by Chanda Hahn
“Help me!” Ash cried out. Curly was the first to her side, reaching out and grasping the morphling’s head as he tried to control the beast’s thoughts, but nothing came of it. It didn’t work. Then Craft slammed the spear into the morphling’s skull. It squealed in pain and retreated into the sewer.
“Peter, she’s been bitten!” Jade cried as she helped Ash to her feet. Her leg was bleeding profusely and covered in inky black poison. They needed the cure, but where in the city were they going to find the antidote?
“Craft, help carry her. We need to find a hospital.”
“No, you need to find a medical storage locker. It will have the antidote. Or at least it does in the game,” Ditto corrected, tapping Peter’s head. “Use the visor.”
Peter, feeling dumb for ignoring it for so long, finally paid attention to his visor. Pulling down the map, he discovered the city drawn out in gold lines and was easily able to find his own location. An envelope pinged in the corner of his visor, and he saw it was a message. A glance with his eyes centered the message on his visor.
Medical storage locker on right.
Peter turned and sought out the corner grocery store that matched the description. It was so close. Craft was right behind him carrying Ash. Everyone else had spread out in a circle to watch his back.
He hurried over to it and with a swift kick, he broke into the grocery, and in the front by the register sat the red and white lockers. How in the world did the game know? He ran to the locker and tried to open it, but it was locked with a digital keypad and sensor box.
“It won’t open,” he grunted and punched the locker.
“Does anyone have any credits?” Ditto asked. “Check your upper left treasure box.”
Silence ensued as the group searched for the correct icon in their visors.
“No,” Jade groaned.
“Nope,” Craft added with a sigh.
“I do,” Onyx breathed out and ran to place his palm on the pad. A buzzer sounded and it opened, revealing two gold vials and injector tube. He loaded the injector and handed it to Jade, who immediately administered the dose to Ash.
“Ditto,” Peter laughed. “I will never make fun of you for playing video games again.”
“I’ll hold you to it,” Ditto said, grinning. “But really, this is so cool. We’re living and breathing Hollow City in Warfare Infinity.” Unable to contain his glee, Ditto kept jumping up and down, and went back out to the street to explore the block. “This is where I took down General Hag in Warfare 8.” He pressed his hands to his head and spun with excitement. “This is amazing.”
The group came and joined him on the street.
“Ditto,” Peter called out repeatedly until he settled down.
“Sorry, Peter.” Ditto was shoving his hands into his pockets to try and tame his enthusiasm when his doppelganger appeared pushing a shopping cart full of weapons. Guns, machetes, and knives—he had hauled a full arsenal.
“The cavalry has arrived,” both Dittos said at the same time, something that happened whenever they were within hearing range of each other. The Dittos began to hand out the weapons freely.
“Good job.” Peter turned to Jax. “We need to find the others, our boys and the kidnapped girls and get them out of here fast. Then we burn this place to the ground for good.”
Jax wouldn’t meet his gaze. He seemed distracted and asked, “What about you?”
“I’m going to find Wendy and then Hook. This ends today.” Movement in the upper corner of his visor gave Peter pause. “Oh no,” Peter muttered. “Look at the map. Do you see what I see?”
“What is it?” Curly asked, and Peter waited for him to see the same thing he did. He let out a slow whistle. “We’re going to need reinforcements.”
Each of them were marked as gold triangles on the map, and a small mass of purple dots surrounded them from all sides. He could only assume that the purple dots were the enemy.
“Prepare for incoming!” Peter yelled as a morphling crashed through the window of a shop and rolled into the street. A scorpion-like tail swung out and stabbed Jake in the leg. More came up from under the river’s bridge and stalked them. Peter took an unclaimed short sword from the shopping cart and took to the air. Landing on the back of the beast, he shoved his blade into the back of its neck. Dark poisonous blood oozed out, and Peter took off into the air before it could touch his skin.
A stream of morphlings ran past Peter followed by a flurry of activity with bodies moving and fighting, everything blurring in the chaos, as the lost boys dispatched morphlings left and right. But for everyone they killed, two more took its place.
Two Dusters in black uniforms came around the corner. One stopped and a pickup truck flew through the air, pinning a morphling against a building. It moved once and then died. The second duster, in a stream of black lightning had cut down three morphlings.
When the wave of morphlings was either incapacitated or dead, Peter looked at the two Dusters who had come to their aid.
“Wu Zan? Leroy?” Peter called out in disbelief when he saw his friends.
Both of the Dusters gave each other a high five and then jogged over to him.
“We pinged your location and saw that you needed some help, newby.”
“Wu Zan?” Jax came over and both of Peter’s roommates saluted their commander. “You know each other?” Jax asked in disbelief. “They were part of my team.”
Peter couldn’t contain his grin, placing his hands on his hips. “Well, now they’re part of my team.”
“Boys, boys,” Wu Zan teased. “There’s plenty of me to go around . . . for the right price.”
“Zan,” Leroy warned softly.
“I’m teasing,” Wu Zan said. “Can’t you see that? We came, didn’t we? We’re here, because we don’t leave our teammates behind.” He turned and held his hands up. “I can’t help it if my owner is paying me tons of credits for every morphling I bag.”
“Craft, get Jake the second vial of antivenom,” Peter commanded, pointing to his injured boy. That was it. They were now out of antivenom and would have to find more.
As they continued to move toward the main square, Wu Zan and Leroy quickly filled in Peter and Jax on what they knew and had learned about the Hollow Dome and Warfare Infinity. The Dusters were given more information than Peter’s crew.
“I’ve even been given an upgrade.” Wu Zan held up an empty injector pen. “Picked it up at the last locker station. I could get used to this kind of treatment.” He rubbed his knuckles on his shirt. “Who knew that all those video training simulations would lead to this?”
Gamers purchased half of the kids here already and those that hadn’t would be in the next few weeks. A gamer named Killz purchased craft and Wu Zan. Leroy was owned by Diego.
Peter frowned when he saw his owner was Helix.
“How do we end the game?” Peter asked.
“You don’t,” Wu Zan’s said, the confident smile falling from his face. “From what I can tell, Infinity is the updated version of Warfare 8. They’re very similar games but not when it comes to the length of gameplay, which for Infinity . . . you can look to its title for a clue. Unlike Warfare 8 that only had an hour timeline, this game never ends.”
“No, there has to be a way out.”
“We haven’t found one yet,” Leroy said. “The best thing to do right now is to find a base and set up defenses. Then we will send out teams to bring back food and weapons.”
Peter shook his head. “Sorry, guys, I don’t plan on being here that long. We’re going to bust out of here.”
Wu Zan’s eyes dropped and he looked over at Leroy. Both of them shifted uncomfortably. He was missing something.
“What’s wrong?” Peter asked.
“Don’t you understand? We can’t leave. We need a continual supply of the PX injections or we burn out and die.” Wu Zan was becoming upset and paced back and forth.
There it was, the final piece. It made sense now, why so many
of the Dusters never tried to leave, even the decent, peace-loving ones like Wu Zan and Leroy. They didn’t choose to stay—they had to stay, and wouldn’t dare leave. They chose to train and fight for a chance at survival, because the alternative was certain death. The signs were all there—he just hadn’t seen it.
This is how Neverland controlled their kidnapped victims and turned them willingly into supernatural combat soldiers. They had been experimenting with time-delay drugs for years, and apparently it had paid off. The only wrench in their grand plan was the loss of so many originals, who didn’t need the constant supply of PX injections to survive.
“We’ve lost too many friends who tried to quit taking the drug, or escape Neverland and they died. I didn’t want that for you. We didn’t know this is where we would all end up, but since we’re together. Why not go out like champions?” Wu Zan explained.
“I understand,” Peter said. And he did. “But it doesn’t mean I’m not going to try and find a way to stop Neverland and save you.”
Both boys nodded and Jax quickly looked away, refusing to meet his gaze.
That’s when it hit him. Jax knew that if they destroyed Neverland, it meant destroying all of the Dusters with it. Anger rushed through him and his hands curled into fists. He wanted to hit Jax. No, beat him to a pulp like they did whenever they had a dispute.
“You knew, Jax.” Peter felt betrayed. “You knew the whole time that they couldn’t leave.” He pushed Jax in the shoulders, trying to provoke him into a fight, needing a way to vent his anger at the situation, at losing Wendy, at losing his friends.
“I knew,” Jax said softly. “There was nothing I could do.”
“You know how I feel about leaving people behind, and yet you said nothing,” Peter growled, shoving Jax again. “What were you going to do, just leave them? Not tell me?”
Jax finally snapped and shoved Peter back, but he didn’t fall, instead floating in the air. “I hadn’t thought that far ahead, okay?” Jax yelled, waving his hands. “I’m making this up as I go.”
“We’ll help you,” Leroy said, stepping between Peter and Jax, his large body tantamount to a wall, and Peter had to drop his fist or risk punching Leroy in the mouth.
“To escape, I mean. Tell us what you want us to do and we’ll do it.” He tapped his visor camera, warning, “But don’t forget, they’re always watching us.”
The reminder was a wakeup call for Peter, and he let himself sink back to the ground, running his hands through his hair. He paced, hands on his head, then over his mouth. Each round of pacing, his posture and mood changed as he contemplated their situation. Then he froze when he saw Michael sitting on a curb, staring up at him through his goggles. Peter snapped his fingers and knew what they had to do.
Peter pointed to the cameras and gave a signal to Michael and the boy lit up and nodded. He closed his eyes, scrunched up his face. A few seconds later, the visors blinked and turned off as well as the suit cameras. “We good?” Peter asked and waited for a signal.
Michael gave a thumbs-up. “Were good, but not for long or they will suspect something. I also can’t take out all of the cameras.”
“How long?” Peter asked.
“I can probably give you five minutes,” Michael answered.
“Okay, when I give the signal, take out the cameras. But we need to find the headquarters.”
“I can take you to it,” Jax interrupted. “John’s in there now. We teleported a few blocks from the building.”
“Great, we attack that building, get in, grab Helix and Hook and force them to let us out. If they’re in that building inside the Hollow Dome, then there must be an exit.”
“That building will be heavily secured,” Wu Zan cautioned.
“And you can bet that once they figure out what we’re doing, they’re going to send every single morphling after us. Not to mention the other Dusters,” Jax said.
“Leave the other Dusters to us.” Leroy touched his fist to his chest in a salute.
“Then we need to find a way to stop the morphlings first. There has to be a way that Neverland is controlling them,” Peter said.
Jax stepped back from the group and Peter noticed. “Jax, what is it?”
He frowned. “There is. It’s a girl, Peter.”
“A girl,” he asked, confused, but there wasn’t time for explanations. “Can you stop her?”
He shook his head. “She’s not awake. She’s dreaming, trapped inside of a pod.”
“Then wake her up, Jax,” Peter ordered.
Jax’s stiffened. “I can’t. She’ll die.”
Peter flinched. “Jax, we may all die. You have to take that chance. You weren’t there, when we lost Torque and Rash, but isn’t it better to die free than to die enslaved?”
“No, Peter,” Jax said tightly, his eye twitching, his hands curling into fists. “Not all of us die.” Jax turned and stalked off.
“Jax, wait!” Peter called, but when he tried to follow him, a circle of flames erupted around Peter trapping him in a cone of fire. When the flames died down, he flew out of them to confront Jax.
“You have an order!” Peter growled out, knocking Jax down to the ground, holding him by the front of his shirt.
“Yeah, well, you know me,” Jax challenged. “I’m not great at following orders.”
“You’re choosing her over us?” Peter asked quietly so that only the two of them could hear. “One life over all of ours?”
All the tension left Jax’s body, and he went slack in Peter’s arms. His face contorted to one of pain and longing.
“Yes, Peter.” Jax’s head dropped back to the cement. “And you would do the same for Wendy.”
Jax’s dilemma became Peter’s, as it mirrored his own predicament. He was trying to save her at the peril of his boys, and Jax was disobeying an order for the same reason.
Peter huffed with frustration then he shoved Jax back to the ground and stood up to address the group. He had to lead by example. Save the boys, then save Wendy.
Pain exploded in Peter’s chest, and he looked down at the splash of red across his uniform. Blood seeped through and spread out, covering his palm. His body was going numb, cold. Peter scanned the rooftops, and spotted the shooter on top of an apartment building over a block, the rifle in his hands as he stood up and waved cheerily at him.
“Hook.” Peter gurgled blood and collapsed to his knees.
“No,” Jax cried out, grabbing Peter, before he fell face-first to the cement. His breathing became shallow and then stopped altogether. The lost boys cried out rushed for cover. Ditto tried to come to Peter’s aide but was stopped by Jax.
Jax held his friend in his arms and bright flames erupted around the two friends, but neither one of them burned in the fiery inferno. He swung his head around to the apartment roof where he last saw Hook, and he knew it was time to end it.
Jax left Peter’s body where it lay. Walking slowly and with purpose, he headed toward Hook. He knew that when he was done, only one of them would be left standing.
Chapter 39
Wendy pressed against the walls as she sidestepped down the streets, the pistol resting gently against her hip and a machete in her hand—spoils from looting the sporting good store. The female shadow had left her as soon as Wendy was armed. She couldn’t help but feel a bit like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider when she also found a medkit, two grenades, and a smoke bomb. Whoever was typing commands into her visor seemed to be trying to help her, if all the weapons she’d been guided to were any proof. But she still felt odd following commands from an unknown source, not knowing where she was being led. She noticed that there were more gold triangles moving her way. Wendy ducked into a storefront alcove and waited as three Dusters came down the street.
They were showing off their accuracy by shooting at the road signs. Wendy rolled her eyes in exasperation, as only an idiot would waste ammunition like that in a life or death situation. She was content to lie quietly in wait as they passed, but a mor
phling from inside the store slammed into the storefront door, shattering it, and sending Wendy careening into the street and in the path of the Dusters.
Her gun raised, she quickly took out the morphling with three shots to the head, but by doing so, she gave away her position. Wendy lifted her visor and tried to keep her face neutral as she stared into the furious face of Lily, Jeremy, and a third Duster.
“You!” Lily shrieked. “You should be dead.”
“I told you, I’m not that easily killed,” Wendy taunted back, holding her gun up and keeping Lily in her sights.
Jeremy ignored the gun and sauntered over to Wendy, flicking his hair back like he did in high school, trying to ooze charm.
Had he already forgotten their encounter a few hours ago? He reached for her gun, but she shot at his feet, forcing him to jump back. His face contorted in rage and his veins bulged along his neck and cheeks. He reached out again and this time grabbed the barrel of her gun, twisting the barrel like it was a wet noodle. Wendy pulled the trigger, but the gun backfired, knocking her to the ground.
Jeremy leaned over Wendy and grabbed her by the front of her uniform, tossing her against the building like she weighed nothing.
Dazed and confused, Wendy tried to get up but slid to the ground, her head throbbing.
“She’s still not dead?” Lily said, aghast. “I guess I will just have to kill you myself.” She growled low in her throat as she shifted into her half-tiger form, then pulled back her long claw-like hands preparing to slice Wendy’s throat.
A threatening scream from a real mountain lion had Jeremy and Lily looking up in terror just before a blurred, furry figure pounced, knocking Lily to the ground. Wendy cowered, covering her face as the mountain lion attacked the Duster. A few powerful swipes later, and Lily was stilled on the pavement.
The mountain lion’s gaze came to rest on Jeremy, who had tried to sneak away, but she gave chase. Even with his super strength, he wouldn’t stay to be mauled by a ferocious mountain lion. Jeremy ran, the mountain lion on his tail as he turned a corner. Wendy heard his painful scream as he was caught.