Five stared down at the wrinkled, slightly ripped envelope in her hands. Veronica was scribbled across the front in shaky handwriting, and, inside, a USB drive was safely intact. Runner Ten's last request—the retrieval of this audio recording—was in her possession, and Five had made it back to Abel.
She looked up at the comms tower to where Runner Ten lay, finally dead.
"He was waiting for you to find the envelope, Runner Five." Dr. Myers looked out at her from the comms tower. "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."
Five nodded, her grip on the envelope tightening. Sam whispered, his voice hesitant.
"We've got to…"
"I know," the doctor confirmed gently. "But we can wait another few moments with the body before we do that."
Sam sighed. "I d—don't—I don't know what to—"
"It's okay. There is nothing to say."
Five tucked Veronica's envelope away in her backpack, hearing shuffling from the comms through her radio.
"Is everything all right?" she asked.
"We're bringing down his body now," Sam grunted.
Dr. Myers's voice was strained. "Five, please let Janine and Runner Seven know that it's time."
"On it." Five did not have to go far—everyone in Abel knew what had happened, and their faces were drawn with stress. It was either the sadness of losing a fellow Abel citizen or the anxiety of having an almost-turned member of the undead inside the gates or both. Whatever the reason, Dr. Myers, Five, Sam, and Runner Seven all carried Ten outside the gates with a tenderness and dignity usually reserved for royalty. They laid him down on the ground outside the gates and retreated, going back inside Abel. One of the snipers, Ten's good friend, had volunteered to perform the final deed, but he could not bear to take the shot right away.
No one rushed him. Some members of Abel climbed to the sniper watch posts to witness the final shot, but many remained inside the gates, close to or well into tears. Five was among those inside, standing beside her friends as she watched the sniper fiddle with the gun uncomfortably. Finally, they heard quiet groans from outside the gates, and the Abel citizens began muttering. Ten's friend wiped his face hastily, raised the gun, took a sharp shot, and all was quiet once more.
Five hated the graveyard. Stationed just behind the hospital, it reminded her of all those black-and-white zombie movies that had popped up before the real apocalypse—images of the undead striving to break free from the earth ran through her mind, bloodthirsty groans and rotted, muddy hands digging toward daylight. She knew that all the dead had been thoroughly shot through the head, but she still avoided the area as much as possible.
Runner Ten's grave was the newest. Eight had gone out and collected yet another large rock Abel could use as a gravestone. Ten's grave lay in a neat line beside the other most recent death in Abel township—Runner Five. Alice.
His gravestone read, along with the dates of his life:
Christopher McShell
Scientist, Statistician, Runner, Friend and Father: A Forerunner in Solving our World Crisis
We Will Never Forget
Five knelt and placed the daisies she had collected outside Abel. It didn't seem fair. With New Canton preparing to attack, never more did Abel need Runner Ten.
Five looked away from the rock bearing Runner Ten's description and looked at Alice's stone. Her grave was unnerving; alongside the other inscriptions—Sister, Peacekeeper, Will Be Dearly Missed—it was decorated with an elaborate Runner 5.
Five hated looking at it. The name was different, of course. The years of her period of life. But seeing that 5 carved so diligently into the rock gave Alice a sense of permanence—and brought a horrible sinking feeling to Five's stomach. It was as if she were looking at her own future. She could take her place here among the dearly missed and… perhaps not be so dearly missed. After all, she was the fourth Runner Five.
Who'll be left to remember you?
Sam's words still hurt. Even after all this time—even now that Five was not even the newest member of Abel—would they even bother to give her a grave? Would they risk running out and finding another rock to carve?
Five crouched beside Alice's grave, feeling somewhat resentful of the dead runner. Of course Alice had deserved her number on her grave; of course Alice had been so perfect and brilliant and beautiful and fast—
Well. Not fast enough.
Five did not understand the negativity she felt toward the deceased runner, but it made her stomach churn with guilt. Alice was dead. She had probably been an amazing person, just as Sam had said. Five had no business feeling… whatever she was feeling.
Before leaving, Five took one of the daisies from Ten's grave and placed it with Alice. She stood, turned, and began walking back toward the buzz of Janine's home. With New Canton on the way, there was work to do, and Five couldn't afford to become distracted.