"Right," Sam says shakily, fearfully. "That's Brent Valmont, the billionaire even Amelia's afraid of, and you're in his actual... lair!"

I hear a faint tapping, and when I look down, trying to be as subtle as possible, I see Janine tapping her outer thigh with her index finger.

Morse code.

'Runner Five, I have a plan,' She taps out. 'When I say run, run.'

I nod, ever so slightly, but it's enough for Valmont to notice. He gives the two of us a raised eyebrow and a curious smile. It reminds me of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, only more terrifying.

"Are you planning to escape?" He asks, sighing when neither of us answer. The sound isn't of annoyance, more of happiness, or even bliss. "That's exactly what I'd expect of you. I bet you've got an incredible plan, Janine. Course you do. You're an incredible woman. You need a nickname. Oh, I'll call you Brains. Five, I'm calling you Speedy Gonzales, because of the running."

I blink. "Uh... what?"

Valmont gasps, his eyes lighting up when he spots the headset peeking through my chef hat. "Sam! Is Sam on coms with you?"

"Mr. Valmont, would you like me to patch Sam Yao through the speakers with you?" A.N.N.I.E. asks.

"No, wait! Wait, wait. No, don't-" The speakers squeal as Sam's voice goes from my headset to the speakers. "Don't do... that." He sighs heavily. "Oh, you've done it, haven't you? This feels weird, like I'm naked. Can you all hear me?"

"Yes, we can, Mr. Yao," Janine answers, and I glare at the man in front of us.

"What exactly do you want with us, Brent?" I ask, still in my defensive stance.

"Oh, glad to know we're on a first-name basis, legs." He shoves his hands into his pockets, rocking back and forth on his heels. "Listen, I could turn you over to Sigrid now for your various crimes-trespassing, stealing, impersonating a chef. I'm sure at least one of those carries the death penalty in her grave new world."

I tip my head to the side, my hands dropping to my sides. "Could? Does that mean you're not going to?"

"No! Never would I do that to you, Speedy Gonzales. Never. And I mean, obviously, I could just tell A.N.N.I.E. to kill you here and now, and no one would be the wiser."

I cringe, knowing that at least one function or part or subroutine or whatever it is in A.N.N.I.E. that hates me would enjoy killing me.

"Would you like me to fill the chamber with deadly neurotoxin now, Mr. Valmont?" A.N.N.I.E. asks.

"Belay that order, A.N.N.I.E."

"So you're not going to do that either?" Sam asks, sounding equally relieved and confused. "What is it you want?"

Valmont sighs, taking his hands from his pockets. "Look, just come with me. I've got something to show you, and it can't wait. Come on. Run!"

He takes off, and Janine and I reluctantly follow. I know we could always try to escape. I think of doing so as soon as we leave the office, but A.N.N.I.E. literally runs every aspect of this house, and while she is apparently helping Janine, her top priority is to serve Valmont, meaning she'd tell him exactly where we are and would kill us within one simple command.

So it's follow this odd, dangerous billionaire, or risk facing his wrath and his deadly AI system.

Valmont leads us down the different hallways, not caring about the staff members who give him odd looks as he runs by them. There are several twists and turns, and I find myself feeling dizzy from just how twisty and confusing this place can be. It all looks so similar-the hallway walls are painted this pastel green shade, with bright white molding at the tops of the ceilings, and the shiny hardwood floors sparkling as the lights shine on them.

Valmont keeps looking back at us, almost as if he's expecting to look back and find us not there. I can tell Janine's definitely thinking about it, and I'm sure Sam's in the coms shack, fiddling with the loose strings of his jumper and biting his lip as he tries to think of some possible way to get us a way from this man. For all we know he could be leading us right to Sigrid. She is here, although he did saw he would not do that.

That doesn't mean anything. We have no way to tell if he was just lying to get him to trust us.

But finally he reaches a door, one he has to put in a code to unlock, and after the keypad beeps and he opens the door, we're led into a large, dark room. The lights suddenly flash on, burning my eyes, and once my vision clears I see we're in some sort of...

Is this the inside of a spaceship?

I mean, it certainly looks like one. It has those multiple screens and a large glass window, and everything besides the chairs are made of steel. It's like all those weird sets he had in one of his other houses that me and Louise visited. It was there we found out Amelia was married to him in the first place.

"So, this is what you wanted to show us?" I ask, and he nods.

"Yep."

"Uh... I didn't watch much sci-fi. Sam, what is this?"

"Well, it's-it's the bridge from Battlestar Galactica," He answers, sounding both excited and confused. "If I had that, it couldn't wait either, but... what do you want?"

Valmont sighs, but there's a small smile on his lips. "I just wanted you to now that I'm a bit like you. Geeky! I know Amelia's probably told you terrible things about me. Breakups are the worst, and she did take some things from me I really would rather she hadn't, and I'm sure she thinks I'm still angry, but I'm not all bad. And Sigrid's such a killjoy. All that order is so boring!" He rolls his eyes dramatically. "I've been hoping to meet you. I want to help you."

"You don't," Sam says in disbelief.

"I do!"

"We've had these conversations before. Even if you're not loyal to Sigrid, she's delving out anti-zombie serum, you're taking it from her, and if we try and explain where it comes from, you wouldn't believe us."

"It's from babies." He says it so casually I flinch back sharply.

"You know?" I ask, and I get a nod in response.

"I do."

I clench my jaw, anger mounting in my chest. "You know and you still support her?"

"I support her up to a point," Valmont corrects. "The point is the point at which she knows about it. Cards on the table: you're looking for that woman who's run away from Sigrid and has half a dozen bounty hunters after her. Selma, her name is. I can't help you publicly, but I can get you... What is it you need to find her, A.N.N.I.E.?"

"A sample of DNA, Mr. Valmont."

"Oh, yeah." He waves his hand casually. "We can get that no sweat. Plus, I hear on the grapevine that Amelia wants to save those babies, and if she wants it, I want it. So, you need some DNA from this Selma. I can get it for you. Come with me."

"Is this a trap?" Sam asks as we start to follow after him.

"If it is, it's a very puzzling one," Janine says.

"Follow me to the transport at the back door!" He calls out. "A.N.N.I.E. rustle me up one of those nifty headsets. Sam, tell Paula and Peter to come join us. Come on!"

He sounds absolutely ecstatic, as if this is something he's been waiting for for ages. How did he even know about Paula and Peter? We never mentioned them once. Has he known we were here this entire time? Why else would he have come to that office? He didn't even need anything from it. How did he know we'd be here tonight?

Maybe he'd been suspicious of Janine from the start. He had to be, since he knew exactly who she was even though she'd been impersonating a chef of his for months. I'm guessing he was suspicious, figured out it was her, and probably watched from the multitude of cameras to see what she was up to. When he saw us with her... I guess that made him decide to come after us.

Valmont slows his running to a stop for just a moment before tapping the pastel green wall. It opens up like a cubby hole, and inside is a headset, just like he asked for. It's a lot nicer looking than mine or Janine's, but he's rich so I'm not really surprised.

He then leads us down the hallways to the back entrance. Paula and Peter are already waiting for us when we get there, looking nervous. When they look at me and Janine, I give them a shrug to tell them we're just as confused as they are.

"Oh, good, you're already here. Good work, Sam," Valmont says before opening the door. Outside a jeep is waiting for us, and Valmont jerks his head towards the vehicle. "Come on, gang. We're going for a ride."

"I do not like this," I murmur, still following and hopping into the jeep. Janine takes front seat with Valmont, and me, Peter and Paula squeeze in the back. I shed my chef's coat and hat as the jeep starts to move, and everyone else does the same. I find myself having to hold onto the seats because of how bumpy the ride is, especially since Valmont doesn't slow down for any of these bumps whatsoever.

"Where are you taking us?" Paula asks after a few long minutes of silence.

"There's a little pocket state on the far side of Jay-Jay Nation where Sigrid keeps a collection of personal possessions of immune people, for research, I think. They're all carefully labeled, and I have access to the facility, so we should find what we need there."

"Jay-Jay?" Janine repeats, pausing to think. "Yes, I see. We'll find a path through Clover Meadows-they're peaceful-then up via the pass at the undercroft. Quick and safe."

Valmont shakes his head. "Mm, no. I don't think that's the best route. Sigrid's installed new cameras in the undercroft in exchange for vaccine supplies."

She blinks. "I didn't know that."

"It only happened yesterday, Brains. Don't doubt yourself!"

"I wasn't doubting myself."

"That's the spirit!" He cheers as Paula leans over to me.

"Brains?" She repeats, and I shake my head.

"Don't ask."

"Anyway, I have a better route," Valmont says as the jeep comes to a quick stop. He turns off the ignition and steps out, but not before shedding his coat and tossing his wristwatch into the vehicle. "We'll go in on foot, and we need to be quick. Paula, I need you out of breath when we get there."

Her face scrunches up. "Uh, what?"

"Run!"

He gives us no further explanation before taking off, running like a madman while we're all forced to follow. I'm beginning to wonder how this guy managed to get Amelia to marry him in the first place. He's acting like a squirrel on crack. All of us share looks while he runs ahead of us, and I can't help but wonder just what he's gaining from all this. I mean, I know he says Sigrid is boring, and that he wants to do it for Amelia, for some odd reason, but that doesn't really tell me what he gains from this. I mean, Amelia may hate him a bit less because he helped us, but that's unlikely, and I know he's not doing this because he cares about the babies. If he did, he wouldn't have helped Sigrid in the first place.

We've reached a field now. I can only guess we're about six or seven miles away from Valmont's estate, maybe farther. He didn't drive that jeep for very long, but he was going incredibly fast while we were in it. All around us are animals. I can see a few cows and sheep in the distance and I can definitely smell them.

I'm surprised Valmont isn't worried about getting his pants or pristinely white dress shirt dirty, or his shoes. But he's also rich and he's close with the Minister and who knows who else. If he did get these dirty, he could just make a few calls and get another suit exactly like it.

"I know this place," Peter says, taking a look around. "It's uh, one of those farms that's declared itself an autonomous city-state, isn't it?"

"A city-state whose citizens are mostly sheep and cows?" Paula asks, tilting her head to the side.

"Save your breath, Paula," Valmont says, narrowing his eyes at an approaching figure. "Here comes trouble."

A man who looks to be in his fifties walks up to us, and I tense at the sight of the large shotgun he holds. His faces creases as he glares at us. "What are you doing here? Get off my land!"

"Ah, wonderful," Valmont says, forcing a smile. "Great to see you. I uh, I live in Goldmont, over the other side of this field."

The farmer huffs. "I haven't seen you in Goldmont."

"We've just moved in. We're a family, you know. Post-apocalypse, banned together. We do just need to get across this field."

Dull eyes flash with anger. "No one crosses my field. That's the law. My own private property."

"Yes, yes, I do see. Property is nine-tenths of the law," Valmont says with a nod, but then gestures to Paula, who's panting from the exertion of running, "but you see, my wife, Paula, is having an asthma attack."

Paula's gray eyes go wide, and she takes in a gulping gasp for air and wheezes. "I... I... can't breathe!"

I place my hand on her shoulder, giving the man as desperate of a look as I can fake while the taller woman beside me does an excellent job of acting like she can't get enough air.

"You may not know, but asthma medication is very scarce," Valmont says. His voice shakes, as if he's trying to remain pleasant but feels very pressed for time. "There's only one inhaler in the whole of Goldmont, and I really must get her home. Please. You wouldn't endanger this poor woman's life, would you?"

The farmer stares at us for a moment, before nodding. "As it happens, I have asthma myself. Go on, get with you, and don't tell anyone you came through here."

He nods quickly. "Oh, thank you! Thank you! Come on, family. Run!"

•

"How did you know that farmer had asthma?" Sam asks now that we're all well out of earshot from the farmer.

"He had a very distinctive semi-circular mark on the corner of his lip," Valmont answers. "Jury-rigged asthma inhalers are often made from Comansys rebreathers, which leave that mark on the face. That, coupled with the envelope in his pocket from the pharmaceuticals dump in Shedford suggested he'd be susceptible to asthma-based suggestion."

My eyes grow wide as I look at him, impressed. "Alright, Sherlock Holmes, but you told Paula she needed to be breathless before we even saw the farmer."

"Oh, yes. That's right. No, no, I had intel on that farmer. I have intel on everyone."

"Everyone?" I swallow, and he nods.

"Oh, I know that look. Yes, I do have intel on you too, Speedy Gonzales. Did you know your file in America says you died in 2013?"

"Yeah, yeah, been there, confessed that," I reply, and he sighs wistfully.

"It's nice, but I miss the old way of doing this, cold reading and such. Shame. There's practically nothing A.N.N.I.E. can't tell me with a bit of time."

Janine perks up at this. "Really? Is she privy to the Minister's secret plans?"

"Oh, you want to bypass all this and find out where those babies are?" He shakes his head with a click of his tongue. "No, not even A.N.N.I.E. knows that. Sigrid keeps it all on paper and files on her private system, not connected to any network.

"And I'll tell you what I've else I've gotten nowhere with: A.N.N.I.E.'s been trying to knock up a cure for the zombie plague for years for me. Got nowhere. Your Veronica hasn't gotten anywhere with it, has she? No, don't worry. I know she hasn't." He pauses when a low growl comes from behind us, and when we turn back we see a zombie stumbling towards us. It wears a straw hat, a flannel shirt and jeans.

"Why's it dressed like that?" I ask.

"I think that idiot farmer was using it as a scarecrow and it got loose. Come on."

We pick up the pace, the zombie behind us, desperately trying to catch up with us. It's not fast, but it isn't slow either. We can't outpace it with a brisk jog, although we're not really jogging anyway, since time is of the essence for poor Selma. I hope she's okay, safe in hiding.

But I know the Minister, and I know she'd tear this country apart before she let Selma tell us her secrets. I remember the lengths she went through to try and kidnap baby Sarah, what she did when we took Sarah and Adora and escaped Abel. Selma is hiding, but I can only hope she's hiding in a place Sigrid won't hope to look, and in a place that we will be able to reach her.

She's put herself at quite the risk to help us, but then again, so have many others. It's amazing when you think about how many people have put themselves at extreme risks, some of them losing their lives because of it, to help us-to help Abel.

It's been this way since I came to Abel four years ago. People have constantly risked their lives to help us, and many have died. We have to make their lives worth it through these victories, through winning the fight against those who are trying to doom what's left of humanity.

That zombie is far behind us now, tripping over the tilled up dirt, snarling in fury. Valmont looks back at it over his shoulder, grinning like an excited child.

"Oh, this is exciting! Thrill of the chase! I miss it. You know, from the old days?"

"Are you telling us you ran away from zombies in the old days?" Peter asks, and Valmont laughs at the absurdity.

"No, no, no, I was a grifter, like Amelia. That's one of the things that drew us together." His smile fades, and he sighs through his nose. "Eventually, I grifted my way into owning a technology company, Xia-Hifa. I was only supposed to hold onto it for six months, then dump the stock, take the profits, and take off to Honolulu, but I found that my particular brand of economy with the truth worked terrifically well in the business world. I spun bigger and bigger lies about what my company would do, then the employees read my interviews and made it happen! The called me-"

"A technological visionary who can see the future," Paula finishes. "I remember."

"I miss the hands-on stuff, though, even in the apocalypse. I think I've kept myself too safe." He looks ahead. "Anyway, here we are, at the border of Goldmont. None of you have any weapons, do you?"

We shake our heads. Since Peter, Paula and I were only coming to make a deal with Pit Viper, we didn't bring weapons since we didn't want any confusion as of why we were there.

"Good. There's a gangland funeral today. Two rival clans have been invited as part of a truce. They'll assume we're with the other, so stick with me. Come on, we don't want to be late for the funeral."

Paula and I share a worried side glance, but stay quiet. There are guards at the settlement's entrance, and they each check us for weapons, patting us down as procedure demands. I don't think much of it, but I do grab at my invisible backpack strap as we head inside and are met with eerie silence. I do understand the a funeral is going on, but for it to be this quiet... whichever gangs are here must be extremely threatening for everyone that lives here to know not to make a commotion.

Walking through the quiet streets, I notice the flowers hanging from the windowsills of some of the buildings. I mostly see lilies and chrysanthemums, both meaning mourning and goodbye. I suppose it's respect for the person who died, or maybe one of the gangs actually live here. It's difficult to tell, in all honesty.

"How did you know about this funeral that's happening today, anyway?" I ask. "I mean, it's not like you were planning on going since you were having dinner with the Minister, who you left to run on a mission with us. Don't you think she might get suspicious?"

Valmont scoffs. "No, no. I told A.N.N.I.E. to entertain her while I'm gone, and if she wasn't able to, get some of my staff to entertain her. Dinner shouldn't be served for another hour or so, since our head chef had to be taken to lie down after tripping and falling down the stairs after requesting more supplies to be sent in next week with one of her new sous-chefs."

"That's... certainly something," Sam says. "Do you even think she'll believe that lie?"

He scoffs again. "She'll believe just about anything A.N.N.I.E. tells her. Besides, she wouldn't want to see proof because she doesn't care about my chefs anyway."

"She doesn't care about anyone."

"Exactly. So why would she go out of her way to see if one of my chefs were really hurt if she didn't really care in the first place?"

"...You make a good point, but you still didn't answer how and why you knew about the funeral."

"A.N.N.I.E. told me about the funeral, but I like to know about any upcoming news in order to see if I can insert myself into it and benefit from it," He answers, and that response makes me understand why he and Amelia got married.

When we make it to the funeral home, we head inside. The air is heavy as mourners crowd the room, the casket closed with flowers surrounding it.

"And now, Scorpion Fang will give a eulogy for her beloved brother," A mourner says from the podium. "Scorpion Fang?"

"Oh my God," Sam gasps. "Scorpion Fang's brother. Didn't Amelia get him killed so she could take over New Canton?"

Valmont perks up at that. "Did she really? What's she like?"

"Imagine the most irritating thing you can think of, and then times it by seven," I deadpan, and he chuckles.

"God, I miss her. You know where I made my mistake with her?"

"Choosing to marry her in the first place?"

"I tried to get her to go straight. Showed her my technology company, thought she'd be impressed by the money."

"Wasn't she?" Paula asks, and he shakes his head.

"No. It was always the achievement for her. Money's just the way you prove you're winnings. No point if you stop playing the game. She took it all when she left. Am I heartbroken? Yes. Am I angry? Only with that old devil called love. I can't deny it. I still have a torch for that woman." He straightens his back. "Alright. Let me do this thing then."

"What thing?" Peter asks, and he grins.

"This thing. Eagle Fang was a member of the Star Militia!" He learns over to us to whisper, "He wasn't. Truth! Truth! The people demand the truth!"

"Valmont, what are you doing?" Peter asks, panicked.

"Just look like you're with me."

I shift uncomfortably when I see two very large men coming towards us, both looking extremely annoyed. They're both taller than anyone in our group, which says a lot since Peter is 6'1", and they both look like they could punt me into the next room without breaking a sweat. Valmont notices them too, but he doesn't seem alarmed at all.

"This is good. Keep acting like you're talking to me."

"Mr. Valmont, we are going to get pounded to a pulp," Janine says, and I see her shift ever so subtly, reading herself to fight.

"Oh, no, definitely not. Not at a funeral. Honor amongst thieves."

When the two reach us, I find myself wanting to shrink back, but I keep my back straight, staring at the two men blankly.

"You are all distubrin' the peace at this sacred event," One says in a gruff voice.

"Oh, really?" Valmont replies. "I thought this was something else. Uh, a party."

That seems to make them even angrier than before, and the guard that spoke grabs Valmont's arm.

"All of you, with me."

"Wait, no!" Valmont yells as the other guard grips my shoulder hard enough to make me wince. "Don't throw us into Jay-Jay nation! They told me they'd kill me if I ever went back there!"

The guard grins, stained teeth peeking through cracked lips. "Oh, yes. There is no passage from Goldmont to Jay-Jay, but for you, I will make an exception."

"No, no, no! Not Jay-Jay!" He yells, trying to struggle but obviously not going anywhere. They have to call in another guard to drag us out and around through the gate that leads to Jay-Jay, slamming it shut behind us before walking off, knowing there's nowhere for us to go but forward, since there's metal fencing on both sides of us.

Valmont looks at us and grins smugly once the guards are out of earshot. "Ta-da!"

"Mr. Valmont, that was... I must say, I'm afraid that was very impressive," Janine says, and he beams at her praise.

"Thanks. Plenty more where that came from, Brains. Once we reach Jay-Jay the facility should be at the very front of the settlement. Let's run!"

•

"There," Valmont says after a few clicks on the computer. "The box containing the file on Selma Stein is number 133. Open the third drawer down, Five."

I do as told, opening the drawer, my face scrunching up when I see all that's in here. There's a hairbrush with a few strands of hair, some clothing, jewelry. It's creepy. This whole facility is creepy.

Valmont grabs the brush and plucks off a strand of the hair. He pulls a device from is pocket, opens a slot in the device and shoves the hair strand in. It beeps and a small green light shines on it a second later.

"DNA isolated," A.N.N.I.E. says through the speakers. "Mr. Valmont, would you like me to initiate DNA search now?"

"I mean, yes. What else did we come all this way for?"

"Information, Mr. Valmont. Reinstating DNA search functions will re-enable Project Glass."

I breathe in sharply, and Valmont gives me a raised brow.

"Everything alright, Speedy Gonzales?"

"No, no, it is not," Sam answers before I can. "Project Glass is the very deadly thing A.N.N.I.E. said she'd done to Five-or is trying to do to her."

"Ah, yes, that's a bugger. Tell you the truth, I never fully understood what Project Glass was," He admits. "Sanbophin beavering away never bothered me about anything until it was salable. I thought we took the chip that'd let you do it out of the backup mainframe a few years ago."

I feel the blood draining from my face.

The Manor House. We put those corrupted files back in her mainframe. We weren't able to take them out.

I did this.

I signed my own death wish.

"Oh, well, can't be helped now," Valmont says with a shrug. "A.N.N.I.E., Project Glass-how likely is it to be deadly, and how soon?"

"Not... immediately deadly," She answers, which makes me feel worse somehow.

"Oh, well, that's fine then. Authorization granted. We'll figure something out."

"Wha-no, no, no!" Sam yells, furious, terrified. "Hold on a second. You can't just set up something that's going to kill Callista-"

Valmont's device beeps.

"Process completed," A.N.N.I.E. says. "Target located in biosphere sigma alpha. Paradise Project."

Janine gasps. "Oh, Lord. That poor woman."

Before I can ask her what she means by that, I hear a door open.

"It's through here."

Without thinking, I duck behind the filing cabnets, and everyone else is smart enough to follow.

"You're the fourth one to come for this box today," A docent says as leads a very questionable looking man into the room. "We're running out of things to give people."

"The Minister's bounty is very attractive," The man replies in a raspy voice, his eyes gleaming when the docent opens Selma's drawer.

"Here you go. Hairbrush?"

"Yes," He says, taking it. "My bloodhound will get a good scent for this Selma from that. I'll find her, and she won't be causing any more trouble."

A/N: Here you go, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This is the last chapter I'll be posting during this spring break since I'm getting burnt out from writing and editing every day, but a new chapter will be up next week, and things will go back to the normal schedule until I post otherwise. Please be sure o vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!