To Be A Warrior

Chapter 61: You've Got A Friend In Me

"The van's pickin' up speed, Five," Halima pants. "We've got to keep up with it if we're goin' to find out where the marshals are goin' with that little boy."

"Look, I'm a good runner, but I'm not Quicksilver," I retort. "And neither are you. We can't keep pace with a vehicle going forty miles per hour! Especially since it's going up a hill."

"Where does that lead?" Nicole asks.

"They're heading uptown, in both senses of the word," Halima replies. "New Oban's built on a hill and after the zoms got into west sector, the surviving citizens all got crammed into emergency accommodation just inside the city walls. Suddenly, anyone with any power or any influence was moving up the hill where there was more room."

She points to two giant skyscrapers towering up ahead, and I shudder at the mere sight. "See those? One on each side of the wall. That's Redwood Heights. The two towers are connected. There's a tunnel halfway up, and a little gantry at the top so the original residents could move from one side to the other without even havin' to touch the ground."

I shudder again. "Sounds horrible."

"The west side's totally overrun with zoms. The Board of Governors live in the east tower, but they don't come out anymore. All their orders come through intermedia."

"Why haven't they got rid of the zombies?" Nicole asks. "It's been six months, and your people obviously have the weaponry to get rid of them and rebuild."

I ponder for a moment. "Unless those zoms can't be killed."

Sam chokes. "What? You think there might be V-Types in there?"

I shrug. "Maybe. But if there were V-Types, they would have infected every zombie by now, and they'd be making an effort to get into New Oban."

Halima frowns at me. "Sorry, but... what's a V-Type?"

"Oh." I cringe. "Right. You haven't heard about them. Hopefully there aren't V-Types in there. But they're uh, zombies that can't be killed."

Her eyes widen, and I suck in a sharp breath through my teeth.

"Yeah. A lot of stuff has happened these past several years. It'll probably take a while to explain it all-"

I'm cut off by the sound of the bells chiming, and the automated voice comes through the speakers around the city.

"Citizens are reminded that identity card work permits must be carried at all times. It is your responsibility to ensure that your permit is correct. Failure to be in possession of valid documentation will result in immediate arrest."

Halima rolls her eyes. "I don't know why they bother with all that paperwork anyway. Everyone's been chipped like people used to do with their pets before Z-Day. Do you remember?"

The blood drains from my face. "I'm sorry. Did you say 'chipped'?"

She nods. "Little tiny implantable trackers under your skin... They're supposed to make sure you're getting enough exercise and eating your five-a-day. That sort of thing. The fact that they can track your movement is just a 'happy coincidence.' They're designed to integrate themselves around your spinal cord so you can't remove them."

"I'd find a way," Nicole mumbles. "No way would I let someone put a device inside me to track me."

"People have tried to remove them, although it usually ended with them dying or being permanently disabled, both a dead giveaway to what they'd tried to do. Trying to remove them can get you sentenced to life in prison here." She rubs her eyes. "That's why you're so important in all of this, Callista. You're our secret weapon. You're someone they can't track."