Chapter 50: Upside Down

"Runner Five, I'm sorry to keep you waiting," Albert says, which causes Sam to scoff in reply.

"Yeah, well is he also sorry he kept Maxine and Ed and Caleb and all our other people locked up here for months? And almost killed you all?"

"I've had our tech department rig up one of those little headsets for me too, Sam. It seemed like a sensible idea. There's no time to waste." He pauses. "And yes, I am sorry about Maxine. I'm sorry it's come to any of this. All I feel about any of this is sorry."

Sam huffs. "Yes, I'm sure."

The white haired man turns to me. "Listen, will you come with me? After we sank the Ariadne, we had to redistribute supplies and personal around the various vessels. Your Ed has been very helpful. He's the only mechanic we have onboard.

"Maxine is filling in Paula in on what we've been doing. I thought you might like to take a look at our operations and... well, I don't want to be grandiose, but people here rely on seeing my face. It makes them feel better. I was the first, you see."

"No, we don't see," Sam snaps, and my eyes widen at the irritation that's practically dripping from his voice. "You know we don't see. And we overheard Maxine when we were, you know, spying on you. She said someone was targeting Abel. If that's not you, then-"

"I will explain everything. Just come with me. We'll head up this gangplank and over to vessel nine. That's a scientific boat."

I purse my lips, wondering why the hell I'm putting any trust in this man. Why does he have to draw this out as if this is some mystery book or something? This is real life, in an apocalypse. We don't have time to act all mysterious and sneaky.

I start to follow him as he heads towards the gangplank, but then stop when I hear a sudden shout.

"Albert!"

I tense, my heart stopping in my chest. I know that voice.

I know that voice!

Albert turns, looking at the hallway on the deck from which the sound came from.

"Albert, what the hell happened?" A young man appears from the hallway, frantic, afraid, stumbling around. I breath in sharply, chest aching from holding my breath. "They woke me from cryo-sleep early to-to tell me you sunk the Ariadne. What happened? Is everyone okay? Was it D..."

His words stop when his blue eyes meet my brown ones, and his jaw drops.

"Oh, my God," He murmurs, and I let out a squeal and rush toward the redhead.

"Caleb!" I yell, basically slamming into him and wrapping my arms around him. "You're alive! You're-you're-you're okay!"

"F-Five," He gasps, shock still evident on his face. "How did you-what're you doing here?"

"She came to rescue you," Albert replies before I can, causing Caleb's face to scrunch up in confusion.

"Rescue me? Why would... oh." He looks at me with a frown. "You don't know yet."

"I was just about to explain to her and Sam why you're staying here willingly. You're welcome to join us if you like."

He nods, a grin crossing over his face. "Yeah, of course."

I let go of him, still making sure he's by my side as we follow Albert across the gangplank over to the science boat. My smile is wide and genuine. I can't believe it. Caleb's alive, and I thank God he's not like Albert. He's whole. He's alive. He's here.

"I never thought I'd see you again," I say, earning a raised brow from him. "Some of the people at Abel thought you were dead."

"I miss Abel," He admits, hands in his pockets. "I miss it a lot."

"A lot has changed. There's so much I need to tell you-about what's happened, about what I've seen... what I am because of those treatments."

Caleb looks at with worry in his eyes, but then he looks up at Albert, who's walking ahead of us. "Later. You can tell me later. But... even though I miss Abel, and even though I've missed you a-and Milo and Penelope... how're they doing?"

I shrug. "As good as kids can be in an apocalypse. They miss you. Penelope asked about you a lot when you first went missing..."

"I wish I could've talked to you, but there wasn't any way to without... well, I guess Albert could explain it better than I can, but... I can't be trusted. There are things that I would do if I went back to Abel, and out here is the only place where it's safe. Even now I'm risking myself since I'm out of the cryo-freezers. But I can't stay in there for very long because, you know..."

"Your heart?" I guess, and he rubs the back of his neck.

"Yeah, which is why you're going to kill me when you find out how a person becomes susceptible to mind control."

I raise a brow, lips parting to ask just what he means by that, but Albert speaks before I have the chance.

"Careful where you put your feet. There's debris from this area all over the deck. So, you must know by now that Diana-I believe some of your people met her in London-she's extremely dangerous. Perhaps the most dangerous person in the world."

"Saw her shoot a boy who was just doing odd jobs for the Exmoore Militia," Sam says, and I turn my headset up so Caleb can hear as well. He grins at the sound of Sam's voice.

"Sam, long time, no hear," He says, causing a soft laugh to come from the radio operator.

"Couldn't agree more."

"Shooting that boy," Albert says, drawing the attention back to himself, "that's not the half of it, I'm afraid. In fact, there's no perhaps about it. If you can't find some way to neutralize her, she'll make the zombie apocalypse look like afternoon tea."

"What's she doing that's so dangerous then?" Sam asks. "Because so far you're the ones who mind controlled our people out of Abel and kept them here. And I thought Diana and Comansys were a group-like she was your leader or-or something."

"She most certainly isn't, not anymore. And we did take your people, but for their own protection, and I'm sorry." Albert waits for Caleb and I to reach his side to continue. "The thing is, Runner Five, there are some people who are tremendously susceptible to mind control-we have a few theories about why that is-and of those people, Diana wanted yours in particular-Maxine more than anyone. She's desperate to get access to Abel's underground bio labs to further her research."

"And how do you know about these bio labs?" I ask. "Caleb barely knew anything about them, and it's not like Maxine would tell you."

"Let me finish, and I will explain," He replies, causing me to narrow my eyes at him warningly. Caleb puts his hand on my shoulder, giving me a soft look that conveyed the phrase 'listen to him.'

I huff. "Fine."

Albert nods. "When we stopped her mind controlling your people from the inside, we were afraid she'd resort to a frontal attack. And if she got hold of the technology under Abel... Look at what she's already done without it. You heard what she's done in London; She's forming an army."

"And you had nothing to do with that yourselves?" Sam interjects. "She said it was for Comansys."

"Diana used to be our CEO. We were the first ones she took under her control, and it took us a greater sacrifice than some can bear to get away from her. I want you to see why I'm... why I look like this."

I look down at his rotting arm. It's mostly gone, the skin dying and going a grayish green color. I cringe, and when my eyes flash over to Caleb, I see there's a certain pain in his eyes. He's whole, but I can only guess how many nights he's had to listen to the screams of those who look like this.

The intercom squeals to life. "Albert to the medical boat. Albert to the medical boat."

Albert sighs, closing his gray eyes for a split second before squaring his shoulders and straightening his posture. "Come with me, and I'll show you. Quickly. We've put this off long enough."

I give Caleb a questioning glance, and I gulp when I see the pained look on his face. I'm not sure I want to know what's about to happen next.

Albert leads us over to the medical boat, and I realize this ship looks a lot like the Ariadne in the way it's all set up. He leads us down a corridor and into a large room filled with medical supplies and staff. Some of them look fairly normal, but others... they're missing hands or feet. Some of them  are like Albert and have whole legs or arms missing.

One of the nurses leads Albert to a examination table, and Caleb and I follow.

"Have you been here before?" I ask the redhead quietly, and he shakes his head.

"No, but I help research in medicines that might help preserve the cells in science boats. Well, I do when I'm awake."

"How often do they let you, you know, wake up?" Sam asks.

"I... I can't stay in a cryo-freezer for long periods of time like most people. Staying stagnant like that, in that type of sleep with my heart... I can only stay in there three weeks at a time maximum. If I stay asleep any longer, I won't be able to wake up.

"They keep me in there two to three weeks at a time, then wake me up for about a week. While I'm awake, I do what I can."

"How's that feel, Al?" The nurse asks as she gives Albert a shot with some clear fluid in what's left of his decaying arm. The man grits his yellowish teeth and scrunches his eyes shut.

"Hurts like the devil."

"It'll keep the rot spreading for another two weeks or so."

He manages to crack open an eye. "How long do you think?"

"That arm-I think we can keep it on for you for another month, maybe longer."

"And then?"

"It'll have to come off. You know that. The treatment's killing the cells every time you get an injection."

Albert stands up, looking over at me with pain still lingering in his eyes. "This is the price we pay. We can break Diana's mind control. We have broken it. Well, I had it broken for me, but this is the price. I inject myself with this chemical, and I buy another week or so of freedom, and the injection site necrotizes a little more."

"That's... God, that's awful," Sam says.

He nods. "You see why we don't want to inflict this treatment on your people unless we really have to, hence the cryo-storage."

"Yes, I-I see, but-but can't you-"

"It's worth it, if that's what you're wondering. I'd rather be myself in my mind and lose my limbs than the other way 'round, but it's not a good choice. Come on. Let's get out of here. I always need fresh air after that." A forced smile appears on Albert's face when he looks at me. "You know, Runner Five, this isn't the first time you and I have met."

I blink. "It's not?"

"No, it's not. Come with me. I'll tell you all about it."

•

"There. See? They're recovering what they can from the Ariadne." Albert sighs as we watch people in motorboats go around and pick up what they can from the water. "We had to set off those depth charges. They're rigged all around our flotilla. We'd rather die than let Diana take us. There's almost nowhere we're safe from her. After she found our research center in the riverbed, the Laetitia Greenwald was our last option.

"We would've warned you too, but well, we knew Amelia Spens was in charge of Abel, and we knew damn well she wasn't to be trusted."

"But what exactly has Diana done?" Sam asks. "I mean, she tried to take something from a runner doing a mission in London. Got her killed, actually... But what did she do to Comansys?"

He takes a moment before answering. "She had all of us under her control sometime before the apocalypse. At least, that's what we suspect now. The whole company, a great democracy. That was the big claim of Comansys. We were a co-operative. We had to agree on decisions the company made. But democracies are vulnerable to anything that can influence a whole population-bias, prejudice, fear of terrorism... and mind control drugs.

"She'd been putting them in the water supply of Comansys for months, we suspect, possibly longer. I'm not sure I even knew what I was doing when I was working with Van Ark."

I tense, and I hear Sam choke over the headset. "You-you worked with Van Ark?"

"Diana sent me there. Imbedded agent," He replies with a nod. "I was there the day you brought down the complex, Runner Five. Van Ark knew what was happening. Your Runner Three told him an attack was planned."

My eyes go wide, and I open my mouth to question him, but suddenly the scene starts changing.

"Damn her to hell! That stupid girl will wish for death when I'm done with her." Van Ark screams. "Albert! Albert!"

"Diana had promised him assistance, you see. They'd been working together, but when it came down to it..."

I'm in the complex. Van Ark is near a radio, adjusting a headset in attempt to make communication. I don't feel any fear, or worry at seeing him. I should. I know I should, even of this is a vision of the past.

But I don't. I feel overwhelmingly happy.

I look down at hands that are calloused and aged. That's when I realize who I am in this moment.

I'm Albert. I'm seeing this through his eyes.

No. No, I need to keep my head. I need to still stay me. I blink several times, doing my best to keep my head and not let the feelings that Albert feels effect my thought process. But with these feelings, I don't want to think... I just want to feel this happy forever.

I fight it.

"Comansys. Comansys, come in," Van Ark says, his eyes wide and desperate as he runs a hand through gray and white hair. "Diana, I've done everything you asked. Where are you?"

"She didn't come. She abandoned Van Ark," Albert says, his voice sounding all echoey and far away.

Van Ark growls, throwing down his headset in rage. "She's not coming. Albert, with me, at the double. Quickly now. Quickly. Back up plan."

I follow him, face neutral but grinning like a madman on the inside. I'm just so, so happy, and I can't understand why. I'm happy even as I can hear the zombies tearing the complex apart from the outside. I can hear the tones-the tones that I, Runner Five, am making come from the control box.

Fight it. Fight it and listen to what Van Ark says. You're having this vision for a reason.

"Diana thinks she's so clever. Thinks I'm expendable, does she? Damn her! I've got a few more things to show her." Van Ark looks over at me-Albert-with a raised brow. "You're very quiet."

"I was quiet," Albert says, laughing quietly as I... he... we? continue to follow Van Ark in silence. "It's a funny thing-mind control. You can talk, but you don't necessarily want to. You really don't want to do anything you haven't been told to. The worse thing is how happy you feel. All the time. As long as I was obeying Diana's orders, I was so happy. The things I did... I hate thinking of that now."

"Use my own bloody zombies against me, will they?" The Professor fumes. "I wouldn't be surprised... I wouldn't be surprised if Diana bloody Duncan bloody Petly had given Abel Township that technology just to get rid of me. That's just her bloody style. Use one against the other, keep us all guessing."

Bricks smash and fall to the ground, causing a loud crash as another wall of the complex crumbles. It's me-Five, the past Five-she's destroying the complex and using everything she knows about that box to do so. Sarah's just died, and her friend turned out to be a traitor.

I remember. I was pissed. She is pissed.

"Blasted!" Van Ark grabs out a tone box of his own. "Let's see them override this. Plug in that loud speaker, Albert."

I do as told, feeling great the entire time. Tones sound off into the air, which causes Van Ark to grin maliciously.

"Ha. That'll do it. Come on, Albert. If we're quick, we'll catch up to that damned Runner Five. But I need you to stay back behind me. I think this should convince you." He presses a button on the tone box, and I slow my movements. I try to fight it-the real me does, but Albert doesn't. In fact, I don't want to fight it. He doesn't want to fight it. It feels much better to just do as told. "Oh, yes, if you think I didn't know you're a spy for Diana, you're entirely wrong. Come along. Time to pick up that annoying little pest from Abel Township."

I start to follow him, slowly, and as I do, the scene starts changing again, morphing. I'm not back on the ships. No, I'm still Albert. I'm still here in the past, in the complex, but I'm in a different room. In the door of a hallway-one that I never noticed when I was Van Ark's captive. He's holding me-Runner Five-at gunpoint. The past me is on the treadmill, the headset on my head. Sam's talking to me... her.

I can see her eyes shifting around, trying to think of what to do, trying to think of a plan on how to distract him long enough to get off that treadmill.

"I'm just asking because you apparently forgot to shut the doors to the entrance," Runner Five says, causing Van Ark to look away for just a moment. She darts under the arm of the treadmill and runs to grab one of the vials. She's fast, and the part of me that's still me fights to keep my conscience. I fight to wonder if that burst of speed was from the treatments. Van Ark turns around just as she grabs it.

"What are you-" He's cut off when Five throws the vial at him. Glass shatters at the liquid runs over his skin. "If you think this will..." He screams in pain. "It's eating through!"

The past Five grins, but it slowly fades when Van Ark looks at her with hate and rage. "I'm going to kill you, Five. Long or slow, I'm going to kill you."

She blanches, then bolts out of the room as he keeps yelling, while I stand still, happy as can be. "I'm going to melt your eyeballs off! I'm going to dissolve your bones! You have no idea what I've already done to you! Albert! Albert, with me!"

He limps off out of the room, and I follow silently. I want to think about what he said about me, but I can't do so. The happiness Albert is feeling is effecting me to the point of which I can't concentrate. The real me is trapped and I can only do what Albert did. I can't even think my own thoughts. My remaining resolve is like a thin string that's seconds from snapping.

I'm just so happy. I don't want to fight it. I want to give in so badly.

I'm not even panicking-I can't. This all just feels so good, so right.

"So, Dr. 'So Bloody Brilliant' Maxine Meyers has invented something so they can hurt me, has she?" Van Ark fumes, but then he laughs mockingly. "If she thinks she can get away from Diana, then she's got another thing coming. I know that she's very interested in using Dr. Meyers's mind."

I listen, trying to think, trying to fight and keep Albert's feelings of happiness from the mind control from over taking me. But the last little bit of focus I had is destroyed by the distraction of another wall crumbling down to pieces.

"Blasted! Don't you worry. We're getting out of here, Albert. I keep my promises anyway. To you, and to Simon Lauchlan."

I blink, happy, but able to pull myself out of those feelings for a split second. Simon?

"We're going to make things rather difficult for our friends back at Abel. I have a long range broadcasting signal." Tones sound off into the air, and I'm engulfed by happiness. I can't remember what I was just thinking about, but I don't care to. I'm just so happy. "See? Those zombies will keep those bunch of Abel Township bastards off our backs, and I've got a little something for you, too. Come with me, to the laboratory. Quickly."

I follow without hesitation. I want to follow him. Doing what he says makes it like the best thing to do. I don't want to do anything else. Not when following his orders feel like this.

He leads me down the corridor as quickly as possible. It's a bit hard for him, with the limp that Runner Five gave him, but he makes due with what he has. When we reach the laboratory, he heads over to a counter and grabs a syringe before pointing out the window.

"See there? That little plane's my ticket out of here. The zombies will keep them out of my way while I make my escape." He hums. "No room for you, I'm afraid. But I've got a little present for you. Come here, Albert."

I obey, and he jabs the needle into my arm.

"You think you're going to report everything back to Diana, don't you? You think you're going to go back to get, like you've been doing for the past few years. Well, you're not. Once this liquid reaches your blood brain barrier-"

I scream, pain exploding everywhere in my body all at once. I fall to my knees, hands grasping my head in attempt to stop the biting, burning pain. God, it hurts so badly. I just want it to stop, but it doesn't. The pain just keeps going and going and going, traveling down my legs, my arms, my chest. My head feels like it's on fire.

"Ah, that's worked more quickly than expected. Good. There's a case of it here, and instructions on how to make more. I've been working in this for months." Van Ark rolls his eyes when I scream again. "Oh, do shut up. You'll thank me when you're back in your right mind."

My only reply is another scream of pain. But Van Ark grabs my arm, looking at where he jabbed me with the needle, holding me steady while I writhe around. "Goodness me. It has done something rather odd at the injection site. I'm sure it will wear off.

"Right. I must dash, Albert. You probably shouldn't stay around any longer either. I shouldn't think Abel Township will want to take you in after working with me. And I expect you want to free your other Comansys mind slaves. You'd better hurry with that case. Go on. Go."

I go to take a step, but I'm falling again, the world changing in a blur.

Then I'm back on the ship. I'm me again, and Albert is standing in front of me with a grim look on his face. Caleb's face holds the same expression.

"So that was how it happened," He says, and I quickly wipe away the blood that's starting to run down my nose. I can't have them seeing that now.

"Van Ark freed you from the mind control himself," Sam says in shock, and Albert nods.

"And after I'd heard what he said about Dr. Meyers, I knew my priority had to be getting her out of Abel. If Diana wanted her-well, we have to stop Diana from getting what she wants. I used the control tone box Van Ark had left. I didn't know how to fine tune it, so I just sent out a general broadcast. It brought all your people to the Comansys lab in the riverbed. I put them in the cryo-freezer until I could work out what to do with them."

"So Maxine's not... her limbs aren't gonna drop off, I mean."

"No. Diana's never had hold of her, so she and Caleb are okay for now. They don't need the injection to break the control as long as they stay out of Diana's range, which is why we are here."

"But the rest of you..." I trial off.

"If any of us get in range of Diana, she'll get us again." He sighs as his eyes glance down at his rotting arm-what's left of it, anyway. "It's hardly a permanent solution, is it? I administered the same injection to some of my colleagues there, and they also got their minds back. It didn't take very long. And then we realized what we'd done-what we'd been a part of."

A nervous little noise leaves Sam's mouth. "And... What had you..."

"Diana wants control of everyone. You ever take that drink, CeretinPlus?"

"That Red Bull stuff for students? No. Too much, like, hard work for me. People took it at Uni to stay up all night working and concentrating and stuff." He laughs sheepishly. "I was up all night at the student radio station."

"Then you're lucky," Caleb sighs, eyes downcast, and I stare at him in shock.

"You took that? But-but you have heart problems."

"I was born with an abnormal heart valve, which then resulted with my heart becoming too large. It wasn't smart to drink any energy drinks, but I didn't care because well-you know I how wanted to be a scientist?"

I nod.

"Yeah, well, 'cause of that I kept trying to apply to schools that had better courses in science. To do that, I had to get the best grades, so I bought those drinks so I could stay awake and study."

I glare at him. "I can't believe you'd do something so stupid."

"The drink was a Comansys product," Albert says, bringing the attention back to himself. "People who took it regularly-you had to build up a certain level in your brain over a certain amount of time-but if you did-"

"No," Sam gasps. "No, man, n-no."

"She'd been feeding it to the whole of Comansys for months. Enough CeretinPlus over the right time period and you'll be susceptible to Diana's mind control as a human, and if you become a zombie..." He sighs, "then you'll be a fast zom. Something like this has been her plan from the start."

A/N: Didn't see that coming, did ya? Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! This chapter is dedicated to Danielle_DR Please be sure to vote and comment. Thank you and have a blessed day!