Chapter 44: A Little Night Music

Thunder claps as raindrops hit my face. I'm shivering, but I keep quiet. I don't want to talk, not with who's listening.

"Alright. Raise the gates!" Sam yells, the alarm going off and the gates going up. "Let's get rolling. All clear, Runner Five?"

I don't answer. I simply dart off, and he coughs awkwardly.

"Yeah... follow the route marked out by the flags. Sorry about the weather, although I guess this makes it more of a test, right?"

Again, I say nothing.

"Right. Now I've gotta go over this with you one more time according to New Canton's instructions, so..." He pauses, and I can hear papers rustling. "'Runner Five, the purpose of this mission is to test your ability to preform under pressure in preparation for our joint attack on Comansys. Comansys are onboard a ship...' Well, yeah. You know that. Mission stuff. Mission stuff.

"'Abel has put you forward as their top runner,' because you are. 'You'll rendezvous with our top pick, as our most experienced and competent runner, Runner Thirteen, and together, you will undertake an assault course across a half completed building site. The high walls will make it difficult for you to maintain sight with your partner. It will be a test for your coms operator, as well.'"

He scoffs. "Well, that's charming, that is. I think Janine just agreed to do this because she's determined to show the Ministry we don't need another administrator. So, yeah, I'll be tested too; See if I'm right for the job."

"Hmm," I reply, goosebumps rising from the freezing cold rain. If I wasn't sickness immune, I'd worry about pneumonia.

"Oh, and Paula's still resting to recover from the blood cleansing and all that, as you know."

"Uh-huh."

"And um, you've picked up a few shamblers. Better shake them before you reach the first checkpoint. This New Canton Runner Thirteen will meet you there."

"Okay."

He sighs heavily. "So, that's how it's going to be then? One word answers? It's... it's been five days. How much longer are you going to keep this up?"

I don't answer.

"Come on, Five. I've been telling you for days that I didn't mean it like that, a-and if... if Alice... I wouldn't treat you-I wouldn't think of you like that. And I definitely don't think of you like that now."

I simply huff in reply, which causes Sam to sigh in defeat. Good. The man's lucky I didn't punch him when he came back to New Canton with Paula a few days ago. I didn't punch him because I was afraid I'd hurt him too badly. I still do care about him, even if he did hurt me deeply with what he did (and didn't) say.

I tried punching a wall yesterday, just to test my strength, but all that came from it was pain-a lot of pain. I think this new strength comes from adrenaline. Van Ark's treatments did something to me, and I think the adrenaline is what activates this, quote unquote, 'super strength'.

I think it is like that with Simon too-his speed, anyway. Adrenaline is what some call, your fight or flight instinct. Apparently, the treatments enhanced the 'fight' part of that for me, and the 'flight' part for Simon. So if I'm worked up enough from adrenaline and emotions, I can put a dent in metal.

At least, that's my theory.

But I can't test it too often. I don't want anyone knowing what I can now do. I don't... I'm already looked at a bit differently because of my age, and before I got my voice back, the fact that I was mute. Being the tiny, female, brunette version of 'Mr. Incredible' isn't something I want to be known for.

Another clap of thunder sounds off into the sky, and I flinch. My hair is already soaked, sticking to my neck and forehead. The rain is heavy, but thankfully not so heavy that I can't see or hear what's around me. I can see the flags marking the path, and the faint moans of the zoms still reach my ears.

Their growls and groans are fading, meaning it won't be long before I lose them. That's a rather good thing, since I'm sure New Canton will have zombies waiting at the building site for us as a part of this test. I am a bit miffed that I wasn't allowed to bring my axe, but given that we will most likely have to swim out to the ship, me bringing my axe onto the Laetitia Greenwald isn't an option, meaning it isn't an option on this mission, either.

"Runner Five! Over here!"

I look up ahead. There's a woman, slightly taller than me, but just as drenched. Her black hair is sticking to her skin, but her green eyes seem light and happy. She seems interesting by the looks-square shoulders, strong build, and a tan from obvious work outside... but her voice-there's something about it.

"Oh, there she is," Sam says, and I huff at hearing his voice again. "Patching you both in on my coms channel. Your only communications will be with me today, Steffie."

Steffie grins when I reach her. She grabs my hand and gives it a firm shake. "Nice to meet you, Five, Sam. I'm Steffie. I think we're gonna have some fun tonight. Got some zoms on my tail already. This way."

She starts heading off towards a slope, spirits alight and airy. Still though, I can't shake the feeling that something about this situation isn't right.

Maybe it's the fact that I'd rather have Nadia as operator instead of Sam. Too bad she stayed with Veronica at the Treetop Base.

I swallow thickly, saliva and my pride traveling down my throat to the pit of my stomach. I can work with people I'm angry with. I did while I worked at the A.M.T.B. and at Mullins. I can do it here in this situation too.

"Good warmup, don't you think?" Steffie asks, sprinting ahead of me.

"She's fast, isn't she?" Sam asks, knowing not to expect a reply. "Still, I think you've dealt with worse terrain than this."

I hurry to catch up with her, my pounding steps causing mud to splash up onto my ankles and calves.

"Did they tell you I'm Runner Thirteen? Swapped the number with Eric."

"What was it before?" I ask, prompting a raised brow from her.

"Why?"

"I think we might've gone on a run together, possibly while I was staying New Canton while Abel was being rebuilt. You sound really familiar."

Steffie laughs. "No. No, we've never met. Knew the New Canton Five. Spitting image of you. She was British though, and a lot more serious. Mind that root. Nearly tripped on it myself. Been lookin' forward to runnin' with you, Five. The top runner from each settlement, teamin' up to rescue our people from Comansys."

I blush at her compliment, and she grins widely when she notices it.

"Hang on a minute," Sam says only half jokingly, "flattering Runner Five is my job."

I frown, and roll my eyes.

She shrugs. "We have to keep each other's spirits up in the field. We'll look after each other, won't we?"

I nod. "Yep."

"Keepin' each other safe is what matters. You need to know just who you can trust with your information. Isn't that right, Five?"

I blink in confusion. "Um, yes?"

Papers shuffle over the coms link, ad my lips press together into a thin line. Leave it to Sam to be so unprepared. Usually I'd find it cute or endearing, but I'm still mad at him, and this rain is really freaking cold, which only irritates me further. The faster I pass this test with Steffie, the faster I can get back to Abel and wrap a blanket around me.

"Okay, um... uh," He clears his throat awkwardly, "your route takes you though an old building site. It was meant to be a mall, but it never got finished. There's a big sign. No one's gone in there for awhile so uh, so we're not certain what you're gonna find. And my notes say there's gonna be a test of your ability to respond to the occurrence of unforeseen complications... Don't know if I like the sound of that."

"Probably just zoms. You know how dramatic New Canton can be sometime," I say calmly, but then yelp when I'm pulled under the canopy of an abandoned gas station. I look at Steffie in shock, wondering why she just made us stop, even if I am thankful to get out of the rain for a moment. "What are you-"

"Just a sec. There's something I need to pick up." She heads to one of the gas pumps, and pushes it over. It's empty, of course, but under the original pump is a bag, one that clinks when Steffie grabs it.

"What is that?" I question worriedly.

"One of the stashes I have," She explains, and pulls out a vial.

A vial of blue liquid.

Oh, no.

She sprinkles the liquid on her skin and clothes, humming to herself. "Here we go. Problem solved. You use this stuff, right? The calming stuff that keeps the zoms off?"

"Uh, we... is that the batch they made from the calming plants in the woods?" Sam stammers.

"Yeah, it's great. Zoms steer well clear." Her cackling sounds into the air. "Almost makes it too easy, ya know? All those years of runnin' away from them, and now, here we are. They won't come anywhere near me." She holds the vial our to me. "You want some?"

I shake my head quickly, silently praying this isn't what I think it might be.

"No? Suit yourself."

"Probably best not to. New Canton's guidelines do say, 'no artificial aids or performance enhancers to be used," He says, and Steffie scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"This doesn't count. It's part of our standard NC field kit these days."

"Also, there's some possibility it could make you really tactless."

She ignores him. "Right, are you ready to go?"

I nod.

"Then after you, Five. Let's get our run on."

I head out, instantly being pelted with raindrops. I raise my hand to tap out a warning to Sam, but think otherwise of it. This might not even be it-it probably isn't. I mean, the worst that stuff did to Paula was make her a smart ass, as well as clumsy. Plus, he probably wouldn't be able to decipher the Morse Code from the sound of the rain.

I'll just be very careful, and think smart.

The cold makes it harder to breathe, and rain is dripping off my skin, my face. I look back at Steffie, and her eyes dance with a sort of happiness I don't think people could have in this kind of weather. She looks especially happy when her eyes land on me, and I'm not sure if I should be worried about that.

She runs up beside me, brushing against me every so often. Her eyes stay trained ahead, as if she can actually see through the rain. It's getting harder to do so as the rain gets heavier. I can see maybe ten feet ahead of me at most. God, why did it have to rain today of all days?

I guess it's better now than when we decide to go after Comansys... Although with it being so close to my birthday, you'd think God would be a little more lenient on the weather.

Still, I swipe away at some of my wet hair that gets in my hair, and push on.

"That's it, Five. Show me what you're made of," Steffie cheers, and I gulp at the rugged, slightly aggressive tone of her voice.

"Uh, Sam, what can you see?" I ask a bit shakily.

"The visuals aren't great," Sam says, sounding a bit surprised that I'm talking to him willingly. "Uh, I'm tryin' to keep you on camera, but it's patchy as hell."

"Sam, this is Runner Thirteen. Our approach to the site is clear." She squints. "I see a large central structure, the unfinished apartment black in the route plan."

I see it too. Its concrete walls are up, and I think I can see some windows put in, but there is no roof or doors. That means there will be no shelter from the rain in there.

"That's great. Thanks, Steffie."

She nods before turning to me, smiling devilishly. "Ready for the main event? Once we're inside, visual coms will be compromised. Sam will do what he can, but don't expect miracles. All we need to do is run the route. Easy, right?"

She suddenly sprints off ahead of me, kicking mud up onto my legs and running shorts. I gasp. It takes a second for my brain to register how far she's gotten ahead of me, and I'm instantly racing after her.

"Come on, Five!" She laughs, and I squint, trying to find her. But I can barely see anything. "What's the matter? Can't keep up?"

•

"Steffie's out of sight again, Five," Sam says, and I grit my teeth.

"Yeah, I can see that."

She keeps coming and going, letting me catch up with her only to sprint off a few seconds later. I can barely see in this rain, so I can't tell where's she's gone, and I don't want to risk leaving the path because I've never been here before. I don't want to risk getting lost, especially since I don't know what this test is, and... my vision before... if this is it...

"Sorry. Between you and me though, I think she's tryin' to put the 'I' right back in 'team'."

"Something's not right about her," I say. "I... be on the lookout for me, okay?"

"You know I'll always have your back."

"I... I know. But I think... I think that this may have something to do with that weird vision I had last week." I press forward before he can ask any questions. "I don't know for sure, but be wary. Do you see anything on cams?"

"Um... no. Long range ones aren't a showing any significant zombie activity outside the site. You should be fine."

Suddenly, a loud 'clang' is heard over the rain, and there's laughter-creepy, echoing laughter. With the sounds of the rain and thunder and the clash of metal, I can't tell where the laughter is coming from. I don't know where she is.

"What is she playing at? Just stick to the route."

"Okay," I say, my stomach churning.

Lightning flashes, and I see a figure on one of the bulldozers. She jumps down in front of me, and I jump back, fist raised and ready to reek havoc on her face. Thirteen simply laughs.

"What's the matter, Five? Scared? I'm just messin' with you. Need to have some fun on the field, don't you think?" She goes tense, eyes widening. "Shh. Do you-yes. Zombies. I hear them at our three o'clock."

I frown. I don't hear anything.

"Can't see any zombies," Sam says. "Well, can't see anything."

She looks around frantically. "Did you hear that? Sounds like a pack-six or seven at a guess. This way."

"She must have super hearing. Stay with her, Five. And if there are zombies there, you'll need to move."

She's already darted off, and I try to run after her. I look down at my hands-they're pruning and I can't seem to stop shaking. We need to get on with this mission. I may not have to worry about getting sick, but Steffie is still human. And neither of us are immune to the zombie virus. We can't have these zombies finding us, wherever they might be.

I look around, not seeing or hearing anything besides rolling thunder and pounding rain.

"Steffie!" I call out. "Steffie, where are you?"

"Don't yell," A voice whispers harshly. I jump and spin around, and there she is, hiding in a large metal pipe covered with a tarp. "In here."

I quickly follow, hair dripping onto the metal with a soft ding.

"They can't find us in here. Time to regroup, rethink," She says.

"They? Who's they?" Sam asks. "I've managed to get a couple more security cameras up; There's nothing there."

'You're not seeing anything?' I tap out as loudly as I can, hoping he'll hear it. I don't think it would be best for Steffie to hear my questioning, 'You're sure?'

"I'd state my flimsy reputation on it. I-I'm analyzing the background noise in your mic feed, but I'm getting nothing. Nothing here, zip, nada, Cinco de Mayo."

Steffie grabs another vial of calming formula from her backpack and looks at me with a crazed, almost desperate smile. "Why don't you put on some of the formula, Five? If we both do it, the zoms won't come near us, right?"

Ice suddenly spikes through my veins. "Oh, dear..."

"There. I hear them. There's dozens of them around us." She splashed some onto herself and then holds out the vial to me, a pleading look in her eye. I back away. "Come on, Five. You can't leave this to me alone. Your scent will draw the zoms towards us both. I can't do this on my own! Don't let us down, Forty-three!"

I freeze. "What did you just call me?"

"There are no zoms, Runner Thirteen," Sam says. "I don't know what you're on about."

"Why did you call me Forty-three?" I ask, tensing. She doesn't answer. There are tears in her eyes. "Steffie, why did you call me Forty-three?"

Something flashes across her eyes, and I see it.

Oh, God.

Now I know why she was so happy to see me, when she heard me speak. I know what she's a part of.

Summer was right. We aren't the only A.M.T.B. agents here.

"Steffie, please. No one from there needs to-"

"Why won't you take the stuff? Why not?" She cries. "What's wrong with you?"

My eyes go wide. Oh, God.

Just when I thought this couldn't get any worse.

Suddenly Steffie gasps, her eyes widening in fear. "Oh, God. Oh, God. No. No!"

"What? Steffie, what's wrong?" I ask, confused, panicked. She knows too much. She's hysterical. She's already called me Forty-three. Who knows what else she might say?

"It's you!" She shrieks. "You're-you're a zombie!"

"What?"

"Oh, God. Your skin. Your face."

I reach for her. "Thirteen, I'm not-"

"No, get away from me! Get away!" She scoots away towards the tarp covering the pipe.

"This isn't good," Sam murmurs.

"No. No! Stay away!" She screams, bolting out of the pipe, into the rain, and away from me.

"Steffie, wait!" I call out, exiting the pipe. "I'm not a zombie! Steffie!"

I look around, but I see nothing through the rain. She's ran off, but to where, I don't know.

This is bad, worse than even Sam knows.

She's an A.M.T.B agent-a Torrencer. And to make things worse, apparently she's crazy. This is a bad, bad combination.

"New Canton, this is Sam Yao at Abel Radio Control. This is an emergency. I'm activating this coms link as per your protocol uh, Protocol 1207. Come in, please."

I can tell he's trying to stay calm, but his voice is shaking, and it cracks on the word 'please'. He's just as scared as I am.

I wish I'd brought my axe.

"This is New Canton. Over."

"We have a-um, what do you call it?-developing situation. Something's happened to Thirteen." He pauses. "Hang on. Wait a minute. This is it. Is this it? This is the 'unforeseen complication', right?"

"I don't think so," I murmur.

"No, the Black Swan Event has not yet begun. Your runner should stick to the plan," The New Canton operator says.

"Well, forget the plan. Your Runner Thirteen's gone mental. You've got to call off the surprise, whatever it is."

"That's not... possible," He replies. "The test event is... it's out of our hands. There's no way to stop it."

He clicks off before Sam can add anything to the argument, which causes the dark-haired man to growl in anger.

"Oh, for the love-Alright, Five, I've cut coms links with Steffie. God knows what made that poor woman crack. I've heard of it happening after one too many close calls with a zom. You need to get her back home for treatment before New Canton's bloody out-of-context event. Is that her there, standing by a cement mixer?"

I look over there, immediately paling when I see the blood-thirsty look in her eyes, and the huge metal crowbar in her hands.

"You're a zom, Singer, and we all know what to do with zoms."

A lump forms in my throat. "Shit."

"I'm going to kill you, Five!"

"Never mind getting her treatment. Just get away from her. Run!"

I don't need to be told twice. I'm sprinting off as she calls out different nicknames of mine. I ignore them. She's hasn't said my name. That means I'll... be okay-well, information wise. It's obvious this woman is batshit crazy.

But I think I know why.

Lightning flashes across the sky, and thunder booms. My breath comes in and out in heavy, uneven pants. I keep moving, too afraid to stop. I can't see anything, meaning she could be anywhere.

I knew it! God, why do I have to be so stupid. I should've ran the moment I saw the first signs. Stupid, Five! Stupid! Stupid!

"Where's she gone? Where's she gone?" Sam murmurs to himself. "New Canton, come in. Come in. Oh, this is-this is just brilliant!"

"It's okay, Runner Five. You won't feel a thing!"

My gaze snaps up, and I see her just as lightning flashes across the sky. She's there, standing on the first story of the building to my right. I push forward, trying to stay ahead of her. She's still got that crowbar in her hands. She'll kill me if she catches me.

"You're ahead of her. Just stay that way, okay? Um, uh, keep going past those portacabins." There's a loud thunk, but it doesn't come over coms. Then there's another, and another. The sound is just ahead of me. "Are-are those portacabins moving? They-they shouldn't be doing that."

Suddenly the portacabins burst open, zombies pouring out-dozens of them, but there's something else. There's something on them-something in them, eating at the rotting intestines and the decaying flesh.

"Rats! That's rats!" Sam exclaims. "Oh, gross. Is that rat babies too? This is sick, New Canton. Rats are bad enough, but zombies too?"

I skid to a halt, turning and running away from the miniature army of disgusting creatures chasing after me. The mud keeps trying to trap me in, but I keep pushing. Death and danger await me if I stop for even a single second. I cannot stop. I have to keep running. I have to stay alive.

"It's the test," The New Canton operator replies after a moment. "We anticipated this mission will be... disturbing. We wanted your runner to fight off not just the zombies, but also the rats that have been feeding on them. Their bites will also be infectious. It is an... unusual problem."

"If one of those rats catch you, Five, you'll turn in seconds. Run!"

My breathing is heavy as the rain keep pelting me, hard. It's so cold it's almost painful on my skin. I can't see, I can barely hear-my entire world is a blur of gray. I don't know where they are-the rats, the zoms, Steffie. They could be right behind me and I wouldn't even know it.

Thunder roars, but I can hear the squeaking sounds of the rats that are coming after me. They're not going to stop. I have to hope I pass something that's dead or else I'll never lose them-I'll never outpace them enough to rid of them. They won't stop until they've found me, bitten me...

And I can't die today.

My soaked clothing rubs against my skin uncomfortably, and it almost makes me slow down in my effort to fix it. But I don't. I can't. There's no time for stopping now. If I stop, I die.

"That's good," Sam says. "Your outpacing the rats, and the zoms are just shamblers, but I can't see Steffie."

"Goin' somewhere, freak?"

She's in front of me, just like she was in my vision. She has her crowbar in hand, ready to slam it into my head when I get closer. She's already swinging it around like a maniac.

"Don't back up," He says. "The rats are still surging behind you."

"Think you had me fooled?" She taunts. "Runner Five, I see right through you. You're like all the other zombies-infected, perverted, but we've got power over you now. Cower. Come on! Cower! You're meant to run from me! You're meant to hide! Cower!"

I run right past her, just barely dodging the swing she makes at my head. She screams out a name-not mine. It's one that nearly makes my feet stop moving. I grit my teeth and blink away the tears, telling myself it's just rain drops getting into my eyes.

"He'd want you to die! He'd want a disgusting creature like you dead!"

Don't stop.

Don't stop.

Don't stop.

I keep telling myself that, eyes boring into the nothingness in front of me.

"Oh, God. She's standing right in front of the path of the zoms. Keep running. Maybe she'll follow," Sam says.

"No. No! Get off. Get off! Stop! No!" Steffie lets out a gut-wrenching scream, and I squeeze my eyes shut, not daring to look back.

"Oh, God," Sam says again, sounding like he's going to puke. "She's covered in rats and now the zombies... you need to save yourself now. There, if you run up that sand pile, there's an exit from the site ahead. Go!"

•

"Mr. Yao, could you please calm down. We need operational data from you to attempt to extract the... body of our runner."

"Calm down?" He scoffs. "Your runner went mental and tried to kill Five! My Five!"

"We are... examining her pre-mission blood work. There seems to have been an excessive amount of the calming formula in Thirteen's system. She'd been increasing her dosage without our knowledge or consent. Your runner should also be tested."

"My Runner didn't splash that stuff all over her like it was oder bloomin' cologne, alright?"

"We're calling in all our runners," He replies calmly. "Abel's report in the events at the Comansys Treetop laboratories showed the advantages of the calming formula were too great to justify a delay in use. The Permanent Advisory Council voted to issue it to our runners before testing was completed."

"You people are all idiots!" I screech. "I don't know how the hell you've managed to survive this long, making dumbass decisions like that."

"We didn't-it wasn't anticipated that the side effects would be so extreme. We're running up psych evaluations for all our runners now."

"And the bloody stuff didn't even hold off the zoms in the end," Sam points out.

"We're aware the duration of effect is much shorter with our formula. We suspect that the plants we've grown ourselves don't have the potency of those grown by Veronica McShell."

"Yeah, as long as you re-evaluate it down the drain, that's fine by me!" He snips. "And what about the plan? We'll need to come up with a new one."

There's a short moment of silence. "We unfortunately may have to withdraw from the operation. Our runners will need... extensive treatment."

He clicks off before Sam can reply.

"Right," Sam says stiffly. "That's that then."

"What now?" I ask, rain still pelting my skin.

"We're still going to Comansys, and we're still gonna rescue our people. This just means we're gonna have to do it alone."

A/N: Hello, everyone! Hoped you enjoyed this chapter! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day'