Chapter 7
The elevator ride down to Noah’s lobby was silent, save for the rain dripping from their sopping wet clothes to the floor. Five could tell that Janine and Peter were standing close, just short of touching. They were going to have a lot of talking to do tonight, she was sure of that.
Don’t say anything. This is hard enough for him.
But how can I not?
He wants you to NEEDS YOU TO forget.
Simon is gone.
He’s Peter.
He’s your best friend.
You left him YOU LEFT HIM on that rooftop.
The doors opened. Before she could stop herself, Five blurted,
“Peter? Can I - I know you don’t want - I just - there’s something…” She froze and stood still, blinking at him.
“Go ahead, Janine. I’ll meet you in your office. I know you want to debrief with Evan. And Five…well, she might be having a stroke. I’ll help her.” Janine disappeared down the hallway. “Are you having a stroke?” Peter asked.
“No. Sorry. I’m just not sure what to say. There’s so much -”
“There’s really not, Five.” Peter sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it. Was I not clear before when I said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it?’”
“I left you.”
“It’s not like - wait, what?” Peter cocked his head to the side. “You did what now?”
“On the rooftop. On the towers. I left Simon there to die alone.”
“The way I remember it you followed orders to run because the building was collapsing.”
“I wanted to go back to you. I wanted to tell you that I forgave you. I wanted to tell you that you were loved.”
“If it helps, I already knew that.” Five drew her eyebrows together in thought.
“You…you knew that?”
“Five.” Peter put his face in his hands. He looked exhausted. “You were the only one there for me after I … did what I did. I mean, technically I was there for you considering how many times I had to save you. But you never rejected me.”
“You used to think I looked at you like something stuck to the bottom of a shoe. I didn’t. I mean, maybe when I first saw you, when you found me in Deadlock territory.” Five shivered remembering how Simon lived in those days. The tiny, run down shed. The zombie arms hanging in the trees for protection. The smell of rot. Death. Blood. Five’s stomach turned. “But after you explained, I just…I forgave you. I did.”
“You were the first to forgive me, and I won’t ever forget that.” Peter shook his head. “And never mind all that I said about how you looked at me. Your eyes see what your brain imagines.” His voice was strained.
“This isn’t easy for you to talk about. I’m sorry. I won’t keep it going. I dream about it a lot, you know. Just the other night, I dreamed about it again. I find you on the tower roof. You quote Lazarus at me.”
“Lazarus? The Bible?”
“Bowie.”
“Ah. That makes more sense.” Peter flashed a smile and Five really saw it. The way the right side of his mouth lifted ever so slightly higher than the left. The way the corners of his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. My Simon. “What part of the song?”
“Look up here, man. I’m in danger. I’ve got nothing left to lose.”
“Jesus. That’s a little on the nose.”
“This way or no way. You know, I’ll be free. Just like that bluebird. Now ain’t that just like me?” Peter chuckled.
“Your brain is a really corny place.” He folded her into a giant bear hug and squeezed. “I love you, you nutter.”
“Same, dumbass.” Five hugged him back. “Go find Janine. Sam is probably waiting for me in the rec room. He’s got Sara for the night and I think we’re going to try to get her into game night.”
“Good luck with that.” Peter tousled her hair and headed to Janine’s office.
Five found Sam in their room, pacing back and forth.
“How did it go? Did you find the message? I hate that I couldn’t be on comms but Evan-”
“Sam? You haven’t heard anything about this mission?”
“No. I was with Sara most of the evening. Why? Is anything wrong?” He looked alarmed.
“No! No. Quite - quite the opposite, actually. Peter…we were right. I was right. I knew it, Sam.”
“Peter what?”
“Sam…Peter. Is Simon. He came back to us.” Five watched as Sam’s face processed her words. She explained how Janine was insistent. How Peter finally admitted to it and how obvious it was.
“You’ve said it since the first time you met him. I remember.”
Five and Paula followed the Ringmaster to an area at the back of the creepiest carnival she’d ever seen. Dr. Necropolis was calling,
“Roll up, roll up. It’s me! Dr. Necropolis! Don’t be afraid of the dark. That’s where Dr. Necropolis does his best work.”
Five and Paula approached slowly and carefully, not entirely sure what they were getting into. As Dr. Necropolis got closer, Five tightened her grip on her bat.
Not her bat.
The bat by her side.
Etched with the number 3 on the handle.
Paula and Dr. Necropolis seemed to be involved in a discussion about bringing zombies back to life. Something, something, Dr. Dee. Sam broke in a few times. The zombie was sitting up on its stone slab.
And Five barely noticed any of it.
“Sam.” she hissed into the mic. “Sam. Look at Dr. Necropolis.”
It was like he didn’t hear her. He and Paula kept talking.
“Sam. Sam - look at his eyes.”
Just as she said it, she noticed Dr. Necropolis flinch. Five was still holding the handle of the bat. Dr. Necropolis was talking to Paula, but looking at the handle. At the bat. His eyes met hers.
She just knew.
“I mean, I guess it’s not exactly breaking news. We all suspected. It’s just - I’m so glad it’s out in the open, you know?” Sam moved over to Five and wrapped her in his arms.
“It is good. I’m glad we know the truth. It’s still so weird to me though. He looks and sounds so different.” Five nodded and rested her head on Sam’s shoulder.
“Truth.” Five sighed into Sam. She closed her eyes and found that, despite her excitement less than a minute earlier, she was done talking. “Sam?”
“Five?”
“I don’t want to talk anymore.” She lifted her head and looked at him. He was looking back at her with such kindness. “Things have been so busy lately. I miss you.”
“We see each other every day, Five.” Sam laughed.
“No. I mean…I miss you.” Sam raised his eyebrows.
“You do, huh?” He took a small step back and gently grabbed her hands. “Do you think - do you think you’re in a good place tonight? Because I’m not trying to rush anything.”
“I know you aren’t.” Five kept his hands in hers and made her way to the bed. “I love that about you.”
“And you won’t give up on us. I love that about you.”
“We’ve been through a lot worse, Sam. And we’ll get through this, too.” While they talked, Five lifted Sam’s shirt up and over his head. He responded by doing the same.
Sam’s skin on hers was warm. Soft. Comforting.
This was how it was supposed to be. Sam didn’t make her anxious. Being near him cleared her head. He had stopped talking and was kissing her long and deep. He was pushing her back gently and lying over her and Ian’s face appeared behind Five’s eyes and he was pushing her harder and holding her down and-
“Sam.” She froze.
“What do you need?” Sam asked, immediately straightening his arms and lifting himself off of her.
“Sorry. Can you - this is going to sound dumb. Can you talk to me?” Sam’s body relaxed. He ran his hands through her hair.
“Like -” He raised his eyebrows. “Like dirty talk?” Five laughed. God, I love him.
“I mean, if you want. I just need to hear your voice. Sometimes when I close my eyes I remember Ian or Steve and I just want to know that it’s you.”
“Well,” Sam kissed her again, lowering himself. Running his hands over her small frame. “I am a professional operator. Raise the gates. I’ll talk you through this mission.” Five chucked softly as he pulled her close.
For the first time since she’d been back, she was able to let go of everything that had happened and fully concentrate on her Sam.
***
He woke up the morning tangled up with Five, sated and sleepy. He thought about suggesting to Five that they ignore any responsibilities and stay in bed all day, but Paula came in with a message from Janine.
Evan’s thirst for revenge on Sigrid had tripled overnight. He had a plan to send runners out daily, sometimes two missions a day, with messages to and from Netrophil. He had a few leads on artifacts that Sigrid desperately wanted and Evan was determined to get to them first. They would start today and wouldn't stop until they got their hands on anything Sigrid might want.
By the end of the week, Sam had been on comms almost non-stop. Five was perpetually exhausted from being called out for almost every run. Any time they’d been spending together lately was spent sleeping or babying sore muscles. He longed for another languorous day with her.
Sam was getting very grumpy.
He was scheduled for another mission on comms with Evan. This time he was guiding Five, Maxine, and Ellie on a mission to the King’s residence.
Five tried to be optimistic as they stood waiting for the elevator.
“It will be good to see Jamie. I worry about him.”
“Just, be careful. Maxine and Ellie have fresh legs but you ran three times yesterday.” Five kissed him and held his hands.
“I love you. It won’t be like this forever.”
“I love you too, but I think it might be.” Sam huffed. Five chuckled. And then he went to the comms room while she made her way outside with the other runners. Sam sighed as he took his seat next to Evan. They used to get along well, but now Sam didn’t even bother to look at him. He trained his eyes on the monitor, put his headset on, and got to work.
Five really liked Ellie, but found herself spacing out whenever she started talking about history. At this moment, she was fantasizing about racing Peter in the Olympics - no zombies, no life endangerment. She was closing in on Peter around the last turn when -
“Runner Five, Ellie, Maxine? Can you see the target?”
Her daydream bubble popped. Damn.
“Yeah, Evan. We’re here.”
“One sixteenth century royal residence, exactly where it should be!” Ellie added, a little too jubilantly for a morning mission and a history lesson. Five understood that they were looking for an armlet, something that Evan was sure would be key to defeating Sigrid. Five thought maybe she should have spent less time daydreaming and more time trying to understand how an armlet was going to help.
And Evan’s “all business all the time” attitude was getting to her. And everyone else.
Except Ellie. Nothing ever seemed to get to Ellie. Five admired that about her.
Five realized she was tuning out again. Maxine was talking.
“I guess Netrophil was going for a ‘hiding in plain sight’ thing, leaving the armlet at the royal residence?”
“The decision to hide it here was made long before I took over as head of Netrophil. The last leader disappeared before explaining the plan to retrieve it. I wish I could be on the mission. My leg hasn’t been the same since my time with Sigrid’s interrogators.”
Five shivered. She knew the feeling. Maybe she shouldn’t judge Evan so harshly.
“They don’t need you.” Sam said with an air of impatience. “Five did fine as head of runners without you, and Ellie knows what she’s doing.” Five grinned.
“Thank you Sam.”
“I don’t doubt their ability,” Evan started, but was drowned out by Ellie’s excitement.
“If this armlet is all you say, it is going to be an incredible find. The implications for cross-Scandinavian trade alone are extraordinary.”
“Uh, you do realize we’re getting it because it might help us defeat Sigrid, not to publish an academic paper?” Sam snapped.
“Oh, yeah. Of course. But still…”
“It’s okay, Ellie.” Five interrupted. “Let’s just concentrate on getting it - and ourselves - out alive before we celebrate. And Sam?”
“Hmm?”
“Be nice.” Five scolded playfully. Sam couldn’t help but smile. Just a little.
“Sorry.”
“Hey, is that the Union Jack flying above the surprisingly pink tower? Does that mean something?” Maxine asked, changing the subject.
“The monarchy’s in residence.” Evan blandly explained.
“King Jamie!” Finally, Sam had some life in his voice. “Amazing. We can rescue him and get this Viking bracelet at the same time.”
“Don’t forget, the relic is the most important objective here.” Evan reminded them. Sam took a breath, ready to tell Evan to shut the hell up but Maxine spoke first.
“You have your priorities, and we have ours.”
“Anyway,” Sam said, desperate to get this mission going. “Jamie might know where the bracelet is. The royal suite’s in the east wing. Uh, see that stained glass window? Hurry. There’s be another guard sweep soon. That lattice looks pretty strong. I bet you can climb it when you get there.”
The runners headed straight for the lattice under the window.
“Give me a boost, Five.” Five laced her hands together and Ellie put her foot right in. Five heaved her up, and then helped hoist Maxine. She stepped back, took a running start, and jumped up to grab the bottom part for herself. They climbed up quickly.
“That was an extremely hot superhero move.” Sam breathed.
“Oh, we’re going to be working this into our private time later.” Five laughed. Evan cleared his throat loudly.
“Concentrate, Five. You can’t tear the foliage. They can’t know you’ve been here.” Five rolled her eyes.
“It is cool - breaking into the royal palace in the dead of night.”
“Like the super spy Milk Tray Man. Do you reckon he was M16 or is there a special Milk Tray division?” Sam was clearly still picturing some incredible role play later and Five briefly lost her balance. She slipped down a rung but stopped herself. Her heart was pounding but nobody seemed to notice her moment of lost concentration.
“Sara would have been an asset on this mission. I can’t believe she’s gone.”
Five and Maxine stopped short. She heard Sam gasp lightly. Trust Evan to bring down the mood as soon as it starts to lighten up.
“Yeah.” Sam broke the silence.
“I often wondered whether Sara Smith was Netrophil, another cell to me, but I think she had her own agenda. You named your daughter after her, didn’t you Sam? She would have loved that. I never saw her cry, but that might have made her crack.”
For the second time this mission, Five felt her heart break a bit for Evan. He and Sara had been close. Two of a kind. Five felt her throat tighten as she considered what Evan had been through. He had to feel guilty about not being there when Sara died. Not to mention everyone at Netrophil that he’d lost. They had all been through so much.
Five gripped the lattice tighter and set her face in grim determination. This had to end. They had to beat Sigrid. Evan might have been depressing to be around, but that didn’t mean he was wrong.
“Okay! We’re up!” Ellie’s voice sounded like sunshine. “Oh! I see Jamie in there!” She tried the window and was surprised to see it fly open. “And he’s not very secure.” She laughed. Maxine and Five caught up and peeked over the windowsill.
“What - what are you doing here?” Jamie yelled in a whisper.
“Everything all right, your Highness?” The voice of a guard echoed through the room.
“We’re here to rescue you, Jamie!” Maxine chirped.
“And also to pick up an important Viking artifact. Hi, I’m Ellie.”
“Well, it’s nice to meet you but these guards will kill you if they find you here. They’ll….oh, never mind.” Jamie sighed. Five watched as his face fell. To be honest, Jamie wasn’t looking well, either. He had dark circles surrounding his eyes and something that looked like it might be bruising as well. “Viking, you say. I know where that will be. If we climb along the parapet, we can get to an unguarded room. We haven’t got long. They check on me every hour. Let’s get moving.” Jamie put a foot out of the window and Five, Ellie, and Maxine had to move out of the way quickly. They climbed up the rest of the lattice and hoisted themselves up to the balustrade. They stopped for a moment to catch their breath on the rooftop.
“All right, we can talk here.” Jamie eventually said. “The guards never come up this end. The whole wing’s been sealed off since the apocalypse. See those double doors with the unicorn carvings?”
“Oooh.” Ellie stepped forward, admiring the craftsmanship. “ That’s very fine work. Late seventeenth century, I think.”
“Sure. Whatever.” Jamie was barely looking at it. “They were having a big Viking exhibition through there before Z Day. Anniversary of the pillaging some village or something. If your…whatever your looking for…is anywhere, it’ll be there.”
“Jamie!” Sam practically sang into the mic.
“Yeah?”
“Jamie Jamie Jamie!”
“What, Sam?”
“Oh - it’s just…oh, it’s really good to see you again, man. We all thought…well, we heard that broadcast Sigrid made you do and…”
“I’m fine.” Jamie said, just a little too quickly. “I’m the King of England.” He laughed. With Jamie, it was frequently hard to tell if the laugh was filled with joy or sarcasm. “I’ve got seven palaces and a billion acres of land. You’re the ones that are homeless.” He let out another breath of laughter, this time clearly teasing. “Come on Five. Help me with the roof entrance door.”
The door wouldn’t give easily.
“Why is there a roof access door with unicorns on it?” Five pulled with all of her strength before kicking where the catch should be. The doors creaked and gave way. Five nodded.
“Why do palaces have half the ornate stuff they do?” Jamie grumbled. “Nice work by the way.”
“Ooh.” Ellie was already slowly wandering in the doors, admiring the view. They started down the stairs, gawking at the Viking artifacts lining the stairwell.
“It’s huge! They must have a thousand axes on that wall, and every Viking helmet ever worn.”
“It’s a bit cheesy, though, isn’t it? I hate when people put mannequins in period costume just to get people interested in history. History’s fascinating enough on its own.” She paused as they reached the bottom of the stairs and into a grand ballroom. “Don’t growl, Jamie. It’s true. History is-”
“That wasn’t Jamie.” Five whispered and grabbed Ellie’s arm to prevent her from going any further.
“Those aren’t mannequins.” Evan said over comms. “Those are zoms.”
“Right. If we go out the far end of the ballroom, we’ll lose them. I hope.” Jamie tried to sound confident.
“Oooh, that is quite a ballroom.” Sam chuckled. “How the other half lives.”
“My roller guards used to love the ballrooms. Plenty of room for them to skate. Oh my word, the things they used to get up to. They were so competitive. Sometimes I thought they were going to kill each other.”
“The roller derby girls were your guards, weren’t they? Where are they now?” Ellie asked.
“Gone. So what is this thing you’re after? A weapon?” Jamie quickly changed the subject.
“Uh, it’s kind of a bracelet thingie.” Sam muttered.
“I’m sure that’s going to terrify Sigrid. She must be quaking in her sensible shoes.” Jamie scoffed.
“She killed 600 of my people to find it. We’re just trying to find it first.” Evan explained.
“Yeah, that sounds like Sigrid.” Jamie said as he opened another door. It closed behind them. Five looked around. There were microphones and chairs set up in front of a large soundboard.
The microphones were tilted at odd angles.
One chair was tipped on its side.
Dark, angry splotches dripped down the wall.
Deep red lines brushed along the floor.
“Jamie.” Five put her hand on the small of his back. It may have looked like a comforting gesture, but what she was really trying to do was steady herself. “What happened?”
“Is this a recording studio where you do your broadcasts to the nation?” Sam asked.
“Yep.” Jamie folded his arms. He wouldn’t look any of them in the eye.
“Those marks…is that blood?” Maxine whispered.
“No business like show business. Come on. The rest of the viking exhibit is at the end of a long hall.” Jamie started running off in another direction. Maxine caught Five’s eye. Five shrugged.
“Off we go.” She said. Her eyes stayed on the blood spatter a little longer before she took off running. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, she felt crushed for Jamie. She took several deep breaths and tried to concentrate on her legs, her feet - anything except what the blood could mean. What it reminded her of.
Evan interrupted her thoughts, not a moment too soon. Concentrate. Focus on the mission.
“You seem to have lost the zombies for now. How close are you?”
“We’re here. This is where they kept the smaller, more valuable stuff.” Jamie stopped. The runners stopped behind him and looked around.
Several display cases were on their sides, shimmering glass shattered on the floor. Artifacts carelessly strewn about. More blood.
Always more blood.
Five felt a wave of dizziness and tensed all of her muscles to try to hold back her panic.
Owen’s blood.
Owen’s blood on her clothes.
Her shoes.
Steve’s blood.
Running down his face.
The brick smashing into him.
Steady yourself, Five.
Five flinched. Maxine gave her concerned side-eye.
Go away. I don’t need you.
I think you do. I’m going to distract you for a minute because…
“...Nicki was caught breaking in here and they cut her off. I don’t know what happened…” Jamie was explaining. Sam was answering.
Exactly. Listen to me instead. No need to relive that nightmare.
Moonchild hummed in her ear. This is a new tactic. The humming was loud and Five closed her eyes, giving in to the distraction.
Moonchild stopped suddenly. Oh. That’s…unexpected.
A hidden door creaked and rumbled as it swung open.
“Oh! A secret room! Why don’t modern houses have secret rooms?” Sam almost sounded like he was pouting.
“And there’s our armlet on that pedestal. I’ll just grab it.” Ellie moved forward but froze at the sound of a zombie growl.
“Oh, God. That’s the last leader of Netrophil. That’s where she disappeared to. She must have been bitten before she got here. Run!”
Ellie took one quick reach and grabbed the armlet before all of the runners took off down the hall. Five was still trying to refocus. The blood. The scent of zombies. It was all too much. She almost wished for Moonchild to come back.
The rest of the team was musing over the armlet. Ellie was examining the bracelet while she was running, not the safest plan. Five ran alongside her, nudging her every now and then to keep her from crashing into something. There was writing on it, which Ellie was pretty sure was written in a medieval version of Finnish.
“I can help with that.” Jamie announced.
“You speak medieval Finnish?”
“Nah. But I know where the royal map room is, though. Follow me. I go there when I’m bored. I look at all the places I’ll never get to. I know there are medieval maps there.”
A few twists, turns, and long (blood-free) hallways later, Jamie opened the door to the map room. Ellie turned in circles, taking in the beauty of the room.
“France, Bohemia…this is an amazing collection. Some of these are completely unique. Look at this one over here. The way the edges are-”
“Ellie! Focus!” Maxine was losing patience. Five glanced over at her and Maxine shrugged. “If we let Ellie look at everything she wants, we’ll be here for the next two weeks.” Five stifled a laugh.
“Sorry, sorry. Here’s Finland.” Ellie rummaged through some maps. Five helped her gently unroll one of the maps. The paper was thin and delicate. After a few minutes, Ellie found the place on the map that she’d been searching for.
“Okay. This is great but my time is up. The guards’ll be checking my room in five minutes. You three head down the corridor and you’ll be in the kitchen garden.”
“Uh, you too, Jamie.” Sam said. “You’re coming too.”
“No I ain’t. I’m the King of England. I’ve got a job.”
“Jamie. We know how they treat you. What they did to your girls. What they’re doing to you.” Maxine said gently. Five looked on, her eyes filling with tears. He won’t come. He never would.
“Just because the job’s hard doesn’t mean you got to give up on it, not when it’s important. Anyway, you need me here. Or don’t you want free use of the royal plane?” Jamie raised his eyebrows. Sam cleared his throat.
“Uh, not really. I mean, it’s a nice thought but it’s kind of easier to run places. Also a bit less visible. Uh, also less likely to be full of heavily-armed soldiers.”
“Nah, there ain’t no soldiers.” Jamie shook his head. “She pulled them back to guard the digging at Abel and to round up a load of airships to bring her high muckety mucks to her day of glory. The plane’s just sitting around in the hangar if you want it. How else are you going to get to Finland? Or don’t you want to find out what that thing you risked your lives for is really about?”
Jamie paused. Ellie, Maxine, and Five looked at each other. Evan and Sam were silent. “Well?”
Five ran to Jamie and enveloped him in a hug.
“Jamie, you are incredible.” She felt him squeeze her back before pushing her off.
“Get off me, Five. I’m doing what is right because it’s right. Not because of some noble cause. Now, do you all want the plane or not? I need to get moving.” Everyone answered at once.
“Yes.”
“Pack your bags, team.” Evan breathed. “We’re heading to Finland.”