To Be A Hero

Chapter 47: Honey Honey

"Okay, Runner Five and I are at the at the edge of the New Canton extension farms," Cameo says. "Are we safe to go, Sam?"

"I didn't even know New Canton's farms went out that far," Ellie says. "No one ever even gave me the full tour before I relocated to Abel. It looks beautiful."

I look around at the snow covered ground. While there is no plant life growing at the moment, I can't say I disagree with Ellie. There's a sort of peacefulness here, one you don't see often in the apocalypse

"You'll have to come out here for a run sometime, Ellie."

"It's weird, right?" Sam asks. "All of the stuff that's happened, and there are still like, idyllic fields. Maxine and Paula took Sarah for a walk around the greenhouse before we put her down for her nap. Maxine says she can't wait for the spring, because they can take her for a walk around the veg gardens, because it reminds her of her parents' farm. Smells of wet earth, and growing things, and-well, I don't know. Cow pats."

"You think you can find us a beehive, Cameo?" Ellie asks. "I mean, I wouldn't ask, but it's important."

"I know there's a hive one farm over," She replies. "I saw it a couple months ago."

"You were a beekeeper before the outbreak?" Sam asks. "That is cool. Did you get stung a lot? I mean, does it hurt?"

She shrugs. "You don't get stung if you're careful, but I sold some honey on the side to pay for some recording equipment."

"I mean, I know we need bees for like science, but we could end up with honey, right? Honey in tea, honey on toast. Oh! Honey on prawn crackers!"

"I think that one's just you, Sam," Ellie comments, and he laughs.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it."

"Well, I hate to disappoint you, hun, but we'll be lucky if we find the bees are still okay," I say. "It's nearing the end of December. Christmas is five days away. The chances of these guys still being okay is... eh."

"Yeah. Um, anyway, Five, Runner Thirteen's going to take the lead. And yeah, the Ministry says there's been Netrophil activity in this area. Molotov cocktails thrown at Ministry convoys, that sort of thing. Long story short, best to run."

"Yes, sir," I say as we start off. "Hey, speaking of Netrophil, do you think Phineas and Adora's mom was part of it? I mean, she drilled it into her ten-year-old that if someone took his blood he'd be taken away be some people in uniforms. He won't tell me what the uniforms look like because he's afraid someone might catch on to what he's talking about and do him in, but he said it's not Abel's uniform or New Canton's."

"You do have a point," He hums.

"Poor kid," Cameo says. "If his parents were from Netrophil, we could talk to him to see if he knows anything about them. The Ministry would love that."

I shake my head, being careful to not trip over a tree root. "No, you'll never get anything out of him. I mean, the kid's mom died yesterday, and he's in shock, and he believes everyone here is a liar who's going to hurt him and Adora."

"Everyone but you, right?"

I shrug. "Well, yes and no. I mean, he doesn't exactly trust me, but he trusts me more than he trusts everyone else. He absolutely freaked last night when I tried to give Adora to one of the caretakers in the children's dorms. Apparently only me and Dr. Lobatse can hold her, and Sam, because he's alright."

"Phineas said that?" Sam asks, sounding rather happy at the somewhat praise.

"More or less, although he did make fun of me for a straight hour because I 'totally have a crush on you, which is super gross'."