A/N: I've never been able to figure out why, but fate tends to favor the clumsy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zombies, Run!
Perspectives
Chapter Four: Sugar Sweet
(People were so rude sometimes. Really.)
He looked heart broken, pulling his shirt on. She'd gotten used to seeing him with a daydreamy haze over his face that the change was painful to see.
She knew what most the Abel population said about him, but from what she'd seen he was really just unbearably sweet and maybe a little clueless. She'd met the cold, aloof type before and Five just didn't fit that way.
He was more decent than a good number of the population in her eyes. Always polite. Always volunteering. Always ready to play the bad guy when the children wanted. Always willing to cut into his six hour allotted rest to help watch Molly. Always willing to help her up after a nasty tumble, and only ever laughing good naturedly. She'd met those cold types before. If there was anything Five wasn't, it was cold. Once you got to know him he was almost cavity inducing.
That was probably why watching him walk towards the runners housing sans headset rather than going to see Ed and Molly and using up one of his rest hours seemed so disheartening. It was like something had drained all hope and happiness out of the man.
She frowned as she watched people pass him, pointedly ignoring him and waited just in case.
Nothing.
For a township that often cried hero as soon as he ran through the gates, no one said anything. Terrible people the lot of them. She watched as one man glared as Five stumbled, not offering to help him up. She remembered that man. He was the one who had nearly dislocated Five's shoulders trying to get his pack off a few days back so he could try and squirrel away some extras for himself. Janine had put a stop to that.
Knitting in one hand, she jogged up beside the clearly upset man and let her mouth run wild. Thanking him for bring her new yarn and asking how his run for Maxine went and doing her best to cajole a smile out of him. It worked. A little.
This close she could see the dark, bruise-like circles under his eyes and prayed that maybe he was just tired.
He stopped, staring at her with his head cocked a shade off to the side.
"Have you maybe messed with your headset today?"
"That's a silly question! Of course not."
"It's just," he was mumbling and kicking at the dirt, "I think you may have accidentally turned it off?"
Now it was her turn to stop. She reached up and felt at the volume knob and twisted it. Sure enough, Sam's voice was calling asking where she was.
"Oh! Oh no! Have to run! We'll talk more later, yes?"
She ran back to her pack, pushing her project inside and scrambling towards the gate. She needed to get there fast. And if the hat came undone just a bit, that was okay.
She set aside thoughts of Runner Seven's new hat. After this run she had a different project to work on anyway. He and Eighteen were going to have to wait. If they asked, she was just being practical. It was chilly in the mornings and Five hadn't received a scarf yet. She hoped he liked green.
It would be the first thing she worked on. After the mission.
Fun Fact: Another mission ending for Entertainment Run has Sam telling you how excited Runner Four was going to be about all the knitting supplies you've found and how that was going to make Runner Seven happy because she promised him a new hat. Then he tells you that will make Runner Eighteen happy because he gets Seven's old hat and that you have basically created a cascade of happiness around the township.
According to The Runner's Guide, runner's are required to wear their head-sets for all but six hours of their day. The six hours they are not wearing them, they are being charged. Those six hours are considered their rest hours.
