"Ready, Runners? Veronica?" Sam asks.
"Yes, Sam. I am standing here, appropriately attired. I am aware of the mission. I am unsure what level of further readiness you require," Veronica states in a professional tone.
"Uh, yeah. Uh, okay... good."
Nadia punches Veronica in the arm lightly. "Stop it, Ronnie. She's winding you up, Sam."
She puts a hand to her chest in mock offense. "I'm not. I don't even know what that means. What am I winding?"
"You know what it means. You're doing it now!"
"Mr. Yao, can you confirm that this mission is secured by Starlight Protocol?" Janine asks, her voice firm, her face unflinching.
"Uh, yep. Secure channel, need-to-know data, encrypted recording. Anyone planning to tell me what the cloak and dagger is all about?" He asks.
"I will update you when we leave Abel, Mr. Yao. For now, just understand that my interrogation of Mr. De Luca has reached an impasse."
Nadia frowns. "An impasse? Is that what you're calling that massive bruise on the side of your face? An impasse? I hope you hit him back."
Janine's face darkens. "I can remove you from this mission, Miss Al Hanaki."
"You can't, actually," Nadia replies, crossing her arms.
Veronica takes a step closer to Janine, studying her face and the multiple bruises on it. "You do appear to have a series of cosmetic injuries, Janine. There's also a contusion on the bridge of your nose."
"Our pursuit of the Viking's secret cure for the zombie plague proceeds, but slowly," Janine says, ignoring their comments. "We've yet to discover why my brother attempted to steal the baby, or who created the double of Runner Five-the zombie we encountered who Five calls Anna. Tom must, however, have been monitoring coms traffic for months to plan his crimes. We must find out what he knows. To move on with my interrogation, I need to break through my brother's psychosis. We are going to find something to help us do that. Mr. Yao, the gates?"
Sam gives no answer, but seconds later the gates are raising up and the alarms going off. We all start off, the December air filling our lungs as we go.
It's weird, seeing Nadia outside running with us. I haven't ran with her since we went out to Treetop Base for the first time. We used Amelia's automated operator system and it nearly got us killed.
Man, that seems like forever ago.
It's a bit weird seeing Janine run out with us too, but we did run together a little over a week ago while trying to catch Tom after he snatched Sarah, so it's not as weird as running with Nadia.
But her words ring into my ears. We're going to find something to help Tom because he's a nut job who knows things, basically. I'm not sure why we would need to use Starlight Protocol for this. I mean, everyone knows Tom is crazy, and everyone knows we're trying to figure out why he took the baby, and they know we've giving him antipsychotics to help stabilize him, so what the hell could we possibly be getting that would make Janine want to put this mission under the protection of Starlight Protocol?
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this, but right now, I don't feel good.
Although, whatever Janine plans on doing can't have been worse than what I was planning to do to Tom. I would have killed him if my conscience hadn't kicked it. I would have killed him and had one more life on my hands, the blood of another dripping off my fingers. It's a rhythm that plays in the back of my mind sometimes, and I would've just added more to it.
I'm glad I didn't do it. I still don't care for Tom. I doubt I ever will, but I know we need him if we want any answers.
"Alright, now that you're out of Abel, will you please tell me what's going on?" Sam asks.
"Mr. Yao, the usual procedure for an interrogation of this nature would be drug therapy," Janine answers, and he lets out a small noise of discomfort.
"Sounds grim."
"It's far more effective than torture, Sam," Veronica says. "People have been found to lie more under torture than with no external incentive."
"Yeah, I raise my 'grim' to 'super grim'."
I simply shrug. "I think it just depends on the torture."
"Have you been tortured, Runner Five?" Veronica asks curiously, but Sam quickly jumps in.
"You don't have to answer that."
I huff out a laugh. "Veronica, how do you think I was able to go through Van Ark's treatments without succumbing to the pain?"
"Five, I mean it. You really don't have to."
"Let her speak, Mr. Yao," Janine says, her brow raised in curiosity. I grab my backpack strap.
"Since this is a encrypted channel, and none of this can be repeated to anyone because of the Starlight Protocol, I'll tell you this: the underground operations I worked for wanted to make sure we could not only give torture, but also be able to resist it, so they put us through it. Gave us fake files to read and memorize, and they'd try to get us to give up that information. A sort of test.
"There was this one time... I was woken up at like, three in the morning, blindfolded and dragged off, then questioned. When I refused to give any answers, I was thrown in a tank, and then it was then filled up with a liquid called perfluorocarbon. It's breathable. It has enough oxygen in it that you can breathe it. I didn't know that at the time... and I thought I'd drowned, or was in the process of drowning and that time had slowed down since I was dying. I don't know how long I was kept there, in the dark, all alone, but they eventually pulled me out, and let me tell you, trying to cough that stuff out of your lungs is terrible.
"They told me they'd resuscitated me, but if I didn't talk they'd put me under there again." I sigh heavily. "I was put under five times before they thought I'd passed that part of the test. So, yes, Veronica, I'd say I know my fair share of torture. It's something I was trained to take and still keep quiet. I imagine Tom was trained the same way."
Janine nods. "He was extensively trained to be resistant to military truth drugs, as well, but-"
"I found something," Nadia says, looking very uncomfortable over what I'd just shared.
"When she's not assisting me, Nadia has been looking though all the stuff we hauled out of Moonchild's facility," Veronica says.
"There was so much of it. I spend my evenings on it. I'm not one for socializing so much."
Veronica smiles and shrugs. "Neither of us are."
"What I found was, Moonchild and Comansys were working on a drug to enhance imagination. It failed, but here's the important bit: what it did to its victims. I mean, patients. I mean-oh, what do I mean?"
"Subjects?" Veronica guesses.
She nods. "Subjects. All it did to its subjects was make them tell the truth."
"Cool," Sam murmurs. "I mean, gross. Obviously."
"Gross, yeah, but you want to find out why Tom took your baby, don't you?"
"Yeah. I just wish there was a less... Room 101 way of doing it."
"There is a time for your way, and a time for my way, Mr. Yao, and this is my way," Janine says. "And this is my way. Comansys facility is just over that rise."
"Great. Let's get the untested truth drug made by an evil corporation. What could possibly go wrong?"
I scoff. "Right?"
An uneasy feeling settles into my stomach. Comansys... I do not like this. I do not like being here. Being here just reminds me of what I did to those ships, plus being in here might trigger Moonchild. I don't need her making a surprise appearance, although the only time she does ever appear is if I'm in trouble-like, big trouble. Other than that she just stays... dormant, I guess. I think that's a good way to put it, sort of.
But this place, while this isn't a place I've ever been to, it gives me chills. It reminds me of the people I killed, the people that are dead because of me. Comansys workers-all dead, because of me.
It's hard to think about, but it cannot be changed. I cannot erase what I did nor can I change it. I simply must push the thoughts of guilt away, and keep pushing on.
And that's what I do as the facility comes into view. The sunlight reflects off the windows-what few windows there are, and the outside walls of most of the buildings are a bright blue color. It's welcoming, almost.
Welcoming like a Venus Flytrap is to the fly, that is.
I'm not the only one who thinks that, if the looks on Nadia's and Veronica's faces mean anything. I'm glad I'm not the only one who is wary. I'm sure Janine is too, but her face is stone cold, determined, frightening.
She is a force to be reckoned with.
"Okay, okay," Sam says. "I've got some maps. This place is huge! Bigger than my old uni. Um, the testing facility should be just south of the-huh. Wow, cool. From the list here, the games room is state of the art. Uh, guys, maybe we could just swing by and-"
"No!" Janine barks, causing me to flinch. "We get in, we get out. Distracting people with toys is Comansys modus operandi. Focus!"
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry... But they've got a..." He trails off and sighs. "No, no, you're right."
"So, testing facility's south, right, Sam?" Nadia asks. "Come on, Five. Must be that big building. Race you there."
I grin wickedly at the challenge. "Oh, you are on-wait!" I don't slow down, but my thoughts are suddenly not on the race as something catches my eye. "Why are there... swings outside?"
"There are cartoon characters painted on the walls near it," Janine points out, and she's right. I see some 'Gravity Falls' characters like Mabel and Waddles, and I see Wirt and Greg from 'Over the Garden Wall'.
"Sam, you see that character on the wall that's dresses like a gnome?" I ask, pointing to Wirt. "That's what I imagine every time you explain to me what your Demons and Darkness character looks like."
I hear a slow inhale and exhale, and I giggle because I just know he's strangling me in his head. "You are the absolute worst, but I love you anyway. Anyway, guys, I've matched up your info with a Comansys campus map, and that place-it's the crèche."
Nadia frowns. "That can't be right. Truth drugs wouldn't be tested in the crèche."
"Just a heads up, zombies at your eight. They've spotted you."
"Lovely," I groan, but my brows furrow when I see all of the zombies are wearing navy blue dresses. "What's with the uniforms? Are they nurses?"
"They're nannies," Janine replies.
"Nannies," Nadia repeats, her eyes going wide. "Oh, yeah, they are!"
"Okay, the zombie Poppins brigade is almost on you," Sam says. "Run!"
We dash off, the four of us quickly running around the building while the zombies follow us. They move fairly quickly, which is surprising since running in a dress is a bitch and a half, but they aren't fast enough to catch up to us as we try to find a way in the building.
Still, the noises they're making doesn't make me feel any better. I mean, I've heard the moans of the dead many times, but it never does get any easier.
Thankfully Veronica spots a backdoor, pointing it out and then racing towards it. The door is unlocked, surprisingly, and Veronica opens the door for us, and we all rush inside, shutting the door behind us, locking it. Only S-Types are smart enough to open doors, but it's best to not risk it.
We head down a corridor, and it leads us down, deeper into the building. The first door to the right is the entrance to a barely lit room room. It has seats, about five or so, so that you would be facing...
I tip my head to the side. How odd.
"It seems unlikely the truth drugs would be here," Nadia says. "I must've made a mistake."
"Uh, hang on," Sam says. "I'm just finding a camera. Luckily, Comansys has them everywhere. I don't think I've ever been more spoiled for choice."
"That just means you can get a look at us from every angle," I joke, and he chuckles.
"Yeah. And uh, yeah. There you are. Oh, a bit dark, isn't it?"
"It's an observation room," Janine states, her eyes ahead. "It stays dark so the people in here can see through the mirror."
"The mirror?"
"The wall in front of us is a mirror," Veronica explains. "We can see through into-"
"Into the playroom," Janine finishes, her eyes scanning the room filled with toys and children's books.
"Oh, yeah, I get you now... no, a-actually, I don't," He says. "Why would you set up a room so you could spy on kids playing?"
Veronica tsks. "There are several reasons, Sam, but in this case, I imagine because you are testing drugs on the children."
"Moonchild's files said 'subjects'." Nadia shakes her head. "Not 'children'."
"So, are you looking at a bunch of zombie kids?" Sam asks, taking in a deep breath, as if preparing himself for the worst. "I have a camera in the playroom, but I don't want to look at it if-"
"It's empty," I say, and he sighs with relief. "I'm glad. I saw enough of them in that toy store."
"Yes, for once, no zombie children," Janine says.
"How odd," Veronica says. "You'd think if the nannies were all turned, the children would have been easier targets."
"Talking of nannies, they must have found another way into the building. They're in the corridor you came in through. So, uh, is there another way out of that observation room?" Sam asks, and Janine nods.
"There's one way. All of you, stand back." She picks up one of the chairs and chucks it into the mirror. The glass shatters, and I hear moans outside the door.
"Well, they heard that. Run!"
•
"I think you've lost them."
"This is the office," Nadia says, looking about. "Look at all those files."
"We're not going through those now, Nadia," Veronica says. "Let's check the computers."
She walks over to one of them, which is still on because of Comansys's use of solar energy. She quickly types in a few words and codes that I don't understand, presses enter, and within seconds an article or, I guess online file pops up. Nadia leans over Veronica's shoulder to read the online file.
"Okay. The code name for the drug was ZX1200."
"Imaginative," Sam murmurs. "I would have called it Truthio. Oh, no-Truthy Truth. Oh, no, no, no-Ain't That The Truth."
I can't stop myself from smiling even as Janine rolls her eyes.
"This is why we did not put you in charge of code naming secrets," She says.
Nadia reads the online files as Veronica scrolls down, and her face morphs into one of horror. "Here it is. Oh God, they did test it on the kids. And yeah, it does work-on making people tell the truth, anyway, even though that wasn't what it was tested for. Injectable, or... bubblegum flavored tablets."
"This doesn't explain what happened to the children, though." Janine frowns. "Why aren't they here?"
"Oh, wait. Wait," Sam says. "I-I read about this! Roufflenet. Um, let me find it. Comansys nannies. In the outbreak, high-up Comansys people helicoptered out. The nannies fought down a team from marketing to secure a minibus to get the kids out. The last bus. Those nannies beat off seventy rabid digital strategy consultants and technology futurologists to get those kids into that bus. Without them-they're heroes."
"That's nannies for you," Janine says. "If you eat your greens and take your naps, they will fight to the death for you."
"Yeah, well, they didn't do anything to stop those kids from being tested on. Like-like lab rats! How did they even get those kids anyway?" I ask. "Were they Comansys workers' children? Were they random orphans? This-I'm not even sure I want to know, actually. Moonchild... she always had her ways, I guess. But they're not heroes, not in my eyes."
"Either way, they have made horrifically effective zombies," Sam says. "And I'd hate to interrupt this creepy time you're all having with um, even more creepiness, but they're on their way."
"The drugs aren't in this building," Veronica says, still looking at the computer. "It says all psychotropics were moved to H Vault. What's the H Vault?"
"Yeah, work it out when you're out of the building. They'll have you trapped in there if you don't run."
We leave the office, heading down the corridor, almost reaching the sharp left turn when I hear growls and groans behind me. I look back and blanch at the sight of decaying women in navy blue dresses.
"They've seen us. Move! Move!"
The zombies growl as they charge after us, not exactly fast, but not running at a slow shamble either. We rush down the corridor, trying every door, every possible exit, but almost all of these rooms are locked.
"Are you kidding me?" I yell, grabbing one of the door handles, only to find it locked as well. "They leave the freaking door to get in here unlocked but lock everything else?"
The zombies are getting closer, and I grab my pistol, firing at a few of the zombies. They fall down, like they always do, but I know there is more zombie nannies than my gun has bullets, so after the first three drop, I turn and continue running.
"They're still gaining," Sam says, panicking. "You have to find cover!"
"We can't get in anywhere!" Nadia yells. "Everything's locked down!"
I look back when I hear a thunk near the zombies, and then, out of nowhere, they explode, the force of it causing blood and guts to fly in all directions. I fling myself forward, grabbing Janine and hauling her forward as well. Those nannies have been zombies since the outbreak. Any zombies that have been zombies for over four years have infected blood as well as bite.
Thankfully the spray doesn't hit us. Still Janine groans.
"Oh, not now."
We all turn around to look at the blood covered walls-what's left of the walls anyway. And find a man walking through, stepping over the mush of the zombies.
"Afternoon," Steve says with a curt nod. He flashes a grin. "So, blowing up zombie nannies is strangely satisfying."
"Mr. Sissay," Janine sneers.
"Colonel De Luca, ma'am. This is a grenade launcher, but rest assured, I am happy to see you."
She arches a brow, obviously not impressed. "I take it you're turned into our coms."
"Steve!" Sam exclaims, and Steve smiles.
"Sam! Love, how's it feel knowing you're never gonna have to worry about being a zombie breakfast buffet?"
"How's it feel knowing I'm never ever gonna hire you as a babysitter?"
I snort, wishing I had the burn cream Maxine gave to me, because right now, Steve needs it more than I do.
"Oh. Yes." He rubs his neck awkwardly. "I really can't apologize enough for that, to all of you. There are mistakes in the field, and there are, well..."
Sam hums in response. "I heard about you and Lobatse-"
"Mr. Yao, this is not the time for chit chat," Janine says, and Steve nods.
"You're right. Ma'am, I'm here to help. We have some old Comansys files at the Ministry. I know exactly where the drugs are."
She huffs through her nose. "I see. Then lead the way. Quickly, if you please. We have no time to waste."
•
"Okay. This is H Vault," Steve says, making a dramatic sweeping gesture with his arm to a door. "I've seen some protocol files. Uh, protocol in emergencies: get the experiment's stuff in here where they can't be touched by hostiles."
Nadia grimaces. "Protected their experiments, but not the kids or their nannies. Nice."
"That is actually quite sensible," Veronica pipes up. "This work could potentially save a lot more people than were ever housed in this facility."
Again she grimaces. "Veronica, less creepy pragmatist. I've told you, it freaks me out."
"The way it freaks you out is something I find very amusing."
She scoffs. "Robot."
Janine tries the handle, but it doesn't move. She looks at the keypad near it and starts tracing the wires that connect to it and lead down the hall. I instinctively follow her, as does Nadia and Veronica. "The door is locked, but maybe we can find a security override somewhere here-"
She's cut off by a loud explosion, and we all spin around to see the door blown to bits, and Steve smiling smugly at us.
"Mr. Sissay!"
"Sorry, loves, but you know. I do have this grenade launcher and it's a heavy old thing to carry around... and not use."
Janine glares at him, absolutely livid. "How dare you use weaponry without a direct order!"
He straightens up at that. "Apologies, ma'am. I wasn't thinking."
I scoff. "Well, obviously."
Maybe I shouldn't be the one to say that since I kissed a man that we thought was infected, but I know he almost certainly did that just to piss Janine off, which is something I wouldn't do ever. Janine scares me. She's one of the few people who does. Why Steve tries to push his luck with her is a mystery.
Maybe he has a death wish.
Still, we head inside, and in the Vault is shelves of different types of drugs, all labeled. It's almost too easy to find what we're looking for.
Nadia grabs the bottle of tablets and gives it a shake. "Should we take tablets? Does Tom uh, does he like bubblegum?"
"Take the injectables," Janine says curtly. "Let's stock up on hypos, too. No need to waste Abel's supply on this."
"And no need to ask what you're planning," Steve says, and Janine narrows her eyes at him, giving him a face that is extremely terrifying.
"Then don't."
"I won't." He pauses. "Colonel De Luca, I do have some field experience in these types of operations. Perhaps I could-"
"You have experience of torture, do you? You've tortured people? What a surprise."
"Funny you say that when I overheard Five here talking about her experiences."
"Runner Five was a child who was tortured and then forced to do the same thing to others. You cannot compare yourself to her. You have no right."
He hums. "To answer your question-no. Not that kind of... experience of torture. The other sort."
"What? What do you mean?" Sam asks, before going quiet for a moment. "Oh."
"McShell's right," Steve says. "Nothing you get out of a tortured person is worth much, but my experiences have given me certain skills."
"Skills you wish to use on my brother, Mr. Sissay? Is that correct?" Janine asks, venom in her voice.
He nods. "If it would assist Abel, yes."
"Do you know, Steve, you may have noticed that your bag of tricks doesn't work on me. Flirting, calling people 'love' and 'darling', the grenade launcher. You're cheap, and you're obvious, and I'm afraid the amount you want to help makes me more certain than ever we can't have you around. And if you think I'm letting someone like you anywhere near my brother, you are very, very wrong!"
There's a long moment of silence. "I see."
"Uh, Steve," Nadia says, "Janine's has a really tough time lately."
He holds his hands up in surrender. "S'alright. It's alright. Sam, I should probably be going."
Janine continues to glare at him. "Yes, I think that would be best."
"Okay," Veronica says awkwardly. She holds up her bag, showing she's got everything that's needed. "The rest of us need to go east. It is east, isn't it?"
"That's right," Sam says, although he sounds rather cautious as he speaks.
"Of course it is," Nadia says. "She's always right. Come on, then. Quickly, before anymore nannies show up."
And we split up, Steve heading off one way and the rest of us the other. It doesn't take us long to get out of the building. We make sure we're quick. We've got what we wanted, and now we're leaving. Simple as that.
And thankfully, Steve isn't coming with us.
I know I probably shouldn't hold anything against him, seeing that he did help Kefilwe and me get Anna's zombified hand, but I can't help but hold him partially responsible for what happened to Sam. I mean, if he wouldn't have lost that baby, then it never would have happened. Sam never would have gotten bitten. Sure, he turned out to be immune, but he still has bite wounds that are most definitely going to scar, and he has to be very careful to make sure they don't get infected, since bites from other humans can get infected much easier than animal bites. Plus he was in a cold dumpster for at least twenty-four hours, thinking he was about to die.
Even though everything turned out okay in the end, people still suffered.
And Janine has a point. He seems almost too willing to help Abel. I thought maybe we could trust him before, but his reckless actions are making me question that decision to do so. I know I'm reckless, but I'm reckless in the fact that I'm the one that will pay for it. The deaths on my hands weren't because I was reckless, but because I wasn't fast enough, or strong enough, or because I made a mistake.
If I'm going to be reckless, I want to make sure only I pay for my stupid decisions.
"Janine," Nadia says after a few minutes of silent running, "Steve is a bit... I mean, I do get what you mean about him, and we've always thought the Ministry has their own weird agenda, but there are people at New Canton who can help you with Tom. You shouldn't really be on your own against him. We don't know what these drugs are going to do, exactly. We don't know how they'll react on adults, and they weren't exactly supposed to be used as a truth drug, remember?"
"Yeah," Sam says. "I mean, what if they gave him superpowers? Cool. Although-yeah, with him, that would be terrible."
Janine keeps her gaze ahead. "I deal with Tom alone. He is my responsibility."
"That is not an optimal strategy," Veronica says.
"I have let enough people down with my laxness, my lack of responsibility and shirking of my duty." She grits her teeth. "No one else will be endangered, no one else will be involved. I deal with Tom. Me. Just me."
Nadia shakes her head. "I don't think I can let you do that. When we get back, I'm going to tell Maxine about these drugs we've got."
"No, you will not, Miss Al Hanaki. This operation is covered by Starlight Protocol. Nothing that happened today can be discussed! Breaking Starlight Protocol is subject to immediate court martial."
She blinks, her face twisting into a sneer. "You are kidding me."
Janine doesn't so much as blink, and Nadia's jaw drops.
"You're threatening to court marshal us if we tell anyone you're going to interrogate your crazy military-trained brother by injecting him with untested drugs?"
She gives her a tight smile. "I commend you on your level of understanding, Miss Al Hanaki."
"Janine, that is... that is crazy," Sam says, horrified. "That is seriously, entirely-I mean, you can't-you can't do that."
"Yes, Mr. Yao, yes, I can."
"Janine's right," I say quietly. "She can and she will."
Sam chokes. "Five, you can't seriously be-"
"I'm not saying I agree with what she's planning on doing, but what other options do we have? Do you honestly think that therapy and more antipsychotics are going to help? Maybe in a few months, or years, but we need answers now. Face it, we have no other choice!"
"There's always a choice."
I tsk. "You're right. Our two choices are use the drug and actually get something out of the bastard, or give him therapy and get nothing, and you get to sit around, having no clue why that man tried to take your baby girl, Sam. Is that what you want? To sit in the dark? I don't agree with Janine's plan, but sometimes there's no other way."
"Is that what you told yourself when you were made to torture kids?" Nadia asks, and I narrow my eyes at her.
"I do not need to justify myself to you, but if you want to bring up my past, I will gladly bring up yours and remind you what you did to me, Nadia-remind you why a piece of cartilage is missing from my left ear. You tried to kill me when I was sixteen years old. Do not preach at me." I keep the look when she flinches. "But, the reason I went through with the torture, why I endured it and inflicted it was because I had a choice. Either I did it, or my sister did. That was the choice I had.
"That story I told you earlier. I remember the exact day is happened. Usually I wouldn't, since the pain and screams all blurred together... but I remember that day specifically because when they let me go and said I passed the first part of the test, the man who led in the kid I would have to force under that liquid...
"He wished me a happy thirteenth birthday."
A/N: Here you go, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It is dedicated to skyler0425 and natlinaksita
Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!