"Runner Five," Janine says. She frowns when I don't answer. "Are you quite... with me, Runner Five?"

Moonchild laughs, the sound bell-like over the flowing river.

"I saw it," Amelia says, sounding almost afraid. "I saw it on the camera. Something creeping, crawling."

"Oh, yeah, I think I do see something." Sam pauses when static reaches my headset. "I just lost that camera, guys. Could mean Sigrid's after you, or-"

"It's not," I say, my voice flat. I keep running, keep my eyes ahead. It's here. It's coming for me.

"Well, we don't know that, but yeah. We're all thinking it, aren't we? Valmont took the blocks off A.N.N.I.E., enacting the Glass Protocol on you so he could use her DNA search thingy to find Selma. And now some weird thing is after you in the dark! Not a coincidence, or really not a coincidence?"

"We have to keep moving," I say desperately. "We can't hope to fight it. I don't..."

I trail off with a cough, trying to muffle it as best I can with my fist. Janine watches me warily, but nods.

"I concur," She says calmly. "We have very little time. If there's something down here, we'll simply have to outpace it. And we may use this as an opportunity to learn something about your foe. An unseen beast may be terrifying, but once we have seen and understood it, it will merely be a logistical problem. Mr. Yao, do you have a location on the police chief known as Raoul?"

"Mmm, yep. Got him easy. He's heading through the Old Town towards the stone bridge. You should be able to see him on surveillance cams in that office you're in Amelia."

I hear the blonde laugh. "What on earth makes you think I'm still in that office? Why would I have possibly stayed after Janine left me alone?"

There's a beat of silence. "But you needed Janine to arrange evac! You kept nagging us for it!"

"Valmont left me a Porsche in the main quad," She replies, and I really do hope Valmont eventually sees that he can do so much better than her. "Also, you told me to shut up, which I am not likely to forget, Sam Yao."

He sighs. "I literally do not have time for your hurt feelings right now. Five, Janine, you need to keep moving down that tunnel. If the Glass Protocol is after you, it's behind you."

"Oh, yes. I think we all know it's behind you. But when you turn and look, will it still be there?"

Moonchild's words shake me to the core, and I feel my chest start to cave in as coughs rack through me.

"Go, now! Run!"

High-pitched laughter follows his words, echoing against the stone walls, the river carrying the sound further through the tunnels. I have to fight the urge to cover my ears and close my eyes. I keep running, eyes wide, my heart beating so quickly I fear it may burst out of my chest.

I've seen this before. I've had a vision. Me and Janine, running from that thing. I wish I had known I was also infected, but I suppose that would have been too easy. I only know bits and pieces, the puzzle pieces scattered around, never fully coming together until that time comes.

And it's here. It's coming for me, crawling after me. It's not fast, but it never stops. I can run, but not forever. Eventually I'll have to slow down, and when I do...

It will be there.

But if we get out of these tunnels, then maybe we can trap it down here, just for the time being. I trapped it down in that Xia-Hifa building. It didn't immediately come after me then. Yes, Valmont did take away the ability from A.N.N.I.E., but I'm sure he didn't do so the second I left. I don't even know if he knew I was there.

If we can get out of here, trap it in these tunnels, it might buy me a few weeks, possibly longer.

But I have to make it out first.

I hear nothing other the sounds of the river and our footsteps, and with each second I don't hear that ear piercing laughter I grow anxious. I know it likes to toy with its prey. I remember that from my visions.

I cough again. It's single coughs, no fits, not hacks, but they're there. I'm running out of time, each second is a second closer to my death. I can only hope we'll catch Raoul in time. He's probably going slow, trying not to drop all those ampoules of the cure. He seems like the kind of person who would steal the cure even though other people were infected at that banquet. He tricked us and tried to get us killed when we tried to send out mail at Worthington-on-Sea's post office. He's always been a double-crosser.

But that's just what we need. His thievery is what might just save my life. Plasmapheresis only works for so long. Paula got a few years, but if it weren't for Sam, she would have died, and even now she has to have regular treatments, and we know that eventually she will go back to having to have more and more treatments, and Sam won't be able to save her when that time comes.

I don't want to have to go through that. I don't want to have to have treatment after treatment, be hooked up to a machine for sometimes hours a day. I can't. I've been poked and prodded so many times. I don't want to have to put myself through that just to stay alive.

I flinch harshly when Sam gasps. "I saw it again, just for a second."

"What does it look like?" Janine asks, and I cringe as I prepare myself for the answer.

"It... it moves wrong... like the limbs bend in the wrong direction."

My stomach churns and Janine scowls. "That is tactically insignificant. Begin at the beginning. Is it animal, robot? Feathered? Skin? Covered in copies of the daily paper, Mr. Yao? What?"

"Uh, right. Yeah. Sorry. Um, yeah... uh..." He trails off, as if trying to find the right words. "Uh, skin. Skin. Leathery skin with a sort of dull shine to it, I think. Or-or maybe it's wearing a coat. I'm not sure."

Her lips press into a thin line. I keep my eyes ahead, claws of fear digging deep into my chest, tearing at muscle and bone, spreading through my body like inky poison.

"Then you need to get a better look at it. Are there cameras we can lead it past?"

"Um... yes! Yeah, if you and Five take the next left and then the next right, and it follows you down there, it should pass by one of my cams."

"It will follow us down there," I say, my voice shaking, my body burning. "It will never stop. It will always keep following me. I've seen this before."

"Five..." Sam starts, sounding extremely worried.

Janine places her hand to my forehead. "Your fever's returned. Delusions aren't uncommon for someone who's infected. Mr. Yao, we'll have to hurry if we want to figure out what that thing is and keep Five from turning."

She pulls out a piece of cloth from her backpack and slows down to dunk it in the river. Once it's thoroughly soaked, she hands it to me. "Keep this pressed to your forehead and neck, but don't slow down. We need to pick up the pace. Come along. Run."

I follow her down the tunnel, taking a left when we see it. I stay a few paces behind Janine, not because I can't keep up or because I want the Glass Protocol to come find me, but because in my panic, in my delusions from the fever and Moonchild, I'm having a hard time remembering where Sam told us to go. Janine remembers.

I have to trust that she'll keep me safe. It's the only thing I can trust. Panic and adrenaline push me forward even as my body begs for me to slow down, to rest, to catch my breath. I can't. I won't.

Laughter bounces off the walls. It sounds like a child's, but it's wrong, different. The undertones are of something deadly, something not quite human. It burns itself into my brain, a permanent memory that will never leave. I look to Moonchild, wishing that she'd say something, anything, but she doesn't. Her eyes are ahead, not really seeing anything but herself since she sees through my eyes.

We keep running, taking a right, running down the dimly lit walkways. I press the cloth harder into my neck, my forehead, the water soothing on my burning skin. I gasp for breath. The cool air does nothing for my dry throat and parched lips. I swallow down a rising cough and bring up a hand to rub at my temples as I try to focus on running.

One step. I focus on one step at a time. I can hear Sam mumbling under his breath as we pass by a camera. I don't look at it. I don't want him to see how bad I look. It will only worry him more. He tries to hide it, but I can hear the way his chair creaks when he stiffens when he hears me cough. I can hear the way his voice shakes when he speaks. I'm sure he's reliving the last time he saw me infected, even though I wasn't actually infected. I remember the pain he went through seeing me die. I don't want him to go through that again.

Suddenly my thoughts are cut short by a low moan that echoes through the tunnel.

"Oh, come on!" I yell, my voice teetering on a sob. Janine stiffens the slightest bit.

"Mr. Yao, report!"

"Oh, um, sorry," He stammers. "Yeah, uh... yeah, I-I was just watching the other cams to see if the thing goes past it..."

"Mr. Yao, is there a zombie in these tunnels? We heard the characteristic moan."

"Uh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, yes, yeah, there is. Yeah, sorry. Sorry." His voice cracks when I start coughing, unable to get enough air as it turns into a short coughing fit. "It... It... Five, are you okay?"

"'M fine," I reply, trying to catch my breath.

"Are-are you s-"

"The zombie, Mr. Yao," Janine grits out.

"Right. Uh, sorry. It's the zombie serving person from upstairs. She's still got a uniform on. Don't know how she found you. Must have got your scent or something." He audibly winces. "Sorry. That was supposed to be reassuring, but it didn't come out that way."

"No, it really didn't," I croak out with a soft smile, and he laughs. "Are we outpacing her?"

"Oh, yeah. Yeah. Just-just a sec. That-that moving thing, it's about to go past a perfect camera configuration, where there's a bright light, a good cam and everything."

My face falls, my chest and throat tightening.

"Oh, come on. What are you?" He mutters softly. "Werebadger? Gray-skinned alien? Jolly Green Giant?" He pauses when I laugh. "Come on... show yourself."

Static spikes through my headset, and Sam chokes on a gasp.

"Mr. Yao, what are you seeing?" Janine asks.

"The lights just went out! Like, they just went out, just as it should have been running past the cam. They just... went out." He's breathing heavily now, fear dripping from his voice. "That's... I don't feel so good about this."

Moonchild finally turns to me, her eyes staring into mine, finding something I could never imagine to.

"Bad moon rising, Five. It wants you."

"Runner Five," Janine says, and my gaze snaps to her, eyes wide. She pauses, her own eyes widening the slightest bit at my appearance. She knows. Still, she composes herself and speaks, probably hoping that I'll listen to her, that Moonchild will listen to her. "Whatever that thing is, the urgent threat to your safety is the zombie virus in your bloodstream. Whether we manage to see that thing or not, we cannot slow down. Come on."

•

I hear it again, the laughter, the sound of a creature that knows what it's doing to me. I gasp for air, my shoulders shaking as coughs rack through me. It's getting worse.

"Did you hear that?" Sam asks.

"I can't hear anything over Five's coughing, Mr. Yao."

"Sorry," I apologize once I can properly breathe again. "I... oh. Sam, do you see that on camera?"

"What? Is there something in front of you? I can't get the light to bend that way."

I reach out and touch it with the toe of my shoe. "It's a zombie arm."

"Huh. Probably no time right now to give it a proper burial."

"The sleeve of the uniform is still here..." Dread creeps up into my chest, and I taste bile on my tongue. "It's the arm of the zombie server who was following us."

"...But she was behind you, not in front of you."

"I know." I look at the hand. The fingers are all curled up except for the pointer finger. "It's pointing to the left hand tunnel. Must've been arranged."

"Well, that's creepy and ominous. And I don't like it."

"Mr. Yao, where is the Glass Protocol entity?" Janine asks as I dab myself with the soaked cloth. It's only providing me with some relief. Soon it will be useless.

"Well, three of the cams behind you are just static now."

I gulp, but Janine just nods, her brows furrowing together as she thinks. "Obviously the protocol is equipped with a device which can short out cameras. I've used such devices myself."

"Yeah, that's it," He says, but I know he doesn't believe it. I don't believe it either, but it's hard to think clearly now. He lets out a fearful noise. "Okay. So, uh, the camera right behind you just shorted out, so it's-it's right behind you."

I tense, my mind going straight into fight or flight mode. I ready myself to run, but Janine stands perfectly still.

"Very well. Runner Five, we will stand here for a few moments."

"What!?" My voice cracks. "Are you insane?"

Her face hardens at my words. "Whatever that this thing is, we will see it, we will learn about it, and we will work out how to deal with this logistical problem."

I shake my head, tears welling in my eyes as incoherent pleas spill from my mouth. Janine ignores them, grabbing a flare from her pack and lighting it using some matches she also has with her. She places the flare on the ground and takes a few steps away from it, and I do the same, my entire body shaking from fear.

"There. No electronic trickery will snuff this out." She pauses. "I can hear its footsteps. It's coming."

I want to correct her. Those aren't footsteps. They don't sound like footsteps. It sounds like something slapping its hand on the ground and dragging itself towards us. It's laughing again. Tears slip past my lashes as that horrid sound rings in my ears. I grab my head, using every bit of strength to keep myself from falling to my knees and curling in on myself as panic takes over.

Moonchild watches, her eyes glazed over.

"Like one who, on a lonesome road, doth walk in fear and dread, and having once turned round, walks on, and turns no more his head..."

I shake my head, muttering to myself as it gets closer. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

I repeat the verse over and over again, my voice shaking, only interrupted by my painful coughing.

"Be quiet, Five," Janine hisses. "Now we will see it."

It gets closer, the laughter louder, the sounds of dragging pounding into my head. My head feels like it's going to split open!

The light goes out.

"Janine, Five?" Sam calls, but he gets no answer. "Janine! Are you still there?"

"The lights have gone out, Mr. Yao," She replies in shock. "Even the flare!"

She tries to ignite another one, but it fizzles out the second the flame appears. I find myself frozen when the laughter sounds like it's right in front of me. I stare into never ending darkness.

"...because he knows a fearsome foe doth close behind him tread." I see her, in the darkness. I don't know how, but I do. She turns to me. "Five, grab Janine's hand and run!"

Suddenly I'm able to move, and I reach out, feeling the warmth of Janine's hand. I squeeze it tightly and dart off, dragging her along with me. The sound of laughter echoes in my ears, but I don't stop running, even as coughs rack through my body, stealing the air from my lungs. I run even as fever burns through me, as if my blood has turned to fire.

I keep running through the darkness, not caring what I may run into. My head spins, and I see swirling shades of black dance in front of my eyes. I stumble, letting out a grunt from the exertion. I think Sam says something, but I don't hear the words. I can barely hear anything at all. All the sounds of laughter and footsteps and harsh breathing have melded together into deafening silence that threatens to swallow me whole!

Swirls of yellow shine through black, and my sweaty hand nearly lets go of Janine. I hold onto her tighter, even as the dim yellow takes over black. I gasp for air with each ragged cough, my breathing labored but not stopping me.

"Runner Five?" Janine says, but I don't look back at her, not until I'm suddenly jerked back when she stops. "Five, we can stop now."

I look back at her, eyes wide. She pulls back at seeing the wild look on my face, but I don't care. We have to keep moving. We have to keep going. It's not safe. I try to tell her but all my words are taken over by my coughing.

I'm running out of time.

"Five, sweetheart," Sam says softly. "You're okay. There are lights. I can see you. You're-you're fine." The words sound forced, dishonest. I'm not fine. "Do you... do you know which tunnel you took? The left or the right?"

I take a moment, trying to gather my thoughts. It's so hard to think, delirium setting in. "There were-there were separate tunnels?"

Suddenly pain spikes up the base of my skull, and I let out a sharp yelp, grasping my head.

"Left turn," Van Ark says. "Left turn."

"It was dark," Janine explains. "Five grabbed my hand. We ran. That was the right decision, Five. I think we don't have the correct weaponry to fight that thing. Yet."

I want to laugh. Yet? There is no yet. There is no escape. It never stops, never slows down. It will always come for me, always. I can't escape. I'm going to die here.

I'm going to die.

I lean against the cold stone walls. Which thoughts are my own and which are my feverish paranoia?

Sam hums. "Yeah, okay, but uh, look. I need to know which fork you've gone down in the tunnels. Because in these plans, the left fork leads down to-"

He's cut off by static, and the lights go out again, only to come back on a second later. Janine seems unfazed, looking down the tunnels.

Did the lights go out, or did I blackout?

"Yes, Mr. Yao, you are correct. We have reached a dead end. No matter. We'll simply have to go back and retrace our steps."

"Back?" I hack, but they ignore me.

"Well, look, you're pretty close to where you need to be," Sam says. "That guy, Raoul, is just strolling through Old Town. Um, if you give me a sec, I think there's a passageway on your right that should lead-"

Something hits me from above-cold, clammy. It hits the ground with a splat, and I look in horror at the foot on the floor, grayish-red blood staining the stone.

The Glass Protocol laughs, the sound coming from everywhere at once.

Janine grabs my arm. "Mr. Yao, we have to move now!"

"Yeah, I don't quite have it-"

It laughs again as more zombie parts fall from above. Blood spatters on impact. Some nearly lands on me. I don't move.

"Something is above us, Mr. Yao! Either in the ceiling of this stone passage or the passage above. I can hear it laughing."

"Of course, it's laughing," I say calmly, my words in unison with Moonchild's. "It's enjoying this."

Janine looks at me for a moment, looking up when I start coughing again. This fit lasts longer than the others. "There must be an aperture, though I can't see it. Zombie body parts are raining down on us. Do you have a direction for us, Mr. Yao?"

"Uh..."

"Do you have one?" She urges. "Now!"

I fall to my knees, coughing painfully. I can't breathe. "Sam..."

"Go back the way you came from!" He spits out immediately. "There's a tiny passage on your left. Squeeze through, and you should be directly underneath a manhole cover in Old Town."

Janine grabs me by the arm and pulls me up, dragging me through the stone passage, back into the darkness. I follow, barely able to keep focus. Everything hurts. My chest feels like it's caving in on itself. I'm burning from the inside out. I can't stop coughing.

It's happening-the beginning of the end. I can feel it, in my veins, in my blood. I have minutes left.

"Sam," I say, but I can't finish. My coughs stop me from doing so.

"Just-just keep running, Callista. You're going to be just fine." His voice shakes. It hurts to hear him like this, but I can't stop the words that spill from my mouth in a delirious slur.

"I won't though. If the virus doesn't kill me," I hack, "that thing will."

"We have not come this far for you to die now, Runner Five," Janine says curtly, dragging me along. I reply only with a ragged cough, allowing her to drag me through the darkness until we reach light.

It gives me no comfort. I can still hear it dragging itself to come find us-to come find me. I wheeze for air, but Janine doesn't slow down, nor does she let me go. My legs feeling like stone, my movements slow as if I'm moving through molasses. I want to go faster, but I can't.

I feel so weak, so frail.

Suddenly Janine comes to a stop, looking around.

"Mr. Yao, we've reached another dead end."

"Yeah, yeah, that's good. Just uh, there should be an iron ladder straight ahead of you. Climb it quickly. Another cam's just gone out," Sam says, and I can hear the sound of a body dragging itself across the floor. Its deep breathing reaches my ears, stealing what little I have left from me. I follow Janine up the ladder, going as fast as I can. My muscles scream and my arms nearly give out on me. I cough. "There's a manhole cover above you. Unscrew the bolt, Janine."

The metal scrapes and screeches as she does so. My fingers ache. I want to let go.

"A fearsome fiend... funny how fiend sounds so much like friend, doesn't it, Five?"

I don't answer. She laughs at me, amusement dancing in her eyes at my disheveled state.

"It's hard to tell the difference. Don't look around. It's behind you."

Suddenly light shines from above, and Janine scrambles out of the manhole and pulls me out with her and places the manhole back into its proper place. I collapse onto the ground, coughing, gasping for breath, my eyes searching for something unknown.

I'm dying.

"Raoul's just on the far side of the square. Callista, please, you have to get up!" Sam begs me, his voice wavering. "He's got your cure. You have to get up!"

Janine doesn't give me a choice in the matter, grabbing me and pulling me to my feet. "Get up, Five! If you want to live, run!"

•

"Five, get him!" Janine commands, and I throw myself forward, grabbing onto the bony man by his waist, dragging him down. He struggles when we hit the ground, but I hold onto him, gasping for air, my body convulsing. I have to fight to keep my eyes from rolling back up into my head.

"Pit Viper... your voice. Is that you?" Raoul asks, although I barely hear it. It all sounds so faded. "What are you doing? Pit Viper, Runner Five, we can do business. We can make a deal!"

"You sold Abel Township out to the Minister. Now you're stealing ampoules of the cure from her. No deal with you is worth the breath to speak it." She grabs him by his shirt, and I release him, laying on the ground, wheezing, coughing, colors swirling and melding together.

Raoul looks at me with wide, fearful eyes. "She's about to turn!"

"Which is exactly why I'm searching your pockets!"

"Hurry up!" Sam cries, and a wheeze like growl leaves my lips as my eyes roll up. "Janine!"

"Come on, now!" Roaul argues. "A man's pockets are his own private kingdom." He gasps. "Ah! See what you've done! Most of these ampoules broke when I fell! Idiots! They're the most valuable thing on the planet!"

I arch my back, feeling a sharp pain as Janine jabs me in the arm with a needle, and after a few seconds I can breathe again. I take in a gulp of air, sinking into the ground when it's not interrupted by a cough. Sam sobs in relief.

"You're okay! Oh, thank God, you're gonna be okay!"

"There's one ampoule left that is unbroken," Janine says, and I bring my unfocused gaze to her as she glares at Raoul and backs away from him. "Be grateful I'll let you leave safely, this time."

He nods frantically, scrambling to his feet. "Oh, yeah. Thanks very much."

He darts off, and I hear his retreating footsteps. I still lay there, taking a minute to catch my breath, to piece my mind back together. The burning under my skin is fading to a low simmer that I know will disappear completely in a few minutes. Sweat and soreness still cling to my body, and I let out a soft groan of pain when I finally push myself up.

"And the other ampoules?" Sam asks.

"I had thought if we managed to secure several, we might give some to Miss McShell for her research, and another to Dr. Cohen to cure her." Janine looks down, her eyes filled with pity. "She's lived so long under the shadow of infection."

"And now?"

"Miss McShell has failed us. The Minster was months, if not years, ahead of her research. I will give this ampoule to Dr. Cohen. She can monitor its progress in her own bloodstream, and perhaps learn vital information that way.

"These next five months are going to be hard for us. Runner Five, the Minister used your Moonchild vulnerability to control you, to prevent you from running, and to trap you. I cannot think this is the last time she will use this tactic. We must find a solution for your problem.

"The Minister has more allies than us and more resources. She has trapped those babies in a serum factory in the center of a zombie zone, protected by an army of robots under the control of a powerful AI. We will need to gather many more friends to rescue them, and now..."

"And now she has the cure for the whole zombie plague," Sam finishes. "She's got the answer. She's got... the end of everything."

She nods curtly. "Yes, Mr. Yao. Who will stand with Abel when life and hope of the future are on the other side?"

Before he can even try to answer her question, there's a loud knock on the underside of the manhole cover. Still sitting down, I scoot away from it, biting back a whimper of fear.

"Uh, Janine, is there something knocking on that manhole cover nearest you?" Sam asks, although I know he already knows the answer.

"Yes, I believe there is." She grabs my hand and helps me to my feet. "Runner Five, that's our cue to leave. Back to Abel Township before anyone knows we escaped the Minister's palace.

"This will be harder than we thought possible. We know that the Minister plans to invade Abel soon. We must learn her plans. We must devise our own strategies against her. We will struggle, and there will be-believe it-there will be many sacrifices. But we will find a way to defeat the Minsiter. However dark the night, the sun will always rise. We will do it together."

She places her hand on my shoulder, and I nod.

"Run with me."

A/N: This was a close one! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!