Chapter 3: Ranger Five Leaves Abel!

[Ranger Five]

Howdy Rangers! 

 

This will be my third challenge with the Rangers. For those of you who didn't follow my first challenge, this challenge will be written a little differently than most. The majority of the posts in this challenge comprise a story, written in-character by Ranger Five. In character posts will be in green. These posts make up the story. I'll be writing about a zombie apocalypse setting, with a lot of inspiration from Zombies, Run! the app, but my own plotline. So don't worry about spoilers outside the first mission. If I've done my job, you won't be able to tell what's from the app and what's not unless you go through the app's story yourself. Most of what I use from Zombies, Run! will be characters and the basic premise, not the story itself.

The story began in Chapter 1: Rebel Five Outruns Zombies, continued in Chapter 2: Rebel Five Seeks Answers, and this is the third chapter. However, the previous challenges have a lot of words in them, so for people who weren't following along with it, I've written the story so far for you.

The Story So Far:

 

Spoiler

 

Eighteen months after a zombie apocalypse destroyed civilisation as we know it, Luke Matthews is a soldier from Mullins Military Base. He was sent on a supposedly routine expedition to the small settlement of Abel Township, to deliver supplies. However, things went wrong. A rocket launcher destroyed his chopper a few kilometers out from Abel Township. Luke was forced to flee for safety, chased by zoms (zombies) the whole way. Along the way, Janine Myers, the town's doctor, informed him that if he didn't collect some supplies from the nearby hospital, they might not let him in. Galvanised by this threat, Luke braved the hospital, collected an important file on the zombie outbreak, and ran for home. The residents of Abel named him Ranger Five, and instructed him that he'd have to run through the zombie wasteland to collect supplies for Abel Township, a duty almost all able-bodied members of Abel do. He elected to be a Ranger; a jack of all trades who focuses on multiple things. Ranger Five lifts weights and runs for supplies. 
 

Ranger Five asked Runner Seven, the head of Runners at Abel Township, about Janine's threat. Seven wasn't happy with Janine, which caused a lot of friction between Janine and Five. 

A routine run to the nearby settlement of Skoobs turned awfully wrong, when Skoobs was found burning and destroyed, most of it's residents turned to zombies. Ranger Five spotted a horrible creature; a zombie with blood red skin, that could run like a human and looked far more intelligent than a regular zombie. Fortunately, Ranger Five avoided it's sight, and returned to Abel. A week later, Ranger Five received a distress call when he was beginning a supply run. A survivor was fleeing from this red zombie, and was in dire peril. Ranger Five was able to meet the survivor halfway to Abel Township, and shot the creature dead, even though it took five shots to the head to bring it down for good. Ranger Five accepted his role in Abel Township fully, and left his previous life as Luke Matthews behind. However, at the celebration, the survivor revealed there were three red zombies that destroyed Skoobs, not just one.

 

The war council, comprised of Janine, John the quartermaster, the Major, and the heads of Abel's various specialties (Nerd Fitness classes) decided that, with no indication that these red zoms were located anywhere else in the world, someone nearby must be making them, and sent them at Skoobs as a test. While this was going on, Abel began suffering a supply shortage that grew steadily worse over time. Without the monthly shipments from Mullins Military Base, the runners were pushed to the brink. Pushing himself too far to try and gain more supplies, Ranger Five hurt himself, and was temporarily out of action.

Keeping himself busy, Ranger Five decided to find whoever shot down his chopper, or confirm that they were long gone. Either solution would allow Mullins to safely send choppers again, ending the supply crisis. With the help of Emily, Abel's head of IT, and Major de Santa, the leader of Abel Township, Five was able to narrow down the location where the weapon could realistically have been fired from. Heading to a campground south-east of Abel Township, he found a case belonging to none other than Janine Myers, containing the very file he risked his life for on his way into Abel Township.

Janine revealed her true colors, threatening the radio operator Samuel Yao at gunpoint. Under duress, Sam contacted Janine's henchman Louis, who took a chopper to Five's location. Five foiled the plan to kill him and divested Louis of his gun, but let him leave the campground with Janine's files to save Sam's life. Janine fled Abel Township along with Louis and the files. 

The war council found that Janine was assisting in the creation of the red zombies, but lacked the tools and privacy to create them herself. There must be a mastermind yet to revealed, whom Janine is working with or working for. Given that Janine can no longer gather files about the zombie virus through Abel's runners, any plans this mastermind may have are likely to enter their next phase soon. As the meeting was wrapping up, New Canton contacted Abel Township. A large settlement which is famously secretive, they'd never contacted Abel before. The reason they chose now to contact Abel was revealed; a red zombie has killed one of their runners, and Abel is the only settlement who's dealt with them before.

Our story begins here.

 

Cast of Characters:

Ranger Five: Our protagonist. Hails from Mullins Military Base.
Major de Santa: Leader of Abel Township.
Samuel Yao: Radio operator.
Runner Seven: Head of Runners.
Ranger Nine: Head of Rangers.
Monk Two: Head of Monks. Has been giving Five fighting lessons.
Emily: Head of IT.
Janine Myers: Formerly Abel's doctor. Turned traitor at the end of Chapter 2. Currently at large.
Louis: Works for Janine's mysterious employer or colleague. Henchman.

 

Now that we know the narrative, let's look at the goals for this month:
 

Goal 1: Lift weights at the gym up to thrice per week, using the Stronglifts program. (Exception in Week 1, where I can only make it to the gym once)
Minimum: 6 workouts. Solid: 8 workouts. Great: 9 workouts. Excellent: 10 workouts.

 

Goal 2: Run up to three times per week.

Minimum: 6 runs. Solid: 8 runs. Great: 10 runs. Excellent: 12 runs.

 

Nothing new here. I'm dialing my running back to thrice a week to prevent further injury. I'll run 5 km thrice a week (two slow, one fast) for Week 0-2, then I'll up the slow runs to 6 km for the remainder of the challenge. Goal 1 remains unchanged except for my scheduling issue; why mess with something that's working.

Goal 3: Stretch up to three times per week.

Minimum: 6 sessions. Solid: 8 sessions. Great: 10 sessions. Excellent: 12 sessions.

I've been neglecting my stretching recently, and there's no excuse for that. If I can't do it at the gym due to time constraints, I can do it before I run, after I run, or at any other point in the day. Three sessions a week is a good start.

Goal 4: Write up to three story posts per week.
Minimum: 6 posts. Solid: 8 posts. Great: 10 posts. Excellent: 12 posts.

 

Due to my injury, I got out of the habit of a solid Tues/Thurs/Sat schedule for writing story posts last challenge. I'd like to get back to it; there's quite a bit I'd like to write about this month. The plot's continuing to heat up, so I need to keep the posts coming!

Scoring system: Minimum = 1 point. Solid = 2 points. Great = 3 points. Excellent = 4 points.

8 points or higher, all minimums met: Minor reward, worth up to $30.
12 points or higher, all minimums met: Major reward, worth up to $100.

 

The first story post, explaining Chapter 3's title, should be up tomorrow.

[WorldSparrow]

Following!

[Ranger Five]

6 minutes ago, WorldSparrow said:

Following!

Glad to hear

[bker1370]

Following for more story

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Following!

[Wild Wolf]

Hey brother-gotta keep up with the awesome writing. Following!

 

W0lf

[Ranger Five]

13 hours ago, bker1370 said:

Following for more story

 

11 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Following!

 

7 hours ago, Wild Wolf said:

Hey brother-gotta keep up with the awesome writing. Following!

 

W0lf

Glad to have you all here again  

[Xena]

Joining the party :-)

[Ranger Five]

Chapter 2's just finished, so I should have the challenge post (including the story so far, for new readers) up by the end of today. First story post should be up in a day or two.

[Yasha92]

Following along again

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ranger Five]

The first post of the challenge has now been updated.

[jonfirestar]

Back again for more Ranger Five awesome adventures.

[Ranger Five]

32 minutes ago, jonfirestar said:

Back again for more Ranger Five awesome adventures.

There's plenty planned Glad to have you back Jon!

[Yasha92]

 

The first story post, explaining Chapter 3's title, should be up tomorrow.

Yay story! *gasp* title!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Ranger Five]

Workout details:

Tuesday: (Bodyweight 64.7 kg)
Squat - 5x5 62.5 kg (137.5 lb)
Asst. Chin-Ups - 5/2/3 -12.5 kg (-27.5 lb)
Deadlift - 1x4 85 kg (187 lb)

 

Major de Santa called for a meeting, the day after Janine's betrayal. Yesterday, at the war council, she'd quickly dismissed us, and then headed off to speak with New Canton. Rumors said she was in there for hours, and then returned to the comms shack this morning. Finally, at about four in the afternoon, she'd asked for me to report to her. I entered the council room, to find nobody else was there, save for the Major.

"Good afternoon, Major. Where's everyone else? I'm only five minutes early." I said.

"It's just us for now, Ranger Five." the Major said. "Please, have a seat."

I sat down, feeling a little uneasy. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I've been speaking to New Canton's leader. It took me some time to work my way up the command structure, but given the subject at hand, I refused to make deals with anybody less. The man calls himself King Thomas."

"King?" I interjected. "We don't have kings in Australia."

"I know. It's a strange situation." the Major said. "Thomas informs me that the people have declared him as king, and so on and so forth, but personally I feel the entire thing is very fishy. New Canton's been extremely low contact with the outside world, and they turn away any temporary visitors at their borders. I'll confess that I thought about sending in a spy once or twice...but it seemed far too underhanded, and New Canton's secrets are their own."

I stayed silent, allowing the Major to continue.

"I informed Thomas about Abel's situation at length, especially relating to Janine, Louis, and the red zombies. He was very interested in the possibility of someone creating red zombies. Not in the way I'm sure we're all thinking after Janine. He's worried about the safety of his settlement, and his runners. New Canton doesn't have as many runners as we do, relative to the population. Thomas says there are over five thousand residents in New Canton, and less than fifty of them are runners. They reserve running for supplies they can't manufacture or find any other way."

"How do they get food?" I asked.

"Farmland, to the south, as I expected. New Canton does have a southern border, and the uninhabited land between New Canton and that border is largely used to grow food."

"I see." I said.

"There are two problems facing Abel currently. Crucial ones. The first is the supply shortage. Once we get hold of Mullins Military Base, we can end that shortage. However, we need to contact the right people, and convince them of our story. Going through RoffleNet, it could take weeks. Mullins has no official RoffleNet channels, and we'd be beginning from a poor position if we used an unofficial one, such as my contact. It is not illegal, but it is frowned upon, as I'm sure you know." the Major said.

I nodded.

"The second problem is the hole left in Janine's absence. Put simply, we need a doctor. Someone with medical training, who can deal with anything more serious than first aid. There are precious few doctors left. It's a rare skill. Doctors died like flies in the initial outbreak, since they were in close proximity to the infected before we knew what it was, or what it could do. Since their skills are in demand, settlements will be loathe to send us one, and doctors are unlikely to leave of their own accord. For one, they tend not to be runners, and Abel is quite isolated. Most doctors would be unable to make the journey."

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"New Canton can solve both our problems. They have several doctors, one of whom has sufficient physical fitness to make the jog to Abel Township. They also have access to much longer-range communications than we do. They can reach Mullins directly with their communications systems. It would save us a great deal of time."

"And they're willing to help?" I asked.

The Major sighed. "For a price. That's why we're having this conversation. Using their communications was a fairly easy trade. We've agreed to give them Louis's assault rifle in exchange. New Canton is always looking for more weaponry. However, they were much more reluctant to provide one of their trained doctors for an extended period of time."

"Did they offer a trade?" I said.

"They did." the Major said. "There's very little Abel Township has that New Canton needs. If what Thomas says is correct, they have more than fifty times the people we do. However, there is one thing we have that they lack. New Canton has red zombies on their borders. In exchange for sending us a doctor for Abel Township, they want us to send them the one person we know of who's fought and killed one of the creatures in the past."

"So, you mean..." I said.

"Yes." the Major said. "They want you."

I hesitated for only a moment. "I'm willing to do what's needed for Abel."

"Take some time and think about it, Five. It will be dark soon. You can't make the journey to New Canton in the dark, so tomorrow is the earliest you could go even if you agreed. Take the evening to think it over. I have to warn you, I don't like the sound of all this. New Canton is a mystery, and I don't think it's as perfect as their self-styled King says it is. I have a bad feeling about New Canton. Nobody else knows about this offer, and I will not think any less of you if you refuse."

"I'll let you know." I said, and left. The truth is, however, I don't need to think about it. Abel Township is counting on me, and Abel is my home.

 

I was always going to say yes.

Ranger Five, signing out.

[WorldSparrow]

You're on fire! Nicely done.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Keep the story coming, this is great.

[Ranger Five]

1 hour ago, WorldSparrow said:

You're on fire! Nicely done.

 

1 hour ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Keep the story coming, this is great.

Thanks guys I definitely plan to keep the story more regular this time around. As the pace continues to increase, I'll have more and more stuff to write about. I've got the topics for the next three posts lined up already, and I have a rough plot arc that should keep me in words for the month. 

Essentially, the more problems I throw at Five, the easier it becomes to write. Poor bastard.

[Xena]

I like the story a lot! Now I'm gonna be thinking about Red Zombies on my next run :-)

[Ranger Five]

2 hours ago, Xena said:

I like the story a lot! Now I'm gonna be thinking about Red Zombies on my next run :-)

From Chapter 1, to fuel your imagination:
 

Quote

I saw it a moment after Sam did. Coming out from behind the burnt cabin was a zombie. But it was a zombie unlike any I'd ever seen. The zombie's skin was red, with deeper blood red etched into the creature's veins. It almost seemed to glow from the color, as if the very air around it was tainted red. The zombie was completely bald, had no bite marks or wounds, and stood over six feet tall. Its eyes blazed with a demonic crimson light. All zombies had red, glowing eyes, but these ones were different. They looked like they emitted that awful red color like a beacon, the color of Hell itself. A primal fear filled me, even worse than that first terrified flight to Abel Township. Something deep inside me seized control of my brain and told me to freeze or flee. It screamed "This creature is a predator, and humanity is its prey."

 

[Ranger Five]

Workout details:

Wednesday:
Easy pace. Ran 5.08 km (3.16 mi) in 31:07. Pace: 6:07 min/km, 9:51 min/mile

 

I've decided to begin writing out my workout details out of character rather than in character. Ranger Five's going to continue with his workout regime, but as the story begins to heat up, real time begins to decouple from Ranger Five's time. For instance, I wrote a post yesterday, and I'll write a post tomorrow. That's 2 days between them, but only one day will have passed for Ranger Five. He was told to make his decision by tomorrow, not in two days. Then Five's going to have to go to New Canton, familiarise himself with the situation, and so on. That's probably going to be two or more posts that all take place in the same day. All-in-all, I expect a week in Ranger Five's time to often take more than a week's worth of writing to tell from now on. And it's only going to get worse as the story continues. I've got big plans for the story, but as the story speeds up, it takes longer to write a day or a week in Ranger Five's world, because more stuff happens.

Thus, I'll try to start writing OOC posts 2-3 times a week, going back to Chapter 1 levels, and I can include my workouts in them. This frees me up to let the story progress on it's own timeline.

[Jarric]

Loving the story still, Janine's treachery at the end of the last challenge was a real shock! Follow along again .

 

Also, did I see you're about to hit your own body weight on your squat? Congrats in advance man!

[Ranger Five]

8 minutes ago, Jarric said:

Loving the story still, Janine's treachery at the end of the last challenge was a real shock! Follow along again .

 

Also, did I see you're about to hit your own body weight on your squat? Congrats in advance man!

While I've yet to write it here, as of a few hours ago, I succeeded in the 5x5 body weight squat! So it's technically not in advance Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the end of Chapter 2, and glad you're following this one!

[jonfirestar]

On 21/09/2016 at 2:46 PM, Ranger Five said:

This frees me up to let the story progress on it's own timeline.

 

Let the story be free!  Enjoying as always.

[Ranger Five]

"I'll do it." I said. The Major, Big John, and myself were in the war council room, lit up by the early morning sun.

"Are you certain, Five?" the Major said. "The truth is, we don't know how long New Canton will want to hold on to you, or how long it'll take us to find another doctor. You might not return to Abel for quite some time. And we cannot rule out the possibility that New Canton will double-cross us in some way."

"Abel needs me, Major." I said. "I'm willing to take the chance."

"I knew you would say that." the Major sighed. "However, I did have to give you the choice. That said, we won't be sending you in unequipped. John?"

John reached behind him, and brought out a very old, dusty, ragged backpack. I raised an eyebrow, and John laughed, a deep, booming sound.

"Doesn't look like much, does it? That's all part of the plan, ya see. We give ya a pack so shit, New Canton'll never want to take it. But inside..." John said, and opened the bag. He pointed to a nearly invisible line of stitching. I had to peer closely into the bag to even see it.

"This stitching is shit too, so you can undo it with bare hands if you've got the time. A knife's faster, of course. Anyway, we've made a secret compartment. Ranger Eight's portable radio's in there. Emily's said she'll get to work on the comms, and should have it working at New Canton range quick smart." John continued. "Once that happens, we should be able to talk to ya, even if you're in New Canton proper."

"Thanks." I said. "I appreciate it; I know that's one of the best comms items we have."

"We'll give ya some other stuff, too. Knife, gun, noisemaker...but New Canton might want to take that stuff off ya if they have hostile intentions...or even if they're just greedy pricks." John said. "You'll have to bring the assault rifle with ya too, as part of the trade deal the Major made with 'em."

I nodded. "Right."

"I'm giving you the title of Ambassador of Abel Township." the Major said. "It's a title I created yesterday just for this mission, but Mullins doesn't know that. You can use that to grease the wheels at Mullins. It also made New Canton more willing to go through with the deal, when I told them you were our ambassador."

I grinned. "I didn't think that was your style, Major."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures, Ranger Five." the Major said. "We'll be arranging the exchange about halfway between New Canton and Abel Township. Three people on each side. Ranger Nine and Runner Four will go with you. You leave in approximately an hour in order to make the time set. You may wish to take this time to say your goodbyes, while we make the final arrangements. We'll meet you at the gates."

I nodded again, and left. I only had one person that I wanted to say goodbye to that wouldn't already know about the plan.

 

* * *

"You've got to be joking!" Sam said. "You're heading to New Canton? For how long? Why? New Canton never even talks to us, how in the blazes did you even arrange to go there? What's going on?"

"To sum it up..." I said. "We need a new doctor, after what happened to Janine. New Canton can provide one. We need to contact Mullins ASAP if we want more supplies, which Abel desperately needs. New Canton can make that happen. They've found red zoms near their borders. They want the guy who's killed one. That guy would be me."

"Five, this is crazy. We can find another doctor. Maybe Brunswick'll lend us one. We can get by on first aid for a while. Mullins'll get contacted through RoffleNet somehow...we don't even know anything about New Canton! Did I not tell you about how suspicious the whole thing was?" Sam said.

"Sam, Abel needs me to do this." I said. "I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, Five, always!" Sam said, standing from his chair. "Why do you feel the need to keep doing this? You ran into that hospital when you first arrived. You went after a killer, alone. And now you're going to New Canton! Do you have some kind of death wish?"

"There's dozens of people here, Sam. Dozens!" I said. "And if I don't do this, we'll all suffer."

"And if you DO do this, you could die. Or worse, be held captive by New Canton, and now you're a liability!" Sam said. "Five, it's not your responsibility to do this for us! You've done enough! You've done more than enough!"

"Yes, it is!" I shouted. "Because I'm the only one who can! Life isn't some cosmic balance of doing enough, and so then you can just let people suffer when you could have stopped it, because karma-wise, you're in the black. Life's not fair like that. It wasn't before the plague, and it sure as hell isn't now. You know that, Sam. Why are you so against me going?"

"Because I don't want to lose anyone else!" Sam said.

"Anyone...else?" I said.

"...Did you know you're not even my first Ranger Five?" Sam said. "You're my fourth." 

"Christ." I said.

"And do you know how they all died?" Sam asked. "They reached too far. I told them not to, but there was always that one extra box of supplies, that one group of zoms they could outrun, that one time they had to stay just a little bit longer. If they'd been a bit more cautious, they'd still be alive. This world kills people who try and be heroes. After the first few people died, I told myself I wouldn't befriend anyone else. But I don't know...you reminded me of the old Runner Five. Before she got turned, in that same hospital you visited on your first day. You had that same look. She was terrified of the zoms, you know. The best runner we had, and she was scared every time. But she always went back out there. It never stopped her, and I got that same vibe from you." 

"And you talked back. People don't usually want to talk back much. Too busy running, you see. Always out of breath; not many runners have the trick of going slow, of keeping something left in reserve..." Sam said. "But now you're heading to New Canton. That place is like a black hole. Information never comes out. We've never had a single refugee from New Canton, and that place is huge. The whole place screams bad news, and you're going right into the heart of it. What if you don't come back? We might never even know what happened to you."

 

"I'll come back, Sam." I said. "New Canton wouldn't trade one of their doctors for me unless they actually needed me. You'll see that chopper come in from Mullins in a day or two, and you'll know I made it there fine. You'll have medical supplies again, and you'll have enough power to turn the game systems back on. New Canton won't want me for long. A week or two maybe, to teach people about the red zoms, maybe do a few runs for them. The Major'll e-mail Brunswick, probably get a doctor from them. Then I'll be back, no problems."

"I hope so, Five. You're not allowed to die on me, got it?" Sam said. "I'll be on comms for the exchange no matter what. It's four k's out, and the comms'll hold for five."

"Wouldn't have it any other way." I said, and headed towards the gates of Abel Township. I took a good look at the buildings of Abel as I walked past. Despite what I said to Sam, it seemed proper. To be honest, I lied to him, because he was making good points. New Canton's dangerous. I'm putting myself in danger, and I could very well be in serious trouble as soon as I get there, if they have nefarious intentions. Nobody from Abel has any idea what they want. The truth is, Sam's right.

 

Once I enter New Canton, there's a chance I'll never see the outside of it again.