#sam yao x reader

[halfbloodglader]

Not Another Five - Sam Yao x Reader

Sam Yao x Reader - 2,358 words

Notes: gender neutral, can be read as platonic or non-platonic, I guess takes place earlier on in the seasons. Hoping to fill the void of little to no ZR written content! ^-^

"Alright, Five. I'm starting to worry now." He spoke sluggishly into the dead air of the comms shack, still holding onto the thin thread of hope that they could hear him. "No runner gone this long is okay.”

Silence. That was all he'd gotten for the past two nightmarish days. Five went off of the radar a couple days ago completely out of the blue. All Sam knew was that they had been sent to the canyon past the western woods of Abel to see if there was a safe pass through. Because, if there was, it would be Abel’s best route for escape incase of a zom attack that took down camp. After all, a rocky canyon mixed with a river winding below was something the zoms would have a nearly impossible time navigating.

The fact that Janine had sent someone to scout it out confirmed to Sam that it wasn't safe, even with the little information they had. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. Snipers guarding the pass? Probably. A pack of zoms hiding in the woods on the way there? Most likely. The canyon itself being a death trap? Yeah... In all likelihood.

"Five, if you're out there you need to keep running. We just opened up the gates this morning again...and we're waiting for ya! I really hope you weren't out there last night after we closed them. I don't think you were because I never saw you...but who knows at this point. I think I'm starting to hallucinate—“

"Sam," A worried voice filled the room which felt overburdeningly heavy for anyone who entered. "You need to get some sleep. It's been two days.”

Sam slowly looked up to find Janine. Her heart sunk when she scanned over his sunken features and slumped body, seemingly glued to the chair. The boy looked broken beyond measure. It seemed as if Sam here could never catch a break, especially when it came to the people he cared the most about. Especially when it came to his runner Five.

"I can't sleep until I know—" He forced the words out of a dry throat and foggy mind. "Know where they are and if they’re coming home.”

Sadly, Janine walked closer and sat on the edge of the desk. "Sam, we might never know. Two days is a long time.”

"What? You're going to give up on them?" He snapped. Tears suddenly sprung out of his eyes and slid down his cheeks. Surprised, he swiped at his face, unsure of why he was crying. "Why am I crying—“

"It's sleep deprivation. You're past the forty-eight hour mark, Sam. Your emotions are out of whack. Another reason for you to sleep." She reached out and snagged the headset off of his head.

Before she could get it out of his reach, he lunged out of his chair and tore the headset back out of her hands. "What if they come onto the comms! Are you crazy?"

Immediately, he had the headset back on his head, the band on the top sliding perfectly into the groove in his hair that had been there since he starting working the comms. The headset was on him so often, it left him with a nasty form of hat hair. Except here, they called it radio hair.

"I'm just trying to help you." Janine sounded as firmly as possible. Truth was, she really was concerned for Sam. She wasn't sure if he'd ever let up on waiting for Five. For all she knew, Sam would let himself die in here before he could admit they were gone.

Sam leaned forwards to look intensely at the scanners again. He was waiting for anything. "I'm fine, thanks. I can manage.”

There was no breaking him and Janine knew it. "Alright. If you need anything, holler for me."

Slowly, she left the shack with a heavy heart. Sam was so invested in this, not only had he not slept, but he hadn't ate or hardly drank anything. His soul and entire being was imbue in this.

A few of his friends wait outside of the shack when Janine reemerged. She sent them a sad smile and shrugged, obviously defeated. "There's not much we can do right now.”

"He's going to get himself sick." Simon followed Janine across the compound, Sara following close.

"He already has." Janine sighed. "We all need to be hoping Five is still out there right now. Otherwise, we might lose our operator. He can't take anymore heartbreak.”

The day went by as agonizingly slow as the past couple had. Actually, it might have been going by even slower if you asked Sam. Every breath he took stung and his mouth became drier and drier as the hours went by.

As usual, the light in the comms shack was starting to fade. That meant it was nearing evening and another restless night to be spent here in his chair waiting for any kind of signal.

His eyes were strained from staring at the radar for so long, constantly refreshing it. In agony, he rubbed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose between his fingers. After a couple of minutes, deeming it too long to have been looking away, he once again stared at the radar. This time, a flicker. It was as if Five had appeared on the radar for just a second and then disappeared again. In a stupor, Sam smacked his monitor and let his heart try to climb out of his throat.

"Five?!" He shouted into the comms and waited for them to reappear on the screen. He'd seen it, he could swear. They'd been there. No doubt. "Five, if you're there I saw you! If that was you, you're not far from home!"

With a new hope, Sam began scanning around with the cameras. He couldn't see anyone or anything, but he wasn't giving up. For the next fifteen minutes, he switched back and forth between the cameras and scanner, praying for some sign of life. Anything.

The scanner flickered again. This time, the mark had been much, much closer to Abel.

"Five you're almost here! Come on!" He slammed his hand on the desk repeatedly, in both excitement, relief and fear. They might be coming back, but there was no guarantee they'd still be the same runner Five. What if a zom...never mind. He couldn't think about that right now.

"Sam!" Janine once again entered the shack, this time more worried because of the commotion Sam had been causing. "Everything alright?"

"Five!" His voice came loud and clear, face lit up once again. “They're almost here, I swear!"

"Let me see." Janine came in close and leaned over Sam. She hoped he wasn't just seeing things. At this point though, she didn't have her expectations set too high.

"Did you see it?" Sam pointed to the exact spot the radar had flickered. “Right there!"

"Get the cameras up again," Janine demanded.

As they appeared, she scanned the screens hopefully. But, there was no movement. "Is this all the cameras?"

"No, just the gate and west border." He explained.

"Look at the radar, Sam. If that's our Five, they’re coming from the south. No way you'd see them on those! Get up the other two cameras!” She smacked the back of his head, now growing impatient and the adrenaline rushing in her body. Maybe Five was out there still.

"Okay, okay! Geez!" Sam whined as he worked away at trying to switch the cameras. Once he did, he leaned in closer to the screen and his heart slowed to a near stop as he waited for his mind to process what he was seeing.

In disbelief, Janine gripped Sams shoulder so tight he had to smack her hand away. “It’s Five.”

"What?!" Sam whipped around and grabbed the screen.

There was Five. They knew the cameras were on them because they jumped up in the air and waved.

"FIVE! I see you! There's no way you—" Sam tore off his comms with absolutely zero care or thought in the world. He threw down the headset onto the desk and tried to fight his way past Janine and out of his chair. It took a few distressing, messy seconds, but he got out. Then, he struggled with the shack door before throwing it open and quite literally leaping off of the top step of the stairs. He landed roughly and went face first into the dirt, anyone near watching the mess that was Sam unfold.

None of that stopped him, though. He sprinted across the compound and right for the gates which he could now see Five approaching. He ran even faster.

"FIVE!" He screamed, trying to keep himself upright as he ran a little too fast for his legs.

The runner made it into Abel, finally safe. Not thinking or caring, Sam plowed straight into their body and closed them into the most desperate hug he'd ever given in his life. Their arms wrapped around over his shoulders and he held them so tight taking in air was nearly impossible. "Hi, Sam."

After a minute of a nearly rib crushing hug, Sam stepped back to look them over, his hands still on their shoulders. They seemed just fine, other than being a little beat up and soiled in dirt.

"Okay, uhm—" Sam awkwardly let go of Five and turned his gaze to the ground. Not knowing what else to do, he laughed a little to himself and then rubbed his tired eyes. ”I guess I should let you go clean up if you want. Before it gets too cold.”

"Thanks," They laughed lightly. "I'm definitely going to do that. I'll see you later.”

Sam watched as they walked off tiredly to the showers. He had so many emotions running though him right now, he wasn't sure what to do with himself. However, he did know he needed to clean up the mess he'd left in the shack and so he head off to do that.

He opened the door and Janine was still sat on the desk. She looked up to him with a smirk.

"Don't say anything," He pointed a finger at her and sent a warning glare. Of course she had been watching what just happened through the cameras. "But, you should know, they’re fine."

“That was a truly horrific jump you made from the stairs." Janine teased. Then, she got up and head for the door. Before leaving, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you for not giving up when the rest of us had.”

"Yeah," He nodded shyly.

Sam smiled to himself and then shook his head, forcing himself to focus on cleaning up the shack.

That plan didn't last long. He sat down for two seconds in his chair and immediately passed out. All of his worry had subsided and left his mind to settle. His sleep, however, didn't last long.

Five made their way into the comms shack, knowing that was where they could always find Sam. Sure enough, there he was, snoring lightly in the dimly lit shack.

"Sam," Five whispered as they shook his shoulder gently. It took a few more shakes, but he jolted awake and nearly knocked Five over. He reached out and grabbed them just incase and then let out a sigh of relief. "I came to wake you up."

"Ah, yeah. Okay." He looked up to one of the small windows and noticed it was dark outside now.

"We need to get you to bed." Five laughed as they slung one of his arms over their shoulder and helped him up. "Janine said you've been awake for two days.”

"Well, I wasn't going to sleep when I knew you were still out there." He admitted.

"Thanks for sticking with me." Five gripped his hand over their shoulder a little tighter. "It's a lot easier to keep yourself running when there's someone there with you.”

"You could hear me? The entire time?" His body stiffened a little.

Five snickered. "Oh yeah. You had quite a few things to say that first night, didn't you?"

Sam bit the inside of his cheek. "Ah man...I'm sorry. I said some dumb stuff. My worry got the better of me."

Five looked up to him. "Don't apologize. It was nice. You going over basically every moment we've spent together since the day I showed up was enough to keep me going."

"What happened anyways?" He asked, curious.

"I got to the canyon and started exploring around. A while in, there was a rockslide. One of the rocks hit me and wrecked part of my headset." They made a booming, crashing sound to imitate the rockslide that made Sam laugh. "The slide was so big, I had to go the long way around and try to find my way back. I got a little lost and then ran into a swarm of zoms. But, then you turned on the beacon last night and I was just close enough to see it. Then, I just ran until I made it back."

The pair made it to Sams tent and Five helped him inside. "I was genuinely starting to freak out a little, y’know? I was really worried.” He admitted.

"So was I. I'm back now, though. No more need to worry.” They laughed lightly. "What would I do without you, huh?”

"Honestly, I'm not sure." He beamed. "You'd get yourself into a whole lot more trouble."

"Well, you're not wrong." They pushed his arm and laughed along with him. "See you in the morning.”

“Yeah,” Sam yawned, fighting to keep himself awake. “See you—morning.”

If Five had to guess, Sam was still having a hard time processing if all of this was real or not. He’d probably wake up in the middle of the night in a panic and come looking for them, just to make sure they really had made it back. That’s just who Sam was. He cared for everyone in his life so much it was almost terrifying.