Chapter 74: Sowing Season

"Yeah. Yeah. You made it up to Dunder Woods in just under your usual time. I think we can definitely say you haven't lost any fitness, and uh, you haven't lost anything else." Sam pauses when I don't reply. "Really. You can take my word for it. Dr. Meyers has run every test under the sun on you. You know that. Your brain scans check out just like hers do."

"I know, Sam."

He sighs, an awkward tension between the two of us. It's been three days since I tried to kiss him and then chickened out, and I've been avoiding him as much as I can. But it's kind of hard to do that now since he's my operator for this section of the mission.

Right now I'm just trying to avoid talking about it. Thankfully Sam's done the same.

"Yeah, but I mean, the stupid thing is that you're one of the few people in the world now who's definitely not susceptible to mind control anymore. I-I-I know that doesn't make it any easier. You know, people do stupid, bad dangerous things all the time, and they don't have the excuse of 'oh, my brain was taken over by an evil hippie determined to make everyone in the world happy all the time.'

"As if you could be happy all the time. As if it's okay to be happy all the time... I still think about Alice sometimes, ya know. I'm happy I knew her. I think it'd be uh-yeah, sort of an insult to her to just be happy when I think about her turning into a walking corpse."

I cringe. I remember him having nightmares about her, losing her. He's still in love with her... and I tried to kiss him. I have that sinking feeling in my stomach, and him telling me this somehow makes me feel even worse about my actions.

"Yeah. Sometimes it's good to not feel good. My mum used to say that to me. There was this time, right, when I was seven, my grandad had made this huge cake for my sister's birthday in the shape of a castle, and left it on the table. I mean, I knew I wasn't supposed to have any, but I was seven. And you know what's coming, right?"

I can feel a smile starting to form on my face.

"It was a castle cake. I thought maybe I could just eat one turret, and no one would notice. Then it looked uneven so I ate the other turret, and then I was like, 'Oh, it's gonna be really clear I've eaten those two turrets.' And I thought that maybe I could destroy all the evidence and go like, 'What cake? There was never a cake. You imagined the cake, Grandad.'" He chuckles when he hears me laughing, unable to stop myself. "I made myself so sick, my mum didn't even punish me. She said, 'This feeling is your punishment,' and she put me to bed, and held the bucket for when I sicked up about three pounds of cake.

"What I'm trying to say is, it's okay to feel how you feel. And I know I've told you this before, but I thought maybe you needed to hear it again since you've been avoiding me, although I doubt that's the only reason why you've been avoiding me."

I cringe, my laughter dying in my throat.

"Sam, can we... can we please just not talk about it?"

"Well, we could, but then we'd just continue on like-like this, which wouldn't be be too great because I do like being around you, and I'd rather you not flee from the room whenever you see me, like you've been doing the past few days."

"Then can we talk about this later, when I'm not on a mission?" I'm desperate, and you can hear it in my voice. Sam sighs heavily.

"Five, just hear me out. When you tried to... to kiss me... I'm not angry at you. I want you to know that. I don't resent you or anything. I know why you did it."

I blanch. That does not make me feel better.

"You were upset and vulnerable and your mind's been all over the place so you just acted, and I was the one who just happened to be there. I-I know it didn't mean anything. I know you don't have those kinds of feelings for me. I've heard the chatter about there being some mystery person you have eyes on, and I know it's not me. But it's a good thing because I... I don't feel that way about-about you."

My heart sinks, but I force a short laugh, because like Simon said, Sam is an idiot. But that's a good thing at this very moment, because he still doesn't know. I think it's best I keep it that way. "Right. So, um, can we just like, forget it happened?"

"If that makes you feel better, and if it'll keep you from bolting away from me like I've got the plague."

I sigh in relief. "It will. And uh, thank  you."

"No problem," There's something in his voice as he says that, but I can't quite tell what. "Um, right. Okay. Mission time. We're going to stop Moonchild from doing what she did to you to anyone else. They're waiting for you."

I nod. The mission comes before my emotions. I have to keep that in mind if I want to stop Moonchild.

And I really, really want to stop Moonchild.

So I keep running, snow crunching under my feet as a bitter breeze flows through my hair, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. The January air is unforgiving, even to those who are immune to the sickness as well as the mind control.

I ignore the feeling of goosebumps rising on my skin, and I clench my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. Instead I focus on the three blurry figures up ahead. One-the tallest one of the group, waves, and I wave back, but there's still a frown forming on my face.

I thought there was only supposed to be two people joining me today.

"Runner Five, over here!" Maxine calls, still waving her hands as she leans against the large oak tree.

"There they are," Sam says. "Maxine, Veronica, and-oh. New Canton has sent out-oh, what's his name? That Permanent Advisory Council man. Posh, bossy, really bad tempered. Come on... What is his name?"

"It's Bernard Prior, Mr. Yao," He says when I reach him, a frown on his slightly aged face.

"Oh. Uh, hi, Bernard. Didn't realize you were patched into my channel."

I suppress the urge to smile as Sam stutters over his words.

"Well, it's great that New Canton And Abel are working so closely together now," Maxine says in what I think is an attempt to lighten the mood.

Bernard nods, face neutral. "We're giving you the assistance we can, Doctor. It was I who suggested we could house that prisoner of yours, Isabel Mariot."

I flinch. It was her that put me under the hypnosis and therefore under Moonchild's mind control. If I could, I'd show her just how I feel about her now that I'm free.

But I can't, because I know she's simply under the mind control just like I was, and she is really not at fault for her actions.

"Oh, yeah," Sam says. "That was great. I mean, the Ministry had to do a full mind control audit of all their personal. Did you hear on Roufflenet? King Jaime had to get rid of his body guards because they were mind controlled and tried to open up the palace gates to the zoms."

"All that being said, for this mission, I kind of thought New Canton would send a runner," Maxine says. It sounds more like a question than a statement.

"I was an industrial chemist before the outbreak. New Canton P.A.C. want to doubly confirm the target is neutralized."

Veronica frowns at Bernard. "I know what I'm doing. I don't need adult supervision, if your intel is correct, of course."

"It most definitely is."

She nods. "If you can take me to Moonchild's store of calming plant extract, then I can destroy it."

I suck in a deep breath. If we succeed on this mission, then there'll be no more CeretinPlus, no more new people susceptible to mind control, no more new slaves for Moonchild.

"This will be our most dignified victory in this conflict to date," Bernard says, casting a glance at us. "I would rather expect Abel to send a bigger team. Moonchild will have this place heavily guarded."

"Yes, but she'll try mind controlling anyone who does attack," Veronica points out. "With Runner Five And Dr. Meyers with me, at least I don't have to worry about the people I'm with turning on me when they hear the mind control tone."

"Testing. Testing. One, two, three," Nadia says through my headset. "Abel team, do you copy?"

"Yeah, we hear you, Nadia," Sam replies. "Hey, given the distance, the signal quality is really nice. How's it hanging in the Treetop Base?"

"Same as always. I'm holding the fort until Veronica gets back. Lots of stoned zoms and flowers you can't touch."

"Sounds lovely," I state, and she simply scoffs.

"Okay, guys, this is a highly covert op, and since Veronica and I have been working with the plants, the P.A.C. has deemed me the person to handle it. We're going to need to keep the radio chatter to a minimum. I'll take the coms solo from here on."

I huff. Just when me and Sam made up and aren't awkward around each other, I get Nadia as operator.

Jesus on a boat.

"Just be careful, alright?" Sam says with a touch of fear in his tone.

"We always are," I answer, a slight laugh in my voice.

"I mean it. There's a lot of people waiting to see you all safe and sound bank home."

A small smile spreads across me face. "We'll see you soon, Sam."

Then the coms cut out, on his end at least.

"Alright, guys. Let's get going," Nadia says. "Run."

And we do. It's a good pace, and it feels good to be running again-my steps, my pattern. Sam did comment on that when I first left Abel's gates. He said it was good to hear my step pattern again, my own rhythm. I missed it, in a way, running at my own pace, instead of running at the pace Moonchild had set for me.

I still hear her. She whispers to me in my dreams, and sometimes, when I'm alone, when it gets too quiet, I hear her calling out to me. I do my best to ignore her, even as her honeyed words echo in my head.

I think this is that toxic relationship thing that I sometimes read about in books. As a kid I never really understood it, but I think I sort of do now. It's like an addiction. You know it's wrong, but a part of you still misses it. It's disgusting and terrible, but utterly true.

But that's why I'm trying to stop her. I can't sit around worrying about what I did, what I feel, when I could be focusing on stopping her and making sure no one ever has to go through what I went through ever again.

"You should be coming upon a small forest," Nadia says, and she is right. Just up ahead there's a large patch of trees, snowy and dead, but still there. "It'll give you cover until you're nearly at the distillery back gates."

"You know, I never asked. How did the Ministry figure out Moonchild was using an old distillery for storage?" Maxine asks.

"The head of Pepe's British Tequila used to be an organic chemist. He'd been living in the RR headquarters the whole outbreak," Veronica explains. "I found him on Roufflenet. Caught him testing out new formulations of our zombie repelling spray on rats. Nadia and I lost contact with him a few weeks ago, so we asked the Ministry to send someone to look him up and destroy his research notes."

"From that I heard, the woman they sent stopped for a quick taste of the house specialty on her way out, then stopped wanting to leave at all," Nadia pipes up. "Told her handler she never felt so connected."

Bernard shakes his head with a sigh. "I've seen the images captured. The silly woman should've know tequila doesn't turn brown when exposed to light."

"The Ministry wanted to blow the building up, but the extract is just as dangerous inhaled as ingested. At high concentrations, it might only take one dose. So it's either neutralizing it chemically on-sight, or risk leaving everyone for miles susceptible to mind control." Veronica pulls a few vials out of her bag and hands it to me and Maxine. "This is the inhabiting agent. Be careful not to get any on yourself. I didn't have time to prepare for a clinical trial."

"You're nearly at the target. My long range cams are showing guards on the distillery roof. Someone's expecting company," Nadia says, and Maxine tenses up slightly.

"Aren't they going to be able to see us once we're away from the trees?"

"I doubt it. Let's just say we let the Ministry keep part of their original plan."

The curly haired woman opens her mouth to question her words, but she never gets the chance as a loud explosion breaks the cold day's silence. The ground shakes, and I have to hold out my arms to keep from stumbling. The sound dies off as quickly as it came, but shouts and alarms quickly follow.

"What was that?" Bernard asks, eyes wide as he clutches onto a dead tree for stability.

"That was a pair of strategically placed pipe bombs blowing up the front gate," She answers smugly. "That should keep those guards distracted. Get to the back fence as quickly as you can, snip yourself a hole and crawl through. Don't waste the moment."

We don't. The four of us sprint as fast as we can to those back gates, trying to stay as far away from the shouts of confusion and chaos as we can. I place my vial into my jacket pocket, then reach into my backpack and pull out the wire cutters. I cut a hole just big enough for Maxine to squeeze through. She's the tallest in our our group, so if she can squeeze through then the rest of us can as well.

The fence rattles as Veronica crawls through, then Bernard and Maxine, with me being last.

"Okay, now head over to that big brick building," Nadia instructs, and we start jogging, trying to keep our steps light, only pausing when we hear even more loud shouts and gunshots from the main gates.

"What's going on over there?" Bernard questions.

"Good news: the explosion attracted a swarm of zoms this way. That'll keep most of the guards busy. Bad news: my cams are showing a guard on the door nearest you. Runner Five, it's a good thing you brought your axe. Get ready."

I hand Veronica my wire cutters, then grab my axe off my back. I can't look at it for too long. If I do, I'll remember the last time I tried to use it. I shudder.

Maxine gasps. "You're not suggesting Five kill whoever's out there. They're mind controlled, not a zombie."

"Then she'd better make sure she hits them with the blunt end."

"That's your advice?"

"Shh. That guard may be mind controlled, but she can still hear you. She's headed your way. Five, get that weapon up."

I press myself against the wall, and Maxine covers her eyes while we await for the woman to turn the corner.

"Oh, I can't watch."

As soon as she walks by, I give the guard a clean hit with the blunt side of my axe. She falls to the ground with a thud.

"She'll have a headache when she wakes up, but I drew no blood." I roll my eyes at Maxine, who still has her eyes covered. "You can look now, Max. And our way to the door's clear. We need to get inside before anyone else shows up."

"Wait!" Veronica yells, grabbing my arm to stop me before I can even get two steps in.

"What now?" Bernard asks with a small huff, but Veronica's brown eyes stay focused on the unconscious woman.

"I... I know that guard. That's Mrs. Evans. She was one of the botanists at the Treetop Base. She invited me to come there in the first place. We can't leave her here. What if the zombies get in?" She bends down and grabs her arm, trying to pick up the slightly overweight woman.

"Veronica!" Nadia scolds.

"If we argue about it, we'll waste time. Here, Five, get her other arm. We'll only drag her inside the door for now. It's not far."

"Fine, but keep moving."

"Quite right," Bernard says as Veronica and I lift up Mrs. Evans. "The last thing we need is to lose our heads over a distraction."

He opens the door, and just as we step inside to set Mrs. Evans down, an alarm goes off, blaring louder and louder each second.

Shit.

"Oh, for the love of..." Nadia groans. "Find the extract as quick as you can, then get out! Run!"

•

"Check the distillation vats," Veronica says, pointing at the copper tanks along the walls. I can barely hear her over the alarms going off. "The extract should be in there."

"Runner Five, go back and lock that door. Most of Moonchild's people are fighting zombies at the gate, but they're winning. You won't be alone for long."

I head for the door, stepping over Mrs. Evan as I do so. She's still out cold. Hopefully she'll stay that way. I lock the door as Maxine opens one of the vats. Her face scrunches up.

"Ugh. Whatever's in this vat doesn't smell like tequila."

"Don't breathe it in!" Veronica warns. "Use your pipette. Four drops of the neutralizing agent in each vat. Bernard, take the row of vats to the right of Dr. Meyers. Runner Five, you and I can take this side of the room."

I nod, taking the vial out of my pocket after I lock the door. Veronica takes one row of vats, I take the other. Bernard hums to himself as he drops the agent into the extract.

"This is a very efficient setup. I suppose one has to admire that woman's ingenuity, if not her aims. All that time we were in that coal cellar with her, drinking her revolting ginseng tea-if only we'd realized... one well placed bullet would have ended it all."

I almost laugh, because when I think about it, it was the same way with Van Ark. When Sarah and I first met him, we thought he was hiding something, but we didn't think he'd turn out to be an evil maniac. If we'd known... we could've killed him before he did all those terrible things.

But we didn't know, not until it was too late.

Same with Moonchild.

"That's enough inhibitor in that vat," Veronica tells me. "Go on to the next one."

"I've gotten these two tanks," Maxine says, and the dark haired girl nods.

"Once you've finished here, there's three more rooms of vats to deal with down that long corridor."

"How long have we got behind the guards come?" Bernard asks as I drop more of the neutralizing agent into my vats.

"Not long," Nadia replies. "I can see at least ten headed your way on foot."

"Any of them armed?"

"All of them. Get moving."

I sprint into the next room of vats, resisting the urge to smile as I pour the agent into the vat of plant extract. She deserves this. She deserves to have her plans ruined. She deserves to lose everything after what's she's done.

One vat after another is destroyed, ruined, and I want to laugh, to cackle because I remember one of the things Moonchild told me. She said she cried when Comansys broke free. She cried.

She may have cried when she figured out she couldn't get me back.

I wonder if she'll cry when she figures out we've destroyed her supply.

A part of me hopes she will.

We move on to the next room, and then to the next. There's a spark of something within me as I pour the last few drops into the final vat. I don't know what it is-happiness? Sadness? Both? I'm not sure.

But I don't remember this place. I doubt I was ever here under Moonchild's control. I doubt I even left her side until my mission against Comansys, but I'll never be sure, not when she placed a command in my brain that triggered memory loss if I ever got away from her control.

I may never know all that I did while I was her slave. I'm not sure I want to know.

Veronica hums when she grabs Maxine's vial, which still has a few drops of neutralizer in it. "We shouldn't have any left, but there were six vats missing in that last room we covered."

"That's... slightly concerning," I mumble.

"Either way, Moonchild won't be making any more CeretinPlus from this plant extract," Nadia says. "Now, you've got about thirty seconds before those guards..." She sighs at the sound of hands pounding on the door, "try to break through. There's a fire exit not too far from you. Ministry files say it only opens from the inside. They won't come after you that way."

"What about Mrs. Evans?" Veronica asks.

"Leave her," Bernard urges. "Come on. They'll be on top of us in a moment."

"No! Runner Five, follow me."

"What? Why?" I ask, feeling more than ready to leave and get back to Abel.

"We can make it back to the main door before the guards get in. We'll carry her. I can install a cryo-stasis chamber at Treetop Base. I know I can find a way to break the mind control."

She dashes off before any of us can say another word, back to Mrs. Evans in the front room, where the guards are seconds from breaking down the door.

"Veronica!" Nadia yells through our headset. "You don't have time!"

She doesn't listen.

"What are the rest of you doin'? Get after her!"

My feet start moving before my mind can catch up, which causes me to almost fall flat on my face. I sprint after Veronica, Maxine and Bernard following behind me. The guards keep banging and banging and banging on the door, each time harder and louder than the last. Anxiety spikes within me, and that's when I realize this is the first time in weeks I've felt truly fear, without it being glossed over and masked by the mind control tones.

Funny how you notice things on these life or death situations.

Veronica is crouched down near Mrs. Evans, her arms wrapped around her as she tried to life her up. She's struggling, but she only pauses when she sees me running towards her. Her gaze snaps out to the window, at the soldiers running by, joining those who are ramming at the door.

"You know those people out there, Five? I know them. They're the scientists from the Treetop Base. All the people who just up and walked out one day after that woman visited us-the hippie with her drumming circle, and her horrible ginseng tea." She pauses with realization. "It was Moonchild, wasn't it? Of course, it was. I didn't even think of it until just now. If only there was a way we could post photos on Roufflenet. We would've known it was the same person. We could've-it doesn't matter. It's too late now... But we can help Mrs. Evans. Help me lift her."

I hesitate, but grab the woman's arm and put it on my shoulder, my hand wrapping around her waist to lift her up.

"What are you doing?" Maxine asks when she and Bernard reach us. Veronica gives her a neutral look.

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like you're trying to get us killed!" Bernard fusses.

"That door's not going to hold up much longer," Nadia says. "You need to leave the building."

Veronica grits her teeth. "I'm trying!"

"Veronica, I know it's hard to see a familiar face in a place like this. I'm sure Mrs. Evans was a nice person, but-"

"You don't understand! Do you know what it's like to be doing differential calculus when other girls your age are still learning sums? Why do you think I left the Girl Guides? Cleverest girl in the room and I couldn't talk to anyone."

"Veronica, we have to go," Maxine urges.

"Mrs. Evans-I skipped a Guide meeting and went to the Natural History Museum to hear her lecture. Don't you see? I could've been like Moonchild too. We're both too bright, too young. But I had Mrs. Evans, and she didn't. I have to help her, please!"

Maxine sighs. "I want to help her. Believe me when I say I want that. All we want is to find a way to break Moonchild's hold on these people for good. But we can't do any of that if we're caught here. Do you understand?"

"But-"

Her words are cut off when the door bursts open, and soldiers with guns burst through. They don't hesitate to start shooting.

"Get out!" Nadia screams as we duck out of the way, behind one of the vats. I drag Mrs. Evans with us, laying her down out of the danger of gunfire.

"We can fix this together, I promise. But you have to come with me," Maxine says.

"Somebody go somewhere already! Run!"

•

The fence rattles as we slip through, running as fast as we can towards the trees, away from the soldiers, away from the gunfire.

"Keep running," Nadia instructs. "I want you clear of the area. Bernard, we'll have Runner 136 waiting to escort you back to New Canton. Veronica, where are you bunking tonight?"

"I don't know. Wherever's closest," She mumbles, and Maxine places a hand on her shoulder.

"She'll be fine. The guards won't hurt each other. The mind control's too fine tuned for that." She cringes when she realizes what she's said. "Sorry. That's not really a comfort. Come back to Abel with us, Veronica. We can sit and talk. I uh, also didn't really fit in when I was a kid, and I was a friend of your dad's. I'd love to talk to you."

Veronica nods, smiling at the mention of her father. "I think I'd like that... When Mrs. Evans invited me to the Treetop Base, she told me she'd gone there herself because of something she learned at the Natural History Museum. I never found out what it was. I think I should. We have to do whatever we can to stop Moonchild, right?"

She nods. "Yes, we do. And if anyone can work out what she's done and how to stop her, it's you."

"You did great work today, guys," Nadia praises. "Moonchild's taken a big blow. Now we just have to keep hitting her until we've beaten her for good."

A/N: Here you are, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!