To Be A Hero

Chapter 54: Tower Of Song

Warning: The use of the F-word is in this chapter. If that offends you, the I suggest not reading it (although this chapter is kind of important). All I'm saying is read at your discretion.

"Runner Four, Runner Five, Runner... um, uh, Runner Janine. You ready?" Sam asks.

"We'll be ready when she gets here, not before," Janine snaps. "Do you see, Mr. Yao?"

"Uh, yeah. Look, are you okay to do this mission? Do you think you need more than-well, a week and a day off? I mean, it is New Year's Eve."

"I'm entirely fine, Mr. Yao. Thank you for your concern."

"I can see her Jeep now," Jody says from the sniper post right above the gates. "She's trailing a tail of zoms as if petrol and bullets were ten a penny."

"I summoned the Minister personally. This is my responsibility. The information leading us to this repeater station comes from my treacherous brother. I must take part of this mission," Janine says, but she pauses when static comes through our headsets.

"I am here. Raise the gates," The Minister commands.

The alarm goes off, and the gates go up, and Sigrid's Jeep comes rolling into the township. Jody climbs down from the sniper position, and some of the others up there start taking out the zombies that followed the Minister.

The door to the Jeep opens, and the Minister steps out, her hair pinned up nicely and her running attire matching to a T. She gives us all a curt nod.

"Abel Runners, Janine De Luca, a great pleasure and an honor."

"Time to go," Janine says, striding past the Minister and towards the gates. "Time to go now."

The Minister purses her lips. "I don't quite see why we have to run all the way there. Couldn't we just take the Jeep?"

"Not possible. Utterly impossible."

"The noise of engines attract zoms," Jody explains. "And there's only one way in and out of that repeater station. So we'd be trapped if we-"

"Ready, Mr. Yao?" Janine asks, and I notice how jittery she is. She's anxious, and I wonder if eight days of rest actually helped her. From my standpoint, it doesn't look like it.

But, the Minister seems to take no notice of Janine's anxious behavior, and she takes a look at the man who was with her in the Jeep.

"My bodyguard, covering fire," She commands, and he hops out of the Jeep, grabbing a pistol and firing at the zombies, helping our people efficiently take down the zombies coming towards us.

"I'm sorry to say, Minister, but I believe it would be best if we didn't have your bodyguard coming with us on this mission," Janine states as we start off. "The less people we have with us, the better. What we are about to do is very dangerous, and we don't need any extra people that might uproot our plans."

The Minister doesn't exactly look happy with what's just been said, but she holds a hand up at the bodyguard that is now behind her, signaling him to stay behind. He obeys.

We go quiet as we run. Not surprising. I mean, who would decide to just have small talk when Janine and the Minister are running with you? I mean, I've talked to Sam before with Janine on coms, but here she's a bit more... determined here today. I mean, she's determined all the time, but here...

She told me to remember the date we discussed on our last outing together, but not to tell anyone. It's a rather odd thing to say, since, as far as Janine's told us, this is about the cure, which June 23rd, 2016 has nothing do with. I'm still worried about her, but for the most part she seems stable, and I have one of Nicole's sedatives just in case something happens, although I'm sure she'll be able to maintain her composure with the Minister here.