To Be A Hero

Chapter 6: Super Bass

"Okay! Ready to uh, rumble?" Sam asks, pausing as I laugh. The sound is airy and light, almost strong enough to break through the tenseness that's consumed me these past few days. "How do you know if you're ready to rumble?"

"Are you asking if I'm hungry?" Veronica questions, and Janine rolls her eyes as we continue our brisk jog.

"Can we please proceed, Mr. Yao?"

"Okay, okay. So our not-at-all sinister Ministry friends say they've had a report." He cracks up in laughter. "Oh, this is excellent. They've had report of zombies skateboarding."

Janine frowns. "That seems unlikely."

"I doubt they actually mean skateboarding," Veronica says. "But perhaps I can get more data points on what's causing these anomalies. That's integral to my work on a cure."

"Awesome. I'm all about that cure," Sam says, and I feel the smallest of smiles make its way into my face. "Also the Ministry is sending some help. He'll meet you on route."

Janine's face pinches. "Oh, please not the Builder."

Veronica seems equally distressed. "It won't be him, will it? He's working for New Canton now, head of security!"

"Glad to know I'm not the only one who doesn't exactly like him," I mutter, and Janine nods.

"His type only work for themselves. Military consultants, security contractors-they wash up in a war zone and see which way the wind is blowing. The last thing we need is to spend the afternoon with him-"

"Hey, Miss De Luca."

We all slow our pace, turning our heads at the sound of a new voice. Steve sends us a smile that's almost too charming. He gives a nod to Janine, then to Veronica, and finally to me. Veronica just lets out an exasperated sigh. I have to resist the urge to do the same.

"Oh, Steve, you're here. Yay!"

I can't find it in myself to actually put in any effort in my words. Still though, Steve smiles at me. I get the feeling it's not genuine.

"Five, good to see you're actually talking again. I heard you had a lovely voice."

"Um, thanks, I guess. We should probably pick up the pace. The faster we find those zombies, the better."

That sentence I do actually put some effort in, because it's true. If we can observe these zombies, and Veronica can run tests, then we can find out more about how their brain works, and why they are somehow still sentient. I haven't heard much on what Veronica's found out on the ones she's been experimenting on, but it's been barely a week since we rescued her. I mean, the fact that we've gotten another report this quickly is mind blowing. Because, well, when's the last time Abel had good luck?

Our pace is mostly leisurely. It's nice to not be racing against time, or pushing ourselves to the absolute limit. It puts on a lot of stress, stress that I honestly don't need at the moment.

But as we run, I find myself thinking about just why we're doing this. I think about it even as I find a few random objects here and there, like I used to. I keep in mind to add the mini wallet to my collection, but it only stops my main thought process for but a moment.

This research for a cure... it almost seems unreal. I mean, for years we were told a cure was impossible, that nothing could stop this virus, but now there might be a chance for us to make one. It's hard to believe, after everyone we've lost. How many people could we have saved if we'd have known there was a chance for a cure sooner? How many people could we have helped if we knew about plasmapheresis treatments?