Sam joins you for a chat while you train.
| Spoiler warning! This article contains details about the plot. |
Sam needs my help. Which is cool. But if he thinks knee-lifts are so damn funny he can go and run away from zombies himself.
Workout[]
| 5 minute walk |
| 5 minute free-form run |
| (Repeat 5 times)
10 second knee lifts 1 minute slow walk 1 minute fast walk |
| 30 second slow run |
| (Repeat 4 times)
1 minute walk 30 second slow run |
| 15 minute free-form run |
Cast[]
Plot[]
Life Expectancy[]
Sam joins you for your training session. Doctor Myers will be away for a few minutes, but she's given Sam instructions for today's session, so you'll be training with him for a while. He also mentions wanting to talk to you about something while you train.
Supplies[]
Sam begins to talk to you about something that's been playing on his mind: Alice (the old Runner 5) and her wallet. She kept important information inside, which is why he wanted to retrieve it.
Sister[]
Sam mentions in passing that there are plans afoot to mount a sting for whoever's been stealing supplies from Abel. He then reveals that Alice's notes were about her sister.
Frances[]
Sam explains that Alice's younger sister was named Frances; she was only 17 at the time of the outbreak. She never came home on the first night, but Alice always hoped she might still be alive somewhere. Alice had been using Rofflenet to try to find her for months.
Never Let Up[]
Sam says Alice kept notes of everyone she contacted on Rofflenet. He becomes emotional when he describes how Alice refused to give up on her sister.
Hush Hush[]
Sam explains that there were some settlements nearby which couldn't be seen to communicate with Abel, for fear of reprisals from New Canton. Alice would run to these settlements in order to see if they knew anything about her sister.
Nordlinger[]
Sam lists some places Alice visited in her search.
Real Person[]
Sam asks you to visit some of the places Alice ran to - they were gathering information for her and Sam wants you to retrieve it.
Frances Adeyemi Dempsey[]
Sam explains that, before Alice passed, she'd received a response from a settlement to the west saying they'd had someone pass through by her sister's name.
Cold Trail[]
Sam thanks you for listening to him. He says there's nothing for you to do just yet, as he still needs to make sure he wouldn't be sending you into danger.
Mean Something[]
Sam assures you he won't send you anywhere too dangerous. He says that if you can let Frances know that Alice died helping people, it might be a meaningful act.
Running Drills[]
Doctor Myers returns and takes over from Sam. She starts you off on some running drills
Hit The Showers[]
Sam welcomes you back to Abel and entrusts you with Alice's notes.
Transcript[]
SAM YAO: Runner Five! Runner Five. Uh, you’re waiting for the Doc, right? Only she’s been called away for a few minutes, so she told me to start your training without her. And I thought, well, didn’t fancy being cooped up at the comms desk today, and I know the drill. Well, I’ve got the drill written down on a bit of paper here, look…
[paper rustles] Oh, wait. No, that’s not it. That’s my calculations of average runner life expectancy. [laughs] Kidding. Kidding! It’s all okay. It is your training. So, well, shall we get going? I’ll come around with you. It’ll be great! Give us a chance to properly talk. Right, so first off, five minutes brisk walk around the base, starting now.
SAM YAO: We’ve done two minutes. This is fun!
SAM YAO: Four minutes gone. It’s good to see the base from a new angle.
SAM YAO: Okay. Now, it’s time for us to do five minutes of um, uh, free-form running. That’s uh, a mix of running and walking as you feel comfortable. All right, I’ll let you set the pace, and I’ll try and keep up.
SAM YAO: [wheezes] Two minutes down. You know, I used to come out running like this sometimes with Alice. I could never keep up, of course.
SAM YAO: [wheezes] Just one more minute to go. Listen, I – I want to talk to you about something if you don’t mind. It’s just - [wheezes] oh, no, I’ll leave it until we’re finished.
SAM YAO: Okay. Should be easier to talk now. Apparently, you’ll be doing, uh, [paper rustles] 10 knee lifts, and then some slow walking and fast walking. You get started with those knee lifts now, and I’ll um, observe. Uh, check your form, make sure you’re doing it right. Definitely not just stand around being lazy. 10 knee lifts. Go.
SAM YAO: [laughs] That was great! I can tell you’re going to be a good runner. Now start slow walking.
SAM YAO: Okay, so, listen. Alice. You know, the old Runner Five? Alice. She was my, um… well, she meant a lot to me, and I know it was a bit crazy to come out looking for a wallet of hers, but I knew she kept things in it that she’d always take with her. I mean, you can’t be too careful, can you?
Looks like we’ve probably got a thief in Abel, what with all the supplies going missing. That’s pretty worrying. Francesca’s been asking us to step up security around her food stores. Only she’s allowed a key now. Oh, uh, right. Training! Uh, time for you to start fast walking. Go!
SAM YAO: I think they’re planning some kind of sting to find out who’s stealing stuff. But that’s not the point. Backtrack, Sam, backtrack. [imitates rewind sound] Right. So, Alice. Always kept this wallet on her. Not because of money, obviously, because what’s money except good kindling, am I right? But because that was where she had all her notes about her sister. Oh, almost missed this one! Time for 10 more knee lifts.
SAM YAO: [laughs] I will never get tired of seeing you do that, Five. Now one minute slow walking.
SAM YAO: Oh, what was I saying? Oh yeah, Alice’s younger sister, Frances. Only 17, apparently. Never came home the night of the first outbreak in London, but Alice always thought she might be alive somewhere. She’s been putting shoutouts on Rofflenet for months, hoping that someone might have seen her. Uh, I mean, she had been. She was. Okay! Time for you to speed up. Walk fast for one minute now.
SAM YAO: So yeah, she’d kept notes of everyone she’d contacted. Well, you know Rofflenet mail. Great when it works, but it just… doesn’t always work. Remember when that one operator got bitten in Inverness, and no one could contact anyone north of there for ages? It can be weeks before they find a new way to get the signal through.
[sighs] I don’t know. Alice just… in spite of everything, she just kept believing, you know? Most of us just let go of that hope, in the end, but she never did. So… okay! It’s time for you to do your not-in-any-way-hilarious 10 knee lifts!
SAM YAO: [sighs] Never fails to cheer me up. Okay, uh, start slow walking now. And listen, I might need your help. Uh, there are a few isolated settlements nearby who Alice had visited herself. Places that are more New Canton than Abel, do you know what I mean? They couldn’t let New Canton see that they were transmitting intel to Abel, but Alice would run there on foot to talk to them.
SAM YAO: Right. Time to speed up. One minute fast walking. Yeah, so, Alice knew quite a few of those places. The guys out at Thelema Park, the people who’ve got that bunker at Nordlinger. They call it Chez Nordlinger. Even those guys at Bescher grounds. They were all gathering intel for her, but couldn’t send it back via Rofflenet in case New Canton saw that they were helping us.
SAM YAO: [laughs] Okay. And I say this without a hint of a snicker - 10 more knee lifts. [snorts] Well. Maybe a bit of a snicker.
SAM YAO: Okay. Time for… one minute of slow talking? Walking, now. So uh, so, you can see where I’m bringing this around to, right? Well, I’ve asked another couple of runners, but we’re stretched to capacity, and it’d really help if you’d agree to go over to some of those places. Some of them aren’t even far, they just need to see a real person.
SAM YAO: Right. Time to speed up now. Fast walking for one minute. The thing is, it looks like Alice might not have been wrong to be hopeful. There’s some… well, she’d had a response from a place in the west, saying they’d had a girl pass through called Frances Dempsey. Means nothing, right? Could be a hundred of them. But she gave her mother’s maiden name, too: Frances Adeyemi Dempsey. Not too many of those.
SAM YAO: Okay. [laughs] Almost forgot. Time for your final 10 knee lifts. [laughs] Don’t mind me. If I’m laughing, it’s because I thought of something totally different.
SAM YAO: Final slow walk, now. Thanks for listening to all this. There’s nothing for you to do now. Alice pinged all the networks looking for more intel about Frances, and the trail might be going cold, but I need to make sure I’m not sending you into danger.
SAM YAO: Last minute of fast walking now. I’ll look after you, Runner Five. I won’t send you anywhere you can’t manage. But if you can do this for me… just, even for Frances to know that her sister lived and died helping other people, it might… it might mean something, you know?
MAXINE MYERS: Sam? Are you okay out there?
SAM YAO: I’m fine! I’m fine. Keep your hair on. Me and Runner Five have just been chatting and doing some [laughs] hilarious knee lifts.
MAXINE MYERS: It’s time for Five to start running drills now.
SAM YAO: That’s okay, Doc. I’m heading back in. Thanks for this, buddy. Thanks for listening. Okay, Doc. I’ll leave Five to your tender mercies.
MAXINE MYERS: Great. Five, ready for 30 seconds of slow running? Start now.
MAXINE MYERS: That’s great. Good pace. Slow to a walk.
MAXINE MYERS: Good work! Now another 30 seconds of slow running.
MAXINE MYERS: Okay, get your breath back with a minute of walking.
MAXINE MYERS: Speed it up again to 30 seconds of a slow run, Five.
MAXINE MYERS: And now catch your breath, and a minute of walking.
MAXINE MYERS: Here comes another 30-second burst of running. Go!
MAXINE MYERS: You’re doing well, Five. Abel is proud of you. Walk now for one minute.
MAXINE MYERS: Time for your final drill. Remember, it’s slow, steady running. Go.
MAXINE MYERS: That’s great, Five! Now remember, we’re going straight into a 15-minute free-form run. Get going, now. Try to run as much as you can, but slow down to a walk when you need to.
MAXINE MYERS: That’s two minutes! You’re looking good.
MAXINE MYERS: You’ve done four minutes. One day, you’ll be doing this fleeing from zombies, and we’ll need you to be fast.
MAXINE MYERS: That’s five minutes.
MAXINE MYERS: Seven and a half minutes done. You’re halfway through, and looking strong! Keep up the good pace.
MAXINE MYERS: You’ve done nine minutes. Training like this is going to end up saving lives, Five. Yours, first of all.
MAXINE MYERS: Three minutes to go! You’re in the home stretch, heading back toward Abel.
MAXINE MYERS: Just 90 seconds left! Give it what you’ve got.
[gate siren, gates raising]
SAM YAO: Welcome back to Abel. That was a great run out there. I can see you’ve really progressed, Runner Five. You’ll be out running longer missions pretty soon, I expect. Maybe even to nearby settlements?
MAXINE MYERS: Maybe so, maybe so, but you’re done for the day now. Stretch out, cool down, then hit the showers. Hot shower today?
SAM YAO: Well, lukewarm. Better than nothing. And uh, I’ve got something for you, Five.
MAXINE MYERS: Remember to take a day or two off now before training again, Five. After your next workout, you’ll be halfway through the training! Well done!
SAM YAO: Yeah. And thanks.
| Missions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Previous: Week 4 Workout 1 | Next: Week 4 Workout 3 | ||