To Be A Hero

Chapter 61: The Game Has Changed

Sigrid wanted to kill me. She still wants to kill me. Not only have I become an annoyance to her by not dying when she's tried to kill me, but now I know her secrets. Now I know about the lies and the evil deeds that she has done. She started the apocalypse. She started all of this.

But why? What could she have possibly gained from this? And why is she searching for a cure? That makes no sense!

How is it, with each piece of the puzzle we find and put together, more pieces appear, making the puzzle larger than we originally thought?

This woman is responsible for the death of millions of people.

And I thought I was a mass murderer.

I'm going to kill her. I know Maxine called dibs, but if I see her, I'm killing her. I have a gun. I will shoot her, although I'm not stupid enough to believe she'd be out here. At least, she's probably not on the front lines. She's probably somewhere safe with Veronica and possibly Steve.

But she actually started the zombie apocalypse... I can barely believe it.

But it's in this moment that I realize the world didn't end in a bang, or a whisper. But rather, one scream at a time.

They say it rained blood on Day Zero. I wonder how long it took Sigrid to clean that blood off her hands, and if she still sees the stains.

I doubt it.

"Alright, Five. Steady pace. You have miles to cover," Sam says.

"Just keep talking to me, and I'll be okay," I reply.

"You don't sound okay."

"I'm fine."

"You're not."

"I am."

"Keep lying and I'll reach through this headset and smack you," He scoffs, only half joking.

"Fine... I'm scared."

I'm willing to give up my life for Abel. I always have been. It's my home. But that doesn't mean I'm fearless. Just because I'm willing to die doesn't mean I want to.

He takes a moment before he responds. "I am too... but you have to make it, if not for the world, for Abel, then for your kids, for me."

"I'm going to get that message out to Bakari. I promise."

"Just promise you'll come back."

I swallow against the lump in my throat. "I'll try."

"Okay. Uh, ready with some distraction, Nadia?"

"Ready," She replies. "I'm in a mobile unit to get the best receptions. Coms are patchy, but we have an idea. Got it from Moonchild, in fact. New Canton runners will go on my mark, and my mark sounds like this."

Loud, repeating sirens go off, and I wince at the aggressive sound. New Canton really goes all out with their noisemakers.

"Wow. But wait, you haven't got mind controlled zombies."

"Nope. Just well-drilled runners," She says. "That's the signal for a particular formation. We want to look like we're making a break for it."

I hear gunshots in the distance, and loud explosions. I pick up my pace.

"There are soldiers after them," Janine says. "There's a tank. She has a tank!"

"We decided. We took a vote on it," Nadia says, her voice firm. "We'd rather die like this than live knowing we were cowards."