I ran a diagnostic of my new Infiltrator armor as we sprinted through the smooth rock-formed streets of Dactyl.

  How to operate the armor seemed pretty straightforward. Still, just as I had managed to electrocute myself learning to use the grappling hook, I was concerned about trying out its functionality. What if I was running down the streets and didn't realize that my ass was hanging out? What if just thinking that made the suit unfold so that everyone could see my butt?

  I didn't feel a breeze, but I checked with my right hand. All good. No extra wind was in my sails. Hahaha.

  Now that @awesomedog was back, @sundial was a completely different person again. She was cold and indiscriminate. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as we ducked behind a set of benches, only partially hidden from the overtaken. She hadn't made eye contact with me since we left the mansion. We moved as quickly as silence would allow, not wanting to return to our ships with a horde of zombies behind us.

  In my head, I sang a happy little love song, like a starstruck idiot.

  Okay, okay. I knew I wasn't in love love. Not real love. Not forever love. When you are an aiways, I want to be with you forever has real, eternal implications. But we were attracted to each other, and we'd shared a special moment - at least, I thought it was special. I was still overwhelmed by that.

  I retracted the grappling hook, holding it in my hand, and I pinched myself with a zap of electricity to see if I was imagining all of this. Had that really happened? Was she real?

  I flinched at the vibrating electricity.

  She was resting on her haunches between @foxcutter and @awesomedog. The zip of electricity caught her attention, though, and she looked back at me for the first time since we'd left. She looked at me, then the grappling hook, then down at herself. She eyed me again with an eyebrow raised.

  Then she took off running toward a tree at the next intersection. It took me a second to get going. I stared after her, trying to improve my ability to see through the invisibility of the Infiltrator armor. It mirrored other signals around it, too, so even watching for heat signatures made it hard to detect.

  Like the mansion, this was an easy part of our mission for me. I wondered if I should try to keep @awesomedog and @sundial around with us as part of the crew or an extension of the crew. They certainly made my life easier.

  A sense of relief washed over me.

  We had done it. We hadn't learned much about the virus itself, but we had rescued @foxcutter, and we had witnessed an outbreak. I had enough blood on me that we would have something to analyze, but I had a better plan in mind. I had it all mapped out in my head.

  We would get to the ship. We would rest. (Rest is important. We were on a quarantined planet, so there was no better time to get healed up.) When we were ready, we would capture one of the overtaken and take them with us. @horus would be pleased. Not ecstatic. We still didn't have a clue where Repulser was or where any of the baddies had gone, but we would have a zombie for the biodatascientists to examine. That had to mean something, and I hoped it would make up for our delays in rescuing @bitchfrog.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  So, I had a plan, and I had a nice little journey through Dactyl, back to The Pharaoh, to look forward to.

  I was in a great mood, so I started skipping.

  I could easily keep pace with the others, and I could skip faster than they could run. Besides, it was joyful. Every leap into the air made me feel like I was flying. My feet landed and pushed off in an automatic rhythm, soaring down the streets toward The Pharaoh.

  @awesomedog looked at me funny, but I didn't care. After a few leaps, I started laughing as @foxcutter joined in. The two of us skipped along with silly grins on our faces, while @awesomedog, @sundial, and the robot Kibble ran alongside like boring professionals.

  "Good to have you back!" I called out to @foxcutter between leaps.

  We stopped in a line of bushes like the one where @astrowave and I had been at the onset of the Dactyl outbreak. I felt the best I had felt in a long time. I was sad for the loss of @astrowave, but I had remembered to put his memoryshard in my new armor. Can you imagine if I had left him behind? After @sundial and I had our dance, it was hard for me to remember anything at all.

  I double-checked just out of paranoia, feeling that brief moment of terror, as we sprang out from the shrubbery and sped down the streets again.

  I did bring him with me, right? I felt for the memoryshard as I skipped along. Yes.

  I had been learning how to hold all the feelings. Sadness, joy, fear. And I did feel all of those things, but I was more hopeful now. It was joy that crept to the top of my feelings. We were on a path that led to a positive outcome, not fighting for our lives in a hopeless situation.

  But it seems Vanquishers don't get to have nice things.

  zerogstar: "Ship incoming!"

  I cursed. Not again.

  I tried to be hopeful and not think of the worst possible scenario. Maybe @horus had sent more backup. That would totally not be like him at all, but one could dream.

  I glanced at the others. They were attentive, but didn't appear worried. @awesomedog and @sundial looked determined and focused, same as always. And why not? I told myself. We knew the way to go. We believed we could get there without having to face an army of zombies.

  kittyboy: "What is it? Any readings?"

  zerogstar: "Working on it."

  I fell further behind the others.

  I lost some of the spring in my step. Then I transitioned from my lovely soaring skips back into a runner's gait.

  zerogstar: "It's Oblivion!"

  Well, fuck me. The Valkyrie ship. I was a little upset that it wasn't Repulser. If I had to pick a Valkyrie, I'd really rather it be the one we were hunting, not the one that was apparently hunting us.

  kittyboy: "Get out of there!"

  I don't know why that was my first instinct. Fear, I guess. I wasn't thinking clearly. That would leave @awesomedog, @sundial, @foxcutter, Kibble, and I all stranded on Dactyl, but they needed to get to safety.

  I was surprised when it was @auroraloon who replied. I had to check myself, check my feelings. I had been so obsessed with @sundial that @auroraloon was no longer stuck in my head, or at least, not in the same way. I cared about her, but @sundial had inserted herself in my thoughts.

  auroraloon: "We won't make it. I know what that ship is capable of."

  I thought the only thought that made logical sense. Dactyl was small. We couldn't really escape, and we couldn't really hide. Oblivion would probably fly over the area, and then maybe they would land at the landing pad to investigate the moon. What would they do when they saw our ships - The Pharaoh and @awesomedog's.

  kittyboy: "Play dead! No comms. No signatures. Try to disappear. We have to delay an altercation for as long as possible."

  That was the best we could do. My brain futurecasted, checking for other scenarios, but coming up empty. We had to get to the ship as quickly as possible, and then we would have no choice but to take off and try to escape in our ships.

  zerogstar: "Copy. Out."

  Maybe I can run faster than I skip after all? I thought to myself. I considered that and decided to give it a shot.

  "Go, go, go!" I yelled, urging everyone on.

  I flew forward on the tips of my toes in a terror run, leading the party. It no longer mattered if we attracted the attention of the overtaken. They were no longer the real threat, just background noise, a backdrop to the real story, scenery that could eat you.