I yawned as I stretched my aching muscles outside of the dining area after eating breakfast, a couple eggs and some semi stale bread but you learned not to complain much when you were living in the end times. As I pulled my arms above my head I could feel the muscles in my side pull up causing a dull ache as I loosened up my body. Sam had grabbed me in line this morning and told me I was getting a tour of the land so I would have a better idea of what I was doing for when I was inevitably sent out on missions alone. That was something to look forward to at least, I did better on my own. I could take care of my self. I hadn’t met many others in the town yet, after my visit with Dr. Myers I ended up staying overnight in the Hospital tent again. Apparently they hadn’t anticipated my staying more that a few nights so they hadn’t put much in to finding me a steady place to sleep. Dr. Myers explained to me that being as Abel was a rather small Township that most people shared sleeping quarters, although they tried to give families their own quarters when possible. They were working on shifting some people around to find me a more permanent area, didn’t bother me any. I was happy to sleep in the Hospital shack alone. I felt better being alone, I didn’t care to show much emotion to others and risk appearing weak, but when I was alone I was free to express how I felt and let it pour out as a temporary fix.
I headed towards the Com Shack to meet up with the other Runners who were all preparing to head out for the day. Sam gave a quick wave out of the window from the Shack as I found a spot to stretch out with the others and then I heard him click on his intercom. “Raise the gates” it boomed out of the little speaker box as the buzzer started going off the gate slowly raised up. I watched as a few runners set down in to a starting position and then took off running into the wilderness. “Runner Five, ready...” Sams voice boomed out again, I gave him a thumbs up before setting down in to position near the gate “...and go”.
I took off in a bolt out the front gate dodging my way through the cover fire when an older man ran up next to me, keeping pace easily. He had salt and pepper colored hair and beard and was very much in shape for a man of his age which I had guessed was around 50. “Thanks, Sam” he said in to his headset. “I’ll take it from here”. He had a charming smile and gave me a wink as I quickly looked ahead of me again and felt my cheeks start to burn. “No problem Evan, I’ll keep the coms link operational in case of trouble.” Sam said back pausing briefly before addressing me “Runner Five, Seven here is our head of runners.”
“That’s not an official title, Sam” Evan responded back, his voice was low and deep. I never had put much thought in to voices before but his gave off an impression of someone who had been through a lot in life and had come out wiser. Then again I guess everyone still alive today has been through a lot I thought to myself as Sam pulled me back out of my own head.
“Oh unofficially...” Sam responded, a smile cracked on my face as I imagined Sam rolling his eyes.
“That’s what I get for surviving longer than most of the others” Evan responded back with a snort at the end. “I’ll be taking you on a quick tour around the perimeter of the base today and show you the main routes in to the city. Should be a quick easy run.” I looked over at him and gave him a slight nod.
“Oh, you know what happens when you say that..” Sam groaned back in to the microphone.
“Whatever happens we’ll handle it” Evan said looking me steadily in the eye as we continued forward, I felt nervous at the thought of another person in Abel not trusting me and hoping this wouldn’t be worse than the run yesterday. I shook off the feeling as Evan continued. “We always handle it” he gave me a stern look and then took off a bit ahead of me. I took a deep breath preparing myself for what today would bring and then picked up the pace after him.
It was almost as if someone has pressed the pause button on my entire being as the Township around me continued on in play. Everyone was going on with their late afternoon, everyone hustled around as if they had places to be, things to do, like a zombie apocalypse wasn’t happening around them, and then there was me. Standing frozen in time, the words echoing to the deepest pit of my soul, We’re getting reports that there might be a child stuck in no mans land. A violent shiver took over my body as I lurched back in to real time, the play button being suddenly pressed again.
Sara took off in a direction waving at another group to wait up for her and Sam turned heading back for the Com Shack. My mouth fell open at the leisure these two walked in, did no one care that a kid was simply wandering out there alone? I took off in a sprint to catch up with Sam.
“Sam, hey wait up!” I caught him and matched his pace.
“Yes, Runner Five?” Sam asked with a surprised look on his face when I popped up beside him.
“If there’s a kid out there then I’m leaving to go get them, can you tell me where they were last spotted?” I stopped walking and put my hands on my hips, puffing out my chest to look as unwavering as possible and to hide the exhaustion and fear that ached in to my bones. Sam stopped and swung around looking me over as I held my breath. I was only about 5′5 and I came up short to Sam who had to stand at atleast 6′0.
“Runner Five, uh.. look that isn’t how we do things around here, we have protocols that -” Sam said running his hand up over the back of his neck.
“DAMN YOUR PROTOCOLS!” I said in a voice so loud it even startled me and had drawn the stares of a few people passing by, I took a deep breath before continuing. “That is a defenseless child out there and I will not leave them. I’ll go without your help.” I turned abruptly and started heading back for the gates.
“Wait wait wait” Sam said jogging after me and softly grabbing my arm. I felt my skin set on fire under his touch and slowly rise up to my cheeks. I tried to throw a dagger look at him to cover up the blush hoping he would believe I was flushed with anger. It must of worked because he dropped my arm as quickly as he had grabbed it and then gestured over to a corner of the fence away from the other Township members.
“Listen Five -” he started again.
“My name is Paige.” I cut in quickly practically spitting the words out at him.
“Er- right. Paige. Listen the protocols aren’t in place because no one wants to help a kid.” He said looking me straight in the eyes. “They are there because this wouldn’t be the first time someone circulated rumors like that only to find out it was a trap. Where people sent to help were ambushed for supplies or personally attacked” I felt the burn in my cheeks grow hotter from embarrassment. “Oh” was all I managed to get out before looking down at the ground unable to hold his gauze any longer.
“Once we have confirmation that this is even a valid report and we are certain that this isn’t a child who was bitten then I assure you that Abel will be out there looking for this kid to protect. It usually doesn’t take long to feel out.” Sam said his voice lightening up at the last part as if to give me a peace of mind.
“Sam, I-I’m so sorry I just -” I stuttered out an attempt at an apology.
“Hey, it’s alright. I understand” Sam said lightly setting his hand on my shoulders to provide comfort. I felt the fire burn in my skin under his touch again and I looked up to meet his eyes. I searched them for pity but instead I found genuine sympathy and kindness, it was a relief because I despised seeing pity in peoples eyes when they looked at me. “I promise you that once we confirm this I will send you out on the rescue mission, okay?” his soft brown eyes searched mine for understanding. I nodded in reply not trusting myself to not cry if I opened my mouth and said anything else. He gave my shoulders a slight squeeze and then turned and headed towards the come shack again. I took a moment to pull myself together then turned and called out to him, “Hey Sam”.
He stopped and turned back to me, “Yes, Five?”
“What do I do now?” I shifted uncomfortably realizing this was my first real free time in Abel.
“Head on over there to the Doc’s place” He said pointing at the shack at the far right end of the yard. “She inspects all runners on return, another protocol, ya know to make sure no one was bitten. Then you get the rest of the night to yourself. Grab some food and explore.”
“Thanks Sam” I said and with a wave I headed off to see Maxine.
I heard the gun shots before I could see anyone, I jumped half way out of my skin and let out a yelp as I saw the trees around us becoming bullet ridden. I covered my ears to try to lessen the noise of the guns as we grew closer to the people who were shooting at us. “STOP IN THE NAME OF NEW CANTON NOT A STEP FURTHER” a mans voice came out of a mega phone. I half stumbled unsure of what to do as bullets continued to fly past us. I looked at Sara as she continued to sprint forward waiving her arms in the air as she screamed warnings. “THERE ARE ZOMS BEHIND US, RUN!” she yelled back in response, although it didn’t slow down the shooting.
“STOP! STOP OR WE SHOOT TO KILL” The man’s voice on the loud speaker threatened. I let out a slight cry of fear but Sara continued pressing forward and I wasn’t about to be the first to lose in this game of chicken no matter how terrified I was. “KEEP GOING” Sara yelled to me. I braced myself for the shot that was certain to find me eventually however it was press forward and hope they would show mercy or stop and be eaten alive by the zoms, given my two options I chose to push forward. I could see the outline of their walls with the guards above perched down in position still shooting, that was when Sara grabbed my arm hard and forced me to turn right running along the outline of the high walls. The guards were caught up with shooting off the zombie horde and they stopped focusing on the two of us. We had just passed the end of their settlement when I heard a man yell out from the top of the tower “TOWNSHIP SCUM!” The sound of guns going off was slowly fading in to the distance.
“WA-HOO” Sara jumped throwing her fist in the air after a couple miles of putting some distance between us and New Canton. I collapsed on to my knees breathing heavily. “Well that’s one way to take down a bunch of zoms!” Sara said taking a seat on the ground next to me.
“What - about - New -” I said between breathes, feeling as though my lungs were ready to collapse.
“Oh don’t worry about New Canton” Sara replied with a wave of her hand. “They’ve got the fire power to deal with them. Means you and me are home free.” I felt the stress in my shoulders ease up slightly and worked on slowing my breathing.
She buzzed on her head set. “Hey Sam, how’s the gate coming?”.
“Yeah, nearly there” Sam said back. “Come on in if you’re not dragging a pack behind you”.
“I guess this turned out to be less of a good time for a little chit chat than I hoped Five” Sara said focusing her attention back on me as she pushed her self up and started adjusting the sweat soaked blonde hair that was matted against her forehead. I had almost steadied my breathing again and pushed my self up next to her ignoring her remark as we started walking back towards Abel. “Truth is...” she continued having reset her hair in the tight bun and turning to look me in the eye as we walked. “I wanted to find out if I could trust you.”
I turned to meet her look as a smirk spread on her face. “There’s some pretty strange stuff going on ‘round here. The Major’s called away on urgent business, someone brings a chopper down firing from the middle of the zombie wilderness, and you turn up like a white knight. Too damn convenient Five.”
“I know nothing about those coincidences, Eight” I said back using her number as she insisted on referring to me only by mine. I matched the cold gaze in her eyes as the smirk slowly left her face. She opened her mouth to say something back when she was interrupted by Sam in out headsets.
“We got it working again” Sam said enthusiastically and waving as we approached the gates to Abel. “Welcome home runners! Great run, not a single hostile anywhere near our gates”
“Oh yeah, me and Runner Five here make a great team” Sara chuckled to herself, giving me a slap on the shoulder. I winced at the pain I felt in my muscles and then forced a hard smile looking up at Sam. “We’ll be going out together all the time, won’t we Five?” she continued before bursting out in to a fit of coughs.
“I-uh yeah, maybe not next time though” Sam said eyeing Sara up uneasily as she straightened herself out. “We’re getting reports that there might be a child stuck in no mans land”. He shifted his attention back on me. “Get some rest Runner Five because we’re gonna need you to do another fast run as soon as you can.” and just like that I could swear my heart dropped down in to my stomach and I felt all the blood leave my face. A child stuck out in this alone...
We had to have been running for hours by this point, dodging zoms from all sides and I felt the sharp pain starting to rise in my side again. I bit down hard on my lip trying to distract myself from the pain, I refused to let Runner Eight see me being weak, I closed my eyes doing a silent prayer to anyone out there in the universe who might be listening. It was hard to believe in religion with the life I had growing up, even harder to believe when you were living the zombie apocalypse. Sure it felt like hell on earth and looking at a crawler or walker felt like looking in to the eyes of soulless demons themselves but there was hardly ever any good or miracles to find in this world anymore to make you believe in the good. Be strong or die; luckily being strong was something I had been trained for my entire life.
“Hey Sam” Sara buzzed back, snapping me out of head, which was a place I often got lost in. “It occurs to me we haven’t really shown Five here the neighborhood, or the neighbors” she said with a sly smile growing over her mouth. She looked over at me like a child full of mischief and I realized this was definitely not a plan I was going to like.
“You mean New Canton?” Sam sounded unsure as he rang back.
“Who is New Canton?” I asked looking at her uneasily.
“I sure as heck don’t mean the zombies” Sara said back ignoring me completely, it was like she had sung it in response. This seemed to be something that she found great enjoyment in whatever the plan was.
“Do we want to start a war with New Canton?” Sam said back with long pauses as if he were heavily weighing the other options. I felt my stomach sink lower then it had all day if that were possible. I just wanted to go home and crawl in a corner and hide. I was exhausted and hungry and tired of being scared for my life for one day, I felt surrounded by enemies between the zoms and Runner Eight, the thought of it made me feel dizzy.
“Just a little payback Sam, don’t you remember how they herded those zoms towards us when they were building new barracks?” She said in a full blown grin now, obviously pleased with herself for making this point.
“Err-yeah but..” Sam started before being interrupted.
“If the Major were here we’d check with her” Sara said over him. “As it is, New Canton’s to the North, our exit is to the North. You know it makes sense.”
We ran in silence a few moments and I felt my heart rate shoot up not knowing what to expect. In through your nose, Paige. Out through your mouth. I am not afraid. I am not afraid. I repeated the words to myself over and over in my head trying to calm my heart rate as Sara peaked to the side at me after not hearing any more protesting out of Sam. “Speed up, quick. Towards New Canton” She said to me and put on a burst of speed breathing deep and letting out a few coughs in between. I had to push myself to keep up with her.
Sara fired another gun shot to her left as I ran on the other side of her. The zombies were coming in hordes and we were having trouble losing them this time, it seemed every time we avoided one horde another came out of no where. “There, got him” Sara said as she tucked the gun back in her pants “That was a close one”. She pulled the transmitter out and turned the knob back on and ducked down behind a bush with me following closely behind. I breathed a deep sigh of relief and felt some of my muscles loosen up.
“Better stay close” Sara said over her shoulder to me before clicking on her radio. “Hey there Sam, were you worrying about us -” she burst in to a fit of coughs again, “- just didn’t want to irritate you with this cough that’s all.”
“Never - ever - EVER Runner Eight - ” Sam sounded like his rage was ready to boil over the top but still I wasn’t sure if I had been more glad to hear his voice now or when I first fell from the chopper. “Runner Eight you know you never - EVER turn your radio off. Never do that! Okay?”
“He gets lonely without us” Sara said to me covering her headphone with her hand as she chuckled at her own joke. I shifted my weight uncomfortably and tried to force a smile at her as I listened to the banter.
“Hey I heard that and it’s not about me, okay? It’s about keeping you alive!” Sam said with a sigh and if I wasn’t mistaken a slight hint of pain in his voice “Eight more have joined the pack chasing you, you’re still ahead of them just - just keep going.” Sara peeked around the corner of the bush before hopping up and began her journey again not waiting for me to keep up, not one to be left in the dust I bounced up quickly and fell in to step with her.
“We’re heading West are we clear?” Sara almost sang in to her headset, she seemed as if she were actually enjoying this game. “This is why you never - EVER turn off your radio” Sam practically groaned back at us. I felt my muscles tighten up again bracing myself for whatever bad news would be coming next. “There’s a swarm to the West and we think they’re - UGH yeah here we go, they’ve heard you. That’s Zoms to your West, East and - yeah - South.” Sam replied back giving us the dreadful update of our situation.
“Hmm” Sara thought out loud to herself. “Well then time to-”
“Head North” Sam finished her sentence.
“I’ve got a plan” Sara said with a smirk then with a wave of her hand to me she burst in to a sprint. I took a deep breathe having a feeling I wasn’t going to like this plan very much and then took off after her. Here we go...
We had run been chased by this particular horde of zombies for at least an hour now. Shaking them was difficult and although I had roughly twenty years on Sara she knew the lay of the land better than I did, keeping up with her constant turns and dodges was difficult. It crossed my mind that she may have been trying to lose me on purpose although I wasn’t sure what she would benefit from my death. She had barely spoken to me since she had cut off the transmitter and ended our communications back to base. I kept my eyes open as we ran for anything I could use as a weapon if need be, anything could happen out here. She could kill me and claim that the zombies had done it, no one in Abel knowing better. I felt the same chills run up my body again and tried to push the thoughts aside for now. Maybe I can get the transmitter away from her and open communications back up I shook the idea from my head quickly, if Sara wasn't a threat and I attacked her then I would be banned from Abel forever and that wasn't something I could risk without knowing for certain what her angle was.
“So you just came down in that chopper a couple of days ago huh?” Sara said slowing down her pace to fall back next to me.
“Uhh yeah I did” I said keeping my eyes straight and shifting slightly so I wasn’t as close to her as we continued in a slow jog.
“Must have been pretty scary” I could feel her gaze burning in to the side of my face. “Seems like you were the only one that survived, at least we haven’t seen any other survivors.” I opened my mouth to respond when she grabbed my arm and said “Duck down just a second there hunny” I turned to pull my arm away and found myself looking straight down the barrel of a hand gun, I dropped quickly just as the shot echoed in to the air.
“There we go, we don’t usually have guns. There aren’t enough to go around” Sarah said as she started walking forward again. I stared in disbelief, my mouth partially hanging open before I jumped up and stumbled after her. My hesitation didn’t phase her at all as she continued “but they like to try and help us out on a decoy mission like this.”
We walked a few yards in silence, I knew she was carrying a weapon now so if she did intend to kill me I was powerless. I couldn’t overtake her at this point. My chest was tightening up so badly I wanted to scream out from the pain. I tried to keep my face expressionless and not show fear as I continued to stride along beside her.
“Amazing how you turned up here, just dropped out of the sky after someone fired a rocket launcher at your helicopter” she said raising an eyebrow as she faced me “That’s really strange isn’t it?”
I forced myself to keep my eyes looking forward and tightened my jaw “Yes it was not at all the greeting I had expected coming here.”
“I mean you were just bringing in supplies” Sara turned back facing the road ahead of us as we made our way out of the woods and in to the abandoned city turning off our noise makers. “We’ve been in touch with a military base a hundred miles North and they do some drops of meds and wet weather gear, that sort of thing.” I nodded as we creeped through the main roads. Occasionally we would hear the sounds of the dead and would hide behind abandoned cars, and there sure were plenty of them, until it seemed the threat had passed.
“Sooo who would do a thing like that?” Sara whispered to me as we were ducking behind a white Cadillac “and you know what I keep thinking, how do we even know it was your on that chopper at all?” I snapped my head back to stare her in the face, although I knew sudden movements were not a good idea she stared in to my eyes with a hard look across her face.
“We haven’t got any way to transmit pictures anymore so we didn’t know what you’d look like.” She said studying my expression.
“I came from Mullins Military base on a copter with one other person who died on impact, I was wearing their base uniform when I got to you guys.” I said back trying to hide the disdain in my voice.
“Sure you turn up in the right uniform but that could have been stripped from a body.” Her eyes looked like they were on fire as they stared in to mine. I resisted all the urges that told me to tackle her and fight. “You might not have been in that chopper at all. It might have been you who shot it down.” I heard a low growl sound liked it was coming from behind me as Sara cocked her gun and pointed it towards my face again. “Duck your head down for a minute, wouldn’t want to hit you by mistake” Sarah said with a wink. My eyes never left hers as I dropped lower to the ground.
We came to a small clearing in the woods and both slowed down to a brisk jog. I was breathing in heavily trying to catch my breath, we had been running through the woods for hours now, getting one group near the wall to chase us, leading them off until they lost our trail, doubling back to the walls to get another horde to chase us and on and on. Sara clicked her headset on and started radioing back to the township.
“Ok, Abel Township we’re clear, nice steady pace, about ten of the zoms on our tail. It’s all going well, how are you guys holding up?” she clicked her mic off and then started taking some deep breathes. She had barely spoke to me yet this whole day but I could feel her eyes on me, studying my every move, I couldn’t wait for this mission to be over and to be away from the glare I felt her burying in to my back.
“Yeah not so well here Runner Eight” Sam buzzed back in to our headsets “we’re kinda, uh, the motors are shot they’re telling me. It looks like something got in there and chewed it up-”. Sam was cut off by a fit of coughs and chokes coming out of Sara, she doubled over and put her hands on her knees to hold her up. “Are you alright?” I asked unsure of what to do, I lifted my hand up to pat her on the back but then dropped it back down quickly.
“Sorry - about - that” she said in between gasps. “Bad chest cold, so do you guys want more time?” She straightened herself back up and continued moving forward, I followed closely behind.
“The longer you can keep the zoms away the better” Sam said in response. Sara stopped and started coughing again, I had to stop so fast I almost ran in to her. “Got - that” She said back. “We’re just having a great day out here, me and my buddy runner five can get to know each other” she straightened back up again and turned around giving me a smile that made my blood run cold. It was February, late I think and the weather had been unusually warm for this time of year and yet that look was the worst chill I got the whole season. I held a hard composure and gave her a slight nod back.
“Yeah yeah, th-that cough” Sam paused “you’re okay aren’t you Runner Eight?” his voice sounded full of uncertainty.
“It’s just a cough” Sara spat back at him.
“Well we just have to be careful that’s all” Sam said back “you know the drill, first the cough, then a rattle, then a moan then -” his voice trailed off.
“That’s how you know the dead are walking” Sara picked up for him. “It’s just a cough Sam.” She turned back and looked at me again and held her hand up to cover her mic “He’s always fussing about something” she started coughing again. “Hey Sam if it bothers you so much I’m turning off this transmitter, that way you won’t have to her my coughing.”
“Ohhh no you don’t! That’s not how it works-” I heard a click in my headset. She had turned off the radio transmitter that boosted our signal back to the communications shack. Without it we couldn’t reach anyone and they couldn’t reach us.
“That’s better, now it’s just you and me.” Sara said with a grimace creeping across her face. I straightened my shoulders and raised an eyebrow at her. “Sounds like we have a lot to talk about then” I said back keeping my voice as calm as possible. “After you” I said making an exaggerated arm gesture for her to lead the way. Her eyes never left mine as she passed me and then broke in to a jog, I followed quickly behind on edge for what would come next.
The showers were timed and every person only got ten minutes but it was ten minutes of heaven. I felt the dirt and sweat from yesterday run off of me and the heated water run down my dull aching muscles and felt new again. I dressed in some clothes Doctor Myers had given me, just some sweat pants, sports bra, and a tank top and laced my tennis shoes up before heading out in to the main area of the Township. Everyone hustled around all seemingly having a task, a part to play to keep this community going. I wasn't sure where I had fit in to all of this yet aside from knowing that I was now a runner. I suppose going out on supply runs and scouting missions. I wasn't a runner back on the military base but I did train every day, it was something everyone had to go through. Keep your body in shape, figure out the best way to avoid the zoms biting you, even mental training at because we were in a time that no matter what you had been through in your life no one was prepared for the apocalypse.
I could hear Sam yelling from over near what I had learned was the communications tower “RAISE THE GATES”. The loud alarm started going off as the doors creaked to life and slowly lifted up in to the air. I decided to head in that direction, after all I had never thanked Sam for basically keeping me alive yesterday. Suddenly the gate made a loud grinding noise and came to a halt half way open.
"Oh that's not supposed to happen" Sam yelled "The gates are stuck! Can everyone see the gates are stuck? Have we got an engineer?" He took off for a building across the town as a loud speaker came to life.
“Runners this is an emergency, the gates have stuck in the open position, we are open to all attacks, the following runners to report to the main gates immediately for lure and distract. Runner 2, Runner 3, Runner 5 and Runner 8, go go go!” it sent out static before buzzing off. I guess this first assignment is as good as any, although I wasn’t quite sure my muscles would hold out for an entire day. I took a deep breath and then headed towards the gate. Suddenly someone jogged up beside me.
“Ummm Runner Five, we need you ready to go right now Runner Five” Sam said as he walked beside me, I had to increase my pace a little to keep up with his frantic walking “We are pairing you up with Runner Eight here” I followed where he pointed to an older woman, maybe in her early 40s? She had blonde hair that was pulled back tight in a bun and was doubled over in a coughing fit as we approached her.
“Sorry about that” She said straightening herself up and eyeing me up and down. “Hey there, I’m Runner Eight, Sara Smith, how are you doing?”
“I’m alright thank you” I said back shifting my weight. I felt uncomfortable the way she was staring at me, as if she was examining my every feature, a hunter surveying its prey.
“Ready to go out and misdirect some zombies?” she said back at me locking her eyes with mine. Guns started firing off from the high points of the wall, zombies must be coming close to the gates.
“No time for chit chat” Sam interrupted before handing me a strange device “take one of the noise makers from the locker, that’s right, strap it on your back. Now just head out and run around, get the zoms to chase you while we fix the gates, GO RUN”
I put the pack on and tightened the straps, it made a loud pitched beeping noise every few seconds. Sara and I started jogging off and out the front door.
I was laying in a meadow with the sun shining on my face, I stretched out my fingers as I felt the blades of grass in between them. When I think back to my child hood I can remember spending hours in parks, most parents were concerned with their own children and hardly ever noticed if someone else’s child had been there for hours. One time I had even stayed overnight, I curled up under a tree in a field like this. I brushed my hand over the grass again taking a deep breathe to inhale the smells of summer. I was at peace for the first time in possibly what had felt like my whole life. I blinked at the sun trying to bring the world back in to focus when suddenly a hand shot out of the ground next to my face covering my mouth as I let out a scream. Hands started shooting out from everywhere all popping out of the ground like daisies, grabbing my legs, my arms, ripping at my clothes and scratching my skin. I struggled and fought and kicked but I could feel them pulling, sinking me down in to the ground, in to a shallow grave.
I sat up with a jump and screamed. I was laying on a pop up spring bed, the room was dark so it was hard to make out but there were shelves and cabinets stuffed with what appeared to be make shift medical supplies. The door to the room flew open and a woman came running in searching the room before her eyes settled on me.
"Ahh I apologize for bursting in on you like this runner five. I heard you scream and I thought something may have happened" she said as she flipped on a light to the room then walked over to a bin and pulled a small towel out throwing it to me.It took my eyes a few moment to adjust to the brightness and it wasn't until that moment I realized that I had cold sweat running down my face.
"Thank you.... Doctor Myers?" I responded feeling pretty confident I had guessed her voice right.
She smiled in response "Yes I am Doctor Maxine Myers, welcome to Abel Township. You did some great work out there today and you survived. How are you feeling?"
I took a deep breath and tried to judge if anything in my body felt wrong. "I am a little sore but otherwise I think I am mostly alright."
"That is great to hear runner five" she walked over to a desk and picked up a small flashlight "I am just going to do some basic tests on your to make sure everything is responding as it should, we need you to rest up quick, you are a fast and smart runner. That is important here and we could need you back out in the field as early as tomorrow." She clicked the flashlight on and the shined the light in my right eye then switched to me left. As early as tomorrow? I wanted to crawl in to a ball on the bed and sleep forever, I wanted to appear tough but to tell the truth every muscle in my body was burning. She clicked the light off and turned to take it back to the desk. "So let's talk about what startled you then, nightmares? Anything I should know about or that you want to talk about?" She glanced at me questioningly as she raised her hands to my neck and started lightly pressing around.
"No - I, it was nothing I swear." I stammered back knowing I wasn't being convincing. I took a deep breath and continued "I was just startled to wake up somewhere new was all but really I am fine."
"Yes well you did a bit of startling yourself going down like you did" she said as she went back to fussing over medical supplies. "Luckily Sam was close by to catch you but it really had the town worried you had been bitten runner five-"
"Paige" I half whispered out loud interrupting her although I didn't mean to.
"I'm sorry what was that runner five?" Doctor Myers asked turning around.
"My name is Paige." I said again out loud.
She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and took my hand in hers. "Welcome to your new home Paige" she said with a smile and a small squeeze of my hand before standing back up. "Now there is a small plate I managed to pull together for you of some food, nothing special. Some canned green beans, a piece of chicken, eat up though because you will need your strength. Tomorrow morning I can take you to the shower houses and show you your new sleeping quarters although for the rest of the night I think you should stay in here so you can get some solid rest. You're in our version of a hospital at the moment."
She walked back towards the door "Here is the light switch so once you've finished eating just hit the lights and straight to sleep, you'll find a glass of water next to your plate. Rest well Paige and again welcome to the town."
"Thank you so much for everything Doctor Myers" I said as I pushed my aching legs over the side of the bed and on to the floor. I walked over to the desk and picked up the plate of food and water. Doctor Myers smiled at me again and did a slight head nod before closing the door behind her. I sat down on the edge of the bed and took a long drink of the water, although she was right the food was nothing special and slightly cold it felt amazing to have something in my stomach, I didn't even know what time it was now but I hadn't eaten since leaving the military base early the morning. The food was gone in minutes, I set the plates back on the desk and crawled back on the bed, not the comfiest thing I had ever slept on but surely not the worst either as I thought back to my dream. I shook the image from my head and rolled over closing my eyes tight. It was just a dream. It was just a dream I chanted over and over in my head although it couldn't have been for long. Soon I felt the darkness come to take me again.
The gun shots around me were deafening but I was finally in the crowd of people from Abel.
"This way, RUN" A man shouted at me although I could hardly hear him over the shooting. I tried to match my pace with his as the people covering us started turning to run as well occasionally still firing a couple shots when it sounded like a zom was getting close. I could still hear the clatter and voices in my head set even with all the commotion going on around me.
“They're going to shoot her" Sam said, I could feel the pain in his voice as he continued "I-I-I can't watch. I don't want to".
"It's what she would have wanted Sam, you know it is" Doctor Myers replied "she wouldn't have wanted to live like this".
The man running next to me yelled "Run we've got her covered" The small group all stopped and turned to face down the zoms while myself and another man ran for the gate, less than 50 feet away now.
Sam sighed deeply before half halfheartedly shouting "Raise the gates...RAISE THE GATES". A loud siren started going off as I could see the front gate lifting in the air and a crowd of people gathering to see who the newcomer was. I slowed to a stop as I passed under the gates and suddenly it seemed as if everyone was talking at once.
"Welcome" one person shouted although from where I couldn't tell.
"The major will want to see you when she gets back" the man who I ran in with said to me before taking off through the crowd.
"Hey! good to see a new face" another voice came from my left.
"What was she doing in that helicopter anyways?" a woman said from behind me.
"Hey good to see you in the flesh" I heard from someone who was parting through the crowd. I could pick up on his voice, it was Sam. He was tall with messy black hair and dark blue eyes, a little scruff on his face. He paused for a moment, his eyes glancing over my body then continued "the... totally unbroken skin not bitten by zombies flesh? Right?". I was about to answer when another man broke forward from the crowd and grabbed my arm.
"Do you have any food?" He asked desperately "Any canned food? Dry food?"
Sam grabbed the back of the guys shirt and pulled him backwards, he let go of my arm and shouted "HEY".
"Okay step back step back everyone, don't crowd" Sam talked over the group. "Give runner five some space, she can't take in so many new faces right now." He was right I was starting to feel the blood rush to my face. I wasn't sure if it was the exhaustion catching up to me or from being overwhelmed now that I had finally entered in to my new world. I could feel my pulse starting to race and my focus wavering. I locked eyes with Sam just as I started going out.
"That's who they've assigned for project green shoot" the same woman from before said behind me. It was the last thing I heard before everything went black.
"They're so fast" Why are they so fast? They never run? Why are they running?" Sam exclaimed. I wasn't sure what he looked like yet or even what I imagined him to look like but at this moment I imagined a man jumping up and down in a panic. "Runner five, runner five they're gaining on you."
Doctor Myers cut over Sam "Runner five you're not far from the gates now, if you can keep going we'll send some people with guns out to meet you. Only one zombie is close to reaching you, just put on a burst of speed now!" I gritted my teeth and tried to up my pace, my lungs felt like they would collapse at any moment. Can I really do this? Can I make in there? I have to. I tore through the woods leaping over fallen trees and rocks praying that I wouldn't trip on something or drop the CDC box. I could see the clearing of the woods and the buildings that made up the City. I just have to get through the city, I know Abel Township is on the other side.
“Oh God” Sam said in to my headset. "It's her... I can see her. It's Alice, it's the old runner five." I wanted to feel sympathy for him but I couldn't think, I couldn't feel. I was so close I had to keep going, focus on nothing but the outline of the walls that was Abel. Sam picked back up although I could hear the cracks in his voice as he taked "She's the one chasing you. She's... she's still wearing her headset. She..."
Sam had been cut off again and a new voice I hadn't heard before chimed in "Runner five, it's runner seven here, head of runners. The Doctors told me you found something useful in the hospital. We are sending out a couple of people to bring you in. Just keep running as fast as you can. Don't look back, she's right behind you. JUST RUN"
I tore through the streets of the abandoned City, trying to avoid getting to close to anything in case a zom was hiding nearby. I couldn't tell what was louder, my heart beat or the pounding of my feet on the pavement. I swore at any moment my legs would buckle from under me, fire ripped through my lungs as I tried to keep driving myself forward. I could hear the low groans and moans from behind me, I knew she was still hot on my trail. I was so close I could see the walls, less than a mile away. I started seeing movement ahead, the runners! They are coming for me, I just have to make it to them I was so close. I was going to make it. I would live another day.
I had finally slowed down to a brisk walk after feeling confidant there was no one behind me. I could start to feel a stabbing pain in the right side of my abdomen. I had been used to training now at the military base but it was only for an hour maybe two tops a day, how long have I been running out here today? We left the base this morning around 9 AM and it is still light outside now but it definitely has to be after Noon. I tried to ignore the pain and keep moving, I just had to find a way out of the hospital and then head for Abel Township. This is the home stretch, I can make this, I am going to survive just one more day I thought to myself. That was always what I told myself when things started getting hard, just one more day.
I heard my headset buzz to life breaking me out of my head again as Sams voice came through “Heyyy there you are! I’ve got you on camera now, great to see you even though you’re kind of blurry”. I glanced around and spotted a small moving camera in the right corner of the room, ahhh so that is how they are keeping track of things, they still have access to security cameras, I heaved the box on to my hip with one hand so I could wave in to the camera. “Uh what’s that you’re carrying? Yeah uh look at this Doc, runner five picked up something in the hospital” Sam said as I tried to hold the box up to the camera.
“Is that the Center for Disease Control File?” Dr. Myers came in to my ear. I tried to make as big of a nodding gesture as I could in to the camera.
“What’s that?” Sam responded sounding a little distant as if Dr. Myers had taken over the mic.
“Runner five I don’t say this lightly, that box could be worth your life to protect. Don’t drop it.” She responded. Sure Doc, easy for you to say. You aren’t out here running for your life carrying extra weight in a bag and a box of files. I shifted the weight of the box again as I could still feel the stabbing pain in my side.
“What is it?” I heard Sam ask in the background.
“Oh it might be nothing it might be everything” Dr. Myers replied back.
“Sooo a pretty narrow window of definition” Sam started saying before he was cut off.
“What’s that shadow over there?” Dr. Myers asked with a slight alarm in her voice. It was only then that I heard the low growl from behind me. I am so stupid, I let myself get distracted listening to their banter, hoping that this box meant something and I didn’t pay attention to my surroundings. I knew the sound was right behind me, it felt so close I swear I could feel the breath from the creature on my neck, I didn’t wait around to feel the sharp teeth bite in to me. I took off down the hallway as fast as my legs could carry me, biting my lip to try and take my mind off the pain in my side that roared to life. It was only then that I focused back in to the headset and heard Sam.
“Awe oh no! This was what- when we sent her out this was what happened” Sams voice turned very serious “They’re following you number five, the swarm from the car lot they’re following you now RUN"
I crept towards the tower as quietly as I could to not draw any attention to myself. I was exposed mostly on my journey through the abandoned town surrounding the hospital. The lack of adrenaline was starting to take effect and I could feel the aches and pains starting up from my rough landing. I tried my best to shake it out of my head as I kept moving towards the hospital.
"Ok, ok, man that's great. You're making good time. No broken legs I guess" Sam chuckled to himself. I jumped at the sound of his voice, I wish there was a way I could communicate back to him so I didn't feel so on edge at the slightest sound. "Hey uh listen I'm gonna call you Runner 5 um just cause well I don't know your name and we just lost a runner in that same hospital you're running to now." It almost sounded like his voice had cracked "She was so fast, really funny, and clever. Me and her we sort of -" he paused for a long moment. I stopped walking and waited for him to start again, I could sense that this was a moment, the kind of thing one human being should listen to from another. After all emotions and feelings were one of the things that separated us from the zoms right?
A moment later his voice picked back up, he sounded like he was doing everything in his power to hold himself together "She was amazing... but hey you can be our new Runner 5... If you make it back alive" he muttered the last part. I assumed he didn't intend for me to hear it but I did.
Thanks for the vote of confidence
I thought to myself and started moving again.
"Yeah uh the runners are pretty important to keeping us going here" Sam started back up finally sounded like he had steadied his voice "Any fuel we have goes to working the generators and the truth is if you have two legs and you can go above a slow shamble you'll be able to stay out of the zoms way, am I right?"
Sure Sam, that's all it takes, just be a little faster then a slow shamble
I shook my head as I came out of an alley that was right next to the hospital. I ducked behind an old dumpster staking out my path in.
"Uh yeah okay your pace is good but um maybe head through the ground floor of the hospital" Sam chirped in my ear "There's a little swarm gathering in the parking lot I don't like the look of and um...". I could see the parking lot less than a hundred yards away. It was elevated though, there must be an upper level entrance. I dashed out from behind the dumpster as fast as I could to the beam holding up the awning outside the hospital door. I steadied my breathe as I listened for any movement or a sign that I had been spotted. "Yeah, Yeah that's good" Sam said. "You could even pick up anything interesting you pass, we think there might be some uh well... we sent the old runner 5 there looking for some file the Docs interested in so ya know if you find anything official looking lying around just bring it home."
I moved slowly towards the hospital doors, one of the doors glass had been completely knocked out. I listened for any moans or groans before stepping inside. It was dark, the only light coming in were from windows letting the daylight in. I felt like I held my breath with every step, it almost worried me that the pounding of my heart would bring the zombies running in every direction.
Medical kits. Medical kits. Where would medical kits be kept?
I racked my brain trying to think, going room by room could be dangerous. Who knew where zoms might be hidden and just running in to one could ruin my entire mission and then who knew if Abel would let me in. I crept down the hall ways for what felt like an eternity when I saw a cart turned over. Spread out on the floor were atleast five medical kits, I quickly gathered them up stuffing them in the small pack I had, it wouldn't zip all the way shut but it would do well enough to hold them. For the first time this day I felt my chest ease up a little. I had just turned to sneak back to the front door when a box on a table in what appeared to be an office caught my eye.
I walked over to the door and tried to jiggle the knob.
Locked, damn
The box had "CDC" written in a sharpie on the side of it. I chewed my lip nervously, I could break the glass in the window to grab it but I would be putting myself as risk if any zoms were close by and heard the crash, I would be a sitting duck in that office if they came. On the other hand it is a file for the Center of Disease Control and if Dr. Myers could use it to somehow... I was starting to day dream.
This is reality Paige. There are no happy endings in this world, there is no magic cure that the Doc can just whip up an make everything go back to normal.
Yet I couldn't help holding on to a small childish like hope, I had talked myself in to breaking the glass. I searched the hall for a heavy enough chair, said a short prayer that I think I said mostly right although I had never been one to pray, yanked back and then threw the chair in to the glass with all my might. If there were zoms around they certainty heard that crash, I wouldn't be surprised if the ones in the parking lot had heard it. I pulled my sleeve up over my hand and tried to break the tiny pieces of glass standing up out of the window before hoping through. I snatched the box off the table, threw it out in to the hallway and then hoped back over. I thought I saw a shadow move from the distance, picking up the file box I took off through the hospital not bothering to stop and look behind me.
"Wow there's, there's someone alive down there running" Sams voice came over my headset. I wasn't entirely sure how I did it but as I was laying there waiting for the zombies to finish me off it was like this foreign power surged through my whole body. Not here, not today, not like this. I wasn't ready to die just yet, so with a burst of energy I shoved myself up and took off headed for what I thought to be the tower. "Hey can you hear me? .... No answer but still just look at them go, heading for the tower just like I said." Sam had a giddiness in his voice that gave me a small bit of hope and I could feel a little smile creep over my face. "Ok, running person if you can hear me well, you're doing great. The main group is behind you and you're going to come out of this forest soon but there's a, uh, yeah well I, I can't think of a phrase that's not small army of zombies." He stuttered out again. "Sorry I don't do so well under massive pressure"
I took a deep breath as we flew over the mass woods below, if I squinted I could see movement on the ground, zoms I thought to myself, I could feel my stomach starting to tighten up.
"Able Townships just on the horizon, see it now?" the pilot yelled back lurching me out of my trance "Not much more than a few fences to keep the zoms out, I don't know how they live like that. I guess they won't be living like that much longer."
Screeeeech the radio buzzed as the pilot clicked on her mic "Abel Township, Jolly Alpha Five Niner from Mullins Military Base, we're five miles out approaching from the East, bringing med supplies, shelters, and loan of one of our people. Able Township, Jolly Alpha Five Niner requesting permission to land."
The radio buzzed back as she switched off the mic. "Got that uhhh er, I mean, roger that." a mans voice stumbled back across the airwaves. "You're clear to, uh yeah, you can, you can come on in." I had a silent laugh at the voice on the radio, it is so rare these days to find any humor in the world so I took it when I could.
"Roger Abel, heading down now" the pilot buzzed back. I sat up a little straighter at the anticipation of seeing where I would be living for the time being. New people made me nervous ever since... I tried not to remember some of my previous encounters with other surviovors on the roads.
This is different though Paige
I thought, trying to convince myself.
I am different, I have experience now and I can take care of myself.
Although I wasn't entirely sure what experience was needed to survive something like this.
"Level with me" the pilots voice snapped my attention back out of my thoughts. "You and me both know we haven't got half of the usual supplies, we've lied to the township."
"I don-" I started saying.
"Yeah I know, you don't know anything" she cut me off quickly "someone in Abel is going to come up to you and say I'm here to brief you on project green shoot, and then you'll find out what your mission really is, I just- WHAT THE?" My eyes quickly followed where she was looking but I heard it first, loud banging noises, guns? I frantically tried to make out where the sound was coming from but it felt like it echoed through the forest.
"Someone is shooting! That's not from the Township. WHO THE HELL HAS A ROCKET LUNCHER?!?!" she started screaming. I felt my body lurch forward as the sound of an explosion rocked us from behind. The wind was knocked out of my chest as my body slammed against the belts that strapped me in. I gasped trying to fill my lungs with air again as the pain coursed through my body.
"We are hit, I lost the tail roter" the pilot gasped out. She grabbed the radio speaker and screamed "MAY DAY MAY DAY JOLLY ALPHA FIVE NINER GOING DOWN THREE MILES EAST OF ABEL TOWNSHIP TWO SOULS ON BOARD". My head was spinning, I was trying to grasp on to what was happening. We were going to crash, we were going down. My mind raced trying to figure a way out of this as I still struggled for breath when suddenly the scratchy voice started coming through the radio again.
"This is Abel Township calling, supply copter can you hear us?!" it came through with a slight panic in his voice, I tried to open my mouth to reply but no sound came out. "You're coming down fast, can any of you hear us? Open your chutes, JUMP JUMP" he cried. I looked at the pack next to me by the seat, I quickly unhooked my seat belt and lurched for the bag, I threw one to the pilot but she had a blank look on her face. "Come on" I managed to croak out to her but she just gave a glossy dead stare in response. I grabbed the spare headset from the passanger side, I couldn't wait any longer, if I didn't jump now I would die in the crash for sure. I whispered I am so sorry in my head to her as I lunged myself out of the helicopter. I pulled the string and clenched my eyes as tight as I could manage as I shot back up from the chute, the ache in my chest had come back tenfold only this time it was a different pain that was not caused by the explosion. How could you have just left her in there like that Paige I screamed internally at myself you should have done something, you should have tried harder, you should have grabbed her and jumped holding her although realistically I knew that the chute couldn't have held both of our weights. I listened to the explosion below me and felt the heat of the fire wrap around my body, my face tightened harder as I tried to not let a cry escape.
"Hey, hey I uh, this is Abel Township calling over." The mans voice sprung in to the headset I had grabbed. "If there is anyone alive, if you've got your parachute open, this is Samuel from Abel Township uhh, I'm just a, I'm just a radio operator man, I'm not supposed to handle this stuff!"
"Hello! Hello? Samuel?" I yelled in the mic of my headset, distracted by the fact that I had communications open I didn't realize how close I was to the ground. I landed with a hard thump that knocked the wind out of me again for the second time. I laid on the ground groaning and trying to take a quick glance around praying that I haden't landed close to any zoms although I knew the place would be crawling with them soon enough due to the explosion.
"You've come down in a horde of zombies" Sam said in the headset, damn "They've heard the noise they're coming. There are 30? no 40? Oh crap. Your only safe path is towards the tower. If there is anyone alive there just run, RUN!"
"SAM! SAM!" I yelled in to the mic but I got no response. He must not be able to hear me. That was when I heard the first snarl, I could see something moving in the distance. My body clenched up as I tried to catch my breath and force myself up but I was frozen. I am going to die. Right here, this is how I am going to go, all of this has been for nothing I felt a sob escape as I lay there waiting for my end.
Paige has always been a bit of a loner growing up. She was born in a poor area to a Mother and Father that were more concerned with chasing their next high than chasing their baby girl, often ending up with her staying for a few weeks in Child Protective Services. She learned from an early age how to take care of herself but not without getting in to some trouble along the way. As soon as she turned 18 she took off to find her own small flat to live in that she paid for by working odd jobs. When the new first started talking about the zombie attacks she was working in hole in the wall bar, that was her first encounter.
It was like any other night, local town drunks in and drinking away their shitty lives, lives Paige swore to herself she would never find herself on the path too. The news had been reporting all day of a new illness that many people were showing signs of, she never minded the news much anyway. That was when a man stumbled in the front door of the bar, only he wasn’t a man. Physically yes, but the look on his face, like he wasn’t actually seeing and the blood covering his body. Then he attacked another man sitting on a bar stool. Paige called the police but the phone just kept ringing. The bloody man had started tearing the bar patron in to pieces. Paige grabbed the gun they kept behind the bar for emergencies and fired. She walked outside carrying the rifle still to find herself in the center of chaos. People screaming, running in all different directions, fires had broken out, cars flying by yet no one seemed to know where they were going. She started to notice others on the streets being attacked in a similar fashion to what happened inside. She raised her gun again to shoot a woman who was attacked a man when suddenly she was grabbed from behind. The bloody man from inside the bar had his arm on her her and was lunging forward with his mouth wide open. Paige quickly shoved the rear of the rifle back in to his face causing him to momentarily let go and she ran.
She arrived at her small flat and grabbed a backpack out of her closet, she shoved inside as many things she could fit that she thought she would need and then took off tearing down the flight of steps to a small motorbike she had managed to save up some money for. She drove as long as she could, stopping at various gas stations to find the pumps all shut off. When the bike died she got out a walked. She wasn’t sure where to go or who to turn to, she had never in her life had someone she trusted. She scavenged to get by, finding hiding places to sleep at night, always moving and occasionally would come across small settlements she would trade items with. One day however when a group of people approached her as she was walking they asked her to trade some supplies, Paige pulled out what she had when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in the side of her head and was flying backwards. One of the men in the group had punched her, he jumped on her and smacked her a few more times while the others quickly loaded her supplies in to their bags. They left her half beaten and laying on the side of the road when a military convoy drove past. After analyzing that she was not a zom they brought her to the military base where they were trying to restore order in the world. They went out every day to find survivors to ship to other settlements to contribute with the eventual hopes that mankind would over come.
Paige was a slow adapter to her new life often feeling uncertain this was really where she belonged. Things were incredibly strict at the military base although they taught her some skills in the hopes that she could survive using them if she ever had to. When they told her they had selected her to go to a settlement called Abel Township she was thrilled to get away from totalitarian state she was in. She boarded a supply helicopter headed that way and set off in search of a new life, a life where hopefully she could finally find a place that she belonged.
