"Okay, according to Darren's Militia map, you should be right on top of... of whatever this is," Sam says, and I rub my tired eyes. It feels like we've been running for hours. "We had Roufflenet contact with people in the area until a few months ago. Doesn't sound like they were very advanced. This says they uh, they lived in the trees."
I hum in reply. "Sounds great, especially since you'll be wanting us to check it out. Send the girl with a horrible fear of heights up into the trees. That sounds absolutely fantastic."
"You know, you're a lot more sarcastic when you're tired than when you're not."
"I'm also a lot more irritable when I'm tired than when I'm not. So, please, for your own sake, try not to piss me off."
After that near death situation two days ago, we've been waking up at the butt crack of dawn and running/jogging until sunset. I'm sore as hell, and since we only brought some meal bars and water for sustenance, I'm finding myself hungry and fatigued. This isn't the most terrible trip I've been on, but it definitely isn't the best either.
"Fine, cranky pants," He scoffs, "It's odd. Usually you're a lot happier in the mornings."
"Usually I don't have morning runs five days in a row."
Nadia nudges me with her elbow, pulling my attention away from Sam. "Five, have you ever seen creepers like that? What are those thorns? Blue tips?"
I squint at the blue flowers. They remind me of something... I've seen these flowers somewhere; I know I have. I just can't remember where.
"They look familiar, but I can't put my finger on it," I reply, and she nods.
"You don't see a lot of blue in nature."
"Uh, what about-" Sam starts.
"The sea doesn't count, nor the sky."
"I was going to say blueberries, blue jays, blue bottle flies."
She presses her lips together. "Yes, but blue on foliage."
"Actually, Nadia, I think you'll find that foliage refers to the leaves of the plant, not the thorns attached to the stem." There's a bit of smugness in his voice that causes me to snicker and the blonde to roll her eyes.
"Smart arse," She mumbles, causing me to snicker harder. But my laughter is cut off when a growl echoes through the air...
It's loud, but nothing like the growls I'm used to hearing. It sounds almost like an animal. But it's kind... off for an animal. It's too hollow.
"Did you hear that too?" Our radio operator questions nervously.
"I... Yeah." Nadia sweeps her gaze around the colorful bushes and tall trees, her brows furrowed. "So, we've run for five days to get here because we think this place has a device which repels zombies, and when we arrive, there's a zombie."
"Are you sure that wasn't an animal growl?" I murmur. "I mean, that definitely didn't sound human."
"Zoms aren't human, Five."
"I know, but-"
"We'll have to head away and circle back later," She interrupts, earning a huff from me. "If we try to get through these creepers, we'll be ripped to shreds."
I sigh, but nod all the same. There are bushes with these flowers and thorns everywhere. There's not many ways around them, and I don't really want to meet whatever made that noise-zom or not. Plus, I'm tired and in desperate need of a nap, and maybe a meal bar.
But we barely take two steps before Sam's telling us to stop.
"Wait, Nadia. Look back to your previous angle. Check your eleven o'clock."
She sends me a raised brow, and I simply shrug. We both look that way, and while Nadia's eyes light up, I feel my heart sink down into my stomach. Hanging down a tree trunk in the distance is a rope ladder that leads up to what I think are decks built up above.
"Oh, a ladder," I force out. "Yay..."
"Yay, indeed," Nadia says with a grin. "I don't know about you, Five, but I'm shattered. Let's run to that tree, climb up, and fall asleep in the branches."
I open my mouth to protest, but another sound echoes through the trees, and it's not a growl; It's a roar.
A loud, deafening, terrifying, unnatural roar.
"Um, be sure to pull that ladder up after you when you get up there," Sam tells us with a wavering voice.
Nadia basically sprints to the rope ladder, and I'm right behind her. As much as I fear heights, my fear of whatever made that sound currently outweighs it. So I quickly follow Nadia up the rope ladder, only stopping when it starts to sway too much. When that happens, I cling onto it and yelp like a little girl.
I hate this. I hate my job. I hate heights.
Once the rope ladder stops swaying so much, I start to climb again. My muscles are tense, which makes this all the more uncomfortable, but I don't complain-mostly because my mouth is dry and I can't get my tongue to unstick from the roof of my mouth.
"Rope ladders are fun, aren't they?" Nadia asks, and I glare at her, wondering if it would be worth it to grab her ankle and give it a quick tug to scare the shit out of her. "I used to love those 'Go Ape' places. Remember those? Swinging between the trees and all that."
"Uh, no. The closest thing to swinging between trees for me was playing on the monkey bars on the playground," I answer.
Nadia climbs up to the top of the deck, and turns around to help me up as well. I dust myself off, stepping away from the deck's edge. Then, as I look around, I notice everything around me, and what's below me.
"Whoa..."
"What?" Sam asks. "What is it? Oh, I can see through your head cams... It's leaves. Very interesting."
"Haha, you're hilarious. Although, it is a little weird, seeing that these leaves are green even though it's the middle of September... in England." I hum. "But I was whoa-ing about the fact that we found the instillation we've been looking for. I think we've actually found two."
"Two?"
I drop down to my knees, turning my head so he can get a better view at the complex on the ground. "See it?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I remember something about that. Before the guys went Roufflenet dead, they said there was a building below them. Didn't know it was that massive though."
The building is only a single story, but it's still pretty large. It's built between the trees with a security gate at every entrance. I shudder at just how much those gates looks like fences. It's painted in a carmel color that helps it blend in a bit with all the bright colors.
And there's zombies down there. The building is practically crawling with them.
"How many do you think is down there?" I mutter, and Nadia grimaces.
"Hundreds. Maybe even thousands. We're not getting inside anytime soon. Although, a lot of it looks to be dead arms poking through the broken windows."
"Oh, nice," Sam comments. "And the second installation?"
"Oh, right. We're standing in the other one. It's up here in the trees."
"Really? Show me."
I turn around, showing the treehouse that connects to this deck, and the platforms and walkways that connect and lead to other treehouse buildings. It's like a full network of treehouses, all connected through different walkways with wooden tops and ropes along them to make sure someone doesn't fall off. I think the ropes also help connect them so the trees can still sway in the wind.
"When they said on Roufflenet they were sleeping in the trees, I didn't expect-"
"There are self contained rooms built on each platform," Nadia explains, her head tipping to the side in admiration. "I think those are electric cables hanging along the higher branches. It's pretty well maintained here, Sam."
We all know what that means. If it's well maintained, then there must be people here to keep it that way.
"Well, don't make obvious human noises," He says, "but don't get yourself shot as a zombie."
"And what would comprise as an obvious human noise?"
"You could blow you nose. Zoms don't do that. Or-"
"I see a camera," Nadia says suddenly.
"Where?"
She points upward, just above the roof panels of the treehouse we're at. It's pointing at the walkway.
"I can see another one," I say, looking around to scan the area. Why do they need cameras? What exactly are they looking out for?
"Yeah, I see them through your head cams. You've got relay kits in your packs, right? If you can hook me into these cameras, I can study the place properly from here."
Nadia rubs her eyes, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I don't know about you, Five, but I might take a couple of hours to lie down first and-"
It comes again-the roar. It shakes me down to me core, and Nadia pales. Her eyes wide as she takes another step back, away from the platform's edge.
"Or I'll stay wide awake. What was that?"
"Not a zombie," I choke out.
"Uh, I can't see. I need those cameras." Sam is just as terrified as we are. "Uh, there should be some kind of hub for the video feed. Can you see any feeder cables?"
I nod quickly. "Y-Yeah."
"Follow it until you find the hub."
The unknown thing roars again. It's louder-closer.
"Uh, quickly."
I don't give any sarcastic comment. I quickly start following the cables, my heart rate picking up. Nadia follows, her eyes constantly shifting around, looking out for whatever made that sound. I'm not sure I want to meet it. Actually, scratch that. I know I don't want to meet it.
We cross the walkway, and I can't say I enjoy the way it sways from the ropes, but the little roof on top of it makes me feel a bit better... for some reason.
Going quickly and quietly is harder than it sounds. Every little noise makes me flinch, worried that it might here. The hub is pretty close, only one walkway away. The bridge wobbles, but I ignore it, taking deep breaths and reminding myself to not look down.
I head over to the door, but Nadia grabs my arm to stop me. "Five, look. There's a kitchen there. Hot plate microwave, a fridge. I can see a cup of tea and a sandwich. It's super creepy."
"Not what immediately springs up in my mind at the word 'super creepy'," Sam says.
"No, no, I see what she's saying," I state, leaning a bit closer to the window. "Look at the sandwich through my head cam; It's moldy. There are like, two bites taken out of it and the tea is half drank. No one just leaves food like that-not in an apocalypse."
"Well, looks like whoever was here did, apparently. See if they left any marmite."
"What?" Nadia blinks, and I roll my eyes.
"Well, I've almost run out. I'm down to my last five jars."
She frowns. "Take this seriously, please. There's something strange about the set-up here."
"I am taking this seriously. It's just my manner. I put people at ease, you know? Anyway, did you see that egg-shaped chair overturned by that building below you? Distinctive, wouldn't you say?"
I walk over to the edge of the platform, my eyes scanning for that chair. When I find it, I gasp.
"Recognize it?"
"Yeah. I saw that when me and Tony and Paula went to that Comansys base with the marbles and stuffed animals."
"Wait," Nadia says, "So are you saying the instillation beneath us is..."
"Maybe. Runner Five, the cables are feeding into that hub you were heading for. Can you check it out?"
I nod, heading to the door as Nadia continues to look through the window. Something shifts under my foot just as I reach for the doorknob.
"As it happens, Sam, there is a jar of-Five, watch out!"
I jump out of the way just as a net falls from the trees, landing on the area of the platform where I was standing seconds ago.
"What was that? Five, are you okay? Nadia, tell me she's okay," Sam panics.
"I'm fine," I pant, my eyes wide. "It was a net-a trap. I guess I stepped on a trigger or something. I managed to jump out of the way before I got caught in it."
"What the hell?" He murmurs. "Watch yourselves."
"Yeah, there's a second one on the other end of the walkway." Nadia jerks her head in that direction. "We can just step over the trigger."
"Get me hooked up. We need to see all of this place."
Nadia steps over the net and opens the door to the hub. "I'll do it. I know my way around a video relay."
Just as she's about to step inside, there's a sound-a rustle of branches. We both freeze, and our heads slowly turn towards the sound.
"What was that?" Sam stammers. "Th-that was something, right?"
"I-I don't know. I..."
"I see it," I say, my breath caught in my throat. It's on the walkway three trees away. It's too far away to make out what it is, but it doesn't look human. It doesn't even look zom.
It doesn't sound like a human or zom, either. Not from the growl that leaves it.
"Nadia, stay there. Fix up those cameras. Five, after that-that whatever it is."
I tense. "What? Are you crazy?"
"Five."
"Sam."
"We need to see what that thing is."
"No, we don't. We can leave it in peace and hope that it doesn't try to kill us."
"You'll be fine."
"You literally almost had a heart attack because I almost got caught in a net." I scowl. "And now you want me to go after a thing that looks and sounds like it came straight out of a horror film?"
"Five, go."
I grit my teeth, muttering out curse words as I start creeping towards the creature. I may be a couple of walkways away, and that thing may be moving farther away, but I have no idea what it is or what abilities it might have.
I look back over my shoulder. Nadia's already gone inside the building. She's safe, but I'm not.
I look ahead once more, and the blood drains from my face.
Oh, shit.
It's gone. The thing-whatever it is, it's gone. I grab my gun, slowly leaving the walkway to make it to the next platform. I'm tense, my breathing becoming a bit more erratic as I look around, searching for it.
God, I hope this thing can't smell fear.
I go under the next walkway, my hands shaking. I can feel it. It's... near me. I can't see it, but I know it's there. I go still, too afraid to move, too afraid to breathe.
"Good news, Five," Sam says, and it sounds entirely too loud for me liking. "Nadia's got me hooked up. I'm getting fourteen... fifteen cameras. I don't have control, but I've got the feed. Let me see if I can find the thing you were chasing."
I raise my hand up to my mic agonizingly slowly. 'Please do, because I've lost it. I don't know where it went.'
"Okay. Don't worry. Uh, okay, there's where you climbed up. There's a laboratory. There's another laboratory." He pauses. "In fact, that looks like an experiment in progress-samples, microscopes, an open book. It looks like they all just left... Oh, dear."
'What?' I question fearfully, praying whatever is near me can't hear the tapping of my fingers on the mic.
"Um, I don't want to alarm you, but I think I can see blood at two locations near the perimeter. There's rope and the floor is stained. It looks like something... something's been tied up and killed. Perhaps more than one thing. Small animals? But I can't-no, I can't see. Whatever it was you saw before, it's-it's not in sight of the cameras."
A small piece of wood falls from the roof of the walkway. My heart stops in my chest.
Oh, God.
"Did you you hear that? It's on the roof, isn't it?"
'Yes.'
"It's aliens. It's totally aliens."
'Not funny.'
"Sorry. Uh, whatever it is, it's above you. If I only I could move some of these cameras, change their view angles. I'm patching in Nadia." He takes in a deep breath. "Nadia, I want you to step out of your building and look uh, north, north-west. Can you see Five?"
Nadia steps out of the building, and I wave my gun to get her attention. She locks eyes with me from the distance.
"Yeah, I see her."
"Okay, now I want you to look up. Is there anything on the roof of that walkway?"
Even from this far away, I still see the way Nadia tenses. I swallow thickly, nearly choking on the lump in my throat.
"There is. It's definitely animal. Looks feline. Really big, though." Her voice is shaky. "It's-it's looking down right towards you, Five, as if it can see you through the wood. I think it can smell you. Wait, it's moving. Oh, my God. It's like greased lightning."
A loud roar reaches my ears, and I look to my right just in time to see glowing eyes and sharp teeth heading straight toward me. My gun goes off, a loud pop ringing in my ears as the thing pummels into me. The weapon falls from my hand, and suddenly there's rope burning into my back.
Then I'm weightless, wind whipping through my hair, leaves smacking my face until-
I scream when my back hits the ground, and there's a stabbing pain in my side as something sharp rips into my skin.
I roll over, seeing that it was a sharp rock that's cut into me. I'm bleeding, but I think that cat thing is too. I see it, lying on the ground. There's a bone in its back right leg sticking from its skin... but the skin around it-the fur is gone-looks like it's... rotting.
"What the hell just happened?" Sam screams. "Where is Five? Why can't I see her? Where is she?"
"Jesus," Nadia breathes out. "That thing jumped right at her. She dropped her gun. It knocked them both off the walkway. Five... Five, are you alright?"
"No," I answer, laying my hand on the wound. "I'm bleeding... a lot. I don't... I can't..."
"I've found you," Sam says. "There are some cameras at ground level. Can you stand up?"
"I..." I try to push myself up, and wince in pain. "Shit..."
"Please, Five. I know it must hurt, but you've got to try. That thing fell a dozen feet behind you and it's getting up too. It's coming towards you. You've-You've gotta get to that rope ladder and climb back up. Run!"
I push myself up, feeling for my axe. There's nothing there. It must've come unhooked from my backpack while I was falling. I'm defenseless and injured.
I can feel blood flowing down my side. It's going to need stitches, most likely, but I can't think on that now. I cry out as I start running, and I hear a shaky breath come through my headset.
"Come on. I know you can do it."
"I'm trying." I press my hand against the wound, trying to slow down the blood flow, but the crimson liquid just slips through my fingers.
The creature growls behind me, and I push myself to run faster.
"God, that thing is fast," Sam murmurs. "Watch out. It's nearly on you...
You're not gonna make it in time. Um, uh-that tree looks sturdy and has some low branches. You'll have to climb it-quickly."
I make it to the tree and start climbing. Blood is beginning to soak through my shirt, dripping onto the ground-the branches.
It hurts.
"That's good. That's very good. I-I know you can hear that thing. It's climbing after you, but it's-it's slower. Just stay calm."
"Easier said that done."
"Be careful. You're too high up to take chances. The fall could kill you, so watch for dead branches."
I let out a small noise in response, not looking down as that thing lets out a terrifying growl. "I-I need a distraction."
"You're right. Uh, Nadia, are you watching from up there?"
"Yeah, I'm looking right down at her," She answers.
"Good. I need you to trigger your noisemaker, then move away. Let's see if we can draw it off."
A loud ringing sound enters my ears, and I keep climbing, too scared to look down. My bloody fingers are aching, and I'm terrified the cat thing will like the smell of my blood more than the sound of Nadia's noisemaker.
"Is it working?" The blonde questions as she moves away from her noisemaker.
"Yeah, it's working. I can-I can see it. It's got a spotted coat and weird, pointy ears. I think it's a... yeah, it's a lynx."
"Sam," I say, "I'm not-I'm not feeling too great right now."
"Just hold tight. Nadia, you're gonna have to pull her up onto the walkway. I'll warn you if that thing gets too close."
I see Nadia look down at me from the walkway, her hand held out to me. "Come on. Give me your hand."
I reach up to take her hand. She grunts as she pulls me up, but gasps when I flop onto the platform. Her eyes go wide at seeing my blood-soaked shirt. She lifts up my shirt and nearly gags at the sight of my wound.
"Sam, we've got to get Five some help or she might just bleed out." She grabs some cloth from her bag and wraps it tightly around the wound to slow down the bleeding.
"You have to get away from that lynx first. Help her up and head to the nearest building and barricade yourselves in there."
Nadia does as told, and we head down the walkway-the same walkway that I was pushed off of. My gun lays on the ground a few feet ahead of us.
But this time, in our panic, we don't remember to avoid the tripwire. A rope falls down, missing me and most of Nadia, but it manages to get wrapped around her wrist, and the rocks tied to it makes it too heavy for her to move.
And the lynx has caught sight of us again. It's coming straight for us.
Nadia tugs against the net. "I'm not going to be able to get out in time. Grab the gun. Shoot it!"
I bend down, my fear cancelling out the pain for the moment. I take aim at the thing, my hands surprisingly steady, and I pull the trigger.
Two bullets, right in the chest.
It flinches back, but doesn't fall. Instead, it lets out another roar and...
"Oh, my God!" Nadia screeches. "It's still moving! It's gray! It's a zombie, Sam! It's a bloody zombie lynx!"
It can't be. That can't be possible!
But according to what I just saw, it is.
"Runner Five, you have to distract it," Sam says. "Use your noisemaker to draw it away from Nadia. Run!"
•
"Good work. It's following you," Sam says, and I gasp in pain. The noisemaker is beeping loudly in my hand, the noise pounding in my skull.
"I don't think I can keep this up much longer," I pant. The bleeding's slowed since Nadia wrapped my wound tightly in the cloth, but I'm still bleeding. The faster my heart rate, the more blood leaves my body.
"Nadia just needs a few more seconds to get her wrist out of that net. There's a fork up ahead. Take a left. Right is a dead end."
The zombie animal growls behind me.
"I-I don't understand," He stutters. "How can there be a zombie lynx? Animals don't turn. They just don't. It's like-like-like a law on nature. Whatever you do, don't let it bite you. We've got no idea what would happen to you. It could be something worse that turning gray. It's-it's really close. Try throwing the noisemaker."
I do as told, tossing it as far as I can, over the edge of the platform. I let out a whine as my side is stretched, the skin ripping just a bit more.
"It's following," Sam laughs in delight, but that laughter dies out just as soon as it appeared. "No, wait. It's stopped."
I look back, my eyes widening as I see it turning back towards me. I turn left. There's a net trap up ahead-a big one. I push myself to run faster, pain spiking up my side as I jump, just barely making it over the triggers on the floor.
But the lynx doesn't jump, therefore triggering the net to fall right on top of it. But the net isn't going to hold. The lynx is already ripping through it with claws as long as my hand.
I rush over to the nearby building. The door is open, and I grab the closest thing I can get, because it's tearing out of the net and it struggling to get to me. There's bloodlust in its eyes.
I hold the fire extinguisher and spray the the foam at the creature. It staggers and growls, but doesn't stop, so I chuck the fire extinguisher at its face.
It doesn't even make a dent.
"Five!" Nadia calls. "Over here! I've found an axe in this building!"
Hope wells up in my chest, and I sprint as fast as I can, adrenaline coursing through my veins. I'm sure it's what's keeping the pain at bay. The fight or flight instinct has shown to be useful yet again.
I can't hear the lynx behind me, but that could mean anything. I only slow down when I see Nadia at the end of one of the walkways, holding an axe in her left hand.
Her right wrist is swollen and red, and I can't help but grimace, even with my own injuries.
"Oh, thank God," She sighs, handing the axe to me. There's a rustle of leaves, and we both tense. "What's that?"
"It's okay," Sam says. "Relax. It's only a bird. Looks like a blue tip."
"But there's a zombie lynx, Sam. That means animals can turn gray. Anything could be a zom. That bird could be a gray top."
"Well, except it's actually blue." Sam chokes as the lynx shows itself, jumping onto the walkway. "And you've got bigger problems."
"We can't keep running. Five's still bleeding, and the lynx is too fast and not tiring."
"You've got the axe though. You'll have to take it's head off. That's the only way to be sure with a zom."
The lynx is getting closer, and closer.
"With a human zom. How do we know this will work with an animal?"
"It's got to." He sounds desperate. "I mean, it-it-it has to."
It's so close now. The fur on its face has fallen off, and I can see part of its jaw bone. My heart pounds in my chest as Nadia backs away. My knuckles are white beneath the dried blood, and I raise my axe.
The lynx lunges, and I swing. There's a crack of bone and gray-red blood spatters against the building's walls.
"You did it!" Nadia exclaims as I drop the axe.
"You certainly did," Sam says, a smile in his voice. The body is laying in front of me and the head is beside me.
"Yeah. Yeah, I... Nadia, could you just..." I reach over and grab her shoulders, my knees giving out, my head spinning.
"Jesus!" Nadia exclaims, wrapping her arms around me to keep my upright.
"Sorry. I-I'm just really... really dizzy."
"You've lost a lot of blood. Come on. Just-just lay down for a minute. There should be some medical kits in one of these buildings." She pauses as she helps me lay down. I hear something-footsteps. "What's that? Is it another one?"
"I think-I think it's a person," Sam replies as the footsteps get louder. Then there's a girl standing over top of me.
My breathe catches in my throat. I recognize her. Long black hair and brown eyes...
"It has been fifty-six months and nine days since the outbreak, and in all that time, only one animal has ever been recorded as turning gray. The research is here and all of Europe on Roufflenet believed it to be the key to understanding immunity-that it might hold the missing link to a cure." The teenager glares at us. "You, however, have just killed it. On behalf of all remaining humans, congratulations."
Nadia blinks, still keeping one hand on me so I won't try to sit up. "Hi... I'm Nadia from New Canton. This is Runner Five from Abel Township. We've been trying to raise you on Roufflenet. Five is hurt and-"
"I know all about you," The girl says, her face holding no emotions whatsoever.
"And you are?"
The girl fixes her glasses. "My name is Veronica McShell. You killed my father."
A/N: Bet you didn't see that last part coming, did you? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please remember to vote and comment.
Oh, and if you were wondering about who A.N.N.I.E. was, that's a short story I will hopefully write after this book. It's a virtual race from the Zombies, Run! game.
Anyway, thank you and have a blessed day.