Runner Series (Book 1): Runner 3

by Nikita Eden

  “This is Lincoln,” Audrey introduced him to one of the workers. “He’s the new Runner Two, so make sure he gets the right amount of rations, please.”

  They ate their lunch at the table where the Runners usually ate. Audrey learned a lot about Lincoln. His family was originally from Tonga and his father was the first one to die during the original outbreak.

  “I’m sorry you lost him,” Audrey said.

  “I feel sorry for my mom,” Lincoln took a bite of rice. “I have two brothers. They live in Utah and Colorado. She lives with one of them.”

  “I didn’t know you had family left. Why weren’t they in Hobbs with you?” she asked.

  “My brothers are quite a bit older than me and had already moved away from home way before everything happened,” he explained. “I was the only one at home with my mom.”

  “Why didn’t you go with her up north?” Audrey took a bite of her turkey sandwich and grabbed a few of her carrots.

  “I decided I wanted to do something important. So, I joined the army and tried to help with containment,” Lincoln took a drink of water and rested against the back of his chair. “What about your family? Do I get to meet any of them?”

  Audrey shook her head and pushed the scoop of cottage cheese around her plate with her spoon, “Everyone in my family turned a few months back.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Lincoln laid his silverware down on the table. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

  “It’s okay,” Audrey mumbled. “I’m over it now.”

  She could feel Lincoln’s eyes studying her, but she refused to look at him. She put her hands in her lap and stared at her legs. She felt his fingers on her shoulder. Her eyes widened when he pulled her into his side and embraced her gently. She resisted for a second, but then leaned into his side.

  “Thanks.”

  “Anytime, Runner Three,” he smiled and set his chin on the top of her head.

  There were clouds in the sky that were getting thicker the farther east they traveled when they left the cafeteria. A gentle breeze kept them cool and they walked aimlessly up Main Street.

  “I’m happy the whole Howler thing didn’t scare you away from the Runner program,” Audrey admitted without looking at Lincoln.

  “Why is that?” he asked, turning onto a back street that put them on course to Audrey’s house.

  “It’ll give me a better chance to get to know you,” Audrey softly bumped her shoulder into his arm and smiled at his smug look. “It was lucky that you got to come here when Artesia was disbanded.”

  “Nah, it wasn’t luck,” Lincoln said looking at his feet with a grin. “When I heard the news and they told us we could transfer to either Lubbock in Texas, Roswell, or Albuquerque I couldn’t help but ask to come here. I wanted to see you again.”

  “There’s really nothing special about me. Everyone gives me too much credit because of my dad, but I’m just a regular person. My dad was pretty great before he turned though,” Audrey looked up at Lincoln and smiled. “I think you would have liked him. Everyone did.”

  “I know about the work he did trying to find a way to kill the virus. I have to agree that he was pretty great,” Lincoln said quietly.

  She nodded, “He just didn’t have enough time though.”

  “There are probably people who are still trying to find out how to kill the virus,” Lincoln said. “There was big group working up near where by brother and mom live. The last time I heard from her everyone working on it had left though.”

  “That’s the side effect of people dying. Everyone leaves,” Audrey said grimly.

  “Well, sooner or later everyone leaves then,” Lincoln conceded.

  “Do you think things will ever get back to normal and we won’t have to deal with the unexpected deaths anymore?” she asked him quietly.

  “I don’t think everything will be back to normal as quickly as I’ve heard other people guess. I think it’ll take a while. Maybe a few years, maybe more. I think it’ll feel more normal than it actually will be.” He stopped walking, “I have to admit, the one thing I miss the most right now is the internet.”

  “The internet?” Audrey raised her eyebrows.

  “Yeah, I know it sounds stupid. I’m just not much of a people person and it helped me stay connected,” Lincoln sighed. “I think aside from normal stuff I’d say I miss my grandma the most.”

  “Did she die during the outbreak?”

  “She was never infected or anything,” Lincoln smiled to himself. “She was one of the few that was able to die of old age before things got ugly.”

  Audrey turned down the street that led to her house, “Lucky her.”

  Lincoln nodded, “One day, she just told me she loved me, laid down for a nap, and said she didn’t want to hear about everything that was going on. She fell asleep and never woke up after that.”

  “That’s a good thing though,” Audrey bumped into him. “At least she got to see the world better than it is now.”

  They walked happily through the small crowds of people going about their daily errands. There were a few times they almost ran into other Runners, but Audrey would slow her pace and switch their route before they were seen. She didn’t want anyone gossiping about her and Lincoln when even she wasn’t sure what was going on between them.

  “I haven’t heard from anyone in a long time because of communication being down in most places though,” Lincoln broke the silence as they rounded a corner on a back street. “Someday I want to go see my brothers and mom.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get to,” Audrey assured him, gently squeezing his hand. “I’d like to go to Utah sometime so I can see where my dad spent most of his time.”

  “Maybe we can go together,” Lincoln suggested.

  “I’d like that,” Audrey smiled bashfully at him.

  “You know, I used to have a sister, but she wasn’t able to make it through the original virus outbreak.” His brow knit together and looked down at Audrey with sad eyes. “I miss her a lot.”

  “I know how you feel, I had two little brothers,” she closed her eyes and imagined their faces. “They were the best kids ever and I miss them every day. It’s good to miss people. It means they haven’t been forgotten.”

  They talked about their families for a while longer and then wondered what the world would be like if the outbreak had not happened.

  “I think I want to leave Roswell when it’s safe to travel again,” Audrey said as they got close to her house.

  “You don’t like it here?” Lincoln asked.

  “I used to a lot, but not anymore,” Audrey sulked. “There are just too many painful reminders now. I’m never going to be able to take my brothers to the little zoo again or drive with my dad down to the UFO museum and look at the weird stuff there—”

  “Wait. You believe in aliens?” Lincoln asked with a small smile.

  Audrey chuckled and shrugged, “I guess anything is possible. I used to think zombies were science fiction, but look where we are now.”

  Lincoln laughed with her, “You’re right. I never thought about aliens except for when my mom and I made fun of the conspiracy theorist weirdos.”

  “Some people used to be really intense when they got into it. I don’t know if I really think aliens are out there anymore though,” Audrey pointed at her house when they arrived. “Here’s my house.”

  “Mind if I stay and talk for a while?” Lincoln asked.

  “Sure, I don’t mind,” Audrey led him across the lawn and sat on the front porch next to each other.

  “If aliens were really out there they would have helped us when more than half of the human race died off to begin with right?” She felt silly asking.

  “Don’t ask me, I don’t know what an alien would think,” Lincoln looked at her seriously. “I think it would be cool to meet one though.”

  Audrey happily stared at Lincoln while he talked.

  Audrey liked Lincoln’s presence. It was calming and
reassuring. When she was with him the chaos around her became more of a background static and she felt like she could be herself again. He inched closer to her so his thigh brushed against hers.

  She liked the way he looked too. He had a broad nose and beautiful full lips. His hair was short and dark, but looked like it would curl if it got longer. His chocolatey brown eyes warmed up with excitement when he talked about things he found interesting.

  Just looking at him and being near him made her stomach do summersaults.

  “Do you want to go do anything with me tonight?” she asked him dreamily.

  “You mean like a date?” He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Sure, what is there to do?”

  “There’s the small theater that plays a movie every night I told you about when you first got here. I don’t know what they’re playing today.” Audrey stood up and checked the time, “If you want to go we could take my bicycle and we’d probably make it on time.”

  “Let’s go to a movie then,” Lincoln stood up and stretched his shoulders.

  “Stay here,” she said and ran into the house. A moment later the rickety white garage door started squeaking while rising off the ground.

  Lincoln rushed to help Audrey lift it, “So, this a yes to going on an actual date?”

  “If you grab my bicycle, then yes. It’s in the corner under the small window,” she pointed to the corner of the garage.

  Lincoln grabbed the bike and hurried out of the garage under the door. Audrey let the door drop and brushed dirt and a spider web off her hands.

  Lincoln was already on the seat when she turned to him, “Ready when you are.”

  She hopped onto the handle bars and making their way down Main Street.

  Audrey took a deep breath of the crisp evening air. It was relaxing to feel the wind rushing passed her face and through her hair. She closed her eyes and pretended it was a regular summer evening for a second.

  There was a long line at the doors to the theater when they arrived. The queue said the movie for the week was an old animated movie the theater had probably owned the reel to since the early 1990s.

  “I think I saw this when I was visiting my grandma back in the day as a kid,” Lincoln reminisced.

  They made their way through the line slowly and kept each other entertained with stories about themselves from their younger years.

  “I kid you not,” Lincoln laughed as he told her a story. “Every single time I threw the bowling ball it either went straight in the gutter or into another lane. My mom ended up asking for the barriers they put up for little kids.”

  “That’s hilarious,” Audrey snickered. “I wish I could have seen it.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t,” Lincoln protested. “The most embarrassing thing at twelve years old would have been the girl I like seeing me suck at a sport like bowling.”

  They bought their tickets for fifty cents each and walked into the theater. They carefully sidled past people into two empty seats in the middle of the packed row of chairs.

  “I guess people really want things to be the way they were before, huh?” Audrey asked him. “I haven’t been to a movie since before the infection.”

  “Seems that way. On a plus side, we don’t have to worry about cell phones being annoying,” Lincoln looked at the audience. “There are a lot more little kids here than there were in Artesia.”

  “I think it’s because we have a bigger population than Artesia. I hear there are still schools that are going to running again in Albuquerque,” Audrey informed him.

  “That’s great to hear,” Lincoln stretched his legs out in front of him and sank into his chair. “I think I’d like kids someday.”

  “Even with everything that’s happened?” Audrey snorted.

  “I know the world will be different than when I was a kid, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing,” Lincoln said rationally.

  The theater lights dimmed and the trailer reel started. Lincoln lifted the arm rest that separated them and put his arm around Audrey’s shoulders.

  He watched the screen enthusiastically, acting as if he’d never seen or heard of the movies coming out.

  “Did you see that movie coming this Christmas? I guess I know what I’ll be doing!” he said excitedly.

  Audrey slapped his knee playfully, “Knock it off! You’re going to get us kicked out.”

  “What? I can’t be excited about a new animated feature coming out soon?” Lincoln smiled down at her.

  “We need to be quiet so people can enjoy the movie,” Audrey crossed her legs so she wouldn’t be tempted to put her feet on the back of the chair in front of her. “Be nice.”

  “Can do, ma’am!” Lincoln said quietly.

  She leaned into his side and pulled his arm farther around her shoulders. He was warm and smelled faintly of a rich cologne that he might have put on earlier in the day. She had a hard time paying attention to the screen when he started tracing circles on her shoulder.

  The absent-minded touch gave her goosebumps, so she put her hand on his to stop the movement.

  “Watch the movie,” she gently chided him.

  He pulled her closer to him and rested the back of his head on his chair, stretching his legs out, “Alright, but you need to be quiet, Miss.”

  Audrey poked him in the side a few times in protest, but kept it up when he tried to wriggle away from her.

  He grabbed her fingers, “Stop it. That tickles.”

  She looked up at him her, eyes lingering on his mouth, “Okay.”

  He smiled wide and small wrinkles appear at the sides of his warm brown eyes. His gaze locked with hers and he put his finger under her chin. Her skin tingled at his touch and she opened her mouth to take a quick breath. He lifted her mouth up and leaned down so her lips met his in a soft kiss.

  She pulled back and studied his face for a minute, “We should watch the movie.”

  “Yeah,” he whispered, but didn’t look away from her.

  She broke the stare when the trailers finished and the movie started, but she rested her arm across Lincoln’s stomach and wondered what the kiss meant to him.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Dean did not attend the first week of practices after Lincoln joined the Runners and everyone noticed. They had barely gotten back to having ten people and he was skipping training.

  Audrey quickly took over in Dean’s place during training and met with the Council for the daily assignments so she could make the schedules for the others. She made sure they knew who would be in charge of clearing out dregs near the hospital and set up the pairs for the week while she was scheduling everything.

  Max, who was Runner Eight, helped her train Lincoln with weapon use during the practices so she could run the drills with the others, but during the off days she and Lincoln were paired together so she could help him as much as she could his first week.

  True to form, he was a natural at everything physical she required of him and he didn’t have to do much extra training.

  “Man, you really picked this up quickly,” Max was impressed with him after their third day of training. “Are you sure you weren’t a Runner somewhere else?”

  “I think it’s because I was in JROTC and had gone through my first boot camp for the army,” Lincoln shifted on his feet nervously and twisted the ax handle in his hands.

  “I heard how you took out that Howler that almost took a bite out of Dean,” Max continued. “Even with training that’s pretty beast, dude.”

  “I was just trying to keep everyone safe,” Lincoln brushed it off deftly. “Any of you would have done the same.”

  “It’s our job, so yeah, we would have,” Max acknowledged. “You weren’t technically a Runner yet. You could have high-tailed it out of there like that other kid did and no one would have said boo.”

  “That wouldn’t have been cool,” Lincoln laughed. “Especially since it would have left Audrey to deal with clean up on her own. The Howler had a decent sized crowd of dregs following
it.”

  “Yeah, but all of us already know how hardcore Audrey is,” Max said with a shrug. “She goes down and tracks mutants in Carlsbad. No one else wants to do something that crazy.”

  Lincoln planted the ax on the ground and leaned on it, “Why does she do it?”

  “I don’t know why she still goes down, but she’s the one who told us about mutants. There haven’t been any new kinds of them down there for a while, so I don’t think she’ll still be able to go down now that security is being tightened while we get rid of the dregs close to the community,” Max mused.

  “I don’t know. I guess it depends on what the Council and Dean have to say about it,” Audrey put her machete in her sheath and walked into the conversation.

  She was stacking the cones they used for agility drills and shouted a goodbye to a few of the other Runners as they left the field so they could go do their errands for the Council.

  “That sucks,” Max responded quickly and followed her to the supply shed with Lincoln at his heels. “Dean never wants you to do anything but stay around Roswell. He pretty much throws a moody tantrum every month when you’ve gone down south.”

  Audrey sighed. She was aware of the fact that Dean didn’t like her going to Carlsbad—he’d never kept that a secret—but she had always assumed that he would just move on with everything that needed to be done while she was gone, like they had when Peter was injured.

  She put the cones away and opened the safe the Runner’s guns were put in, “Dean will have to get over it.”

  “Where has he been this week?” Marcella inquired as she and the three other Runners joined them at the edge of the field.

  “Honestly, I don’t know,” Audrey answered the small group around her. “I think almost being killed last week might have pushed him too far, especially since it was so close to when Peter died. Maybe he’s just taking a bit of a well-earned break this week.”

  “We all know he and Pete were pretty much joined at the hip, but he’s been acting so erratic lately,” Marcella cleared her throat. “Um, a lot of us—”

  “All of us,” Greg, who was Runner Six, added.