To Be A Hero

Chapter 34: There's No I In Team

"I don't like it," Jody huffs.

"I'm afraid that's not my concern, Runner Four," Janine says. "Miss Spens made the deal with the Exmoore Militia. She'll have to be present with the exchange, along with you and Runner Five."

The blonde rolls her eyes. "Yeah, she's good at making deals. I don't even know why we're still working with her."

"Without her connections, we would hardly have been able to secure a piece of unusual medical equipment in such short notice. The fact is, Dr. Cohen's exertions were ill-advised. The progress of her condition has increased, even with the drug that Miss Edwards has given to us. Dr. Cohen will probably be gone within a few days, and without a secure holding facility like this, there is no way she can be present at the birth of her child, something Dr. Meyers expressly requested. We are lucky to have sourced such a thing at all. Not many people are keen on finding ways to keep zoms alive. I believe this object was designed to hold tigers.

"The child is due any day. Miss McShell's work on Dr. Cohen's blood suggest that the years of treatment with Van Ark have made her more infectious now than average. The equipment is needed, and the Ministry couldn't have supplied us so quickly."

"We know! We know, Janine," I sigh. "But I get why Jody's so... you know. It's Amelia. She's annoying and smug and cunning and manipulative and I don't trust her." I give Jody a raised when I see the grimace on her face. I deadpan. "She's right behind me, isn't she?"

"Always," Amelia says, and I spin around. She smirks at me, and gets a sneer in reply. "Hello, Five. Miss me?"

"I would drop kick you into the sun if Janine gave me permission."

"Permission denied," Janine says. "Miss Spens, you're late."

She smiles in a sickeningly sweet way. "Just checking to make sure all the intel we're handing the Militia is in working order, Jenny."

"You do not call me that," She growls, and I stiffen at the warning in her voice. Amelia looks undeterred.

"Does it matter, now that Si's dead?" She waits for a reply, but gets none, and I have to fight down the urge to pummel her into the ground. She rolls her eyes then looks at a few papers in hand. "Fine. Just let me finish making sure these files look vaguely accurate."

"The status of our files won't matter much if we miss the rendezvous times. You need to be at the edge of the Exmoore territory as quickly as you can. Remember, if we don't get our equipment, Abel doesn't pay."

A small frown pulls at Amelia's lips, but within a blink of an eye, it's gone, replaced with a smug look.

"In that case, look lively, Runners. Get those gates up and get moving. Runner Four, after you, I insist."

Jody sneers at her as the alarm goes off and the gates raise. "Fat chance I'm turning my back on you!"

She simply shrugs. "Whatever you say. Just be sullen once we're running. Come on, Five! You wouldn't want to keep me from a payday, would you? Come on. Let's go."

And off we go, both Jody and I sharing unhappy looks as Amelia leads the way. I'm sure we're both regretting volunteering for this, but it's not like we can back out now. Plus this run, while important, could give me some time to look for a Christmas gift for Sam, seeing that he's not overseeing this mission.

Janine basically had to drag him out of the coms shack though, since he swore to oversee all my missions since he's afraid I might die from being bitten.

It's been about three days since I told him the nitty-gritty details of my death vision. I only tweaked a few things, which was about Veronica and her using me as a vaccination test subject. I told him I think someone's going to force her to do it to me, which isn't necessarily untrue. I mean, it could be, but I don't know that.