Core Punk

by Paul Bellow

“We can’t eat their flesh,” Harrison said. “It’s not worth the calories we’d burn.”

  “True…” I conceded.

  While experience points would be nice, we needed to survive.

  “I’m hungry,” Missy whined.

  “Can she eat first?” I asked.

  Harrison sighed. “Fine, but hurry.”

  I watched as he crawled out of the ice shelter he’d created. The inside was toasty. Missy smiled.

  “You need to be careful with your knife,” I lectured.

  “Sorry,” she whined, lowering her head.

  “I’m okay, but you could’ve hurt me bad.”

  She nodded, not saying a word.

  “Get out here!” Harrison shouted. “Both of you!”

  I crawled out of the ice shelter before Missy, standing once I got outside. Two short, stumpy mutants with hairless heads missing noses stumbled toward Harrison. He fired off a few quick rounds of his energy pistol. The bursts of plasma hit a mutant but didn’t even slow it down. I pulled out the energy pistol I’d stolen a week earlier and shot twice.

  “Where the hell did you get that?” Harrison asked over his shoulder as he continued firing.

  “Tell you later,” I said. “They’re not going down!”

  “Aim for the crotch!” he said.

  What is he talking about?

  I watched in amazement as he shot another mutant between the legs. The horribly mutated humanoid stopped and grasped his crotch while squealing. His two friends kept coming forward. I shot another in the stomach before lowering and hitting the magic spot. How the hell had Harrison known they were susceptible to crotch shots? I didn’t care.

  The one I hit fell to the ground, rolling around with his hands between his legs. Harrison did the same for the third. Missy ran up to the closest one on the ground and stabbed the side of its head repeatedly. Blood gushed out, covering the exterior of her enviro-suit. I walked forward and kept shooting round after round between another creature’s legs.

  Combat is Over!

  You get 400 Life Experience Points!

  You have 2,850 LXP!

  “Wow, not bad,” I said, glancing around. “We might level up.”

  “That’s the least of our worries,” Harrison said, putting his gun away.

  “How the hell did you know to shoot them down below?” I asked.

  “I’m more experienced than you,” he said. “The sun’s going down. We should stay in the shelter tonight.”

  “How can you even tell?” I asked, glancing up. “There’s so many clouds.”

  “Trust me, I know,” he said, not elaborating.

  As he walked toward the ice shelter, I wondered about my attraction to him. Missy walked up and placed a hand on my arm.

  “He likes you,” she said then giggled.

  I rolled my eyes. “Come on, crazy girl, let’s go…”

  She followed me inside the natural shelter. While warmer than the outside, the chill kept my enviro-suit humming. I sat near the center, next to Harrison. Missy cuddled against me.

  “Will those mutant bodies attract others?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” Harrison snapped. “It’s too cold to stay out there much longer, even with our enviro-suits. We’re using up so much energy, we’ll run out soon, and once that happens, we’re all screwed.”

  “Cold,” Missy whimpered.

  “Everyone huddle-up,” Harrison said, surprising me.

  I scooted closer to him. He unfolded a metallic blanket and wrapped it around the three of us. As he draped his bulky arm around my waist, snuggling my body close to his, warmth spread through my body. I moved my hand to his chest, feeling his slow and steady heartbeat. He didn’t move away or stop me as I rested my head against his chest.

  Missy yawned as I struggled to keep my eyes open. I wanted to talk to Harrison after she fell asleep and couldn’t hear us. We’d survived a day, but I didn’t see how we would last much longer between the weather and the mutants. I hoped he didn’t fall asleep too as I waited for Missy’s breathing to calm down and become rhythmic.

  “Are you up?” I whispered.

  “Yeah,” Harrison said, his voice also low.

  “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”

  “Pretty much,” he said then sighed.

  “I don’t want Missy to suffer,” I said. “There’s a chance she might spawn as a new character if she dies. Us too…”

  “You don’t believe that crap, do you?” he asked.

  “I do,” I said, squeezing him briefly.

  He grunted, adjusting himself.

  “I can’t explain it, but it’s true,” I continued. “This isn’t our world.”

  “Sleep,” he said. “We need all our energy.”

  I stopped talking, but my mind kept racing. The wind howled outside, occasionally blasting flakes of snow inside. I closed my eyes, feeling content and secure in that single moment in space and time thanks to Harrison. Maybe he’d help me uncover the vast conspiracy and the truth about our existence. That happy thought carried me off to sleep.

  Chapter 8

  I woke to the sound of Harrison and Missy arguing outside our temporary shelter.

  “What now?” I mumbled as I sat up.

  Clutching the blanket around me but still cold, I crawled out to investigate.

  “What’s going on?” I asked, standing.

  “She ran out her damn suit by leaving it on last night,” Harrison said.

  “I don’t want to freeze to death,” Missy whined.

  “What did you tell her?” I asked, casting a disapproving gaze at Harrison.

  “Nothing,” he replied.

  “He said he’d leave me to freeze to death,” Missy said, pointing an accusatory finger.

  “I might’ve snapped at her,” Harrison mumbled.

  He still had our best interests at heart, so I changed the subject.

  “Why does it feel colder this morning?” I asked.

  Harrison stared out at the horizon. “The temperature dropped last night.”

  “My suit is dead,” Missy said. “Now I’ll be dead too!”

  “I’ll give her half my charge,” Harrison said. “We should stick together and head for the mountains. The walking will generate enough energy to keep us going. If we’re lucky, we’ll find a cave in the mountains. There’s a frozen lake around here with fish, I think.”

  “That sounds reassuring,” I said.

  He ignored my sarcasm as he pulled out a wire and hooked it up to Missy’s suit.

  “Thank you,” she said, surprising me.

  “Don’t mention it,” he muttered.

  Missy smiled, staring at Harrison. Uh oh. Was she falling for him too?

  “This will take a while,” he said. “Why don’t you go forage for food.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “You two behave.”

  He snorted and shook his head as I crawled toward the short tunnel-opening he’d built. Outside, I stood, staring at the nearby mountain range. Could we reach them? We had already run into mutants, and we would likely see more on our journey. The energy pistols gradually recharged as we walked, but if something happened to either of them, we’d be in serious trouble. I glanced down at the ground, calling up the list of signs to forage resources in the tundra.

  As I walked, I went over the list, checking the ground ahead of me. I kept heading toward a peak on the mountain range to make finding my way back easier. A few hundred yards away, I stopped as I noticed strange tracks in the snow made with smaller feet. Sometimes, the smaller mutants could be the hardest to kill.

  I scanned my surroundings, wondering if I should tell the others or follow the tracks on my own. Finding a small mammal to eat wasn’t impossible, even with the desolate, some edible creatures thrived. As I decided what to do, something on the horizon caught my attention. I rushed back to our ice shelter to let the others know. Harrison and Missy stood outside our shelter as I approached, both staring into the distance.
/>   “What’s wrong?” I asked, stopping in front of them.

  Missy ignored me, fascinated by something.

  “What is it? Can you see something?”

  “Mutants,” Missy said in a low voice. “I sense lots and lots of mutants.”

  “Great,” I said.

  “I don’t see anything, but maybe she’s right,” Harrison muttered. “We should go.”

  He ducked into our shelter, returning a moment later with his backpack full of supplies.

  “Missy get our stuff,” I said, wanting to talk to Harrison alone a minute.

  “Okay,” she said, gleefully obeying without question.

  “We don’t have a chance, do we?” I asked after she left.

  He sucked in some air then exhaled, shaking his head. “Not much of one.”

  “If I die, promise to take care of Missy for me. Please? I still don’t know what happens when you die in this stupid simulation.”

  He snorted. “I forgot you were one of the crazies who believe this world isn’t real.”

  “We’re not crazy,” I said. “Just not proven to be right yet.”

  “You’ll get a chance to find out if these mutants swarm us,” he said.

  “Missy, hurry,” I said.

  She crawled out then stood, holding her bag and mine.

  “Did you get everything?” I asked.

  She nodded and held up the black, glossy cube. Without the indicator light blinking red, yellow, or green to let us know when we were close to the shelter, we had no chance of finding it.

  “Let’s go,” Harrison said, motioning for us to follow.

  “How close are they, Missy?”

  She turned to the horizon.

  “Just over a mile,” she said. “Do you want the exact number? I hate all the numbers.”

  “No, that’s okay,” I said. “Come on, we need to catch up to Harrison.”

  He’d started walking toward the mountains while the mutants slowly made their way toward our right side. They would likely flank us before we reached the foothills even which worried me. I kept glancing to the right, seeing how much bigger the dark mass of soulless beings had gotten. We didn’t have much time before he reached us.

  I jogged to catch up with Harrison. “Do you think we can lead them away from us?”

  “Turn to your left,” he said.

  I did, seeing another mass of mutants headed at us from the other direction.

  “We can’t win…” I sighed.

  Harrison pursed his lips together. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and reach the mountains before they tear us to shreds.”

  “This works now,” Missy said, holding up a black cube. “Will it help?”

  “Hey,” Harrison snapped, lunging at her. “Give that back!”

  “Finders keepers,” Missy said then stuffed it in a pocket.

  “What is it?” I asked, stepping in front of him.

  “The beacon that might get us into another shelter,” he said. “We can use it as leverage and buy our way into a shelter if she hasn’t broken it yet. She must’ve taken it from me last night when we were sleeping.”

  “Didn’t work then, but it does now,” Missy declared.

  I wasn’t sure if she even knew what it was or how it worked, but it looked familiar. Was it the Core Cube they had given me when I entered the virtual reality world?

  “Give it back,” Harrison demanded, holding out his hand.

  “No,” Missy said. “Finders keepers!”

  Her eyes widened as she pointed behind Harrison and me.

  “Mutant!” she yelled.

  I twirled around, my boots crunching in the snow, and saw a two-headed mutant with an L classification. Not the toughest of mutants, but still difficult.

  “Light it up!” Harrison said, drawing his weapon.

  I pulled out my energy pistol too, blasting as fast as I could pull the trigger. Automatic plasma rifles would be better, but we had to work with what we had available.

  “Missy stay behind me,” I cautioned, feet firmly planted in the ground as I fired.

  “He’s still coming,” Harrison said. “We have to run.”

  “Running!” Missy said.

  Ugh. I turned and raced after her as Harrison fired a few more shots. When he stopped firing, he ran to catch up with us as we trudged through the ankle-deep snow. The foul stench of burnt mutant flesh drifted through the air.

  “The mutant’s moving slow,” he said, panting. “We might have a chance.”

  “More mutants!” Missy screamed, pointing to our left.

  “Where are they all coming from?” I asked.

  “I don’t know, but we’ve got to keep moving,” Harrison said.

  He veered to the left to avoid the four-legged mutant in front of us. Missy and I ran in the same direction as him, a few yards behind. While her mind might be foggy, Missy could outrun me. I worried about sending her ahead because the mutants were popping up all around us. A fireball flashed up ahead on our new course.

  “Damn,” I said, turning again with Harrison.

  “That’s an F-level mutant for sure,” he said. “That means magic. We’re screwed.”

  “Just keep running,” I said, out of breath but plowing through.

  “No kidding,” Harrison shot back.

  Missy wasn’t fazed, glancing back and smiling every few feet. I saw another group of mutants get closer. They looked lower level, but enough of them could cause trouble.

  “Six o’clock,” I said.

  “I see ‘em.” Harrison raised his gun and fired a few shots. “There’s too many!”

  Two of the nearest mutants fell, but the rest hurried forward. Damn, they’re fast, I thought as they rushed toward us. Harrison slowed down then stopped.

  “Missy, stop!” I shouted.

  She listened, backing up as Harrison and I raised our weapons. We fired round after round of plasma bolts, not caring about running out the batteries. The L-class mutants, fast as leopards, swarmed around us. Every time we killed one, another popped up to replace it. A pile of mutated bodies surrounded us about a hundred feet out.

  “I’m almost out of shots,” I said, still firing.

  “Me too.”

  “I’ll kill them,” Missy said.

  She held up a thin blade, her favorite.

  “No, stay back,” I scolded.

  “Oh, oh, I can help!” she said.

  I kept firing, not looking at her.

  “No, stay back,” I repeated.

  “But Scout…”

  I pushed her whining out of my mind as I concentrated on stopping the line of mutants heading toward us. Harrison lowered his gun.

  “That’s it,” he said. “We’re finished. Been nice knowing ya.”

  “I can kill a few more of them,” I said. “They’re thinning out.”

  “Scout! Listen!” Missy shouted.

  I lowered my gun and turned. “What?”

  As she lifted the black cube, I saw a blinking yellow light. Missy smiled, holding it in the air. The last few mutants must have run away because the game called the end of the battle.

  Combat is Over!

  You get 500 Life Experience Points

  You have 3,350 LXP!

  Level Up!

  You are now Level 3!

  +9 health

  +15 skills

  + 5 stats

  “Come on,” Harrison said. “Let’s go.”

  I grabbed Missy’s hand and pulled her with me as I ran after him. We climbed over the disgusting pile of bloody bodies oozing pus and who knew what else before bolting toward the mountains again. I saw mutants in the distance, all around us. We wouldn’t last through another fight. Even if I earned enough experience points to level, I needed to wait before getting all the benefits of the new level.

  “Hurry it up!” Harrison yelled.

  I could tell by his walk he was tired too. After a mile or so, the mountains appeared closer as we reached the snow-covered foothills. Harr
ison continued running down a shallow valley between two of them.

  “Keep on the lowest ground available,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure about his logic, but we didn’t have time to stop and discuss it. Missy stuck the beacon in my view as we ran. The light had turned green.

  “Stop!” I shouted.

  Harrison halted then turned, scowling. “What?”

  “The beacon lit up green,” I said, looking around.

  “We don’t have time to look for a shelter that might not exist,” he said.

  “This might be our only chance of escape and survival,” I protested.

  “Mutants!” Missy shouted.

  I grabbed the beacon from her.

  “Hey,” she protested, reaching for it.

  I took a few steps, trying to see if I could get the green light to turn solid. Once it stopped flashing, we’d know we were right on top of the shelter.

  “We’re close,” I said. “The flashing is slowing down.”

  “I don’t see anything,” Harrison said. “The mutants are getting closer.”

  “Give me a minute,” I snapped as if we’d been married for years.

  The sudden memory of the world outside the virtual simulation struck me, but I filed it away for later study as I kept walking around, watching the green light stop flashing. I glanced up at Harrison. He shrugged, also looking around on the ground.

  “Mutant!” Missy shouted again, pointing to my feet.

  I looked down and saw a creature with an extra arm coming out of the top of its head digging through the snow beneath my feet. As I stepped aside, Harrison moved forward and stabbed the head arm with a long, pointy knife. I pulled out my own blade and helped him kill the mutated monster.

  Combat is Over!

  You get 100 Life Experience Points

  You have 3,450 LXP!

  He’d also been a lower class of mutant, but there could be more. I quickly checked and saw I wasn’t even halfway to leveling. Did it even matter?

  “Out of the way,” Harrison said, taking out a grenade.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, stepping back.

  “Boom-boom time!” Missy exclaimed, clapping her hands.

  I grabbed her arm and pulled her toward me as Harrison pressed a button on the device.