"Runner to the north! Open the gate!"
"Already?" Sam asks in confusion. "She's nowhere near those walls yet."
I shrug and wipe the cold sweat from my brow. "Maybe they're just extra welcoming."
"Mr. Yao, Abel's gates are open by hydronic lift fed by a gas powered generator. Little Sten St. Crispen opens its gates using a series of pullies, brute force and a donkey," Janine corrects with a long suffering tone.
"They're that serious about all that 'living history' stuff? Still?"
"Still?" I repeat.
"Oh, yeah. I guess we haven't told you about that." He pauses. "Come to think of it, there's a lot of nearby settlements we haven't told you about... huh. Anyway, Little Sten St. Crispen used to be a tourist attraction. A-A completely accurate construction of a Medieval village. Well, apart from the gift shop and the WiFi."
"That thick fence has kept them alive all this time," Janine states. "The village has only reestablished contact with the outside world a few months ago."
I purse my lips. That's... slightly concerning.
"Yeah. Yeah, do you think that isolation explains why they've all gone uh, coo-coo?"
"Any settlements lucky enough to start the outbreak with working wells, manual farm machines and windmills is worthwhile enough as a trading partner to excuse a few... eccentricities. And you know that's not the only reason we sent Five here."
"Five doesn't know. You didn't tell her about it yesterday."
"Then brief her, Mr. Yao," She snips back.
"Fine. No need to get grouchy. Word on Roufflenet is Little Sten St. Crispen's housing some of the best botanists in the country. There happened to be a conference the week it all went gray."
Well, that's... convenient, I guess.
"We want you to make contact with the researchers, Five," Janine says. "They could be very valuable in our attempt to break Diana's mind control. With Dr. Meyers forced to spend her time in cryo-suspension, we need all the help we can get."
"Do you really think they'll want to help us?" I ask. "Do you think they'll actually believe us?"
"We have to try," Sam says. "If one of them can help us get Maxine back to normal, well, I know you know what that's worth. And when do you get a chance to play Ghost Buster, am I right?"
He laughs quietly, but I blink in confusion.
"What do you mean, Sam?"
"Yes, Mr. Yao, what exactly do you mean?"
There's a short moment of silence. "Oh, right, uh..."
"Runner through the gate!" Someone yells once I head inside Little Sten St. Crispen. My feet crunch under the freshly fallen snow, and cold air whips my hair around, causing it to smack me in the face.
There's a brunette woman waiting for me near the gate. She's wearing several thick layers of clothing, but that's not what's so striking about her. Her eyes-brown like my own-are hard like stone as she sends me a less than amused look.
"Abel Runner, you've left it to the last moment. Come with me. The others have already begun lighting the torches in the center square. We don't have much time before they the burn the whole place down. We'll need to get started on the ritual at once. This way."
The woman briskly walks off, and I find it smart to follow, even as I hear Janine talking over coms. "Ritual, Mr. Yao? Explain now."
"Well, uh, that woman-Miranda-she's the town's top botanist, but she won't come to Abel until we've helped her. So, the thing is, some of the people in this town have got the idea they have a-a ghost, and they want to um, burn the place down-including Miranda's notes on plant effects on zombies-to get rid of the ghost.
"Miranda doesn't believe in it, of course, but the others are convinced. So uh, I um, I might have told her Runner Five is one of the country's most famous exorcists." He lets out a nervous laugh as I try to keep my expression neutral, because there are people watching. "Surprise."
I slowly raise my hand up to the mic. 'Two things, Sam. One: I'm a girl. When have you ever heard of a famous female exorcist? Two: I am Independent Fundamental Baptist, not Catholic! I stay away from that stuff. I have no idea how to do an exorcism!'
"I know. I know. Don't worry. I've got it all figured out."
'You know how to do an exorcism?'
"Well, no. I mean, I'm not Catholic either, but I do know of some stuff that is convincing enough to be taken as an exorcism, especially since these people have no idea about how any of it works. It'll be alright, I promise."
I sigh through my nose. 'Alright. I trust you.'
"Good to hear it!" He says joyfully, actually earning a small smile from me. "Now keep following Miranda. This exorcism's not going to wait."
I keep following Miranda, who's quiet for the most part. I guess when you've got the threat of the place you call home being burned to the ground by your lunatic neighbors looming over your head, you don't want to create small talk.
It's odd though-a whole town believing in a ghost. I guess I can't say much, since I hear voices of dead people in my head and have dreams and visions of the past and future, not to mention I'm currently living through a zombie apocalypse...
Add all those things up, and believing in ghosts doesn't sound all that bizarre.
Miranda leads me the town square, where a woman with bushy, almost matted hair stands. She taps her shoulder, and when she turns around, I flinch. The look of crazy lives in this woman's eyes. I can only hope that the botanists here aren't all lunatics.
"Ariel, I've got your exorcist."
I raise my hand in a slightly fearful wave. "Hello. I'm Runner Five. It's a um... pleasure."
Ariel ignores me. "What's the point, Miranda? The spirit wants fire. It won't rest while we stay here."
She rolls her eyes. "Number one: there is no ghost. Number two: you promised if we drive it out by sundown, we can all go back to normal. That's what I'm doing. Now I'm taking Runner Five to the cottage. Are you coming or not?"
Ariel gives her a cunning white smile. "I'll lead the way. Our exorcist should hear the truth."
They start walking and I follow. Over coms, I can hear Janine letting out a long suffering sigh. "Mr. Yao, when I asked you to extend an offer of assistance to the village, I didn't mean-"
"She says they were going to destroy the settlement, Janine. Over half the villages thinks they've angered some ancient Viking Queen or-or something. It was all I could do to get them to hold off until tonight. And it was only if I promised to send Runner Five specially. There was nothing else I could do. And besides, I have a plan."
"There," Miranda says, pointing ahead at a small cottage with a thatched roof. "That's where some of the others first spotted the ghost."
Ariel nods quickly. "She was standing in a window one morning. Next day the whole family there took sick."
"I believe the correct grammar is 'became ill'," I correct before turning to Miranda. "What exactly did they catch? Flu? Pneumonia? Smallpox?"
"They came down with a case of the sniffles. It was nothing serious."
"Begin the ritual, if you dare," Ariel says, and I do my best to keep from giving this woman any weird looks. I'm supposed to be professional here, being a pretend exorcist and all. I go up to the cottage, and push the door open. It creaks and groans, but I ignore it. I'm more concerned about the fact that this cottage is just one room. I mean, I share a room with twenty or so people, but at least it has a bathroom and changing closets.
"They're watching her from the doorway. What now, Mr. Yao?"
"Runner Five, there's chalk in your bag. Draw a sideways figure eight on the wall and um... this-this thing that looks kind of like... two 'w's stacked top to top."
I pull out the chalk from my bag, drawing what he say to draw. I'm unsure what these two symbols might mean, but if I'm honest, I don't really care. As long as these people think I know what I'm doing, then it should all be good.
"Is that a Demons and Darkness book?" Janine asks incredulously.
"Maybe," He replies quickly, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. Good God, he is such a dork. "Now light one of the candles-there's some of those in your bag too-and leave it in the center of the room."
I strike a match and light the candle, leaving it in the room as told. I pick up my bag and head back to the doorway. Miranda nods curtly.
"Good. You're fast. Our next stop's on the other side of the village."
"Sun's already getting low, Miranda," Ariel says. "We will open the gates to the zombies soon. This place should return to place of the dead."
The brunette looks at me desperately. "Head for the windmills, quickly."
I quickly follow her lead, my breath appearing before me in cold puffs of air. My lungs sting from the cold air, but also from something else. Each breath is harder to get in and out... I tap my chest with a closed fist, a grunt leaving my mouth. I can taste it on my tongue...
It's smoke.
I smell the air, but it's just the crisp smell of winter snow, even though I still have trouble breathing. I can't smell it; I can't see it, but I can taste it, and feel it.
They haven't set fire to this place yet, but they will... I can feel it.
God, please let me change this fate.... If I can change this, then maybe I can stop my death as well.
"It was up in the east mill the first time I saw her," Ariel says with a sickening grin once we reach one of the windmills. Her eyes are wide yet so unseeing. "She glided through the wall like it wasn't even there. Then I heard screaming down below. We found Henry's brother's boy with his hand crushed in the millstones, because of her-because of the ghost."
"Yeah..." Sam murmurs uneasily as I head inside. It looks completely normal to me. I don't even get that haunted feeling like you sometimes get in places that claim to be haunted, and I hear dead people in my head, so... "Mark the walls like before, Five."
I pull the chalk out of my bag and do the same markings as before, only a little faster, a little sloppier.
"I always forget how closed in it is in here-loud too." Miranda sweeps her gaze around the room before her eyes land on me. "Are you finished?"
"Don't forget the candle."
I light the candle and set it down.
"And what exactly is this ritual designed to accomplish, Mr. Yao?"
"Well, there is a very slim chance Runner Five is in the midst of summoning Zuszolten, the mighty Beach Lord of Sixty Hells, a level fifty monster with 120 hit points," He replies.
"All finished?" Miranda asks impatiently, and I nod. "Good. You'll need to do the other two mills as well, then the grain silos, and then the root cellar under the tavern."
My brows rise in surprise. This ghost really gets around, doesn't she?
"Don't forget the gift shop," Ariel adds. "Remember what she did to Richard with those toy swords?"
I grimace. I really don't want to know.
"I know. I know. I've heard all about this ridiculous superstition. We'll need to take a short cut. We can go..." Her voice trails off, and she suddenly looks around, eyes slightly wider. She blinks. "Funny. I could've sworn... Never mind. Let's get out of here."
I tip my head to the side in confusion. I didn't hear or see anything.
I'm getting a very bad feeling about all this.
"Alright, Miranda," Ariel says, her voice flat as we leave the mills to head to the next one.
"I don't know why you'd blame the ghost, Ariel. Henry's brother's boy was stoned out of his tree ever since that woman came through looking to trade some food meds for marijuana."
"What?" I ask with a raised brow, and she nods.
"Yeah, Runner Five, the bright lad thought he could fish out a cheese sandwich he dropped into the grinder without telling anyone to stop the works. But of course, that's not the drugs. Oh no, it's the spirit world's doing. There's no reasoning... with people like... these." She rubs her temples, face scrunching up in pain. "Sorry, it's only a-I've got a pressure headache."
"Five, what's going on?" Sam asks, and I slowly raise my hand up to my mic.
'I'm not sure, but something is not right. Miranda has gone...' I trail when I see just how calm Miranda has suddenly become. Her eyes have glossed over and she's got this weird look on her face.
"The tower," She whispers. "She's in the tower."
"What?" I say, while Ariel looks at her with almost gleeful eyes and a Cheshire Cat grin.
"What is it? What're you saying?"
"We've got to get to the tower. This way."
She suddenly bolts off, and I watch in confusion, the sinking feeling in my stomach returning. My lungs start to sting again, and I cough and hack at the burning smell that invades my nostrils, and the smoke that makes its way in my throat.
I taste blood on my tongue.
Panic surges through me at the strong metallic taste, and the air is suddenly knocked out of me as a scene of fire and blood-stained snow flashes across my eyes.
God, let me change it! Please let me change this fate!
"Miranda, wait!" I yell.
"Five, get after her!" Sam yells, and I run.
•
"It's time!" Ariel shouts. "We shall open the gates of the village! The dead shall have the dead returned!"
This is bad. This is really, really bad.
"Something's gone a bit... weird with Miranda," Sam says, and I roll my eyes.
"No shit, Sherlock," I gasp, my lungs burning from the smoke of the fire that hasn't been set yet.
I can still stop this.
I can still stop this.
I can still stop this.
I have to stop this.
"She's vital to us, Five," Janine says. "If the zombies are coming, you have to rescue her. Go towards the tower-the round stone building about four stories high. Hard to miss it really."
I can hear my heart beating in my chest, my blood roaring in my ears. Tears of fear and panic spring to my eyes. I don't know where they've come from, but all I feel is panic. I'm losing control to something I can't understand.
Is this a vision? A dream? Is it just me? I don't know.
"There. Did you see that?" Sam asks.
"What?" She asks.
"In the first floor window. I thought I saw movement." He pauses. "Janine, you don't think... I mean, we do spend a lot of time dealing with zombies. Are we absolutely sure there aren't any such things as ghosts?"
"Mr. Yao, don't you think it's more likely you caught a glimpse of Miranda rather than a ghost?"
"Ah, yeah. Yeah. Now that you mention it... yeah, that uh, that seems more likely."
"Open the gates!" Ariel yells.
"Great," Sam groans. "Five, if Miranda's in that tower, you need to get her out of there before they come back and torch it, no questions asked. Ah, man, I really don't like this."
A high pitched scream comes from the tower, and my blood runs cold.
No! No! No!
"Don't like that either, or the zombies they're letting in the village. Run! Run now!"
"I am!" I scream, my voice cracking as sudden tears start to leak down my face.
"You always were hiding something, weren't you? Ever since that first day your helicopter was shot down."
More tears fall. That's Sam's voice. He sounds so dark, so... different.
"Sam?"
"What? What's wrong?" He asks. I think he asks that, at least. But the other voice-his voice, the future voice-it drowns out everything. I feel so alone, so confused, so afraid.
"Everybody else had secrets. Everybody else was exposed, but not you. You kept your distance."
I grab my hair and shake my head, keeping down the sobs by gritting my teeth so hard my jaw begins to ache. Not now! Not now! Please not now!
"There's something inside you, Five."
"Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!" I screech as I run into the tower.
"Stop what, Runner Five?" Janine asks. "Tell me what is happening."
Her voice is enough to pull me back to the present completely. That dark, almost terrifying tone of Sam's voice is gone. At least, it is for now.
"It's-it's okay," I reply in a shaky voice, tears still streaming down my face. "I... I just... something about this place... I think the fear of it all is messing with my head."
"Five... is everything okay?" Sam asks gently, and I know what he's secretly trying to ask.
"I'll tell you about it once this is all said and done," I answer.
"Yes, whatever it is you two are talking about can wait," Janine inputs. "If Miranda is not here on the first floor then she must be upstairs."
"I can hear her. She's whispering to me," Miranda says, her voice echoing from upstairs. I immediately start climbing while Sam sputters in confusion.
"Hear what? Janine, i-i-is something wrong with our speakers, or Five's headset?"
"I looked over the equipment before the mission. It's all in proper order."
"Five, can you hear anything? Can you see anything?"
"I'm not hearing anything ghostly if that's what you're asking," I huff as I continue climbing. "But I can hear Miranda talking to herself."
"She's up here. She's up here. Runner Five, where did you go?" She sounds so desperate, so afraid.
Suddenly I'm no longer in the tower.
I'm in an open field, near something that looks like a treehouse. I look around, eyebrows scrunching together before rising in realization.
I know this place. I've been here before, only once, but I know. I'm at the weather station. I look ahead, and I see Runner Eight... She's here... The Major says something over coms... She's here.
But she's not. Neither of them are. Not really.
This is a memory.
"I know you want my mind!" Francesca yells in her Russian accent. I'm running towards her. "I see what you're doing! I see you there. I know you. You've come for me. I-I know you have. I know they've sent you for me. They're in email; They're in radio. They're everywhere!"
The scene changes faster than I can process it. It's raining now, almost too dark to see and so cold I'm almost numb even though I'm under a tarp that shields me from the outside conditions. I'm at the construction site with Steffie. She's holding out the vial of zombie repellent out towards me.
"Come on, Five. You can't leave this to me alone. Your scent will draw the zoms toward us both. I can't do this on my own! Don't let us down, Forty-three! Why won't you take the stuff? Why not? What's wrong with you?"
"There's no such thing as ghosts. There's no such thing as ghosts," Sam murmurs to himself, and I find myself back in the tower, climbing the stairs. I pull at my backpack strap anxiously.
What the hell is going on?
"Runner Five, hurry!" Miranda cries. "Please. She's coming this way. She's-she's-"
Miranda screams, and my heart stops for just a moment.
"Only one more set of stairs," Janine says urgently. "Take the door on your left when you reach the top."
I push myself to keep going, doing everything I can not to slow down. My mind swirls with questions. Sam's voice, those memories-why am I having them now? What does it mean?
I reach the top and open the door, and I feel a sense of relief once I see her and nothing else, but the relief fades when I see her thrashing her arms around, eyes wide with fear. Her hair is wild looking, as if it's been pulled out of place, and her clothes are ripped and torn. Her nose is bleeding.
"What is she doing?" Sam asks.
"Get away from me! Get away!" She yells, but she's not looking at me. She's looking at nothing. She grabs a stack of plates-I guess the bell ringers need something to put their sandwiches on-but instead of throwing them at me or the invisible thing she seems to be starring at, she throws them at her own head, ducking just in time to not have the glass shatter against her face. It hits the wall instead, the broken pieces flying everywhere.
"That was her!" She cries. "She threw that at me! She's trying to kill me!"
"Janine, what is going on?" Sam just nearly screeches.
"She's attacking herself. Runner Five, do not risk yourself, but if you have to knock her unconscious to bring her with you, then that would be acceptable."
"Miranda," I say, "there's nothing here. Just come with me and it'll all be alright. Miranda. Miranda! Miranda, no! Get away from the window!"
She doesn't listen. She keeps backing away, swatting at nothing. "Stop it! Stop! Get away! I believe in you now! Isn't that enough? Leave me alone!"
I rush forward, reaching out to try to pull her back as she climbs up onto the windowsill.
"Miranda, stop!"
"Runner Five, it feels like you've always been meant to come here."
She grabs my hand, and suddenly fear spikes through my body. I breathe in sharply as a loud, roaring screech echoes in my ears, then calmness... happiness.
Overwhelmed happiness.
I'm in a field, running. I'm sweaty, exhausted, but I'm okay. I'm happy.
I'm so, so happy.
Then I hear a voice, it's distorted. I can't recognize it, but I make out the words. I hear the words, the words that make me so happy.
"All these people you watched when you thought you were immune-when you thought it could never happen to you. Did you ever wonder what it felt like? To be mind controlled? This is what it feels like."
A sob leaves my mouth. "No."
"Five, quick! Pull her out of the window!" Sam urges, and when I look up at Miranda's face, still horrified at what I've just heard, what I've just seen, I see the horror on her own face as she looks ahead, away from me.
"Don't come any closer! Don't! No! Please! Stay back!"
She pushes me back, but in doing so she pushes herself backwards as well, out the window. She screams as she falls...
The snow doesn't break her fall.
"Oh God," Sam mutters.
"Leave the tower, Five. The zombies will have surrounded it within a few minutes. Go now."
•
"Well, the good news is that the fire they've set around the village has also set fire to most of the zombies," Sam says as I rush to the outskirts of the village. I have my axe in hand, and I've taken down every zom that's come near me.
I can smell the smoke, feel the burn of fire as it mixes with the icy weather. I can smell blood in the air... It's not just Miranda's. More people are dying from the fire, from the zombies. There are screams of chaos and fear from the few sane people in Little Sten St. Crispen.
"And the bad news is that Miranda is dead," Janine adds.
"Yeah... Did something feel... funny about this to you?"
"'Funny' is not the word I'd use."
"Nah, I mean... do you remember what happened to Francesca and-and Steffie?" He asks, and my shoulders tense. "Maybe I was right. Maybe the outbreak really is sending people crazy... or something is."
"Sam," I say lowly, "I need to talk to you once I get back home."
"Look!" Ariel yells just before I reach the end of Little Sten St. Crispen. "Up in the window! There she is! The spirit has come to be set free!"
"Mr. Yao, what do you see in that window?"
He takes a moment before answering. "Nothing."
"Neither do I, nor do the cameras on that floor."
"Five, do... do you see anything?"
I shake my head. "No. I see nothing."
"Okay. Just come home now, please. I don't want you anywhere near there. Plus you said we needed to t-" He's cut off by loud pounding on the door. "Uh, Sorry. There's someone at the..." I hear the door creak open. "Lou? What are you doing here? You're not running until the day after tomorrow-"
"Guards on the wall just saw them. Alarm's gonna go off any second. They told me to come find you first," Louise says breathlessly. "There's hundreds of them! Hundreds!"
"What? Hundreds of what?"
"Fast zombies! And they're headed straight for Abel."
A/N: Ooh, cliffhanger! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! What do you think about Five's visions. Interesting, right? Tell me what you think in the comments, and don't forget to vote. Also, this chapter is dedicated to skyler0425
Thank you and have a blessed day!