Thunder rolls, the sound louder and seeming to shake the earth as rain pours. My coat does little to keep the cold and wet from getting to my skin, and I tug at my hood, hoping I'll have a few minutes before the wind rips it from my head like it's been doing.
"Five, Paula, are you there?"
"We're here, Sam. Keeping watch at the perimeter of Last Rider territory, as ordered," Paula answers with a monotone voice, "Within range of that big old hotel they're using as their hidey-hole." She glances over at me. "I know it's been a few days, but are you sure you're okay to be here, Five?"
"Five is fine," Sam urges. "I mean, you and Maxine were the ones who looked at her brain scans. She didn't have another seizure. And you both said she was probably suffering from stressed-induced hallucinations."
That's the story we're going with. I mean, it's something that we could use logically. My lack of sleep followed by this new revelation about the Riders' plans and other aspects of my life could cause such hallucinations. It's a good cover up to what happened a few days ago. Of course, Sam and Peter know this isn't true and have been asking me about it nonstop.
I don't think I've ever seen Peter look so distraught. He loves Janine and she loves him, despite her never really showing her affections publicly. The thought of her dying terrifies him. He made me tell everything I heard, everything I felt. Since I didn't see her die, he believes there's still a chance she'll be okay. I want to believe that too. I mean, I saw myself get bitten and felt myself dying and it still wasn't the case when the vision actually fulfilled itself. Maybe it will be different here.
But what if it's not?
"Yes, I know. I just don't want this weather and everything else to cause another situation like a few days ago," Paula says, and I understand her worry. Me passing out in Abel is one thing, but passing out here where there are Last Riders about...
And I didn't put in any bright red hair dye because of the rain, so if I'm found, they'll recognize my face even with my Runner Ninety-three T-shirt.
"I've been getting proper rest and Kytan's been making me meditate every day," I reply, "even when I don't want to. Everything will be fine. We're just watching right now anyway."
"Yeah," Sam sighs, sounding a bit upset that perimeter watch is all we're doing. "We told Nadia she should get out after we found out about the Riders' plan to plant people in different colonies to take the zombie pills, but she reckons she's onto something with this 'The Method' person or idea. She wants to find out what's going on."
I shrug. "Can you blame her? She knows she's our best way to get intel on the Riders, and the more we know about them, the better. The risk is terrifying, but when the payout could be taking down one of our biggest enemies..."
Especially since we have another enemy coming, one we haven't met yet.
Suddenly the door to the coms shack swings open, the hinges squealing from the force.
"Dr. Cohen, Runner Five, urgent transmission from Miss Al Hanaki," Janine says, her voice clipped and slightly strained. My shoulders tense and she plays the clip.
"Janine! Anyone!" Nadia yells. "If you're receiving this, get me out of here! I'm in danger. There's-" She's cut off by the sound of a clatter, then a scream. "Oh, God!"
The clip ends a second later.
"That's it?" I ask as I rack my brain in attempt to figure out what's going on.
"Picked up seven minutes ago," Janine replies. "We presume the Riders have identified Miss Al Hanaki as a mole."
Paula mumbles something under her breath in Hebrew. "This quickly?"
"She's been with the Last Riders for over a month," I say.
"I'm-I'm trying to make contact, but she's not answering her coms." Sam's voice shakes with panic. "Maybe someone recognized her from New Canton. People are joining the Last Riders from all over."
A growl rumbles in my chest. Of course they are. People are always up for causing destruction, hurting others even when there is a chance to rebuild, even when there's evidence that we can be better, that we can fix what's been broken. There will always be someone who wants to hurt others because they refuse to believe that there is good in the world.
They know that they are bad, and they think of everyone else in the same light.
"Because self-destruction is so this season," Paula says with an eye roll, but then she nods, her face becoming determined. "Right. We have a protocol for this. If she can make it, she'll be at the extraction point. She'll be okay. We have to get her out." The redhead looks to me. "Come on, Five. Hurry!"
We take off, heading into the Rider's territory. I bring up a hand to hold my hood in place. The rain pours, but it's not raining hard enough that I can't see. I keep an eye out for lights, but there aren't any, and I can't hear the roar of motorcycles, so I can only assume there's no Riders outside. I doubt even they would want to go riding out here when you can get sick so easily. Pneumonia can and will kill you in an apocalypse, and the Riders seem to want to go out a different way.
And they're not all stupid. The Hogs may be idiots, but according to what Nadia's told us, the others aren't, and with more members joining, there could be geniuses filling up their ranks to help aid in the plan to literally kill everyone.
There's a glow of orange up ahead. It's too warm of a color to be headlights, and I can see as we get closer that it's fire because of course there are things on fire. Wouldn't be a Last Rider hideout if there weren't flaming objects.
"We've got visual on the Riders' hideaway," Paula says as we crouch down behind a few trees. She fishes her binoculars from her bag and holds them up to her face. "Flaming braziers, flaming dolls' heads." She frowns. "That's odd. Take a look at this."
She hands me the binoculars just as Janine asks what we see.
"It's more like what we don't see," I say as I look at the entrance and then to the windows of the building. Even the ones a few stories up are closed. "There aren't any guards at the front gate, or anywhere."
Sam hums in thought. "That is weird. It's usually like, eight angry people carrying Uzis and practicing their 'I'm a very scary person' face, which looks constipated."
"This is bad news, isn't it?" Paula looks at me with wide eyes. "They're all interrogating Nadia."
"Or they're making sport of her," I mumble, remembering what she said just last week about what they did when they ran over that old man. They just sat there on their bikes and laughed while he bled out.
"Five, we have to get in there now."
I nod, starting to get out from my spot and head for the front gate.
"Wait!" Sam shouts. "There's still the-"
The sounds of gunshots reach my ears a second too late, and before I know it there's a bullet whizzing past my face, a centimeter away from skin. I let my body drop instantly, slamming into the soaked ground to avoid getting hit. Paula crouches down by a nearby shrub.
"Automatic gun turrets," She sighs as bullet continue flying for another second. "Yeah."
"Dr. Cohen, I need to guide-" Janine starts.
"We'll be okay. Five, you run left, I'll run right. Move fast and stay close to the buildings. I'll see you at the rest side of the building."
I barely get a word of reply before she's standing and running, her footsteps masked by the sound of rainfall. I push myself up and start running, not bothering to fix my hood when it falls off my head.
I flinch again when I hear more gunshots.
"Runner Five, I wanted to guide you through these gun turrets myself," Janine states. "Run east now."
I obey, and I feel more bullets whizz past me, but not close enough to hit. Of course, it's still too close for comfort, but not close enough to actually damaging my body, even for a few seconds.
"That's good. Now head towards the bush covered in red flowers."
I whip my gaze around until I find bright red standing out through the downpour. I run towards them, bullets still flying. It only goes on for a few seconds, before the gun turrets power down.
"Good. You're out of range. Now run to the rendezvous and be quick. Miss Al Hanaki may not have long."
Her words send a stab of panic straight through me, and a part of me wonders just how those words might connect back to her and what I heard. I've never heard Janine scream like that, and I've heard her in quite a bit of pain. I was over coms with her wrist was broken by Tom, and when bandits broke into Abel and beat her as a way to get us to give them what they wanted. Never did she sound like how I heard her. The pain sounded excruciating, and I can only imagine what that man will do to her.
But Janine is fine right now. She is safe right now. It's Nadia we have to worry about at the moment. I don't want to think about what might be happening, what they might be doing to her. Nadia is strong, but that doesn't take away from the fact that she is paralyzed from the waist down. If they get her off her bike, then there's no way for her to escape without us coming in to rescue her. We have to hope she made it to the extraction point.
"Five," Paula calls out as she runs to me. "You made it here fast. I got grazed by one of the bullets from the gun turrets. Look."
She shows me the wound on her arm. It's nothing serious, but blood still runs from the graze, the rain washing it down her arm to drip onto the wet ground. She almost looks happy to see it, happy that she no longer has ultra-fast healing from being infected by the zombie virus.
"Janine wanted to help you," Sam says with a frown in his voice, and she rolls her eyes.
"I've been watching the turrets for over a week, Sam. I know the pattern."
"There's no sign of Miss Al Hanaki?" Janine asks, and we take a look around, at the premier suite walk with pebble-dash walls and a tiny swimming pool filled with algae and the bushes that haven't been trimmed like they should be. My heart sinks.
"There's no sign of anyone. It's weird."
"Well, can you hear anything?" Sam asks, and we pause, trying to listen past the sound of pouring rain.
"Riders are inside enjoying themselves," Paula answers, grimacing at the sound of muffled sounds of crashing and... some other sounds I can't quite make out. Paula's frown stays when a pebble suddenly flies off the roof and hits her shoulder.
I look up and through the rain I see movement. The rainfall is getting a bit harder. I can see the silhouette but no face. It's not Nadia because the person is standing, but maybe-
My thoughts are cut off when the person comes flying off the roof, arms spread and making no attempt to shield himself as he lands face first onto the concrete walkway. The sound of a wet smack is sickening. I jump back, eyes wide as Paula gasps in shock beside me.
"Oh my God!" She exclaims. "He fell off the roof."
"Who is it?" Sam asks.
"Uh, a Rider, but I don't know what biker gang he's from. His jacket has an eagle on it. He just... it looked like he almost jumped straight down!"
She freezes when the Rider shifts, the sound of cracking and popping bones and joints hitting the air, but no screams of pain. I take a step back as the Rider lifts his head, revealing dead, soulless eyes that focus on us.
"Oh, shit. Guys, the Rider's turned zom," I say, taking another step back.
"You cannot let a single zombie give away your position," Janine says. "Runner Five, your firearm is silenced. Kill it. Headshot. Now!"
I grab my gun from its holster, pointing it straight at the zombie's forehead as it starts to pull itself up, low groans coming from its mouth as broken bones shift and crack. I pull the trigger, hearing the slight sound of the gunshot that's drastically muffled by the silencer and the rain. The bullet goes straight through the brain, blood and brain matter flying outside the back of its head.
The zombie's arms buckle, and it falls face first into the ground like before, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
That is, until the zombie moans again, louder this time. I hear it now, the difference, the animalistic undertones this moan carries.
Oh, shit. Oh, shit! Shit! Shit!
"Five got it in the forehead!" Paula gasps, her gray eyes widening as broken bones rip through the flesh, causing more blood to spill on the walkway. "It's a V-Type! There are V-Types inside the perimeter! We've got to get away! Five, around the building, now!"
•
"Dr. Cohen, Runner Five, report!" Janine demands.
"We're outside the hotel," Paula whispers, and I wrap my arms around myself, looking at the bikes that are with us under the terrace. We thought it would be the best place to take shelter. It gives us a wide view of the area, which she tells Janine.
"Good tactical thinking. And?"
""The V-Type's still following us. It's broken, so it's slow. That fall must have shattered half of its bones. I'd say it's walking on two broken ankles, but it's still coming."
I hear the faintest crackle through my headset.
"Janine, Sam, it's Nadia."
Paula and I both sigh with relief at hearing her voice.
"Nadia!" She whispers. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alive. Five, and I went to the meeting point."
"I'm trapped in the building. There are V-Types everywhere." She swallows. "If you can't come, I understand."
Paula looks at me questionably, and I nod. "We're coming. Where are you?"
"Twelfth floor of the building, conference room. Just me in here. Two V-Types are banging on the door." She exhales shakily. "They're going to get in eventually."
"Runners, you can use the fire escape to reach the twelfth floor," Janine says. "Hurry, or we won't find her alive."
With those words we race off around towards the fire escape, which thankfully is away from the V-Type following us. How did they get in there? How did a V-Type manage to get so close to the Riders to actually get inside their base?
Maybe they were looking for more zoms to get zombie blood and accidentally captured a V-Type.
I frown. That would make sense if it was the warehouse being overrun by V-Types, but it isn't. The pills aren't made here, so it would make no sense to bring a zombie here. And while some of the Riders aren't the brightest, surely they would have known something was up after shooting a zombie and it just did not die.
Something here feels very off. Of course, the fact that V-Types are very close can be the reason why, along with the fact that we're climbing up the fire escape, possibly towards more of them rather than away from them. But there's something else. There has to be a reason why. The Riders' plans have been fairly calculated-trying to bomb Parliament, the rave, the attack on the convoy. This couldn't have been because they were being too careless.
Something must have happened.
But what?
When we reach the twelfth floor, we climb through one of the windows into a hotel room. It's clean, no zoms, no Riders. Heading to the door, we slowly open it and peek out.
"Tell us what you see, Runners," Janine demands.
"Two V-Types," I whisper. "Far end of the corridor by a door that says Conference Room A."
"That's where I am," Nadia says.
"There's... blood everywhere." A chill runs up my spine at the site of human remains spread along the corridor. Blood paints the walls. "The zombies are eating a leg. One has a foot it its mouth and the other is taking bites out of a thigh."
"There was somebody following me when I came up the disability ramp. I heard her scream when she fell."
"You were wise not to look back," Janine says.
"So how are we going to get Nadia out?" Sam asks. "Noisemakers don't work on V-Types; McShell doesn't work on V-Types. I-we can't have them go out as bait. They'll-"
He's cut off when a door opens and a woman steps out. She raises up a pistol and fires.
"Whoo-hoo! Over here, you bastards!"
I gasp, slinking back and closing the door a bit more as the zombies' heads snap over to her, loud, roaring growls leaving their lips.
"That's it, you flesh munchers. Think we haven't seen cannibals before? We know your sort!"
The zombies just growl, blood dripping from their chins as they drop the remains of the dead Rider.
"She must have a death wish," Paula murmurs with wide eyes.
"No, wait. I've managed to get a couple of cams in that corridor," Sam says. "Look! The door to the next room is open, and that's a two-door conference room, not a bedroom."
"That's it," The Rider says. "Follow me, you fiends from beyond the Reaches of Naroc'ne."
"Oh my God," Paula murmurs, and I raise a brow at her. Does that mean something?
"That Rider is a Demons and Darkness player." Sam laughs almost disbelievingly. "And she's-"
He cuts himself off as the zombies chase after her, following her into the conference room. She's running through to the other side. I run forward, grabbing the handle to the door the zoms went through and slamming it shut. The Rider races through the other door and shuts it before the zoms can get through, laughing as they snarl and pound on the door. She grins at us from down the hall, hazel eyes sparkling.
"That's it. They're trapped." She walks toward us with ease, but I keep my guard up. I am wearing my Runner Ninety-three shirt, but it's still an Abel Runner shirt. "When I saw you in the corridor, I knew you'd catch on. I'm Brenda, Rider for four months. You new?"
"Uh..." I bite the inside of my cheek.
"Miss Al Hanaki, it's safe to come out now," Janine says, and a second later the door to conference room A opens and Nadia rides out.
"Hogmanay!" Brenda exclaims when she sees Nadia, who shrugs.
"They call me that because I've sort of allied myself with the Hogs. And I'm from Scotland."
"Hogmanay, new kids, we've got to get out of here. These zombies are not like the others," Brenda says, and I nod.
"This way. We can take the fire exit. We'll have to carry Nadia, but we can make it-" I stop when I head to the bedroom with the fire exit, only to see a zombie climbing through the window. "Nope!"
I slam the door shut just as it tries to lunge at us from across the room.
"The penthouse is a safe zone. The other Riders are there." Brenda nods, as if trying to convince herself that everything will be okay. "Come on. Follow me up the back stairs."
She leads us down the corridor, and I can hear the zombie in the bedroom banging on the door. I don't think it's as sturdy as the conference room doors. With how much stronger V-Types are compared to regular zoms, they'll be through in minutes.
We reach the stairway, and thankfully we only have to give Nadia's bike a little push to get it going upward without us having to carry her and it. I can already hear wood beginning to crack and break from the bedroom door. My heartrate quickens. I thought we'd have more time. It'll be through and on us in minutes. I thought with all the broken bones of that zombie that it wouldn't be as strong, but it seems to know what it wants. V-Types are so different than regular zoms, and no matter how many times they show me that I'm always still surprised.
My legs burn as we climb the stairs, going higher and higher. My breaths come out in quick, scared pants, and I noticeably flinch when I hear a crash and a loud roar from a few floors below, indicating the zombie has broken free.
"That was so fast. How are they so fast?" Brenda asks, and she sounds scared. That shocks me, honestly. While Riders want to go out by those pills so they can take down everyone with them, they never seemed afraid to die any other way. They just don't want to because only them dying hurts their cause, which is to hurt and kill other people.
To hear this Last Rider, Brenda, actually look and sound afraid of death... it's surprising. I'm not sure how I should feel about it.
But those thoughts are pushed aside when I look down the stairwell and see the V-Type. Its eyes are wide, and it looks up at us as if it already knew where we were going to be. It seems that its broken bones have rubbed together and broken enough skin that it has no choice but to crawl using its ankles and elbows. That doesn't seem to slow it down any as it starts scrambling up the stairs after us.
It never breaks eye contact, roaring at us like some sort of beast. A small whine of fear claws up my throat, and I desperately look over to Brenda, who keeps leading us upward to the penthouse. I sigh in relief when she stops.
"Okay. Secret Rider knock. Three short." She gives three quick raps on the door. "Three long." She knocks a bit slower. "Then just go mental."
She knocks erratically at the door, then waits, but the door doesn't open.
The zombie's roaring gets louder, and Paula nervously looks down at the zombie following after us.
"That's a V-Type behind us, do you understand? It's moving slowly, well... sort of. But if we're going to get into your secret hideout, Brenda, we need to get in now."
"That's definitely the secret knock," She insists. "Fast, slow, then go mental." She repeats the knock, but still nothing happens. Nadia's brows knit together in thought.
"Uh... might this door be open?" She reaches out a hand and pushes gently, and sure enough, the door slowly swings open from the force, the hinges squeaking ever so slightly.
"I don't get it," Brenda says with a shake of her head. "This is where we come to if there's danger."
I survey the dark empty room, knowing it's obvious but it needs to be said. "There's no one here."
As soon as I finish, a hand comes up and slams onto the coffee table in the back of the room. I can already tell from the ashy undertones that this person isn't alive anymore. When its eyes focus on us, I see the blood drain from Brenda's face.
"We've got to get out of here, now!" Paula insists. "Come on, back down the stairs onto a different floor, before that V-Type and this one has us cornered."
"But... the others," Brenda says, and Nadia grabs her arm and practically shoves her down the stairs. "Brenda, run!"
•
"Guys, I've got you on cams," Sam says, which is extremely reassuring right now. "Now, look, I know those kitchens are dangerous, but-"
There's a loud explosion up ahead, and I hear the clatter of silverware falling to the floor.
"Yeah, a bit more dangerous now that the gas stove's on fire... But it's your safest way through. When you arrived, a lot of people must have been in the process of turning."
"They've all turned now," Nadia says. "At once, everywhere!"
"There was only one of those weird yellow-eyed things," Brenda says. "You know those. You can kill them with a pencil in the eye! We just wanted to play with it, all," She imitates a low growl and a high squeal, "and that."
I stare at her in disbelief. "You brought a ghoul in here? You... played with it?"
"Well, not play as in-"
"I know your types of playing," I correct, and she just shrugs as we reach the kitchen.
"We kept it in the rec room. We've had it for about a week. We've been having a laugh kicking it about. But then it sort of went all sleepy and growly, and its eyes changed color. I just went upstairs for a kip."
Glass shatters from nearby, and I feel panic spike through me as the fire from the stove spreads to the countertops, to the cabinets and then to the walls.
"There are V-Types falling out of windows on every floor, guys. You've got to move," Sam instructs. "Through the kitchen, then out the back stairs. Run!"
We continue running, the crackle of flames and steadily building heat not far behind us. I hear more growls, more groans, and as we reach the back stairs, I practically fling myself down them, desperate to get out and away from this before it's too late.
I can hear the snarls of the zombies, and my heart pounds into my chest so hard it hurts. Fear claws at my stomach because they know. Somehow, some way, V-Types just know when people are here. They seem to sense it, even when they can't see us, even when we're not bleeding or being loud. I mean, Paula was grazed by that bullet earlier, but she isn't bleeding anymore and the rain washed away the blood before it could dry. But they still know we're here! It's like they have enhanced senses.
They just know.
And by the sounds coming from the floors above us, they're coming for us.
That's why I don't complain when we burst through the doors and I'm met with freezing cold rain pelting my head. I just keep running, not bothering to look over my shoulders, not bothering to slow down because we aren't out of the woods just yet. The rain may help hide our scent, but V-Types may still be able to sniff us out.
My pace only slows as we climb up one of the hills, my thighs burning from the strain. The mud makes it difficult to keep a good grip, but I push through it. Huffing and puffing I stop, finally pulling my hood back up to keep the rain from hitting my face.
"Three runners reporting in, Sam," Nadia says. "We're on a hillside overlooking the hotel. It's-"
"It's on fire," Paula interrupts, her eyes trained on the flames that have spread all too quickly throughout the building. "And full of V-types. Although the fire might deal with some of the V-Types."
"The Riders can't be all gone though, right?" Brenda asks, her voice wavering. "They must have escaped."
"Look." I point to the numerous motorcycles all parked outside. "How many do you think there are? Looks like maybe 300? How many do you think escaped, Brenda?"
She shakes her head. "I-I only brought in the yellow-eyed creeper just for laughs!"
Nadia gapes at her. "You did it?"
She ignores her question. "Do they turn into these, then? The yellow eyes?"
"It sounds like it. The V-Types bite corpses and then turn them into ghouls. That's what we call the yellow eyes. And you said the ghoul went all sleepy and growly?"
"It must have been turning full V-Type," I finish, my fingers drumming against my thigh in thought.
Nadia places her hand on Brenda's arm. "I'm sorry for your loss. Even spending a few weeks with the Riders, I could tell there were some who were okay."
"They can't all be gone," She insists.
"Sam, we'll need to throw up a wall around here somehow, or throw acid on it, or... I don't even know!" Paula exclaims, her face twisting. "I can see a flaming V-Types stumbling out of the wreckage already."
"I'll talk to Amelia. I think she's got a contingent for a breakout in New Canton. Involves dumping a ton of concrete from aircraft."
"We need a longer-term solution that just throwing concrete on any V-Type we find," Nadia says. She looks back at the burning hotel. "If they can destroy the Last Riders that easily-"
"Yeah," I say, letting out a breath. "We know. This is the end...
"For all of us."
A/N: Here you go, guys! I hope you liked this chapter! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!