To Be A Leader

Chapter 17: Road To Nowhere

"Okay, Runner Five, Runner Eight, Runner Thirty, Maxine, I've got you on cams," Jody says.

"Oh my God," Sam laughs. "You are turning into Janine. You just called your boyfriend Runner Thirty."

"It's crucial to maintain discipline and preserve protocol while undertaking missions in the field," She replies, doing her best Janine impression and sounding scarily accurate.

"You're getting quite convincing at that, darling," Tom says, looking both impressed and disturbed.

"I won't need to when Janine comes back, so I'm takin' my chances now." She laughs. "Okay, you see that rustin' four-car pileup? Turn left and take the on-ramp to the motorway."

"And we're looking for a rest stop?" Maxine asks.

"Yep," Sam replies. "It's uh, Brenton Health Services, according to the message they sent us."

Tom pinches his lips together. "'They' being this Manor House Center who can supposedly stop people from hearing voices?"

"And seeing things..." I murmur.

"Nothing supposedly about it. It took a bit of digging after what those rubbish pagans told us, but when I got up this morning I thought I might as well do a bit more research, just in case," Sam says, and now I understand why he was up so early. "There's like, hundreds of people who swear this lot cured them."

"Really?" I ask, a mixture of emotions swirling within me. I don't know how to feel about this, since this is the miracle I've been waiting for. I can actually get rid of Moonchild... but I'm scared. How am I supposed to go on without her? It's like I hate her, but I need her... Or at least, I need her when I get stuck in a situation Sam can't pull me out of-when I'm trapped somewhere he can't see me or hear me.

If she's gone, I'll be alone when I get into those situations... Then what?

What will I do if the Glass Protocol comes for me and she's not there to help me get away?

"And they were all people who could hear Moonchild speakin' to them, just like Five!" Jody exclaims, pulling me back to reality. "I mean, they couldn't see her like Five can, but still, I think these people are the real deal. They asked us to fetch some advanced medical tech for them on the way. It's in a van a bit further down the motorway."

Milo cringes as he looks ahead. "You mean the motorway with seven zoms in the fast lane?"

"Permission to take them out with headshots?" Tom asks.

"Nah," Sam answers. "No need to waste the ammo. They're just shamblers, but you know, run."

Tom nods curtly, and we head on, trying to go around the zombies as best as possible. We don't have to put in too much effort to stay ahead of them. Like Sam said, they're shamblers, just barely able to pick their feet off the ground. We only have to jog to keep them from catching up. Still, we don't want them to get too close while we're looking for that medical tech that could help cure me. We all have weapons, but it's best just to not risk it.

Milo looks ahead, staring at the cars and the concrete. He looks as if he's searching for memories to make these things familiar. His eyes hold some recognition when he sees the cracked windows of the backseats of cars, but none when he looks at the driver's side. It was something he never got to experience. He's like me, too young to have some of the experiences people reminisce about now. All his memories of cars will be him in the backseat with a father who died and a mother who abandoned him.

I doubt Phineas has many memories about what life was before. He was only six-years-old on Day Zero. Adora won't have any memories of cars at all, neither will Sara.