Epilogue

In the communications shack of Abel Township, radio operator Sam Yao was sitting, monitoring the return of the last Runner out in the field for the day. His eyes were carefully watching the screens before him that were showing footage from the cameras the people of the township had long since put up to keep a careful watch on the surrounding areas, and though tired he kept his focus by munching on one of his Curly Wurlies, especially precious to him now that there was no longer the idea of an unlimited factory supply to depend upon, and so he saved them for special moments of need. The end of a very long day after a night with little sleep was such a moment. He wished he had not let himself be persuaded to a card game last night with Jack and Eugene.

"Alright, Runner Four, you're looking clear," he told his Runner over the radio. "There are no zoms in sight anywhere near … Wait. What's that?"

"What's what, Sam?" Runner Four, Jody Marsh, replied, anxious as always at the subject of running into an unexpected enemy, especially of the flesh-eating kind. Sam did not reply at first; instead, he narrowed his eyes at the screens and stared at one of them, trying to make out the new moving object on it, just near the trees, as if it had only just exited the small forest near Abel not long ago.

"There's something moving near the woods …" he said. "It's … Yeah, it's definitely a person."

"Is it a zombie?" Jody immediately replied.

"No, I … I don't think so. Whoever it is isn't shambling. It's … I think it's a girl!" His eyes widened as the figure on the screen slowly grew clearer as she moved onwards and entered a better camera angle. "Yeah. It's definitely a girl. And unless I'm much mistaken, she's alive. Jody …"

"I'll check it out," she replied, and Sam could see on his screen how she changed direction and looped back towards the forest. He waited, almost holding his breath at the thought that he might be mistaken about what he saw, but comforted himself with the knowledge that if it was indeed a zombie rather than a living person then Jody, fastest of the Runners only challenged by Five, would easily be able to avoid it and get back to Abel before any more of the undead showed up.

That turned out to be an unnecessary worry, however, as Jody, nearing the figure, spoke again,

"You're right, Sam. It is a girl, and she's definitely alive. I'm bringing her in."

"Yes," he told her earnestly, "do that. What's a girl doing out there, alone, this late?"

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" Jody had reached the girl now, and Sam could tell that her next words were not directed at him as she introduced herself and asked if the girl was alright, what she was doing here, and, importantly, whether she had been bitten. The replies she got were meek, almost too low for Sam to hear over the microphone in Jody's headset, but he did catch that they were negative; the girl was, at least according to her own statement, clear and unharmed. He followed them on the screens as they moved, slowly, toward Abel. As soon as they neared the gate, Sam gave the order for it to be raised and it was, accompanied by the well-known siren-like sound that was both a blessing and a constant source of worry for Sam Yao, depending on whether it meant Runners were coming home or going out. He hated to put them in danger, even if they all knew that what the Runners did was absolutely vital to the survival of the township.

With the last Runner now inside the protecting walls of Abel Township, Sam turned off the screens temporarily to save power and left the comms shack to have a closer look at Jody's companion. He found them just inside the gates, Jody supporting the girl who seemed to be just about ready to faint. She could not, he supposed from the look of her, be much more than in her early teens, perhaps about thirteen or fourteen years of age, and he again wondered what might have happened to her that had left her alone in the falling darkness so far from everything and everyone except the surrounding farm houses. Furthermore, she was in a weary condition, with only what seemed a thin jacket to keep her warm, and she did not carry any luggage at all. Her face was pale, her eyelids drooping, but still she was looking around the place with a strange light in her eyes, as if just revived from the grasp of death.

"Is this," she almost whispered, and Sam was close enough now to hear, "Is this Abel Township?"

Her words caused Sam and Jody to stare at one another, both, for a moment, too stunned to speak. Then Sam regained the use of his voice and answered her question that was hanging in the air between them.

"Yes," he told her. "This is Abel Township. How have you heard about it?"

"So this is where Jack and Eugene lives?" she said, and Sam was unsure of whether she had even registered his question, but then she continued and he got his answer anyway, "I've listened to their radio show. Every day. Please, can you tell me, is this where they live? Can you take me to them?"

There was such eagerness in her voice, somehow mixed with such desperation, that Sam was again taken aback. It was clear to him that this was a big wish of hers; however, as she seemed barely able to stand he could not help deciding that there was someone else she ought to see immediately before any other kind of meetings could take place.

"I, um, look … What's your name?" he inquired.

"Vivian," she whispered.

"Okay, Vivian, look, we've got a hospital here and if you'll just let me take you to Doctor Myers …"

"No, please, I really need to meet them; I've got something I need to give to them …"

Surprised by the urgency in her plea, Sam Yao found himself searching for words once more. Luckily, Jody, who appeared to have noticed the same weariness in the girl that Sam had instantly realized, thought quicker than him this time. She put a hand on the girl's shoulder and spoke gently.

"Of course you can meet Jack and Eugene, Vivian. But won't you go with me to the doctor while Sam runs and finds them for you? I really think you need to lie down, but Sam will make sure they come see you right away. Won't you, Sam?"

There was not much of a choice for Abel's radio operator in Jody's words, but he did not mind. If finding Jack and Eugene could help convince the girl to get some much needed care, then he would make sure to bring them the message that they had someone who very much wanted to see them.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course I will. I'll look for them right away," he agreed.

This suggestion seemed agreeable to Vivian, because she nodded and a small smile formed on her lips as she let Jody lead her away in the direction of the hospital, her steps more unsure for every bit they moved. But Sam only watched them go for a few seconds; then he turned in the direction of the housing tents and started down the small roads as quickly as possible. The story behind the arrival of this girl was a mystery, and Sam had a feeling he would only uncover it with the help of Abel's radio hosts whose show had apparently managed, like the two had hoped but never dared be certain of, to cross the borders of Abel and move to the world outside.

After checking their tent and finding it empty, Sam located the two in the dining hall. He saw Runner Five leaving the place through the other exit with a selection of sports bras in hand and felt an instant urge to share this new mystery with his Runner, but knew he must wait. The request from the young girl must be put first in importance. He would catch up with Five later.

"Eugene! Jack!"

The two looked up as their friend neared the table at which they had only just finished enjoying their dinner and Eugene raised a questioning eyebrow at Sam when he saw the look on the Asian's face.

"Yeah, what's up, Sam?" he asked.

"You both need to come with me right now," the radio operator told them. "There's a girl who wants to meet you. She just got here, and she told me she's listened to your radio show every day."

"Every day?" There was a sudden light in Jack's eyes. "You mean we've got a fan? A real fan?"

"Hold on, Sam," Eugene, always the voice of reason, said. "What do you mean she just got here?"

"I mean she literally just got here! Jody found her, all alone near the woods, and she brought the girl with her back to Abel. She can't be much more than, I don't know, maybe thirteen or fourteen years old; she's just a kid and it looks like she's been out there for a while, but when I tried to convince her to let me take her to see Doctor Myers, she insisted that she needed to talk to you two. So I promised that if she would go to the doctor, then I would find you for her. It seemed very important to her."

The two radio hosts exchanged an equally surprised look at his explanation. Then both of them stood, leaving their empty plates behind despite the usual courtesy rules of cleaning up after oneself, and followed Sam out of the dining hall.

To call Abel's medical center a hospital as such would be to give more credit, perhaps, to the building than it deserved, but in function Doctor Maxine Myers had succeeded in making it live up to its name. She may not have all the equipment of the pre-apocalypse hospitals, but the doctor was skilled at using whatever resources available to her and so, she was a much appreciated and important member of the township, equal in status almost to that of Miss Janine DeLuca, owner of the farmhouse around which the rest of Abel had been built.

Eugene Woods, for one, was thankful for the hospital to which he had paid far more visits than he would have liked, with the range of reasons varying from food poisoning to pains in his amputated leg to friends going grey. The latter were the worst visits; however, as it was impossible to survive by only staying behind walls, and with predators roaming every part of the world outside the township, unfortunately accidents were prone to happen, especially for the Runners, whom Eugene much respected because they were willing to put their lives on the line every day to keep Abel Township up and running. But every soul lost was another reason to keep going; how else could you honor such sacrifices than by living on?

As the two radio hosts followed Sam Yao through the wooden door, somehow they both fell quiet, perhaps, Eugene thought, in participation of the impending meeting. He could not keep himself from wondering what it might be that the young girl wanted to talk to them about that was so important it could not wait. At the same time, he was excited to learn that Radio Abel had done what Jack and he had hoped it would eventually and crossed the borders of the township to reach the world outside. Their initial purpose with the show had been to fill the silence that had stunned the world ever since the apocalypse had cut off what used to be normal communication systems, such as the phone network and the internet, in order to bring people together again and show them that not everything had to be bleak and lonely. Even through the darkness of death, there could still be the hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Shaking his head to clear it of thoughts that he felt was now becoming much too philosophical for the moment, he let his gaze fall on the room before him. Doctor Myers had succeeded in persuading the people in charge that the hospital ought to be able to provide good bedding for those who needed treatment, yet even so some of the spaces were still filled by mattresses only as it was difficult to transport beds from outside without making it a larger operation and so many other supplies, such as medicine and food, were much more important these days.

There were only a few patients at the moment, and Eugene thought he could see an unfamiliar face at the far end of the room … But before he had time to get a better look, the doctor walked up to welcome them. She did not get the chance to speak, however, before Sam did.

"How is she, doc?" he asked anxiously.

Doctor Myers sent him a reassuring smile.

"She's fine, Sam," she told him. "The girl was clearly dehydrated and very exhausted, but there's nothing seriously wrong with her. I've set up an IV drip and sent Jody to get some soup from the kitchen, and when you've talked to her I hope she can calm down and get some sleep. God knows she needs it, poor thing. Come, she's over here."

"Can you believe we're really about to meet a fan?" Jack whispered excitedly to Eugene, who smiled at the poorly concealed eagerness of his boyfriend.

The bed that the doctor took them to was of the better kind. In the bed sheets, the colors of which were as mismatched as any other set in Abel except, perhaps, Janine's personal ones, lay a young girl. She was thin, with dark spots under her eyes and hair unwashed, and Eugene could see what Sam had meant when he said that it looked as if she had been out there in the wilderness for a while. There was something fragile about her; she was just a kid and she must have been through a lot to arrive here on her own. Sam went to the side of the bed and, in a soft voice, spoke,

"Vivian? I've got Jack and Eugene here, to meet you."

Though it had looked a moment ago as if the girl might have been asleep already, now her eyelids fluttered open and her gaze found Sam, then moved to the two behind him and her eyes seemed to light up. Eugene felt that it was now their turn to say something, to introduce themselves.

"Um, hi there. I'm Eugene Woods," he began.

"And I'm Jack Holden," Jack continued. "Vivian, was it? It's nice to meet you. Sam said that you listen to our show …"

The girl raised herself up on her elbows and Sam, always the caretaker, rushed forward to support her, but she seemed to hardly realize it as she reached out and took Jack's hand as he was the closest of the two radio hosts. The look in her eyes touched Eugene and her voice was small and earnest when she told them,

"Thank you."

"Um, you're … welcome?" Jack stuttered, followed by a short silence before he had to ask, "Thank you for what?"

"Radio Abel," she replied. "When I was out there … Henry and I, um, my brother and I, we … we thought there was no one else. For a long time, we thought we were all alone. But he kept checking the stupid radio anyway and then one day …" She smiled, but it was a sad smile somehow, one that Eugene found it hard to read because it was as if there was something more in it too. "One day he found your show. We listened to you every day and it gave us hope to know that there was someone else still alive. Even when I lost him …"

At this she fell silent and her lips quivered, yet she did not cry.

"Even when I lost him, I kept listening. You gave me a reason to keep going. So thank you."

Eugene felt himself at a loss for words. This was different than what he had expected and he did not know how to respond to such a moving statement. How were you supposed to react when someone told you that you had unknowingly helped them survive? He felt a lump gathering in his throat and stepped over to the bed, beside a dumbstruck Jack whose eyes had gotten moist all of a sudden, and put his hand on the girl's. He wanted to say something, but the words seemed stuck in his head, unable to make it to the tongue.

"I'm …" It was Jack who first somehow managed to find a way to speak. His voice was thick. "I'm really glad we could do that, help you, Vivian. I'm … I'm just really glad."

She smiled and let go of his hand to search the pocket of the jacket draped on the bedside table next to her, from which she pulled something out that she put into Jack's hand. It was small and pink and familiar in shape, and Eugene realized that it was an mp3 player.

"This is for you," she told them. "There's … There's a lot of good songs on it. I thought that, maybe, you would like something more to play on the radio …"

When they left the hospital Eugene looked at Jack and tried to find a way to speak, to somehow express the experience that they had just had.

"That was …"

"Yeah."

"Wow."

"I know!"

Silence fell between them again as they slowly made their way through the small alleys of Abel Township toward their tent, each lost in his own thoughts of the girl they had never expected would so easily touch their hearts. Jack was clutching the mp3 player firmly in his hand still, and he gave it another squeeze as he spoke again.

"Can you believe that she survived out there, on her own? And can you believe that we made such a difference? I just … I never thought … I mean, I hoped, but …"

"I know exactly how you feel," Eugene assured him, taking his hand, "and we should do something for her, something special, don't you think?"

Their eyes met and right there, in his boyfriend's gaze, Eugene could read what he suspected was the very same idea that had occurred to him as they walked through the dark of the night. He leaned in, their lips met, and they moved closer together as they continued on their way, talking quietly, planning exactly how they would carry out their gift for Vivian tomorrow at noon.

Viv had slept well that night for the first time since she lost Henry. She awoke in bed, rested and warm, and dreaded for a moment that it had all been a dream, that in a second reality would set in and she would be, in fact, in another abandoned house with nothing but the radio to keep her sane. But then Doctor Myers walked past her bed and stopped when she saw that Viv was awake. The doctor seemed a very kind woman, Viv had decided. There was warmth in her eyes.

"Good morning," Doctor Myers said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm … better, thank you."

"Would you like something to eat? We've got hot oatmeal."

"Yes, please. It sounds wonderful." Viv looked at the nearby window. The curtains were not drawnand the sun was up. How long had she been sleeping for? She hoped she had not missed it. Was there a radio, even, in here? "Doctor Myers, please, can I ask you something?"

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Of course," she replied. "What is it, Vivian?"

"I … I would very much like to listen to Radio Abel," she said. "Is it…"

"It's not on yet, no," the doctor replied. "But it will be in about an hour. I'll get you some oatmeal and a glass of water. Once you've finished that I think it's time for Jack and Eugene's show. Does that sound okay with you?"

"Yes." Viv felt a huge wave of relief wash over her. She really had not missed it! "Thank you so much, Doctor Myers."

"You're welcome." The woman smiled and left to get her breakfast. Afterwards she stayed to chat while Viv ate, then checked the vitals of her patient to be certain that her initial examination had been correct, that the girl really was alright except for the case of dehydration that had now been dealt with. After assuring Viv that nothing indeed was wrong with her health as far as her tests could tell, Doctor Myers complied to her patient's plea and turned on the small radio that had its place on a table near the medical equipment in the middle of the room. A few minutes passed in which only white noise, such a well-known sound to Viv, poured out of the speakers. But then, as joyful a sound as ever, the voices of the Radio Abel hosts emerged.

"Hello, listeners, and welcome to Radio Abel!" Jack said cheerfully. "Today, we want to start by telling you a story from last night."

"That's right," Eugene chimed in. "You may not have been aware of this, but our township got a new citizen yesterday, and Jack and I were lucky enough to be among the first to meet her."

"Lucky indeed!" Jack agreed. "She's really something. She's only thirteen years old, but she's been alone outside for a long time."

Viv's heart skipped a beat. They were talking about her!

"Hers is an inspiring story of survival," Eugene declared, "and when she's regained her health, we'd love to invite her in here to tell it herself because we think you should all hear it, listeners. Her name is Vivian Delaney. And today, the first song we're going to play will be dedicated to her."

"That's right. So if you're listening, Vivian, and we're fairly certain that you are … this one's for you."

A few seconds of silence. Then the song started playing.

"When you're down and troubled

And you need some love and care,

And nothing, nothing is going right,

Close your eyes and think of me

And soon I will be there

To brighten up even your darkest night.

You just call out my name

And you know wherever I am,

I'll come running to see you again.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall,

All you have to do is call

And I'll be there.

You've got a friend."

The song kept playing and Viv listened to every word, and she buried her head in her blanket and she cried. But this time her tears were not those of despair.