Chapter Text
Five made her way through Abel, walking just a bit ahead of her two roommates, excitement quickening her pace. As usual, Cora was smiling, waving at other residents of Abel headed towards the farm area. Rowan looked less enthusiastic, but had carefully dressed for field work anyway.
Five breathed in deeply, trying to gather up as much of the autumnal air as she could. The dusty smell of freshly-fallen leaves tickled the back of her nose. Before the apocalypse, she had always loved fall—or autumn, as all the Brits around her like to correct her. Five loved everything about the season—cozy baked goods in a world with easy access to spices and flour, being able to see the faintest outlines of her breath in the morning, the air of excitement leading into the holidays. She’d loved to walk through forests for hours, back then, until the bright colors of the trees ran together in her memory. Safe within the walls of Abel, Five didn’t have to worry about the crunching in protest beneath her feet. If she’d been out on a mission, though…
Fall looked different in a post-Z world. Most of the usual holiday luxuries were gone, stripped away in favor of survival and longer hours in the fields to bring in as much of the harvest as they could. Crunching leaves were useful to pinpoint the location of approaching zombies, sure, but there was no way for the runners to move through them quietly, either. The forest runs Five had loved taking on supply runs in the spring had turned even more dangerous than usual. Most of the runners had grown to hate one of the most pervasive sounds of fall.
Just one more thing the zombie apocalypse had taken away.
Five shook her head at herself firmly. Don’t think about that right now. There’ll be plenty of time for that later.
Right now, it was time for the pumpkin harvest.
Abel only had a small crop of pumpkins, tucked away in a corner of one of the potato fields. Janine had resisted the idea of planting any pumpkins at all, citing the low amount of nutritional return for the amount of care and watering they required. Sam had worked so hard to convince Janine of their value for morale—“Think of the kids!” he’d cried, “You can’t deny them the whole pumpkin patch experience when they live on a literal farm!” Five didn’t have the heart to tell Sam that, based on the frequency with which Sara could be found gardening along the borders of this particular field, he might not have been the only one to make her change her mind.
Still, Janine had indeed relented, saying that people were welcome to each pick their own pumpkin as long as they delivered the innards to the kitchens. Now there were about four dozen orange-yellow gourds scattered across the half-acre of earth Five and her roommates now approached. The site was already swarming with other residents of Abel. Just as Sam had said, pretty much all of the children were out, chasing each other between the rows or hunting for the biggest, yellowest, prettiest, or bumpiest pumpkin of the lot. Their parents mostly hung in a loose knot off to the side, talking happily.
In a post-Z world, even the smallest bits of orangey brightness made a world of difference.
When the trio reached their destination, they immediately split up as if they had planned it. Cora was drawn to the makeshift face-painting booth one of the schoolteachers had set up with some donated makeup, eager to help with the loose line of chattering kids. Rowan had been assigned to farm duty that day, so she had already started heading towards the toolshed. Five just headed for the pumpkins, trying to find the perfect one.
About a row in, she looked up to see Ed a few yards away, pointing at her. Much to Five’s embarrassment, he’d taken to pointing Five out to Molly at any opportunity. He’d told Five once that he wanted Molly to be able to recognize the person who had saved both of their lives. At the time, Five had blushed so hard she couldn’t respond, but she’d be a liar if she said she didn’t have an especially soft spot for the little girl. Ed noticed Five had seen them and waved, so Five picked her way across the row of crops towards them.
“Hi, Molly!” Five chirped. “Hi, Ed! Are you guys gonna pick out a pumpkin?”
Molly nodded shyly up at Five with a smile that melted the runners’ heart. Five squatted down onto her heels to get closer to her level, then examined the nearest pumpkin with exaggerated seriousness. “What do you think about this one, huh? Looks nice and orange. Should we look for one that’s bigger? Or smaller?”
“Bigger!” Molly shouted, tapping the top of the pumpkin with one tiny hand.
Ed and Five laughed at the child’s enthusiasm.
“That’s only because I’m the one who’s going to have to carry it, Molly,” Ed said with a pretend grimace at Five.
“Well it’s a good thing we’ve only got manageable-sized pumpkins around here, then,” Five responded, standing back up to survey the field. “Kind of a shame, really. I was hoping there’d be at least one giant one. I’m always looking for the ‘great pumpkin, Charlie Brown!’”
Ed looked at her oddly. “Who?”
Five’s eyes widened. “Who—you mean Charlie Brown? Is that not a thing in the UK?”
Ed shrugged. “The cartoon, yeah? I’ve heard of him, but I’m not sure what he has to do with pumpkins…Molly, don’t try to grab that—let me pick those up for you, yeah?”
A rounder, yellower pumpkin the next row over had caught Molly’s eye, and she’d darted over to start grabbing at it in the way only small children do. Ed smiled briefly at Five before leaving to follow his daughter. Five waved at him and continued in the opposite direction.
A half dozen pumpkin examinations later, Five caught sight of a friendly face at the corner of a field.
“Sam!” Five called, breaking out into a grin and jogging over to him. She caught her enthusiasm just as she reached him and self-consciously slowed her steps to what she thought was a more casual pace and tried to tease him instead. “You’re blending in the with pumpkins especially well today.”
Sam had smiled at Five’s approach as well, although he looked a little puzzled at the jibe until he realized he was referring to his trademark orange hoodie.
“Well, you know me, Five, always gotta be in season,” he responded, wishing he’d thought of something cleverer to say. Five was clearly excited about something, and Sam was finding it hard to tear his focus away from her unrestrained grin.
“Have you heard of “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown?” Five asked as they fell into step walking down one of the rows.
“No?” Sam said quizzically, wondering if this was some sort of a test. “I mean, I’ve sort of heard of the phrase, but I’m not really sure what you mean.”
“Oh, man, it really must just be an American thing!” Five said. “I can’t believe you guys don’t have it here—it’s so good, it’s so sweet! It’s this cartoon of the comic strip characters, you know, Charlie Brown, and it’s Halloween…” Five was chattering excitedly, and had moved a few steps ahead so she could turn to Sam and gesture broadly at the pumpkin patch. “And the kids are trick-or-treating, except Linus, who’s waiting for the Great Pumpkin, so all the other kids—oh, I don’t want to spoil it!”
Sam laughed. “I’m not sure that will matter, I’m not sure if we’d have a copy of it.”
“Oh, but you’ve got to—it’s super old, it was on for ever before the apocalypse. Surely someone’s got a backup, do you think?” Five looked a bit wistful, and Sam was suddenly determined to hunt down whatever cartoon it was she was talking about.
“Well, look – how about we look for it in the rec room?” Sam asked tentatively. “We can grab our pumpkins and see if we’ve got a copy?”
Five literally bounced on the spot with excitement before she could stop herself. “That’d be great! And if not,” she conceded. “I’m sure we can find something else to watch?” The look on her face was hopeful and happy.
Five realized maybe all the joy of the season hadn’t gone, after all.