When I get back I'm breathless, sweaty, and my legs feel like jello, but adrenaline is still pumping through my veins, keeping the tiredness away from me for a bit longer. My lungs burn as my mind whirls with thoughts.
New Canton plans on raiding us. Maxine has found something on Patient Twenty-nine's files.
New Canton plans on raiding us.
Maxine has found something on Patient Twenty-nine's files.
The two statements replay in my head over and over again, and even as I see Caleb and the trio excitedly waiting my return I can't force a smile on my face.
"Hey, Runner Five," Caleb greets. "Looks like you got quite a workout."
His brows furrow when I just keep breathing heavily, my eyes still wide and panicked. "H-hey, what's wrong?"
'I probably shouldn't say anything-'
"You look like you've seen a ghost, Five," He says insistently. "Tell me what's wrong?"
"Are you okay, Five?" Willis asks, and I internally wince at the concern in his eyes as well as Milo's and Penelope's.
'I'll be fine,' I answer, giving a very stiff half-shrug for emphasis.
"Hey, no. I'm not letting you keep this from me too," Caleb says sternly before turning to the children. "You three, go over there or anywhere that's not here. Five will talk to you later."
'I don't know if I am allowed to tell you just yet-'
"Nuh-uh," He grabs my wrists to keep me from signing. "Penelope, Willis, Milo, go over there."
"But-" Willis starts, but the redhead is quick to stop him.
"Obey your elders. Go. You can come back in a few minutes."
The three do as told, walking around one of the little tents with the two boys grumbling about how Caleb is only a few years older than them. As soon as they are out of sight Caleb turns his eyes to me, and I sigh.
'I was listening to New Canton's com link through the headset Lem gave me. He was a New Canton runner. He was bit so he gave me his headset to not waste tech, and became I had tried to save his life.'
"I remember you telling me a bit about that," He nods, waving his hand to prompt me to continue.
'I heard over the transmissions that New Canton is planning on raiding the Township.'
He breathes in deeply, nostrils flaring and eyes widening in surprise. "When?"
'Next month.'
"Janine should have something thought up by then, although I guess it would be good to keep that quiet for a while to not cause panic," He murmurs, but then his eyes study over my face, shifting every few seconds. "There's something else."
I nod slowly, my breathing just now becoming regulated. 'I can't tell you though. It's progress on something else that we were working on.'
He presses his lips together firmly in annoyance, but doesn't push for it. Instead he takes my hand into his own."Fine, don't tell me about one of your super secret missions, but be careful when you go to look into it, okay? Please."
I nod, just ready to pull my hand away to reply when the noise of someone clearing their throat stops me from doing so. The two of us both turn towards the sound to find Sam standing nearby wearing an expressionless face.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Five, you're needed," He says, not sounding all that sorry. Im fact, he doesn't sound sorry at all.
"What for?" Caleb asks.
"Super secret mission stuff," Sam answers with a shrug before looking at me expectantly. I pull my hand out of Caleb's grasp and quickly walk over to Sam, who gives me a small smile and motions for me to follow him.
Our walk is silent, but comfortable. Each step and each breath is relaxed and at ease, at least, Sam's are. My steps are a bit more mechanical and my breathing slightly more ragged, but only because of the thoughts that keeps my mind blinking about like a traffic light.
Even with that we reach our destination fairly quickly, where Maxine and Sarah are waiting for us at the entrance. I remember the last time I was here was for an interrogation.
'Before we go in here for whatever reason I have yet to be told, how does Runner Eight even know about this?' I question with a raised brow. 'She never went on any of these runs.'
Maxine goes to speak but Sarah cuts her off before she can even start. "I don't have to be a genius to know what you must be asking. I know a lot of things, Five. That's what happens when you're well trusted."
I frown slightly as she opens the gate to the armory and leads us inside. We head into one of the buildings-similar to the one I was in before when I was questioned-and I groan when I again see no actual weapons in the large and overly bare room. Sarah walks over to a door on the other side of the room and swipes a card over it, causing the door to slide open with a loud groan.
"Follow me," She instructs before walking through. I send a look to Sam and Dr. Meyers but neither of them seem wary.
That doesn't mean I shouldn't be.
We both follow her through the door and down the staircase that's behind it, and for a moment there's no sound but our feet tapping against the steps, but Sam thankfully speaks and breaks the silence.
"They never usually let me down here, you know," He tells me with a shrug, and Sarah is quick to cut in.
"They wouldn't be letting any of us down if we weren't in urgent need."
"Can't they just... bring this stuff up out of the armory? Just give us what we need?"
"Well, it's not protocol, apparently," Maxine says.
"And we can't change the rules?" His question comes back hesitantly, and when Sarah turns to give him a pointed look he gives a nervous and fearful smile.
"Not while the Major is away," She replies, and I clench my jaw at the fact that I still haven't met this Major, or really heard much about her at all. "And you know as well as any of us since New Canton's on the point of raiding us, this is no time to be changing things.
"Besides, you're all three security cleared. Even you, Five."
I scoff with both brows highly raised. Even me?
"So, that means you're allowed to see..." Her voice trails off as we reach the end of the hallway and she swipes her card on a pass key, causing another door to slide open and revealing a room full of-
"All the weapons," Sam breathes as we enter the room.
"Those are quite some weapons," Maxine nods, quite impressed, but so am I. For such a small town Abel is fully stocked and ready to defend themselves.
And Sarah says there wasn't enough to go around.
"Yes," The said brunette nods, "but the real problem is ammunition. None of these are any good if we run out of bullets. Now where's the-I'm sure it was right here."
She starts searching for something that has yet to be named, while Sam gasps quietly before giggling like a little kid.
"Is-is that a gun turret from a tank?"
She shrugs in reply. "Might come in handy. Aw, here it is." She smiles and picks up one of the guns, and I cock my head to the side. I remember the look of this one vaguely from the AMTB, but I myself was never allowed to touch it. None of the runners were.
"This one has infrared and even ultra-violet sight. It'll come in handy with your file. Do you have it?"
"I got it here," Maxine says, holding it tightly in her left hand. She opens it and scan over the pages. "The details of Arthur Gurkin, our suspected Patient Zero in the zombie outbreak."
Sam hums in reply as he peers over the tall woman's shoulder to see the file. "It's heavily edited."
She nods and gives the file to Sam. "Whole pages removed-"
"But some just covered in black maker." Sarah grins and turns on the ultra-violet light. "That's where this baby will help out."
She points the gun at the file and Sam swallows nervously. "Um, is it a good idea to point a gun at this file? This file that I am holding to my fragile, bullet-penetrable body?"
I bite my lip to hold in a voiceless laugh. A small part of me wants to ask if he'd like to switch places, but it's amusing to watch him squirm.
"It's not loaded," Sarah sighs but then smirks, "I don't think. Hold still. Doc, do you see that?"
"Yeah, the writing does come clear."
"And no entries?" Sam squeaks, and this time I do laugh, which earns me a glare that only makes me giggle more.
"There's not much to go on," Maxine answers, and Sarah shrugs.
"Got to start somewhere."
"So maybe there-Gurkin's last known place of work," She points to the file, and I squint to see the words.
"Which the man with the I'm sure not loaded gun would like to know is?" Sam questions.
'Simpson's Corner Shop in...' I squint and lean a bit closer, 'Hurtston.'
"That's about five kilometers from here."
I close my eyes for a short moment, breathing deeply since I know what's about to be said and who's about to say it.
"I guess Runner Five and I are going for a run."
•
"Raise the gates! Covering fire."
"You and me, Five," Sarah grins. "Time to go."
She sprints off, and after a second I'm racing after her as the sound of gunshots fill my ears and the bullets fill the zombies.
"Good luck to both of you and remember, it's incredibly important that we find out everything we can about Patient Zero," Maxine states. "He was the first person to ever turn zombie. If we're going to create a vaccine we need to know how this plague started and what was unusual about him."
'And I'm guessing his workplace will give us clues?' I ask using Morse Code.
"Vital clues," Sam says. "Get there as quickly as you can; We are counting on you... and by 'we' I mean all of humanity."
No pressure or anything, Says my inner voice with a very sarcastic laugh.
"Run safely; Run fast."
The sound of music fills my ears shortly after, and fortunately for me that's all I hear. No zombies and no Sarah.
With each step I think on what we might find at this corner shop, or worse, what we might not find. What if all it is is just a corner shop? Nothing special, or different, or informative... that thought scares me, because it will mean this would be a wasted trip, and we'll be back to square one.
"You're scared we're not going to find anything, aren't ya?" Sarah questions, her voice shocking me out of my thoughts. I send her a questioning look, which is mixed with an annoyed glare. She simply smiles in reply.
"Your emotions are all on your face, honey. You might want to work on that if you want to keep all those secrets you've got locked up."
I blink, my bottom lip jutting out in a nearly nonexistent pout. I thought I was good at hiding my emotions... Maybe Eight's just good at reading people.
"You're going strong, Runner Five and Eight," Sam cuts in. "You've covered about a fifth of the distance to Hurtston."
"I only wish I could be out there with you," Maxine chuckles.
"Five and I will be your eyes and ears on the ground, Maxine. We could keep running all day."
Speak for yourself. I did have a run just before this one. By the time we're done I'm going to be out like a light.
"How're the zoms looking?"
"Thick on the ground a bit to the east of you," Sam answers. "Keep a look out. Uh, you know that when you pass three K we'll-"
"Yes, yes, we know. No cameras in this direction three K from Abel-"
"I said that because Five has never gone in this direction. Didn't know if she knew."
'I didn't, so thanks,' I say, and there's a certain noise that tells me Sam's smiling.
Sarah rolls her eyes. "The head cams are working, right? And transmission?"
"Picture's a bit grainy but we're getting the gist." A loud growl causes me to look back, and I scowl at the sight of the three zombies staggering after us. "But we won't be able to warn you like, you know, like right now that you've picked up a couple of zombies."
'Yes, I see that,' I answer with an eye roll, while Sarah says basically the same thing in confirmation.
"Come on, Five," She says. "Further to go before we rest."
I look back at the zombies trailing behind us. They're not exactly slow, but by no means are they running. The fact that two of them are missing a foot and one has most of it's left leg trailing behind it keeps them from getting too close. I would think of taking them out myself but my body is beginning to strain from this run and it would be three against one since I don't think Sarah would want to waste bullets.
We continue running for about ten minutes, carrying on in silence or the closest thing we have to it since 'Moves Like Jaggar' is blasting in our ears. I never got the context of that song until now and I'm slightly appalled by its true meaning.
Thankfully after it ends a much... nicer song comes on and I allow myself to keep my eyes forward and my thoughts positive, or neutral at least. I find it easy to distract myself by watching the ground for any trinkets, or crawlers.
Whichever works. Either one will add some excitement to my day-not that this day has been boring. Honestly it's been everything but.
Sadly, I find nothing but a broken cell phone, but still I keep it just in case it could be used in someway. Plus if not I could add it to my collection of things no one has any use for. Penelope says I'm like the little mermaid for collecting things.
I even have the missing voice.
"So, Runner Five and Runner Eight will be doing what after the get back to Hurtston?" Maxine inquires once the song stops playing. "Running straight back?"
"No," Sam laughs. "No, no, no, no, no, no... no."
'That's a lot of no's, Sam,' I say, wondering what the hell he's talking about because I myself was expecting to return to Abel after this.
"Oh, shut up, Five. Anyway, there's a farm on the outskirts of town; They've agreed to take them in for the night in exchange for..." He sighs in what almost sounds like embarrassment.
"What?" The doctor questions.
"I may have found them the complete Benny Hill on hard drive," He mumbles, and there's a brief silence that follows.
"The complete... Benny Hill?" She repeats before sputtering in laughter. "I knew it! I knew all that, 'none of us really like Benny Hill, Maxine. I don't know why you yanks think we do.' I knew it! I knew that was just a cover up!"
I feel a smile making its way in my face, but it quickly drops as my mind stops on something. Wait, yanks?
"Very, very few English people like Benny Hill."
"Mhmm, yeah-except for the inhabitants of this perfectly ordinary farmhouse in Hurtston who are prepared to trade life saving supplies for just a taste of-"
"Yeah, yeah, alright," He sighs in exasperation. "Runners Five and Eight you've just nearly lost those zoms and you look to be clear. You're going strong."
Sarah smirks at me then points to her headset. "Actually, I think it's quite funny how-"
"That's enough from you. Got to uh, conserve battery life. We'll check in again soon."
Then the music comes back for us to hear, but there's something else I can hear in the distance. It's familiar, but with the music blasting in my ears it's drowned out and muffled. I glance over at Sarah, but she doesn't seem to notice anything, so I mark it down as my mind playing tricks on me to pass the time.
Without any fear of being eaten alive, I'm beginning to notice the soreness in my legs and just how heavily I'm breathing. Of course, I have ran longer than this, but the entire time I did fear for my life, and I passed out as soon as I reached safety. I don't exactly want to have a moment like that ever again.
But now I am quite thankful that I'll be spending the night in Hurtston, since running back would feel completely dreadful. Although I'm not too excited about sleeping in Hurtston with Runner Eight being the only person I actually know.
After about five minutes of running I notice the sound is a lot louder now, and I hesitantly push my headset to the side and I recognize the sound immediately. It's the sound of chopper blades whirling.
What the...
"You're over half way and you're just starting to... uh, yeah, you'll very soon be out of our visual scan range," Sam says and I'm quick to place my headset back into it's normal position.
"How're we looking walking dead wise?"
Why did you have to add that last part? 'Walking dead wide?' You could have just asked, 'how're we looking?' If you did I doubt Sam would say 'sexy, almost like you're not even trying. I mean, you are trying, but not that hard.'
"There are four-no, just three behind you, but they're quite away back," He pauses briefly. "Wait, do-Maxine, do you think that's..."
I can hear the sounds of the chopper much clearer now, but I can't see it. I look ahead at the trees that block my view and squint in attempts to see something, but the sun is shining brightly in my eyes which makes it hard to see anything really.
"It looks like a chopper," Maxine states, "low to the horizon in the direction the runners are heading. Do we have any notification that Mullins sent anything out?"
"No, there's nothing. They've been leery of sending out since that rocket launcher attack."
'That we still don't know who's responsible for it,' I pipe in quickly.
"It's not like we're not trying," Sam mutters before Maxine speaks again.
"Might have they sent it without telling us?"
The chopper rises upwards, the sun still keeping us from getting a good look at it but we know it's there. And I can tell automatically it's not from Mullins. They always mark their choppers with a symbol of a cheetah in blue paint. Don't know why they came up with that symbol or the reasoning behind it but that what they put on their helicopters and vehicles.
"I can see it now. I think it's heading towards us, Sam, and getting closer," Sarah pauses and places her hand onto her forehead to shield her eyes. "Are they... watching us?"
"Well, they couldn't," Maxine insists, "No one knows that you two are coming, right?"
"Only those guys at the Hurtston farmhouse," Sam answers.
"Who you spoke to on a...?"
"Yeah, an open channel," He sighs deeply. "Yeah."
God, Sam, you can be such an idiot! I swear you're lucky you're cute, and that I want to actually do something important.
"This doesn't seem like good news," Sarah murmurs, staring at me with slightly worried eyes.
"And you've picked up more zoms because of the noise. You need to get away as quickly as possible. Run!"
A/N: Hello. Here's the new chapter everyone! Please be sure to tell me what you think and remember to vote! Thanks and have a blessed day!