It was supposed to be an ordinary type of mission. A bit more specific than normal. But a standard in and out run. The Doc had pulled Alice in to do it. On her day off. We had made plans, nothing fancy. But as fancy as you can get around Abel. Bargained and swapped rations, for a sort of picnic at sunset. Just the two of us.
The bag was sitting just outside my coms room, waiting, ready to go the moment the scheduled runs had finished. But then the Doc came in letting me know she had sent Alice on a last minute mission, and that I had to pull some overtime. Not that there was a standard shift in coms.
Alice, that’s to say, Runner Five, was out at the old hospital. There were med supplies out there that we needed. The weather starting to turn on us, we had a bout of the flu going around.
Of course the hospital was on the limit of my clear vision. Once a runner was through the carpark, I lost line of sight of them and had to switch to an overhead sort of view. We had managed to get the system showing a brief overview of hostiles in the area. They showed up as shadowy patches. Not ideal. But we were meant to be getting the system upgraded soon.
Why we couldn’t have waited for those few days, I didn’t know. But here we were. Spending our first designated date night in ages, once again with one of us in the coms room, and the other out in the field. Without full support.
‘That’s good Alice.’ I encouraged, as she reached the end of my line of sight, and I switched to overview. Alice became a yellow dot on a map, moving quickly. I was forever grateful to Gene and Jack for writing up the new system for the moving dots. I couldn’t count how many missions it had rescued. How many runners.
‘How does it look Sam? Can I use the main entrance?’ Her voice came over the speaker, still minimum static at this distance. You could barely even tell she was running.
‘Uh… I can only give you a rough idea,’ I reminded, zooming out a little wider. ‘There are a few zoms in the carpark. Maybe see if you can find a way around. Stick to the trees for a little longer I think.’
The hospital had been hit hard during the outbreak. Those who had been bedridden for broken legs and what-not had been eaten in place. But at least they weren’t rising again. A lot of the people who had been able to move, and tried to barricade themselves in hadn’t been so lucky. There was the odd bite here and there. Before we knew it, the hospital was lost. Since then, the zoms never left the grounds.
‘Roger. I’ll go around the back.’ Alice replied. Her yellow dot changed direction.
‘What is she even looking for?’ I asked the doc, abandoning my screen.
‘There could be a file in there that could really help me out.’ Doc Myers replied vaguely. ‘She’ll be fine Sam. Five is the best we have.’
I looked back at my screen. The dot was missing. ‘Something is wrong. Alice, where are you?’
‘I’m fine Sam.’ Her voice chirped back, happy as always. ‘We really need to get that repeater fixed, so you stop worrying all the time.’
Her dot flickered back on the screen. Heading straight towards a large moving shadow.
‘Alice, stop!’ I barely kept my voice level. ‘There’s a pack in that direction. Maybe they heard you I think.’ I zoomed out a little. ‘Yeah, there’s a few of them. Try going the other way.’
‘Okay.’ The dot stopped abruptly, and then suddenly zipped over the last open ground directly against the building.
‘Alice?’
‘I’ve found the ambulance entrance. I’m going in.’ Her reply seemed determined.
‘I don’t have eyes in there. Your signal is getting lost.’ I voiced, watching her dot flicker on and off as she entered the building. I had no hope of finding any hostiles in that building.
‘It’s okay Sam. I’m quicker than any zom. I’ll still be home for dinner.’ She laughed again. She knew how much I had been looking forward to this.
I watched with baited breath, as her dot flickered out, then reappeared seconds or minutes later at a completely different area.
‘Five, that group look like they know where you went in. They’re gathering around that door. Find a different way out. ‘I advised, zooming out, and then back in again. It was futile to hope that zooming would give me a better idea what was going on in the building, but I needed to know where she was.
‘Got it.’ It sounded like she was barely listening to me. ‘Tell the doc I got some bandages, but can’t find many meds.’ Her dot suddenly stopped moving. ‘I think I’ve got it!’ there was a fair bit of static with that transmission.
‘Five, did I just hear that correctly?’ The Doc snatched my mic out of my hand.
‘Uh, yeah.’ Her voice was tense. So very unlike Alice. ‘Uh, Sam. How does my main entrance look now?’ Her dot flickered out again.
‘Still a few out there.’ I replied, quickly zooming out, cursing that I didn’t have a better camera out there. ‘What’s going on?’
‘I need to start moving.’ Her response was overshadowed with some groaning. There was one in there with her, and I could hardly help. ‘How many at the front?’
‘I can’t tell you, there’s just a grey clump. Maybe ten?’ I hated our system then. What good was a coms link this far out if I was no other use than a voice. ‘They’re in the visitors’ area.’
Silence for a painful minute.
‘Phew. I lost him.’ The coms crackled. Her dot reappeared, right before the main door. ‘I’m sorry Doc. I lost the file.’ Her voice full of regret.
‘Hey, that doesn’t matter. Let’s just get you out of there.’ I responded. ‘We can always try again another day. ‘Yep. Your best bet is that entrance. A burst of speed should get you through those zoms and,’ Then it all went to hell. I zoomed out, as she ran out the door, and I saw the huge shadow/hoard round the corner next to her. ‘Alice, RUN!’
She didn’t need me shouting. She would have seen them the moment she got outside. They must have followed the sound of her moving through the building.
Her dot sped through the carpark, too close to the dark blips for my liking. But the system could be off.
There was static, and some groans across the coms link. And heavy panting, as she sprinted for her life. Her dot darted into what I could only assume was another building, and then stopped.
‘A…Alice?’ I wasn’t sure if I was asking or begging. My heart was racing.
‘I’m in the guard house. It’s okay Sam.’ She huffed. ‘I’m inside. It’s boarded up pretty well. I’m safe for now. I can hear them outside.’ I zoomed out a little. The dark mass was huge. ‘I’ll wait them out. It won’t take long for them to get bored.’
‘It’s okay. We’ll send someone for you.’ I reassured. Gene, who had ducked his head in when I had started shouting, nodded, and disappeared again, probably to find our freshest runner.
‘Sam, go get a cup of tea. I’ll chat with the doc until you get back.’ Alice said suddenly. Her voice was too calm for what she had just done.
‘What? I’m not going anywhere until you are home again.’ I huffed. Although the fright had left me craving a cup of earl grey.
‘Go on Sam. I’ll be waiting for you. We have a long wait ahead of us anyway.’ She urged. There was no arguing when she had her mind made up, and on this she had made her mind up.
‘Well, okay. But I’ll only be a minute.’ I conceded, getting up slowly.
‘It’s alright Sam. I’ll keep an eye on her.’ The Doc soothed, taking my mic and headset. ‘She’ll be safe with me.’ She argued as I had a backward glance at the door.
No matter how badly I wanted her home now, I dawdled with my cup of tea. I didn’t want to see the black mass surrounding her building, and think about the noises they must be making. Jack sat quietly in the tea room with me. No doubt thanking whatever cosmic force was out there that Gene was no runner.
‘If only we had those cameras up,’ I began, dunking my teabag a few more times.
‘I know Sam.’ Jack nodded sympathetically. The door pushed open and Sarah Smith came in, the regular forceful presence that she was. Gene struggling to keep up.
‘What on earth is going on?’ Sarah gasped, looking disapprovingly at my cup of tea in hand. ‘Alice and I had the day off. And you were meant to be having dinner.’
‘I know. I know.’ I defended. ‘The Doc pulled her out for a last minute mission. It’s gone wrong.’ I clutched my tea. It was a lifeline all of a sudden. From the situation, from Sarah’s anger, from my own fear that this could still keeping going very wrong. ‘Alice is held up in a guard house at the hospital.’
‘Right. Let’s go get her then.’ Sarah nodded, with understanding. Suddenly seeming a little more forgiving that I wasn’t at coms. Gene sat down next to Jack, and gave his hand a tight reassuring squeeze.
We headed back down the hallway. There had been a constant hushed murmur from the Doc while I had been gone. It halted suddenly as we walked back in the room.
She handed me back my mic and headset, and stepped back stiffly.
‘Hand me a noisemaker.’ Sarah instructed, as she shook her arms out, getting herself ready for a run.
‘Not yet.’ The Doc’s response made both of us freeze with surprise.
‘What do you mean, not yet?’ If we wait too long, it’s going to get dark. And there’s no hope for a recovery mission in the dark.’ Sarah argued forcefully. ‘Then we need to wait until morning. And it’s getting cold out there at night.’ She flicked her head towards the door. ‘Armoury already agreed, they have a gun ready for me for this mission.’
‘And I’m saying, not yet.’ The Doc stood her ground. I had to hand it to her. I certainly would never be daring enough to stand up to Sarah in the mood she was in.
‘Hold on Alice,’ I said over the speaker. ‘We’re just sorting some stuff out. Runner 8 will be on a decoy mission for you soon enough.’ I soothed.
‘Sam, it’s alright. I told the Doc to wait.’ Alice answered back. ‘I’ll let you know when it’s safe to send someone.’
‘What do you mean, you’ll let us know.’ Sarah snatched my mic off me. ‘It’s going to be dark soon.’
‘Sarah, it’s alright. Really. There is no point in you racing out here with this many focused zoms. You and I are fast enough we can outrun them before dusk still any way.’ I could hear the smile on her voice.
‘Riiight.’ Sarah replied slowly, clearly still not happy, but accepting that Alice was right. ‘I’ll just wait here with Sam then. Until you decide it’s time.’ And she dropped my mic back in my waiting had, and dropping into one of the chairs in the corner of my coms room.
I hated having this many people around. This was my space.
‘It’s okay Sam.’ Alice diverted back to me. ‘I might be a bit late, but I’ll still make it for dinner.’ I heard the Doc walk out. ‘Please tell me you remembered the crackers.’ Alice giggled.
‘Yes, I remembered the crackers,’ I sighed. She was never going to let me forget that time that I’d forgotten them. ‘And I have the Marmite. And when you get back, I’ll make us a thermos of tea too, since it’s going to be darker than I’d expected.’
‘And the cake?’
‘Yes, I remembered the cake too.’ Mind you, I wouldn’t exactly call it cake. But the end of the world kind of changes your view on things.
‘Good, you know how I hate it when you forget dessert.’
I looked at her wide angle screen again. There were so many of them. I had no idea how even with Sarah on decoy duty we were going to get her out of there. Maybe she was right to make us wait. She was safe indoors. Maybe we could even wait until morning.
I took a sip of tea while all these thoughts ran rampant through my brain.
It was almost half an hour before the Doc came back. That had been a half hour of small chat. Alice seemingly nostalgic all of a sudden, bringing up the first time we had been on a run together. The first time we had eaten together. It was odd for Alice to be talking about the past, instead of the now and the future. But still, it was nice. Even with Sarah listening in the whole time.
‘How are you doing Five?’ The Doc asked.
‘I’m getting a bit cold.’ Alice responded. I had my usual instinct to wrap her in a hoodie or blanket. Only this time I couldn’t. Alice coughed lightly.
I looked up. The doc had her brow furrowed.
‘Runner Five. When you had the file, did you see anything that was in it? Anything at all?’
‘Does that really matter now?’ I interjected. Doc silenced me with her hand.
‘No, sorry.’ Alice sounded dejected. ‘When I found it, I realised that a zom had followed me in. It was so quiet. Not like the rest of them. Like it was properly hunting me.’ She coughed a little more persistently this time. ‘Sorry Doc. It’s dusty out here. Dusty, and I’m getting a little thirsty. Permission to open one of the bottles of water?’ Ever the poster-girl for the rules, my Alice.
‘Of course it is.’ I responded before the Doc could answer. ‘Hold on Alice, we’re coming to get you.’
‘The hoard aren’t moving on that quickly. I can still hear them out there.’
I checked the screen. Some of them were moving on though. Was it enough yet? Sarah looked at the screen and stood up, apparently deciding that it was enough.
‘Wait Sam!’ Alice cried, coughing hard after she had.
‘Runner Five, are you sure you are alright?’ The Doc persisted. The look on her face didn’t make me feel any better about the situation.
Alice coughed again. ‘Maybe tell them Doc.’
The Doc nodded, and turned to me and Sarah.
‘Runner Five wasn’t sure if she was bit while escaping. She did a self-check, but there were some ambiguous responses and wounds. We agreed that as she is currently secure, we would wait, and she would serve her quarantine outside of Abel. But it’s starting to look like she’s changing.’ Her voice was that perfect blend of compassion and science. I guess they did teach that at medical school after all. ‘I’m sorry Sam.’
I glanced at Sarah. Her face showed more resignation than I would have expected.
‘Alice?’ It was all I could manage.
There was coughing over the coms. ‘I’m sorry Sam. I might miss dinner after all.’
‘No.’ I disagreed. ‘It’s just getting cold out. Half of Abel is getting sick. No reason a runner can’t get sick. Runner Eight will come and get you. After a cuppa you’ll feel better again.’ I argued.
‘Sam,’ she sighed. ‘I’m cold, I’m coughing and I feel like hell. And I felt perfectly fine this morning.’ I could almost see her shaking her head at me in my mind’s eye. Perfect sweet Alice, who always said I would see things differently if I had my feet on the ground with them all. ‘Sam, it’s too dangerous to send anyone for me right now. If I’m still alive in the morning we can re-evaluate.’
She knew she had me with that logic. Even if it sucked.
‘Okay.’ I resigned. ‘I’ll stay on the line with you tonight then.’
‘I really was looking forward to dinner.’ She sighed.
‘It will still be there for breakfast in the morning, when you get home.’
Coughing.
The Doc grabbed my mic off me. ‘Runner Five. Alice. I don’t want to take too much of your time any more. But,’ she took a deep breath. It shook a little. ‘I just wanted to say that it has been a pleasure, and an honour, to work with you at Abel Township and I count you among one of my closest friends here. Goodbye Alice.’ As she handed the mic back, I thought I saw her wipe a tear. She turned and left.
‘It’s okay Alice,’ I soothed. ‘I’ll stay with you until Sarah brings you home tomorrow.’
‘Sam, I don’t think I’m going to make it.’ She coughed. Only this time, her breath rasped as she gasped for air. ‘I don’t want you to listen to me die. I don’t want to become one of those…’
‘no. no. no!’ I shook my head, willing her to be silent. ‘Don’t talk like that. Don’t think like that. It will all be okay.’
I looked to Sarah, who I had never seen look so dejected. She crossed her arms, and walked out, after the Doc.
‘Sam, you and I both know how it is.’ Her voice was a little gravelly, but the coms signal was coming through strong. ‘I’m fading, and I’m fading fast.’ She gasped, as if something hurt. ‘I’m not going to listen. And I’m going to do my best not to turn. I can’t live like that. And I don’t want you to see me like that.’ She gasped again. I could hear her move, her coms link still on. ‘I’m going to turn my mic off. I want the last things we say to each other to be memorable. To be nice.’
‘Okay.’ I forced. ‘But only because I want to prove you wrong in the morning.’ There was a lump forming in my throat. And if I gave it the slightest lee-way it was going to take me over.
‘Oh Sam.’ She laughed. It wasn’t her laugh any more. It was thin, and painful. ‘For the record, I hate Marmite.’ She tried to chuckle, ‘but I put up with it for you. Because, well, for a coms guy, you’ve been pretty swell.’ Some static followed that. Or maybe it was a rattle.
‘You know I hate flattery.’ I sniffed. ‘You’re…’ I had no words. ‘Amazing. And you know I would have converted you to Marmite in the end, anyway.’ My voice was shaking. ‘Alice, if there is the slightest chance you aren’t going to change, then please please please! Don’t turn off your mic. Just, come home. We can sort it all out afterward.’ Begging. I had to beg.
‘Goodbye Sam.’
Her link went dead. Her dot vanished off my screen. She was gone.
I stared at the screen, I don’t know how long. A second. A minute. It didn’t matter. I pulled off my headset, and walked out. My stomach oddly empty, but it knots at the same time. I looked down at my bag. Dinner for two. But not even one wanted to eat.
I picked it up and dropped it in front of Jack and Eugene, who were still waiting in the tearoom. I could feel their questions for me. But I couldn’t say a word. I just walked, on auto-pilot out of the hut.
I didn’t feel the warmth of the setting sun on my face. Today, everything that was hope for me of a future in this place, was gone.
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