An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 5/5
Fandom: Zombies Run!
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Zoe Crick/Amelia Spens
Characters: Amelia Spens, Zoe Crick, Phil Cheeseman, Sam Yao, Runner Five, Janine deLuca, Kefilwe Lobatse, Bernard Prior, Maxine Myers, Paula Cohen, Sara Myers Cohen Yao, OCs, Jody Marsh, Peter Lynne
Additional Tags: Christmas, Parody
Summary:
Down to the wire and I stole the title from Rofflenet. It may change!
Amelia is visited by some ghosts who have some things to say to her about Christmas. There are kittens at some point. It’s set in the near future but I tried to be vague to avoid any spoilers after season 8 or so. The spoilers that are included, you may not spot them if you read from an earlier season, since it’s a made up future!
This was what happened when I tried to write 5am fluff for my Secret Santa request. It barely has Sam or Five in it, and it’s barely fluffy. They didn’t want angst, so I tried to go light, but… well, it’s based on A Christmas Carol, and set in the zombie apocalypse. It couldn’t be helped!
Hope you all like it! @runner5anna this is for you and also for @notforconsumption and @delucadarlingwriting (hope I’ve got those right!)
Heyo @kodessa ! I am your ZR secret Santa. Here is a festive fic for you.
Thank you @notforconsumption and @delucadarling for organising this !
It's Christmas day in Able township. It's icey, it's cold, it's not very festive. But, Sam is quite determined to at least make something warm out of the bad day.
There is no spoilers, its SFW but there is discussions of grief and cussing. Also cringe pick up lines.
"Shit!" Bellowed Sam, along with a cacophony of clattering coming from downstairs. Five sucked a lungful of cold air in, kicking the many layers of blankets off of her, grabbed the knife from under the bedside table and ran downstairs. She shoved open the door, shouting “who the hell is there?” and slashing at the air. Her chest heaved with adrenaline and fatigue. The cold air pressed on her bare feet, and her pyjama trousers were halfway up her legs.
‘Uh - just me?” Answered Sam. He was hunched over the side, which was covered in cocoa powder and parts of a mug. The forest green hoodie he wore to bed was covered in water. “Wait - is that another knife, 5? I thought we talked about this. You don’t need to keep knives under the bed side table.”
5 grinned and placed it down on the side. “I don’t know what you mean.” She slid it into the drawer, intending to pick it up later. “Need a hand?”
“No - I think I’m ok.” he sighed. He picked up his foot, inspecting it closely. “I stubbed my toe and dropped the pink mug. I found the cocoa powder at the bottom of the drawer in the comms shack. Happy Christmas, I guess?” he sighed, dusted the reminisce of the brown powder off the base of his foot, and placed it down - deciding that it wasn’t broken, just sore. “I wanted to surprise you.”
“Oh shit - that day already?” 5 ran her hands up her face, pressing her palms into her eyes. She really needed a shower. Her face felt slick with sweat and grime from the night. Maybe she’d treat herself later to a lukewarm one.
“Yeah. Snuck up on me too. I looked at the clock on the computer last night and it was the 24th! I wanted to surprise you with some hot cocoa but I pigged that one up pretty badly.” He sniffled, and the tears welled like little gems in the corner of his large brown eyes.
“Oh - bless your heart, Sammy. You’re too kind for this world.” 5 opened her arms, inviting him in for a hug. He placed his bristled chin on her head and sighed, relaxing into her touch. “You didn’t have to do that for me.”
“I know. I’m the best.” He grinned. “But - I wanted to. So I did.” He pulled away from 5 and picked up the brush from the side. “I need to clean up. Snow isn’t brown. Unless it's mixed with mud. Or zombie parts. But I suppose I’d quite like chocolate snow.”
“How’s about I make us hot chocolate with what we have left over? And we can do…” Five pressed her tongue against her teeth in thought. “...festive things.”
“What can we do? Really?”
5 lent down to scoop up some more powder back into the pot. If she grabbed a collider, she could at least filter out some of the dust. It was salvageable at least - and there wasn’t much of this stuff left in the world so they should at least treasure it. Somewhat disgusting, yes, but it was the apocalypse. If you could be disgusting, it was now. It would be good for her immune system development, her mother would say. “I’m not actually sure. It’s not like we have a big dinner we can make or gifts.”
“Janine has given us the day off - for those that want it.”
“I might head out eventually, then.”
Sam slowly turned around, and pleaded. “Please don’t. It’s -6. It’s freezing. The ground is solid. You’ll slip. Plus it’s Christmas. Let’s just have a day together - It’s been too long.”
5 pulled a hair from the powder. It was short, brown and blunt - one of Janine’s. Her hair managed to get everywhere. It was a nice reminder that she was there somewhere - a dependable figure even in the hardest of times. “I don’t know what we can do, really.” she tutted. “We don’t even have a tree.”
Sam gave a little gasp, and quickly shuffled over to the window where he held up Cedrick the Cactus. He was a medium sized fluffy plant - whose fuzz were actually tiny spines which Sam found out rather painfully. 5 wasn’t quite sure why she grabbed it off of the shelf, but she didn’t regret it. He kept 5 and Sam entertained, and it gave them something to talk about outside of the insanity of work, how tired they were and whoever had died recently.
“Let’s decorate Cedrick!”
“Won’t I be pulling spines out of your hand for the next week again?”
“No.” He pouted. “Get your crochet, I’ll get a pen and paper. Let’s make some Christmas clothes for him. It will be fun!”
5 felt her belly rise with giggles that Sam could only bring from her. He was a ray of sunshine - everything good in the world. When 5 was with Sam, she felt like the best version of herself, like the world was lighter and the breeze was fresher. Her heart fluttered and her cheeks began to flush with how much she realised she was smiling.
“Let me go get dressed and I’ll be with you.”
“Ah ah ah!” Sam grabbed her hand, gently pulling her back and wrapping his arms around her waist. “Absolutely not. No one gets dressed before midday on Christmas.”
“If you say so. But I need a shower later. I’ll get dressed then.”
“I’ll give you one of my shower tokens. My treat.”
“Don’t you need them?”
“Nah. I’m clean enough. And I don’t go running multiple times a week. They’re upstairs, I think in my jeans pocket.”
“My crochet is upstairs as well - I’ll grab them on the way. And who knows. If I’m feeling generous later I’ll let you share the shower later.” 5 purred as she slunk out of the room, leaving Sam blushing a deep shade of beetroot red.
*
5 plodded down the stairs, still in their faded plaid pyjamas as promised, crochet hooks and wool in hand. She turned into the kitchen to see Sam was doodling, colouring and shading. He held the paper happily up - on it was a bundle of red berries and green leaves. “Mistletoe!” he announced proudly. “You know what that means?”
“No.” Five teased, leaning across the table. She softly held his gaze. Usually, Sam’s eyes darted everywhere, like he was avoiding eye contact with everyone while gaining as much information around him as possible. In moments like this, his eyes - beautiful pools of watercolour brown - held steady and calm.
“It means you-” he poked 5 on the nose with the paper. “-have to give me a kiss.”
“Ugh. If you insist.” 5 joked. She placed her hand on the base of Sam’s neck, pulling him across the table and into a kiss. It was deep and long, as the two relaxed into each other. 5 inhaled a smell she’d grown to love so much of marmite, washing powder and ink. Before he pulled away, Sam nuzzled their noses together, grinning from ear to ear.
“Thank you.” He whispered.
“You’re welcome.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.” Five sat down, pulling up a chair and setting her crochet on the table. “What do you think I should make?”
“A little scarf, or a hat maybe. I think a tiny scarf will be easier. If your hand starts to hurt you can help me with the decorations.”
“All right.” Five started with a quick slip not, starting to make the first chain. “I always feel a little startled when I need to relax. I’m always so on edge that when I set time aside to be quiet and have time to myself I’m always waiting for the proverbial hat to drop.”
Sam hummed in agreement. “It is hard to relax now isn’t it? With the grey wandering outside the walls and regularly staring death in the ugly maw.” He finished colouring in a little robbin and began to cut around it with the scissors.
“I thought you were banned from using scissors by Maxine after the great finger slice event.”
“For your information, that ban was temporary. How was I supposed to know that Maxine had just sharpened her scissors? Who has scissors that sharp anyway?” he subconsciously ran his thumb over the scar on his finger.
“Who uses massive scissors on such a tiny thing?”
“Oh, be quiet!” He threw the roll of string at 5’s head. “Can I have that back please.”
5 leaned down to grab it, and spoke while she slid it across the table. “Events always feel so odd now. And I never quite know how to feel. I’m happy I survived another year I suppose.” She finished off a row and started another. “It’s such a tiny scarf, I’ll be done soon.”
Sam stood up and boiled the kettle. “I’m just letting the glue set - I won’t spill the hot chocolate powder. Close your mouth runner 5 I can tell exactly what you’ll tease me about.”
“What do you mean?” She scoffed mockingly.
“You were going to make fun of me for sticking my hand to my head with aeroplane glue.”
“I was not.”
“Yes you were.”
The two went back and forth, squabbling in good spirits while Sam made the hot chocolate.
“Oh - Sam look! Cedrick has a little flower. He's bloomed.”
“He reminds me of you in a way. You thrive in the harshest times, and you are very pretty.” He passed a mug over to 5, giving her a gentle kiss on the head. “You’re my little pretty flower.”
“Thank you, darling.” 5 pulled the final thread through, finishing off the tiny scarf. It wasn’t great, considering she’d not spent long on the thing, and the colours didn’t quite match the decor that Sam made. “It looks so bad.”
“What? I think it looks good. Christmas trees are not supposed to look good.”
“Cedrick is a Christmas cactus, and we made this in about 45 minutes. It's more ironic than anything - I don’t think they’re supposed to look good. But, y’know, I like him more because we raised him together, and we decorated him as well.” Sam wrapped an arm around 5’s shoulders, squeezing them comfortingly. “I want to make another one next year. I think it would be a good tradition.”
“I think…I’d like that. Christmas is so traditional - and now for the first time in ages we can’t do all of them. I’m so used to being with everyone at Christmas that it feels almost positive to create new traditions.”
“I don’t think Christmas will ever not be hard.” Sam mused between sips of hot chocolate and blowing on too hot marshmallows. “I cried one year because I put out 6 sets of cutlery for dinner even though It had been 2 years since my grandad died. No - three.”
“It will be hard - but with you I feel I can handle it. Thank you, for being there for me Sam. I appreciate you.”
“I appreciate you too, 5.” He placed his head on top of
“I think it’s just all been a lot. Even if we are a few years into the apocalypse, Christmas will always feel different. But I am happy I can spend it with you.”
“You know what I really want to do?”
“What? Remember it’s not midday yet, so there's no getting dressed. It’s the Christmas law.”
“No - I follow Christmas law. I want to cuddle and watch the Doctor Who Christmas specials in bed. Do you have them on your laptop?”
“Do I ever! I thought you’d never ask. That is a new and old Christmas tradition I can get behind.”
Hello helloww @notforconsumption!!!! Very happy holidays!!! A little birdie told me you like villains and spookiness!! Could't help myself and make it a lil silly though :P Hope you like it! ✨
Thank you @notforconsumption and @delucadarling for organizing! and a big hug to @runnerzero for good luck!
So for secret Santa I had @high5runner5 and I went with a little five/Simon energy. Our main story missions have Simon with Janine but I’ve always felt the “what if” about five/Simon. The idea of them meeting under the mistletoe being the split point for a whole host of different timelines is what inspired this collage.
I hope you liked it!
Thanks to @notforconsumption and @delucadarling for setting this all up!
AHHH!!!!!! IM SCREAMING MY HEAD OFF!!! Oh my goodness!! Words cannot describe the immense joy I feel!! Thank you so much for this wonderful gift!!! <333 I now have something to listen to while I daydream about 5imon!! Goshh and the collage!!!! Aaahh!!!!! It's so beautifully made!! Thank you again so much for this wonderful present!! I hope you don't mind if I look/listen to this for hours on end!!! <33333
A very belated Merry Christmas!! Apologies for the lateness of this gift! It was so much fun getting to draw your lovely Five!! I love a good 5am interaction more than anything! I loved your Five so much and their ridiculous with Sam that I couldn't help but write a small blurb about them!! I hope I delivered on the angst and the grief! Once again, Merry Christmas!!
Thanks to @notforconsumption, @runnerzero, and @delucadarling for another amazing year!!
TW// Spoilers for Season 4, Main Character Death, Injury Mention
Currently, Five tossed and turned in their cot, a sweat covered brow furrowed as they dreamt of a blood soaked Sam, wailing about being left for dead before being engulfed in a mass of rotten limbs and teeth, all desperately wishing to consume him. Soon, like all the other recurring nightmares, Five woke with a jolt.
Five sat upright, panting and wild-eyed as their head swiveled around the room. Trying to locate the danger that awoke them. It wasn’t until the dark shapes of the room came back into focus and their mind cleared that Five noticed the knife gripped in their hand. Realizing it was nothing but another nightmare, they relaxed their grip, they took silent note of the blood rushing back to their fingers and palm. Kicking off their blankets, they rested on their back once again, a sour feeling settling in their stomach as they reminded themselves that Sam was gone. Long gone were the days Five could sneak into the radio shack after a particularly horrid nightmare and find Sam greeting them with a soft smile and an extra blanket. Feeling empty and standing on the brink of sleep deprived exhaustion, they forced themselves to relax back into their cot.
It had been three days since Five abandoned was forced to leave Sam in the zombie infested building. They could only listen in horror to his screams as they ran for Abel, baby Sarah crying in their arms and Paula and Maxine waiting desperately for their daughter to be returned to them. Five understood that Sam’s final wish was to get baby Sarah back home - but that fact did little to stop the nightmares that found them in the quiet of night.
Five tried to find reprieve in their memories of Sam, yet it proved to be more harmful than helpful. Thinking of the tender fleeting moments they shared did nothing but bubble up sentiments of unrequited feelings and the fact that Five can never tell Sam what they felt for him. It often made grief hit Five like a dull blade in the chest.
There was a quiet keening sound closeby that broke through Five's train of thought, it sounded similar to a wounded animal crying out in pain. It wasn’t strange or unheard of to hear people crying for loved ones in the privacy of night - hell, it was often encourage at Able. It wasn’t until a tearful sob reverberated in the tiny room that Five realized tearful sounds came from them.
Frustrated, Five wiped angrily at the hot tears wetting their cheeks. Crying wasn’t going to bring Sam back. He’s dead and that’s that. Sam would be ashamed to see them like this. Able’s savior and best runner, reduced to a bluberring mess and scared stiff from the threat of nightmares. No, they refused to shut down and retreat within themselves similar to last time with Moonchild. They had to keep it together, or until they Sam’s body was back in Abel and buried in the ground. Yes, that was doable, they could manage keeping it together until then.
Determined - and physically exhausted - Five slipped into a dreamless sleep.
IT'S NOVEMBER ONCE MORE AND THAT MEANS IT'S TIME FOR THE ZOMBIES, RUN! SECRET SANTA EXCHANGE!
You read that correctly - the time-honoured tradition is back and you can now sign up for the 7th ZR Secret Santa!
And we know - you'll be used to seeing these posts from @runnerzero, who started the ZR Secret Santa a frankly shocking seven years ago. Zero's been snowed-under busy this year so this year @delucadarling and I are taking over the posting duties in addition to helping out with the behind the scenes part as we usually do.
Entries are open from now (right now, actually) until December 1st - at which point we'll shut down the form and get to work assigning each of you a gifter and a recipient.
Gifts can be art, fic, a combination of both, graphics, compositions, interactive fic, playlists (so long as the playlist is complementing something else!), or whatever you think will bring some joy.
SIGN UP: https://forms.gle/ERzeAQBzN8yLP2916
The only rules are to keep it secret, and spend some time on it!
Dates!
December 1st: Sign ups end!
December 2nd: You recieve your secret santa recipient
December 24th: Entries due! Post em here, send em direct to your recipient, do both! Up to you.
December 25th: We post all the entries in one mammothly festive post (if you'd like to be included!).
If you've any questions, concerns, confessions feel free to message me or @delucadarling here or on Discord.
It’s this time of the again! Zombies Run Secret Santa, and here’s my gift for @runnerzero, who wouldn’t mind to be tortured with season 2 angst.
… as always, I am bringing the holiday cheer.
Thank you so much @runnerzero for organizing this event and letting a forgetful idiot like me participate. (Also, thank you to the whole zr fan community here, you spoiled me for any other fandom)
My addition to this year’s Zombies, Run! Secret Santa!
Some cozy Abel knitting times with Peter, Jody and Janine for Peyton!
I hope you’re having a calm and comfy holiday season Peyton, stay safe! <3
As always, thank you @runnerzero , @puptart , @notforconsumption and @goblinsharkz aka ZR Secret Santa Committee for organizing this each year, it’s always a heap of fun! <3
Here’s the full list for this year’s Zombies Run Secret Santa! Thanks so much to everyone who participated! I’m so proud of everyone who put work into this.
If you received a gift, be sure to thank your Secret Santa! Go show our writers/artists/creators some love! ❤️
Credit to my partner (who isn’t on tumblr) for these drawings of my Five and Sam. My Five from Florida, desperately misses alligators, and still doesn’t know how to process winters in Abel despite living there for years. The best way for me to describe her is a speedy golden retriever in love with caffeine. She’s very short and has as many brain cells as she does inches of height.
She was a graduate student before Z-Day and is currently using the apocalypse as the best excuse ever to avoid finishing her dissertation. Janine has found out and is providing tough love in making her finish anyways. She’s actually very good at what she studies and smart in very specific areas, to the shock of everyone who has seen her climb a six story building to visit someone because she “couldn’t find the door”.
She was in foster care after being removed from her birth parents’ custody, went a while without being adopted, and then finally was. Five started running with her adoptive mom and dad and likes that it still reminds her of them. Her adoptive parents died before Z-Day. She’s very attached to her found family of Abel.
Given it’s winter now, she can be found hiding amidst the comms equipment for warmth, burrowing into Sam’s sweater with or without him in it, and layering sweaters Jody has knitted for her over and over each other until she can barely walk.
She doesn’t know how to express emotions with words but she can with baked goods. The fancier the food, the bigger the feeling. This can go many ways, from a cake to express friendship to eclairs of rage.
Merry Christmas to @runnerfiveready ! I decided to do a little tense scene from one of the most conflicting missions: Shoot the Runner! I truly wish you a Merry Christmas and I had a great time being your secret Santa! And a thanks to @runnerzero for another amazing year of the community Secret Santa!
I LIVEEEEE!!!! Ah how I missed drawing Fives 😩💕 Both me and my Five are just absolutely smitten by everyone’s Fives! @kaoticfive and @midwestern-runner-five I hope I did your Fives justice! They’re just so wonderful to draw! Fret not my fellow friends, more Fives are still in the works!
jbbartram-illu
germansingergirl
kaledo-art
blakekathryn
andulkaphoto
