Chapter 3
One week. Five was crawling out of her skin. She had been on comms with Sam for the duration of her mandatory rest. She nearly launched herself off her chair guiding Louise and Amelia through a meet-up with Exmoor Militia. She dug scratches into the backs of her hands as she sat helpless while Tom and Janine ran through a nuclear power station, wiping away tears as Sam got Tom to open up about his past.
"Jesus, Sam." Five said as they turned off coms when Tom and Janine returned. "How do you just sit here and listen all the time? How do you not go crazy?" Sam shrugged.
"I'm not as strong as you, Five. I'm no runner. I'm an observer. It's different for me."
Five squeezed Sam's hand and kissed him on the cheek.
"You are strong, Sam. Stronger than you think."
The next day, Five had a chance to listen in on some communication devices Steve planted in Abel. Things were not better there. If anything, they were worse. Kytan was continuing a partnership with Ian over a promise not to hurt Cameo anymore. Which, of course, was a promise Ian wasn’t keeping. Five had to get back out in the field or she was going to lose her mind.
She burst through the door of Maxine’s office a solid 15 minutes before her scheduled time.
“Can we start early?” Maxine just sighed.
“Come on, Five. Let’s get you checked out.”
Maxine took her time poking and proding. Every time she asked if something hurt she had to watch Five’s face carefully for non-verbal signs of pain, knowing full well that her verbal answer was always going to be, “No.”
Finally, after an excruciatingly long time, Maxine silently walked to her desk and scratched out a note, which she carefully folded and presented to Five.
“Take this to Janine.”
“Am I cleared?”
“Just take that to Janine. And Five…be careful.” Five grinned. She knew that could only mean one thing. She bounced off the exam table, tossed her shirt back on over her sports bra and ran down the hall.
“Janine!” Five opened the office door without even knocking. Janine visibly jumped in her chair.
“Runner Five! What is the matter?”
“A note.” Five stopped for a moment to catch her breath. “A note from Maxine.”
Janine opened the note and Five watched her eyes run back and forth over the writing.
“Mmmm.” She hummed, folded the note, and returned to the paperwork she had been working on. Five bounced up and down on her toes.
“Well?”
“You mean to tell me you didn’t read what Dr. Myers wrote?” Janine looked up, surprised. Five froze.
“I….No. I guess I didn’t.”
“Too bad.” Janine mused.
“Are you teasing me?” The corners of Janine’s mouth moved upward. “You finally learn to tease others and this is how you’re using it?”
“I can’t think of a better way.” She sat back in her chair. “Would you like to know what the note said?”
“Yes, please.”
“It says that despite great concerns about your mental health, she recommends a return to the field.”
Five jumped up and down. “Ha! Yes!”
“She continued,” Janine shouted over Five’s celebration. “By saying that you should not be out in the field alone and that you should be assigned to the least dangerous missions. But she is worried that keeping you in will do more harm than letting you out. Sounds like she’s talking about a wild animal.” Janine muttered. She glanced at Five, who was doing some kind of dance. “Not far off, I think.”
“I’m going to go tell Sam!” Five bounded off. Janine looked after her, shaking her head.
“Runners. Crazy. The lot of them.”
Five’s first mission since her return was scheduled for the next day. Five was waiting in the lobby by the elevator, a good 10 minutes before everyone else. Sam was waiting with her, fussing over her headset.
“And you’re sure there’s no static?” He put one finger on her earpiece and inexplicably stuck his other finger in her other ear.
“What the -'' Five sharply moved her head away, freeing Sam’s finger from her ear. “What the hell was that for?”
“I honestly have no idea. But you’re sure everything feels right?”
“Sam! Yes. Stop being a mother hen.”
“I can’t help it.” He put his arms around her. “I’m nervous.” She returned the hug.
“I know. But I’ll be fine.”
This had to be hard for Sam. The worst part was that he wasn’t allowed to be on comms. Without Five in the field, Janine had been running many of the more dangerous missions, leaving Sam to monitor comms by himself. He was in desperate need of a rest break. This was going to be a simple, quick, in and out mission - recovering a box requested by Exmoor Militia. They would be in a billionaire’s mansion during a swanky party. There were rumors that he collected pop culture items. Five had teased Sam about it earlier, saying Janine probably didn't want him on comms because he'd never stop talking about the collections.
In the end, though, everyone knew the real unspoken reason Sam wasn’t going to be leading the mission today. Five needed to prove herself out there without Sam’s nerves overcorrecting anything that could go wrong. Despite all of Sam’s protests, even he knew this was for the best.
“Your first time out and I have to trust you in the hands of someone else.”
“Yeah, but the someone else is Jody. She won’t let anything happen to me.”
“Your running partners are Amelia and Louise, Five. Could there be two more impulsive -” Five cut him off with a kiss. It had been days since his touch caused any spark of fear or triggered any memories of Abel. When they finally broke apart, Five pulled him in and whispered in his ear.
“I am never leaving on a mission again without letting you know how much I absolutely love you.”
“I was hoping you’d stop after ‘never leaving on a mission again’ but I suppose I’ll take it.” Five playfully pushed him away. “Also, I love you too.”
“And if anyone threatens me out there,” Five stuck up her middle finger. “I’ll let them know who I have to come home for.”
Sam grabbed her hand and it seemed like he was going to pull her back in, but Louise and Amelia were rounding the corner.
“I’m telling you, Lou, tails would have been far more appropriate for this mission.”
“And hide all this?” As they came into view, Louise was moving in front of Amelia. “Please. That would be a waste.”
“That is quite a view.” Amelia raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t know if I’m more worried about the people at that party or those two.”
“Oh, Sam. She’ll be in very good hands.” Amelia said. Sam blushed and opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came out. It was just as well, as Janine was also coming around the corner.
“Mr. Yao. Miss Marsh is in comms already. It’s time for you to go.”
“Yeah. I know.” He squeezed Five’s hand as he hadn’t dropped it yet. “Please…come home.”
“Absolutely.” She said.
“Mr. Yao.” Janine warned.
“I’m going, I’m going.” He finally dropped her hand and walked down the hall. His head was still turned, watching Five as Amelia and Louise put on their own headsets. He bumped into the wall with a loud bang.
“Oh. Uh….I’m going.”
“Awww, look at him go.” chuckled Five. “Moving at his embarrassed pace.”
“All right, guys. Tell me what you’re seeing?” The run out to the mansion had been relatively uneventful, save for Jody and Amelia’s constant bickering.
“You know what we’re seeing, Jody. Ahead of us is Brackenridge Oates Hall, where a party is in full swing. The box we need is in that building. I’m rather surprised none of you have thought to ask what the box is and whether it might be worth more to us than our allies.” Amelia answered.
“Yeah, well. We don’t betray everyone we meet, unlike you, Amelia. The Exmoor Militia told us where to come but that whole place has state of the art security.”
“Awww, thanks!” Louise interrupted.
“Security which Louise here set up.” Jody finished.
“I had a stint trying to go straight.”
“Didn’t work then?” Amelia asked.
“Never has done.” Louise winked.
“So Lou’s the perfect person to get us through. Five, you and Amelia need to set up bafflers through the building. Meanwhile, Lou, you need to get the new security code from…Minxie Arcane? Is that a name?”
“Oh, that’s more than a name. That’s a manifesto. It was her that employed me to set up this security.” Louise purred.
“You think you can get that code from her?” Amelia sounded skeptical.
“Why do you think I’m wearing a tux?” Louise flashed her most flirtatious grin.
“Oh.” Amelia pouted. “I rather hoped it was for me. Though I’d love to see you in it, Jody.”
“Are you going to be like this all evening?” Jody responded, unimpressed.
“Like what? I’m a loyal member of Abel Township in exile, doing my best for the good of humanity.”
Five, Jody, and Louise all burst into laughter.
“Oh, I needed a good laugh.” Jody tried to compose herself. “All right. Okay. Umm…the hall in front of you is full of rich people who have been living a never-ending party since the apocalypse started. The security setup is amazing, which is how they’ve stayed safe for so long, and they’ve been trading biotech resources and medicine for everything they need. On Day Zero, it was owned by a billionaire with eccentric decorating taste. That’s all Exmoor Militia have told us.”
“Huh. Interesting." Amelia was rolling her eyes.
“What?” Five glared at Amelia.
“Is it interesting?" Asked Jody. "I’m expecting we have some gold zebra heads to look forward to. We don’t have much time before the security guards do another sweep. You’ve got to get in there and get moving. Run!”
“You all go place those bafflers while I do a little baffling of my own with that guard.” Lou crooned and went off in a different direction.
“She’s a spark plug, that one.” Amelia mused.
“Ugh. Come on.” Five grabbed the baffler from her backpack and held it at the ready. “Let’s go get this in place.”
Amelia and Five entered the mansion just after the guards passed by the main entryway. They quickly placed the baffler and hid in a small inlet under the grand staircase.
“The first baffler’s in position,” Amelia whispered into her mic. “Lou was right about the guard timings. We’re safe for now. We glued it to the underside of this giant sphinx, which is here because of course it is.”
Silence.
“Jody? Are you there? Are you looking?” Five asked, panic threatening to overtake her.
“What?” Jody snapped. “I’m not looking!”
Amelia and Five shared a questioning glance.
“I have the sense there’s something she’s not telling us.” Amelia grinned.
“Oh, uh. It’s just…I mean. I had my eyes on…no. I….Lou has got to work getting the code.”
“Oooh! I could do with some entertainment. Patch us in.” Amelia clapped her hands in excitement.
“I don’t know if that’s….uh…”
“Unless there’s some reason you want to watch it privately?” Amelia teased.
There was a small beep and static. Louise’s voice came through the headset.
“Minxie, eh? Minxie Arcane. You know, I’ve always wanted to know if that story about you was true.” A giggle. A slow exhale. Low whispers. The sound of a zipper. “Oh, I see. Ooh. That is very impressive.”
Static. Silence.
“What? What’s impressive? You can’t just leave us there, Jody!” Amelia sulked.
“There’s…been a lot of…that.” Jody stammered. “But you have to be in position before the next set of guards run through. Run east. Go!”
Amelia begrudgingly got up, Five beside her. They quickly made their way to their next planned stop, Five picturing the hand drawn sketch from Exmoor in her head.
“Ah! Wait. Here we go. I have cams. We’re getting into their systems. Oh. My. God. You’re in the Millennium Falcon!” Jody went on and on about movie sets. Five was half listening, and half imagining how different this mission would have been with Sam. Janine was right to keep him off this one. He would have gone absolutely crazy over all of this. She smiled and let out a soft chuckle. She looked over and saw Amelia giving her an “are you crazy?” look.
“What mad genius collected all these things?” Jody was finishing. Amelia huffed.
“I don’t think you’d have to be mad, or a genius, just quite determined. And have a lot of money. Basically, all the money. If you have literally all the money, you get quite creative about how to spend it after awhile.” Five peeked over at Amelia. She knows something. “Anyway, how’s Louise getting on?”
“Do I have to?”
“Oh! You’re shy! Are you blushing?”
“No.” Jody responded, maybe a little too quickly. She switched over the transmission.
More sighing. More giggling. Rustling sounds. A soft thump of something (someone?) pressing up against a wall.
“Now Minxie.” Louise’s voice was like satin. “You haven’t gotten the code to the east wing of the gallery, have you? It’s just…there’s something I need. I can make it worth your while.” Another thump. A sigh. A moan.
Silence.
“You keep turning it off at the good bits, Jody - you tease! I hope you’re keeping tapes.”
“We don’t have time for distractions, Amelia. Louise’ll meet you at the locked entrance to the east wing in a few minutes. You need to run. Now!”
Amelia and Five took off down another hall. Five wasn’t moving as quickly as she normally would. She was mesmerized by the gold artifacts lining the walls, the brilliant paintings, the rhinestones and gems adorning showcases. Amelia found herself having to pull Five by the arm.
“Come on, Five. What are you, a bloody tourist?”
“I can’t help it, Amelia. It’s all so…grand.”
“Yes, yes. Just keep moving.” Amelia sighed, unimpressed. They turned a corner and heard a sharp whisper.
“Five, Amelia! Over here!”
“Goodness Louise, your tuxedo really is quite disheveled. I think you’d probably better give a full report to Jody on how that happened when our mission is complete.”
“No.” Jody responded. “Please don’t.”
“Oh, don’t worry, J.” Louise was laughing. “I never give anything to anyone who doesn’t want it. But - the mission is only partially complete. That box the Exmoor Militia wants should be in there. Just need to put the code in.” She fiddled with the security system box by a heavy wooden door. There were a few beeps and the door swung open.
“Woah.” Jody, Five, and Louise all breathed.
“Oh, God. That’s a bit showy, isn’t it? Even for him.” Five squinted and gave Amelia a sidelong glance. She absolutely knows this guy.
“You might not want to admire the view for long.” Jody broke in. “There’s someone on your tail, a woman. I just caught her on cams. She’s built like a Greek god. She’s 6’2’’ if she’s an inch, and pure muscle. She’s heading for you now. Run!”
Turns out Louise had more connections to the security team than originally anticipated. When this guard started calling Louise’s name, they allowed her to catch up. Turns out Emma and Lou go way back. Unfortunately, that didn’t stop Emma from calling the other guards.
“I didn’t know it was you or I wouldn’t have called them. I’m sorry.” She touched Lou’s face. Louise seemed on the verge of forgiving her right there in the hallway when Jody broke in again.
“I see them, converging from three sides. Okay, time to use our bafflers.” There was a beeping and whirring sound. “Five, I’ve blown their comms and closed the doors leading down to you. They’ll get back in but not for awhile. Run down there, get the black box, and head through the back of the set. Go!”
Five took off. She bounded down the steps, deftly maneuvering around various props from Goldfinger. She grabbed the box and paused for a split second, half expecting a giant boulder to start chasing her. When she realized that was the entirely wrong movie, she headed back to the stairs. She took them two at a time and was almost at the top when a loud yell in her ear scared her, nearly sending her toppling back down.
“Ahhh! Oh, wow. Wow! Jody! This is incredible!” Sam. Five smiled warmly. She joined her running partners and held the box with a tight grip as they all made their way toward the exit. “Is that…it is! The back of the Shining Hotel! Crazy. I can’t believe I missed the Millennium Falcon. No, wait. Did you get it? The box? Did Lou do a secret agent thing? It’s not that I didn’t trust you, Jody. I do. I just…I wanted to break into the comms room sooner but Sara did this amazing-”
“Please don’t tell me about Sara’s poo again, Sam.” Jody cut in.
“But did they get the box? Five? How are you? Is that the box?” Five smiled.
“It is. Amelia’s bafflers actually worked.”
“We are like a well-oiled and very attractive machine.”
“Except for the part about escaping. We still need to figure that bit out. Any ideas, Sam?”
“Oh. Well, the guards are definitely after you. Blooming heck, that’s a lot of guards. Like - a hundred? Even for the Crown Jewels that seems excessive.”
“We don't think it’s the Crown Jewels.” Louise stated.
“If it is, their size was always exaggerated. This box is only about the size of a notepad. Let’s just have a look.” Amelia started grabbing for the box. Five was quick, though, and darted out of the way before she could get it.
“Oh, no.” Sam said. “Exmoor Militia were very clear about it. We have to give it to them unopened.”
“How are they going to find out?” Amelia asked.
“I don’t see a seal.” Five added, though to be fair it was hard to tell as she was examining it while running.
“This is a first, but I’m with Amelia. If we’re tackling a hundred guards to get this thing out of here, I want to know what it is. I don’t care what we promised.”
“Thank you, Louise. And if it’s really worth something, we might be able to sell it to the highest bidder. Give it here, Five.”
“Those are all excellent points.” Five shrugged. She was just as curious as they were. She handed the box over. “Fine, but I won’t be the one to do it. In case it’s cursed or something.”
“Oh, bloody hell.” Amelia frowned.
“What? We can’t see it.” Jody said, annoyed.
“Well, it’s a state of the art communications device.” Amelia reported. “Very nice.”
“Can you tell who it communicates with?” Asked Sam, who noticeably wasn’t scolding them for opening it. Guess he was curious, too.
“Oh yes. I can. It has the words ‘nuclear button’ written on it. There’s an actual button. The military is so literal.”
“Wait. So there really is a nuclear button? This place is full of film sets. You’re sure it’s not a prop?”
“Sam’s right. How do we know it’s real?” Five squinted. It sure did look real.
“Oh, it’s the real thing. Lovely little doomsday device, ready to blow.”
“And we just stole it from a billionaire for the best organized militia in England.” Louise let out a low whistle. “This is worse than that one night I-”
“Can we maybe just prioritize getting you all out of there?” Sam’s voice was strained.
“Okay. Let’s just stop here and have a think.” Louise led the group through the next doorway and they flattened themselves against the wall.
“Blimey. Who would have adult-sized tricycles in a replica of a hotel from The Shining? That’s just asking for trouble.” Sam mused.
“Some people really do want to ask for trouble. There’s a personality thing.” Amelia grumbled, in a most un-Amelia fashion.
“Can we just talk about what the hell we’re going to do with this nuclear button we just nicked from this eccentric billionaire who collects film sets?” Louise was holding the box now, gently and slightly out in front of her like the box was going to explode.
They were able to talk it out for a few minutes. Amelia recognized it as a call button that, when pressed, would put in a call to a nuclear sub. The thing about those subs is that they likely would have been patrolling British waters from as many as ten years ago with no contact to anyone on land. The people on the subs will have no idea what has been happening - no knowledge of the zombie virus. No word that friends and family may have died or may be undead. But once that button is pressed - now you just put in some coordinates and they point the nukes in that direction and they have authorization to fire. It was a bit alarming how much Amelia knew, actually, but that was going to have to be a puzzle for another time because the guards were on their way.
They ran through the set of Rivendell.
"Hey, Five?" Sam said softly, as if nobody else could hear. "If you see one of those elf costumes…"
"Oh, I like where you're going with that." Louise teased. Five blushed, but made sure to swipe a few costumes and toss them in her pack.
Jody explained that the security systems kept kicking them off cams, but Sam couldn't concentrate. The sets were too amazing, as were the costumed people. They were now passing a man dressed like Daniel Craig in Spectre who was talking to Emma. I see why Janine thought having Sam on this mission would be a bad idea.
Sam couldn't stop talking about the sets and props. Anything to keep his mind off of the fact that this should have been an easy mission and Five still ended up in trouble. Again. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans.
They got to a door at the end of Rivendell and Five went to push it open dramatically.
It was stuck. She bounced off the door and landed hard on the ground.
“It’s stuck.” She said. Louise and Amelia just looked at her.
“Thanks for the update.” Amelia said, cooley. “Try the override code.”
“We don’t know what that is, Amelia!” Jody snapped. “Unless you do.”
“Try 23, 42, 15, 10.” The door opened. “Great.”
“Amelia!” Five gasped. “How did you know that?”
“He does things like this to make a point.”
“What was that number, Amelia?” Louise asked.
“The time and day we got married. Come on! For God’s sake, what are you both looking at? There are zombies and guards behind us. Run!”
They ran a little way further and Sam explained that Janine would be meeting them with an extraction vehicle at the back of the building. With the override code, they had access to great hiding places until Janine could get them out. They were stuffed in a smaller room (which, this being a billionaire’s house, was still larger than most rooms) with several locked doors between them and any zombies. They had also surely lost the guards, who wouldn’t expect them to have gotten into any of these rooms. The runners were catching their breath in silence when Jody finally asked the question they were all wondering.
“Can we talk about the fact that this eccentric billionaire is your ex-husband and why the hell you haven’t mentioned that before?”
“It didn’t seem relevant. And he may actually just be my husband. I don’t think we ever got divorced. I meant to do it. The apocalypse is one big reset anyway. These days, what does marriage even mean? What does anything really mean?”
“You.” Sam said. “You were - are - married to the bloke who collected the geekiest film sets in the world.”
“Don’t get so excited, Sam. He collects what other people want, just so they couldn’t have them. He hasn’t even seen half of these movies. He’s not a good person.”
“That explains why he was with you, then.” Louise snorted.
“Money and selfishness. Right at the top of Amelia’s ‘things I’m looking for in a partner’ list.” Five laughed.
“Laugh if you want, but he can’t find out that I’m here. Please. Hope you never meet Brent Valmont.” She sounded actually worried. Five noticed Amelia blink a few times to clear the frightened look off her face. It was a very subtle movement, but it was there. “Maybe you can help me forget him, Louise.” Amelia turned her gaze toward Louise, who rolled her eyes.
“Ew. You made it all yuck again. Start running toward the drop point. Janine will be there by the time you reach it.” Jody said.
Janine was knocking at the exit door, as promised. Sam opened the door and Janine took the box. There was some arguing over whether or not to really give it to Exmoor Militia, but Janine was set on keeping their promise. Amelia and Louise took the Jeep back to Abel while Five and Janine met with their Exmoor contact to hand over the box. Their contact promised that Exmoor would help the former members of Abel Township whenever they needed it. Five hoped it was the truth.
It was a long run back to Noah Base, during which Janine was mostly silent. Sam stayed on comms while Jody went for a rest break. They managed to get back easily, but Five was exhausted. It felt good to be out running again, but it was very clear she wasn’t in the same shape she was before her time with the Minister. Her muscles ached, she was getting blisters on her heels, and she was beginning to feel sluggish. It was a good thing they didn’t encounter danger on the run back. Truthfully, Five wasn’t sure she would have been able to get away. She was starting to shake. She kept her fists balled tightly in the hopes that Janine wouldn't notice.
They got back to Noah Base not a moment too soon. Five's knees buckled.
"Runner Five? Are you-"
"No problem, Janine. Just a misstep." Five lied.