SAM YAO: Raise the gates!
[gate siren, gate raising, electrical static and a clank as something breaks]
SAM YAO: Oh, that’s not supposed to happen! The gates are stuck! Can everyone see the gates are stuck? Have we got an engineer?
[intercom horn]
RUNNER SEVEN: [over intercom] Runners, this is an emergency. The gates have stuck in the open position; we’re open to all attacks. The following runners to report to the main gates immediately for lure and distract: Runner Two, Runner Three, Runner Five, Runner Eight. Go, go, go!
[gunshots]
SAM YAO: Um, Runner Five? We need you ready to go right now, Runner Five. We’re pairing you up with Runner Eight, here.
SARA SMITH: [severe coughing] Sorry about that. Hey, there! I’m Runner Eight, Sara Smith. How are you doing? Ready to go out and misdirect some zombies?
SAM YAO: No time for chit-chat! Take one of the noisemakers from the locker… That’s right. Strap it on your back. [noisemaker beeps] Now, just head out and run around. Get the zoms to chase you while we fix the gates. Go, run!
[noisemaker beeps]
SARA SMITH: Okay, Abel Township? We’re clear. Nice, steady pace. About ten of the zoms on our tail. It’s all going well. How are you guys holding up?
SAM YAO: Yeah, not so well here, Runner Eight. We’re kinda… uh, the motors are shot, they’re telling me. Looks like something got in there and chewed it up…
SARA SMITH: [interrupts with coughing] Sorry about that - bad chest cold. So do you guys want more time?
SAM YAO: The longer you can keep the zoms away, the better.
SARA SMITH: [coughs] Got that! We’re just having a great day out here. Me and my buddy Runner Five can get to know each other!
SAM YAO: Yeah, yeah - that cough… you’re okay, aren’t you, Runner Eight?
SARA SMITH: It’s just a cough!
SAM YAO: You know, we just have to be careful, that’s all. You know the drill - “first a cough, then a rattle, then a moan…”
SARA SMITH: “… that’s how you know the dead are walking.” It’s just a cough, Sam! He’s always fussing about something. [coughs] Hey, Sam! If it bothers you so much, I’m turning off this transmitter. That way you won’t have to hear my coughing.
SAM YAO: [interrupts] Oh no you don’t, that’s not how it works…! [voice fades out]
[click of transmitter being turned off]
SARA SMITH: That’s better. Now, it’s just you and me.
[noisemaker beeps]
SARA SMITH: So you just came down in that chopper a couple of days ago, huh? Must have been pretty scary. Seems like you were the only one who survived. At least, we haven’t seen any other survivors… [zombie groan] Duck down just a second there, honey [click of pistol being cocked; gunshot; zombie groaning stops] There we go! We don’t usually have guns. There’s not enough to go round. But they like to try and help us out on a decoy mission like this.
Amazing how you turned up here. Just dropped out of the sky, after someone fired a rocket launcher at your helicopter. That’s really strange, isn’t it? I mean, you were just bringing in supplies. We’ve been in touch with the military base a hundred miles north, and they do some drops of meds and wet weather gear, that sort of thing. So, who would do a thing like that?
And you know what I keep thinking about? How do we even know it was YOU on that chopper at all? We haven’t got any way to transmit pictures anymore, so we didn’t know what you’d look like. Sure, you turn up in the right uniform, but that could have been stripped from a body. You might not have been in that chopper at all. It might have been you who shot it down! [zombie groan; click of a cocked gun] Duck your head down for a minute! Wouldn’t want to hit you by mistake…
[noisemaker beeping, gunshot]
SARA SMITH: There, got him. That was a close one. Better stay close. [click of transmitter being turned back on] Hey there, Sam! Were you worrying about us? [coughs] Just didn’t want to irritate you with this cough, that’s all.
SAM YAO: Never, ever, EVER, Runner Eight - Runner Eight? You know you never, EVER turn your radio off! Never do that! Okay?
SARA SMITH: He gets lonely without us.
SAM YAO: I heard that! And it’s not. About. Me! Okay? It’s about keeping you alive! Eight more have joined the pack chasing you. You’re still ahead of them, just… just keep going.
SARA SMITH: We’re heading west - we clear?
SAM YAO: This is why you never ever turn your off your radio! There’s a swarm to the west, and we think they’ve… ugh, yeah, here we go. They’ve heard you. That’s zoms to your west, east, and - yeah, south.
SARA SMITH: Huh… Well then. Time to…
SAM YAO: Head north.
SARA SMITH: I’ve got a plan.
[noisemaker beeps]
SARA SMITH: Hey, Sam. It occurs to me we haven’t really shown Five here the neighborhood… or the neighbors.
SAM YAO: You mean New Canton?
SARA SMITH: I sure as heck don’t mean the zombies.
SAM YAO: Do we want to start war with New Canton?
SARA SMITH: Just a little payback, Sam. Don’t you remember how they herded those zoms toward us when they were building new barracks?
SAM YAO: Oh, yeah, but -
SARA SMITH: If the Major were here, we’d check with her. As it is, New Canton’s to the north. Our exit is to the north. You know it makes sense! Speed up, quick! Towards New Canton [coughs]
[noisemaker beeps, gunshots]
NEW CANTON SOLDIER: [over intercom] Stop! In the name of New Canton, not a step further!
SARA SMITH: There are zoms behind us, run!
NEW CANTON SOLDIER: [over intercom] Stop! Stop, or we shoot to kill!
SARA SMITH: Keep going!
NEW CANTON SOLDIER: Township scum!
[gunshots and soldier’s voice fade]
SARA SMITH: Wahoo! Well, that’s one way to take down a bunch of zoms! Oh, don’t worry about New Canton. They’ve got the fire power to deal with them. Means you and me are home free. Hey Sam, how’s the gate coming?
SAM YAO: Yeah, nearly there. Come on in if you’re not dragging a pack behind you.
SARA SMITH: I guess this turned out to be less of a good time for a little chit-chat than I hoped, Five. Truth is, I wanted to find out if I could trust you. There’s some pretty strange stuff going on around here. The Major’s called away on urgent business, someone brings a chopper down, firing from the middle of the zombie wilderness, and you turn up like a white knight… Too damn convenient, Five.
SAM YAO: We’ve got them working again! [gate siren, gate raising] Welcome home, runners. Great run! Not a single hostile anywhere near our gates.
SARA SMITH: Oh yeah, me and Runner Five here make a great team. We’ll be going out together all the time, won’t we, Five? [coughs]
SAM YAO: Uh, yeah, maybe not next time, though. We’re getting reports that there might be a child stuck in no-man’s land. Get some rest, Runner Five, because we’ll need you to do another fast run as soon as you can.
