by Paul Bellow
“We have to do it,” I said. “They’ll infect everyone if we don’t.”
“I know,” he said, unclenching his fists and gripping the side of the wooden table.
All our bickering and posturing felt ridiculous as we talked about the fate of a dozen people who needed to die for everyone else to even have a chance at survival. I hated the virtual world I found myself in. Who would devise such a twisted choice for people to make? Did they see it as a game with the numbers for skills and statistics?
“I’m going,” Harrison said, standing up and turning toward the door.
“Let me go with you,” I said.
“No.” He walked out of the room.
I left through another door and headed for our bedroom. After so many hours of no sleep, I couldn’t continue any longer. I needed to close my eyes and rest. The image of the poor twelve souls about to be poisoned flashed through my mind as I walked. I wasn’t close with any of them, but it still hurt. And Missy. What about her?
Harrison and I hadn’t talked about Merlin again, but with our big decision, I didn’t fault either of us. As I reached our private elevator and pressed the button, I thought about the AI boring machine. I smiled a moment as I remembered Orlando getting so worked up. Then the realization of what we were about to do hit me.
I rode the elevator to the top floor of the shelter. Workers had cleaned it out over the last week. It had finally started to feel like home, but I hated everything about it as I walked in. Harrison and I were killers. The deaths were necessary, but that didn’t make them any easier to deal with. I went to our bed and laid down under the covers.
Closing my eyes only made the images of the people about to die even worse. I could hear their voices crying out to me as I fell asleep. Damn this game to hell. Whoever was behind the crazy, post-apocalyptic wasteland would pay for imprisoning us.
* * * * *
I opened my eyes an unknown amount of time later. Harrison sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into space. I sat up and placed a hand on his back. He pulled away and stood.
“Don’t,” he said. “Not now.”
“I was just trying to console you,” I said. “Did you do it?”
“Yes, I did it,” he snapped, turning to me. “Someone had to do it.”
I crawled out of bed and stretched, not wanting to face another day.
“We need to contact Merlin and take control of the better shelter,” he said.
I nodded, walking over to him. He took a deep breath as I wrapped my arms around his waist.
“We had no choice,” I said.
He nodded, still wearing his leather mask.
“I’ve heard a rumor you’re not gonna like,” he said.
“What now?”
“Orlando is taking Missy as a wife.”
“We can’t let that happen,” I said.
“There’s nothing we can do.”
He frowned, pursing his lips together.
“There has to be something. What about Merlin?”
“I still haven’t heard from him, have you?”
“No,” I said, frowning and shaking my head. “What do you think about what we found out about Orlando? Is he trying to hold Missy hostage to get me to work with him or something?”
“Who knows,” Harrison said.
“I wish you would believe me,” I said. “The real world was amazing. We had pizza, milkshakes, and all the food we could eat…”
He took a deep breath. “You’re making me hungry.”
“It’s real,” I insisted. “This isn’t the real world.”
He put a hand on my waist.
“It’s real enough. Unless you have a way out?”
“No…”
I pressed my body against his and squeezed tight. The world was turning us into monsters. Was that the point? Should I refuse to play and allow myself to die? Harrison rubbed my back a moment before pulling back.
“Let’s go eat,” he said. “We need to be public.”
I nodded. “We don’t want the others to think we’re hiding.”
As we walked toward the hatch leading out of our living space, a drone flew in from the ventilation shaft near the ceiling. Merlin?
“I got it,” Harrison said, holding out his hand.
The mini-drone landed and ejected a tiny piece of paper.
“What’s on the note?” I asked, anxious to hear.
“Gimme a second,” he said, peering closely. “Merlin needs more time. Orlando is hunting him.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
He nodded. “That’s it.”
“I love and hate that machine.”
“We’ve got enough problems to worry about.”
“I know, but…”
My voice trailed off as an alarm sounded.
Riot Alert in Cafeteria!
“Ugh,” he groaned. “Let’s go.”
I followed him into our private elevator. He pressed the button to take us to the main cafeteria. As we descended, I pulled out my plasma pistol, ready to use it if necessary.
“Take it easy,” Harrison said. “These are our people, and they’re just hungry.”
“We don’t have enough food. Orlando is asking for too much.”
“I know,” he said as the elevator door slid open.
“Damn,” I muttered as I saw complete chaos on the floor.
A chair flew past us and smashed into the wall. Harrison stormed toward the center of the room. I followed him, wondering if we could calm them down. A full-scale riot could damage the entire shelter, making it uninhabitable. We couldn’t let that happen no matter what.
Chapter 19
“Everyone, settle down!” Harrison shouted from atop a metal table.
I stood nearby, my blaster hanging loosely at my side.
“We’re hungry,” a woman screamed. “We’re dying!”
“There’s been a shortage,” Harrison said. “If we don’t give Orlando what he wants, he will attack us. We don’t have enough troops to battle his heavily armed men.”
“You two suck as leaders!” a man in the crowd yelled.
“Who said that?” Harrison demanded.
After spending so much time with him, I could tell he was about to lose his temper. The furrowed brow and flared nostrils told the tale. I stepped up beside him.
“We have extra food we’ll be giving out,” I said.
The people quieted down. Harrison glanced over at me.
“I’ve been stashing a secret stock of supplies,” I lied. “We’ll be okay.”
“You did what?” Harrison hissed under his breath.
“Go with it,” I said then shouted. “Give us time!”
“We gave you two clowns enough time!” someone yelled.
“Double rations for dinner tonight, but only if everyone disperses now!”
I watched as a few people wandered away, too hungry to offer any real resistance. As they left the cafeteria or found seats, Harrison turned.
“What were you talking about?” he asked. “You’ve been stockpiling food?”
“No, but we’ll come up with food before tonight,” I said. “Even if we need to take it from Orlando’s supplies. What’s he going to do?”
“He’ll attack us, that’s what he’ll do,” Harrison said then hopped off the table and stormed toward the short line for food.
I stepped down then followed him. The others in line quit talking when we joined them. I felt everyone staring at me and felt them thinking bad thoughts. We got our meager helping of rations then retreated to a table in the corner. I thought about Missy as I ran my spoon through the bowl of green goop that kept us alive.
“Quit playing with your food and eat it,” he said.
I sighed then scooped up a bite.
“Real food was so much better…”
“Just stop it with that other world crap, okay?”
I frowned, hurt by his constant callousness.
“We’ll break into Orlando�
��s next shipment,” he relented.
“He won’t even notice.”
“That fool’s gonna notice, don’t you worry.”
As much as I hated to admit it, Harrison was right. Orlando could be a mean man when he thought someone had undercut him.
“We should just tell him to go away,” I whispered. “He won’t attack.”
“No, he would attack us in a heartbeat,” Harrison said. “You think he’ll take a hit to his reputation? No way.”
“Perhaps.” I paused before continuing another line of thought. “Or maybe Merlin…”
I stopped talking and sighed, knowing we didn’t have enough time.
“Exactly,” he said, scraping the last of his green goop onto his spoon.
“You want mine?” I asked, scooting the plastic bowl toward him.
“Eat it,” he said. “You need your strength. We’ll be fighting our own people or Orlando’s men. There’s no other way around it.”
I sighed and nodded before taking a bite of the gruel. We had to do something. Eating Orlando’s rations would send him a message, but I hoped we didn’t get Missy hurt. My thoughts returned to his journal entry mentioning me. Did he know the truth regarding our situation? Why wouldn’t he work with me to escape? I hated not knowing.
“We’ve got company,” Harrison said.
I glanced up. “Who is it?”
“Orlando’s men are here early,” he said.
I scooped out the rest of what passed for food then slid it into my mouth. While nutritious, the tasteless, almost-liquid food didn’t have enough fiber by far. That’s all I’ll say on that matter. I stood along with Harrison. We walked toward the main elevator together because meeting his men upstairs in private was smarter until we figured something out.
Once in the elevator and rising, I took a deep breath to prepare myself for whatever waited us above. I stared at the scratched steel door ahead of me, desperately trying to think of a way out. We needed a plan, and nothing was coming to me. I breathed faster, feeling faint and almost falling to the floor.
“Are you okay?” Harrison asked, catching me in his arms.
“Yeah,” I said. “Panic attack…”
I took a deep breath to calm myself.
“Get it together,” he grunted. “It’s showtime.”
The elevator door slid open on the first floor. We walked out and headed toward the contamination room where four of Orlando’s men stood. I noticed their heavy weapons immediately. We’d have a problem if they wanted their food early, but we’d work it out. Somehow, we always solved any problems that came up.
“You’re early,” Harrison said as they walked out of the decontamination room and into the hallway. “We won’t have your food ready until later tonight.”
“All of it?” Orlando’s man asked.
“What do you mean?” I shot back.
“Your tax went up,” he said then chuckled.
The other three behind him raised their shock rifles.
“Hold on,” Harrison said. “Under whose orders?”
“Who do you think?” the man asked, shaking his head then adding, “You used to be so strong, but since you shacked up with this bitch, you’ve gone downhill.”
I raised my fist with a quickness, causing the guard to flinch and the others to tense up.
“Everybody, settle down,” Harrison said, holding up his hands.
“We’re here for what’s ours and a bit more,” the other guy said.
“No,” I said, readying my hand to grab my pistol. “We can’t give you more.”
Orlando’s man laughed. “We’re not asking. There’s a big ceremony coming up, and we need extra supplies for our guests.”
“What guests?” I asked.
“That’s none of your business.” He raised his rifle. “Do we have a problem?”
“No problem,” Harrison said. “We’ll get your stuff. Send me the list.”
A notification popped up, listing the supplies they wanted from us.
“That’s too much,” I said. “People will die here without those supplies.”
“Again,” the dick said. “That’s not our problem. You need to shut your mouth before I shut it for you... permanently.”
“Try it,” I dared.
The other men stood still, their weapons trained on us. Their squad leader shot, sending a bolt of energy into my thigh. I cried out, drawing my pistol as I fell to the floor.
“No!” Harrison shouted.
He charged forward, barreling into the closest trooper. They crashed back into the others, giving me enough time for a couple carefully targeted shots. I hit two in the face, causing them to scream and drop their weapons. Harrison continued wrestling with their leader while the fourth guy fired again, hitting me.
Warning: Low Health.
Warning: You might die soon.
I swiped the annoying screens away as I rolled across the hallway before sitting up and firing again. Two perfectly aimed bolts of plasma hit his hand, knocking his rifle to the ground. I stood and ran forward, out of energy in the pistol but ready to use it as a blunt-force weapon. Harrison fired two shots into the leader’s face, catching the last living guy by surprise. I capitalized on his slight distraction and slammed the heavy metal pistol against his head. His eyes squinted before they closed as he hit the ground.
Combat is Over!
You get 900 Life Experience Points!
You have 4,400 LXP!
Level Up!
You’re now level 7!
+ 15 skill points
+ 12 health
+ 5 stat points
“What did we do?” Harrison asked, glancing around at the dead bodies.
“Protected ourselves,” I said.
“This will have a steep price,” he said.
“Maybe the other shelters will attack Orlando and distract him away from us, or we might finally hear from Merlin. We had to do this.” I stepped forward and put my hand on his arm. “Thanks for sticking up for me.”
He tilted his head back, narrowing his eyes as he stared at me. “This means war.”
I sighed. “Yeah, but we can feed our people now.”
“Timing’s everything,” he said. “These idiots deserved to die, but we should be strategic and not rely on spur of the moment tactics all the time.”
“I agree,” I said, moving my hand away.
We didn’t have time to mess around physically no matter how badly I wanted him.
“They’ve got a key to get in our main hatch, so we need to post guards,” I said.
“Already on it,” he said, swiping the air in front of him as he manipulated game screens.
I thought again about the people who had changed the virtual world into one so brutal and unforgiving. Who was behind the madness? Even more important, could I find them and reverse whatever they had done to trap us in the simulation?
“Guards are on their way to the hatch,” Harrison said.
I nodded. “We should go feed our people.”
“Good idea,” he said. “We’ve got extra food now.”
We walked back to the cafeteria together, instructing the people in the kitchen to hand out normal rations for the next few days. If Orlando came to fight, we’d need everyone in good fighting condition. The people cheered when Harrison gave the announcement. I glanced over, loving him even more.
“Time to plan,” he said. “Let’s go.”
I followed him to a room with a long, wooden table with a dozen chairs around it. The impromptu war room would be our home until we came up with an adequate plan to overcome Orlando. On the way, I quickly allocated my new points. I put all five stat points into brawn. For my skills, I put ten into plasma rifles and five into plasma pistols. I needed to be a better shot.
Chapter 20
Three hours later, I sat in an uncomfortable chair, my elbows propped up on the table. We still hadn’t come up with a good plan to defeat Orlando or even protect our shelter. Too many troops
swore allegiance to him. Harrison paced back and forth in front of the hatch to the room as I fought against the depression rising in my mind.
“Can you stop pacing, please?” I asked then sighed.
He stopped walking and turned. “You come up with something?”
“No. You?”
He frowned, shaking his head. “I’m worried we made a big mistake.”
“Don’t talk that way,” I said, pushing back my chair and standing. “We got this.”
“How?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“We’ll figure something out,” I said. “This shelter can take care of itself if we can keep Orlando out. And maybe Merlin will come.”
“I dunno,” he said. “I’m still worried.”
“That’s good,” I said, walking over to him. “Leaders should worry when appropriate.”
I put my hands on his arms and pulled them down. His hands in mine, I looked into his eyes. He bent down, tilting his head. As his lips made their way toward mine, my heart beat faster. We kissed, barely a peck. He pulled back, staring ahead.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Incoming message. Orlando’s already sent backups. They’re outside the shelter and demanding to get in.”
“What are we going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he snapped, glancing around the room. “They’re telling everyone in the shelter to leave. We need to stop them from getting in.”
“Let’s do it…”
We left our impromptu war room and headed toward the main elevators. Neither of us talked as the situation went from bad to worse around us. How had they forced their way in? Should we have guarded the main entrance ourselves? Questions haunted me as we reached the elevator. I pressed the button to call it and turned to Harrison.
“We’ve got this,” I said.
He looked like he needed the assurance.
“We’ll see,” he said.
I wondered if he was thinking about going back to Orlando’s side to save himself. Would that even be possible? The elevator door slid open. I stepped aside to let him go in first. We’d slept together, but he didn’t even believe me when I said we were trapped in a game. I wasn’t sure if I should keep trusting him so blindly. Once inside, the door slid closed. He pressed the button for the top floor of the shelter.