To Be A Runner

Chapter 26: Virtuous Circle

"Good news, Runner Five," Sam says with excitement as he hands me my headset. "Abel Township's been doing pretty damn well lately. You might have noticed that zombie attacks are right down, people aren't crying so much, the children have less scurvy, and there have been more conversations about the weather and not about the inevitable demise of the human race. Pretty good, right?"

'Yeah, I guess talking about how much I hate the cold is better than talking about... the demise of the human race as you put it,' I say in a lame attempt to be humorous.

"Well, it's a virtuous circle," Maxine states. "Happier people have better immune systems."

I raise a brow at that, but don't question it. She is a doctor, after all. 'I thought this wasn't going to be a medicine run,' I say instead.

"It isn't, but right now only a few people are actually in the hospital and there are other people who can see to it," She explains. "And there's no major sicknesses or injuries at the moment and Caleb can get his own medicine-"

I take a quick step towards her, my movement causing the doctor to stop her words as I look at her with worried eyes. 'Caleb's sick?'

"Oh, no, he's just not feeling well," She replies nonchalantly.

'Is it because of whatever is wrong with his chest?'

"Five, I'm a doctor, so you know that's confidential and I can't say anything about it. If Caleb wants to tell you about it, then he will."

'But-'

"Five, sorry to interrupt but you do have a mission to run," Sam interrupts, handing my head cam and helping me adjust it to my head. God, I hate that thing.

'Do I really have to wear this on a not-so-important mission?' I ask, making a face that shows if my words were voiced it would sound like a childish whine.

Unfortunately, Janine said there is no way to make the head cam any smaller without reducing the quality of it, so I'll just have to deal with it and learn how to run with eight pounds of tech strapped to my head.

Lucky me.

"Yes, you do," He answers sternly as I head toward the door. "We're letting you wear it because it's a low risk mission. We're still testing it out because well, I'd rather not have it glitch on me while you're going into zombie infested territory. Is your headset on?"

I click a small switch and give him a thumbs up before heading out the door and to the gates.

"This mission is pretty special, Five," He excitedly says as I walk. "We've heard that the big toy store on Possum Place is untouched. We need you to go out there and get us... well, fun stuff."

Fun stuff, huh. Yeah, I think I can do that.

"Any particular fun stuff?" Maxine asks as I reach the gate. I ready myself and get into sprinting position.

"I think we can trust Runner Five's judgement on this. Fun stuff, Five. The funner, the better."

I wonder what I should get Willis and Milo, and Penelope, of course.

'Hey, Sam, what do you think-'

"Remember to also watch out for the zombies, alright?" Maxine reminds me, and I give her a thumbs up through my head cam.

"Maybe Runner Five can even make the zombies fun-like some sort of game."

I scrunch up my nose at that. What sort of messed up games did Sam play as a child?