To Be A Killer

Chapter 44: A Little Night Music

"Okay, um... uh," He clears his throat awkwardly, "your route takes you though an old building site. It was meant to be a mall, but it never got finished. There's a big sign. No one's gone in there for awhile so uh, so we're not certain what you're gonna find. And my notes say there's gonna be a test of your ability to respond to the occurrence of unforeseen complications... Don't know if I like the sound of that."

"Probably just zoms. You know how dramatic New Canton can be sometime," I say calmly, but then yelp when I'm pulled under the canopy of an abandoned gas station. I look at Steffie in shock, wondering why she just made us stop, even if I am thankful to get out of the rain for a moment. "What are you-"

"Just a sec. There's something I need to pick up." She heads to one of the gas pumps, and pushes it over. It's empty, of course, but under the original pump is a bag, one that clinks when Steffie grabs it.

"What is that?" I question worriedly.

"One of the stashes I have," She explains, and pulls out a vial.

A vial of blue liquid.

Oh, no.

She sprinkles the liquid on her skin and clothes, humming to herself. "Here we go. Problem solved. You use this stuff, right? The calming stuff that keeps the zoms off?"

"Uh, we... is that the batch they made from the calming plants in the woods?" Sam stammers.

"Yeah, it's great. Zoms steer well clear." Her cackling sounds into the air. "Almost makes it too easy, ya know? All those years of runnin' away from them, and now, here we are. They won't come anywhere near me." She holds the vial our to me. "You want some?"

I shake my head quickly, silently praying this isn't what I think it might be.

"No? Suit yourself."

"Probably best not to. New Canton's guidelines do say, 'no artificial aids or performance enhancers to be used," He says, and Steffie scoffs and rolls her eyes.

"This doesn't count. It's part of our standard NC field kit these days."

"Also, there's some possibility it could make you really tactless."

She ignores him. "Right, are you ready to go?"

I nod.

"Then after you, Five. Let's get our run on."

I head out, instantly being pelted with raindrops. I raise my hand to tap out a warning to Sam, but think otherwise of it. This might not even be it-it probably isn't. I mean, the worst that stuff did to Paula was make her a smart ass, as well as clumsy. Plus, he probably wouldn't be able to decipher the Morse Code from the sound of the rain.

I'll just be very careful, and think smart.

The cold makes it harder to breathe, and rain is dripping off my skin, my face. I look back at Steffie, and her eyes dance with a sort of happiness I don't think people could have in this kind of weather. She looks especially happy when her eyes land on me, and I'm not sure if I should be worried about that.

She runs up beside me, brushing against me every so often. Her eyes stay trained ahead, as if she can actually see through the rain. It's getting harder to do so as the rain gets heavier. I can see maybe ten feet ahead of me at most. God, why did it have to rain today of all days?

I guess it's better now than when we decide to go after Comansys... Although with it being so close to my birthday, you'd think God would be a little more lenient on the weather.

Still, I swipe away at some of my wet hair that gets in my hair, and push on.

"That's it, Five. Show me what you're made of," Steffie cheers, and I gulp at the rugged, slightly aggressive tone of her voice.