"Uh, guys, can you see the radio tower yet?" Sam asks. "Storm's still interfering with my cams. I mean, uh, not that it's not nice that it's died down a bit."
Paula rolls her eyes beside me. "Yeah, sheltering in a cozy cottage eating biscuits and looking at a storm does feel less great when, on top of everything else, there's a homicidal maniac on the loose and every day lost to bad weather is a day less your friend has until nanites destroy her body."
I grimace, but Paula is right. Soon after Nicole and I left that corner shop, the weather got bad again, even though we were supposed to have a few days in the clear. It got so bad that we weren't able to do much of anything besides sit, plan and dread.
"How long does she have?" Shona asks, and Nicole hums through my headset.
"About thirty-three days," She says with a sigh. I know Nicole would rather be out here with us, but I told her she needs her rest just in case I exhaust myself and can't go on my next run, so she'll be fresh to go. This shoulder is proving to be more of a nuisance than I thought it'd be, even with the pain meds.
"Maybe a little more if she rests," Paula adds, and I resist the urge to roll my eyes. As if Janine would actually listen and rest.
Shona hums and nods. "The chief has the whole island on alert for Jones. Wherever he's hiding, he'll have to come out sometime, and when he does, we'll find him. For you and for us."
Tom narrows his eyes as he looks ahead. "Visual on a pylon two clicks away."
I follow his hand as he points to it. It's perched on a flat-topped rock jutting out of the sea, and a shudder runs up my spine at how tall it is. I'm a lot better with heights than I used to be, but I'm glad we won't have to do any daring 'climb up the pylon to do repairs' mission today.
"Looks like the potato mountain from Close Encounters of the Third King," Paula says, and Nicole scoffs.
"Close encounters of the what?"
"Oh, Nicole, don't make me feel old."
Sam chuckles and then clears his throat. "Right. Well, we can use the radio tower to get a signal to Abel."
"We've got a guy, Gavin. Stays out here to maintain it," Shona informs. "It's cut off from Mor Island from the sea except for twice a month when the water is lower. See that land bridge? It'll only be here for an hour."
"Well, we'll be able to let Peter talk to Janine and Singer," Nicole says, and I hope my smile isn't too sad as I speak.
"I'll let Peter get Janine's message. I doubt we'll have much time to talk, and I already want to check in on Milo and Phineas."
I can almost feel her roll her eyes. "Yeah, okay. As if he won't try to talk to you too."
I don't comment it, but I believe Nicole overestimates how much Peter cares for me. We're close friends-best friends-but he'll choose Janine over me every time. And I understand that, because if it came down to it, I think I'd choose Sam over him too. Nicole only says this because she's never actually had a close friendship in her life, and she's seen how we are on normal missions.
Janine's life has never been threatened like this on a normal mission.
"Well, I can't wait to talk to Maxie," Paula sighs, a fond smile on her face. "To everyone, really. I said we'd be home in a week."
"We will be home soon," Tom assures, and my chest feels heavy. I want to believe that, but with each day it's becoming a bit more difficult, especially as light rain hits the head of my yellow raincoat. "Jones can't have left Mor Island. The chief took his boat. And there aren't any others on the island that would have had a chance of making it through the storm. We'll find him, and the cure for Janine."
"The locals have set me and Nicole up in the old post office," Sam says. "I can see a bunch of them on the village green, organizing into search parties."
Shona's eyes are hard as she looks ahead. "Folk on Mor Island don't forgive and they never forget."
"Alright, everyone. You're going to run across the land bridge, access the control hut, tune into Abel's frequency, and get back before the tide comes in. The last thing we need is for you to get cut off by rising water."
"Yeah, I've never been the best swimmer," I say with a cringe. "I've nearly drowned one too many times."
"Stay focused and run," Tom tells me, and I laugh a bit too forcefully.
"My focus is fine. S'not like I've got anything else to focus on, except for maybe keeping up with you and your long legs."
"I could carry you if you can't keep up."
"Haha," I snark. "Knowing my luck, you'd try it and trip and fall on top of me."
"I think you're forgetting which friend you're talking to. I don't trip up so easily."
I scoff, and Shona smiles curiously at us. "You all are really good friends, aren't you?"
My playful, slightly sardonic expression drops, my smile becoming a bit more sincere as I shrug. "I mean, yeah, I'd think so. I can't speak for the others, but I consider everyone that came with us my friends. I wish my best friend could have come, but I suppose I'll just have to deal with the backup best friend."
I gesture to Tom, who raises a brow. "I don't remember signing up for that."
"Well, you kind of did became a part of our trio and we started meeting up. When one best friend is gone, the remaining two must become best friends until the third member is united. Were you not there when we took the oath? Me and Peter made a pledge and everything." My stupid smile makes him shake his head at me, looking both charmed and taken aback.
Shona's brows pinch in thought as she studies us, but she doesn't really say anything else as we start across the land bridge. Our steps tap away at the dirt and grass as the rain starts pelting a little bit harder. I reach up to fix the hood of my raincoat, my fingers twitching as a couple cold rain drops hit my skin.
The waves around us are becoming bigger, choppier, and the smell of salt hits my nose. As I begin to pant, I can taste it on my tongue with each inhale.
"Watch your step," Shona warns as we continue, the waves crashing around us. "It's blowing a hooley. If you slip, the waves will bash you against the cliffs and the barnacles will rip you to shreds."
"Yeah, probably best not to dwell on that," Sam says, and Nicole hums in agreement.
The redhead beside me points ahead. "That's the control shack up ahead, at the bottom of the cliff?"
"Yeah. You can set up coms from there. You're halfway across the land bridge now, so just keep going."
"Gavin'll help. We tried to radio ahead to say we're coming, but the storm mucked up our signal," Shona says, and I send a silent curse to this storm for messing up everything and making all our plans more difficult to enact. As if we needed something else to make it more difficult.
But then I see metal spikes sticking out of the sea, not too far off from the land bridge. "What are those?"
"Oh, there used to be an actual bridge to the island, but it disintegrated. Those are what's left of the struts. Last May, a sheep got stranded on the rock. It panicked, ran off, and well..."
"Lamb kebabs," Tom finishes. He says it with such seriousness that I can't help but laugh, and Nicole snorts. Paula looks at me and smiles, slightly bewildered that that's what the two of us found funny.
"Can you see your target?" Nicole asks once she's composed herself, which only takes a few seconds.
"Confirmed," He replies.
"Good. Then keep running."
We obey, and I pump my legs faster, knowing we don't have any time to lose. I want to be able to talk to my kids as much as I can.
I hope Milo's doing okay. I know he is. He's done fine while I was away before, and he's older now, growing more and more independent. I still worry for him, though. I made just about every other runner in Abel promise me they'd look out for him when they go on runs with him.
It's one of the few times I used my authority as Head of Runners to get what I want. My title doesn't hold that much weight. The job is simple, with me overseeing training of any new runners or putting a runner on suspension if they give me a reason to do so.
Mostly I just sign off on the run schedule just to prove I've reviewed it. Reviewed is a vast exaggeration of what I actually do when Janine hands me those papers. My eyes see nothing more than the line that I have to sign my name on most times.
I placed Summer Swan, Runner Seventeen, as temporary Head of Runners while I'm gone. I would've given the position to Peter, but he's the one helping Maxine keep Abel going while we're away. I don't want to load any more responsibility on his shoulders.
I hate how my absence is affecting others, which is one of the reasons I want to see Milo, if he's near. I would love to talk to Phineas, but he's deaf, so having someone tell him what I'm saying like a game of telephone would take too much time, and Adora can't exactly talk back to me. I doubt she'd remember what I'd said five minutes later, and that's if I get a word in, since she loves to talk and babble when she believes she's getting attention from adults.
I miss them.
"We've made it over the land bridge. There's the-" Paula's cut off with a shout as she slips on some seaweed, her hand flying out and grabbing my hand to keep from falling flat on her face. I hiss when it tugs and sends a sharp pain into my shoulder.
"Paula! Are you alright?" Sam panics, and she nods once she's regained her balance.
"I'm alright." She looks at me. "Did I hurt you? Have your stitches ripped?"
"I'm fine," I reply. She still pulls at my raincoat, despite the fact that it's begun to rain harder. Once she sees there's no blood seeping through my clothes underneath the coat, she lets it go.
"Should've warned you." Shona sends us an apologetic look. "This bit's under the sea most of the time, so there's a lot of seaweed lying around. The control hut's over there, above sea level."
"I hope we can get a connection," Tom says as we start heading for the hut. "I promised Jane I'd get a message to Peter."
Paula laughs lightly. "It's so funny. I've been putting this to the back of my mind all day, but now that we're close, I've got butterflies. Oh, I hope Sarah's okay."
"Maxine'll have everything under control," Sam assures. "But I know what you mean."
As we get closer to the control hut, I see just how poor of a condition it's in. I send an uneasy glance to the others, and they look just as apprehensive as I feel. Tom's voice reveals his hesitance as he tells Sam and Nicole about how rough it looks.
"Can you get inside?" Nicole asks, and her answer is met with chains clinking as Tom grabs at the ones wrapped around the door.
I peer through the window near the door, my face falling. "The equipment in there is all smashed. It looks deliberate."
Shona gasps. "Jones! It has to be! And there's no sign of Gavin."
"The equipment might be salvageable," Tom says, examining the door. "The chains are sturdy, but this wood is not. Stand back."
He brings his foot up and kicks the door, and it shakes on its hinges. He kicks it again, and again, slowly chipping away at the wood.
"Let me try," I say, and he immediately steps back so I can slam my foot into the door. Frustration bubbles in my chest, my throat. Stupid Jones. Stupid everything! Even if we're able to salvage the equipment, the chances of us fixing it all today to get a signal to Abel is slim, meaning it'll take even more time before we'll get to talk to anyone from home.
It's only been a few days, but my patience is thin, and the fuse to my temper is short.
"I don't see how Callista would be able to kick down the door if Tom-" Shona starts, and I let out an angry shout as I kick my foot out again, making the door crack and fall off its hinges.
"How did you-" She starts, but she screams when a zombie snarls and pounces at me from inside the hut. Tom grabs the back of my raincoat and pulls me back out of the zom's reach as Shona continues to scream in horror.
"Zombie!" Paula shouts. "Get back, everyone."
"Oh, God!" Shona's voice shakes as she gapes at the undead corpse of the old man growling at us. "That's Gavin!"
"We have no cure!" Tom shouts. He still hasn't let go of the back of my raincoat as he turns me around, pushing his clenched fist into my back to push me forward. "We can transmit to Abel from the pylon's primary controls. Everyone, up the path, now!"
•
"We're at the top of the path, Sam," I pant, thankful when Tom finally lets go of me instead of pushing and dragging me around like a ragdoll. He means well, but I'm sure I'm going to have bruises from his hand digging into my back.
"It's a fantastic view from up here," Paula says with wide, wondering eyes. "You can see the whole archipelago."
"Aye," Shona says. "Look at that. Shining beauty of the Far Hebrides. There's Dearg Island where the scientists are." She points ahead, and I stare at it, cocking my head to the side. I can't see much through the trees, but I can make out some buildings, I think. Or maybe it's just one big building.
I continue studying it as Shona names off some of the other islands. She mentions one of them they don't go to anymore because it's full of zombies, but I don't really catch the name of it, or the name of the island with the cairn of stones.
"Sorry to break up the sightseeing, but that zom is catching up," Nicole says. "And I'm going to guess darling Singer didn't bring her pistol with her, and while I'm sure Tom could kill it with a toothpick or something equally impressive and terrifying, best you just McShell it."
"Oh, aye!" She agrees. "You told me about that. Herding zombies."
Tom nods as we start moving again. "You've got the idea. You and Five, break right. Twenty-three and I will go left. On my signal. And... break!"
We split, and I look over my shoulder and watch as the zombie just keeps moving forward. Sam laughs in praise.
"Great going, guys! The zom's going, going... and it stopped, teetering off the edge the cliff because why not?"
"I got it," I interrupt, turning and running towards the zombie. It turns towards me, it's mouth gaping as it snarls. Sam squeaks as I bring my foot up and slam it into the zom's side, sending it tumbling off the cliff.
"Oh, wow," He says breathlessly. "The uh, the zom is impaled on one of the rusty bridge struts. I hesitate to say nice shot, sweetheart, but uh..."
I smile, my heart skipping a beat as he trails off.
"Is Gavin still alive?" Shona asks.
"Uh, well, no. That's sort of the thing about zombies, really."
"I mean is he still moving?"
I peer down off the cliff. "Yes, but uh, it's stuck there."
"We've lost a lot of time," Tom states. "The water's rising on the causeway."
"Get to the radio tower on the summit," Sam instructs. "You should still be able to patch into Abel from there."
We start moving again, all of us meeting up and running together. When I look at Shona, I see this void look in her eyes. It's like she's seeing but not seeing.
They don't let zombies inland. The virus was never something she, or anyone here, had to worry about in terms of losing others.
"Are you okay?" I ask her, and she doesn't look at me when she answers.
"I don't know. That was Gavin. He didn't say much, but he was really kind. He used to carry me on his shoulders when I was a kid."
Paula eyes her with sympathy. "I'm so sorry."
"It was just... the way he looked. Weak, rotting, pathetic."
"We've been there. It never gets easy. The tide's going to turn soon. We have to keep moving."
She nods. Her eyes still have that glassy look to them. I hate this, seeing the shock, her mind trying to process what's happened, that Gavin is dead. It doesn't feel real. It didn't feel real with Ellie at first either, or with anyone else. It takes a moment for it to really set in.
It's painful and terrifying. I feel bad for her, that she has to go through it. It's even more so since this is probably the first time she's seen one of her own people die by zom. They were always so protected, so sheltered from the pain of having to see a friend go gray. And here we are, coming in and destroying peace.
I know it's not our fault, but I can't help but think about how chaos follows me wherever I go. It's always there, an ever-constant companion that follows in my footsteps, offering no reprieve. With every solution we find, another problem arises in an endless loop, and in the search for more solutions comes more death, more pain, more disruption of lives of people who did nothing to deserve this.
Like Gavin.
The rain is still pouring, running off the hood of my raincoat as we reach the pylon. The door creaks open, revealing a dark room. I'm quick to find a light switch, hissing at the bright yellow light that floods the room.
Shona blinks multiple times, trying to get her eyes used to it as Paula heads over to fiddle with the equipment.
"I think I've got it. The equipment's old, but workable. Give me just a sec."
Sam inhales sharply in anticipation as radio static comes through my headset. "Hello, Abel? Come in, Abel."
"Sam?" Maxine's voice reaches my ears. "Is that you?"
"Maxie!" Paula exclaims. "Can you hear me?"
"Paula! Thank God! I knew you were alright, but oh, it's so good to hear your voice."
"Are you okay? How's Sarah?"
"I'm fine. Sarah's uh..."
"Sarah's what, Maxine?" Sam asks, terrified. I imagine him there in the post office, tense and pale. My breath gets caught in my throat as I wait for her to answer.
"No, I'm sorry. No, she's okay. She just misses you. She's asking for you both. She wakes me up in the night asking for you."
"Dr. Meyers?" Tom calls, and she gasps.
"Tom! How's Janine? And are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Janie, not so good, but stable for the moment. Is Peter there? I promised Janine I'd pass him a message."
She sucks in a sharp breath, and I tense. "Peter's... indisposed. Nothing serious! Well, not for him, anyway. Most people would need more than a nap after disemboweling themselves-"
"What?!" I screech, and there's a clatter on the other end.
"God, Five! You scared me!" She shouts.
"What happened? How the hell did Peter-" I pause to breathe in deeply. "I leave for four days, and he's already gotten himself..."
"I wouldn't have said anything if I'd known you were in here."
That only serves to make me angrier. Of course she wouldn't say anything if she knew I was here, because she knows I care about Peter if he gets hurt, immortal or not. The healing is physically painful, and hurting himself again and again probably isn't doing wonders for his mental health.
Has everyone just forgotten that this man has tried to commit suicide via burn cube twice in the past few months?! Am I the only one who cares and worries about that and the implications of it?!
My teeth grind together. "Keep something like that from me and see what happens." There's a pause as I regain my composure. "I'm glad he's alright, and resting, but I'll be sure to curse him out for being stupid and hurting himself later."
"Seems a little hypocritical since you got shot," Paula says, and Maxine gasps.
"Callista was shot?!"
"Only in the shoulder," I cough. "Just... is Milo with you, or-or near you? Is he and the others okay?"
There's a pause. I don't like that pause. "They're good. Phineas is... well, he's Phineas."
"Meaning?"
"He goes between making little origami animals to tending to his chinchilla to knitting to... Well, you know how he sometimes is a little too comfortable around fire?"
My whole body goes stiff. "Oh, God."
"Well, someone told him he couldn't set a fire extinguisher on fire. Long story short, we're going to have to rebuild the potting shed."
My stomach lurches.
"Adora's been with good, with me... although Peter let her play with Bonnie and didn't realize there were some paint cans nearby and... even after three baths, that poor dog's hind legs are a bright shade of pink."
I'm physically shaking at this point. "And Milo?"
"Milo..." She sighs. "He's okay, now. A little rattled, but-"
"Maxine." My voice is low, dangerous. "What happened to my son?"
"He's okay now! I promise! I just... he was on a run the other day, and he was running from some zoms through one of the neighborhoods, and when he passed by one of the houses, there was a zombie waiting there for him and uh..." Her next breath sounds painful. "He was uh, he-he got bitten."
My fist slams into the wall so hard the wood cracks.
"It was a regular zom, and we got him the cure!" She says quickly. "He just uh, will have another scar on his arm now, right next to the one he got from Ian."
"Five, are you alright?" Tom asks, and I quickly shake my head.
"I think I'm gonna faint." I grab his arm, swaying slightly on my feet.
Four days. It's only been four days!
"I-I'm sorry to lay this all on you, Five," Maxine says, sympathy woven in her voice. "And I have an urgent message for all of you-"
She's cut out by static.
"Hello?" Sam calls. "Maxine? Uh, the transmission's gone."
Tom peers out the window. "The cable's come loose in the gale. It's hanging off the rock outside."
"Yeah, that'd do it. Uh, darling, run down there, grab the cable, and plug it in."
I nod numbly. "Yeah, sure."
I let go of Tom's arm and shuffle outside, my stomach churning as tears build in my eyes. Adora's little mishap is mild; Phineas' is... concerning, but I remember he and Penelope did the same thing years back, and if he's not making things, he's breaking them, which is why I don't mind getting him more and more paper for origami or getting wool so Jody can teach him new stitch patterns; Milo though... He was bitten and I wasn't there! I made the other runners promise to protect him!
The wind is cold, and the rain is hard, and I sniff and wipe away at my tears as I reach the cable and plug it back in.
"There," I sniffle.
"Great job, Singer," Nicole says. "We've got a signal. And if you fasten it with clips, it won't come undone again." She pauses when I do just that. "Alright, now head back around. I'll keep you patched in."
"What happened?" Maxine asks. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Sam says. "I've secured the connection."
"Oh, that's great! Now promise to send my love to Jody and Ellie, and Nicole too."
"Thanks," Nicole says, and I hear her jump.
"Just how many of you are on this call?!"
"I think I'm the only one left that hadn't spoken. Didn't think anyone would want to talk to me, besides maybe Phin." She sighs. "But, uh, Dr. Meyers, there is a lot that's happened since we arrived. Sam and I will fill you in, but everyone else has got to go."
"Um, okay," She sighs disappointedly. "Oh, wait! I have a message from the Prime Minister. Your ears only."
My brows knit in confusion. "Amelia? What does she want?"
"Yeah," Sam says. "We're running out of time here."
"She said it was extremely urgent." Maxine clicks a button, and then I hear Amelia's voice through my headset.
"Hello, Janine and friends. I do hope you're enjoying your little island jaunt. You'll be pleased to know that the red fungus zombie problem is well under control. Some threads of fungus were found on a beach. We destroyed them. I'd love to tell you how, uh, because it was a rather brilliant idea of mine, but it's a government secret. You understand.
"Anyway, I've got a highly important assignment for you. Could you send me some crates of smoked salmon? The stuff on the mainland isn't the same. Thanks!"
Click.
"Okay... wow." Maxine sighs. "I swear I had no idea that that was our 'urgent message'. I can't believe we wasted our coms time with that. Paula, I love you. Everyone else, I love you too."
"I love you too, sweetheart," Paula replies, and I'm quick to pipe up.
"Hey, Max," I reply. "Please love me by keeping my children and Peter out of trouble. Please. I love you too."
"Singer, keep going as you are," Nicole says. "The others will meet you at the land bridge. Just run."
•
"Callista, over here!" Paula calls, waving to me as I run to her and the others. "Sam, Nicole, she's joined us. We're at the foot of the cliff by the radio shack and the tide's coming in fast."
Tom points at two shambling figures in the rain. "Look! Foot of the cliff. Two zoms pulling themselves out of the sea."
"It's okay. We'll be gone before they get here."
He shakes his head. "They're not coming for us. They're going for the radio shack." His eyes light up in realization. "Oh, of course! I should have recognized it when I saw it. Wait here."
"Tom? What are you-nope. No, he's off," She says, before looking at me. "You're the closest to him out of those of us here. Any idea what he's doing?"
My smile is half-mocking. "You think way too highly of me, Paula. I barely even know what goes through my own head most days, much less anyone else's."
Tom runs back to the radio shack, grabbing something from inside and sprinting back to us, waving it in the air.
"I've found it!" He yells, grinning widely. When he sees our confused expressions, he explains. "I saw it in the wreckage before but didn't register it. It's a zombie-attractive device like the ones Jones planted at Abel!"
Paula looks at it with wide eyes, then back at the zoms, who are now heading towards us. "I think you're right. Quick, Tom, stomp on it!"
He throws it onto the ground, and it cracks. He stomps on it for good measure, before bending down and picking up the pieces. "That's disabled it. I'll examine these parts later."
"Are you saying Lachlan planted something here to deliberately attract zoms?" Shona asks as we start moving again, her voice dripping with devastation. "He got Gavin bitten on purpose?"
"Sure looks like it," Sam mumbles.
I look over my shoulder. "Those zoms are still heading our way, and the tide's comin' in. We need to head back now."
"I'll tell Janine to get the local leaders together for a council of war. If Jones has one zombie attractor, he could have two. Or dozens. Whatever his plan here is, it looks like it involves killing a lot of innocent people."
A/N: Here you go, guys! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It is dedicated to WinchestersArchangel
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