"Runner Five, report to-"
"Think before you speak, Mr. Yao," Janine says sternly.
"Yeah. Force of habit. Sorry."
I bite back a smile. "It's alright. Old habits die hard."
"How's your arm feeling?"
"Hurts. A lot." I look at the long sleeves covering the stitches. It took Maxine almost an hour to stitch me up. Simon had to hold me down when she forced the needle through my skin. Even in my unconscious state, I still managed to thrash around to the point that Si had to pin my shoulders to the floor and basically sit on top of me to keep me still.
I wish I had more time to rest, but there's no time for me, for any of us. Tomorrow is the day the world ends, unless we can stop it.
"Has the pain meds Maxine found in that house you stayed in not helped?"
"It's helped some." Lies. All lies. The medicine just made me feel worse. My skin aches and stings, but Maxine said this morning it's already looking much better... but pain medicine doesn't make the pain go away. It seems that they don't work on me. At least OxyContin doesn't...
"That's good. Anyway, given what you've been up to, today should be a doddle."
"Should he be saying that out loud?" Maxine asks, only half joking.
"You're going to petition His Majesty, the King."
She rolls her eyes. "Sam."
"Oh, come on. How often do I get to say that?"
"Runner Three has decided not to accompany you on the mission today," Janine cuts in, her cold voice cutting through the playful mood.
"Because Jaime beat him up?" Sam guesses.
"Because Simon almost got a child Jaime took care of killed," Maxine corrects. She sends me a certain look, as if to ask if I'd forgotten that. I hadn't. As someone who's lost a child, I find it offensive that she thinks I may have forgotten such a thing. "It doesn't have to be your own kid to feel it."
"Well, yeah. I mean, no one's defending Simon."
She sends me a raised brow as he says this. "Are you sure about that?"
"I never tried to condone Si's actions and I still don't, but unlike you, I understand that there is more than just black and white to people," I spit back, anger boiling my blood. I feel my face start to grow hot even in the freezing weather. "I think Simon still has good in him. He's still a person, but that doesn't mean I think what he's done is right, or-or even justified, for the most part."
"I would certainly hope not," Janine says, cutting off Maxine before she can say anything. "At the moment, being functionally immortal and immune to zombie bite, Runner Three is of operational use to us as a scout. He will be preforming reconnaissance today, and returning with an update from Tony.
"Meanwhile, you will be visiting Buckingham Palace. I've been in radio contact with our King, who suggests he has some information which might be best communicated personally. As we know, Moonchild is trying to find you, so you'll be radio silent until Jaime gives the all clear."
"The palace," Maxine sighs. "Should I wear a hat?"
Sam chuckles. "You could. Something big, maybe with a feather."
I feel a smile stretch across my face, but it drops when Janine speaks harshly.
"No, you should wear your normal running equipment."
"We were joking." It just nearly pains me to keep the deadpan out of my voice. "Do you think we'd actually try to find a big hat with a feather?"
"Seeing the amount of odd things you've found, I wouldn't put it past you to go looking for one."
"Haha. Funny."
"It's quiet for now, but that won't last," Sam says. "Keep up a good pace until you're sure you're safe. Off you go, I guess. Oh, and uh, bring something from the palace, would ya? An ashtray or something."
I scoff and raise a brow at him, even though I'm not sure if he can see it through the nearby cameras. "An ashtray? But you don't smoke."
"Fine, then. A pen, maybe? A mug? Oh, I don't know, a crown if there's one lying around..."
A smug look appears on my face. "Well, as Janine seems to think, I am incredibly good at finding things. And your wish is my command."
"So you've said these last few days. I'm beginning to wonder if you're trying to butter me up and get something from me with all these promises of gifts. I mean, saying you'd swing past the dinosaurs for me, even though I didn't get to see them, and now promising to steal a crown for me? What's your angle, Five?" He laughs slightly, but I simply shrug.
"No angle. I just like to get my favorite operator things from time to time." My voice remains surprisingly smooth as I say that, even though in all honesty I'd give him the world in a heartbeat if I could, instead of just simple gifts from time to time like I say.
"You flatter me."
"It's what I do best."
"Wow, way to sound arrogant," He jokes and I pause for a short moment, trying to think of a good response.
"I... like... to uh, think of myself as confident, but take it as you will, I guess."
"No, I-I was only joking," He stammers, sounding panicked. "I wasn't trying to... you're laughing. You were kidding with me, weren't you?"
"Do you two not know what radio silent means?" Janine snaps before I can reply, and Sam stammers an apology.
"Uh, yeah... sorry. Um, I guess I'll see you guys in a few? Turn your radios on when you get there, alright?"
"Will do, Sam," Maxine replies, before cutting the coms. I scowl at the silence, which prompts a scoff from the doctor.
"It's not that bad."
"I know. It's just... I know we're not supposed to joke around or whatever on missions, but..." I shrug, having a hard time finding the words, "it's Sam."
"Yeah." There's a pause. "You can't keep it from him forever, ya know. He's going to find out eventually."
I don't meet her eyes. "I know."
"I mean, he already knows you're into someone, and the only other guys you talk to somewhat regularly are Simon and Phil, both of which he knows are just your friends."
"I know," I say, agitation more evident in my tone. "But now isn't the time to talk about this. I can think about if and when I say anything to Sam about the subject after we've saved the world."
She nods, not saying anything for a good few minutes. "Yeah... And, Five, I know there isn't a lot of time to say this, but thank you."
I blink in both surprise and confusion, tipping my head to the side. "For what?"
"Everything. Whatever you expected when you boarded that helicopter for Abel, it can't have been this. And when I supervised your running training, I never thought you'd be saving our lives so many times."
"I just do what I know is right," I reply. I wish I would've done so while in America.
There's a lot of things I wish I would've done while in America. There's a lot of things I wish I hadn't done there too.
But I can't change the past. I can only try to change the horrible things I know will happen in the future.
I almost laugh.
'Try'... As if trying will ever be enough.
We stay silent for another ten minutes, and it's Maxine that breaks through it.
"Here's the uh, the Victoria Monument, and the palace and the parade ground. Oh, you know, I haven't expected so many sandbags and burnt out cars and abandoned tanks."
"You should've seen how it looked in Washington D.C.," I say. "The only place around the area was the White House. There's about a mile parameter around it with no zoms. Everywhere else in the D.C. is flooded with undead, or it was, before I left."
"I thought you grew up in Arkansas."
"I did. It's just, well, it's complicated. But during the beginning of the apocalypse, I found myself around the D.C. area. That's how I got picked up and well... yeah." I ignore the curious look Maxine gives me, and instead head towards the gates that cuts us off from the massive palace ahead. It's clean, for the most part. There's a lot of blood on the outside walls, but I doubt King Jaime cares. From what I've been told, he hates living here, which is funny, seeing how many people would quite literally kill to live in a place like this.
"Let's get this gate open," Maxine says, effectively changing the subject. "Looks like someone ran into it with a truck... more than once." She grunts as we push the gate open, and with a laugh she says, "Sam was right. This was easy."
The blood drains from my face when I see the bushes rustle, and Maxine groans.
"If we make it back, don't tell him I said that."
We both gasp when zombies stumble out of the bushes, but it's not the zombies themselves that startle us; It's their uniforms-their red uniforms.
"Oh, my God," I mumble, and I immediately grab for my axe.
"Oi, you lot!" A female voice booms. "Head for the main doors! We'll block for you!"
"Get down!" Another voice yells, and we duck just as two woman speed by us, their arms locked, just barely missing our heads. They slam into the zombie, knocking it down, the force causing a few bones to snap. "The blonde one laughs. "Good work, Tasha!"
"Five, look! They're on rollerblades!" Maxine points out as the blonde spins around and skates back towards us, her gaze hard.
"And you're not, so get moving. You've got what's left of the guards and a few dead tourists with cameras behind you. Run!"
We take off, and I hear another girl speak. I spot her in the distance. She's the shortest one, although she herself is at least 5'8 without the skates adding to her height.
"If we block those two guards, we'll be clear to the doors. Even dead, those lads do their duty."
"That's not duty. That's hunger," The blonde says. "Sod off, lobster boy!"
Maxine grabs my hand and urges me to run faster, and I push myself forward as the rollerbladers dash around, distracting the zoms and knocking a lot of them down. They even manage to kill the some of tourist zoms.
We reach the main doors, but keep them open for the roller-girls to skate inside. They do, and we then shut the door and bar it. The blonde girl grabs my axe from me, and before I can comprehend what's she's done, she's holding it to my neck.
"Alright, state your business."
I glare at her. "Bitch, you better put that thing down, or so help me-"
"We were summoned by the King!" Maxine interrupts, obviously afraid to invoke the wrath of these tall and very muscular looking women. "Uh, I am Dr. Maxine Meyers of Abel Township. And this is Runner Five-"
"Five-still-alive and Doc Max?" The brunette girl gasps. She grabs my axe from the blonde and hands it back to me. I snatch it back with a huff. "King Jay told us about you lot."
"And you are?" I ask.
"We're the Blackpool Rollercoasters," The blonde replies, her brown eyes beaming proudly. "Twice UK derby champions."
"Roller derby?"
"That's what the skates are for."
"Came down for an exhibition bout, didn't we?" The shortest one says. "Got stranded by the zoms, and King Jay's last lot of guards all got mind controlled, but we all seem to be immune."
The doctor and I share a look. "Any of you ever, um, enjoy that energy drink, CeretinPlus?"
She shakes her head. "Nah. We don't believe in performance enhancing drugs."
"So, yeah," The brunette says, "the palace is great for derby bouts. Wooden floors, and you can use the wainscot for rail kicks. You just gotta roll up all the carpet."
"That's good to know, I guess," I say with a shrug.
"I'm Alice Aforethought," The blonde says. She points to the brunette. "That's Natasha Crasher." Then to the shorter woman. "Boots Walken, and we've got a few other members of the team down that hallway. See them? There's Modesty Bruised, Marsha Drillin, Vertica Hell, Dina Disorderly, and Mona McKillwhistle."
"Interesting names."
"Says the girl who goes by Five," Maxine scoffs.
"Shut up."
"Oi, a little help up here?" A voice yells, the sound echoing down the halls.
I feel a grin spread across my face.
I know that voice.
"And the rest of us are upstairs," Alice says. "Hurry."
"We have a bit of a Queen's garden party problem just now," Boots explains when we reach the stairs, and surprisingly, she and the others wearing rollerblades get up the stairs just fine. "And by that I mean, a lot of guests got bitten at her last one, and some idiot locked them in the wine cellar. I guess they were supposed to starve to death."
"When they were already dead?" Alice asks.
"Anyway, Alice went looking for a nice Merlot, which was silly, since we've got gallons of New Castle, but they were pretty angry."
"Don't blame them," Alice says. "Last thing they ate was probably watercress sandwiches and cake with sugared violets on top."
"Oh, and those little tarts with caramelized onion and feta?" Natasha sighs. "I loved those."
Alice sighs. "Yes, I'm sure. But anyway, there's zoms loose in the palace, and we've got to stop them. Boots, Mona, cut front and skate pivot, and let's see some speed. Doc, Five, Natasha will block for you, but you've got to run."
•
"Verda, how many hostiles?" Alice asks.
"At least a dozen. Eight have made it to the green room and are workin' on the door."
"They're between us and Jay. He's in the throne room," Natasha says, and Verda groans, her almond eyes going shut for a split second. I'm surprised she can stay upright so easily.
"And we're down a skater. Marcella Patella busted her arm fightin' off a zom. Lucky she didn't get bit."
"I'll take a look at it," Maxine says, and Natasha nods.
"Great. Somebody get Five-still-alive some skates!"
"Is the nickname really necessary?" I ask, but don't get a response.
We sprint ahead of the zombies, and Alice, along with the Japanese woman they call Verda, pull me into a nearby room. Maxine follows, which is good for her since the injured skater is in there as well. Her right arm is swollen, and I can't help but think of my own injury and how easily I could rip the stitches if I'm not careful.
"This is Overda Limit," Alice says. "She'll coach you through the jam."
And with that she leaves the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Right. Put these on," Verda instructs, and I do as told, and I see Maxine glances over to me as she tends to injured skater as quickly as she can.
"Five, are you sure you can..."
"Yeah. How hard can it be?" I ask, standing up and, to my surprise, I remain upright. Maxine wraps the girl's arm with ripped pieces of fabric from the drapes, telling her she'll look at her more throughly once we've got these zoms out of the palace.
"Now, remember," Verda says as we leave the room, Marcella staying behind, "keep your arse low and your stance wide. Makes you hard to knock down. Derby tactics are brilliant against zoms."
"Except in derby, there's no biting. So that's different," Natasha says.
"Top of the shoulder's where they'll bite a skater, mostly," Boots says. "That's how they got Karen Feeding-our best blocker. She tried a can opener on a zom that was bearing down on Mona, and when she stood up from her crouch to hit him in the chest-chomp!"
"Oh, sorry to hear that," I mumble, managing to sort of keep pace with them in the skates. Boots simply shrugs.
"That's why we got these American footballer shoulder pads. It's like wearing armor."
I nod, mostly because I know she's not wrong. I was never into football, but I did learn a few things from friends who played the sport. It's intense, so the protective padding has to be strong.
The sound of a zombie growling pulls me from my thoughts, and my lips curl up in disgust at the sight of a female zom wearing a dress in the most terrible shade of blue. She's wearing a tiara...
"Is that princess-" Maxine starts.
"Yeah," Natasha grimaces. "And now she's gone gray. It's sad that she died in such a hideous dress. Incoming! Modesty, give me a whip!"
Modesty sticks her right leg out behind her, and Natasha grabs onto her ankle. She's swung forward as Modesty does a roundhouse kick. It gives her enough speed to smack into one of the zoms and knock it down. Its chest is impaled by flag pole on the wall, and it snarls, unable to get up from its position.
"Can't do that in trainers," Boots remarks smugly. "Now, were gonna link arms and hit that zom in the blue shirt together. It's called a clothes line. Remember, stay low."
I hesitantly take her arm, and when we start to increase our speed, I hear Alice yell, "There's too many of them! They'll have the door down if we don't thin the pack! Hurry!"
I try to skate faster, still not super sure as to what I'm doing when Boots and I slam into a zom. It flips over top us, slamming into the ground, but that doesn't finish it off. Within seconds it's back up again and staggering towards the door at the end of the hallway where more zombies are swarming.
I let go of Boots's arm and grab my axe from my back. Just hitting them is pointless. They don't feel pain. Unless these tactics are used to throw a zombie out a window, they'll do nothing in helping us get to Jaime.
I slam my axe into the head of a zom as I roll by. The force of the hit causes me to slow down a little, but keeping the zom down is better than knocking it over, even if I have to regain some lost speed.
But it doesn't do much in the grand scheme of things. There are now around twenty zoms at the end of that hallway, clawing at the door, their moans blocking out our shouts and attempts at distraction.
The wood splinters, and splinters, and splinters...
Until one of the doors break, unable to hold back the forces of the undead, letting the zombies fall inside the throne room.
"Oh, God. Jaime, run!" Natasha shouts.
"I can't run and carry this great, bleedin' war axe, Tash! God, you're a worrier." I glide inside the room just in time to see Jaime swings his axe at a zom. I make a mental note to see if I can swipe something like that before I leave.
"Nice axe!" I yell, gaining the tall man's attention.
Jaime's eyes light up when he sees me and Maxine, which is surprising but not unwanted.
"Five, Maxine, you made it! Get over here, quick, before we get anymore prats with cake crumbs on their lapels."
"We've got your back, Your Maj," Alice says, swinging her legs out to knock out a zom that was getting a little too close. "You head down the back stairs while we take down the last of the party goers."
"This way," Jaime says, leading Maxine and I over to a door, just barely visible. He opens it, reveling a staircase lit by torches on the wall. "I'm not going to just stay here and wear out the upholstery. We're goin' around the other way. It's good to see you, Doc, Five. Feels like a long time-too long. How are the kids?"
"They're doing well," Maxine says as they start to head down the staircase, and I shut the door to make sure no zombies follow. "They're adjusting to their new life. Carina's really bonded with Dr. Lobatse."
"She likes anyone who lets her get her glitter everywhere... That's good, though. I'm glad." He laughs, but then pauses when he realizes I'm not with them. He looks up, and Maxine's gaze follows. I'm still at the top of the stairs, making no attempt to move down.
"Uh, you comin', Five?" Maxine asks.
"I can't."
"Why n-oh... the skates."
I nod. "And the roller-girls have my shoes."
Jaime rolls his eyes but still gives Maxine his axe and trots back up the stairs. At first I think it will be just to help me down, but then he wraps an arm around my back and hooks the other under my knees.
I yelp when he picks me up and starts to carry me down the stairs.
"Jaime!"
He winces. "Jeez, no need to shout."
"You-you could've just offered me your arm," I stammer.
"We don't have time. And this way, if you get to annoying, I can just drop you."
"Rude. I thought being a King would make you less grumpy. Apparently not."
"I'm starting to get annoyed."
Maxine laughs. "If only Archie could see you-her boyfriend, the King."
The flicker of light that was once in Jaime's eyes fades instantly, and he nods. "Yeah, I think about that sometimes, what she would say. But I don't know if she'd laugh or if she'd take it seriously. I mean, it felt like we were together for so long... so why don't I know what she'd say?"
"Well, you know, everything seems longer now."
"I just wish I knew-"
His words are cut off when I hiss in pain as his hand grabs my injured arm just a bit too tightly. He looks at me with furrowed brows.
"What?"
"There's a large cut... on my arm. Chainsaw incident... yesterday."
"Huh. How'd that happen?"
"I lost my grip on it."
"Oh, so it was your own fault then." He scoffs. "Not surprising."
I glare at him. "With all due respect, Your Highness, screw you."
"I think you've forgotten that I can-and will-drop you if you keep pushing me."
I huff, mostly because I know he's not bluffing. It's nice, having someone who doesn't give me special treatment because of the mind control... incident, or because I'm injured.
We reach the bottom of the staircase, and Jaime sets me down.
"Thanks for not dropping me," I say, and he shrugs.
"Thanks for not annoying me enough to want to drop you."
"You know, I thought you'd treat your people with more respect."
"Five, you're American."
"So?"
"I'm the King... of England."
I open my mouth, but then shut it again, realizing my own stupidity. But the small talk comes to an end when the door leading outside the staircase with Natasha standing outside.
"Jay, the lobsters are all stirred up out front, and they're attracting every zom in Green Park, and we didn't secure the gate right. They're pourin' in ."
"Alright, north parade ground, quick. And, Tash, if you bombard off on your own again, we'll ditch you."
"Oh, you're fast enough to ditch me?" She retorts, and Maxine gives her a raised brow.
"Stop chatting and run!"
•
"We have to secure the gates," Alice commands. "Pivots, set as fast a pace as you can without losing the pack. Blockers, pair up and use your destructive blocks. Jammers, those guardsmen are tall. This is a good chance to pull a bean dip and get below their grab."
"Natasha, are you sweet on Jaime?" Maxine asks, after making sure she's out of ear-shot of the King. The brunette's eyes go wide.
"Sweet on-oh. Well, he's a nice bloke. Really nice bloke. Really nice, hot bloke."
"But you don't feel that way about him?" Alice asks, shooting me a look of approval when I slam my axe into a zom, making sure to stay low enough to avoid being grabbed.
"Are you daft? That's exactly how I feel about him, but it's like he's sworn off of something. But you can tell he's sad about it." She gives me an odd look. "There was a girl, wasn't there?"
"Yeah," I reply somberly. "Me and him were trying to rescue her... We made a mistake. We were too late."
She looks at me in bewilderment. "Oh, I thought... I thought maybe you and him..."
I blink. "Me and Jaime? God, no. We'd kill each other. Why on earth would you think that?"
She shrugs, chewing on her lips. "Well, he has a picture of you that he keeps on his room."
I stare at her in confusion. "No... that can't be right. I never had any pictures taken of me in London, and I definitely didn't take any with me."
"Oh, I've seen that picture," Alice says. "You were wearing a European Rescue Force uniform."
"Oh."
Oh.
That's not a picture of me.
"Dinah, Verda, wall up! Boots, give me a backwards whip!" Natasha tells, and Boots groans.
"I hate turning my back on zoms." She grabs Natasha's hands and spins her around, the speed giving her enough momentum to slam into the zombie. It falls down, the back of its head slamming into the ground with a loud splat.
"You've got to lure those zoms away from the gates!" Maxine yells.
"Too late," Alice says. "They're already through! Pull back!"
We start to turn around, but the zombies that were in the palace before have made it out to the grounds. There's not many of them left, but combined with the zoms streaming in, we're outnumbered and surrounded.
Shit.
"Wait, we can split off!" Maxine says, eyes wide, and Alice looks at her with a frown.
"What?"
"We learned this at Abel. Zombies follow a straight line after their prey, but if they're following two runners who split off left and right, the zombies will continue forward. It's like they average the two direction."
Alice nods in understanding. "And if we do that, the zoms in front of us will smash into the zoms from behind, while we flank them on both sides and get the gate closed. Yes! Alright, Pivots, on my mark, ninety degrees left and right... Now!"
I hurriedly turn to the right, dragging Maxine along with me. We get out of the way just in time as the zombies slam into each other.
"Oh my God," Maxine gasps as the zombies claw and bite at each other, too confused to understand who they're attacking. "They're tearing each other apart."
"Close that gate! Go! Go!" Alice commands, and the roller-girls scramble to get the gate closed, effectively pushing and locking the zombies out.
"Yay! We did it," I say, rolling forward, the fake enthusiasm in my voice obvious. The exhaustion in my voice is obvious too.
"What? Is nearly dying not satisfying enough for you anymore?" I hear Jaime mock as he meets us in the courtyard. He's covered in zombie blood, probably from trying to hold off some of the zombies that were behind us.
I shrug, still moving. "Well, I mean, I'm sure the real thing is much more thrilling, but I don't plan on trying it anytime soon. Too many people would miss me too much."
"I hope you're not talking about me, because you should know that wouldn't be true."
"Love you too, asshole," I mumble, and he scoffs.
"Oh, and Tash, backwards whip? 'Cause that's not dashing into trouble like an idiot."
She sneers at him. "'Why thank you, Natasha, for protecting my royal backside.' 'Oh, it was nothing, Your Marvoulessness.'"
"Hm, could be the sound of true love," Maxine whispers to me.
"Yeah, just like Owen and Jody, right?" I whisper back, earning a look of annoyance before she turns her gaze back to Jaime.
"Hey, Your Majesty, want to show us some royal hospitality?"
He grins at her. "This way, Doc, Five. You'll spend the night. Tomorrow's your big day, and I've found a way to get you into the ice cream cone tower."
A/N: Here you go, guys! Hope you enjoy this chapter! I've decided to dedicate it to WillowRaintree
Please be sure to vote and comment. Thank you and have a blessed day.