Back inside Abel, most of the citizens had crowded around Ed's motorbike as the newcomer explained what had happened.
"Ah, and here she is now!" Ed exclaimed as Sam lifted the gate for the runner. "The heroine herself. Welcome back, Runner Five!"
Ed seemed so genuinely glad to see her that Five's irritation at being left behind waned quickly. Little Molly laughed at seeing the exhausted runner, even giving her the honor of holding Mr. Rabbit for a few minutes as a peace offering.
Seven was watching the scene quietly, his bald head bowed in concentration. When Five was done chatting to the others, he ambled over discreetly.
"So you really found the rocket launcher in an abandoned camp, then?" Seven asked softly. Five caught Eight staring suspiciously at her and looked away, nodding. "What else?"
"This tone-producing device," she replied, handing him the other piece of technology. "I'm not sure what it does."
"Of course you do," Eight cut in coolly. She had made her way over after seeing the ongoing conversation. "That was your camp Ed found, of course."
"That's ridiculous!" Five said crossly. "Go and talk to Ed—he saw the guys in blue uniforms who had been in the camp. He had never seen me before in his life!"
"What, just believe the word of a complete stranger?" the mousy-haired runner retorted. "I need better evidence than that."
She turned and walked away, leaving Five in yet another state of chagrin. Seven must have noticed her face, because he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"We're going to discover the truth, Five," he said calmly, determined. "You are still a runner to me and to Abel, even though a percentage of us may not think so." He sighed. "Come on, now. Let's get this oil and the weapon to the armoury."
Five followed Seven, still upset. His calm demeanor and steady tone usually made her feel more secure, but she was still uneasy. He hadn't really said whether he believed her or not.
As the motorbike was taken in for repairs, Five helped a few other Abel citizens unload the new goods.
"Hey, Five. What do you think about all this?"
Another runner had come up beside her to help carry the oil to the armoury.
"Not sure, Ells," Five replied, handing her a good-sized keg. "If I had any idea, I'd definitely say something."
"Hmm. At least we found the thing, right? I feel better off knowing we have the launcher in here rather than out in the wilderness."
Five liked Runner Eleven. She had worked for some secretive branch of the government (that's all she would admit) before the destruction of civilization and was usually sent out on reconnaissance missions for Abel. The sassy, confident runner slept in the bunk just above Five's, so they naturally had begun to interact quite a lot in the mornings and evenings. At first, Ells had exuded suspicion toward Five and treated her with caution, but their conversations had gradually warmed and the runner seemed to eventually approve of her. Now, each night, they traded stories about their runs and woke each other up for breakfast in the mornings.
"I really don't know," Five grunted as she placed some oil down in the armoury. "I just get the feeling that some people out there are against us, but I have no idea who they'd be."
"There are lots of rogue human groups in existence," Eleven replied, stretching out her back. Through the spandex runner uniform, Five could see the outline of Eleven's rib cage—the right side was really quite deformed, the bones twisted at abnormal angles. "We just need to find out which one is out to get us."
"Do you think we can?"
Eleven grinned. "I've been in the business of sticking my nose where it's not supposed to be for way too long. It's only a matter of time. I'm sure we'll figure things out eventually."