Employee Five: A To Be A Runner Short Story

Ghost In The Machine (Part 1)

"Ah, yeah. I see it! I see it on the horizon!"
Sam exclaims, pointing up ahead. "Xia-Hifa Corporation HQ. Wow. It's massive. Like, bigger than an airport terminal. All glass and trees growing inside the building. Well, trees dying inside the building-trees dead inside the building, really. The robots must have been taken off upkeep since the apocalypse."

I smile, but I don't laugh. My throat has only gotten worse since yesterday, and it's got to the point that even laughter is painful. I most likely have strep, but it's a lot harder to do tests for that since there's so little medical care these days. But, I'm still here. It's just that talking is a no for me today. Even if I tried, I'd sound like a wheezing cat, which I don't think anyone would want to hear.

"We cannot enter the building with you, Runner Five," Janine says. "We are going to find our way in via the ventilations shafts to cut off the countermeasures. Your uniform and access card will identify you as a member of staff, and your clearance level, 1B, will enable you to open the secure locker on Level -5 and retrieve the vital vaccine."

"Yeah... Janine, I mean, are we sure we understand what all these defensive measures are? Like," He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, his free hand tapping his leg nervously, "I've tried to translate them from Chinese, but I don't... I just don't know. I mean..." He pulls out the papers that we had printed out from the pictures the other teams sent us. "This one means something like 'poison', which does make sense, but that one... I think it means 'small animal'."

'Rats, maybe?' I sign.

"I guess? And those are 'glass' and 'weather system'." He shakes his head. "I've probably got it all wrong."

"Along with those pictures of symbols, the previous teams have also reported on what countermeasures we can expect. I've prepared for them as well as I can."

Sam tsks. "Yeah, they also keep mentioning that the head of the conglomerate was a big Portal fan, and he loved the movie '2001', as if that's relevant somehow."

"Possibly the previous teams had cracked under pressure," Janine answers, her tone professional. She then turns to me. "Oh, and Runner Five, to retrieve that vaccine, you will need this targeting laser. I'm uncertain what use it will be, but the last team's final message was very specific about that. Each of them mentioned the targeting laser."

I take it from her and put it in my backpack, and Sam stares at her, his eyes narrowing.

"Uh, where did you find a targeting laser in the zombie apocalypse?"

"That doesn't matter," She answers quickly. "Five, this is a simple retrieval operation. You will run a maximum of ten kilometers."

"Ten kilometers?" Sam repeats, and I huff.

'Just over six miles. Not too bad, I don't think.'

Janine nods. "I plan defensively. Go now, Runner Five. Head to the Xia-Hifa building as fast as you can. Godspeed."

I nod, taking in a deep breath before turning and running for the building. As I look over my shoulder, I see Sam and Janine heading off to get in their own way. They're putting themselves at a great risk to help me and keep me safe in there. I'm thankful for that. Really, I am, but I can't help but worry for them.

I mean, Janine can handle herself. She could kill a man with nothing but a toothpick and probably find a way to make it look like an accident. Janine will probably be fine in there, but Sam...

I know he's not weak, or dumb or defenseless. He's anything but those things. Sam knows what he's doing. It's just... I like him as my operator because he keeps me safe, and he's in Abel so I know he's safe. Out here, he's keeping me safe, but risking his own safety in doing so.