#zombierun

Sam and Sara: We love you and you are amazing.

Five: No, I need it from Simon.

Once they had gotten onto the train they realized they had a problem.  The barrels of fuel blocked their path to Harry so they decided to go along the top of the train.  But that posed it’s own set of problems.  Wind and dirt was kicked up at both Sara and Charlotte as they ran as best as they could towards the front of the train.

Sam, however, was taking a delight in this.  “You’re running along the top of a train, guys!  You are really running along the top of a train!”  He laughs happily.  “How cool is that?”

“It’s actually very windy and unpleasant, Sam.”  Charlotte said shielding her eyes from the dirt.  “We keep getting bits of grit in our eyes.”

“Yeah, they never seem to stress that aspect in action movies.  I mean, you never saw Daniel Craig pausing to take out his contact lenses, and he ran along the tops of moving trains a lot.  Before he became one of the living dead, that is.  Obviously.”  Sam said as a bullet clangs off the train car.

“Also, we’re being shot at.”  Sara said.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve checked with Nadia at New Canton.  We have no idea who those mysterious guys on horseback are.  It’s like they’re strangers who just rode into town.”  Sam said as more gun shots rang out.

“They seem extremely keen to stop this train!”  Sara shouted.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, you’re out of their range.”  Sam said.

Charlotte looked back at the ground seeing them starting to catch up.  “Sam they’re on horses.  Horses are faster than us.”

“Yeah. When you get tot he front, tell Harry to give it some welly.  We’ve got to get this aviation fuel to Bert Airfield.  The other runners are making their way there right now to unload the train.  The Major’s entire plan depends on this fuel.”  Sam said quickly.

“Speeding up even more could be dangerous.  We don’t know what’s up ahead.” Charlotte said as she jumped between two cars.  “They could have sabotaged -”  A gun shot rang out close to her.  “Never mind, lesser of two evils.  If those bullets puncture a duel drum, this whole train could explode.  Come on Sara.  Only a couple more carriages to go.”

Sara nodded as they continued to run towards the front of the train.  Once they got to the front of the train Sara and Charlotte jumped down to join Harry.  “Ooh, hello, chaps!”  Harry said happily but still fearful of the bandits.

“Can’t stay and chat, sorry!  Sam says to speed up.”  Sara said.

“But what’s the hurry?”  Harry asked as Sara and Charlotte jumpped off either side of the train.  Harry was heard muttering something about lunatics for jumping off the train.  “Just try not to get shot, my lovelies!”  He called out.

“Raider closing in from left and right.”  Sam said quickly.  “There’s a fork in the track just after that row of brick semis up ahead.  You know, I always wondered why people bought houses on the train line. Anyone passing can see right in.  I mean, look at that house, there, the one with the unfortunate pebble dash.  I can see straight into the kitchen.  They’ve got a row of little cacti along the windowsill.”

“That’s fascinating, Sam.  Any thoughts on the actual mission?”  Sara asked harshly.

“What? Oh, yeah, sorry.  I need you to run on and see which branch of the track looks safest.”  Sam said quickly.

“We’re on it.”  Charlotte said as they ran ahead of the train  heading down the tracks.  After heading down seperate tracks Charlotte suddenly stopped looking ahead of her gasping.  “Sam… there’s a concrete block on the left hand track.  No way the train can get past it, and it’s going too fast to stop even if the brakes were working, which they’re not.”

“Yeah, yeah, but there’ss something else.   I can see it through Sara’s head cam.”  Sam said quickly.

“Yea I see it Sam.  There’s someone tied to the track on the right hand fork.  I think it’s the new Runner Six – Eric, isn’t it?” Sara asked.

“Owen.” Sam said quickly as Charlotte hung a right heading for where Sara was currently.  “How did they even get ahold of him?  He was suppoused to be with the group running directly to Bert Airfield!”

“Unless he stayed behind to admire that tall ship, leaving him running on alone after the main group.  Easy target for the raiders.”  Sara suggested.

“We need to give that guy more training.”  Charlotte said.

“If we can somehow save his life now.”  Sara said as they ran towards the points.

“You’re nearly at the points now. You’ll have to send the train to the left.”  Sam said.

“Which is exactly what those horse riders want us to do!”  Sara countered.

“I know!  I know, but we haven’t got any choice!  Tell Harry to jump off, he’ll be fine.  We’ll just have to send Jeeps out for the fuel.”  Sam finished.

Sara scoffed loudly.  “And just what is it you think these guys are after?  The train’s going right, Sam Greatest good of the greatest number.  That fuel could save the whole damn country.”

“But Owen!”  Sam exclaimed.  “He hasn’t even finished his first run yet.  Oh, for God’s sake, Eight, you didn’t even know his name! I’m not going to let him die.”

“Well I won’t let this mission fail!”    Sara shouted as she sprinted ahead of Charlotte and changed the points so the train would start coming down the right hand track.  “There done.”

“Five, please!  I know you.  You can’t just leave him there.  You’ve got to try and save him.”  Sam pleaded as Charlotte ran past Sara continuing on.

“I’m on my way.  I’ll get him off the tracks.”  Charlotte said quickly.

“Yes! That’s it, Runner Five – Run!”  Sam cheered.

Charlotte ran as fast as she could towards Owen who was struggling against the ropes around him.  “Help, Help!  Please, help me!”  He cried out.

“You’re nearly there, Five.”  Sam said as Charlotte pushed her legs harder and faster.  

Charlotte got to his side and knealt down beside him.  “I’m here.”  She started pulling on the ropes finding them tight.  

“Oh Jesus, the train!”  Owen cried out.

“Looks like he’s tied tight.  You got a knife or something?”  Sam asked.

Charlotte reached into her pocket and pulled out the K-Bar knife she had found. “Yea I got one.”  She pulled the sheath off that she made out of duct tape and started cutting the rope.

“I don’t want to die!  Not like this!”  Owen whined loudly.

“Just remain calm I’ll get you out…”  Charlotte said as she cut through the rope keeping him to the track and quickly worked on the rope around his ankles.

Once the rope was cut Owen stood up quickly pulling the ropes off his hands.  “Aw, thanks mate!  I owe you one.  Thought I was dead for sure.”

“You will if you don’t get off the track!”  Charlotte said pulling Owen off just as Harry blew past them.

Suddenly a shot rang out making both Charlotte and Owen duck fast.  “Guys you need to get running, you’re not in the clear yet.”  Sam said as Charlotte and Owen took off away from the bandits.

Harry looked over at them and smiled.  “Thank goodness you’re alive, boy-o.”

“Glad to see you’re safe, Owen.”  Sara said as she caught up with them.

Sam scoffed.  “Yeah, no thanks to you!”

“Someone has to take the tough decisions, Sam, and we all know it won’t be you.”  Sara snapped as they continued to run.

Harry leaned out of the window to speak to them.  “I’m sorry, my lovelies, bit of a problem  I tried to use the brakes when I saw Owen here tied to the track.  Turns out they were working better than I thought!  It slowed the trainr ight down!  And we’ve lost our head of steam!”  

“That’s alright, mate.  You probably saved my life-”  Owen started before a woman’s voice shouting from the bandits.

“Stop the train!  Stop the train, or we’ll shoot to kill!”  

“-only to have it take by those raiders!  They’re closing in from either side, Sam!”  Charlotte said quickly as they continued to run.

“Maybe it’s time to abandon ship.”  Owen suggested.

“We’re not letting them have this train!”  Sara shouted as another gunshot rang out making Harry shout.

“Bloody hell!”  Owen cried out.  “I think they hit Harry!”

“I’m alright, I’m fine!”  Harry said sounding very pained.  “It’s – ow!  It’s only a flesh wound!  Quite a painful flesh wound.” He held his arm tight as Sara spoke up.

“I’m not aborting this mission.  We need that fuel.”

“It’s no good to any of us if you’re dead!  Hang on, is that – are there people in front of you.”  Sam said making Sara and Charlotte look over fast.

“Yeah! Very short people.”  Sara said oddly.

“Wearing really silly uniforms.”  Owen commented as Charlotte reconized Charlotte and Posey from the Owl and the Pussy Cat Patrol.

“Oh my God!  It’s the Girl Guides!”  Charlotte called happily.

Sam spoke up quickly.  “Quick, you can’t let them get shot!”

Charlie ran over and met up with the group with a large smile on her face. “Hello!  Good afternoon, Char.  And you’re – our intel says Runner Eight, Sara.”  She said as Sara looked at the girls in shock.

“Get out of here, you idiots!  We’re under fire!”  Sara shouted as Posey smiled brightly.

“We know, we’ve come to help!  Here, take this Char, and head for the group on the left.  We’ve been keeping them for the jamboree, but we can spare a few.”  Posey said handing Charlotte a Roman candle then handing Sara one as well.

“What?” Sara asked before looking at the firework.  “Oh, fireworks, I see! That’s… that’s brilliant, actually. Well done, uh..”

“Patrol Leader Todhunter!”  Charlie said happily.

“You’ll need to get closer to set them off.  Should scare the horses without risking blowing up the train.  They used to scare my old pony, Cornflake.  You’ll have to be quick – run!”  Posey said as Charlotte and Sara went off their seperate ways.  Gunshots rang out nearly hitting them several times.

“This is your last warning!  Stop the train, or we’ll kill you all!” The bandit shouted.

“We can’t stop now.  Eight’s in position. You’re close, too, Five.” Sam said quickly as more gunfire pingged off the side of the train.

“Concentrate your fire on the driver!”  The bandit shouted.

“Harry’s completely exposed.  We can’t wait any long.  On my mark...”  Sam said.  “Three, two, one, and go!”

Charlotte pulled on the end and let the firework fire off with a screech and dozens of pops in the direction of the bandits.  The horses reared up crying out tossing the riders off and onto the ground before taking off.

“It worked!”  Charlotte shouted happily.  “It actually worked!”

“’Be prepared!’ or is that the Scouts?  Or uh, hang on, are they the same thing nowadays?”  Sam asked.  “Doesn’t matter.  The horses have thrown all their riders.  No way they’re coming after you now! Or running, either, what with the way their bottoms must be feeling. You’re home clear!”

Charlotte looks over seeing one of the horses run past her towards the tracks. “Uh… Sam?  Do you see this?  A horse, a bay with a dark mane? It’s heading straight for the train.”  She said as Sam gasps.

“You have to stop it, Five!”  He said quickly as the horse whinnies running fast.  “It might derail the train!”

“Watch out for those hooves!”  Owen cried out as he jumped out of the way.

The horse ran onto the track before stopping a good ways from the train. “Shit!  It’s stopped on the tracks!”  Charlotte said as he ran towards the horse.

“I mean, can’t the stupid thing see the train coming?  Has it got a death wish?  Just, oh, I don’t know.  Can you uh, pick some gras for it, try to lure it away?”  Sam asked.

“I think it can pick it’s own grass, mate.”  Owen said.

“Oh God, I can’t watch!”  Sam said as Charlotte ran as fast as she could knowing she only had one chance to stick this.  She lept up behind the horse and pressed her hands to it’s backside and landed in the saddle making the horse rear suddenly with a whinny. Charlotte grabbed a hold of the reins putting her feet into the stirrups and kicking the horse to move which it did quickly while the train whizzed by.

“OH MY GOD!”  Sam cried out.  “That was amazing!”

“It was pretty bloody impressive, Five.”  Owen said as Charlotte slowed the horse to a trot alongside the train.  “The way you jumpped up into the saddle and grabbed the reins.  It was like something out of a rodeo!  And you got it off the track just in time.”

“The route ahead looks clear, the raiders have fallen back, and you can’t be more than a mile from Bert Airfield.”  Sam said.

“Beaut! This Girl Guides are useful to have around and no mistake!”  Owen said with a smile.

“And we got a horse!  Time to take him home, Five.  Ride’em, cowboy!” Sam said with a rather terrible American accent.

Charlotte laughed as she waited for the train to pass before riding over to Owen who looked up at her.  “I’ll ride along side you until you get to the air field then run back with the others.  Don’t serperate from the group again.”

Owen nodded quickly as Charlotte continued to trot alongside Owen.  “So Five… where did you learn that jumpping trick?”

“My grand father had a horse farm.  I spent my summers working there and riding horses.  I used to drive my mother nuts with the tricks he taught me.”  Charlotte said as she grinned.

“That’s amazing.  You will have to teach me.”  Sam said smiling.

“Gladly.”

<  74   >

Season 1 Beginning

First of all:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! It’s 2018... and almost february... time flies by!!!

I guess lots of you are thinking “New Year, New Me” and to be honest: I’m the same kkk

But have you changed yourself already? I don’t mean like changing all the habits from one day to another. But did you changed anything?

I was thinking this in the first week of 2018 and I haven’t changed any of my habits so I got frustrated. “Why can’t you be determined like all these kpop idols?? Why are you so lazy?!”

but you know what? I changed something after that week.

Do you guys happen to know ZombieRun? It’s a great app to start running. If you haven’t heard about it just try it! I’m on my 3rd week right now and I’m motivated. Yes you heard right:

I’m motivated to do sports!!!

Isn’t that an incredible start into the new year?

After the train ride, Charlotte helped the runners load up the train with the barrels of fuel.  It didn’t take as long as she thought to load everything on and they were on their way.  Unfortunately there was a lot of debris on the tracks that the runners had to get off before the train got there.

Jody ran over and with Charlotte’s help they pulled a fallen tree off the tracks.  “Okay, that fallen tree’s off the track now.” Jody said to Sam.  “Looks like the train’s got a straight run from here down to-”

“Yeah, cameras show you’ll be okay for the next at least few hundred yards.”  Sam said.

“I mean, not that I’m not glad we’ve managed to get all those fuel drums loaded onto this may I say magnificent steam engine-” Simon said as he ran along side them.

“Locomotive! She’s a locomotive, thank you!”  Harry said quickly.

“-but I did think that traveling by train might involve more traveling on the train, not running alongside the train.”  Simon continued on.

“Yeah, sorry about that.  It turns out that Network Rail actually was useful for something after all.  No one’s done any maintenance on these lines for months!  Lots of debris, fallen tree branches, shopping trolleys-”  Sam listed off before Charlotte spoke up with a smirk.

“Wrong kind of zombies on the line?”  She questioned.

“Uh, any chance we could just hitch a ride for the next mile or two?” Simon asked as Sam went quiet for a moment.

“Ooh, sorry, guys.  Looks like the points up ahead aren’t right.  They’ll take the train over a broken bridge unless you get there first.  And, uh, yeah, we can’t really stop, because-”  Sam started before Harry jumpped in.

“She’s got up a nice head of steam, she really has.  I can’t believe I was scared to use her until now!  Look at her go, ooh!”  He said in delight.

“Yeah, so, there’s that nice head of steam and that crowd of zombies that were chasing the ship?  Yeah, now they’re chasing you.”  Sam concluded.

“There’s a reason they call us runners.  Come on, guys!”  Jody said as they split off from the train.  Simon, Jody and few other runners headed towards the zombies to lead them away as Charlotte, Sara and the rest of the runners kept near the track heading for the points.

The train started to gain on the runners heading for the points making Sara look back at it.  “Can’t you slow that thing down at all? We want to change the points so you don’t plummet to your death on that broken bridge, but it’s hard to stay ahead of you when you’re going so fast!”

Harry seemed to be fretting inside the train.  “Sorry!  I think the brake’s not quite-”

“The brake’s not working?”  Charlotte asked quickly looking back at him.  “You’re on a runaway train?”

“Not runaway, just not as easy to control as I’d hoped.”  Harry said .

“Okay...” Sam started.  “Runner Five, you’re closeest.  Just put on a burst of speed now and-”  Charlotte ran quicker and grabbed the point turning it just in time to divert the train.  “great!  Points changed, train diverted from the broken bridge.  That’s uh, ‘brownie points’ for you, Five.  Did you… did you see what I did, there?”

Charlotte chuckles running to catch up with the others.  “Yes I did Sam.”

“So we’re okay now, smooth tracks from here?”  Jody asked as they joined back up with the others after leading the some of the zombies away.

“Just checking the cameras.  Oh, ooh, yeah, so there’s a massive horde of zombies on the track ahead.”  Sam said making Simon sigh.

“Oh, well, great!  They can be friends with the zombies already chasing us.”  He said.

“Train’ll just mow them down, squish!  Zombie jam!”  Sara said not too concerned about it.

“I don’t know, this many might end up derailing the train.  I think you’ll have to-” Sam said when Simon started shouting.

“Here, zombie-wombies!  Tasty human flesh for you!  Extremely attractive, tanned, fit flesh in my case, not to boast. Come and get it!  As I run away from the train tracks.”  He turned and took a group of zombies with him.

“Yep! That’s the general idea.”  Sam said as Jody branched off right behind Simon taking several zombies with her.

“Okay, so we’re splitting off now.”  Sara said.

“Yep, got eyes on you from three separate security cameras, now.  Should be able to keep you safe.  Runners Three and Four, head towards the abandoned warehouse.  You should be able to funnel them into the warehouse and bolt the door.  We’ve got four runners leading some towards the staircases in the park.”  Sam listed off.

“That’ll keep them busy.”  Charlotte said with a grin as she met up with Sara.

“Yeah, so, you and Runner Five-”  Sam started.

“I think you’re thinking what we’re thinking.”  Sara said with a grin.

“Head towards the broken bridge?”  Sam suggested.

“Read my mind!”  Sara said with a laugh.  “Come on, Char.  I always like doing my own stunts!”

“You would!”  Charlotte shouted as they branched off taking the remaining zombies away from the track.  Once they could see the bridge Charlotte looked at Sara.  “You sure we can make that? We’ve made gaps like that before but-”

“No, it’s going to be fine!”  Sara said with a grin.

“Are you really sure?  Because, I don’t know.”  Sam mirrored Charlotte’s concern.  “From this angle, the gap in the bridge looks bigger than I-”

“We’ve dealt with worse than this.”  Sara replied.

“Oh, I mean, maybe you could… you could climb down?  I mean, the structure looks pretty sturdy, with all those cross beams.”  Sam suggested.

“We like to live dangerously.  Come on, Five.  We’re going to get a good run-up.”  Sara sprinted past Charlotte and headed down the bridge before jumping over the gap able to just make it to the other side steadying herself.  “See just fine!”

Charlotte took a deep breath looking back seeing the zombies stumbling after her.  She raced down the bridge before jumping off the bridge feeling the wind whiping past her.  Her foot hit the ground only to feet the rock give way under her weight and she began to fall.  She let out a scream only to have Sara grab her hand stopping her short. Charlotte panted heavily looking up at her.  

“Runner Five!  Are you ok?” Sam asked quickly.

“Yea… just fine.”  Charlotte said as Sara grabbed her other hand and pulled her up enough that Charlotte could crawl onto the dirt.  “Sara you are fuckin insane...”  

Sara let out a laugh as she sat back on the dirt.  “Hey we did it didn’t we?”

“And the zoms are falling into the valley like-”  Sam started before Sara jumpped in.

“Like lemmings?”

“From the seminal 1991 Amiga game, Lemmings?  Yes.  Like that broken bridge was put there on purpose for them to fall off.”  Sam said with a grin.

“Yeah… yeah.”  Sara said slowly not looking as thrilled as Sam was.

“Okay, guys, the next few miles of track look really good.  You should be able to meet the train just before the next valley.  And you might even get a ride to Bert Airfield.”  Sam said with a smile as Charlotte and Sara stood up and started to run to catch up with the train.

“We’re on our way.”  Charlotte said breathing deeply.

“You know, it’s funny.  Harry’s had this train before the apocalypse, but he reckons he was afraid to use it.” Sam said with a small laugh.

“Because he doesn’t really know how to drive it?”  Sara suggested.

“Aw, no, no.  He was saying he’s had interests on Rofflenet from people who didn’t seem too keen on him having a working train if he wasn’t going to share it with them.”  Sam continued.

Sara looked over at Charlotte for a moment.  “You know, now that you mention it-”

“What?” Charlotte asked.

“Oh, it’s probably nothing.”

“No, what?”  Charlotte asked again.

“Well, it didn’t look to me like that bridge had just half collapsed by itself.  It’s sturdy, like you say.  Looked to me like sabotage.” Sara said as Charlotte looked around oddly.  

“Do you hear something?”  She said as Sara blinked looking around.

“No but then again you have dog hearing.”  Sara said making Charlotte give her a flat look.

“Ha ha.  It sounds like horses.”

“Um, hmm.  Can’t see anything on the scanners.  I think there are some wild horses around here somewhere.  Well, you know, gone wild since the uh, you know.”  Sam said as they could see the train in the distance.

“Yeah. So, if it was sabotage along the bridge forcing the train along the other track, where’s that track leading?”  Sara asked.

“I uh...”  Sam started before humming.  “Let me check the maps. It’s out of range for most of our runs.”

“Char, I hate to say it, but I’ve…”  Sara started looking at Charlotte.  “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Yep, got it on the map.  It’s, uh… hmm.”  Sam stops.

“What?” Charlotte asked.

“It’s just, well, we’ve never found out what’s been going on there since the apocalypse.  Sam said making Sara blink.

“Going on?”

Sam sighs heavily before answering. “We’ve never had a reason to go there, but New Canton gave us their notes.  Maps show there’s another bridge over there, but it’s mostly a blank zone.  Everyone they’ve ever sent into it hasn’t returned.”

Charlotte groans deeply.  “Great...”

“On the positive side, uh, sun’s come out.”  Sam said trying to lighten the mood.

Sara took a deep breath.  “Just in time for high noon.”

By the time they got to the train the other runners had joined them. Harry looked out at them through the window with a big smile.  “There you are!  Sight for sore eyes and no mistake!  I’ll try to slow her down a little, and you can-”

“Wait!” Sara said pointing ahead of them.  “See that, Char?  Along the ridge above the valley?”

Charlotte looked over and saw a line of people on horse back heading right for them.  “Shit!  We need to get on this train, and we need to get it to cover!”  She said fast.

“I don’t see any cover, and I have to man the engine!”  Harry said fast.

“You need to-”  Sara started before gun shots ring out making Harry cry out and duck down.  He stood up looking at his hat which had a hole in it.  

“They got my blood hat!  Shot right through my train driver’s hat!”  He shouted.

“Runner Five, Runner Eight, stay low, behind the train.  You’ll need to follow behind and jump on at the back to stay out of their sight line.”  Sam said quickly.

“But what about me?”  Harry whined.

“Stay cool, Harry!  We’ll come up with a plan.”  Sara said.

“Just stay down as much as you can.”  Charlotte said as they slowed down to wait for the end of the train to come.  Once the end of the train came Sara and Charlotte climbed on as they took a moment to catch their breath.  “Sam do we have a plan?”

“We’re going to need to think of one fast.  We’re in Bandit country.” Sam said making Charlotte’s blood run cold at the idea of Bandits coming after them.

<  73   >

Season 1 Beginning

I want to apologize for not having a mission ready to go for this week.  Things have been really stressful as of late.  I will make sure that next week we have the mission ready to go.