Zombies, Run! : A Distraction, That's All It Is

The Zombies, Run! AU, OCs

So, brief explanation before the story begins, I know "OC" is a term fan fiction readers as well as writers hate, but this is under no circumstances a self insertion. Blue Pines Runner Eight (Juliette)is actually from another book idea I had a few years ago, she's a minor character in my other story idea I thought I'd include as the reader's eyes in the story because she doesn't have one set personality. Shouldn't be a Mary Sue, does not talk at all, and should not take away from the team dynamic. Just another Runner. Alright: first attempt to write a fanfic, here I go!

"Alright Five, you should see the bridge soon… yeah, yeah I see it through your head cam. There's a few Shamblers on your tail, but you shouldn't have a problem with them if you just keep going." Sam said, still uneasy. He could see by Five's gait that she was nervous too. What they had just been told by the Ministry to do was basically murder. His mind was searching, trying to find a way out, and Five was still recovering from what Moonchild had forced her to do. When she sunk an entire ship full of people, when she nearly... There was no way she was going to let the Minister get away with this, and neither was he. They just needed a plan. "Hey, Five… is that…?" Sam squinted at one of his computers. "I think it's… one of Bluepines' Runners. They're being chased by at least 40 zoms… and it doesn't look like there's anyone else around..."

Five could hear them clearly to the left of her. She didn't even need Sam's go ahead, she veered to the left to catch up to the Runner.

...

Bluepines runner Eight sped across an open field, followed by about three dozen Shamblers and fast zoms. She, Runner 2, and Runner 12 had been tasked to keep the zoms away from a wall in the middle of reparation. But a big hoard had appeared while 12 and 2 were occupied with zoms of their own, and 8 had somehow successfully drawn the attention of all of them by her comms operator's orders. Which was good because they weren't going to invade Bluepines, but bad because 8 was now running for her life without backup (that would arrive in time to help at least).

"Jules, I want you to know that you're going to be just fine. Just… just keep running. I'll… figure something out." There was a long pause from Thomas, her coms operator. "No," he whispered, almost to himself, "can't go there because of the lake… can't go there because the zoms'll cut her off… uh, okay, I'm sending out Runners to help you. They're sprinting, so they should get to you before… yeah just, before." Eight stayed well ahead of the pack, but she knew that if she couldn't find a way out, she'd get eaten. "Whoa, okay, Jules, I don't want to alarm you, but there's something running at you. It's fast. The cams aren't coming up with clear images, but I think it's a zom. A fast zom, Eight it's getting closer, it's really fast, run faster!" And she did. She sprinted through the trees, doing her best to keep away from whatever it was. The underbrush scraped her legs and the sweat made them sting, but she kept going.

There was a static in her ear piece, and another voice came through. "Hello? Hello? Whoever's out there running, we're just here to help. Hello!"

"Hi? Who am I talking to?" Asked Thomas.

"We're from Abel Township, my name is Sam Yao and this is Runner Five. Five can help get rid of the zoms, just stay calm." Jules saw the silhouette of someone running just a few trees away. The figure became clearer as she came closer. It was a female, wearing a green pack and a worn out red baseball hat. Strands of short auburn hair stuck out of the cap. Her face was slightly sun tanned which brought out her light brown eyes even more. She looked battle hardened, toned legs, lean muscly arms, callused hands. But her eyes were soft as they bore straight into Eight's.

"Bluepines Runner, you know how to do the McShell Maneuver, right?" Sam asked Eight.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a well-known tactic. Eight? You know what to do." And she did. She turned on her homemade noise-maker, and Five hers. They matched their pace. Eight's heart rate went down, and she felt a lot safer.

"Okay." Thomas and Sam said in unison. Sam continued. "Five, go left, and Bluepines Runner go right. Five should reach an easily-crossable river, and Bluepines Runner, you should see a path a few seconds to your 2 o'clock. Follow it, I can't see any zoms in that direction. And… go!" Five and Eight sped off in opposite directions, both of them glancing at the other to make sure they were still running at the same pace. Eight saw the path Sam was talking about, and followed it.

"Oh my god, yes! It's working." Thomas laughed. "Alright. I think you should both turn your noise-makers off now, right Sam? You turn them off when the operator confirms that the zoms are moving straight forward and the Runners can't see each other anymore?"

"That's right, turn them off now." Said Sam. Eight listened, and slowed her pace down to a light jog.

Sam sighed. "Hey, Thomas was it?"

"Yeah."

"Listen… we, we sort of need a second Runner on a mission from the Ministry. Our Runners are too far away now, and I was wondering if your Bluepines Runner could help. I think she's already more than proven herself."

"Runner Eight? Well, the Runners have these shifts they have to do with a broken part of our wall… but, I mean if it's from the Ministry… it has to be pretty damn important." Thomas pondered. "I think we can fill Eight's shifts. She already has food and other supplies in her pack from her shift, those should last her a few days. And I'm sure the others will be happy to take over once they realize that we're helping out such a high profile Runner."

"Yeah, right. Eight… Eight and Five should get going immediately. I'll explain the details on the way." And with that, the two Runners were off.

Sam sighed heavily. Eight wondered why, and why Runner Five looked so worried. She wouldn't make eye contact with her at all. "Five? …Eight- y'know, could I just call you Pines? Eight is… kind of a touchy subject, is Pines alright with you?" Eight nodded. "Okay, I saw you nod. Five and I have something to share with you, now, we're on an untraceable frequency so no one else can hear me other than you and Five. I don't think you should say anything to give us away, so just for the time being, don't say anything, okay? I'll be alternating between frequencies depending on what the Ministry need to hear and what they don't." He sighed again.

"The Ministry need us to infiltrate a large bunker-like settlement called New Bridge. Security is unbelievably tight, and there are guards posted everywhere on the roof of the place. Your job, Pines, was originally to act as a decoy to distract the guards long enough for Five to get past security. The thing is… with how many snipers they have, and how well-trained everyone out there is… they expect you to get shot- you're expendable to them, that's why they need you to decoy and not Five." Another sigh. "But I'm not going to let that happen. As soon as Five gets through, I'm going to guide you inside as well. You'll only be a target for a short time."

Eight nodded. This was a mission from the Ministry. It was her job and her duty to carry out missions. "I'm turning off the secure frequency now."

...

They'd been traveling for one and a half days and she and Five had gotten pretty well acquainted. Eight started off very intimidated by the runner. She was revered as the Professor Van Ark- slayer and basically Earth's savior. But she soon found out that the Legendary Runner Five was kind and very down to Earth. She was human, just like every body else, and Eight had to ask herself why she'd really expected Five to be some godly and stoic entity. Sam kept them entertained with stories from his childhood and from his funny conversations with Jack and Eugene. And Thomas kept Eight posted on the broken wall. Thomas had to step out for a while, so it was just Sam, Eight, and Five for the time being. Sam explained to them that there was an old ghost town up ahead and they'd need to hurry past it. Janine walked in to the coms shack right as he said that.

"Mr. Yao, I've already explained to you, there's nothing wrong with that town, it's just empty. It's not haunted, it's not-"

"But what if they're not just rumors? Now-now I'm not saying it's haunted. But there still could be something there. So guys, just be careful, okay?"

Five and Eight passed the first few buildings, a few houses. They sure did look creepy, but not haunted. One had a few zoms wandering around in it, but they were just Shamblers. An old wind mill stood in the middle of the settlement. Something darted behind it.

"Did you see that? Something just moved over there. Five, turn your head cam toward it, next to that tower. Yeah- I don't see it anymore but it was there. You saw it too, right Pines? Something's up, I don't like it…"

"Mr. Yao, it's your imagination. There's been no reports of actual activity here other than the Dead, obviously. It's probably just a zombie."

"Janine, I know what I saw through Pines' camera. There it is again. What is that?" Pines definitely saw it this time. It wasn't one of the Dead. It was a person, they were wearing dusty ripped jeans and a leather jacket. And Eight thought she saw a glimpse of a gun holster.

"I see it now." Janine said. "I think they're armed. Runner Bluepines Eight? Runner Five? Leave the town immediately. Whoever they are, we have to assume they're dangerous." Five oriented herself and began to weave past buildings, leading Eight out with her.

They'd just barely rounded a grocery store and entered an alleyway when out of nowhere, the gunman appeared on the other side. He pointed the gun straight at Five's head. Five positioned Eight behind her, and he began to speak. "This is my town, who do you think you are? You're trespassing on my property. You don't want to know what I do to trespassers… but you'll find out soon enough." He cocked his gun, Five shoved Eight back behind the protective wall of the run down grocery store, the man pulled the trigger, and Five missed it by a hair, ducking down just in time. Five tore up the ground under her and ran the opposite way. Eight scrambled to her feet just as the man ran out of the alley. He spotted her, and she ran in the other direction. Another shot rang just a few feet away from her. She realized that Sam had been yelling at them the entire time, she had just been too much in shock to hear it.

"Pines! The gunman's following you. Five, if you're not hurt, double back. Oh my god, Pines, bullet to your left!" She veered right and Sam was right, another shot hit the pavement next to her. Then Eight heard the all too familiar growl of the Undead.

"Shit, Five there's about twenty zoms in front of you. They must've heard the gun shots. You need to find Pines and get the hell out. Just follow the sound of the bullets." Eight heard Sam say through her headset. The man was only a few meters behind her.

He shot a few more times, missing Eight each time. He had to be a worse shot than 12! He muttered something under his breath, and the shots stopped. Eight turned around to see the gunman reloading his weapon. Five was a few streets behind them, followed by the zoms Sam was talking about. This was Eight's chance to get away. She hauled ass in the other direction. She'd get out of the town, she'd meet up with Five, and they'd be on their way. Only, when Eight looked back, what she saw made her blood turn to ice.

The gunman had finished reloading, and was now aiming at Five, who was forced to stop. Behind her were the zoms, and in front of her was a bullet to the head. Certain death either way. Eight was frozen. "Pines, he can't see you, do something!" Pleaded Sam. And Eight felt a sort of "go-ahead" to act. She threw herself on him and landed a punch.

A shot rang out, but Eight didn't feel like she'd been shot. Eight threw a punch at him, and then another. This was a job from the Ministry, and God dammit it would be completed! This punk had no idea who he was shooting at. Eight felt Five lifting her to her feet and checking for wounds. Sam and Janine's voices filled her ears. "You're sure she wasn't shot?" Janine questioned . Five shook her head.

"She's okay? Thank god. Now both of you, get the hell out of that bloody town!" Sam exclaimed. Five hurried Eight away from the zoms, and soon they were well on their way out. Eight wondered if the gunman was getting eaten right then. Neither of them heard screaming, but there was a good chance that Eight had knocked him out cold. Sam was making sure that they didn't run into any dead ends on their way out.

"Guys, the shots have attracted zoms from all around. But if you go straight you shouldn't have any trouble." Eight could feel Sam's relief through her headset. Turning her head, she saw that the zoms were following them from a distance. They wouldn't be a problem to outrun. Five jerked to a stop and Eight almost tripped. Sam cursed under his breath. A dozen Shamblers came seemingly out of nowhere, and were headed in their direction, cutting off their route. "Where'd they come from?! I didn't see them, why couldn't I see them? Uh… Turn left, there's a way out past that street- oh, what the hell?! Why is there a barricade there?" And sure enough, there was.

It must've been built by the gunman. It blocked that street entirely. Five tried running back, but the Shamblers were already spilling in. "Quickly, get onto the roof! It's the only way now!" Eight whipped around to see Five making a foothold with her hands. She wanted Eight to go first. She wasted no time in climbing up to the roof with Five's boost. The rough wall scraped her hands and knees, and bits of dirt made them sting.

Now on top, Eight looked back down and extended her battered hand as far as it would stretch. Five took a few hesitant steps back, glancing at the swarm. Then, with a powerful start, she ran forward and leapt up into the air, scaling the wall a bit to gain maximum altitude. It was five or so feet she'd have to reach to get to Eight's hand. Eight extended her arm and just barely caught Five's. It almost slipped, but Eight swung her other hand over the edge and held on tightly. The zoms were only meters behind. Eight pulled up with all of her might, and Five's legs were out of the Shamblers' reach. With Five out of immediate danger, Eight was able to relax slightly and carefully help Five the rest of the way up. She heard Sam exhale a big breath. "Okay, that was way too close. Five, are you okay? Pines? No pulled muscles or dislocated bones?" Eight stretched her arms out, but nothing felt out of place. And Five held out a thumbs up after briefly looking herself up and down. "Yeah. That's good." He let out a deep breath and muttered, "I swear, you Runners are gonna be the death of me."

Just then, Thomas's voice came through. "What happened?! You two look like you've been hit by a semi! Sam?"

"Getting away from the crazy town first, explanation later."

After their near- death experience, Five and Eight were able to clear the town and get a few kilometers away from it before nightfall. "The sun's gone down. You two should stop for the night, you've both earned it. There's a shack about a kilometer to the north, so go right. Yeah. There's four Shamblers at your 7 o'clock, but they're too far away to have noticed you." Sam sounded tired too.

They reached the shack, sprinkled bleach around the perimeter, secured the exits, and got to sleep right away. Thomas and Sam would have to take shifts monitoring the shack and the Runners, but it was better they kept watch instead of Five and Eight. The Runners needed rest way more than either of the operators did.

...

Sam had first watch. His shift ended at 10 o'clock (It was 8:20), and he was by himself in the Coms shack. He sipped at his mug of coffee as he watched the long range cameras. He didn't like the taste of coffee, nor was he an avid coffee drinker before the Apocalypse. But he needed the caffeine, and this was the only thing that would keep him awake anymore. The Runners' shack was in plain view of camera seven. There were no zombies within kilometers of them. This gave him some time to reflect.

He had no idea why the Ministry had been slowly moving into Abel, or why they needed the hard drives that they did. He would've refused to let Five go on this mission, but he hadn't wanted to seem suspicious or dubious of what the Ministry had planned. So off Runner Five went. He's already talked to her about what he thought, and she wholeheartedly agreed. He'd already spoken to Janine and Paula and Max too. Whatever the Minister had planned, they were going to find out what.

His mind wandered back to Five, and a half smile crept onto his lips. Runner Five. The best of the best. He let his memories take him back to how he'd met her. The rocket launcher that had taken her helicopter down, and the one lone human running, completely unstoppable, from the wreckage. And into the sight of his cams. Who'd have thought that here they'd be, almost 4 years later, as best friends? He found it odd yet comforting, that he knew he could trust Five with anything. As the Head of Runners. With the fate of Abel. Even with his own life. She always came through.

"Knock knock." Someone said from the doorway.

"Maxine." Sam sat up in his chair.

"Hey. Just wanted to check on Five and her human shield."

"...Yeah I know. I hate it too. But It'll be alright. Both runners are fine, no zoms anywhere near."

Maxine pulled up a chair and sat next to him. She took a long look around the interior of the Coms shack. "Sam, this place is a mess. I know you're busy with the missions and everything, and I know I've asked you this before, but...don't you ever clean it?"

He grinned and shook his head. "Oh come on, Maxine. Janine already pesters me enough about how this place smells, now you too? You said you wanted to check on the Runners."

There was a pause, and Sam went back to monitoring the shack through his computers. Dr. Myers had a pensive expression. "Sam?"

"Yes?"

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Deal with all of this stress? Of not knowing if your runners will come home or not every day? I'd think that you wouldn't get too attached, but that boat sailed as soon as the first person was made a Runner. And then Five..."

Sam laughed. "Yeah. I dunno. I guess I can't think about it too hard, or this job would probably kill me. I... I have to believe that they'll come home. If my Runners didn't have my complete faith, I wouldn't be doing this. And on a mission like this, Five is the best candidate according to the Ministry, and it isn't too bad on me either."

"You care a lot about her don't you?"

"...I do, yeah. I can always count on her for anything. She's so incredible, and courageous and selfless. And determined. When she went missing a few years back, after that close run in with New Canton... I thought she wasn't coming back. Gone for nearly twenty hours out of sight of my cams. I stayed the whole time, and not once was there any indication that she could be alive."

"You were sweating so much those first couple of hours, the whole shack smelled horrible!" Maxine threw her head back laughing, but Sam just looked wistful.

"But she did it, and brought back supplies even. If... if anyone deserves the title Runner Five after Alice, she's the one." He said softly.

"I think so too." She stayed with him watching the computer screens for a while in complete silence.

Maxine tiredly got up and yawned. "Alright, I've gotta hit the hay. Have a nice night, Sam." She said warmly and gave him a big hug.

"Yeah, you too Max." The door closed behind her as she left and Sam checked the time: 9:00 pm. He still had an hour before his first shift was over. He peacefully sipped at his coffee and checked cameras six and five.

...

At daybreak, Five and Eight had already finished eating and stretching. They gathered their things and left the shack. They'd been traveling for a few hours when things got really tense all of the sudden.

"Thomas?"

"Yes, Sam?"

"Do you see that fortified brick wall up ahead?"

"Yes, is that New Bridge?"

"It is, now for both of you to get past, you'll need to stay away from the cameras there. I've hacked into some of their cams. If I can't see you, then you're doing a good job. Head towards that big tree on your guys' right. Yeah, yeah good. I can't see either of you through New Bridge's cams." Eight and Five pressed themselves against the big oak tree. The particularly warm wind made Eight's cap fly off. She caught it in mid-air and heard Five gasp. Fastening it back onto her head, Eight heard Sam relaying more instructions.

"Now Five, head towards the base of the wall in front of you… now!" Five sped through the tall grass and flattened herself against the wall so as to not have any chance of being seen. "Good, and Pines, you have to head to the opposite wall… gotta wait a second, and… go now!" Eight leapt up and tore up the ground underneath her as she raced to the other wall. She almost careened into the bricks, but was able to stop herself before smacking into it. "Good, both of you. You'll need all of the strength you can muster for this next part. Pines, your time to shine. You're going to be just fine. There are seven people up there from what I can see. Although, both of you, you only have your head cams that I can see through to help you when you make it inside. Make sure you… well… turn your heads a lot I guess."

Eight snuck a peak past the wall and saw the fortified building ahead. It was concrete and steel- enforced, with a heavy metal door in front. She saw out of the corner of her eye one of the snipers on the roof. He was pacing back and forth. And her job was to attract all of their attention. Ooh Rah. She thought to herself.

"Pines, get ready, and try to make it look like you're not just trying to get their attention. They'll see right through that. And… Get going, Pines!" Eight charged past the front entrance, and almost immediately she felt multiple pairs of eyes lock on her. The first sniper took aim and fired loudly. The shot sent dirt and grass flying upward, leaving a small crater the size of a baseball on the ground. It was only centimeters away from one of her feet.

"Whoa, whoa! Jules be careful. Go a little faster, and-and zigzag more! It's harder to hit a moving target." Thomas's voice crackled through her headset. A second shot whizzed past her ear, and Eight heard a high pitched ringing sound. That was close. She was rounding the first corner of the complex and the third shot zoomed just behind her. She picked up her speed.

"Okay, okay, Five is through one of the side entrances. Pines, do you see that door at your three o'clock? None of the snipers can see that door, I want you to go through it." Eight rushed through the metal door and rammed it closed. "Good, good. Um, I've blocked most of the area's frequencies with Janine and Ed's help, so none of the snipers should be able to alert anyone that there's been a break in. For some time at least. Meet Five around that corner. I see you both through each other's' head cams. You guys are doing great." Sam guided them through the various hallways and rooms to get to the "secret Intel". They made good time, it took them nearly 15 minutes to get to the fifth underground floor, and that included sneaking past 12 guards and scientists. Sam instructed them to lift a key card, which took some serious ninja-ing, but not impossible.

"In front of you is a locked door. Swipe the key through the- there, nicely done Five. Only one more floor down, and according to the map the Ministry gave me, you should both see a room with a computer and a few hard drives in it."

"You're making great time, guys. You'll be out of here in no time." It was nice having Thomas's voice in her ear. It made her calm. Or as calm as one could be in her current situation.

...

Suddenly, alarms blared all around them. The sound echoed off of the walls, making Eight's eardrums feel like they were going to burst. Lights flashed red. "What the hell happened?!" Sam scanned his Runner's surroundings, but could see nothing that could've gone wrong.

"Sam! The frequencies aren't showing up blocked on my computer anymore. Every single person in that building knows where Eight and Five are! Run!" Five and Eight bolted.

They were almost to the second underground level when, without warning, a dozen armed guards spilled through the hallway. Both Runners stopped dead in their tracks. "Turn back, run back! There's a fork behind you, both of you go left, go left!" Sam couldn't mask the alarm in his voice anymore. Shots echoed through the building. Amazingly, none of them hit Eight or Five. They were coming up on the fork. Five was nearest to the left, so she turned first. Eight was just behind, but a speeding bullet made her stop. A second and third bullet came closer and closer to her, and she backed up before being forced to run to the right fork. "Pines! What are you doing? It's not safe to get separated! Take the next left and meet up with Five, I'm getting you both out of-" Eight had turned slightly away to look behind her, and a well-aimed bullet shot out her head cam. It made her trip and fall. She scrambled back up and kept running. "Oh my god, Pines!"

"Eight?... Eight! Do you copy? Jules, answer me!" Thomas and Sam's voices crackled and the static made it almost impossible to hear them clearly. She tried to answer them, but it didn't seem like they could hear her. She gave up, and looked at her surroundings. There were a few hallways in front of her. A few well- timed quick turns and she could lose the guards. She swiftly rounded a few corners and ran through a door, closing it behind her. Then she kept going.

"I've blocked out their cams again, if you lose them you should be fine. Five, turn your head back! See if Pines is still up… dammit, I can't see anything, Five just keep running. Everything'll be fine, I'll figure something out-" Her earpiece shocked her. It was clearly damaged, so Eight angrily ripped it off and threw it away. There was always a spare that she kept in her pack, but she'd need to stop to get it out, and she was in no situation to do that.

"Sam, we need to get in contact with Eight! Where are you going?" Eight had found a secure place to hide out and had put in her spare earpiece. Though, she couldn't speak back to either of the coms operators. Her earpiece had needed to be repaired, but her shift had started at the broken wall before she could bring it to Thomas or William.

"Five can't go back and search, it's a suicide mission and there are armed guards swarming the place. There's nothing we can do. If they shot her head cam out, there's no way they didn't get her… her head, too. I'm sorry. I should've been more careful, or she'd still be alive."

Thomas continued to call out for Eight despite the overwhelming probability that she was indeed dead. Eight thought about what to do next. The guards weren't in her vicinity anymore, they'd all gone to the upper floors and continued their search. What did Sam say? The Intel is six floors down? Could I still get it? I have to try to complete the mission, even without directions. No one knows where I am… it'd be easier now that Sam and Thomas have blocked out their cameras again… I'd be able to reach Five before she leaves if I'm fast. Right?

...

Sam was feeling the guilt of getting Pines killed. This was the part of the job that he hated. Alice, Archie, Esteban, 8, 1, 6… all of them died on his watch. Pines would haunt his nightmares along with the rest of them. A lump formed in his throat. He rubbed his temples as he led Five out of the death trap. At least throughout all of this, he still had Five. She'd never let him down, not once, plus she had a knack for getting out of sticky situations. Even the times where he was sure she hadn't made it, she found a way to stay alive anyways. "Take the next right, and you'll be out." He saw the door through Five's head cam. At least he had saved one of them.

His heart sank to his stomach as he saw six guards burst through the door Five should've taken. "Stop!" One of them shouted.

"Five, turn around and take the next left. You can still get out if-"He was cut short by the sound of guards behind Five. She was completely and totally surrounded. "Just- just go… um…" He searched wildly on his map for a way out. There were none. She couldn't even fight her way out, she'd be dead before she threw the first punch. On his computer screen he heard a loud thud against the side of Five's head, and she fell to the ground. A gloved hand took her earpiece and smashed it. Five's cam shakily turned around and saw one of the guards pressing a foot on her back. The cam then fell to the ground again. Sam was frozen in place. His head was reeling, but he couldn't get his hands to move. She had no help, no one could reach her in time. All he could do was watch now.

Thomas had stopped calling out for Eight and was now yelling at Sam. "What do we do?! Hello? Are you still there?" His crackled voice was cancelled out by one of the guards talking with another.

"Where do you think this one's from?"

"I dunno. Really good runner, I'd say she's from one of the settlements up North a ways."

"So what's she doing here? Unless someone knows about floor -6. Do you think she knows about floor -6?"

"Possibly. Why else would she-"

The guards were cut off by another guard, a woman with a deep commanding voice. "You know what we have to do with intruders. No one can know about what we're doing, especially not someone with her skill level. Find a discrete room and put a bullet in her quick."

This finally made Sam snap out of his trance. "Wait, stop! Please!" But then he remembered that Five's headset had been destroyed. "Oh no, oh no oh no. What do I do what do I do, she can't be serious. They can't be." His hands began to shake as he searched on his keyboard for a button that would make all of this stop. Pines was dead, and he was nowhere near Five.

...

This was the longest minute and a half of Sam's life. The guards dragged a presumably unconscious Five through a few hallways and rooms. The head cam dangled and swayed back and forth, still functional. The image on his computer screen alternated between the floor, where a few drops of blood fell from just above the camera, to the feet of the guards behind her. They entered a nearly empty room, and positioned Five in the middle of it. Sam could just barely see as three out of the four guards stepped back. The fourth aimed his gun straight at Five's head. This was it, Sam thought. He couldn't muster a single breathe, but his head was rocketing at 1000 kilometers per hour. This can't be it, what do I do, what do I do, I can't just do nothing. I can't hack into any of the building's ssound systems to tell them to stop and that it was a misunderstanding, it doesn't work. I've already tried. There's nothing else to do…. Calling Janine won't do anything, or Max, I can't do a DAMN THING.

At the start, he'd wondered to himself how long this runner Five would last. He'd been in a dark place then, and had since forgotten about it. Five had shown her courage and skill time and time again, and their growing friendship pushed those doubts deep into his mind. Intense pain overwhelmed his chest. "No." He painfully choked out. He had to let Five know how much she mean to him, now that he'd talked to Maxine. But now he'd never get that chance. Sam closed his eyes and looked away, ready to hear a gunshot. He felt a tear role down his check, and then another. His face became hot and he felt a tremor rise from this chest to his throat. But what he heard made him jump.

Watching the camera intently, he heard a crack and then a spraying sound. The view was clouded by some sort of gas. Loud and quick steps and shouting were heard, and then a shuffling noise. Someone was dragging Five out of the room! He half laughed half-choked. But who was it? Sam squinted at the screen. Five's head lolled back and Sam gaped. "Pines!" The Bluepines Runner glanced at the head cam and waved.

...

Eight had had a wild adventure back underground. She'd made her way down to the sixth floor, which had taken a lot of stealth. On the way she'd spotted a room with many large tubes and a monitor with dials. "Danger", read at the top of the door. This was not the room Eight was looking for. But she eventually found the room with the computers and hard drives. This is when she heard Sam start to panic, and looked back to the drives. There were just a bunch of them lying on the table, and there was really no way of knowing which one or ones the Ministry wanted, so she quickly jammed the ones she could into her pack and headed back up (she might have also broken one or two, but she was in too much of a hurry to worry about it.) Eight tried her best to find her way back to where she an Five had been separated, even though everything looked the same to her, same walls, same creepy lighting, same corridors. That's when she heard the word "runner" and followed. when Eight saw Five with four other guards, she panicked and looked for a way out of the mess. overhead there was a few pipes, and almost without thinking she shot at them. Very dense and cloudy gas filled the room in seconds, and Eight had to applaud herself for her quick thinking. Well, maybe it was just a lucky stroke, but it yielded results none the less. But no time to waste. Eight took a deep breath and made her way through the guards, who were frantically trying to get away from the smoke. Probably a bad sign, so Eight took a note and picked up the pace. The sooner she and Five were away from the probably toxic gas, the better.

In a locked room, Eight poured some water on Five's face, and she gasped awake. It took her a second to register where she was. Her eyes were staring blankly into space, eyelids half- closed. "Pines, Five has a few spare headsets in her pack." Sam sniffed. He took a few calming breaths to steady his voice, but it wasn't working. Eight got two out and handed one to Five, who stared at it for a few seconds before taking it. It was only when she heard Sam's voice that she became fully aware of her surroundings. "Hey, Five. Are you okay? I can see your head is bleeding." He asked in a soft tone. "Can you stand? Max will fix you right up when we get you home." Five stood up with Eight's help, and was soon walking around on her own. "Uh, guys the guards have gotten back up and are coming your way. You've got to get moving. Pines, help Five if she needs it." Eight and Five left the room and began to slowly make their way up the levels. They somehow managed to avoid all of the guards and scientists.

"Pines, you're right in front of the metal door you first came in through. All of the snipers are pointed at the North East exit, but only for a short while. If you put on a burst of speed, you can make it through the South exit without being noticed." Eight took a peep through the door and saw the gate Sam was talking about. "And… go now!" Five hurtled through the door, closely followed by Eight. They got half way to the gate, then three quarters of the way, and then they were right next to it. Pines heard a single sniper shot, but it hit the brick wall and was nowhere near either of them. They made it.

...

Running with Five wasn't particularly easy. She needed to stop frequently because the pain in her head was so great, and because her vision was a little fuzzy still. A small stream of blood stained her hat and already auburn hair, and trickled from a large cut above her right eye. Sam kept reassuring her that she'd get home safe, and she'd be alright. Eight gave Five the water bottle to press against it. They passed a ravine and climbed a few steep hills. When they were five kilometers away from the building and Sam saw no one following them, they stopped for a rest. Five rubbed her head and Eight got out another bottle of water. "Jules… that was amazing." Thomas breathed. He'd been ecstatic to see that she wasn't dead. He'd left the coms station after Sam had told him she'd been shot in the head. But when he came back, there was no shortage of questions for Eight.

"It really was. If it wasn't for you, Pines, Five would be dead. We didn't get the drives, but I'm just glad you both got out alive." And Pines' head shot up, and she remembered she had the drives on her pack. She fished them out and held them up to Five's head cam. Sam started laughing and Five smiled as she rubbed her temples.

"No way! You got them!" Sam continued to laugh. And Eight felt a spark. This is the first time she'd had an independent plan that she'd actually put into practice... and it worked. "I'm going to have to get Janine and Paula here. Alright, are you two good to go?" Five held out a thumbs up and Eight nodded. Sam stopped. Five looked to be in immense pain. "Are you sure, Five? You're not looking so good. Do either of you have pain killers?" Five fumbled around in her pack and got out a bottle full of miss- matched pills."

"Oh good, you still have that Five. It's a small collection of different kinds of pain killers, Five's been collecting them for our doctor over the past few weeks. As soon as you take the pills, you'll need to get going. You've got two Shamblers on your… 9 o'clock. If you keep an even pace, you should be able to outrun them. Get home, guys. You've done a good job today."

...

Five and Eight were near Abel Township's gates. It was best for Five not travel alone because she most likely had a concussion and she said she felt light headed at times. Sam periodically asked how Five was holding up, and each time Five would reply with an ever-so-slightly irritated tone that she was still okay. But every time Eight glimpsed a hidden smile appear on her lips, secluded behind her hat so that the cameras couldn't pick it up.

Eight had never seen Abel Township in person before. The gates were larger and more fortified than Bluepines Stronghold, and the town looked like it was thriving. A watch tower stood above the gates, with four guards talking amongst each other. Each had a semi- automatic, and there was also a machine gun mounted on the railing. How exciting. Eight was to spend the rest of the day at Abel to rest up before making the day- long trip back to Bluepines.

There was a 100 yard clearing between the rest of the forest and the gates, and Five and Eight were nearly half way when Eight suddenly found herself on the ground, unable to hear. The only thing she could focus her eyes on was the ground. Everything was peaceful for a moment, and a small ant scaling a blade of grass caught her attention.

But her mind brought her back a second later to reality. She moved herself into an upright position and got a clear look at the sniper standing on the watch tower that was about to blow her brains out. What the hell is going on? Why is Abel shooting at us? Five was composing herself as well, fighting to dodge the shots and yet get close enough to Eight to pull her away. Sam and Dr. Myers were both urgently conversing and relaying instructions to the both of them.

Eight began to get up, but an immense pain like electricity tore through her body, and she fell back down. She shakily looked around and saw a large pool of blood on the ground. It was oozing from her shoulder.

"Five, Janine just left to order those Ministry imbeciles to stop. I have no idea what's going on. Pines is on the ground, oh god there's blood. Oh good, alright, Janine has gotten their attention. Now Five, get Pines." An arm wrapped around Eight's waist and pulled her up.

This time Sam spoke in a more tense tone. "Pines, can you run? You'll need to, I know it hurts, but something's gone wrong. Hell, the snipers are getting into position again, they're aiming to kill both of you, just get away! They're holding Janine back, dammit, I can hear them talking about coming in here too. I'll have to shut everything down, turn off your trackers right now guys. I don't know why, but they want you two dead. I have a feeling this whole mission was a death sentence that they didn't expect you, especially Five, to avoid."

The pain was almost too great. Eight clutched her shoulder in agony as Five jogged next to her, arm wrapped around her for support. They'd just crossed the tree line when Sam's voice sounded again. "They're about to come in, listen to me. Stay away from Abel, it's not safe anymore. Get as far away as possible, and if you can, find Jaime. He'll help you. He's the only authority high enough and with enough fire power to keep you both safe. I'll see what I can do about getting the Ministry out of Abel and finding out what they want. We'll be in touch. Now go." And with that, the loud bang of a door swinging open was heard through their headsets. "Goodbye, Five." Was the last thing he said, and then everything cut off.

...

Runner Five's heart stopped, and fury, pain, and fear overtook her body. She took after running steps forward, back to Abel, back to Sam. But… he was right. As it was, there was no one else who would come in Abel's defense if they didn't. And she and Jules didn't stand a chance. Just the two of them. Not with her wounded shoulder, and not even Five. The Ministry had the upper hand, numbers-wise, and who they held. Their best chance was to leave.

Five squeezed her eyes shut, turned back, and drew her arm around Juliette to take some of the pressure of running off of her. Five opened her mouth, and closed it. She had to find words of encouragement to liven them both up. But as she met Bluepines Runner Eight's eyes, she found that the words were more for herself than for Jules.

...

"They won't hurt him." Said Five. "They can't. He's too valuable to them." Through the pain making it hard to see, Eight recognized a scared look on Five's face. It was clear she'd rarely been without him while outside of the gates of Abel. And Sam was her best friend, yet she was trying so hard to stay composed. "C'mon. He's right, the best hope for everyone is if we don't go back." The hurt was plain in her voice. "We have a lot of ground to cover, let's get going."