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“Runner Ninety-Eight, today you’re going back to the Abel Settlement. The Major and Janine DeLuca need some tools that are in your pack. It’s too far to run there and back before dark, so you’re bunking in there tonight. We expect you back by noon tomorrow. I’ll keep in touch with you until you hit a mile outside Abel, then Yao should be able to contact you. I’ll let you know if it looks like you’re running into trouble. We’re avoiding town, there’s a building collapsed on main street last week. Too many crawlers.”
Five waved up at the radio tower as they jogged out of New Canton, their hair pulled back and their pack securely fastened. As annoying as it was not living at home – in Abel – their mind corrected, they had to admit that New Canton looked after their runners. Shortly after the outbreak, they’d sent a group of runners to a sports outlet, and picked up every item of running clothes they could find, ensuring that Five – no, Ninety-Eight now – was wearing long, moisture wicking trousers and a long sleeved top that didn’t chafe.
The run was normal, or as normal as the world had turned into. It was coming into winter, and zombies were starting to rot, meaning that the almost constant moaning that had been present since the outbreak was now quieter, and any volume increase was helpful in determining where they were to travel. Nadia stayed quiet on the comms, only speaking to Ninety-Eight when they were going too close to the zombies. They could almost pretend that they were back pre-ZN1 days, before the world had turned grey and when they were one of the best in their regiment. But that way led to dark thoughts.
“Runner Ninety-Eight, Runner Ninety-Eight! You’re within five hundred feet of the Abel transmission. The path ahead looks clear, but it’s four pm and you’ve only got about an hour of daylight left, so get there quickly. You should hear Yao any minute. If you come into difficulty, come back into our range.” With that, Ninety-Eight’s headset went silent, and they continued their run. It only took three minutes before Sam’s voice came into their head.
“Five, is that you? Five? What I wouldn’t give to have my cameras working, but this will do. I can see your dot on the scanner! Hurry up though, we’ve to put the new defences up by hand and they take time. You should be here in around ten minutes, I think. Push the speed if you can?” Sam sounded worried, and Ninety-Eight pushed themselves, making it in just over eight. They bent over when they arrived in what had been the courtyard, breathing heavily, and pulling the heavy pack off their back. It took a few moments, but soon they were able to breathe semi-normally, and they stood up. As that happened, Sam wrapped his arms around them, holding them close.
“Dammit, Five. I missed you.” His voice was low, reminding Ninety-Eight of whispered conversations on the rec room roof, of midnight runs with Sam the only one to talk.
“It…It’s not Five, anymore. I’m Ninety-Eight now.” They looked up, their height difference nearly comical. Ninety-Eight barely reached five foot three, while Sam was over six foot.
“What are you talking about?” His voice was still pitched low, but the volume was increased.
“I arrived in New Canton, and they gave us new numbers. Said it was easier. I liked being Five, though. Five knew how to have fun, how to enjoy themselves. Ninety-Eight just does missions and stays quiet.” They knew, rationally, that they were still Five. But their time in the military had drilled into them that they were not a person. They were a soldier, and soldiers didn’t have names. Just designations.
“Right, come with me.” Sam motioned to them to walk with him, and they did. It was one of the reasons that they and Sam got on so well, that Sam never put any pressure on them. He allowed them to be themselves, and it was such a rare thing that it was wonderful.
Sam knocked on Janine’s front door, and she opened it, a pistol tucked into her pocket. “Sam, Five, come in,” she said, as enthusiastically as Ninety-Eight had ever heard her before.
“Janine, we have a problem. Is the Major around?”
“She’s in the kitchen. What’s happened, Sam?”
Sam strode straight through to the kitchen, where the Major had her hands wrapped around a mug, staring at print outs in front of her.
“Major. Do you remember the one condition for Runner Five to transfer to New Canton for the rebuilding effort?” Sam asked, without any sort of greeting to the older woman.
“Well hello there, Mr. Yao. So nice to see you. How was your day?” Her words were sarcastic, but her tone changed as her eyes fell on Ninety-Eight. “And I remember the condition, Runner Five was to remain Runner Five, and there were to be no changes to their routine. It was the least we could do.” She smiled at Ninety-Eight, but the military bearing of the woman made them uneasy. They knew that she was safe, but they would always be wary around anyone who had ever been in the military, it was a safety behaviour at this point.
“They lied.” Sam’s words sat in the room, sinking into everyone’s mind before he spoke again. “They lied, and changed the designation. So now we have Runner Ninety-Eight here, and I don’t want them going back to New Canton. They need to stay in Abel, with people who care about them. It’s not safe for them there. Five needs to be here.”
Everyone nodded, and the room fell silent for a moment. Ninety-Eight – no. Five. Five. Their name was Five. Five looked up, and gave a sheepish smile, before it disappeared under the fury that was on Janine De Luca’s face.
“Major. Can you inform New Canton that Abel Township needs Runner Five, and they will not be returning to them for the foreseeable future? I’ll show Five upstairs. Mister Yao, there’s a spare bed in your room, is there not?” She paused, giving Sam the briefest moment to nod in the affirmative. “Perfect. Five, come with me, we’ll get you settled. Mister Yao, please find Five’s belongings crate, they could do with some home comforts.” Five and Janine walked up the sturdy stone stairs, and she showed Five into a small-ish room. Janine showed Five where spare bedclothes were, and they made the bed in silence before sitting on it, awaiting Sam’s return.
“Five…I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I had reservations about sending you away, but I thought you were doing so much better. I should have listened to Maxine about it. I’m not going to expect it, but if you can at least work with me I will appreciate it.” Janine’s eyes glittered with unshed tears, and Five realised just how difficult the past few weeks must have been for her. Without even thinking, Five wrapped their arm around her shoulder, pulling her in.
“You have nothing to be forgiven for, Janine. You did what you thought was right. Thank you for bringing me home.”