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indelible-colouring-markers · 5 years ago

Text

Oh, Canada

Remember the rewrite I promised?

The voice coming in was staticky but so familiar Runner Five had to stop in her tracks. This lost the signal and she grunted out, "Neen. Mic mute pu-leaz."

"Runner five," Janine snapped, "that goes completely against the protocol-"

"Please." Desperation laced her voice. "Juh-neen. Mute me."

Silence.

Then, a sigh. "I suppose. But you'll have to explain yourself when you get back to Abel!"

Five grunted and started to run again.

The static cleared up a bit. "This is Toronto sounding off, do you copy Abel Township?"

"We hear you Toronto, can you keep talking? We need to calibrate the signal."

"Sure. We're a group of survivors holed up in the CN Tour. Clear skys today, so we have a good view of zombie movements. I'm, um, told that that's good for the supply missions we run, especially to the Eaton Centre. I wouldn't know myself, I'm not usually on radio duty. But Margret's had some cabin fever so she took a break."

As the Canadian radio operator spoke, his voice became clearer until Janine interrupted.

"That's good. Now, who are you?"

"I'm a welder normally. But, um, my name is David Leclaire, if that's what you mean."

Five stumbled and throttled off a sob. She'd have time for that later. She kept running.

"Well Mr Leclaire, I have notes here on zombie movement patterns, along with other information."

"Margret left me a note with our Intel. You'd think a famous writer like her would have better handwriting." He chuckled.

"Sorry, when you say Margret, you mean…"

"Margret Atwood, yeah. She'll probably answer next time we do one of these. Just make sure not to mention Celine Dion." There was an audible wince. "It, uh, it's not fun."

"I suppose she never could have predicted this as the future."

"Honestly, I'd never read her stuff before all this."

Janine spluttered in disbelief. Runner Five stifled a giggle.

"Man, her face when I told her." He cleared his throat, anyway. You wanna know what we've figured out?"

"Certainly."

As they exchanged the Intel, Five let her mind wander. It was good to hear his voice again. A part of her wanted to ask Janine to ask him about the others, but she squashed it. It was enough to know at least the two of them were okay. She didn't know if she could bring herself to hope for more.

"And one last thing," David added, faking casualness, "have you heard anything from a Sophie Leclaire?"

She could hear the puzzle pieces clicking together in Janine's brain. But she denied it, likely reached a close enough conclusion.

He sighed deeply. "Well, it was a long shot anyway. Anyway, thanks, Abel. We'll keep you posted with any more critical information."

"I appreciate the effort, Mr Leclaire, even if we do seem to be on the same page."

"And um, if you hear anything on the Rofflenet about Sophie, pass it along? And tell her Davy and Hay miss her."

Five's vision blurred. She sniffed and used the back of her hand to clear her eyes. Three for three, huh? That was good. Much better than she expected, dared to hope.

"Will do." Janine seemed crisp but it was not her usual brusque tone.

"Alright, Toronto signing off."

Static built again until Janine flicked some switches. "You can come back in Mr Yao." Closer to the mic, she said "We're going to have quite the discussion when you get back to Abel, Sophie. After you finish your shower."

"Kay."

Sam breezed back in. "So, who's Sophie Leclaire?"

"Obviously, someone important to survivors in Toronto, Mr Yao."

"Neen, zits okay," Five said. She snuck through a gate to riffle through the farm's equipment shed. Just to see if anyone may have overlooked anything.

"No it isn't, Five. Mr Yao shouldn't have been eavesdropping in the first place."

"Oi now, I ain't dropping no eaves sir," he protested in a poor man's Sean Aston.

Giggling, she stuffed the hose and some fertilizer into her bag.

"Clear?" she asked.

Sam hummed. "Yeah, you're clear. Come on home, Runner Five."

Sure to her word, Janine was waiting when Five stepped out of the shower. "Come with me," she said, grabbing her by the arm.

"Not gunna run Neen." She stumbled over her feet, regaining her balance and keeping pace with Janine's longer strides.

Her hand gripped tighter before loosening. "You're right. You've been more than honest with us. Sometimes imprudently so." She gave the younger woman a look.

When Five had first arrived in Able, Janine had frightened the speech out of her. Now though, she could meet her glares with a grin. "Need to know a see-kret is a secret."

Janine guided her all the way all the way to her own kitchen and practically shoved a cup of tea into her hands.

"David. Brother, cousin or husband?"

"Bay-be brovver. Hay-lee bay-by sis'er."

"That was the 'Hay' he mentioned," she muttered. "I see."

Five sipped her tea. It tasted like ginger and willow. It spread across her palette and warmed her body. It contrasted sharply with the cool grey walls and white cabinets.

"Now Sophie, I don't know your past, and frankly, I don't care unless it impedes on your ability to run missions. Will it?"

"No!" Five jolted so strongly, drops of tea landed on her hand. "Love Abel. Help Abel. Always."

"But if there's a chance for you to go back home-"

Five shook her head, cutting her off. Clutching her tea cup, she braced herself. "So-phie Le-clay-rer went grey, ask Sam. So-phie of Mull-lins shot. Five iz me. Five iz alive. Five stay in Abel. 'Z long 'z Abel here."

She met Janine's eyes, fragile but determined. "Abel iz my home now."

She tipped her head back and sighed through her nose. "I suppose I couldn't count on you to be completely sane."

"Sorry." Five grinned unapologetically.

She shook her head, but a wry smile grew on her lips. "Just drink your tea."

She hummed and did just that.

"Now, is it true your brother has never read Margret Atwood?"

The tea left via her nose.

#zombies run #my writing #fanfiction #my runner five #runner five #sam yao #janine de luca #janine deluca

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