To Be A Warrior

Chapter 14: The Devil You Know

"Runner Five, over here!"

I glance around, confusion flooding my mind and face at the familiar voice. This isn't right.

"By the fence, not the bushes. What are you doing over there?"

I spot her only a few yards away, I head over to her cautiously.

"Honestly, we haven't got all day," Amelia says, and my confused look morphs into a frown.

"I know. I've been waiting here for ten minutes," I say, but she ignores my comment, her slightly annoyed look twisting into... nervousness? That's the closest emotion I can match with the smile on her face. And it is a smile, not the infuriating smirk she wears whenever she knows she's gotten on my or someone else's nerves.

"You're looking well," She says, and if I didn't know any better, I'd think she was actually being sincere. "I did tell Janine to make sure all the runners have been getting adequate rest. Having said that, whenever I give her advice, she looks at me like I've just offered her a fresh handful of steaming vomit, so I probably can't take any credit."

"Where's Milo? He's the New Canton runner I was supposed to meet up for the exchange," I say, straight to the point, although calling my son a New Canton runner leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

Amelia sighs. "Yes, I see you're carrying the Fort Canton post bag, and just so you know, Fort Canton is usually what we go by now. But, yes, I must admit that was a little ruse on my part to get you over here. Milo won't be coming from Canton to meet you here. At least, not for a while."

I visibly tense.

"Don't worry," She says quickly. "I thought you could say when you got back that he'd kept you waiting, you'd been chased by zombies, something of that sort."

"Give me one reason I should stay here," I all but growl, and Amelia huffs through her nose, looking slightly frustrated, but still holding that bit of nervousness, as if she knows she actually needs me for... whatever this is, and she also knows she has nothing she can hold over my head to make me do it.

"Look, you don't have to come with me today. Obviously, I asked for you to be sent over here so we could talk," She says, and my eyes narrow. "I've been thinking of this for a while, but after that fiasco with Evans and Jones a week ago, it seemed more urgent. I think they really did have an A.N.N.I.E. core, by the way. It's just the sort of thing your friend Veronica's been looking for, and it would have been useful to both of us if we'd been able to work out how to get Jones on our side. Especially now.

"Look, I hope you've known me long enough to understand that I never do anything without a reason, especially when that reason involves running. It's not my idea of a leisure activity. But I have something to show you. You can just press that button on your headset at any time to call Sam, and that would be alright. I like Sam, actually. But I'd rather just talk to you alone for a little while, Five."

My muscles coil, unease clawing at the creatives of my mind. "The fact that you're okay with me calling for help makes me feel even less secure, along with the fact that you're being extremely vague about what you want to show me. How do I know you're not like, going to sell me out to the Last Riders so they'll leave New Canton alone?"

"Fort Canton," She corrects, "and you can't bargain with anarchists, Five. I've tried before in the apocalypse. It never works out."

I sigh, grabbing my backpack strap while internally screaming because I know I'll regret this if I go, but I'll regret it even more if I don't.

"Fine," I grumble, voiced laced with increasingly mounting dread. "Lead the way."

"Oh." She sounds surprised, as if she didn't actually think I would agree with this. Me and her both. "Alright. Good. Uh, just follow me down this track. We'll need to be quick so you're not missed at Abel."