrined. "Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is the radios are back up, obviously, the bad news is cameras are still down so you will have to tell me everything you see." Maybe I could talk to Runner 8 about Janine's timing since she was the only one Janine would think about listening to while Major de Santa not around it seemed. That thought made me stop, where were Runners 8 and 4?
"Sam where are Runners 8 and 4?" I asked "Are they on their way?"
"They are at the gates now, no one thought that it would be a good idea to send more runners out until the radios were back up."
"How long Sam." I didn't want to be out here alone any longer than necessary.
"Maybe 10 minutes." I cringed.
"OK. I am going to check out the inside of Abby's house." I couldn't wait for 8 and 4 to show up just standing here. I would be a sitting duck.
"Are you sure that is a good idea 5?" Sam didn't sound happy with my choice. "What if it is full of hungry zombies?"
"So I should stand here and let them eat me?" my voice dripped with sarcasm. I swung the stick experimentally a couple of times. "OK going in. They must have come in through here. The bar Abby used to keep the door shut is broken." I pushed open the unbarred back door which led into the kitchen. It was dark with all of the windows boarded up. The beam of the small camp flashlight I had picked up on the last run didn't help too much to cut through the gloom. "Kitchen is clear, no zombies shambling or otherwise."
"If Abby has gone gray could you see if she has any spices?" Sam sounded a little too eager for those bits of dried plants.
"Sam." Irritation worked its way into my voice.
"Sorry 5 I just miss what they do for food, plain squirrel get old after a while. I would even put up with parsley if you found it." I ignored the com operator and moved into the living room.
"There are six zoms all dead, really dead with clean head shots." I reported. It was easier to see in here as light came through numerous small holes in the walls. I moved down the hall checking each room but no other held any signs of anything wrong. "Ok I am in the main bed room." It seemed intact at first glance and I was about to turn and go back to the stairs when something made the bed creek. "There is movement in the bed."
"My grandma, what gray skin you have." Sam quipped.
"Not funny." Something was moving under a sheet. I went to the end of the bed with the least movement. Taking a corner of the sheet in one hand I raised my stick with the other. I ripped the sheet off the bed. The sudden movement of the sheet seamed to stun the zombie underneath to my extreme luck. Before it could understand that I was food I brought my stick down as hard as I could. I left my stick as I didn't want to try to pull it out of the dent I had made.
"5. Runner 5 come in. Are you there 5?" Sam sounded panicked. "Yeah Sam I am here. No bites or cuts. I got it first." Adrenaline still pumped through my system. "I am going to check the upper floor." Turning I started back to the living room.
"Are you sure that is a good idea 5. 8 and 4 aren't that far out maybe you should just wait for them." He was pleading. I knew he didn't want to lose another Runner 5 but I had a feeling I need to check this out.
"It will only take a minute Sam." I marched up the stairs only to find the door barricaded. "Abby Fig are you there?" I called loudly. "Abby are you there?"
"Preferably not gray." I heard Sam mumble. I ignored him.
"Who are you? Are you infected?" said a feeble voice.
"Abby I am Runner 5 from Able. No I am not infected. Are you able to move?" I was relieved to found someone.
"I'm fine" as if to emphasize how well she was Abby began to move things around.
"You got her." Sam was so loud I thought that my head set's volume was messed up. Just when I was about to answer him the door in front of me opened and there stood Abby Fig. She looked to be in her early to mid-60s but I was a bad judge of age.
"You are the new runner Eugene told me about." It was a statement not a question. I never got a chance to respond.
"5 are you in there?" Runner 8 called through the open door. I instantly relaxed. There was something about having another runner around that made me feel better.
"Sarah is that you?" asked Abby.
"Yes Abby. Come on we had better get out of here." We all followed 8's advice and the jog back to Able was mostly uneventful. The four of us found a crawler on the way back. Abby quickly dispatched it with the small pistol she had brought with her.
"I hate crawlers." Runner 4 said looking at the body. After that we managed to make it back to Able without any other incidences. We were greeted at the gates by many of the inhabitants of Abel. Some just said things like 'Good job runners.' Others asked if we had found different items like food or toothpaste. I smiled at Jack as he patted my shoulder. It is good to be home.