My feet crunch against the cold, dirty snow. After a day of not being being able to walk and three without any missions, I'm out again, running for New Canton. The winter air has a different feeling to it than most days. It's not exactly bitter, but just crisp and fresh. It's something I actually don't hate. I mean, I don't enjoy it because I despise the cold, but I don't hate it either, which is new.

I smile. Maybe this is some sort of sign. I usually don't think God sends people signs, but then again, I didn't think He sent people visions in the form of dreams anymore either, and I got proven wrong on that when I dreamt about the Jeffro Complex. I almost laugh at how long ago that seems.

But I don't, because I remember Sarah was on that mission with me and Maxine, and now she's dead.

"Okay, Runner Five, straight forward mission today," Nadia says, and I feel grateful for her speaking and stopping my thoughts before they got the chance to grow darker. "You'll be road running all the way. You should get to the industrial parks in about ten minutes. There's a factory we haven't scavenged yet. Used to be a food processing plant, mostly crisps, but they have a lot of loose electronics. Who knows, you might even get a packet of crisps out of it."

I grimace. Even if there are packets of crisps left in that factory I doubt they'd still be edible since it's been over three and a half years since the apocalypse, and if they are still edible... Well, that makes me want to eat them even less.

The sound of plastic crinkling and tearing catches my attention. "Sorry," Nadia says with a mouth full of food, "talking about food got me hungry. Um, see that road sign ahead?"

I search around, but find nothing, and just as I raise my hand to answer she speaks.

"No, okay. It's fallen down. Sorry to confuse you. Well, you wanna head west towards Zebra Crossing." She pauses for a short moment while I do as told, turning west and keeping a steady pace. "Runner Thirty-seven, Jim Franklin, I don't think you've met him. Um, bushy orange hair and a mustache? He hates it when I eat while he's on a run. Says it's like rubbing his face in it; He's out with the zoms and I'm warm and safe.

"But you don't mind, do you, Runner Five?" I raise my hand to reply with a no but I don't get the chance. "You don't seem like someone who's that fussy over manners."

There's a bite in her voice that makes me flinch, but brush it off because I know why she's acting like this. And I deserve it. I deserve her hatred.

"Runner Thirteen, Eric, watch your six! There's a pack of fast zoms coming out of that silo behind you," She warns. "Sorry, Runner Five, I wouldn't want you to think I wasn't paying attention. It's just there are three missions out in the field today. We're a bigger outfit than Abel Township so we have to run things differently here.

"I know what you Abel type used to say about us. Seems like you thought we
were some kind of... I don't know, a cult crossed with a military dictatorship, which is rich if you think about it."

A frown forms on my face in confusion. 'What do you mean?'

She laughs at that. "You really don't know? You all follow that Major of yours like obedient little soldiers, and when Janine says jump... but what am I doing chattering on like this? You probably want to concentrate on the mission, especially with those three zombies shambling in from beneath that footbridge."

I look up my right and see them-all gray and dead and disgusting. I thought I might have heard them, but I was too focused on Nadia's words, and how she was disrespecting Abel and the Major and Janine. That doesn't settle well with me, but I don't voice it. I want to. I want to tell her she can trash talk me and my actions but she should shut her mouth when it comes to anyone else.

But I don't, because she's the one person keeping me safe and getting on her bad side might just lead to me getting hurt.

"I'll leave you to outrun them in peace. Try to to make it to the crossing."

There's silence; She doesn't even bother to put on a song for me, and I tsk. I guess this could be worse. I mean, if this is her form of revenge, then I'd take it without complaint, since this revenge is basically her being a little shit to me. And from what I did I'd say I got the long end of the stick. One time at the AMTB I stole a pudding cup from one of the other runners for Wes when he was sick and I nearly got shanked.

I take in a small breath and as I release it, I see the small puff of air come forth before it vanishes. I'll take whatever punishment she decides to give me, and hopefully it'll get better when Abel Township is finished with the rebuilding so she won't have to see me as much. Maybe then she can forgive me.

I look back, seeing I've outpaced the zombies. They're nothing but tiny specks now-little gray dots in the distance. I release a huff of thanks that they were only shamblers. I'd rather not test my balance skills in the snow against fast zoms like I did a few days ago. I shudder at the memory, especially the feeling of one of the zombie's finger tips brushing against my skin.

"You still with me, Runner Five?" Nadia asks only a few minutes later, and I tap out an answer while narrowing my eyes suspiciously at one of the buildings up ahead. "Don't worry about that amusement arcade to your right. I know it looks dodgy as hell but it's clear of zoms, and you're getting close to the industrial park.

" 'From each according to her abilities to each according to her needs.' You ever heard that? That's what Carl Marx used to say." She scoffs. "Funny, that stuff wasn't so popular before Day Zero, was it? Collectivism, socialism-they're about as fashionable as bell bottoms and digital watches, but now it all makes sense. Not digital watches, obviously. Those will always be stupid."

I can't decide whether to smile or frown at the mention of those things. I hated them too-digital watches, but my dad wore one, and my grandpa too, even though he had trouble figuring it out.

"But pulling together, looking out for each other. If we can't do that, there's no hope for us. That's what New Canton's all about." She sighs deeply. "Lem understood that."

I cringe.

"You remember Lem, right? New Canton runner; He died, you took his headset, pretended to be him, made me think he was still alive. Lem never saw a problem he didn't try to solve. He just couldn't leave someone else to do it. It wasn't in his nature. You see, that's how we met.

"I heard about New Canton. Used the last of the petrol to head down here... only for my van to break down right in the middle of a horde of zoms. I hid in the back, locked the doors and waited for them to tear through the metal. I've seen it happen... enough times. And they get through." She lets out a watery laugh. "No one was going to rescue me, were they? It would be suicide to try. Didn't stop Lem.

"He'd seen me lock myself in the back. Came along cool as a cucumber; Led all the zombies away." Another laugh leaves her lips, this one filled with even more pain and grief. "I was hysterical by then. I'm not a panicker, not usually, but that... hearing them out there banging on the van-not being able to see-knowing there was nothing I could do. I didn't even have a gun to take the easy way out.

"Until I heard Lem's voice I thought I was gonna die there. I was smitten right there-practically threw myself at him. But you know what? He kept his distance for months. He said I was just grateful and I shouldn't confuse it for real feelings and he wasn't gonna take advantage. That's just the kind of guy he was, and now he's dead."

The cold tone of her voice sends a stab of guilt with each word, but I keep my eyes ahead. The factory district is just a few seconds away. If I can make it there maybe she'll stop talking about him-

"He's dead and for the longest time you let me think he was still alive. You-a little girl-running around wearing his headset like it was a joke. And you are alive, Runner Five. You're still alive and I just can't see how that's fair."

I hang my head in shame, tears stinging my eyes as I rapidly try to blink them away. Trust me, neither do I.

"Well," She says calmly-coldly, "this is the industrial park. Head for that big brown building with the skylight to the crisp factory..."

Her voice is suddenly drowned out by static, and my eyes widen in fear at the thought that she's decided to abandon me without giving me the full directions.

That is, until another voice comes in. A panicked, almost terrified voice.

"Runner Five, I-I can see you on my cameras. What the hell are you doing there?" Sam's voice has fear practically dripping from it. "Never mind-never mind. Just-just get out!"

Just as that last word leaves his mouth there's a gun shot, and the moment I realize it's a gunshot there's a sharp pain on the top of my left ear. I instinctively reach up and feel warm blood, but more importantly, I don't feel the top piece cartilage of my ear.

It's just been shot off.

"Run! Go!" He shouts and I sprint for it, my left hand pressed against my bleeding ear as more guns are fired. Bullets whizz past me, and the once crisp air has turned bitter and cold. My breathing is coming out in short pants as my heart hammers in my chest.

Each step, each breath, each move is all motivated by fear. Is this one of those weird military-like cults Sarah told me about? But if so, why would they start shooting me? What could I have done to invoke their wrath? I just wanted to get some damn factory equipment.

"In case you didn't know, Runner Five, those guys shooting at you-the ones in the yellow t-shirts with 'How can I help today?' written on them-yeah, those are the Deadlocks," He informs, his voice deadly calm, that is until- "Watch out, sniper to your left!"

I jump to the side just in time to feel the rush of a bullet going past my bleeding ear. Death is walking with me right now; It's knocking at my door. All it takes is one mistake, and I'll be claimed. One mistake.

God, don't let me make any mistakes. Please.

"Now that I come to think of it, you haven't met the Deadlocks before, have you, Five?" He asks. "Because-because Abel Township always keeps its runners clear of them. All the roads of the New Town to the south of here is named after Dickens characters. That lot chasing you worked at the toy shop on Deadlock Avenue before it went all pear shaped. After that it went... went a bit Hunger Games."

He lets out a long sigh as I myself am becoming close to hyperventilating. My chest aches from the bitter cold air that keeps entering and exiting my lungs. It cools the blood that's running down my neck and prickles at my skin. Every part of me is running off of fear and adrenaline.

I duck behind an old waste bin as bullets fly by. Soon enough they'll have moved so I'll be in sight, but for now I have to stop. I have to take a moment to breathe. My chest is rising and falling and I'm gasping for air like a dying woman. With each pained gasp a bullet is fired.

"Everyone knows to steer clear of Deadlock territory and that they've been moving east into the factory district. Isn't that right, Nadia?"

"No," She answers immediately, but her voice says it all. She knows she's been caught. "Of course, I didn't know that. How could I-"

"Don't lie to me! Intel about the factories went up on Roufflenet a week ago! We're supposed to protect the runners!" I flinch when his voice cracks. "That's our job! You sent Runner Five here to die!"

The knowledge hurts. It hurts to know that she hates me that much, but I can't dwell on it. I have to run.

I grab the top of the waste bin to pull myself up. I haven't really caught my breath-not by a long shot, but I have to keep moving. And I've got enough rest to be able to keep moving, and that's enough.

But the second I leave my protection-the second I start to run, I make a mistake.

I don't move fast enough.

It's just a second behind, but it's enough for a bullet to go straight through my left forearm. My mouth opens in a silent scream of pain just as Nadia counters back at Sam.

"So what if I did? You shouldn't have let me think Lem was still alive! You should never have let me think that!"

"Grow up!" He spats. "We've all lost someone; Everyone has! That's the-that's the world now! That's just the way it is! What gives you the right to-oh, damn it. I'm losing sight of you Five, but they're-they're all around."

His voice has taken a much gentler tone, although there's still terror within it. "Uh, see that building straight ahead-the one with all the broken windows? Go inside. It's the only chance. Hurry! Run!"

I keep going, my right hand wrapped around my forearm. My hand covers one side of the hole but not the other, and even then the sticky, crimson liquid slips past my fingers. I reach the building, but I don't bother to open the door. It will take too much time. That one second delay will get me killed, so I do the next best thing, which is also a really dumb thing to do.

I jump in through the window.

Fortunately, the broken glass only rips my pants, and I land on my right side instead of my left, but the landing still hurts like hell.

I crawl over to the back wall and remove my long sleeved shirt to finally examine the damage. It's a clean hole straight through my forearm. It's bleeding furiously, but at least I won't have to dig the bullet out. The cold would have slowed the bleeding down if my heart wasn't pounding like a drum.

I ignore the cold as I tear off the sleeve, and then tear it into two pieces. One to wrap tightly just below my elbow to stop the blood flow, and the other to cover the wound. My ear still bleeding but losing that little bit of cartilage won't kill me. I don't think the other wound will either, but it hurts way more and is bleeding way more so I take that as a sign to make it my top priority.

"Runner Five?" Nadia calls timidly. "Runner Five, can you hear me? Uh, look, I was just playing a little joke on you."

"Haha, you're dead, Runner Five. Very funny-not. Not funny. Not a joke." I can hear it in his voice. He's seething. I've never heard Sam this angry, but it changes instantly when he addresses me. "Uh, just listen to my voice, Runner Five."

"Maybe it got a bit out of hand, but I wasn't trying to... I just wanted you to see what it was like-not being able to trust what I saw or heard. We rely on trust out here. You used that against me."

"Runner Five, I've got no cameras inside," He says, ignoring her comment. "If you can hear me then... tap on the mic or something."

I raise my right hand to tap out a reply, but the mic isn't there. My eyes slide to the other side of the room, where the broken off piece of the microphone lays. It must have broke off when I jumped in through the window.

Jesus on a boat!

"No, I guess not," He mumbles.

"I think that last sniper shot-" Nadia starts.

"Runner Five is fine. She's fine... The building must be-it must be blocking the broadcast."

I take in a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart and stinging lungs. Thankfully the bleeding has already started to slow down, but I can feel a tiredness flow through my body in waves. I rest my head against the back wall as my rapid breathing begins to slow. With my heart rate at a normal level I should bleed less, especially with the makeshift bandages and the cold, but as soon as I start running it will start to bleed more, so I can only pray Sam will find a way out for me quickly.

"You know, I never said the park was safe. If your runner had kept her eyes open to her surroundings then-"

"So what do you think would happen if an Abel runner died, and a New Canton runner found their headset? You think they'd have just left it there?"

"They wouldn't have pretended-"

"They would! You know they would!" Sam interrupts. "Anyway, Lem gave Runner Five the headset; I heard him. He wanted Abel to have it, but-but you don't care what he wanted."

"He... is that true?"

Why are you asking me? My mic is broken. I don't want to move from my spot. I can hear gunshots from the outside, as if they're shooting at every shadow they think might be me.

"Yes. You never bothered to ask, did you? And you never bothered to ask yourself, 'hey, if I kill Runner Five, will people actually miss her?' Because if you had the answer would be yes! If you have forgotten, she has three children-one of which is now mentally disabled-who love and look up to her! She has multiple friends who really care about her and would probably do anything for her! I'm sure she has someone who loves her very much, just like you loved Lem! She has people who would miss her! Did you ever think of that, Nadia?"

There's a very long moment of silence.

"No, I didn't think so. I-I think you should just-just stop talking now. Runner Five, if you can hear me, ignore Nadia. Just uh, just head for the exit due north. The Deadlocks don't seem to know about that one."

I push myself to my feet, careful not to put any weight on my left arm. I awkwardly slip on my now one sleeved shirt, knowing as soon as I step outside I will feel the difference. I go north as Sam says, and I can hear the echo of my footsteps as I walk. I blink, trying to push away the slight dizzy feeling that fogs my brain.

But even with the slight brain fog, I still notice the weird tube looking things connected to a machine near the exit. I think it's a nozzle or something close to it. My fingers twitch, and even though I know I'm going to regret wasting the time to do this I head over to the machine, pull out the nozzles, and shove them into my backpack to the best of my abilities, which with one hand is not that great, especially since these things are huge. But it's close enough for now.

I reach the door, and I have to push with basically everything except my left arm to get the door open. The loud screech of metal scraping against metal makes me cringe, but the terrible sound and how it affects me disappears when I step outside and hear Sam shout with joy. I hide my arm behind my back, knowing he'll throw a fit and probably call Nadia back into the channel just to start cursing at her if he sees this on his cams.

"Yes, Runner Five, I see you!" He cheers, and a second after there's a gun being fired... and then another and another. "But you're surrounded. Just-just run."

I take off, trying to do that zig-zag motion of running in order to keep from getting shot. My heart rate is already starting to pick up, and I can see the blood already beginning to soak through the fabric. The cold helps, but not by much. It makes the pain slightly more bearable so I guess that counts for something. Funny, I think this is the first time I've ever been hit by an actual bullet.

Of course, I've been shot at before, but I always made it out alright. It may have grazed across the skin but I can't say I've ever been shot, until now. The closest thing to getting shot before this was getting hit by a paintball when I was playing the game with my church group.

"Just listen to my voice, Five. You're going to be alright. I'm going to get you out of here, okay? You're not going to have a single scratch on you when you get out of here, alright?"

I glance down at my injured arm that is hidden from the camera's view, and I feel another droplet slowly trickling down my neck. Bit too late to make such a promise now, Sam.

As I run, I can hear my heart as it beats in my chest. It's a fast, steady pace that just about matches the one of my feet pounding into the ground, making a slight crunching noise against the snow. Fear and the will to survive is what keeps me going, even as little drops of blood seep through the fabric, falling from it to bounce off the snow.

I never really thought there could be different types of fear-when fearing for your life, I mean. I thought it was just an 'I don't want to die and in this situation I just might' fear. But this fear is different than the one that has its fingers in me a few days ago. Maybe the fear of humans is different just because they're still human, and the zombies are just rotting flesh bags who can't stop looking for food. Maybe that's why this fear is different.

But it is. It isn't stronger or more fearful, it's just different.

But either way, fear is fear, and I am afraid, because even though I may deserve it, I don't want to die.

My thoughts don't linger on that for much longer though. My ears perk up when I notice sounds of gunfire is fading, and it keeps fading, and fading.

Until it's just silence.

"Hey, Five," Sam says softly. "Whatcha find in there? Some... what are those sticking out of your backpack? Giant crisp spraying nozzles or something? I don't know how you managed to shove them all into your backpack but that's-that's great work."

My backpack is bigger on the inside. I think with a grin. Like the... damn, what was that thing from Doctor Who called again...? This is why I stick with American jokes. It's like the Ms. Frizzle's pocket. Yeah, that's something I can relate it to.

"Hey! Runner Five, over here!"

I look to the right at hearing the familiar voice, and I faintly smile when I see Archie running towards me. I quickly hide my injured arm behind my back.

"Careful, Five," Sam warns. "She might be in on it."

"I heard that," She says in offense once she reaches me. "In on what?"

"Oh, you know. Nothing major. Just your friend Nadia trying a spot of murder."

"I'm not in on anything. I was on a nice, peaceful run-going to check out another one of those weird, empty campsites. You know, those campsites with all the cloth hitched knots. Anyway, I saw Runner Five heading into the factory area and I thought, 'That's stupid. We all heard a week ago that the Deadlocks had moved in there and-' wait, Nadia tried to kill Runner Five?"

'Yes,' I sign.

"I know she was angry about Lem but..." She shakes her head. "No, she didn't."

"She did," Sam murmurs.

I nod in agreement and show her my injured arm, and push back the hair that's come loose from its ponytail to reveal my ear, and Archie gasps. "Oh, Runner Five. That looks terrible."

"What? What looks terrible?" Sam questions. His voice has gone from angry to afraid in only a few seconds. "I'm can't see what's wr-oh, my God. Five, why didn't you tell me you were injured? Never mind, just... God, this makes me even more upset at Nadia than I already am."

"Well, even though she did try to kill her, she obviously didn't succeed so-so that's alright, isn't it? All friends again?" Archie asks as she grabs my hand, leading me down a small path through the trees.

"What?"

"Bygones can be bygones. Old wounds under the bridge of traveled water," She shrugs as we approach the stream. "This way, Runner Five. Don't worry about the stream; It's not as dirty as it looks, although is that a... foot?"

I grimace as I follow her.

"Never mind. Just ignore it and keep going. The Deadlocks don't know about this route. Lem found it actually."

"Yeah, Saint Lem," Sam sighs sarcastically.

"He was a very nice man, and he saved Nadia's life."

"So what? If it wasn't for the Major I wouldn't be here either."

"Exactly," She states with a grin, "and what would you do if she asked you?"

"I wouldn't murder someone!"

Archie hums and presses her lips firmly together as we exit the stream. "No, well, this is not so nice. It's true."

"Listen, Five," Sam sighs, "as much as I would love for you to say goodbye to Archie and come back home, I know you need to have those injuries treated and New Canton has the medical supplies to do so, but as soon as you're fixed up I want you back at Abel Township.

"I'm not leaving you there, not after that. And I don't care if we don't have space; We'll make some, even if you have to sleep with Janine. Well, not sleep-sleep... You know what, it doesn't matter. I-just go to New Canton to get fixed up and then come home. I want you home."

A/N: Here it is. I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. I hope you enjoyed it and please be sure to vote and comment. Thank you and have a blessed day!