Clip 4 – I Don't Think That Sounds as Good as I Think You Think It Sounds
"There," Eight said in satisfaction. "Got 'im. That was a close one." Which, I felt, neatly summed up this entire run and every moment I spent around Runner Eight. For a moment I thought about suggesting we split up – after all, in theory, we could divert even more zombies that way – but then I wouldn't put it past her to circle around and get me surrounded and leave me to perish.
And then she added, "Better stay close," as though she were thinking the very same thing about me! Hey, Eight, I'M not the one about to go grey and making not-very-veiled threats.
There was a click – I looked over and I saw her hand up to her headset, and I realized she'd turned her mic back on. "Hey there, Sam!" she said brightly.
Bitch.
"Were you worrying 'bout us?" She hacked up another bit of phlegm before continuing, "Just didn't want to irritate you with this cough, that's all."
"Never, ever, EVER, Runner 8… Runner 8, you – you know you never, EVER turn your radio off. NEVER do that! … Okay?!" At that moment, I could have kissed Sam Yao.
Fortunately for him, though, he wasn't there. Eight smirked at me. "He gets lonely without us," she quipped. I had the unpleasant mental image of Sam trying to flirt with Eight. Wonderful, I thought. Just what I needed – more nightmare fuel.
"I – I heard that!" Sam sputtered. "And it's not. About. ME. Okay? It's about keepin' you alive! Eight more've joined the pack chasing you; you're still ahead of 'em. Just – just keep going." I could picture him sitting in that beat-up rolling chair he had in his 'office,' rubbing at his temples in frustration. Could be worse, Sam. I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat.
Eight glanced up between the trees. "We're heading west. We clear?"
A groan of frustration came through our headsets. "This is why you never ever turn off your radio! There's a swarm to the west, and we think they've – UGH. Yeah. Here we go. They've heard you. That's zoms to your west, east, and – yeah, south." Eight glanced at me, and this time it was my turn to smirk. See what comes of being such an intolerably smug bitch? Not that I was any better off, despite having kept my mouth shut.
"Hmh," said Eight thoughtfully. "Well then." She looked around. The swarm wasn't visible yet, but if Sam says it's there, it's there. The one to the south of us was maybe sixty or seventy meters away, and the one to the east, that picked up on us after those gunshots, was a little farther, say a hundred meters or more.
It would be easy to blame Eight for that second pack, but the truth is, both of the zoms she picked off were sprinting at us. Oh, we could've outrun them; I'm sure five minutes all-out and we would've been free and clear of either one. Of course, we also would have lost the swarm that we were supposed to be keeping on our tail, too.
No, much as I hate to admit it, Eight made the right call in those situations.
Then she looked over at me and smiled. And while her coughing was freaking me out, with all kinds of horrible possibilities sprouting in my fertile imagination, her smile was almost worse, because I had no idea why she would be smiling at a time like this. We were being penned in by zombies on three sides, and from everything I'd heard about New Canton, they weren't a whole lot friendlier.
"Time to head north," Eight said to me. And then she winked. "I've got a plan."