Chapter 14
Jody took off her headset and placed it gently on the desk. She closed her eyes hoping to find a shred of peace, but found that her brain insisted on replaying what she just saw on the monitor. Sam convinced Five to hand over her gun. Which he used to shoot Ian. Once - a clean shot to the head, a standard zombie killshot. A mercy killing for the person who least deserved mercy. That should have been the end of it. But that second shot - the blurry camera couldn’t hide the uncharacteristic vengeful look on Sam’s face when he did it. And that was exactly what Jody couldn’t get out of her head.
She had to get up and move. She had to do something. She had heard Sam mention raising a flag. Yes, that’s what they needed. A celebration. A distraction. Come on, Jody. Be a leader. Sam was running back out of the training ground with Five. They would be fine. For the first time in months, they were safe to run through Abel without comms.
***
Maxine and Paula were at the dorms, rounding up anyone with even the slightest knowledge of first aid.
“Can you put on bandages and crack some ice packs? Great. You’re hired.” Paula was talking to someone who had served her hundreds of meals in the mess hall. It frustrated her that she couldn’t remember his name (or that she never bothered to learn it in the first place.) Paula put a red armband on his arm and tossed a package of bandages and gauze. “Go. Find anyone who needs patching up. Do what you can.” The man nodded and ran. Maxine was having a similar conversation with a runner who had been on loan from New Canton just before Sigrid overtook Abel. Runner 134. Maxine was handing her bottles of water to hand out and explaining signs of dehydration. She placed a red armband on Runner 134 and sent her on her way. Maxine turned to Paula and sighed.
“We need more doctors. This basic first aid is fine but…” her voice trailed off.
“I know.” Paula nodded. “But we’ve got about 10 people out on patrol now. They’ll get the minor stuff, which will free us up for the big stuff. It’s okay. Let’s head to the hospital-”
“Wait! I’m glad I found you guys!” Jody sprinted over, out of breath. “Paula - were you serious about raising one of Maxine’s maternity dresses as a flag?”
Maxine’s face grew red. Paula looked away, expression filled with guilt.
“What? My maternity dress as a flag?” she asked Paula. Her voice sounded serious, but the corners of her mouth were turning up in a grin.
“Well, I mean…I was just…it’s very…there are a lot of stripes.” Paula shrugged.
“Can you get it and meet us at the flagpole?”
“Jody, we have people who need medical-”
“Check in at the hospital tent quickly and meet me at the flagpole with the dress in 15 minutes.”
“That isn’t enough-”
“15 minutes.” Jody’s voice started quivering and she cleared her throat. “Please. It’s…it’s important.”
“Jody? What happened?” Maxine asked quietly.
“Just meet me. 15 minutes.”
***
Five and Sam were having trouble leaving the training grounds. The back tunnels leading from Ian’s secret office were dank and filled with echoes.
“Five.” Sam stopped to look around. “What was that? Is that…is that Ian?”
“No, Sam. Ian is…not coming.”
“No, I…I know I shot him. But…what if I missed?”
“Let’s just keep going, okay?”
Eventually, Sam would begin moving again, only to stop and repeat the process a few minutes later.
***
Peter, Cameo, and Kytan were sifting through the rubble at the prisoner cells. It felt good to send them crumbling with some of Steve’s explosives, but the aftermath felt empty. They were searching for anything left that might prove useful. Bits of wire, metal, rock - anything that could be used to reinforce walls and gates. But mostly the former prisoners were absent-mindedly tossing random bits of scrap into arbitrary piles. Peter could feel the heaviness with which they were working that had nothing to do with the weight of the concrete pieces.
“Hey, guys.” He called over the noise. “Why don’t we stop for a minute? Some of us still smell like sewage. What do you say we head over to the showers and see if they are still- oh, look! It’s Jody.”
“Come on, everyone!” Jody yelled, willing her voice to sound cheerful. “To the flagpole! We’ve got Abel back - Ian is…” she swallowed, “gone and we’re going to raise a flag in celebration! Who’s with me?!”
The crowd groaned.
“I guess.”
“I’d rather go to the showers.”
“Are we sure we should be celebrating?”
Jody didn’t let her smile falter. A good leader keeps up morale when things are difficult. She thought she remembered reading that in a book somewhere.
“To the flagpole!” She cheered, pointing everyone in the right direction.
The crowd lumbered off, energy low, bodies hunched over with exhaustion. Peter cleared his throat.
“Wow. Your excitement is contagious.”
“Oh, stuff it.” Jody scowled. “At least I’m trying.” She paused. “What would Janine have done?”
“She would have delegated morale boosting to someone else. And she would have been right to give that job to you, Clover.”
Jody started to grin, but her face fell the second she saw two figures emerging in the distance. One walking upright, leading the way. The other limping, bent over, slow.
“It’s Five and Sam.”
“Ah! Sam’s hero. I knew she’d rescue him.” Jody just nodded. There would be time to tell the full story later.
***
Five and Sam emerged slowly from the tunnel and started a slow walk through Abel. They walked past the old prison cells, where Ian had held her and beat her. And Steve. And Cameo. And countless others. She remembered the echoing screams and the blood on the floor.
Ian deserved what he got.
But I should have done it.
The cells were demolished now, but Five wondered if she’d ever walk through that part of Abel again without feeling haunted. Even when everything was cleared, even if they built something new and beautiful over it. There was no way to forget.
The training grounds.
Ian's cabin.
The place where Owen was…
There was no forgetting.
“Come on, Sam.” Five encouraged.
Some of the people they passed were whispering behind their hands. These people had seen Five and Sam walk through Abel countless times, hand in hand, FiveandSam. Heading out to save the world. The power-couple. Superstars.
Not this time.
This time they were both filthy. Frail. Broken.
They kept walking as if they didn’t notice the whispers.
They could rebuild every structure in Abel long before they could rebuild themselves.
***
The crowd settled in around the flagpole as Peter and Jody argued about how to tie the dress properly for it to behave like a flag. Five and Sam tried to stay toward the back of the gathering, hoping to go unnoticed.
And they were.
For about 1 minute.
Maxine noticed them first.
“Sam!” She called out and ran towards him. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Her arms enveloped him in a tight hug.
It was too tight. Sam’s body fought against the touch. It was painful and frightening. He pushed her away.
“I’m fine. Please.” It was a demand, not a polite request. Maxine nodded.
“I’m sorry. I know…I got carried away.” She looked quizzically at Five who looked away. “Well, anyway…” Maxine continued to look Sam over. Five let her words fade away.
Something had caught her eye.
Tom.
He was heading toward the center of Abel. He had one figure over his shoulder and another leaning against his side. He looked to be struggling, but a few Abel residents sporting bright red arm bands were rushing over with stretchers.
It was Kefilwe. And Steve.
Five raced over without hesitation.
“They are going to need more supplies than we have.” One of the red armbands was saying. “Our beds are filling up and we can barely keep up with minor injuries.”
“They’ll have to go to New Canton.” Tom was saying. “We can get them there in one of the jeeps. It will be quick and…oh, hello Five.”
Five took Steve’s hand. He jolted as if she’d woken him from a deep sleep.
“Hey there.” His mouth quivered as if he was trying to smile.
Armband One was speaking. “They’ll have to rest here for a bit. We don’t know what Sigrid did with the keys.”
Five huffed with mirthless laughter. Tom looked at her.
“Of course,” Five sighed. “We can beat Sigrid and her band of assholes but we can’t get people to New Canton because…we lost the keys? Typical.” The guy with the red armband pulled some antiseptic out of his pocket and started applying it liberally to Steve’s wounds. Steve made a sound of protest somewhere between a hiss and a groan. Five grabbed the medicine. “I’ll take it from here. You go see to Dr. Lobatse.” Five looked at Tom. “Could I…could we have a minute?” Tom nodded and prodded the Armband Twins over to Kefilwe.
Five put some of the antiseptic on the corner of the top sheet. She gently placed it over one of the wounds on his face.
“Reminds me of Ice Time. I don’t have a lot of good memories from my time in Abel with you, but I…I mean, it’s weird to say but… icing after our beatings was such a lovely time. Not lovely. But…nice. Comforting? Maybe?" Five trailed off awkwardly.
“Keep rambling. I like the distraction.” Steve whispered.
“Good to know you haven’t gotten the snark beaten out of you.” She was silent for a moment. “I don’t know how to say everything I need to tell you.”
“I’m not dying, love.” Steve joked, his voice raspy. "At least, not today."
“I know, but you’re going to New Canton and I don’t know when…or if…look, we only have a few minutes, I think, but I just…I left Abel so fast. And also a little zombified…and so I couldn’t…” She took a breath. “Why is there never enough time?” She lowered her forehead onto his. She kissed him on the tip of his bloody broken nose. “And even when there is time, one of us is usually half dead.” This roused another small chuckle from Steve. His eyes were closed, his breathing ragged. "Thank you. You treated me like a human. Not a superhero, not a victim. Not an enemy.” Five shook her head. “None of this is coming out right.”
Steve’s eyes stayed closed and he shook his head slowly.
“No, I know what you’re saying.” He still looked like he was in a lot of pain. He needed to get to New Canton quickly. Five called to one of the armbands.
“Hey! How long until-”
“We’ve got the keys!” Armband One called back. “We were just giving you privacy.” He looked uncomfortable and sad. Armband was just trying to do a job. A job he probably didn’t even want.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it. What’s your name?”
“Jonathan.”
“Thanks, Jonathan.”
“We’ve got to move.” Tom said sternly after checking in on Kefilwe. “Sorry, Five. We’ve got to go.” She nodded at Tom and gave Steve’s hand one last squeeze.
She turned toward the flagpole and sighed.
All of those people.
Each one with new scars, physical and emotional.
So much pain.
And yet…
This is Abel. Abel is resilient. Abel had gotten through some of the darkest times imaginable.
And they would get through this, too.
She had no idea how.
But as she made her way back to the flagpole, the sound of laughter hit her ears and sent a small flutter of hope through her.
It was over. All was quiet.
And, as Sam had taught her long ago, they needed to find joy in those moments. Because the quiet would never last.