In Beta

by Prescott Harvey

  “No.”

  “Then what are you gonna do?”

  Jeremy stood up and looked down at Jay. “I’m gonna do what I always do. I’m gonna kick Jay’s ass.”

  Jay nodded. “And I want to help you.”

  Jeremy reached down, and the Johns watched in awe as Jeremy pulled Jay up. He stripped the rope off Jay’s wrists, and Liz and his mom ran over, hugging him.

  “Jay . . .” Liz whispered.

  Kathy Banksman shook her head, bewildered. “What is going on? You’re Jay Banksman.”

  Jay sighed, watching the Johns run to their trucks and throw their guns in the beds. “Mom, I’d explain, but you have an intelligence score of three.”

  He felt a little more hopeful now that they had the Johns on their side. But where was Hal? If he wasn’t watching Jay, what was he doing?

  Disasters

  Johns scurried from truck to truck, their guns clattering as they threw them into their pickup beds.

  A freshman grabbed the can of gasoline and dosed the bonfire. The flames roared, flickering orange across the faces of partygoers. Jeremy stood beside the fire, pale blue eyes glittering as he listened to Jay lay out everything he knew. He watched kids’ faces shift from shock, to horror, to confusion. Jeremy stood transfixed, listening to Jay’s every word. At last, Jay finished and Jeremy nodded.

  “So those things . . . those white things . . .”

  “. . . are one of the disasters. The riot.”

  “And he can keep sending these over and over?”

  “Yep. Until he destroys us.”

  “So if he can delete any of us with a click, how do we stop him?”

  “Stevie can. She’s up in Tutorial right now. She might be able to turn his program against him. But we can’t do anything yet. So long as he’s sitting behind his computer screen, he’s all-powerful. He can see us and react far faster than we can. If we want to stop him, we have to lure him back into the game.”

  “How?”

  Jay looked from Jeremy to Liz, then smiled. “You two are the reason The Build exists. The three of us just drew Hal out at prom. I’m betting we can do it again.”

  “What does that mean?” Liz stared into the fire. “Do we have to fight each other?”

  Jay shook his head. “No. We have to do something even more drastic. We have to work together.”

  Jeremy grunted. “Is that all?”

  “It’ll drive him crazy.”

  As if on cue, the sky rumbled. A crack of lightning shot down onto the bluff across the river. The Johns winced, ducking and holding their guns up as if to shield whatever new threat might be coming from the sky.

  But it was only rain. Fat drops began to fall. This seemed somehow to be the final straw for the partygoers. Boys threw their tuxedo jackets over their heads, and girls stumbled into the tree line to take shelter. There was a boom of thunder, and over the distant mountains, more lightning flashed. Kathy Banksman stared up at the town.

  “Oh, those poor people trying to leave.” She shook her head. “Their stuff is going to get soaked.

  Liz looked to Jay. “Is this a disaster?”

  Jay frowned, uncertain. Car lights flashed on, and engines started. An old Chevy Nova rumbled up the road, leaving.

  “Hey!” Jay yelled at the students leaving. “We’re all in this together!”

  “Jay!” Jeremy shouted. He was standing down at the bonfire pit, staring over the rocks to the water’s edge. He pointed at the dark waters of the Skookullom. The rain fell in heavy drops now as Jay ran to join him. He pushed a mop of hair from his eyes, straining to see the black swirls and eddies that had captured Jeremy’s attention. A small wave splashed his shoes, and Jay leapt back. The banks of the Skookullom were rising.

  “This is a flood!” Jay yelled, nodding. “This is definitely a disaster.”

  A rumbling noise grew upstream.

  “Get to higher ground!”

  The kids turned and ran, slipping on wet rocks. In the blackness of the night, Jay saw something large and white around the river bend upstream. A wall of water. He grabbed Liz and his mom and urged them up to the tree line.

  “Get to the cars!”

  The roar of water crashed through the underbrush behind them. Jay turned to see it hit the bonfire, extinguishing it in an angry sizzle. The only light now was the haphazard zigzag of headlights as prom-goers pulled out of the party. Jay pulled his feet through muddy ground, slopping toward the squad car. Ford trucks breezed past them, headlights flashing through dense cedar trees. Water was now in the trees with them, lapping at their ankles as they reached the sheriff’s car. Liz screamed, and Jay’s mom grabbed his lapels. Ahead, John W’s truck stopped in the water, its door open.

  “Jeremy, get in!”

  Jeremy shook his head. “Wait for us at the top of the road.”

  Jay felt a strange flush of pride as Jeremy rounded over to the driver’s side and threw his shotgun onto the seat.

  “Cool if I drive?”

  “Please!” Jay opened the rear door for his mom and Liz, pausing as they scrambled in. The water touched the bottom of the car frame as he rounded to the passenger side.

  “Let’s go!”

  The squad car’s engine rumbled to life, its headlights flickering across the giant cedars. They were the last car left, and the water was almost touching the car’s frame. Jeremy pressed the gas and the wheels spun, churning water. The car lurched up the hill. The water lessened and lessened, and then the squad car pulled out of the muck, onto the dirt road that led back to Highway 24. Jeremy accelerated, spinning the tires and bumping the car up the dirt road.

  Jay turned to the back seat. Liz was rubbing her shoulders to keep warm, and his mom’s teeth were chattering.

  “I’m way too sober for this,” Kathy said.

  Without saying anything, Jeremy reached into his pocket and pulled out a flask. He handed it to Kathy, and she unscrewed the top and took a swig.

  “Hey!” Jay called. “Don’t give my mom booze.”

  “Then keep me out of your video games!”

  Kathy pushed the flask through the metal lattice to her son, and Jay grabbed it and took a pull.

  Along the Watchtower

  Colin sat on the top of a small tower, staring out at the night. The stars twinkled in the sky, the rising moon draping the landscape in blue. In the distance, he saw orange flickers in the windows of farmhouses. Families inside, huddled around fireplaces, keeping warm until the power came back on. He shivered, wishing he were also inside his house. He strained his eyes to try to make out the road in the darkness.

  No sign of Jay.

  Stevie had done quite a number on the landscape surrounding Tutorial. She’d cleared away pines, built a moat of water, and then thrown up these four towers around the perimeter. If Hal saw it, he would immediately destroy them, of course. But if any of those weird white things arrived, they’d have a heck of a time getting in. Colin looked down over the tower ramparts at the packed earth fifteen feet below. The water in the moat was still, and he heard the croak of a bullfrog underneath him.

  Stevie was sitting in Tutorial, at the computer. As far as Colin could see, she didn’t seem to be making more changes, and for that he was grateful. The thought that Hal might spot them and delete them from existence with barely a moment’s notice terrified him. He scanned the small thin strip of Main Street that was barely visible over the baseball field, searching for headlights. Nothing.

  He uncrossed his legs and stood, craning his neck to try to see down through the window they’d agreed to leave open.

  “How’s it going?” he shouted as loudly as he dared.

  Stevie poked her head out and smiled, but Colin saw it was strained.

  “Good. I’m going through the code now, looking for traces of Liz. I think I might’ve found some
thing.”

  She was about to draw her head back in, but hesitated.

  “By the way . . . I forgot to say . . . you looked good at prom.”

  Colin blushed. “My suit’s too big.”

  She smiled.

  She stopped. Her smile was gone. Her brow furrowed as she stared at something in the sky beyond the pine trees.

  “Do you see that?”

  Colin walked to the edge of the roof, squinting over the sky. Sure enough, something was moving on the horizon. It was a small speck, like a star or a satellite. Except it was moving too fast and heading toward them. As it fell, it seemed to grow brighter. It might be his eyes playing tricks on him, but he thought he could see faint orange flames coming out its sides.

  “Is that . . . a meteorite?” Stevie whispered.

  Colin stared. It wasn’t a meteorite . . . it seemed to be moving in circles.

  His gaze flicked back to the dark road. Where the hell was Jay?

  Game Pros

  Twenty miles south of Tutorial, Jay’s white knuckles were wrapped around the grab handle in Elmer’s squad car. They were barreling toward Bickleton along Highway 24, Jeremy pushing the speedometer to ninety. In the rearview mirror, Jay watched Liz and his mom hold their breath, pushed back in their seats, eyes wide.

  Jeremy turned to face them. “I’ve driven this road a million times.”

  Jay’s eyes were glued to the road. “This fast?”

  “This fast.”

  Behind them trailed the Johns in a long line of pickup trucks. Jay’s eyes watered as wind whistled in through the busted windows. They rounded a corner, tires squealing, and Jay was pushed against the passenger door. Liz grabbed on to the divider mesh.

  “Slow down!”

  “Yes,” Jay’s mom chimed in. “Can we please go slower? What good is going so fast if we die on the way there!”

  “Everyone, chill. I’ve . . .” But the words died in his mouth.

  He and Jay were staring through the shattered windshield, at the sky. The loud whine of a motor filled the air, growing louder. The surrounding forest, which had been pitch black, suddenly lit up in an orange glow.

  “What’s that noise?” Liz yelled.

  In the air over the road, a 747 jetliner was hurtling from the sky. Its nose was slanted down, flames shooting from both of its engines. Dark smoke obscured the stars as it plummeted directly toward them.

  Kathy saw it and screamed, “Go faster! Faster!”

  Jeremy floored the gas pedal and the car shot forward. Behind them, the Johns veered their trucks, driving on the shoulder. The noise was deafening as the plane streaked over their heads, covering the road in flickering orange.

  BOOM!

  A shock wave of warm air blew through their car. Jay spun around. Not three hundred yards behind them, a fireball blossomed into the sky.

  “Holy shit!”

  Liz was staring over her shoulder. “Another disaster?”

  Jay nodded.

  “That’s everything, then? We’ve seen all the disasters?”

  Jay didn’t answer. He stared back at the burning patch of road behind them. Was Hal just trying to scare them? Or was he really trying to kill them?

  The woods on either side fell away, and they ascended the final rise into lower Bickleton. Or what was left of it. The Riverside Grill was now a tangle of timber, flames licking its edges. Beyond that, houses were smashed as if a giant fist had punched down from the sky. A Winnebago lay on its side, torn, its plaster scattered into the road. The trucks of escaping townsfolk lay at odd angles across the road, the surrounding asphalt littered with dead bodies. Jeremy slowed down, weaving around a trailer. In the back seat, his mom shuddered.

  “Oh my God. Who would do something like this?”

  Jay looked out the window, consumed with guilt, avoiding Jeremy’s accusing gaze.

  They turned up Jewett Boulevard, starting the climb into the upper part of town. Jay scanned the skyline, searching for any sign of the riot. But all was quiet, just the slow flicker of flames as the nearby buildings burned. Some movement on a rooftop caught his eye, and then a line of white figures crested the hill. The night suddenly erupted with the sound of angry grumbling.

  “They’re coming!”

  Jay heard a gun retort. Then another. The Johns were leaning out their windows, picking off the white figures that ran down the hill toward them.

  Then the things were everywhere. White shapes darted out into the road. The trucks swerved around the figures. Jeremy slammed his foot on the gas pedal, and Jay braced himself as they plowed through.

  Their car swerved, slalom-style, around the full-blown riot that now moved into the road, eager to catch them. The houses raged in pillars of flame, and Jay could feel the heat shimmering through the metal of their car. Sweat poured off his brow.

  “Look out!” screamed Liz.

  A faceless figure popped in front of their headlights. Its flat featureless head swiveled at them. Jeremy swerved, missing it by inches. Jay turned to look out the rearview window. The Johns’ trucks were mired in the creatures now. In the F-150 behind them, the faceless figures clung to the truck bed, sinking long fingers into the cab, pulling themselves up. John C spun around, firing into the riot as fast as he could.

  Jeremy spun the steering wheel, swerving off Main Street, past the charred ruins of New Bethlehem Church and a burning elementary school. Then they were speeding past cold empty fields. The school loomed ahead, and Jay was relieved to see that it looked intact. They spun into the A-Court parking lot. It stretched out before them, empty, with no signs of the riot, or any disasters.

  Jay banged on the dashboard. “Stop the car, stop the car!”

  Liz leaned forward. “What do you see?”

  “It’s what I don’t see. Hal’s not here. He’s at his computer, watching us. If we go to Tutorial, he’ll see Stevie, Colin, and the computer. We need to lure him back in the game before we go any farther.”

  Jeremy slammed on the brakes, and the car screeched to a halt.

  “I thought you said the three of us working together would bring him in?”

  Jay glanced at the clock. It was well after one o’clock in the morning. He looked back at Liz. There didn’t appear to be any change in her demeanor. But then, Hal had said there wouldn’t be. Was he already too late?

  “What do we do?” Liz whispered.

  Jay furrowed his brow, thinking. What would it take to get Hal’s attention? What would drive him crazy?

  “Nothing.”

  “Pardon?”

  “We have to do nothing.” Jay shook his head. “There’s one thing we can do to drive him crazy: we can stop playing his game.”

  “But . . . he’ll kill us.”

  Jay opened his door. “He won’t kill me.”

  He stepped out into the parking lot.

  Instantly, the roof of Bickleton High School burst into flames, lighting up the dark asphalt. Jay walked out toward the baseball field. Liz and Kathy got out and stood next to him, turning from the flames to Jay. From out on the baseball field, angry murmurs grew. Jay watched a horde of pale figures rush from the trees and tear across the empty grass. Fear rose in Jay’s throat as he watched them come. Still, he didn’t move.

  The figures clambered up the ivy-covered banks, toward the parking lot. Several dozen broke off and tore into the bleachers, ripping out large chunks of wood. They crested the hill, and Jay could see their white bodies grab and rattle the fence, until it came tumbling down, and the bodies ran over it. The creatures were rushing right at him, running across the parking lot.

  Jeremy stepped out of the car, pointing his shotgun.

  “Drop it,” Jay urged.

  “They’re gonna rip you apart.”

  “If Hal wanted me dead, he could’ve deleted me a long time ago.” />
  Jeremy lowered the shotgun, looking apprehensively from Jay to the riot. The slap of feet on pavement was overwhelming, and angry murmurings grew. They were a solid wall of bodies.

  “Jay . . . honey . . . ?” came his mom’s tremulous voice.

  “It’s okay.”

  The wall of white faceless bodies was only a few yards away. Another second and they’d be on him. What if he were wrong? Jay squeezed his eyes closed, bracing for impact. And then the noise stopped.

  When Jay opened his eyes again, the white riot was gone. Instead, a single figure stood in the high school parking lot. It was Hal. He wore his fanny pack and slippers. His hair was reduced to a horseshoe, and decades of fat padded his jawline. His mustache quivered.

  “Give up?”

  Jay felt a wave of relief, but tried not to show it.

  “Yes, Hal. We surrender.”

  Hal smiled. “I’m disappointed. I’d like to think I’m better than that.”

  “You are.” Jay gave a wan smile. “You’ve defeated us.”

  Hal sighed. “I told you it would come to this, if I turned the safety valve off. This is going to require a full reset. Every memory wiped, we start over back, say, junior year. Well, it’s not the first time.” He reached into his fanny pack.

  “Or . . . !” Jay interjected, stalling for time. Hal stopped, looking at him. “Or we could go mano a mano.”

  Hal chuckled and waved his remote at Jay. “Gonna try to take this one, too? Go ahead. I’ve got multiples stashed around the map.”

  “Nope. I know a way to beat you fair and square.”

  Hal looked at Jay, curious. “Maybe if this were a fair fight. But you know me too well to understand I can’t allow a truly fair fight.”

  The distant sound of thrumming engines filled the air. A line of trucks sped through the night, headlights blinking as they passed the rows of apple trees. He could hear the Johns howling out open windows, and the faint sound of Rage Against the Machine. Hal swiveled around at the noise. Jay turned back to Jeremy and motioned for him to get in the car.

  Jeremy leapt in the open driver’s door and threw the car into gear.