"Thank you," Jody says with a grin as I hand her her lunch, which today is apple slices, what I think is canned chicken, and a piece of bread that's actually good since we found the ingredients to make it ourselves. It's not perfect, mostly because Francesca put me in charge of making the bread so she could stock up the new supplies. She said something about running low on canned beans, which is odd because I know I saw some the other day...

But she didn't yell at me when the bread didn't rise completely, although I'm guessing that's because of the look Sarah gave her while cutting apples. I've noticed Eight has been a lot nicer to me lately; She's not exactly friendly, but polite and... almost protective. I think it's because of what I said when we spent the night at Avery and Travis's home. I don't think we will ever become friends though. We may become closer, but not friends.

The sound of footsteps approaching causes me to look up, and I give a closed lipped smile as I see Chris McShell, although he doesn't return it. His focus is on getting over to the kitchen area without dropping his notes.

Countless papers are cluttered and crinkled in his hands, and his glasses are about a second away from slipping off his face. With his blond hair sticking straight up as it is I would think with a lab coat he'd look exactly like a real life version of Cornelius Robinson.

"Hello, Runner Five," He greets, and while I know he's expecting his plate, he is barely able to keep a grasp at what he has already.

My hand reaches out to grab the notepad and pen nearby; Francesca gave it to me, saying she needed to trust what I was saying or something like that. I'm not too sure. I was too busy thinking about how weird she is to listen.

'Do you want me to carry your plate to a table for you? I'm done anyway,' I scribble down, and it's true. Chris is one of the last to come get food.

As his eyes scan the words through his lopsided glasses, I half expect him to say no, like most people do in movies. Then they try to do it all themselves and end up epically failing and then get help, but to my surprise he smiles and nods.

"Yes, that would be quite helpful, actually."

He starts shuffling toward one of the nearer picnic tables, clutching onto his papers and notes like his life depends on it. I grab his plate, my notebook and pen and head out of the kitchen, following behind him calmly and causally. Chris drops all of his notes on the picnic table with a sigh and immediately starts to sort them out. I place his plate on a spot that isn't taken up by paper.

"Thank you." He doesn't take his eyes off his notes as he takes a bite of bread. "I didn't really want to eat-would rather be reviewing everything-but I will need my energy when I go on my run today."

'Halloween run?' I slide my notepad to him, just overlapping the corner of the note he's currently reading. After he reads my question, he finally looks up at me.

"No, I'm actually going to be doing a study on the zombies, which is why I'm reviewing the notes," He explains.

I nod and take a seat beside him, listening with interest.

"I have a theory on their movements as a group. If I can time their smaller movements, then maybe I'll find a pattern and be able to pinpoint where they'll be going and what exact movements they'll do next."

I nod, feeling a small smile appear on my face, which Chris is quick notice. "What's that grin for?"

'I'm just thinking on how Sam is going to fangirl over you saying that.'

A bubble of laughter leaves his throat. "Yes, I'm sure he would be interested in what I have to say, but he won't be on coms when I run today."

My head naturally tips to the side. 'Maxine then?'

"On these statistics runs I run alone. Completely alone." He's sure to punctuate the word 'completely', and my eyes go big at that.

'You don't have anyone to warn you about approaching zoms?'

"I don't need a warning if they're what I want to see. I have to be around them to study them."

That's terrifying, I think, still watching him with shock. Either he's very brave or very stupid to go without a radio operator, but he's stayed alive this long so I don't think I need to question it. Instead, another thought pops into my head.

'Chris, I have a question about when you stayed at New Canton? Did you know anyone named Chrysalis Gracier?' The writing is scribbled down quickly, and just barely readable, but by the way Runner Ten's eyebrows furrow together he was able to get the gist for the most part.

"I knew her... She looks like you, which was why I reacted the way I did when I first saw you. I was... surprised. I thought you were her."

'Since you did know her, did she ever mention weird dreams where she was someone else?' I hesitate in giving him the note, because I know I'm testing dangerous waters. One wrong word and I'll have the biggest genius here in Abel calling me a nutcase.

"No, she never mentioned anything like that to me. She was friends with a runner named Lem-Runner Thirty-eight, and Dr. Lobotse, so I don't know if she would have told them anything but she never mentioned anything to me."

The feeling of disappointment washes over me, knowing that I'm the only one having-well, had-these dreams that told about the past or future.

Maybe I am a Prophetess...

"I'm sorry, Five, but I have to go. I have a run to prepare for and notes to study." Chris stands up quickly, and I glance over at his plate and frown.

He's barely taken two bites of it.

"Don't worry about that. I'm fine," He says as if reading my mind. "The only thing good about it was the bread anyway."

•

I wipe a rag across my headset, watching as the materiel picks up any previous droplets of water that was on it. Finally, after twenty minutes of wiping and scrubbing, my headset is clean. I slip it on to see if there's anything that still feels wet, but there is none, which makes me grin with delight.

If only that smile lasted.

My headset clicks on, and a voice comes through. It doesn't surprise me; It's the voice I'm used to hearing, but the tone-the emotions woven with it-is something I'm not used to hearing. Not like this.

"Runner Five, we need you to report to the gates for um, yeah-yeah, a pretty unimportant assignment. Just a-a thing." Sam's voice is shaky, as if he's tearing up or his throat is clogged with them.

'I thought this was my day off,' I reply, but still start making my way toward the gates. The more I walk through the Township, the more people I see muttering and mumbling to themselves, as if something's happened... Something bad.

"Yeah, I-I know but this is just a small, unimportant mission."

"No," Maxine interjects, "it's important."

I swallow thickly as I stop at the gates, my mind already honing in on one possibility that has people acting this way-that has Sam nearly in tears. I don't want to think about it, but I'm not stupid enough to believe this is because of anything else.

Someone's dying, or is already dead.

"Yeah, okay," He says in a low voice. "It's important, but um, just uh-"

"Raise the gates?"

"Yeah, raise the gates! Covering fire. Runner Five, ready?" He asks, and I tap out a quick yes as I get into position to sprint. "Go."

And out the gates I go. There's mutters between the doctor and the radio operator, but they're so quiet I can't make out their words. But I don't try too hard on trying to figure out what they're saying anyway. My mind is too busy worrying on who got bitten. I know with how upset Sam is about it that it must be one of his runners, so my mind quickly goes through the runners I know of.

There's Evan, Jody, Sarah, Summer, Chris, Simon, and Kytan. Those are the people I hope are alright. Of course I don't wish for any other runner to get get bitten, but one already has and I don't want it to be any of those runners I somewhat know.

"I don't know why you're trying to keep it a secret," Maxine says. "Everyone knows."

I don't.

"Yeah, it's just... it's not mine to tell. You know-"

"You can't keep everyone safe forever." I can imagine her putting her hand on his shoulder in comfort, but I know that's not going to make things any better.

"Yeah, I..." Sam's voice trails off accompanied by a heavy sigh. "Runner Five, Runner Ten is here with me in the coms shack, but only for a little while until he-"

A ragged cough interrupts Sam's words. It's a dying, gasping for air cough, and my breath catches in my throat.

No.

"Until I croak," Chris finishes in a raspy voice. "I got bitten, Five. I got sloppy and I got bitten, and in just a little while I'll be gone. But before that," He pauses only to cough, "I-I need you to do me a favor, Five."

I nod immediately, not caring if they could see me on the cameras or not. My fingers are quick to tap out an answer. 'Yes, of course. Anything.'

"She said okay," Sam tells him, and there's a loud cough that's his reply. Each hack and sputter makes my chest tighten. I remember him talking to me just earlier today. He said he went without an operator. If I had maybe convinced him to have Sam tune in every once in a while or maybe I should have offered to go with him and help or maybe-

It doesn't matter. Either way there's something I could have done to stop this and I didn't. Now he's dying and I'm still okay.

This is my fault.

"Your temperature is thirty-eight centigrade," Dr. Meyers states. "You're going to be spiking a high fever and then you'll rapidly cool. When you come back down we're going to have to-"

"Yeah. Yeah, I know," He hacks, his cough loud and painful. "That's fine. I'll-I'll walk out the gates myself so-so you can put a bullet in my head."

I cringe at his laugh that sounds in those last few words. It's a laugh full of anger and pain. I've heard it many times before.

"What happened, Chris?" Sam questions. "You're so-well, you just know everything about zombies. What... happened?"

"I was stupid. It-there's a way they have of moving; I had a theory that there's a-there's a rhythm to it and I could time their small movements if they were all moving at the same speed." There's a pause, and I picture Chris's face scrunches up in pain and regret in that coms shack. "I got in too close to a-to a crawler."

Sam shudders. "One of those ones with no legs."

"It suddenly jerked up and bit me. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"

I blink away the tears that well up in my eyes. He blames himself for this, but I know he shouldn't. He's done nothing wrong on this.

"You've done good work, Runner Ten," Maxine assures softly. "You've kept good records. We all will learn from your life. We'll spread the word of what you've discovered. It's not all for nothing. It's not for nothing."

Chris only responds with a terrible chorus of coughs.

"Okay, lie back here. We need Runner Five to get to Decopark, right?"

"Seventeen Decopark Drive," He answers weakly. "It's my old house."

'Have I passed it before?'

"It's near the outskirts of the city to the east. It shouldn't be too hard to find," Sam says, and I nod.

'I'm heading there now.'

The coms go silent, the tune of some song I can't quite remember the name of taking its place. I don't need to question why Chris would want me to go back to his old house. He wants something from there-maybe something he'll never get to see depending on how fast the virus works on his body, but still he wants something and I'm going to get it for him.

A part of me wishes that my house was actually here, so that when this happens to me-and it will someday-that someone could go get a prized possession for my body to be buried with. That's what I think Chris is wanting, maybe a photo album of him and his family, or maybe his wife's favorite piece of jewelry or his child's most loved toy or book.

Whatever it is, I'm going to make sure I get it. Dying wishes are something that sticks with the living, especially if you don't fulfill them. It haunts you for a long, long time.

By the time I reach the city, I'm sweating and panting, but I keep going, turning to the right and heading on. I know where I'm heading looks nothing like this part of the city. No tall buildings or revolving doors, just normal houses with grass and trees and gardens, although I'm sure all of that is probably dead now considering the cold weather.

There's a creak in my headset, signaling the coms link has come back for me to hear. Then there's the click of the door shutting.

"Runner Eight," Sam states, "what're you doing in here?"

"I heard about what happened to Runner Ten," She answers solemnly as the said runner begins to cough hoarsely. "How's he doing?"

"Nearly... nearly thirty-nine centigrade fever," Maxine replies in a worry filled tone. "Red eyes, the cough; He's probably got another thirty, forty-five minutes until he dies, and you know what happens after."

"Five, we need you to pick up the pace," Sam stresses. "Runner Ten in counting on you to get to his old house. If he has to die, we can at least give him his last wish... Do we even know what his last wish is?"

"He told me, yeah. But I think he'd rather see it done himself."

'I'll be there as quickly as I can, but it's a twenty-five minute run for me to get to the outskirts of-'

"Damn it!" He says, causing me to flinch. "Look at that."

"They're on the move," Sarah say, "heading directly across Five's path."

"If you just keep going you-you might out pace them. Fast as you can, Five. You can do it."

'I hope so, since I don't have anything to defend myself with,' I say, worriedly looking ahead.

Sam chokes. "What-what do you mean? What about your axe?"

'I don't have it with me.'

"Why not?" He basically shrieks.

'Because today was my off day and I had to report to the gates immediately. I didn't have time to grab it.'

"So you don't have anything on you?"

'I have a...' I swoop down and pick up one of the miscellaneous items lying on the asphalt, 'a bloodied box opener.'

"Oh my God," He mutters. "Five, you need to run really fast then. For both yourself and Chris."

•

"Is... is Runner Five-"

"Almost there," Sam answers. "Dodging a few zoms along the way but... bet you'd make short work of them, aye, Chris?"

"Five's made short work of that box cutter," Sarah comments, and I look down at my blood covered hand. "You worked with smaller knives before, Five?"

I used to. Was one of my favorite weapons to use besides a pistol. Now I don't necessarily like to use either.

"I'm sure she has, but that's a lot of zoms heading her way and even with her skill with that box cutter she won't be able to fight them all off."

"They... they clump," Chris interjects. "Always wondered w-" His coughs cut him off. They're lasting much longer now, and are even more ragged than before.

"Save your strength," Dr. Meyers says softly. "Just tell Runner Five what to do."

"Seventeen Decopark... Drive. Living room table. Envelope marker 'Veronica'."

I race down the street, heart racing when I see the mass of zombies heading my way. I have maybe eight minutes before the reach me, so I don't take much time in admiring the beautiful bright yellow house and instead race to the front porch and swing open the door.

"You got that, Five? In the living room on the table there should be an envelope marked 'Veronica'. We need you to take that and... any other memorabilia: photographs, family albums, that kind of thing. Maybe take those just in case."

I nod, trying to be as quick as possible in getting everything that's needed. I jog over to the glass table, picking up the large yellow envelope with my clean hand and shoving into my backpack. Then I head towards the bookshelf, pulling apart everything and everything in search for some sort of album. When I find nothing but math and science books, I head down the hallway and towards the bedroom.

"Who's Veronica?" Sam asks quietly.

"My... my daughter. Her mother made that for m-made a recording for her before we tried to leave, just incase one of us died. I was in such a haste after I saw them attack my wife I ended up forgetting it. Stupid. Stupid! Stupid!"

"If we can, we'll find Veronica somehow and give her the envelope."

"That's if Runner Five can get back," Sam says, sounding horrified at just saying it's a possibility that I might not come back. Of course, there's always that possibility but still, none of us every really think about it like that. "Look at that road. There are zoms everywhere."

"Five'll be fine," Sarah says. "She's fast, and should be nearly done."

I walk over to the nightstand of the bedroom, and a sad smile graces my features as I pick up the picture frame holding a photo of Chris, his wife, and Veronica. They all look so happy. I can see it in their eyes.

It's clear that Veronica takes after her mother, with long, straight black hair and brown eyes. She looks nothing like Chris, except they both have the same bright smile.

It's a smile Veronica will never see from her father again.

I sigh, placing the photo in my backpack, and heading out of the room and towards the front of the house. Just as my hand wraps around the doorknob Sam comes in through the coms.

"Runner Five, your front exit from Seventeen Decopark Drive is blocked. There are twenty zoms out front and they've found the gate to the back garden. You need to move, now."

I jerk my hand away from the knob as if it had burned me, and within a second I'm running to through the dining room and into the kitchen where the back door is. But I stop just before I leave, eyeing large knife just sitting there on the counter. I bite my lip as I debate on whether or not I should take it.

I shrug. Eh, no one will miss it.

Without another thought I drop the box opener and pick up the larger and longer knife, then I open the door and sprint outside. The growling and snarls become increasingly louder when the zombies see me, and immediately they start pawing harder at the white gate, scratching away at the already peeling paint. One of the zom's fingers swipes across the latch, nearly undoing it.

My breath hitches and I immediately start running toward the other side of the fence, jumping over it with one go like those drug dealers do when they're running from the cops. They end up breaking through the gate, and with moans and growls they start shambling after me, but they have the other side of the gate to get through now, and I'm not stopping anytime soon, and by the time they manage to break through I'll be long gone.

"D-did Runner Five-"

"We'll have to wait for Runner Five to get back on the cameras," Maxine replies. "We're um-ah, there she is."

"Runner Five, thank goodness," Sam breathes out with relief. "We can see you on the camera. Looks like you found the envelope."

Just as the words leave his mouth, I hear Chris start to cough again, and with a slight groan. One that doesn't sound human.

"He's going, Sam," Sarah says, and I hear a click of a gun. I've learned that sound well over the past few weeks.

"Runner Eight, what are you doing?" Sam's voice sounds panicked and strained.

"There's no way he's going to be able to walk outside Abel for us to end him. He's turning right now, right here. I'll have to do it here."

"Did... did... Veronica..." He wheezes, paying no mind to Sarah's words.

"We've got the envelope," Maxine assures him. "We'll try to find Veronica-Veronica McShell and give her the envelope."

"Veronica... if you find her, tell her her... her daddy loves her very much," He coughs.

"We'll tell her. We'll tell her you died a hero."

Chris coughs, his voice a dying gasp and a moan leaves his lips. "Do it. Do it now."

One shot is all it takes.

Then there's silence. No words, no noise, and I've stopped running, meaning there's no pounding of my feet against the road. Just silence for Chris McShell.

"He was a good man," Sarah says, breaking the quiet that still blankets over us-that still leaves a heaviness on my shoulders.

"He was waiting for you to find that envelope, Runner Five." Maxine tells me. "He held out for that and then he let go. You did good work, and he wanted to know that his daughter might have some chance of getting that recording from her mother."

"I guess we'll have to prepare for the funeral now," Sam whispers. I know why, too.

He's trying to hold back tears.

"I know," Maxine says, "but we can still wait another few moments."

"I don't-I don't know what to-"

"It's okay. There is nothing to say."

A/N: Hey, everyone! Hope you enjoyed this chapter (and hope it made you cry a little). Please be sure to vote and comment.

Also, I'm dedicated this chapter to my friends abby_morgan01 and jettmanas for helping me so much with this story so far.

Thank you all and have a blessed day!