"Alright, you guys. You should be approaching Blackmoore Valley by now," Sam says, and my heart clenches because I recognize the tone of his voice. The moment I've been dreading since I stepped out of the gates of Abel is almost here. "The high iron content of the rocks is going to block out your coms in a minute, so be careful, okay? I'll be waiting for you when you get back in range. Oh, and Janine, once again, I'm so sorry about storing all those Curly Wurlys in the armory-"

Static drowns his voice out before he can finish, and while I knew this was coming, I can't help but feel a spike of panic in my chest knowing he can't hear us anymore.

"Babe?" I call out, hoping that maybe I'll hear a few more words through the static. "Sam!"

I get no answer, and I turn my headset to a different channel so white noise won't be ringing fruitlessly in my ear. "God, I hate not having coms."

Maxine nods in agreement. "I never realize how much I'm going to miss Sam's voice until it's gone."

Janine hums. "Yes. I admit, I've come to find a strange comfort in Mr. Yao's perplexing digressions."

The taller woman takes a look around, uncertainty twisting her features. "This valley is pretty shadowy. I keep expecting something to jump out behind those big rocks. I'd feel safer if we had more than one gun."

She gestures to the gun in question, which Janine has strapped to her hip. Besides that and the axe I insisted on bringing with me, we're weaponless. If the people in this valley aren't friendly, we may have a problem on our hands. It was already a risk doing this when Janine's been having all of us carry a gun with us for the past two weeks in case the Last Riders tried anything since they saw us near that theater, even though so far there's been nothing.

"Fort Blackmoore's isolated position makes it secure, yet vulnerable, Dr. Meyers," Janine says. "They rarely trade with outsiders. It would be best to appear non-threatening."

"Do you really think they can tell us what we need to know?" I ask.

"This settlement has a large number of young people. Our intel suggests several of them ran with the Last Riders shortly after the apocalypse. We may be able to learn what motivated the atrocity at the rave."

"The Last Riders motives can change a lot in seven years. Also, how old were these people when they joined?"

"I do not know. We shall find out once we get there, and any information is better than none. There is a second part to our mission as well. Miss McShell believes the Ministry gifted Fort Blackmoore a simple administrative AI device on the original A.N.N.I.E. Since this valley is cut off from outside communication, their A.N.N.I.E. has not been in touch with the other parts since before the apocalypse."

"And Veronica thinks analyzing a clean version of A.N.N.I.E. will help her stabilize itself," Maxine adds, and Janine nods curtly in reply.

"Miss McShell may be clutching at straws, but we must try to help her. It was she alone who developed the cure to the original zombie virus, which the Minister then stole form her. She is out best hope for similar assistance against the V-Types. Runner Five was able to obtain a new AI core with Mr. Sissay and Dr. Lobatse, which she can add to her processing power, but-"

"But it's no use if she just installs a corrupted version of herself onto it." Maxine looks at me. "You said she told you her glitches can get pretty bad sometimes, right?"

"Well, I mean," I grasp my backpack strap, ignoring the way Janine's eyes narrow. "It just happens if she overtaxes herself, but depending on how bad it is, then she freezes up from a few seconds to a few minutes, which is a lot in computer time."

"Precisely. So our work here is important." Janine points up ahead, and I squint as I try to spot it in the shadows. "There's Fort Blackmoore, Five. The castle ruin, do you see it? It looks as if the inhabitants have repaired some of the fallen stone walls with wooden ramparts."

"Yeah..." I draw out the word. The way the wood is used to replace the stone walls seems to use a pattern that I would have used when I was boarding up walls during the beginning of the apocalypse, and just revamped as time went on and I gained experience.

Just how young are the 'young people' here?

"The sun is going down, but we can get there in minutes if we run. Go!"

Sunlight continues to leave, the sky turning shades of pink and red. It casts a beautiful glow on the two women beside me, but the shadows of the rocks and crevices of the valley keep me from appreciating the beauty of the sunset. I keep my pace steady, each step a step closer to this castle. Hopefully we can trade and get the clean version of A.N.N.I.E. for Veronica to use.

The faster we can get this done, the faster we can go back home.

I lurch, a horrible taste filling my mouth, a foul stench of the dead hitting my nose. It hits me so quickly that I can't do anything but breathe it in. My hand clasps onto my mouth, my nose, but it doesn't do anything. Maxine and Janine both look at me with confusion.

"Runner Five, what's wrong?" Janine asks, and I look at her with bewilderment.

"Don't you smell that? It smells like," I nearly gag, "like rotting flesh times a hundred."

Maxine sniffs the air. "I don't smell anything. Don't hear any zoms around either."

I don't like this.

By now we've reached the castle, but the smell remains. It's faded by the cleanliness of whatever remains inside, but I still keep my breathing shallow. It's hard not to focus on the metal and vinegar taste that burns my tongue. Saliva pools into my mouth, and I swallow, hoping to get the horrid taste out of my mouth, but it's no good.

Thankfully my thoughts are put to a halt when I see the portcullis of the castle rise up, and a tall man with brown hair and hopeful eyes steps out.

"Visitors! Thank goodness." He looks at the pistol at Janine's hip. "You even have a gun."

"Okay... well, not exactly the reception we were expecting," Maxine says.

"You're from Abel Township, aren't you? Even here, we've heard of those shirts. Please, come with me. Up the stairs to the battlements. Hurry."

He heads inside with quick, long strides. His pace is surprising considering his shoes are as worn as they are, and he has quite the stride for someone who's maybe five foot eight.

"I think there's been a misunderstanding," Janine says we climb the stairs. "We're here to meet with the local mayor."

"The mayor, that's me." He looks at us from over his shoulder and smiles pleasantly, not slowing his pace. "But there's no time for any of that."

I look at him in surprise. He looks rather young to be a mayor. I mean, he looks to be in his mid-twenties, maybe late twenties. That seems like a bit of a stretch though. And even if he was, most of the settlements' leaders in England are in their forties or above, with Janine being the exception at thirty-three.

We reach the battlements, and I gasp at the entire view of the valley laid out before us, with the sun slowly sinking on the horizon. The beams of light are so beautiful and powerful. They seem to sink into my very soul.

Maxine comments on it, just as awe-struck as I, but when the mayor speaks again, that smell hits me again with full force.

"The north wall's always been my favorite spot. But look at the north end of the valley, the other direction from where you came from."

We do, and I squint at the sight of movement. The shadows obscure it, but it's obvious what's coming towards us isn't human.

Zombies, hundreds of them.

Janine pulls out a pair of binoculars from her backpack, and I see her jaw clench. I taste metal in my mouth.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Some of the zombies are missing heads," She states, and my heart stops. "Their movement pattern is odd."

"We've heard stories about nearby settlements falling to it. A tide of indestructible zombies. I never gave them credence." The mayor looks at us with pleading blue eyes. "Please, you have to help us. Aside from the walls, we're defenseless. Abel overthrew the Ministry. You have military experience. You must have guns, or bombs, or vehicles with you?"

"Uh," Maxine sucks in a breath through her teeth, "well, we have a gun."

"We came here to trade, not fight," Janine says, putting her binoculars away. "But that's immaterial, given the situation. We will provide any help we can, Mr. Mayor. Tell your people to begin a general evacuation and to gather anyone willing to fight. In the meantime, we were hoping to gain access to your administrative AI. Can you give us that?"

He nods frantically. "Yes, of course. Anything. Thank you. There's a computer terminal in my office in the main keep. This way. Hurry."

As we head away from the battlements and the mayor leads us towards his office, I can't help but share a worried look with Maxine. Anxiety twists and turns my gut, and I now understand what that smell and taste in my mouth is. It gets worse when I look around and see the inhabitants of who live here. The way they dress, the snippets of chatter I catch as we pass by...

Oh God.

"Janine," Maxine whispers harshly, "we can barely even hold off one V-Type!"

"I'm aware of the tactical situation, Dr. Meyers," She hisses.

I swallow thickly as I look around. "You were right about the locals. They all look about to be my age, maybe even younger."

"This castle is full of kids," Maxine says, and I shoot her a glare.

"Fort Blackmoore was hosting a school trip when Z-Day happened," The Mayor explains. "Fifty pre-teens and one teacher. This place has been our home ever since. We hunkered in, restored the wall, kept a low profile.

"Lately, we've taken in a lot of young refugees-a little older than my kids, but still young. Some of them ran with the Last Riders. But they never meant it! Most of them were fifteen or sixteen at the time, and they left as soon as they realized what those people were doing. They were just kids who needed a place to go and they've been scavenging ever since, until they came here. I think I'm probably the oldest person here. That's why they made me the mayor."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-seven. I was the teacher. Geography."

"I suppose History of Warfare would have been too much to hope for," Janine mumbles, but her words are quickly forgotten when we reach a door that is quickly opened.

"Here. This is my office. There's a computer by the fireplace. You can access our system from here."

"Five, you have the memory stick. Plug it into the computer. Miss McShell designed it to copy any version of A.N.N.I.E. it detects, but the process could take some time."

I nod, digging it from the front pocket of my backpack and plugging up into the computer. The black screen suddenly lights up with a green progress bar, currently at 0%.

"Question," I say as I watch the progress bar go up to 1%. "How did a place like this end up with a sophisticated AI?"

I look back at the mayor expectantly, and he clears his throat. "Oh, the Minister was keen to win us over for the PR. They installed an AI to automate our medical center and generators. They even gave us a few rifles."

"Which you've since lost?"

"We used them for hunting. Ran out of bullets a while ago. We tried scavenging an abandoned Ministry base, but all we found was an ugly black paperweight, a ginger kitten, and a stack of MOD stationary."

"You're lucky that's all you found. I went to an abandoned Ministry base and was nearly eaten alive by biologically engineered spiders." My gaze hardens when I see the mayor shudder. "Word to the wise, don't try looking into Ministry bases. You got lucky the first time."

He nods.

"So to recap," Maxine says, "we have no way of calling for help, no weapons, an army of zombies at the door, but an excellent view of a picturesque valley. Does that about sum it up?"

"Generators. You mentioned generators. What kind?" Janine asks.

"Petrol. They're in the generator station, the big warehouse next to the castle keep." He tips his head to the side with a frown. "Why do you ask?"

"They might be our only chance of holding the horde off until we evacuate. Five, Maxine, our dual mission here will come to nothing if this mainframe is destroyed before we can copy the clean AI off it, and if the Last Rider refugees we came to talk to are killed."

"Also, helping these people are the right thing to do." Maxine deadpans, and she gets a curt nod in reply.

"Yes, it is. You two, go down to the generator station and siphon off as much fuel as you can, then meet me on the north wall. Mr. Mayor, show me everything in this settlement that even resembles a weapon." She looks around. "Well? What are you waiting for? Snap to it, now!"

•

"Through here, Five," Maxine says, and when we head inside the warehouse my eyebrows go up in mild surprise at how clever they were to string all these portable generators together. I probably shouldn't underestimate these people just because they're my age. I hated when people did that to me.

"You grab those petrol cans and I'll shut the generators down," She says, and I nod before heading to the corner of the room to grab the cans as the generators power down. "Did you hear Janine up there? She sounded scared."

"Aren't you? There's an army of zombies out there, and for all we know, they could all be V-Types," I reply, bringing the cans over to her and setting them down.

A troubled look passes over her face. "Yeah. Help me get this valve loose, please."

"Sure." I fiddle with the valve, loosening it, but Maxine grabs my arm and nearly rips me away.

"Careful!" She warns. "It's hot."

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know. You want me to siphon it?"

She looks a bit shocked by my comments, but shakes her head. "No. I siphoned gas from cars when I was a teenager. I bet I remember how." She unscrews the cab before shrugging off her backpack and removing her med kit. "There should be a Yankauer tube we can you use for the flow."

She pulls it out, and in inserts one end into the generator and puts her mouth on the other, sucking enough to start the gasoline flow. She pulls away and shoves the tube into one of the petrol can.

"Don't try that, Five. One mistake and you'll get gasoline poisoning."

"I know." I frown. "Maxine, I'm not a kid."

"I-I know, but at the same time I keep thinking about those kids out there, and they're the same age as you."

"I'm not a kid. I'm nineteen. I'm married! I have three kids of my own!"

"I know, but it's just weird, seeing them and you and knowing you're the same age when they look so..."

"Soft?"

She sighs. "Yeah. I think some of them are younger than nineteen though. I think they're closer to Sarah's age then mine."

I frown, trying to use my fingers to figure up the math. "Aren't you only like, thirty-two? You're like twelve and a half years older than me, so not really."

She still shrugs. "Seems like it's been forever since I was your age. I was trouble when I was a teenager. Maybe Sarah will be like me... I keep telling Paula she's taking too many risks. She's going to be so mad at me if I die here tonight." Her eyes dart to the can. "That one's full. Pass me the next one."

As I do, Janine's voice comes through my headset, her voice clouded by static.

"Five, Dr. Meyers... coms are barely functioning, even at short range.... but I need you to... zombies are here... I need you to..."

"Sounds like she needs us up there, Five."

I grab the first can. "This one's full. That one's half full. It'll have to do. Back to the battlements."

She nods. "Let's hope we don't die tonight."

I head for the warehouse's exit, trying not to show how troubled I feel about all this. "Let's."

Once outside, we run for the wall, heading up the stairs. I can hear the moans and snarls of the zombies-the inhuman, animalistic growls of the V-Types. There are clanging sounds of the locals fighting off the zombies, or trying to. They can't kill them, but I'm sure Janine's made sure to tell them that, to push them back and keep them from even scratching you.

It's dark out, the sun having sunk low enough that the orange and red sky have turned blue and black, stars shining brightly overhead, oblivious to the battle going on down on earth.

"Five, Dr. Meyers, this way!" Janine shouts once we get to the top of the stairs. "Step away from the battlements. The zombies are piling up on top of each other trying to climb over."

Maxine gasps. "There's hundreds of them down there! Like a big, dark pile of ants." Her hands clasps over her mouth and nose. "Oh, God! The smell!"

It's exactly what I smelt earlier, just as strong, just as revolting. I swallow down the burning bile in my throat, resisting the urge to gag.

"Here's the situation. Most of the older locals are forming a defense force while everyone under eighteen evacuates. We must hold the castle until the evacuees are at a safe distance. To that end, I've positioned defenders at the wall with pitchforks and scythes, pushing the zombies back. The only weapons available are faming implements, alas."

"Well, there's that old paperweight you nabbed from my office," The mayor says, pitchfork in hand. "You seem to think that might-"

"You are supposed to be rallying the troops, Mr. Mayor!" She snaps. "We must take immediate action to avoid being overwhelmed. Runner Five, run east along the wall. Maxine, run west. Take a petrol can each and pour the contents out over the zombie horde. We're going to light up the night. Go, now!"

I take off, barreling past the mayor. I douse as many zombies as I can, the smell of petrol mixing horribly with the smell of decaying flesh. I am careful not to splash any of the locals, and even more careful to not get scratched by their weapons.

I cringe at the sight of a thin girl with black hair as she stabs one of the zombies in the head. She looks terrified when she sees it still reaching for her, but she pushes it back so it comes off her weapon. The pitchfork it now coated in blood.

All it takes is once, then I'm done for.

It's almost weird. I'm always so sure that I'll be okay, that I'll make it through because I can practically survive anything. But all it takes is one slip up, one tiny scratch from a pitchfork with zombie blood, and there I go. To realize my own mortality, or whatever's left of it, is so close is terrifying. I feel a shiver run up my spine, but I shake it off.

The sound of growls, the sight of hands reaching for us, mouths open with broken bone and blood keep me from getting too far into my own head. I splash more of the petrol on them, some getting into their eyes and mouths. It doesn't faze them.

"Everton, Lucy, remember what the colonel said," The mayor yells. "Use the pitchforks to push them back and the scythes to cut off limbs. Don't give me that look, young man."

"Janine, zoms on my side of the wall. I've got them-" Static cuts off Maxine's voice for a second. "-totally gassed out. Okay, it's... can't stay here any longer. Heading back to you now."

I've run out of petrol, and I quickly turn back. I still make sure to avoid the defenders as I run. Some of them are swinging rather recklessly, fear dictating their actions.

My heart hammers in my chest. I meet up with Janine just as Maxine does. Janine reaches into her backpack, her blue eyes meeting mine for a split second.

"Get behind me," She commands, and I hastily obey. "All defenders, stand well away from the wall! And to think Mr. Yao wasn't convinced flares needed to be part of every runner's standard pack."

"He was probably worried we might have another accident," I mutter, remembering one time while Tom and I were on a run and we accidently set my backpack on fire. Well, I accidentally set my backpack on fire and Tom pulled it off of me and threw it into a bush, which caught the bush on fire and resulted in us almost burning down an entire wood.

Janine's already lit the flare. She throws it, and once it hits, all the surrounding zoms go up like torches. The sound that comes from them almost resembles a scream, and I don't think I've ever been more disturbed.

"Ugh, the smell is actually worse!" Maxine coughs.

"The fire won't destroy the V-Types, but it's harder to climb with your extremities wilting. Five, Maxine, return to the mayor's office. That A.N.N.I.E. copy should have finished downloading by now. Everybody else," She grabs my axe from my back, speaking before I can protest. "Defenders, to me! Those zombies are still coming. We hold this wall for as long as we can!"

•

"Phew!" Maxine pants as we burst through the door. The silence that hits me when the door is shut feels crushing. "It's Logan's Run meets Helm's Deep out there. Did you see Janine swinging that axe? She gave Aragorn a run for his money."

"Five, Maxine, come in! Come in!" Janine commands, her voice breaking up, fuzzy around the edges.

"We just got to the office, Colonel," I reply, walking over to the computer. I look at the progress. "The download is almost done. It's at 97%."

"Our line was breached, Five..." She says something else, but it's muffled by static. "-but it looks like our hostiles are headed towards your direction."

She's drowned out again, and Maxine's eyes go wide with panic.

"Janine? Janine!" She gasps at the sound of glass shattering, but it's not over the headset. I grab her and pull her away from the window. A low snarl hits the air as something crawls through.

It's a single zom, but it's...

Oh no.

Sickly yellow eyes meet mine when the zombie gets through, falling on all fours and staying there.

"It's just one zom. We can do this," Maxine says. "Five, grab one of those heavy tongs from the fire and I'll-hey, you ugly zombie. Over here! Tasty-looking human meat."

The zombie snarls as I reach out to grab a tongue, crawling towards Maxine at a terrifying speed. Once my fingers are wrapped around the heavy metal, I grunt, reading to strike. I try to stay a good distance away at first, out of the corner of its sight, inching behind it...

"Hit it now, Five!"

I jump forward and swing with all my might, the tong smacking against the back of the zombie's head. I shout in pain as I'm met with resistance, and an ache travels up from my wrist to my shoulder. I drop the tong.

"Shit," I curse, and I jump away from the zom, my eyes wide with fear at the fact that there's nothing more than a scratch on it. "The skull won't crack!"

I know killing V-Types isn't possible, but I was hoping this could at least incapacitate it for a moment. The zombie turns its gaze to me, and my stomach drops, fear pulsing through me. It snarls and charges, and I have to jump back to avoid it grabbing my leg.

"Hey, zombie!" Maxine shouts, gaining the zombie's attention. It turns its head towards her with a hiss-like snarl, and as soon as it does, she lunges forward with a poker, jamming it into its eye.

The zombie stills, weird fluid dripping from its eyeball before it collapses. It doesn't get back up.

"Oh my God," She huffs. "I think we got it. That was a hell of a swing you took to the back of its head. I can't believe its skull was so tough."

"Neither can I." My chest rises and falls with each shaky inhale. "But you managed to kill it."

"Yeah... But I've never seen one like this before."

"There were a few in Battenbury. Couldn't figure out why they were different. I mean, look. The skin is decayed. Regular zoms do that, but V-Types don't decay much if at all. And this one's eyes are yellow and it crawled on all fours. And we could kill it!"

She nods, her brows furrowing together. "Whatever's attacking us here, it's not just V-Types or normal zoms. I think it's something new."

A/N: Here you go, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I've decided  to dedicate it to jettmanas! Please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!