Chapter Text
“Remember everyone,” Sam instructs, glancing around the crowded coms room. “You’ll need to stay quiet. I’m going to have to focus to keep Runner Five safe.”
Everyone nods. Janine and Tom are sitting to his right, and in charge of managing the cam feeds, which Nadia granted about fifteen minutes before. Tom is taking notes as he methodically scans through the cams around the course, planning optimal routes and occasionally pointing out hazards to Sam. Meanwhile, Janine rapidly flips through other cams around Abel, using this time to get caught up on her township that she hadn’t seen in months. The beginnings of a long-term plan to get Abel back, she had said. But when Five is ready to run the course, she would switch and help Tom too.
Maxine sits to his left, carefully scanning camera feeds in the woods just outside of Abel. Like Sam, she wears a headset, but she’s on a channel with Jody and Paula, who were about a mile’s run from Abel. If Five could get out, she’d have Jody and Paula to help her get home.
“Sit-rep, Runner 4?” Maxine asks. Sam can tell everything is fine by the way Maxine slowly nods as she listens. Maxine flashes him a thumbs up.
Behind them sits Peter, Baby Sara in his arms. Sam feels better having his daughter close but had instructed Peter to take her outside if she got too fussy or if things got violent. Sara loves Auntie Five, and Sam didn’t want her to see…. But no, Five, would be fine.
In the doorway, Amelia stands with one foot in the room, one foot in the hallway. Sam couldn’t tell if she wanted the intel or if she actually cared if Five is ok. Perhaps both.
As soon as Five appears on screen, all the hubbub in Noah Base fades away. Nadia leads Five to a pen similar to ones for racehorses. Five stands upright and strong, but Sam can see small cracks in her armor- her too-tight shoulders, the brief hesitation before entering the pen. She glares overhead, where the minister and Ian sit comfortably in raised stands, like rich spectators at a sporting event. Nadia places a baseball hat over Five’s head, and suddenly, Sam can hear Five’s steady breathing.
“Oh my God, Five! Are you okay? I can see you-” Sam blurts out as soon as the hat is over her ears. He has a moment of panic, perhaps his voice wouldn’t be welcome. Perhaps Five blamed him for getting her trapped in Abel or for the faked girl guide tape.
Five’s eyes widen and he sees her shoulders relax. “Sam,” she whispers with her mouth barely moving- to an onlooker, it would look like she was sighing. But he hears how much relief and longing is that one word. He misses her desperately in that moment. But it also feels surprisingly normal-Five in a dangerous situation and Sam’s in her ear. They could do this.
“Nadia’s hooked me into the cams around this testing ground,” Sam says to help orient her. “Oh, Five. It is so good to see you. We’re going to get you out of this. Don’t worry, I’m on it.”
He wants to say so much more. Ask her a bunch of questions that she can’t possibly answer, surrounded by enemies as she is. How was she? Was she dealing with her PTSD and the grief from Owen’s death? Did she know that he missed her every single day that she was gone? That she’d never been forgotten about, not for a single instant?
But all of that can wait. He focuses on describing the testing grounds around her. Keeping Five alive is the only priority. Tom’s notes indicate that he should try to the first break in the fence a few miles to the north. He’d just needs to guide her there.
Veronica moves Five to the starting line and pushes her into the testing ground. The wooden gate snaps closed behind her. The fences to the obstacle course are so tall that it is darker on the course than it is outside. Five stands there for a moment, looking so small.
“Five? I know you’re scared, but you got to run.”
“I don’t know if I can get out of this one, Sam,” Five admits, voice shaking a little.
“That’s what I’m here for. We’re going to figure this out, like we always do,” Sam says, making himself sound more confident than he feels. “Please run, Five. Run like you’re coming home to me.”
Five starts sprinting.
By the time the zombie is released, Five’s slowed down a bit. She’s not tired, but the maze-like turns of the testing grounds prevent her from running any faster. Sam checks the cams, hardly daring to hope. She’s covered enough ground that she’s well ahead of the zombie and should easily make it to the gap before the zombie reaches her. Five’s encountered far harder challenges before; running this distance wouldn’t even make her top ten. And yet, he won’t relax until she is safely at Noah Base.
From a platform above, Sigrid, Veronica and Ian watch Five’s progress, like they’re the Roman emperor watching the gladiators fight to the death. Sam can hear snippets of their conversations from Five’s mic as they torment her over the loudspeakers.
“If Five turns into a zombie, can I have it? Can I?” Ian asks the Prime Minister.
Five rolls her eyes as she runs. “If I turn into a zombie, Sam, remind me to bite him first.”
“Not going to happen, Five,“ Sam assures. “We’ll find another way to make Ian and Sigrid pay for what they did, one that, you know, doesn’t involve you becoming a zombie?”
She smiles, but the brief moment of almost normalcy doesn’t last long. The distance between Runner Five and the zom has halved now and it’s coming much too quick for Sam’s liking.
“I think it’s – ugh, yeah, it’s a fast zom. Oh, I thought those were all extinct!” he takes a breath, trying to calm himself. “Never mind, never mind. Uh, just keep moving.” She’d be ok. She’s fine.
“Why can’t we have more zombies in there?” Ian complains. “Really make it fun! Really increase Five’s energy. I’ve got a whole pen full of well-rotted zombies we could release.”
“This is a controlled trial, Ian.” Veronica reminds him, sounding like an adult telling a child he couldn’t have a fifth piece of candy. “How can I work out what happens if more than one zombie bites Five?”
“God. Ronnie either really thinks her vaccine’s going to work, or…” Sam sighs and tries to fill Five in on some of the details of Noah Base-Abel rebels communications. It was a trick of his, give the runner something to focus on besides the fear of impending death, but not enough to overwhelm from what she needs to do. “We need to talk to Ronnie. Nadia hasn’t told her about this headset. None of us know how much we can trust her, now she’s working so closely with Sigrid.”
Five double taps the side of her hat, an acknowledgement the runners came up with when they couldn’t give verbal confirmation.
“But first,” Sam continues. “We need to get you out of there. I’m not trusting any vaccine. That fast zom’s gaining on you. Put on a burst of speed, Five. I know you can do it.”
“Okay, Five. You’re still outpacing that zombie, and you’re getting closer to the break in the fence. If you can get out, we don’t think they have any snipers at that end, and we’ll have a transport waiting for you not far away.”
Sam glances to his left, where Maxine is guiding Jody and Paula to the rendezvous point. Satisfied that Maxine has things under control, Sam tunes her voice out.
Five is still running for the break in the fence. “Sam, are you there? Tell me something to distract me from the fast zom. I haven’t heard anything about Noah Base in so long, please Sam-”
He understands what she’s asking. She’s scared and needs a distraction from the fear. “We’ve missed you, Five. Baby Sara’s missed you. I’ve missed you. It seems like so long since we last talked.”
Behind him, Sara coos at her name, and Peter bounces her on his knee. “Auntie Five’s coming home soon,” Peter whispers to the baby.
“Give her positive reinforcement, Mr. Yao,” Janine says in a low voice. “I’ve noticed an increase in Runner Five’s speed when you give her encouragement.”
Sam nods and says, “And Janine’s so pleased with what you’ve done. We’ve stopped Sigrid getting to the labs under Abel, and now all we have to do is work out how to get her out of there for good. Oh, and you’re not going to believe the rec room I’ve put together in Noah Base. Seriously awesome stuff! We’ve got LARPing gear! Fake swords and everything!”
It’s the LARPing gear that makes Five smile. Or perhaps it’s Sam’s excitement about the LARPing gear. Just a little more, Five. Sam estimates she’ll be there in under 2 minutes at this pace.
“For goodness’ sake, this is taking far too long, Veronica” Sigrid says, and her aggravation bolsters Sam’s spirits further. “Can’t we speed it up a bit?”
Sigrid, Veronica, and Ian continue to bicker as a fence spring up in Five’s path, blocking her exit strategy. Five veered to the right to avoid it, but a pit of spikes opens in front of her, causing Five to skid to a sudden halt.
“Sam,” she says, breathlessly. She had run all out towards the fence break, and doesn’t have much reserves left. “There’s nowhere else- I have to go back.”
While Five had dodged the traps, the fast zom rapidly closed the distance between them. It was less than than 50 yards away at this point and is gaining ground quickly.
“Okay, okay, we’ll fix this” Sam says, but his voice is shaking. “Just keep running, Five. Stick to the left of the fence, and you might be able to avoid the zombie. And if Ronnie’s right, adrenaline will make that vaccine more likely to work, so just keep running!”
Five hugs the fence, but shrieks as it becomes electrified.
“That was only a mild shock, she may still-“ Janine says.
“There isn’t anywhere else for her to go!” Tom exclaims.
Sam mutes his mic. “EVERYONE shut up! I’m trying to focus here.” Behind him, he hears the click of the door close- Peter left with Baby Sara as promised. Which was probably just a precaution, this is Five and she could still get out of this situation, she always does-
Five is running towards the zombie now. “I can’t- I don’t know what else to do!”
“Five, dodge left! No, right, right! You’ll have to climb that fence.”
Five sprints to one part of the fence that isn’t electrified. But as she begins to climb, the fence suddenly lowers, and she falls flat on her face, and suddenly the zombie is upon her.
“Just get up. Just get up! Get up, and move!” Sam screams into the mic as the zombie bites her left arm.
“Oh God. It’s bitten you. Uh… well, you never know. You might turn out to have natural immunity like me, or… or Veronica’s vaccine might work.”
The zombie is taken out by a headshot from one of Sigrid’s snipers. For a second, Sam hopes the sniper will shoot Five too, that would be better than watching her turn. Watching another Runner Five turn…
But she wasn’t dead, not yet. “Five, run for that break in the fence. Now!” He orders, and she starts sprinting to a new opening.
Sam tries to reassure her but his voice sounds strangled. “You never know. Veronica’s vaccine might have worked, and if not, we can put you on plasmapheresis. You’ll be okay, Five. I mean, Paula’s just fine most of the time. Just run! As fast as you can. Come back to us.”
She doesn’t speak, but puts on a massive burst of speed.
Sam hears a click as he’s taken to a private channel.
“Sam,” Jody says, voice hitching but she powers through it. “If Five can make it past the fence and out of Abel, I can get her back to Noah quickly for the treatment. We can do this.”
Sam tries to hold onto that last piece of hope. But as he switches back to Five’s channel, he sees Five stumble. She’s slowing down, until she’s almost at walking speed.
“Five, are you okay? Five. Five, Five! You’re slowing down,” Sam pleads.
Sam’s listening so hard to his headset, but all he can hear is Runner Five’s labored breathing.
“Five? Five, keep moving. Oh, please! Please, you have to keep moving. Please! Please don’t stop. I can’t watch this happen, Five!”
It’s not the first time Sam’s panicked when Runner Five’s been in danger. Five usually makes a wisecrack, or if it’s really serious, says something to reassure him. No matter what she says, she sounds controlled and keeps running through it all.
But now, Five staggers to a stop, consumed in a fit of coughing. She speaks hoarsely into her microphone, “I’m…sorry, Sam....I love--” she bends over sideways to cough, “I, l-“
“Five, please!” he screams. “Keep moving!”
“Mr. Yao,” Janine says quietly. Sam can’t tell if her hand on his shoulder is shaking or if he’s experiencing whole-body tremors. “Perhaps you should say something comforting, I don’t think she has-“
Sam ignores this. “No! Five!” he calls out to her. Five’s fallen to her knees. He cheeks, typically a rosy pink with exertion, are now a sallow gray. “Oh, please don’t stop running. Please don’t, please! Please, don’t let this be happening. Please, please!”
She’s moving her mouth like she’s trying to say something, but no words come out. Instead, her body convulses with coughs, and she falls face-first to the ground. “Runner Five!” Sam cries. “Five!”
And suddenly, Five is still. She moans, and for a split-second, Sam hopes Veronica’s vaccine worked. Five would brush herself off with a laugh, and be back in Noah Base soon, drinking tea and eating his Curly Wurly’s.
That vision is shattered when Five jerkily rises to her feet, emitting a guttural growl.
“Oh no,” Maxine whispers. Sam can’t look at the doctor- his pain is too raw to deal with anyone else’s.
“I--- I love you too,” Sam says, and now he can’t hold the sobs back as Zombie Five shambles forward. Did she hear him? Or was she already gone?