To Be A Killer

Chapter 18: Stray Cat Strut

Phil raises his hand to beckon me over to him. "Runner Five! Over here!"

I raise my hand up to give him a wave. The dark haired man grins at seeing me, and the tall blonde beside him seems to sigh with relief. I think that's Zoe. She and Phil do the New Canton radio show together, and they collaborate with Jack and Eugene sometimes.

"Great," Nadia says over my headset. "We can get started."

"Sorry I'm late," I say. "I was asked to help feed some of the goats back in Abel. I... don't think goats are all that fond of me, to be honest."

"Well, thank God you're here now," Zoe says. "Phil was about to explain his theory how James Bond was actually a job title instead of a name."

"No, honestly," He says. "Makes perfect sense. He works for the secret service, so code names-"

"Sorry, was I not sufficiently clear about the fact that I don't care?"

Phil frowns, and I awkwardly pat him on the shoulder. "If you want, you can explain it to me when we get back. I'm sure Sam won't mind me visiting New Canton for a little while."

He gives me a closed lipped smile of gratitude, and I return it.

"Okay, Five, Sam asked if you could tag along with Phil and Zoe today," Nadia states. "You're all headed in the same direction, so it makes sense to share an operator."

"And with me and Phil here, he can be confident Nadia's not going to try to kill you again." Zoe's eyes widen when she realizes those words actually came out of her mouth. "I mean-what I meant to say was, it's a lovely sign of Sam's renewed faith in Nadia that he left her in charge of you today."

I blink. People are still on about that? It's been almost a year since she led me into Deadlock territory. I've forgiven her. Why can't everyone else?

"And we really appreciate with you helping us out with this ridiculous outing, Nadia," Phil says, sending a look to Zoe as we start running. She scowls at him.

"There's nothing ridiculous about kittens," She snaps, and I raise a bow at Phil for an explanation.

"Some random radio caller says she needs a home for a stray litter. Sounds a bit dodgy to me."

"Strangers offer to show you puppies, not give you kittens." She rolls her eyes as if that's the most obvious thing ever. "Anyway, Kursty's got a whole animal sanctuary. We'll do a report on it for our listeners. It'll be great."

"Yeah... great," I try to say that as convincingly as possible, but from the look the blonde gives me, I obviously didn't do very well of a job.

"So, as you can see, Five, this is a really crucial mission you've joined," Nadia scoffs. "Unlike yours which Sam said had something to do with those Van Ark files you found in Deadlock territory."

I laugh, my hand grabbing at my backpack strap at the memory. "I forgot how sarcastic you can be."

"There's a possible lead on Comansys which may help us find our lost people. Much less important that kittens, obviously," She adds, which makes me laugh harder. "Okay, we've had reports of a few shamblers in the cornfields 'round here and-yeah, here they are."

I nod, watching them stumble around near a hedge, their dead eyes boring into us. I shudder. No matter how many times I see them, they'll still always be creepy and disgusting.

"Pick up the pace?" I guess.

"Yep."

"Still don't see why I had to come," Phil grumbles, and Zoe frowns at him again. I think she does that to him a lot.