"Okay!" Sam says cheerfully. "That's six forest settlements visited; six cure deliveries made. A good thing Veronica's got a couple of cure synthesizing facilities running. These isolated communities do need their own supply."

Maxine nods, but there's a troubled look on her face. "Well, that's not all they need. Millerton badly needs antibiotics for that pneumonia epidemic, but we can't spare any."

I look away, becoming very interested in the greenery as we pass it. Everyone knows I can't get sick anymore thanks to Van Ark's treatments. Sometimes I forget that other things can hurt people. The zombie virus isn't the only sickness around, just the one we've been most focused on since the world ended.

I always hate getting the dose of reality when I hear about other places falling ill, or seeing it firsthand with people in Abel.

The one good thing about me being immune to basically everything is that I can care for the people I love when they get sick without worrying about catching it myself, but it's hard to truly relate to them anymore. I remember being sick as a kid, but I don't remember it. It makes me feel bad, guilty almost.

"From what you said last week, Five, Veronica's working as hard as possible, but we can't expect a range of drugs any time soon," Paula says, and I nod.

"Veronica is fast, but with the V-Types and Bad A.N.N.I.E. constantly trying to attack her and the Last Riders messing with her models, along with... other situations, she can't focus on smaller things like this, even if it really isn't that small."

So far she hasn't said anything regarding Van Ark, or immortality. I keep waiting, checking Roufflenet, looking for any encrypted messages. Van Ark did keep a lot of paper trails, but he must have saved some of it online, right?

Right?

"More's the pity," She says. "And as we have no antibiotics for Millerton, I suppose we're heading home?"

Sam's laugh is a bit nervous, and I sigh, already knowing the work is far from over. "Yeah, so we had a call from Winton while you were running. A woman called Darlene is hiding in the woods north of you. She somehow escaped from the Last Riders, but got bitten by a zom this morning."

Maxine's eyes widen. "Talk about out of the frying pan and into the fire."

"Well, yeah. Well, more like, out of the sadistic anarchist cult, into the jaws of the undead, but yeah. She didn't want to infect anyone, so she's waiting in the woods. You should have time to get the cure to her."

"Poor woman," Paula says with a shake of her head. "To finally get your freedom, only to be trapped by your body. I know what that feels like. Every transfusion to stop me going gray, it was like Van Ark was still holding me hostage."

"It's weird he's only been dead for like, three years," I comment. "Feels like it's been longer."

"No, it doesn't," Sam replies, his voice low. "Let's get her cured. Run."

I roll my eyes because we're already running, but don't comment on it. Instead I give a chipper "Yes, sir" and pump my legs a tad bit faster.

I feel bad for this Darlene woman. She must be feeling anxious, afraid. Even though the cure is available, we have to make sure we get it to her before it's too late.

I find myself smiling. Not because Darlene was bitten, but because of some how far we've come.

Eight months ago, the idea of being cured after being bitten was absurd. There was a vaccine, but not a cure. If you got bit and wasn't vaccinated, it was off to the plasmapheresis machine, which would only give you a few years of life before you met a slow and painful end. It's weirdly funny to look back and see how things have changed.

Still, I bite back the smile, not wanting to draw attention to it. I don't want to give Paula or Maxi any ideas, not that they would think I'm happy about someone being bitten. They'd probably think I'm smiling because of a funny joke I thought up in my head or something.

But Darlene being bitten may prove to be a good thing, as horrible as that sounds. She escaped the Last Riders, which is something we wouldn't have known unless she had been bitten and needed the cure. She may be able to give us information on them. Maybe she overheard them talking about their plans, or maybe she noticed certain patterns. Anything about them is useful.

Although if she managed to escape, then maybe they weren't around her much. The Last Riders don't seem to be the merciful type, so they must have really slipped up in order for her to get away. If she was a prisoner, then she couldn't have been one for long. I don't think they are the type to keep their hostages alive for more than a few weeks, if that.

"There she is." Maxine points ahead at the tall, slender woman leaning up against a tree.

The woman turns to us, her shiny black hair flowing around her shoulders. Her brown eyes are flooded with relief.

"Oh, thank God," She says. "You must be the doctors and Runner Five, right? I'm Darlene. Thanks for the house call. Well, maybe I should say woods call." She laughs. "It's a whole new spin on the 'traveling country doctor'."

I blink in surprise. "You're American."

"So are you, by the accent," She replies. "Where are you from? Texas?"

My smile drops. Typical New Yorker. "Arkansas."

"Nice. Guessing it's the same classic story for the both of us, huh? Girl goes abroad on a tour trip, kills a zombie tour guide with an ax, and seven years later ends up in Yorkshire with a crazed biker gang. You know how it is."

I laugh lightly and shake my head. "Not even close, for either of us."

I give a small gesture towards Maxine, but it's Paula who steps forward.

"Let's get this cure in you. Then we can talk as we run."

Darlene frowns. "Run? I've been running all day from bikers and zombies. All I want is the cure and a nice long, nap."

"Unfortunately, the injection often has nasty side effects."

Maxine nods. "Some people come through it fine, but others get flu-like symptoms. You don't want to be in the woods in that condition. Paula, Dr. Cohen, will give you the injection, and then we'll give you a headset and run you to a recuperation center."

"Roll up your sleeve," Paula instructs, and when Darlene complies, the redhead sanitizes the skin before giving the injection. Darlene winces.

"Ow. Sensitive spot."

"Sorry. About all of it."

She shrugs when Paula puts a band aid over the injection site. "Sorry is a sorry word. Changes nothing. That's what Michael said."

"Michael?" I repeat, and she forces a tight smile.

"My boyfriend. He thought he could tag along with the Last Riders to get supplies for us. Turns out looking the other way while people do horrible things only works until they decide you're a better victim than friend."

"Something like that happened to me," Paula admits, her gray eyes becoming dull with guilt and shame. "I worked with Pro. Van Ark. He created the zombie virus."

Maxine lays her hand on Paula's arm. "And then injected you with it."

Her face only hardens, and she doesn't look Maxine in the eye. "Still, I could have fought harder. You can get pretty good at looking away from horrible things."

"Yeah," I sigh. It becomes pretty easy to justify turning a blind eye to bad things. It becomes pretty easy to justify doing bad things when you believe to be in the name of surviving. People will do a lot of things they didn't think they would just because they want to live another day.

My time with the Torrencers taught me that. Even now I can still remember all the horrible things I did. You can move on, but you never truly forget.

"Uh, guys, sorry to interrupt," Sam says, sounding a bit nervous, "but zoms are heading your way. You need to get to the recuperation center."

I hand Darlene a headset from my backpack as I tell her to start running. It's best we get her to the recuperation center quickly. We don't want her getting bit again.

I don't see where her bite wound is. She'll need to get that treated too. Even if she is cured from the zombie virus, bite wounds in general can get infected easily, and the last thing we want is for her to die from an infected wound after her not only escaping the Last Riders, but also the zombie plague.

How sad would that be?

Silence doesn't stay with us long. While no one speaks, Darlene's labored breathing takes the place for it. She's probably tired, and even though she's model-type thin, she might not be used to running constantly. I don't hear any zoms around, nor do I see them, but we can't stop completely because they could easily catch up. Zombies are tricky little bastards, always coming around when you least expect them and least need them-not that we ever need zombies, but still.

"Babe, how're we doing?" I ask, noticing how Darlene's breathing is getting more and more labored, and a thin sheen of sweat covers her forehead.

"Good news, the zoms are shamblers, and you're making good time to the shelter," He replies, and the satisfaction his voice holds brings a smile to my face. "This is the halfway point."

"Glad to know we're looking good."

"You always look good." He pauses, as if remembering I'm not running alone. "When it comes to running, I mean."

I don't fight back the sharp grin that tries to make its way onto my face. "Thanks."

"This lake is so peaceful," Darlene says, taking a look around. Her lips pinch together. "Michael would have hated it."

"What happened to him?" Maxine asks. Her words are soft, as are her eyes. Darlene doesn't look at her, her gaze fixed on the road head as she shrugs stiffly.

"I don't know. Riders came to our squat and said, 'Michael's dead and you're coming with us.' They threw me in a room at their hideout and left me alone in the dark."

Her face twists in horror. "The whole time?"

"They'd come by with food, water... needles. One guy told me if you inject someone with air, sometimes they die," She says, and I nod. The Torrencers taught me that. It mimics a heart attack. Air bubbles in the veins are almost always fatal. "He said he hoped I'd have better luck than Michael. They talked about being free from tyranny, but when they came for me, all they did was lock me up-"

Her words are cut short by coughs. She grits her teeth in an attempt to muffle them, but it doesn't do much good. Maxine places a hand on her shoulder.

"Take it easy a minute. A cough is just one of the side effects."

"That cough's attracted more zombies," Sam states. "So that's shamblers behind you, and a pack to the east." There's a slight pause, then a soft click. "Callista, doctors, we're on a private channel. The cure's only 99.9% effective. If Darlene goes gray out here... you'll have to shoot her."

The words hang heavily in the air, but I still nod. While we can only hope this is just the reaction to the cure, we can't be too careful. We're doing what we can, but if she turns, then the only thing we can do is put her out of her misery.

Of course, her dying would suck, not just because we couldn't save her, but also because we wasted a trip and a cure for nothing. Just because we can make the cure doesn't mean we can just pull vials of it from our asses any time we need them. It takes time to make them, and we can't afford to waste even one.

Darlene coughs again, looking upset. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm slowing you down."

"Don't focus on that," I say quickly. "Tell us about how you got away from the Last Riders."

"Well, not everybody in the Riders agrees about how to run things. One guy who brought me food always said there were too many rules." She pauses to cough, and I tip my head to the side in confusion. Anarchists have rules? "I guess he left my door open to stick it to the rest of them. I didn't ask questions. I just ran."

"You were very brave," Paula praises. "When I was being held captive by Van Ark, I always wanted to escape, but it was easier to just keep my head down and focus on my work."

"That work saved lives," Maxine says, but the shorter woman just shakes her head.

"Not enough."

Sam curses in Chinese. "Great. The two zom groups have merged. Good news: they can't surround you. Bad news: they're catching up. The center's just that big building on the horizon though. Nearly there."

I can see it from here. It doesn't look like the best recuperation facility, but I suppose we all kind of just make do with what we can. I mean, the cure hasn't been around that long. Even before we sent out the formula for it, Sigrid only gave out some of it to those she deemed worthy, and I don't think she really did much to help in recuperation or managing the side effects.

"I'll go as fast as I can," Darlene says. "I'm not really brave, you know, Dr. Cohen. All I can do is run, and I'm not even good at that. I let some zom crawl out of the water and claw me."

I blink. "I'm sorry. You said it... clawed you?"

"Yeah. It was a half-dead, waterlogged zombie-looking thing. Couldn't figure out where its head was, but it definitely still had hands."

She shows me the small scratch on the back of her right arm. It's not too deep, but the dried blood around surrounding skin proves she did get clawed enough for it to hurt.

"Wait, waterlogged?" Sam's voice has raised a few notes, becoming strained. "Right, and-and it had no head-no head whatsoever?"

"No head, no legs. Which, you know, on the plus side, made it easier to get away." She laughs, and I feel dread creeping into my veins, especially when Sam lets out a stuttering breath.

"Okay. Uh, just keep running."

"Sam, tell the center we need a secure quarantine room. Now," Paula whispers urgently. It's still loud enough for Darlene to hear it, because she looks at us with a nervous smile.

"Am I going to be okay?"

Maxine's face is unsure. "I hope so. We need to get to a safe place. Keep running."

•

"Good news! You've lost the zombies!" Sam exclaims optimistically, and I truly do wish I could share that happiness with him, but it's hard knowing what we know now about Darlene.

We haven't told her yet. We don't know much about the V-Type strain, but if we stress her out, the adrenaline could cause her to turn faster. Of course, we want to hold onto the hope that the cure may save her, but...

She's the first person to be infected by a V-Type and receive the cure. We have no idea what could happen.

"Even zombies avoid the world's most intimidating high school," She says, but no one laughs at her joke. "Does it have to be so square and gray?"

"Uh, Nurse Turner said there's a red metal door that leads to their secure area," Sam says, and thankfully it's only a bit off from the main entrance. We open the door, head inside, and my stomach drops.

"Oh my God, this can't be it!" Maxine exclaims. It's just a school canteen, with double doors that open to the rest of the building. "This isn't even close to secure!"

Darlene starts coughing again, although it's more ragged, lower in her throat. "Sorry to cause so much trouble."

My fingers twitch, and I remember the pistol I have strapped to my hip. If she turns V-Type, it won't do us any good.

The double doors open, and a short, ginger-haired woman in a nurse's uniform walks out.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Nurse Turner. We usually greet visitors by the front door, but I understand we have a situation."

She looks at us expectantly, her brown eyes having very little interest, even when Paula nods vigorously, panic on her face.

"This woman needs to be securely quarantined at once. She's had contact with a new type of zombie."

"The unkillable zoms?" She scoffs when Paula nods. "Nonsense. Now the plague is over, some people want to invent a new one."

"We're not-" Maxine starts, but Nurse Tuner cuts her off.

"This woman is either having an adverse reaction to the cure, or is unaffected by it," She says curtly before looking at Darlene, who's coughing even more now. "I have secured the doors behind me with a key, and," She pulls out a gun and cocks it, "I'm a good shot. You're welcome to watch from outside. The window by the backdoor will give you a good view.

"As for security, a headshot is our best defense, although we hope it won't come to that." Nurse Turner looks at Darlene, who's still coughing. "Young woman, breathe easy. With any luck, you'll be fine. You three, outside."

"Nurse Turner, I understand your protocols," Paula says, trying to sound calm. She can't push too hard, seeing this woman is already being stubborn as hell. "I'm Dr. Cohen. This is Dr. Meyers. The new zombies are very real, very strong, and a gunshot won't kill them. We need both the interior and exterior doors secured, and you should be outside-"

"Thank you for your opinion, doctors," She spits out, as if Paula offended her or something. "I may be a nurse, but I know cure recuperation. I assure you, this room is fine. If you'll just wait outside, please."

"You don't have to-" Darlene coughs, and Nurse Turner shakes her head.

"Young woman, you are my patient. I'll be with you no matter what." She looks at us. "Doctors, take your child and get out. You can watch from the window."

"Child?!" I repeat, but Maxine is grabbing Paula's hand with one hand and using the other to push me towards the door we came in from.

"Darlene's going to turn. We can't stay in here. Come on!"

I listen, knowing now is not the time to be petty. We leave, closing the door and locking it. It's sturdy, metal. We'll be safe. We watch through the window, which is too small for any zom to crawl through, thankfully.

"Darlene's coughing like a normal zom," Paula says, trying to hold onto hope. "Maybe the cure made a difference. And if not, we open the doors, go in, and get the nurse out."

"What's happening?" Sam asks in frustration. "I'm trying to get cams indoors, but no luck."

Paula explains what happens as we watch. Nurse Turner holds Darlene's hand, but then backs up when Darlene goes quiet. Her head raises, and a growl rips itself from her throat. It sounds very animalistic, but I tell myself I could just be thinking about it too much.

Nurse Tuner backs up more, towards the wooden double doors that lead to the main building, the ones she said she secured with a key.

"Oh, poor Darlene," Paula sighs. "We couldn't save her... Nurse Turner's got her gun out, pointed straight at Darlene's head."

Bang!

Blood spatters as a bullet goes right between Darlene's eyes.

"I knew it!" Maxine shouts, and Sam responds with a demand to know what's happening.

"It was a clean shot," I say, my heartbeat thrumming in my ears, pounding against my skull. "It was a clean shot but Darlene's still moving towards her. She's a V-type!"

Paula opens the door. "Nurse Turner, this way! Run, now!"

She doesn't listen, instead raising her gun to fire at the zombie again.

"You can't kill it with a gun!" Maxine shouts as the zombie continues to move closer to her. Nurse Tuner fires again, and again. "You need to get out! No!"

I grab the door and slam it shut, locking it. The zombie's already lunged for Nurse Turner, faster than I ever thought possible. Not even fast zoms moved that quickly. It's already too late, but my eyes still stay glued to the scene of Zombie Darlene biting into Nurse Turner's neck. Blood spews out like a fountain. It gets on the wall, the door, the zombie's face.

"She's gone," Maxine says, and even as the zombie bites the nurse, it hits and beats at the wooden double doors that lead into the facility.

"Why's it trying to get into the facility when we were making noise at this door, which is at the opposite end of the room and outside?" I ask, but no one has an answer for me.

"Doesn't matter," Paula says. "Those doors are shaking. They're not going to hold for long."

"Crap!" Sam says, banging his fist on the coms desk. "There are over fifty patients in there. If Darlene gets out, we could have fifty unkillable zombies on our hands. Secure that door and head around the front. They need to evacuate right now!"

Paula nods. "We'll help evacuate. Maxi, Five, let's go."

•

"Okay, I've got interior cams working. Almost everyone is out," Sam says as I push a man that's strapped down to a trolley towards the door. Paula is right behind me doing the same with another patient. They both look so scared.

They should be.

"Maxine, that woman you just helped out the front door is the last mobile patient. Paula, Five, you're pretty close to the entrance and those should be the last immobile patients." He sighs, the sound laced with rising anxiety and slight pity. "And Darlene's almost through. Nurse Turner turned really quickly. The inner door is splintering. It's not going to hold much longer."

Paula and I both make it out with the other two patients, and Maxine pulls a key from her pocket.

"One of the nurses gave me this for the front door. It's solid steel, like the back door. Once we lock it, the V-Types won't be getting out." She glowers at the building. "What a waste! I saw a cart of antibiotics back there. Enough to cure Millerton's pneumonia, and we're abandoning them to V-Types!"

"I'm going to get them," Paula says immediately, and Maxine's head snaps towards her so quickly, I fear she may have gotten whiplash. "We've got time. The V-Types aren't through the rest of the building yet."

She shakes her head and grabs her hand in desperation. "They soon will be. It's too risky!"

"When Van Ark had me, you and Five were risking yourselves over and over. I've never risked anything. Maxi, help Five with the patients. I'll be back soon."

"Paula, don't do this!" She pleads, but Paula still pulls away from her.

"I'll be fine."

Maxine turns to me, her eyes wide. "Five, you go with her. Two are safer than one. I'll be waiting to lock the door. I just hope you'll both be on the right side of it."

I open my mouth to say that two isn't safer than one in the case with V-Types, because if we turn there will be two more unkillable zombies, but Maxine all but shoves me inside. My jaw clenches in irritation.

If two is safer than one, then why didn't she go in here and not send me?

I'm already running after Paula, knowing my bellyaching will do nothing because I already know the answer.

We can't risk the doctors, not when a runner is available.

And again I'm reminded that I'm not as special as I believed myself to be in other people's eyes. So I swallow down my hurt pride and catch up to Paula. I'm glad it only takes us a minute to find the cart of antibiotics, but I'm less glad when I realize how close we are to the doors that contain the V-Types.

I think they can see us through the windows of the double doors, because they seem to double their efforts in banging on it. I can hear the wood splintering as we start pushing the cart. We have maybe two minutes to get to the front door before they're through.

The cart is heavy, and the wheels are stiff. We make it down one hallway, turning out of the V-Types' sight. That doesn't seem to lessen their efforts in getting out. Do they still know we're here? Usually after leaving a zom's sight, they'll forget about your existence, unless you're bleeding or shouting, because then they can find your through other senses.

"Paula, Five, how're you doing?" Sam asks, and I picture him wringing his hands, bottom lip worried between his teeth.

Paula grunts as she pushes the cart. "The case of antibiotics is heavier than we thought and-"

She's cut off by breaking wood, and the growl of the zombies suddenly seem so much louder.

Shit.

"The V-Types have torn the door down! You need to move now!"

"Five, we have to push harder. We have to move faster!" She commands, and my shoulders burn as I push onward. These stupid wheels keep locking up and refusing to move. We manage to make it down another hallway. The front door should be just another turn and one more hallway down.

But I can hear the zombies behind us, snarling and growling inhumanly.

We're too slow.

"We're not going to make it," I say. "Maxine, lock the doors. Leave us! They're here!"

I don't hear the click of a lock, but instead see Maxine turn the corner, her gun raised. She fires two shots, both hitting the zombies. It barely does anything, only stops them for a second before they start coming after us again.

"You are going to make it, even if I have to drag you out myself!" She yells, firing at the zombies again. "I know I said I was going to wait outside, but I had to do something."

She fires two more shots.

"Both direct hits," Sam says. "These bullets are only giving you a few more seconds. Nurse Turner is still-still crawling forward, even as her face spews blood on the walls."

"A few seconds is all we need," Maxine says as we reach her. She gets behind the cart and starts pushing with us. Her strength is just enough to get us down the last hallway and through the front doors.

I spin around and slam the doors shut, just a second before Darlene and Nurse Turner slam into them. I struggle to hold them closed.

"Lock the door! Lock the door!"

Maxine fishes out her key and does just that, and I slump to the ground in relief. The zombies snarl in fury, but they aren't getting out.

We're safe.

"Oh! Oh, thanks, darling," Paula pants. "I... I may have cut it a bit close there."

She gapes at her. "May have?"

I stand, looking back at the door as the zombies behind them roar.

"Poor Nurse Turner." I run my hand through my ponytail. "She's definitely a V-Type. Both of them are. That means the cure does nothing for V-Type bites, or V-Type scratches even. And if one of them bites you, you go V-Type too."

"There's no stopping them," Maxine utters dreadfully. "And if the V-Type numbers grow-"

"It'll be the plague all over again."

A/N: Here you go, guys! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm trying to get out more chapters because I'm about to start school again, and I'll have to go back to updating once a week. So please be sure to vote and comment! Thank you and have a blessed day!