by Barry Solway
“Do eels count as snakes?” Gorgeous asked Mel with a grin.
“Shut up,” Mel muttered. “That’s the last thing I need to worry about.”
“Are we going to stand here all day or head for the goal?” Jon said impatiently.
Mel almost laughed, since she had been thinking on the roof how she hated when people were being stupid and wasting time. But she hated to admit that to Jon.
“We’re making sure we aren’t being attacked by killer water snakes,” she said.
“I think you’re safe,” he replied, sarcastically, then pushed past her toward the door.
***
They had spent an hour trudging through water, and Mel doubted they had covered a mile. Frustration and boredom set in for everyone, one of the many dangers of the gauntlets. On one hand, Beats had it easiest because the water only came up slightly above his knees. But he seemed to really hate being wet and Mel had to admit it was funny. Not as bad as a drowned cat, but then he had only gotten his legs wet so far.
“We really need to find some better form of transportation,” Mel sighed. “It’s going to take another hour to get to the goal at this rate.”
“I can smell saltwater,” Riley said. “But yeah, it’s probably still a mile away.”
“I didn’t want to be here at all,” Jon said, trying to keep his rifle stock out of the water. “This whole thing was your bright idea.”
Jon annoyed Mel for no other reason than that she couldn’t complain around him even a little without being reminded it was all her idea. She scanned up and down the street. Everything was similar, although the buildings were getting bigger the closer they got to the bay. Looking ahead, she could make out buildings over fifty stories tall.
“Wait. Look, inside that window over there. It’s some kind of store. Is it furniture?” Mel said.
Gorgeous and Riley were closest to that side of the street, and they both waded over to the store window.
“Yeah,” Riley said. “Looks like couches and chairs and tables. You want to float down the street on a couch?”
“I want to get out of this water,” Mel said. “Let’s see if there’s something we can use.” She approached the door, which was locked. Without thinking, she pulled out a pistol and shot the glass window out. The sound of the pistol firing was jarring in the otherwise quiet city and even Mel jumped a bit.
“Jesus! Can you give us a warning before shooting the place up?” Jon said.
“Sorry,” Mel muttered. She kicked away the glass and stepped in through the window, pushing a moldy floating pillow out of the way. Beats and Evan stayed out on the street, but the others went into the storeroom and tried to find something to jury-rig as a boat.
Mel was about to give up when Gorgeous finally found it. None of the furniture worked because it was all too heavy to float or too unsteady for more than one of them to ride on. In the end, it wasn’t the furniture that saved them, but a group of boxes on a shelf. When Gorgeous opened them up, she discovered they contained air mattresses.
Mel and Riley laughed when they realized what they were, and started trying to figure out how to pump them up. They had a switch and what looked like a battery pack, but the batteries were long dead. However, Riley figured out that a small handle next to the battery was a manual pump. It took a few minutes per mattress, but they finally had both inflated enough to float. Each one was similar to a queen size mattress, although more square than Mel was used to. But she thought that would help keep their new rafts from tilting over.
They dragged the mattresses out to the others and discussed the best way to proceed. If they were careful, two of the humans could sit on a mattress, although it was steadier if they lay down. The big problem was Beats and Evan. Beats was three feet too long for the mattress, and far too heavy. Every attempt he made to sit on one ended with the mattress shooting out from under him in one direction or the other. Evan was apparently heavier than he looked with all of his cyborg parts. Mel understood; it had taken her a while to get used to the extra weight of her new hand. She thought Evan probably weighed well over two hundred pounds, considering how much of him was robotic.
“Gorgeous, why don’t you go with Riley and Jon? If I go with Evan, that should keep each raft about the same weight in total. Beats, I guess you’re stuck with walking.”
Riley went back in the store and brought out a table with long wooden slats across the top. Beats ripped the slats off, some of them disintegrating from rot. But there was enough good wood left that he was able to fashion three makeshift oars.
It took a bit of fidgeting around to get everyone on the rafts and pointed in the right direction. The whole effort was amusing at first. Riley fell off when Gorgeous tried to get on, and even Mel laughed. As she waited for Riley to settle, something caught her attention.
She looked up and down the street, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. There had been something, either a movement or just a sense of something being off. She turned back to interrupt Gorgeous and Riley’s laughing while Jon looked at them with a surly expression.
“Hey, you two,” she yelled. “Fun’s over, knock it off. We’re in the gauntlets, someone could be setting up a sniper position right now and all you’re doing is drawing attention.”
Riley’s grin faded, and he looked around as if suddenly remembering where they were. Gorgeous sat on her knees and put her hands in her lap, trying not to look embarrassed.
“Right, boss. Sorry about that,” Riley said. “Shall we get going? This should be way easier.”
“Yes, but remember, we’re not at the beach. Everyone needs to sit up and keep alert. Keep your eyes on the buildings, and look out for anyone in the windows or roofs,” she said, not caring about being bossy. She had seen or sensed something, and the fact she couldn’t place it made her even more nervous.
“Beats, do you want to take up the rear? Evan and I will stay in front. I’ll keep point and check at intersections for anyone. Let’s keep it quiet. As we get closer to the goal, things are going to heat up.”
Because of his height, Beats didn’t have any problem keeping up with them, and Mel estimated they were moving at least twice as fast as they had earlier. She had to slow everyone down at intersections to check that they were clear.
The pace continued on as the buildings grew taller around them, casting them more into shadow. The morning grew warmer, so it wasn’t a problem, but Mel hoped the gauntlet would end before nightfall. They weren’t dressed to be this wet at night.
Water rippled under Mel’s raft. It was clear enough that if she concentrated, she could make out the gray road beneath them. Small fish darted from side to side. Mel’s attention was torn between looking in the water and up and down the street. With each passing block, a creeping fear grew in her belly. They were floating in the middle of the street, way too obvious a target for the other team. And there was that something that had brushed at the corner of her mind earlier. It continued to hover, just out of sight.
The shadows of the buildings merged together as they grew bigger. Evan stopped paddling for a moment, perhaps sensing the same thing Mel did. As she turned to look back down the street, her mind froze. The scream wouldn’t come out. How could the others sit there, staring forward as if nothing were happening? She forced her hand to move, clawing at Evan’s shoulder, trying to get him to turn around.
Evan glanced at her, then followed her line of sight. “Oh, sh—”
A huge water snake rose partially out of the water, its head towering ten feet over Beats, who splashed forward, oblivious to the danger behind him. As Mel found her voice and she and Evan yelled to Beats, the giant head stabbed downward.
Chapter 20
Beats dove to the side. The snake plunged into the water, sending a wave into the rafts. Riley tried to jump clear, but the soft air mattress gave way and he fell face first into the water. As the water snake slithered under their raft, both Jon and Gorgeous quickly followed Riley.
Mel an
d Evan were far enough away that they managed to not tip over, but their mattress rode the wave across the intersection and spun sideways into a pole on the opposite corner. Evan grabbed the pole to keep their raft steady, and Mel immediately jumped off and waded back to the others, both pistols drawn.
“Mel, wait!” Evan yelled. Ignoring him, Mel took aim at the snake’s head. The alien snake could barely submerge itself in the waist-deep water. The head glided underwater fifteen feet from Mel while the body stretched past where Beats was just now coming up out of the water. The tail end of the snake rose up slightly, striking Beats as he stood up.
Mel fired repeatedly at the head. The snake reared up, waving side to side. The creature squealed as Mel fired four more shots into its underside. Diving back under, the snake undulated up the street, sending water in every direction. Mel turned her back as a four-foot wave drenched her completely. Barely managing to keep her feet, she struggled in the undertow as the water sloshed back. The water snake kept moving, turning at the next intersection. Mel spun back as the tail raced by. The snake’s tail was flat with fins on both sides, and as it passed it rose out of the water and slapped downward, sending another wave of water into her. She didn’t have time to brace herself and was carried backwards to slam into the building behind her.
Unable to get her bearings in the churning water, she struggled to stand. Coughing up water, she began to stand when her foot slipped, sending her back under.
Things were happening so fast she hadn’t had time to panic, but the thought suddenly crossed her mind that she was in serious danger of drowning. As she fought to get back to her feet, she felt a strong hand grip her arm and haul her upwards. She threw herself against Evan, almost too weak to stand.
Her hands pressed on Evan’s chest as she leaned into him. He steadied her and murmured something she didn’t catch. She realized suddenly how nice it was to have someone hold her, and shook her head with a sigh. This wasn’t the time or the place for those kinds of thoughts. The kind that would make her forget her surroundings and get them all killed.
Pulling away, she brushed wet hair out of her face. “Thanks, Evan.”
“Rest for a second. Get your breath.” He didn’t let go of her arms.
“Later,” she said. “How are the others?” Turning away from Evan, she surveyed the street. The water still lapped against the buildings but slowly settled. Beats sat in the water, looking very unhappy. Riley had recovered the air mattress that had drifted halfway down the block, while Gorgeous and Jon stood sputtering, much like Mel.
“Everyone’s okay. Just a fly-by, no real damage,” Evan said.
Mel looked down at her pistols. She had never tried firing them wet before and didn’t know if that would be a problem. Sliding them back into her side holsters, she waded back to the others. She spoke to Evan over her shoulder. “Can you grab the raft? And keep your eyes open for the other team. We’re sitting ducks here.”
Evan followed Mel back to meet with the others, then turned to keep an eye back up the street. Beats rose to his feet and shook like a massive dog, sending a shower of water back over Jon and Gorgeous.
“Jesus, watch it!’ Jon yelled. Gorgeous’s eyes cycled between different shades of green.
“Did everyone enjoy their baths?” Mel said.
“Splendid,” Beats growled.
“It’s a reminder to keep our heads up and start paying attention. Fortunately, no one was hurt.”
“I think that was a baby snake,” Riley said as he rejoined them with his errant raft.
“You think that was a baby?” Gorgeous asked.
“Anna said they were two to three feet thick. Almost twice as round as that one. And it was only fifty or sixty feet long. Not a baby, but maybe a teenager. With the water only three feet deep here, I didn’t think the snakes would be a problem, but that one was small enough it could fit.”
“Great. Teenage monster snakes skipping school to party in the big city,” Mel said. “I don’t want to meet its parents then. But we’re close to the blue zone, and the other team might have heard the shooting. Everyone get your weapons and get back on the rafts. Playtime’s over.”
***
They drifted forward quietly for another ten blocks. Mel estimated they were less than a quarter mile from the blue zone to the north and maybe half a mile to the red zone and the endpoint to the south. She suggested they ditch the rafts and continue on foot. They were now very close to the ocean, with glimpses of the bay and beaches past the tall skyscrapers in front of them.
This gauntlet seemed weird to Mel. If she wasn’t careful, it started to feel like a vacation. The weather was perfect, there were no bugs, and she wasn’t even sweating badly. The eel-snake creature had given them all a scare, but there hadn’t been any damage done. Compared to every other gauntlet she had been in, this one was a piece of cake.
And that made her nervous. In planning with Anna, they had settled on a somewhat unorthodox strategy. Instead of finding the goal, they were going to find the endpoint and stake it out. The tall buildings were perfect for Jon to set up a sniping position. By taking the endpoint first, they could avoid having to separate to hunt for the goal, and would instead wait for the other team to bring it to them.
They turned south toward the endpoint. It was possible the other team had come up with the same idea or decided to split their team, so they moved carefully. If Mel had Stoner on her team, she might have him go after the goal all by himself and have the others protect the endpoint. But Anna had run through a few simulations and determined based on past games that the other team would send their entire force after the goal, with Kapha and Sahass providing long-range cover. Then they would go as a team to the endpoint.
Evan, Jon, and Gorgeous scanned for snipers, a daunting task considering the number of high-rises. Beats and Mel took flanking positions, keeping an eye to the sides and behind them while Riley took the lead. They hugged the right side of the street, staying close to the building, always looking for places to jump to cover if they needed to. The stress of getting to the red zone was starting to get to Mel, but at the same time, she found it strangely comforting. It was starting to feel more like a gauntlet, something familiar. Comforting and depressing at the same time.
They made good progress and quickly came to the edge of the red zone. It was an area on the map of about six square blocks, extending to the east all the way to the beach, and another six blocks south. Mel had long thought that one of the most tedious parts of the gauntlets was searching for the goal and the endpoint. On the other hand, their job was slightly easier than the other team’s. The goal was usually well hidden, as the game architects used it as an opportunity to create clashes between the teams. But the endpoint would be in a public place and much easier to find.
In this case, Anna had identified a large park near the beach that she thought was an excellent location for the endpoint. They would sweep the blocks, heading east for six blocks then coming back west on the next block until they found it. They split up in teams of three to crisscross the area a bit faster and double check each other’s search.
This was the first time they had tried using the translators in the gauntlets and Mel felt confident it would give them an advantage. The architects used jammers to prevent electronic communication during the gauntlets, but the technology Kathor used for the translators he had implanted in the humans was advanced enough that Anna had been sure they would still work as communication devices. It would likely only work for short distances and with line of sight. For Mel, it would be a psychological boost as much as anything. She hated not being able to stay in contact with the others, not knowing if they were safe or injured.
Riley, can you hear me? she sub-vocalized, as Riley, Gorgeous and Jon receded away from them.
Yep, I gotcha, Riley responded. Even the voice sounded like Riley in her head, although it wasn’t quite like hearing it. More like the thought of words.
Stay safe. Mel waved to the oth
ers and they continued east toward the bay.
***
The endpoint was at the park where Anna had predicted, and they were all in place in less than an hour. Much faster than Mel could have hoped for. They rested in position for another hour, and still hadn’t seen any of the other team. After a somewhat heated debate, they agreed to let Riley go back to the blue zone and scout for the other team. Even though Riley grew stronger and faster each day, Mel was afraid he was going to push himself too far. Still, it was foolish not to take advantage of his abilities, and knowing when the other team was coming would be a huge advantage.
Jon and Evan had both taken up positions on the tenth floor of a high-rise overlooking the park. Mel, Gorgeous, and Beats waited inside the lobby of a building that Mel guessed had once been a restaurant. She and Gorgeous sat on a table to stay out of the water. The wait was getting to her; she really hated to sit around doing nothing. Beats lay down on a desk, claiming he was resting his eyes, while Mel and Gorgeous watched for anyone coming into the park. Jon and Evan were to their right, facing east toward the park and beach, so Mel had line of sight to them and could communicate with both of them if need be. The endpoint was a pedestal in the middle of the park, an open area a quarter of a block wide on each side that would be impossible to cross without being noticed. It was also slightly raised, so the water in the park was only a bit over a foot deep. At least the likelihood of drowning in a fight in the park was lower.
There was a glitch in Mel’s head, like a stray thought that didn’t belong to her. She shook her head. The glitch felt stronger, and a thought followed.
Stoner… goal… find Croaker… Samor… Mel, Jon… copy?
Riley. But he was too far away. Mel waved to Gorgeous to wake up Beats, then crouched near the doorway.
Evan, I just got something from Riley. Did you hear it?