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“Oh god, I would never want to survive the zombie apocalypse! Can you imagine?”
Five smiled slightly and picked up an old, tattered photograph from the pile of blankets that she had been using as a bed. It had been taken about four years prior, when she wasn’t yet Runner Five. When she still had a name. The photo was of her – the old her – and three of her best friends in their bathing suits at a lake. The weekend had been full of drinking and smoking and plenty of laughter. She recalled with a smile how the ladder to the pier had broken under the weight of the four of them and the six football players who had paddled over to see them.
She could see that one of her friends had already began to turn red from the sun, and recalled that it would be one of the worst burns of their life. Her friend had taken it in stride, saying that even a third degree burn was worth a weekend of fun with their best friends.
After the sun had set, the four of them sat around a campfire, drinking beer and swapping stories when someone brought up the strangely popular topic of a zombie apocalypse. At the time it had been a laugh (“A real zombie apocalypse, can you imagine?” “Why is this such a popular topic right now anyway? Zombies are so gross, and Dawn of the Dead wasn’t even that good…”) but it had turned into an all too grim reality just a few months later.
“Five?” came a voice from outside the door of her shared bunk. “Runner Five? You in there?” She gently set the photo down next to her mangled copy of the fourth Harry Potter book and walked to the door to greet the speaker.
“Yeah, Sam,” she called, opening the door with a creak. Well, they called it a door, but it was more just a piece of plywood held on by a couple of rusty hinges. He grinned when he saw her, dressed and ready for her mission, and threw an arm around her shoulders.
“Great! You ready for today? Shouldn’t be too hard, but still,” he explained. He continued to ramble on until they reached the Comms Shack. He handed her a headset, they did the regular adjustments, and Five jogged for the gates.
“I mean, think about it. First off, you’d have to live without most of your modern conveniences. Seriously, I can live without wifi if you make me, but toothpaste and toilet paper? No way!.”
“Alllllright, Five,” she heard Sam’s voice through her headset, more robotic than in real life. “Like I was saying before, simple mission today. There’s a shop that’s recently been green lit and we’re going to be the first to check it out. Well, I hope we will be. We’re running desperately low on deodorant and, no offense Five, but you don’t exactly smell like roses after runs. Plus, Janine has asked for a few other basic necessities – toothpaste and toothbrushes, floss, soap, toilet paper, other stuff like that. Annddd good! You’ve got the big duffel today, you’ll need it!”
Five grinned as she heard his familiar voice call, “RAISE THE GATES!” out the Comms Shack window. What she wouldn’t do for a whole tube of toothpaste at that point! She had never known just how much she appreciated the minty freshness of a clean mouth until she couldn’t brush her teeth every night. And toilet paper! Imagine not having to wipe her bum with leaves or rags for once! It would be heaven!
She darted past a couple of rattling bushes, made her way swiftly around a field that she and Sam both knew was ridden with crawlers, and soon found herself in the outskirts of a nearby abandoned town. Sam directed her down a few deserted streets until she reached a large shopping complex that they hadn’t yet explored. She peered through the oversized windows at the displays advertising luxurious fragrances and make-up and candy and a plethora of things that she had loved before the apocalypse.
But there wasn’t nearly enough daylight to collect all of them and her bag wasn’t nearly big enough to warrant a 120 pack of crayons. After a few short minutes of longing gazes and reminiscing on Sam’s part, Five found the door to the shop. She pushed it open as a loud DING echoed through the shop.
“Plus, you obviously couldn’t stay where you are. And if you set out with a group, chances are that at least some of you won’t make it. And if they do get bitten, who would have to kill them before they turn into a zombie? You would.”
The first few minutes went off without a hitch. Five piled necessities into the duffle and even managed to grab a few spare travel bags to fill. She was reaching for yet another 100-count box of tampons when she heard it. The same metallic, shrill DING echoed through the store, yet this time sounding significantly more sinister.
As quickly and quietly as she could, Five darted behind a large, sturdy display shelf. When she heard the familiar groans of the undead, she peered out from behind the shelf. “It’s all right, Five,” Sam reassured her. “There’s only one, and she doesn’t seem to have noticed you. Probably was nearby when the bell sounded. There should be a display of baseball bats on the next floor. Grab the sturdiest one you can find and… well, you know what to do.”
Five followed his instructions without a second thought. She had learned that it was usually best to trust Sam. Even if he could be a complete idiot at times, when lives were on the line he was always reliable. Well, usually.
Silently, she made her way to the second floor and found the display. She wanted to crack a joke about feeling like George Brett or something, but was stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she reached the bottom of the staircase.
The best part about Abel being a good distance from Mullins was that she hadn’t known anyone in the surrounding area at the time of the outbreak. Because of that, she had been fortunate enough not to run into any familiar-faced zombies for the past few years.
Well, she thought that she hadn’t known anyone in the area.
The zom was glancing her up and down, looking like she was ready for dinner. Five couldn’t move. She recognized that long, dark hair, the pale skin with a smattering of freckles across the nose, the zom was even wearing her friend’s favorite t-shirt. Half of the hair was missing along with a good chunk of the zoms skull and they were covered in smudges of dirt and blood from head to toe, but Five still knew.
It was her friend, the one who had been so badly sunburned at the lake. The one who had jokingly started the conversation about the apocalypse. The one who she had always been able to count on to cheer her up. The friend who had not once let her down. The friend she had abandoned and assumed dead.
She was right in front of Five, stumbling toward her, arms outstretched and mouth wide. Five thought she heard Sam say something through her headset, but she only recognized static.
Five quietly called a her friend’s name, voice quivering. She would have given anything, everything, for the zom to stop and grin up at her. They would have hugged and laughed about how gullible Five was, ruffling her hair in the process. Then they could have raided the alcohol shop next-door and made their way back home for a night by the bonfire.
That’s what Five wished would have happened. But it didn’t.
“And afterward you have to basically rebuild civilization from the ground up. Not to mention that you’d probably be half mad by that point from all you’d been through.”
Her friend looked at her with lifeless eyes, still shuffling slowly toward her. “Listen, Five. I know you can hear me. Please, just… god, please get out of there. I don’t know who she was, and I don’t know who she was to you, but she’s not them any more…” Sam’s voice echoed in her ear, bringing her back to reality. “Please just listen to me. You have to get out of there! Just… just, please. You have to come home! If you can’t kill it, it’s all right. Just run around and head home, Five, please!”
Five swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at her friend – no, the zom - Five looked at the zom and swung.
The first swing cracked open the rest of the skull, splattering bits of brain and blood across the floor. The second sent the zom falling to the floor, taking off her jaw. The third smashed in the gaping mouth and stopped the groaning. By the fourth swing, the zom was far past dead.
Five kept on swinging through the tears that she hadn’t noticed falling, quickly losing count of the blows. She hammered down on the lifeless, decayed body with the frustration she had kept pent up since the outbreak. Zombie guts splattered across the room, coating shelving and displays in rotting and decayed flesh.
“I mean, everyone has these great survival plans nowadays, but… You’d have no friends, no family, no home… I just don’t think it’s worth it, surviving.
By the time Five could hear past the roar of adrenaline in her ears, Janine was shouting orders. “Runner Five! Listen to me, Runner Five! Cease your attack immediately!” She could hear the woman’s stark voice through her headset, “Runner Five! Continuing to spread infected material around could increase your chance of infection. I order you to… oh, thank god.”
There was a bit of jostling and Sam’s voice came back though. “Five? Five! Are you alright?” she didn’t give him an answer. She couldn’t answer. She wasn’t alright, and she wasn’t entirely sure if she would ever be alright again. “Please, come home. You can forget the supplies if you need to, we’ll send someone out later to pick them up. Just come back as fast as you can.”
She chose to ignore the voice of Janine in the background saying something about vital supplies and the mission being in vain. Without another glance back, Five picked up the three bags laden with supplies and slung them over her shoulders. She turned toward Abel and broke into a steady jog. She was heading home.
Because, well, what kind of life is it that you’re left with?”