I stand in front of the gates in my running gear, ready to head out once more. The Township has its regular murmurs and watchers, but I can't blame them. Most of the people gathering to watch never get to leave these walls. This is the closest thing to the outside they can get. The Township is their safe haven, but also their prison.

I grin widely at the still closed gates, anxious for this particular mission to start. After weeks of questions and over pondering we're finally going to get some answers.

"Don't do anything crazy and die on me, okay?" Caleb jokes with a grin, although I can still see the seriousness in his eyes. After me telling him about my run at the university (I left out some of the ahem, minor details) he's been the last to see me leave and the first to be waiting once I return. Usually Milo,Willis, and Penelope join him, but they are in school at this very moment.

'I'll be fine.'

"Heard that one before." He rolls his eyes before letting out a pained grunt, trying to discreetly put his hand on his chest.

I furrow my brows and stare at him in concern. 'Are you alright?'

"Yeah, yeah. Just feeling little out of breath." He forces out a very fake chuckle to which I give a harsh glare in return.

I've begun to notice more and more things like this happening to Caleb over the past week. Not this exactly, although I remember the one time I saw it before, but he gets out of breath easily somedays, and becomes dizzy and disoriented on others; Then there are days he's just fine and is helping with the construction of our home buildings or joining me on the jogs I take on the town's makeshift track.

My hard eyes bore into his wide ones, and he turns his gaze toward the ground finding it much easier to look at than me right now. The glare lingers for a few seconds as Caleb avoids facing my eyes, until I harshly poke his shoulder.

'You better not be lying to me.'

"I'm not. I'm not," He chants holding up his hands in surrender.

My eyes are still narrowed in a sharp glare, but I drop the face as soon as Dr. Meyers' quiet voice flitters through my headset.

"So, can we uh..."

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine," Sam answers, his voice somber and... sad almost. It's not something I'm used to nor is it something I like. "I'll tell them-well, how long do you think you'll need?"

'I'll see you later,' Caleb signs to me and sends me a small smile that almost looks forced. I nod silently, my eyes lingering on Caleb's figure as he turns and briskly makes an exit.

"Just a normal run should be fine," She replies, and I find my face contorting to one of discomfort at hearing the lack of optimism in her voice.

"I'll tell them it's a meds run. I know you guys are okay with supplies at the moment but I'll just say you're running low on um..." His voice trails off as he thinks silently, "condoles? Bandages? ...Condoms?"

I suppress a grin and feel my face heat slightly at his attempt to lighten the tension filled atmosphere.

"Tell them we're running low on penicillin alternates for people with allergies," Dr. Meyers tells him with a voice that's not as heavy as before. "It's true anyway."

"Okay. So then, my corrugated iron shack is yours as long as you like. And uh... call if you need me?"

"I'll be fine."

Funny how I said that only seconds ago and it meant something completely different.

"If I could find a way to let you use the equipment completely alone-" Sam starts, but the doctor cuts him off.

"I know, but-but it's okay. Runner Five could've died retrieving that box; She almost died retrieving that box, twice. If anyone deserves to know what's in it, you do, Runner Five." There's a small pause in her words. "In amongst some research notes and samples Paula left me an audio recording and um, and I'm going to play it now. For the both of us. So, Runner Five, ready?"

I place my dominant leg forward, readying myself in a position to sprint.

"Raise the gates."

The alarm fills my ears.

"Covering fire."

Then the gunshots combine with the noise.

"And... run."

Then I'm sprinting off, running nowhere in particular. My steps take me forward, but I have no destination. The lie I'll give when I return is I couldn't find any of the needed medicine, and hopefully my eye for finding things will give me something to give back to the town.

There's the sound of a door opening and clicking shut, signaling Sam has left and Dr. Meyers is just in the coms shack with me out here.

"I'll be sure to tell you if there's any immediate threat coming, but I think if it's one or two zoms you can take care of yourself."

Thanks for the confidence, I think.

Maybe she's remembering me fighting off that zombie last week. I remember the feeling of the dead, decaying skin on mine and snapping teeth trying to sink into my flesh. I feel a shiver run violently up my spine. I don't think that's something I ever want to feel or see again.

Maybe that's how scared Wesley was... although he never showed it.

He was always so brave.

"She made a CD. A CD like-like it was 1998," Dr. Meyers laughs. "I guess she thought I'd be more likely to find something to play it on, or that the rain wouldn't damage it like if she'd left me an iPod... Or maybe she wanted her iPod."

I'm surprised the CD isn't scratched. It's been out here for three years... Three years Maxine never knew if Paula was alive, and vise versa.

Except Paula still doesn't know... if she is still living and not the living dead, that is.

"Anyway, there's only one place to play a CD in this Township and that's right here." There's a deep sigh that comes through the coms link as the doctor tries to boost her confidence. "Okay, I can do it. I can do this. Here we go."

There's a small click, and an unfamiliar voice, a bit raspy and low as if sad, flows into my ears.

"Hello, sweetheart."

Dr. Meyers inhales sharply.

"If you are my sweetheart, that is. I suppose anyone could be listening to this. But I'm choosing to put that thought out of my mind."

Smart woman. I guess. Hope can be a strength and a weakness, I remind myself, slowing down my pace to pick up a... is that...

That's a baseball bat... with a hat?

I stop completely and examine it with a look of amusement, while Paula continues with her message. My face morphs into a grimace at the tone of her voice, and I shove the hat in my bag and keep hold of the baseball bat. With a deep intake of air I start going again.

"This is for my Maxi, because the phones have stopped working and I need to believe you're still alive, and that you'll hear this... one day."

Too bad she didn't know that one day would be three years later.

"I love you, and I had to tell you, darling. Best one, I want to imagine I'm telling you what I saw," She says with a water voice, and I hear a release of a shaky breath. I don't know if it comes from the recording or from Maxine. "Because when I imagine I'm talking to you, I can feel your arms wrapped around my shoulders and it makes it easier.

"I know you wouldn't judge me, or panic and you-you've always been able to make me calm when I'm afraid. I'm... so... afraid, Maxi." Paula's voice cracks and a strangled sob escapes her mouth, making me cringe in pity. "I'm just so scared. I think... oh, Maxi, I think I know who Patient Zero was."

My eyes widen at that. Patient Zero. It was a term used at Mullins, and I've heard it once or twice at the AMTB, but only in hushed whispers and stolen gossip. But no one could really know, not after all this time.

But this recording was created almost three and a half years ago. My mind reminds me. And that means...

So Paula... she might know who was the first person to ever turn zom.

•

"I'm just gonna try to tell you exactly how it was, okay? Just the facts, ma'am." That last part comes out in a horrible southern American accent and I almost feel offended until I hear Maxine's watery laugh.

"We were working on something and... well, I don't even know how to begin to explain it. If you're Maxi listening to this, you'll know what it was already, and if not, well, you're looking for research notes on VS72 in the secure facility of Tessen-Dory street. And... I don't know how you'd even get in there and there are only about fifteen people in the world who can understand those notes but..." She laughs forcefully.

I breath out in a sigh of relief, feeling much better now that I know I'm not a complete idiot. I look at my surroundings, still running to nowhere and just keeping an eye out for zombies. The scenery is bright and beautiful, besides the cooler than comfortable breeze that keeps hitting my face and threatens to release my ponytail holder from my hair. It seems so much different than what I'm hearing now. So much happier-calmer.

"If uh, Professor Van Ark is still alive you could try taking it to him, or Hubeno who I think is in Milan. Can't say I'm holding onto hope."

I squeeze my eyes shut at those words, the defeat in Paula's voice piercing at my insides. Hope is a strength and a weakness. Especially when it's hoping in other people when they can just barely control the situation.

"If you can find it all, Maxi, you've got a better chance at figuring all that out," She explains. "We were working on VS72 which we thought-I-I know it sounds crazy but you know I'm not. We thought we might help people. Really change the world; Really make things better."

I suck in a breath before releasing it in a pained sigh. That's how disasters always start-wanting to help people. Good intentions, best interests-all of it leads to the same thing: fooling around with something you don't fully understand and when it backfires...

You'd think Jurassic Park would've nailed this into everyone's head by now.

"We were supposed to... it was about cell regeneration. Like, making people heal more quickly," Paula states. "That was the end; We'd been working toward it for over ten years, and the first trials in rats were amazing. It was beyond what we'd hoped for. We saw total limb regeneration in adult rats."

I sigh, already feeling the downfall that's soon to come. Rats weren't made to regrow limbs. It's not in they're biology. Even I know that much.

"It was-well, we thought we'd win the Nobel Prize," She shudders. "We think they're going to get in soon-the people; The walking dead. We used to have soldiers here guarding us but they've been picked off one by one."

The way she says the word 'picked' makes me cringe as I run. Then her voice breaks.

"God, I miss you so much right now. I wanna be able to talk to you because I think together we could work out what to do and," She pauses to sniffle, "I miss snuggling up next to you, holding you. I miss having your arms around me, Maxine. I miss the way you smell. I'm starting to think I'll never see you again."

That's when Paula breaks out into sobs, gasping for air. It only lasts a few seconds as there's a clicking sound as the recording is paused.

"I'm sorry," Maxine says, her voice sounding drained. So drained. "I... I need to take a break."

There's nothing but silence after that. I'm guessing she just forgot to put on music, but I don't blame her. After hearing... that I wouldn't be thinking of much either.

I slow down my pace until I'm simply strolling along, since there are no zombies out in this area and I don't know when the doctor will be back. I'd rather not tire myself out now and then have to trudge along when Dr. Meyers decides to play the recording again.

My mind drifts as I think of what's been said in the recording. She said the notes on VS72 are what we're after, not what we have. And since there were only fifteen people who understood it then, what's to say those people-besides Maxine-are not dead now? Paula said if this Professor is still alive, and if it was an if then it's an even great if now.

But still, if there's a shred of hope that there's a way this disease can be controlled, then it's something worth going after. Because in this case, hope is a strength, and if... if there is no vaccine, then we'll just have to keep living like this and move on to another mystery that has yet to be solved.

Like who shot down my helicopter, for example.

"I-I'm back," Dr. Meyers sniffles. "I'm okay. Um, sorry for ditching you there, Runner Five. I just... I just needed a minute."

There's a long pause as I go back to running, waiting for her to continue.

"I'm going to... I'm going to play it now."

There's a click of a button, and then Paula's sobs return.

"We never meant any of this, Maxine. You know we didn't. It was the first human trial of our wonder drug just two weeks ago."

My eyes widen at that. Two weeks after the apocalypse started was when this was created. The infection was just starting in America. A cruise ship crashed in a harbor in New York, bringing the walking dead with it.

The AMTB was investigating where the ship had come from, but it was one of those 'around the world' cruise ships. Meaning it stopped in serval countries and the infection could've came from anywhere.

Now we know. Or well, now I know.

"It seemed like we were going to save the world."

You didn't save it but you sure did change it. I think quietly, a small twinge of anger rising as I remember all the people who've died because of this. But it's not completely their fault for some of those deaths, is it?

I grit my teeth and push away the inner voice that hisses in my ear.

"We injected fifty people with their first shots, no problem," She explains shakily. "Sent them all home, then one man-Patient Twenty-nine... His wife called; He'd started to run a fever. She brought him in, we took a look, seemed like nothing serious. We-we sent him home. God... we sent him home.

"She called again the next morning. Overnight he'd-the fever spiked. She took him to a hospital. He collapsed and they thought he'd died, and then he woke up and... bit someone."

I wipe the sweat from my face as a weight rests heavily on my chest. That was it-how it all started.

"We were so sure it had nothing to do with us. I mean, biting? Had to be rabies maybe, or-or-or mental health issues. We were so sure; Until it was too late we were so sure it had nothing to do with us.

"But Maxi, this only happened one patient out of fifty. There must've been something about him," Paula insists. "There must've been something different, but you need to find them. Patient Twenty-nine. I never learned his name. I wasn't allowed. Patient Twenty-nine.

"Go look for Pro. Van Ark's files at Tessen-Dory. Find out what was different about him. It's the only way we can start to find out what's happened."

There's the sound of gun shots, and Paula gasps loudly. There's a thud as if a hand were to hit a hard surface. And there's a few hiccups and gasps, but that's not from the CD.

"Oh... oh, it's okay. It's okay," She breathes. "They haven't broken through yet... but we think they will. Oh, Maxi. I wish I was with you right now. I wish I could go on talking to you forever, but we're all taking a turn in recording a CD for someone in hope that they'll find it. So I'll have to stop in a minute.

"I'll put this CD in a sample case with your name on it. We haven't got very far, but we've been trying to make a vaccine. There should be a way. If you find the notes on VS72 there could be a way to stop it."

Maxine's hiccups have now turned to sobs, getting louder with each sentence Paula says.

"If you find it, maybe you'll succeed where we failed," She sighs heavily. "We're going to fail. There isn't enough time."

There's a long pause, and I almost think the recording has finished, but then Paula speaks one more time.

"Maxine, this is all I really have to say: I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you."

Dr. Meyers cries openly, and I feel kind of bad for intruding on this when she's so upset. I contemplate turning off my headset for a few minutes, but decide against it knowing what Sam would say if I did do so and he found out about it.

She gasps for air in short hiccups, and there are few jumbled words that I can't understand. Each cry sends a jolt of sadness and pity through me, but even if she could understand Morse Code, I couldn't comfort her. Last time I tried it was with Sam when I first arrived and that... didn't end well.

My feet hit the ground in even steps, but the sound of it is drowned out by Maxine. I continue to run in silence, my breathing becoming more ragged but I keep it quiet because I don't want the doctor to hear, although I doubt she'd care. But I want to be as silent as possible, since I'm sure she wants to be alone.

After a few minutes her cries go down to low whimpers and small sniffles. A knock sounds on the door, but there's no click of it opening.

"Knock, knock?" Sam's muffled voice asks. "I uh-sorry, that's not the start of a joke. Actually you're probably pleased it's not the start of one of my jokes."

I can hear Dr. Meyers quickly trying to calm her crying and wipe away her tears.

"Just... there are people waiting for you," There's the click of the door opening. "Oh."

'Sam,' I tap on my headset, 'if you make her leave right now I swear to all things good-'

"I-I know. I-I'm fine," She interrupts before giving me a chance to finish. "J-just give me a minute. I'll be fine."

I hear more knocking on the door, but thankfully Sam doesn't open it. "No, you-you can't come in yet," He tells through the door. "There's been a-a... yeah, I've messed up the equipment again. Sorry."

There are angry mutters but I can't make out the words, and really I don't care to. As far as I'm concerned whoever is out there can leave, because there is no way Maxine should leave now. If she does the whole Township will know she's been crying.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry," He apologizes. "I'll sort it out. You'll have to come back in a little while though, okay?"

"Oh, no. No, it's okay. I-I can leave. It's-it's okay. There's no need to-"

"Five was threatening me about making you leave and for her to do that I think you should be able to take your time," Sam answers quickly, his voice still holding a bit of shock as if he himself is still processing my words.

"Runner Five," She says in a condescending tone.

'What? I'm not going to let you get pushed out of the coms shack after that. It's not fair.'

"Do you want me to tell you what she said?" He asks, and while I hear nothing I'm guessing she shakes her head because he doesn't. "And they'll be back in a little while... Um, do you want me to leave you alone?"

"No, stay," She answers. "I'm going to play it again."

There's a brief moment of silence.

"Um... yeah. Okay."

"Runner Five, are you alright with running a bit longer?" Maxine questions softly.

'Of course.'

Sam murmurs my answer, and only a second later I hear a familiar click as I continue my journey to nowhere.

"Hello, sweetheart."

A/N: Sad chapter, yay! I know. I'm horrible. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter and if so please be sure to vote and comment! Thanks for reading and have a blessed day!