Chapter 67: Welcome Home (Sanitarium)

"Runner Five, head over to the gates," Sam says, and I obey immediately. "Isabel's gonna be here any second and she says the Ministry wants to keep this all exactly to time. Actually, I think she's just hoping to have time to search that lighthouse for more Jimmy's Jaunts memorabilia-which, you know, I totally approve of."

I laugh. "Maybe I can grab something for the kids too."

I've already gotten Milo and Penelope a few trivial gifts, like pencils and small coloring books, but I've not gotten them anything that I can honestly say is a great gift. And I've only gotten Sam a few small blankets, since the one he uses when he sleeps in the coms shack is absolute shit.

"Maybe. But yeah, this is a follow up to those 'look me in the eyes. You are getting very sleepy' sessions you had with Isabel yesterday. The Ministry scanned Maxine's brain, and although we're not going to be able to build a replica of that machine at the Tavington Clinic-I mean, that's out of the question for now, at least-but they reckon they can really reproduce the same effects by hypnosis.

"It's worth a try, anyway. Janine says it sounds like a bunch of cobbles to her, but you know, she's taking a few days off to process the fact that her brother's still alive and is totally mental, and totally wants to kill her. I mean, you know how she is. She hasn't said anything to me, and we haven't managed to find him. All she says was, 'Well, Mr. Yao, with his training, you'd hardly expect to find him, and better not to look.'" He pauses. "I didn't know what to say to that, to be honest."

"Do you really think this will work?" I ask. "Do you really think this will let me change what I've seen?"

"I... Well, Five, I-"

I hear a door open through my headset. "Hello. Anybody home?"

"Oh! Isabel, uh, come on in. I was just, um, I was just briefing Runner Five."

"Excellent," She replies, and I shift uncomfortably, really wanting to have heard Sam's answer. "Now, Five, we played the hypnotic suggestions in our session yesterday. So if this works today, you'll be fully immune to mind control. We need to complete the process in a familiar environment, somewhere you'll feel at ease, so you'll be running."

"There's no actual, like, mission," Sam cuts in, "and just to make sure you're extra safe, we've made an exception to the rule, and you've got the ZRD in your backpack. No zombies; No hassle. So all you have to think about is, um, I don't know-whatever Isabel wants you to think about, or not think about. How does this work again?"

"Yes, thank you, Sam," She replies curtly, and my shoulders tense at her tone. I don't like how she said that to him. "Right, Five. I think we're ready to go."

"Yeah, I guess we are," I reply, my voice flat.

"Good. Raise the gates! Now, all you need to do is run the route we discussed at a nice, easy pace. Ready? And run."

I obey, heart rate quickening in anxiety as I wonder if this will actually work. What if this fails? What if this is simply a waste of our time-my time? What if this is simply false hope that I can be made immune?

And if it does work? What if I do become immune to mind control? How will this change my fate? Will it change my visions of me dying? Will it seal that fate by me avoiding this one?

I hate not knowing. I hate having to guess and wonder. I hate all of it.

But there's nothing I can do about it now. Right now I have to keep going, keep moving forward and keep trying to make sure the people I love stay safe. That's all I can do.

I sniffle, cold sweat beginning to run down my face. The weather is as chilly as ever, which isn't surprising since it is December. I just hate how the cold still effects me, even if it can't make me sick. My lips still chap and my eyes still water, and my teeth still chatter as the cold air gives my body no mercy.

But then again, when has the weather ever been merciful?

"Good," Isabel says softly. "You're going well. Now, for this to work, you'll need to maintain an elevated heart rate, so don't slow down until I say so. Head towards that meadow. The snow covered trees are so soothing to the eyes. As you progress, you'll find-"

"Isabel, are you in touch with Jaime?" Sam asks suddenly, and I perk up.

"Actually, I was wanting to ask you about him. Carina was hoping that maybe she could get a call from him for Christmas? She really misses him."

"Yeah," Sam says. "And how's he coping with the sudden Blue Blood transfusion?"

She laughs in reply. "I'll see what I can do, and he's doing well-thriving. Well, he's a little grumpy."

Sam chuckles. "Shocker."

"He gave me something to pass onto you, in fact. It slipped my mind, there was a complete run of 'Blake's 7' DVDs in Prince Charles's bedroom. His Majesty thought now that there's no more YouTube for you to watch those classic shows on, you'd appreciate them more than him."

"The whole run?" He gasps. "That'-th-that's-God bless the King."

I giggle.

"Now, Runner Five, I want you to concentrate on my voice," Isabel starts again, and I take in a deep breath, forcing myself to relax again. "Listen to my voice. There's nothing else around you, nothing to hear, except-"

"The whole-the whole run means season three as well, right? Because season three is the best season. And there were rumors about unreleased episodes, and-"

"Sam, I think it might be time for you to leave."

There's a moment of silence.

"What?" He finally chokes out. "No. No way. My runners never go on runs without me."

"Doesn't Janine sometimes guide them? And Dr. Lobatse?"

"Yes, but Janine's Janine and Dr. Lobatse's a doctor, and so is Maxine before you say her too. It's dangerous out there, and it's my job to protect my runners-my Five."

"I'm sure that's true, Sam, but in this particular instance, you're more of a hindrance than a help."

I scoff. "Says you."

She sighs. "Runner Five, you have to enter a hypnagogic state for this to work, and Sam is too much of a reminder of the real world."

Sam hums in reply, while I huff. "Yeah, I suppose so. Okay. I'll keep quiet. I'll only interrupt if a dangerous situation arises."

"I-It's not just that, Sam. Hypnosis sessions are... very personal. It wouldn't be right for you to listen in."

"Shouldn't I be the one to decide that?" I cut in. "I'm the one going through this after all."

"Five, for this to work, I will have to talk to you about certain things-personal things, and you might say something that you don't want others to know. Do you understand what I'm saying?" She asks, and I tense.

"Are you saying you're going to ask me about my past?"

"I'm saying I'm going to ask you to look into your past, and with the hypnagogic state you'll be in, you may tell me things you weren't expecting to."

"I... Sam..." I can't seem to find the words.

"I don't want to leave her. She's my runner," He argues.

"I'll take good care of her. I promise," Isabel says.

"Right... yes, okay. Well, I'll-I'll just be outside if you need me."

I hear footsteps, and the coms door open and closing. Isabel sighs in relief.

"Okay, Five, let's start again. Run for another few minutes to clear your mind, and keep the pace up."

I obey, but don't give any reply. I don't like that Sam's not here. He makes me feel safe, sane... but I can't risk saying anything that might make him think less of me. I can't have him knowing about my past. I just can't.

So I keep running, feeling cold and sweaty, my body already beginning to tire. I take in a deep breath, the air stinging my lungs as I try to relax my mind as much as possible. It's hard... Relaxing isn't something I do, and neither is letting my guard down, and yet I have to both is I want this to work.

I need this to work, for myself, for Abel, for everyone.

I take in another breath, releasing it slowly, my heartbeat steady as everything around me becomes less chaotic, less fearsome. It's calm, quiet. There's no noise except for my footsteps in the sparkling snow.

"Feeling relaxed?" Isabel asks in a calm voice, and I nod, letting out a long breath. "Good. I know you've ran through this particular little copse many times before. It should be comfortable and familiar. The snow slightly weighing down the branches of the nearby trees, the soft sound of the breeze blowing through. There will be no zombies."

I take a quick glance around. There are no zombies. There isn't anything around here, actually. There's no one but me... just me and Isabel.

It's nice to know that. It's calming. It actually almost makes me...

Happy.

"Allow yourself to feel relaxed. For once, you have nothing to achieve here. This run is for you alone. You'll find images rising to mind. It's just your brain processing memories much like a dream. Imagine them as scenes glimpsed from a passing train. Most people find the process rather pleasant."

I nod, closing my eyes for just a moment, and in the darkness comes sudden light. I see Willis and Milo. They're younger, and slightly shorter, around the same age as when I first came here, and I see Penelope hiding behind a small tent, like she used to.

Then it changes, and I see Archie. She's holding a chicken in her hands. I can faintly hear her talking about what she wants to name it.

Then I see Sam. He's sitting on the cot in the coms shack, reading a book. His black hair keeps getting in his eyes, so he has to keep pushing it away.

He's so beautiful.

But then... then I hear soft music-music I don't recognize. I open my eyes.

And I still hear the music.

Is it coming through my headset?

"Isabel, do you hear that? It sounds like music? Almost like-"

"You're now experiencing the triggered suggestions I planted in our previous session," She interrupts. "The idea's to produce a sensation of quiet bliss, which blocks your vulnerability to mind control. I'm conditioning you to release dopamine upon a mind control attempt, and preempt its effect, like a kind of mental vaccination."

I nod, feeling the little bit of confusion I had leave me. I feel better. I feel calm and relaxed...

And happy.

"If you feel like smiling? That's perfectly alright." She pauses when I smile. "Good. You're responding well. Now I must inform you that you're being followed by two people with the characteristics of those under mind control. They're carrying farm tools. You'll find you'll have new energy. Try it out now."

•

"You are clear of the woodland now and entering what once was a wheat field. Keep going. You'll experience some mnemonic artifacts at this stage. Remember, this is simply your brain processing memories. I'll be with you the whole time."

Her voice sounds distant all the sudden, and I find my vision becoming blurry, as if I'm not... there anymore.

"Hey, Tess!"

I look around, and gasp at the face I see-the person I see running beside me.

She's just as I remember her. But then again, this is my memory of her. Brown hair, green eyes and grin that could make scariest of people shudder.

"Sarah," I whisper.

"Tess, you damned traitor! Selling us out for a clean bed and a hot shower, aye?"

"We planted the hypnotic suggestion..." I hear Isabel repeat, before a sudden shrill scream echoes into my ears, and I tense.

"You'd have done it, though, Five, wouldn't you? If you'd had the chance." Simon's blurry figure stares at me through his mask. "Immortality. Who wouldn't? And Van Ark never asked much. Just a little bit of intel, a little sample of our anti-zombie spray. Where was the harm in that?"

"Runner Five?" I hear Sam say, but his voice sounds so far away... so distant. "Runner Five?

"Runner Five?

"Runner Five?

"Can you hear me?

"Can you hear me?

"Can you hear me?

"Can you hear me?"

"More of a hindrance than help..." Isabel scolds.

"Five.

"Five.

"Five.

"Five.

"Five!" Sam yells, and I'm suddenly here, in the present, back in reality. I feel so alone.

I feel so cold.

"Sam?" I ask, voice meek and afraid. "W-what's happened? What's going on?"

"Isabel's gone. She's misdirected you. They're something huge chasing you-something-something dark. I can't get a good look at it. Run. Run!"

I hear a loud screech from behind me, like before, but it's clear now. I can hear it so clearly, but there's something about it... something wrong.

I hear it all around me, but as it shrieks again I hear it in my head too...

As if it's somehow around me...

And inside me.

I push myself to go faster, fear pulling at every nerve in my body, my mind screaming to run, run, run!

Sam!

I want to scream his name, want to beg him to save me and not let me die because this thing... it's going to kill me.

I know it. I feel it as it lets out a horrifying wail, the sound rattling my bones. The shrill sound seems to dig into my skin, into my very soul, as if it's trying to tell me that I'm its target.

Whatever it is, it's like nothing we've ever seen before. I know it because I wouldn't feel this afraid, this terrified if it wasn't.

"Sam, I'm scared. What's going on? Why is this happening?" I ask, terror clawing at my insides. My chest feels like it might just cave in. I can't think. I can't breathe. All I can do is run, run, run!

What did she do to me?

"Just keep running, Five. You have to keep running."

My breathing become heavy and frantic as I keep running, the snow crunching under my feet. The sound pounds into my head, making my skull feel like it's about to split open.

My chest burns; My body aches; Every cell in my body is screaming.

What did she do to me?

The thing behind me screeches again, and my legs pump faster, faster, because I can't let it catch me. I can't let it get me. I can't.

So I run. I run past the trees and fields and bushes, into the woods, into the shadows where everything is dark and heavy with snow-the snow that hides secrets and creatures that I do not wish to disturb...

But it seems that I've already awaken one of them.

"It's still on you, gaining," Sam says. There's something about his voice. It's different, almost... dark. He's too calm. "I've sent out Jody to help, but I can't get a good fix on your location. The woods around you are too dense."

You have to keep running. That's what my mind keeps telling me. That's what my body keeps screaming at me.

"What is that thing? Where the hell has she sent you?" I hear a bit of fear in his voice when he asks that question. "I only get a brief glimpse of it-no! Don't turn around!"

"But-" I starts, lungs burning, eyes watering.

"Don't even look back. Just keep running as fast as you can."

"You need to maintain an elevated heart rate."

It screeches again, and the fear bubbling up inside me suddenly causes tears to escape my lashes as pain erupts from... from everywhere.

It's like the sound itself is trying to kill me.

I don't want to die, not like this.

"It's black, or covered in... is that crusted blood?" He asks. "The scale's difficult to see. Okay, you just ran through my shot. It's about ten seconds behind you. It looks like..." He trails off. "That can't be right."

"What can't be right, Sam?" I gasp, voice shaking in fear, tears clogging my throat.

I can't breathe. I can't think.

I can't... I can't...

I don't know what to do.

"We need to complete the process..."

"Sam!"

"It's huge! I mean, it is ginormous!" He exclaims, and the ground shakes beneath my feet as a loud shriek echoes into my ears, into my blood. "What the hell is that? How can it move so fast? Don't slow down! Don't slow down."

His voice suddenly fades out, and I see Sarah's blurred figure again. I look at her desperately.

"Help me," I beg, barely able to even speak.

"And me. I think... I never knew I was ruthless. I had to kill my husband and my two boys and I barely felt it. Not then, and not now. I feel that they're gone, of course. I feel that everyday. But it doesn't feel any different knowing I did it. It just... had to be done."

The creature lets out a loud roar, and Sarah's gone, and I keep running.

"Where are you going, Five?" Sam asks. He sounds so scared all of the sudden. Why does his tone keep changing? "What's she done to you? Five, please, you've got to resist this. You've gotta snap out of it. Listen to my voice."

Then his voice changes, and he doesn't sound scared anymore. His voice sounds dark again, calm, and almost... demented.

"If it catches you, you won't have a chance. Run."

And so I run. I run as if that's the only thing I know how to do... because right now it is the only thing I know how to do. I try to open my mouth to speak, but my voice gets caught in my throat. I try to look back, but I can't.

My blood roars in my ears, and my skin burns. Everything burns. Everything hurts.

"Sam," I choke out. "Help me. Don't let me die."

I'm desperate. Desperate to get away, to survive, to get back home.

Where is home?

Where am I?

I look around frantically, eyes wide with terror, chest heaving and adrenaline rushing through me. I don't recognize this place. The woods, the trees. Nothing seems familiar. I'm lost. I'm alone. I'm afraid.

I'm going to die.

Sam!

I reach the edge of the trees, and onto a dirt path that I still don't recognize.

"Okay, Runner Four is closing in in your position. Listen for her. She'll be coming down that dirt track to your left. She's there to help, Five. You know her. It's Jody."

I blink, taking in a deep breath. His voice sounds so kind, calming. "J-Jody?"

"Yes, Jody. She's coming to help you."

"Runner Five, it's me!" She yells. I recognize her voice. I know her voice... but something is wrong. It's distorted, inhuman almost. In fact, the undertones of it... it sounds like the screeches and wails of that thing.

Oh, God. It got Jody. It's using her to try to get me to slow down!

The thought rams itself into my mind, and I feel the fear rising back up in me again. I look over my shoulder, and ice spikes in my veins. I see her, but the shadows in Jody's eyes, the black veins creeping up her arms, her neck, her face.

I was wrong.

That monster didn't get Jody. The monster is Jody.

I scream, and push myself forward as the blonde reaches for me, her teeth sharp and dripping with black blood, and the scales around her eyes shining menacingly.

"Oh, God!" Sam cries. "It almost caught you. You gotta get away from it!"

"Just stop and look at me!" Jody yells, but I keep running. It's a trap. It's a lie!

"Sam, it's her! The monster is Jody!"

"Five, what are you talking about? What monster?"

Why does he sound so confused?

"Time to leave..." Isabel says in my head.

"She can't keep up with you at that pace. She ran flat out all the way from Abel."

I scream in pain as a loud bell rings in my ears. "Make it stop! Make it stop!"

"There's nothin' chasin' ya!" Jody cries. She sounds desperate, but I saw it. I know it. She's the monster. "It's just me!"

I hear her growl, and I shake my head, refusing to look back at her, and I keep running.

"Sam, help me!" I cry.

"I'm trying! Five, you have to listen to me! There is no m-"

I hear the bells again, and Sam's voice changes.

"You were always hiding something, weren't you? Ever since that first day when your helicopter was shot down."

I blink, confused. My voice shakes. "W-what are you talking about?"

"Time to leave."

"Everybody else had secrets. Everybody else was exposed, but not you. You kept your distance."

"Stop it! Stop it! Why are you saying this?" I cry, feeling confused and afraid.

"Five's getting away, Sam!" Jody yells, before letting out her monstrous screech.

"You have to get her back! And the ZRD. I think it's doing something weird to her. Jody, grab her pack. One burst of speed. Come on...

"There's something inside you, Five."

Inside me? What does he mean? What's wrong with me? What's going on?

I grab at my hair, my lungs burning. Panic floods in my veins, infecting my blood, my brain. I'm broken. I'm dying.

There's something wrong with me.

And if I stop, I'll turn into the same Jody's become, but worse...

Because I already have blood on my hands.

Blood. So much blood. It's on my hands, hung over my head.

Oh, God!

"Runner Five!" Jody screams. I turn, and she's there, right behind me. She's even more terrifying up close. Her claws are black and have dried blood on them. Her eyes are black as coal, swallowing light like a black hole. Black veins and shiny scales run along her skin, and she reaches for me, a sinister smile on her face while her voice sounds so desperate, so sincere.

But I can't stop. Not even as she grabs at my backpack. Instead I just scream.

"Imagine scenes glimpsed from a passing train."

"I can nearly reach," She pants. Her hands grasp at my backpack, and I keep pushing. I keep running.

"It's alright, Five. You're safe now," Sam says. His voice is so calm, but I can still hear it in his voice, the underlining tones saying to keep running, even as I feel the fear start to fade away.

"Don't! Stop!" Jody screams.

"There will be no zombies."

"I'll always bring you home."

Jody, or what was Jody grabs my backpack, pulling it off me. Still I keep running, trying to stay away from her even as the feeling of calmness washes over me.

"I've got Five's pack, but I can't-I can't keep up!"

"You have to try! We can't lose her. Five, please!" He cries.

"This run is for you alone."

I look back to see the monster collapse, hand outstretched in defeat as she roars. "Runner Five!"

I keep running. I keep running until the monster that looks like Jody is out of my sight, far away from me.

And then I feel okay.

I feel happy.

"And now it's just us," Sam sighs, voice calm, and I wipe the sweat from my face, slowing down. He chuckles as I desperately try to catch my breath. "That's how it always goes in the end, isn't it? You, out there running. Me, watching, keeping you safe. I'll always be here for you."

I hear the tones, and Sam's voices suddenly starts to change, morph. I don't mind though. Why should I when I'm feeling so, so...

Happy?

"We'll be together, forever. It's how it's meant to be." I hear the smile in Moonchild's voice. "It's how it will always be. You'll always be running, running for me." She pauses. "All the people you watched, when you thought you were immune-when you thought it could never happen to you.

"Did you ever wonder what it feels like, to be mind controlled?"

She laughs when I smile.

"This is what it feels like."

A/N: Ooooooooooh! Five is under the mind control! I bet you thought it wasn't going to actually happen, right! Well, you were wrong! Anyway, I hope you all liked this chapter. Sorry for taking so long to update. It's been rough with my job and school.

Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!