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Five hummed a series of film themes as she slid chunks of baked potato around a skillet. For just a moment, she was so caught up in hitting the soaring notes and the progress of the snacks sizzling in the pan, that Five was able to forget the world beyond the cramped cafeteria. Outside, the zombie apocalypse was still in full swing, and there was surely an unknown horde approaching from the distance, waiting to stumble across the happy little township. But inside Abel’s walls, some friends were planning to meet for a movie night.
One that started pretty soon, actually; she’d better get moving. Five squinted at the twice-fried potatoes, catching a small morsel on the spatula for a taste test. Considering, she turned to reach over her head to the spice shelf, ignoring the plaintive pull of tired muscles. Five had just gotten back from a supply run – a successful hour and a half round trip that netted a book on animal husbandry and few sports bras – before she’d had to rush to the kitchen to help serve dinner. Maybe she shouldn’t sign up for quite so many job slots around the township, she mused as she tapped paprika over the food and turned off the burner. Now when she actually had fun plans for once.
A few days ago, Eugene had invited Five to join a movie night in the runner’s rec room. Apparently, this was a semi-regular occurrence when electricity supplies were doing well, but this happened to be the first time one since Five arrived, and everyone was sorely in need of a casual night in.
As she transferred chunks of potato from the frying pan to a plate, Five chuckled slightly at her rapid friendship with Eugene. She’d initially mistaken his accent for a US one like hers and had latched onto him in conversation with the enthusiasm of a years-long expat right there in the cafeteria line. She’d thrown out more than a few obscure references before discovering he was actually from the Great White North, to Five’s minor embarrassment. Still, they both had enough common music interests for comfortable cafeteria conversation, and Five much preferred talking to someone she recognized than trying to break into yet another group of people.
In fact, beyond her roommates and Sam, Eugene was probably Five’s first proper friend at Abel. Even the other runners seemed like unknowns, since she always seemed to be assigned solo runs or paired up with Runner Eight. And Five still didn’t trust Sara Smith, given the older woman’s propensity to shoot over Five’s shoulder and question her motives. Methinks the lady doth protest too much, Five thought idly as she headed back towards the runners’ dorms.
After changing into clothes that smelled less of kitchen grease, Five headed for the rec room. She casually placed the plate of twice-fried potatoes in the center of the cluttered coffee table on her way in, looking around for the best place to settle for the movie. Rowan was already there, sprawled sideways across the half-broken recliner that was the lone solo seat in the room, contemplating a half-filled page of her notebook. Some of the other runners were also hanging around the common area. Five recognized the young woman sitting on a cushion under the floor lamp, knitting away at something aggressively pastel-colored. She looked up and greeted Five cheerfully, twin braids sliding back over her shoulders as she did.
“Hey there, Runner Five! Come to join us for movie night?”
“Yeah—Hi, Jody,” Five replied, feeling intense relief as she caught sight of the number 4 stenciled on Jody’s sleeve. Five was so terrible with names that she’d had Cora run her through runner names and numbers the previous night like a vocabulary quiz, even though she saw the same half dozen people at every meal in the cafeteria.
“Oh, good, you found us—and you brought food?” came Eugene’s jovial voice from the doorway. “Like you’re not becoming enough of a celebrity around here, Five!”
Five turned to smile at Eugene, nodding to Jack who was, of course, following close behind. “You’re the celebrity here, radio man,” she answered with measured nonchalance. “And it’s nothing, really, there were just some leftover baked potatoes from dinner. People are getting sick of them, I guess—since they were already marked as expended rations, it was easy to snag them so they didn’t go to waste.”
Rowan had perked up at the mention of food and already swiped one of the potatoes from the tray by the time Five finished speaking. She gave Five a suitably impressed thumbs-up as she reclaimed her reclining chair, earning a satisfied smile from her roommate. “You and your rations,” she teased. “Just say you swiped ‘em, it’d make you sound cooler.”
“Hey, Twenty-Two,” Jack shot good-naturedly at Rowan as he grabbed a chunk for himself. “I see you’ve claimed the Games Master chair again, as usual.”
“If it’s not game night, it’s not a Games Master chair,” Rowan sniffed, earning an eye-rolling smile from most other people in the room.
Jody had also drifted over to investigate the rumor of food, and the growing group chatted comfortably, milling about the coffee table. The rec room was about the size of Five’s pre-apocalypse apartment living room and crammed with twice as much stuff. Five moved out of Jody’s way, taking the chance to snag the seat in the center corner of the vast L-shaped couch that took up most of the small room. Before long, Jody claimed the couch’s arm perpendicular to the television, leaning against the arm to stretch out her long legs towards Five. Five took note and pulled her legs up into a brief butterfly stretch before tucking her legs up to her left side. She could already feel stiffness and fatigue creeping in, but that was a problem for her future self.
Before long, Cora arrived under the arm of her girlfriend, shooting Five a brilliant smile from the doorway. Sam was following behind, holding a DVD case of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade aloft to a chorus of enthusiastic greetings. Sam went to set up the movie while everyone else moved to claim their favorite viewing spots. Jack and Eugene claimed the opposite arm of the couch from Jody, leaning into one another to leave open space directly across from the TV, while Cora and her girlfriend dragged some pillows to the foot of the couch and tangled themselves together. Once the screen thrummed into life, Sam claimed the empty spot, busily pressing buttons on the several remotes scattered across the coffee table. Five shifted slightly to her left to give him a bit more room; the couch wasn’t all that big. A few other runners drifted in, starting their own piles in view of the screen. Five observed this with intrigued surprised – she’d never people fall into platonic piles to watch a movie before. It was a strangely comforting sight.
Once the movie started, the rec room settled into a pleasant hum of running commentary, as everyone had clearly seen the movie before. Occasionally someone—mostly Rowan, at first—would mimic a particularly American-sounding phrase in Five’s direction to a low chorus of snickers. Five found herself smiling at the screen, soaking in the joy of friendly banter and a moment of rest. It was nice to feel normal, just for a while. Five settled further into the pillow behind her, reveling in the chance to take a break, and watched the movie.
Around the time Professor Jones dove out of his office window, Simon came bursting into the rec room. He stood directly in front of the screen for a few moments to a chorus of half-hearted protests as he exaggeratedly searched for a spot to sit. He spotted Jody taking up two couch cushions and moved toward her, high-stepping over a protesting Cora to get there.
“So nice of you to save me a spot, Jody!” he crowed.
“Get your own spot!” Jody complained. “ ‘S not my fault you showed up late!”
Simon ignored her, taking both her ankles in one large hand and lifting them aside, plopping down on the couch cushion directly to Five’s left. Five jostled into Sam by the movement, despite her best efforts, and leaned quickly away with a mutter of apology. Simon dropped Jody’s legs onto his lap with a smirk, and although Jody pretended to scowl at him, she didn’t move away.
“What? I could have just sat on you, you know,” Simon defended himself.
“You wouldn’t, you big oaf!” Jody retorted plaintively. “Look at you, you’re not giving Five any room—this couch is too small for all of us!”
“Aw, Five doesn’t mind, do you, Five?” Simon looked at Five an expression that was such an unexpected mix of cockiness and genuine questioning that Five just shook her head—no, she didn’t mind his proximity at all, as it turns out.
Now Five was shoulder to shoulder with both Sam and Simon. She tried to curl up a little tighter and press a little farther back to make herself as small as possible, but neither of the men really seemed to notice. Simon had busied himself polishing off the snacks in the middle of the table, practically leaning across Five anyway, and Sam’s attention was fixed straight ahead at the screen. Five realized she hadn’t been around this much casual physical contact in…a long time, definitely since before Z-day. She was starting to realize this was the norm around Abel.
Simon interrupted her drifting thoughts by offering Five one of the last chunks of potato, and she took it gratefully, shifting backward more to make a little elbow room around herself. Five was only vaguely constantly aware of how close the orange sweatshirt-clad shoulder was to her right as she tugged her focus back to the movie on the screen ahead of her.
By the time Indy and his estranged father were zooming about on motorbikes, the rec room had gotten much quieter. Five stifled a yawn and looked around to see that almost every other runner had fallen asleep in small, cuddled piles of well-traveled legs and scratched-up arms. Rowan was lounging sideways across the recliner, scribbling in her notebook by the inconsistent light of the screen and no longer pretending to be paying attention. As Five looked up, Jody drifted out at some point with a wide yawn.
Simon immediately spread out to take up the space she’d initially occupied, turning to recline looking at the screen. With a quick glance of askance, seized upon Five’s legs, still folded to her left, as a suitable pillow to prop his head up. Five squirmed slightly, trying to find the most comfortable position without jostling him. Five stifled another yawn and pulled her gaze away from Simon, focusing deliberately on the TV again. Her eyes felt dry, her eyelids stubbornly heavy as lead, but Five was determined to stay awake.
“You can always just push him off,” Sam observed suddenly from Five’s right shoulder. He’d been chatting sporadically with Jack and Eugene throughout the movie, and the three of them seemed the only ones still fully alert besides Five. “Once Simon’s asleep, he won’t notice.”
Five resisted the urge to arch an eyebrow and ask Sam how he knew. “He doesn’t talk in his sleep, does he? We’re not going to find out he’s secretly a Nazi zombie?” she whispered instead, referencing one of Sean Connery’s lines from the film. Sam’s face positively lit up. An answering smile leaped to Five’s face without her bidding.
“Did you know that line was improvised? Totally on the spot! I mean, what else would you expect from James Bond, I mean, really…” Sam chattered on, and Eugene joined in as Jack pretended to roll his eyes in Five’s direction. As the scene went on, conversations began to drift in and out again along with Five’s focus. She hadn’t felt so at peace for a while now. And it had been such a long day…
Five wasn’t exactly sure when she had stopped paying attention. All she knew was she was suddenly blinking at the sight of Indy trying to outrun a tank on horseback through a desert with a distinct feeling of disorientation. She looked around, a little embarrassed, but her nap had not gone unnoticed. Jack had caught Five’s eye from his and Eugene’s end of the couch and grinned at her victoriously. She noticed suddenly the cushion to her right was empty.
“Guess you’re officially a runner now,” Jack crowed. Five pulled a face of utter confusion.
“There’re two universal rules about runners,” Eugene explained while Jack nodded sagely along. “The first is they’re all insane adrenaline junkies. Like, they’d jump off a cliff without anyone even daring them to, if they can justify it as getting away from a zom—”
“And the second,” Jack interrupted impatiently, “Is you sit a runner down somewhere comfortable for more than half an hour, and they’re out like a light.”
Five wanted to protest, but the evidence was stacked against her. She felt a tinge of irritation at the fatigue that had become her constant companion, but there was also a low sense of pride at being called "a runner." She’d worked herself up to longer runs than she’d expected of herself in just a few months, which seemed to be some sort of progress. So in lieu of a response, Five just shrugged sheepishly.
Jack and Eugene had barely finished the explanation before Sam returned with a small bundle of blankets under his arm. He tossed one at Eugene and Jack, who pulled the knitted red fabric over themselves and resettled closer to one another.
Sam seemed surprised to see Five looking up at him. “Sorry, Five, didn’t mean to wake you. I was just fetching a few blankets—do you want one? I grabbed a spare. I thought you might be cold, since you were all curled up…” he trailed off and tilted the stack towards Five, a hopeful expression on his face.
Five realized it had indeed gotten cooler in the room as night fell, although her face certainly felt warm. She smiled shyly and took the top blanket from the pile, a blue fleece thing that was clearly well-worn. “Thanks, Sam,” she said, her voice coming out a little higher than she expected. Five cleared her throat a little, to clear the sleep from it.
Five leaned forward slightly to tuck the blanket around herself, covering the portion of her still-folded legs not occupied by Simon’s head before slipping her arms underneath and tucking the material close under her chin. Once she settled, she noticed Sam was still looking at her. He blinked a few times, an expression on his face Five couldn’t identify before he caught Five’s eye and sat back down.
“What?” Five asked defensively, suddenly worried whether it was weird to cocoon oneself in blankets in public.
“No, it’s—nothing,” Sam responded quickly. “Just, that was—weirdly cute, you know, from someone I watched smash a zom’s head in earlier today.” Eugene snorted suddenly at the same moment Simon piped up from the vicinity of Five’s feet.
“Yes, positively adorable,” he complained crankily. “Now, d’you mind staying still? ‘M trying to get my beauty sleep here.”
Five sarcastically patted the top of Simon’s surprisingly soft toffee-colored curls in apology before rolling her eyes at a snickering Jack, and Eugene. Comfortably warm now, Five indulged herself in leaning her head back against the couch, less concerned with appearing alert at this point now that the not-sleeping ship had sailed. She really was cozy, even if the phrase weirdly cute was echoing loudly through her brain…
The triumphant trumpets of John Williams’ score filtered into Five’s consciousness, and she roused just in time to see Indiana Jones literally riding off into the sunset. With an internal groan, she realized she must have fallen asleep again. Five raised her head from where it was leaned against Sam’s shoulder to see if anyone else was up, noticing it had gotten a lot darker—
She raised her head from where it was leaned against Sam’s shoulder.
Five practically heard the blood rush to her face and had to stop herself from bolting upright and whacking Sam under the chin.
Oh, God, they’re all going to think I’m so rude. We barely know each other, oh, no, he’s going to think I’m totally weird—
“Oh, Five, you’re up!” came Sam’s decidedly unoffended voice. “I swear, I didn’t move a muscle this time. I guess you’re a pretty light sleeper, eh?”
Five slowly straightened, praying his joviality meant Sam hadn’t noticed her leaning against him after all. Maybe she’d woken up just as she’d leaned over, and it hadn’t been long…
Against all instinct to be nonchalant, Five couldn’t help but glance sideways at Sam to gauge his reaction. He grinned at her—or was he smirking at her? Had she already made a fool of herself?
“Sorry,” Five mumbled, against her better judgment. “If I was in your space—for falling asleep, I didn’t mean to, I just…”
Five trailed off. Sam looked both immensely pleased and uncertain, although that really didn’t make much sense.
“It’s okay,” he said. “You weren’t—I mean, if you wanted to—I mean…anytime.”
Mercifully, a sharp elbowing movement between Jack and Eugene caught Five’s eye and the terribly awkward moment was broken.
“Well,” Five said with mock cheerfulness, before realizing she was surrounded by sleeping figures and probably being much too loud. “Do you guys usually just do the one movie, or…?”
“Yeah,” Eugene answered, throwing Five a lifeline. “All the runners are usually asleep by now, so there’s not much point in wasting power on a marathon most nights.”
Five nodded, realizing how uncomfortable sitting in one position for nearly two hours had actually been. She reached behind her for a throw pillow and, imitating a certain archaeologist, carefully slid it under Simon’s head as she pulled her legs away to free herself from the weight. She tried to stand up, but her legs had stiffened up completely and refused to extend properly. Overbalancing, she threw one arm out to her right to feel Sam grip her wrist and steady her.
“Alright there, Five?” he asked, with a note of concern.
If Five hadn’t been blushing before, she was sure she was now. “I’m fine! Just…didn’t stretch enough I guess,” she answered with a breezy laugh, straightening up quickly. “Sorry.”
Sam just flashed Five a reassuring smile and released her arm to go fiddle with the DVD setup. Five stood and stretched, determinedly not meeting the pointed gazes of Jack or Eugene and trying not to notice the residual warmth at her wrist. At least none of the other runners were awake to witness her fail at standing. Five busied herself folding the blankets, hoping to delay enough for the moment to pass. Eventually, three yawns in quick succession forced her hand.
“Well…I should probably head to bed,” Five said reluctantly, worried they’d think her eager to leave when that couldn’t be further from the truth. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought. Thanks for the invite, Eugene.”
Eugene just waved Five off dismissively. “Invitation’s automatic from now on. I’m sure lots of people were glad to have you here…”
Five laughed nervously and carefully picked her way through the runners draped at the ends of the couch. She hesitated at the door, clutching at the blue blanket.
“Um…Sam?” she ventured. “Where do I put this? You can just give me directions, I’ll find it—”
Sam stood up quickly, snapping shut the DVD case louder than probably necessary. “I can show you! Really, it’s no trouble. It’s just the next building over, the laundry storage…”
Before Five could protest, Sam swept past, leading her out of the room. She glanced back into the rec room at both of her sleeping roommates before hurrying after Sam to avoid losing him.
Sam’s enthusiastic chatter faded as the pair departed, leaving Jack and Eugene the last two left awake in the rec room. Once the credits finished, Eugene grabbed the remote from the table to switch off the television. He nudged Jack gently with an elbow and tilted his head in the direction Five and Sam had left.
“So, Simon or Sam?” Eugene asked with a grin.
Jack looked confused for a moment. “What, and Runner Five?” he responded eventually, a bit bewildered. He glanced pointedly at Simon, dead asleep and snoring slightly, sprawled across the couch.
“You can’t tell me there aren’t, you know, vibes going on there,” Eugene whispered.
“’Vibes’?” Jack mouthed back in gentle mocking. Still, he made a show of pondering deeply as stretched widely. “I mean. Five’s never said anything about her life before, so how do you know she’d even be interested? Still, I wouldn’t put it past Simon to make a move.”
Eugene stifled a laugh as he got up, dropping the blanket he and Eugene had been using on top of an uncovered heap of runners on the floor. “Simon makes a move on everybody,” he said, keeping his voice low as he and Jack headed out of the rec room. “That doesn’t count.”
“Exactly,” Jack said smugly. “Foolproof logic.” Eugene flipped the light switch, leaving the half dozen dozing runners in darkness. “Besides, can you imagine Sam's stammering at a confession?” The pair dissolved into stifled giggles.
“I wonder which will figure it out first,” Eugene mused as they made their way out of the runners’ dorm.
“And I wonder when you became such a gossipy old lady,” Jack joked with a gentle shoulder shove.
“Hey, hey, I’m just doing my duty as a journalist here,” Eugene protested with mock indignation. “The social dynamics of our runners—and radio operators, I guess—are an important thing to keep an eye on.”
Jack rolled his eyes, and their good-natured banter followed Jack and Eugene out of the dorm, leaving the building in the comfortable quiet of sleeping runners.