Chaptet 45: All The Right Moves

I wrap the blanket tighter around my shoulders, shivering terribly. Dr. Lobatse sits in her chair, having already done her examination on me as per protocol. Now she's simply staying in here while I warm up, or least, reach the point to where I'm no longer cold. Thankfully it won't take too long since she brought a pair of dry clothes, although they are big on me.

"I am sorry your mission did not go well," Kefilwe says, and I nod, teeth chattering.

"Y-Yeah. I don't think-I don't think I'll ever get over that image of those rats and the zombies." I shudder from the memory. "I thought I'd seen everything before I'd come here to England. Obviously I haven't."

She laughs, but there's no mockery in it, just wisdom from her years of being a doctor. "Runner Five, believe me when I say you most definitely have not seen everything. You've seen much more than most girls your age have, but there's a lot more in the world than you think."

"Mostly a lot more bad, and terrifying," I say, and the woman simply shrugs.

"Yes and no. There is a lot of bad in the world, and there is a lot of terrifying, but there is also good. You still plan on getting your people back from the Laetitia Greenwald, yes?"

I nod my head curtly. "Sometime soon. Within the next few days, definitely. But... the only reason it's good to get them back was because they were taken in the first place, which was bad."

"You're not the most optimistic person, are you?" She chuckles.

"With how long you've known me, you should know I'm not." I tug on the oversized shirt that's falling off my right shoulder. "But I'm not disturbed by what I saw more than what I heard... from Steffie."

Kefilwe blinks, tipping her head to the side curiously. "What do you mean?"

I hesitate. "Well-"

"Runner Five, are you..." Sam's words die in his throat when he locks eyes with Kefilwe. "Oh... hi."

"Hello, Sam," She replies kindly. He coughs awkwardly in his sleeve, before meeting eyes with me. My face stays completely neutral as he stares at me, hair dripping and jumper soaked from the pouring rain outside.

"Are you-are you okay?" He stammers, and I shrug.

"As okay as you can be after that," I answer, holding the blanket tighter around me. My voice is still flat, but Sam half-smiles at the fact that I'm giving him more than one word answers even after I'm out of danger.

"Good. That's-that's good. I'm glad."

Am awkward silence settles between us, neither of us sure what to say. Sam's eyes keep going from his feet, to me, then at his feet again, his half smile slowly fading. I simply stare, waiting for him to speak again. I mean, he can't have ran here in the rain just to ask me if I was alright. There has to be something else.

Right?

"Runner Five," Kefilwe says, gaining both my and Sam's attention. "I must get back to the hospital. You and Sam can stay here as long as you like."

"But-" I start.

"You'll be fine. There's a jacket on the counter that will help shield you from the rain when you decide to leave with Sam."

I open my mouth to object, but she's already gone, leaving me and Sam alone. I bite my tongue, silently cursing the woman. She's been trying to get me to talk to Sam ever since we argued. I've been refusing, finding ways to avoid Sam for the past five days. Now I have no choice but to talk to him.

"You're still angry with me, aren't you?" He asks finally.

"A bit," I reply. "But you did just aid in keeping me alive, so I'm a little less mad now."

"All in a day's work," He says, laughing nervously. "I... Paula and I have talked to Dr. Lobatse, you know, after Paula and I got back to Abel. Janine sort of... made us, but we did talk to her-apologized."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Oh. Well, why didn't you tell me then?"

"You basically bolted out of the room if I came around you," He says, and I bite the inside of my cheek shamefully. That was rather childish of me. I let my stubborn nature take the reigns. This matter would have been resolved days ago if I had just listened and hadn't acted so petty.

"Right. Sorry."

"It's alright. I know you were upset, but I know that wasn't the only reason you didn't want to talk to me."

I cringe, knowing what's coming.

"I don't..." He sighs heavily, biting his bottom lip, trying to find the right words to say. "I don't compare you to Alice, or-or any of my old Runner Fives. I don't wish I could trade you for any of them, and I wouldn't wish that you were the only person who ever was Runner Five.

"I'm glad I knew those people, and I'm glad I know you. And I hope that you'll be my last Runner Five because-because I don't want you to die. I didn't want them to die, and a part of me is sad that they're gone, but I can't change what happened to them. I can't change what happened to Sargent Ellis, or Eli Stockhold or Alice Dempsey. But I can keep you alive, and I want to keep you alive. I... you're my Runner Five. I don't think of you as just another runner because you're not."

"I am," I object.

"You're not. Whatever those people at the-the A.M.T.B. or whatever its secret organization is called... whatever they told you, it's not true. You're not just a runner. And I'm sorry for making you feel like you were."

A soft smile tugs at my lips, and Sam's eyes light up, because he knows. I don't even have to say I've forgiven him. My face says it all.

"Now that uh, that's been said, I have a question."

I shrug. "Shoot."

"Steffie, she called you Forty-three, and she also called you Singer. W-Why did she call you that?"

I wince. "I was hoping you would've forgotten about that, to be honest."

"Why? Is Singer like, your last name or something?"

"It's a nickname," I correct. "Me and my sister used to sing a lot in church before the apocalypse. Singer and Songbird, that's what our family called us. The nickname stuck when we were taken in by the A.M.T.B."

"Wait, so how did Steffie..." His eyes go wide in realization. "She was a part of that?"

"The uh... 'Hydra' part, yes. That's why she seemed rather buddy-buddy with me before she snapped. I'm not supposed to be able to speak, as you recall. If she hadn't gone nuts, I think she would've tried to kill me anyway since I've told you this much about it."

"Oh," He says, eyes wide, shoulders slightly tense. "I didn't-she would've killed you?"

"Most likely."

"Then I guess it's a good thing she went bonkers then, isn't it? I'd choose you over her any day."

I don't answer, mostly because I know I'd choose him over my past radio operators as well.

"That's why she said that name, isn't it? She said your friend's name. Uh, Wesley."

I nod. "I don't remember ever meeting her-she's an adult, so she must've been in charge of a team or something at the A.M.T.B. Perhaps she was over our training. I don't know. I tend to push away the memories of that place. But anyone who knew Wesley, or talked to him for longer than ten minutes knew he'd rather die than become a zombie. He told me I'd never have to worry-he'd shoot me in the blink of an eye if I asked him too... Too bad it was the other way around."

"He said that? Wasn't he your age?"

"No. He was older. I was thirteen, he was fifteen. I didn't want to shoot him, but he begged me... It was obvious there was nothing I could do, but I thought..."

"You thought you could've saved him." It's not a question.

I sigh. "Yeah. It was pretty bad after that. I got myself into so much trouble on missions. I was getting into life-or-death situations nearly every time I went out. That's when it was decided it would be best if I was sent off. The uh... 'Hydra' thought so. Then they gave me that drink and-well, you know the rest. I guess it was for the best, though. If I'd never come here, I'd never have helped in killing Van Ark, and I'd have no idea about any of this. And it's not like I had anything left for me there anyway."

"What about your sister?" He asks, wincing slightly at the disgruntled look I send him. "I-I mean, I know you said she died, but... you never really said how."

I haven't told you how or why Wesley was dying either. You just assumed...

You've assumed wrong.

"What does it matter? Katelyn's dead, and nothing's gonna change that."

"I-I know, but I was wondering." He rubs his arm awkwardly. "You just talk about how sad you were when Wesley died, but you never mention your sister. Had she already been dead, or-"

"No. I didn't have time to be upset over Katelyn. She died a few days before I was shipped off. I wasn't given the time to mourn. I had to recover from the drink that I'd been given, and then I was shipped off. When I reached Mullins, I was immediately put to work. That's when I met Anna and Josh."

"My God," He murmurs. "And Steffie worked for those people?"

"They scare you into being loyal, Sam. Why do you think I've kept my mouth shut for so long? Why do you think there's so much I'm not willing to tell you? I don't want to die, which is exactly what I will do if someone from the A.M.T.B.-if someone from the 'Hydra' part of that organization-learns that I've told about you."

"Why won't you give the name of this super secret underground organization?" He asks curiously, and I refrain from facepalming.

"You've literally said the answer in your question. It's super secret, plus knowing the answer to that is knowing what to look for. And you really don't want to mess with these guys, trust me."

I stand up, drop the blanket, fix the shirt that's hanging off me, and use a hair tie to keep the waistband of the oversized pants from falling completely off me.

"I think it's time we went back to the dorms."

"Alright," He replies, seemingly surprised by the sudden change of subject. I think it'd be best if I didn't say anything more on the subject. I can't risk accidentally giving my identity away. I don't think I'd be able to be around these people if they knew what I did. I don't think they'd want to be around me anyway. I'd most likely be hated, or even forced to leave.

I can't have that. Not now.

Sam stands up, grabbing the jacket Kefilwe left for me. He hands it over, and I graciously take it. Like the rest of the clothes I was given, the jacket is too big, but it will keep me somewhat dry, so I slip it on.

"Ready?" I question, and he nods. Slowly, he opens the door, cringing at the sight of the rain pouring down. We both breathe in deeply, knowing that even if we run, we're going to get absolutely soaking wet.

We share a look, and then we bolt outside into the cold, wet rain.

I'm ahead of Sam, even though he does have longer legs than me. I'm a lot more used to running, so it makes sense that I'm faster. But my muscles ache from my previous run, so I can't say I can keep this pace up for long.

Rain pelts my skin, and I clench my jaw at the cold that spread on my skin. My face scrunches up when a drop of rain splashes on my nose.

God, I hate this.

Luckily, it only takes us a minute to reach the dorms. We burst through the door, chests heaving and faces pink from the cold. Everyone in the room turns to face us, and there's surprisingly a lot of people here in the sleeping quarters at this time. I guess not many others wanted to be out in the rain either.

"Runner Five," Jody says, standing up, "I'd heard you were back. How did the test go? Did you pass?"

I glance over at Sam, raising a silent brow in question.

Do you want to tell her, or should I?

•

I lay down on my bed, eyes closed as I listen to the talk around me.

Sam had me tell Jody the news about Steffie going bonkers, and New Canton withdrawing from the plan of sneaking onto the Laetitia Greenwald. I left out the part about her being an A.M.T.B. agent, and I'm thankful Sam didn't correct me on it.

But her having been an A.M.T.B. isn't what worries me. It's the fact that she was a Torrencer that scares me.

She was a watcher, I think. She had no missing fingers, and I don't think she was missing any toes. There were no terrible scars or damaged joints. She was clean, meaning she was sent here to watch someone...

But who?

It can't have been me. I was sent to Mullins. They had no clue I would eventually be sent to Abel. And Summer hasn't been found out as an agent. So it must've been someone from New Canton, possibly someones from New Canton.

That's more terrifying than I'd like to admit.

But I guess this is to be expected. Summer already told me she suspected there were Torrencers in New Canton, but I always thought she was just being paranoid.

Apparently not.

But at least now I know what my visions were on. Better that happening now than on the ship. Although, the fact that that is what New Canton thinks will be on the Comansys ship is a bit disturbing. I mean, I understand there's probably going to be mind controlled zoms there, possibly even mind controlled people, but rats inside of zombies? I mean, how did New Canton even think of something like that?

"Do you think the plan will still work?" I hear someone whisper.

"Of course," Another answers-Runner Sixteen, Adam. "Janine will just... come up with a new plan."

"In fours days? They said they were planning on going out on the twenty-fourth."

Best birthday ever-getting our people back.

"She's made up plans in less time, and they still worked out," Sam interjects.

"But who's going to go with Runner Five now? I mean, she can't go alone."

Well, he's not wrong. I can't go alone. Not if I want to get Maxine and Ed and Caleb out of there. We know they were putting our people in cryo-freezers from that base we found Tony in, so there's a possibility they may have done the same thing on the Comansys ship.

Waking someone up from the cryo-sleep takes a lot of time. It takes them at least ten minutes to come back to their senses so they can move. We won't have ten minutes, so I'll probably have to drag them along with me.

So I can't go alone, not when I'm rescuing three people from there. If they are in cryo-sleep, then I will need at least one more person to help me with them.

I guess it's wrong to say we'll be getting our people back, since that implies we will be getting all of them back, even though in reality we'll only be rescuing  three of them.

Maxine is our top priority, seeing that she's a doctor and apparently she needs to warn us that someone is targeting Abel.

Ed is a mechanic, which is almost as rare as doctors in this apocalypse. At least, it is in England. In Arkansas, nearly everyone knew how to fix a car or motorcycle or jeep. He also has a daughter. Molly needs him. He's our second priority.

And Caleb... Well, I'm rescuing him no matter what Janine says. Sam knows this, which is why he's included Caleb as one of the people to be rescued. He's not going to believe I'd actually leave Caleb there. He's not stupid.

Janine has tried to tell me several times that Caleb might not even be on the ship. Given that he has heart problems and Comansys probably didn't give him medication, he could be... She tries to tell me there's a possibility he could be dead, but I refuse to believe that. I can't let myself believe that.

He's going to be on the ship, and I'm going to save him.

Four days... On my birthday... we'll be heading off to rescue our people.

"Five probably could do it alone," Sam says defensively, and I have to keep myself from smiling. "Actually, she could definitely do it alone. I mean, we all know the other amazing stuff she's done by herself. But we're going to have another runner go with her, possibly two. I mean, Five's our best runner, no doubt, but that doesn't mean she's our only good runner."

"But-"

"Don't worry," Adam says as I let out a sigh, slowly starting to drift off to sleep. "Everything's going to work out. When has it not?"

A/N: Here you go, guys! This chapters a bit shorter than usual. I hope that's alright. This chapter is dedicated to WillowRaintree. Please be sure to vote and comment. Thank you and have a blessed day!