Kill Switch: Final Season

by Sean E. Britten

  Tommy reached for the trigger of his cobbled laser but Layla stopped him. Kahneman’s twin weapons could cut them down in an instant while Tommy’s laser would be splashy and inaccurate. Fortunately, even after everything, the pair wanted to make it a show. Kahneman kept his two namesake weapons low. Boche waded toward Layla, swinging his rumbling chainsaw from side to side.

  “You’re making a mistake.” Layla said, “You don’t need to do this!”

  “Untermensch.” Boche sneered.

  The big Nazi shot toward Layla with chainsaw raised. The engine howled, serrated teeth screaming. Boche heaved the weapon around, making the chainsaw look impossibly light with his superhuman strength. In spite of the boils and radiation sickness, he was incredibly fast and strong. Layla threw herself backward and blocked with the piece of rebar. Sparks exploded off the rebar with a shrieking sound. Boche jousted at Layla’s chest but one-handed Layla managed to parry the blow, swinging the rebar like a sword.

  “Layla!” Tommy said.

  “Don’t you try to use that piece of junk, whatever it is.” Kahneman aimed one of his guns at Tommy.

  With her prosthetic arm, the chainsaw would have been useless against Layla. She could have blocked with her hardened porcelain plates and crushed the blade with her superhuman grip. But she only had one flesh-and-blood arm left, making her already off-balance, and she was pretty determined to keep it. Staggering sideways, Layla blocked with her rebar. Sparks screamed off the metal rod again. He was only toying with her. Rearing back, he kicked lazily at one of Layla’s hips.

  “Nazi piece of shit!” Layla stumbled back.

  Boche swapped the chainsaw from hand to hand, circling with an arrogant grin. He was caught by surprise when Layla suddenly powered forward, left side whirring. Getting in under his defenses, Layla swung the length of rebar into Boche’s midsection. The armoured coat absorbed some of the blow but the superhuman Nazi let out a short exhalation. Withdrawing, Layla tried to swat Boche across the wrists but he blocked with the chainsaw. The move was only a feint, however, and Layla twisted and swung the rebar into Boche’s face instead, the piece of metal smashing the Nazi’s jaw. Boche recoiled in pain.

  “You forgot one thing!” Layla said, “I’m Layla! Southpaw! Motherfucking Jackson!”

  Layla fended off a wild swinging arc from Boche’s chainsaw, sparks flying, and hit him across the face again. With every exclamation, Layla cracked the piece of rebar across Boche’s features. The Nazi supersoldier was stunned at the quick turnaround in the fight, as was his partner. Blood flew from Boche’s wounds and several of the boils on his face popped and spewed disgusting fluids. Chainsaw still running, Boche tumbled to his knees and Layla hit him again, clipping him across the side of the skull. A normal man would have already been dead.

  “Nein.” Boche slurred.

  “Out of ten?” Layla said, “I’ll fucking take it.”

  Layla kicked one of Boche’s arms out from under him and he fell face first into the rubble. Raising her left boot, Layla’s left side locked up in one final burst of effort. Her foot, powered by the internal mechanics that were meant to provide support for bursts of strength from her left arm, slammed back down into Boche’s head and drove it into the ground. The blow split the supersoldier’s skull open. Boche’s head was crushed like an insect, gore splattering the surrounding debris.

  “No!” Kahneman yelled, “You can’t do that! There’s no way you could beat the Nazi!”

  Even though the game had almost totally fallen apart, the sleeve on Boche’s right arm started to sing. The one attached to Kahneman did the same, and the former Mossad agent staggered back for a moment. Needles pierced through his forearm and injected him with drugs and adrenaline.

  “Tommy!” Layla said, “Wake up!”

  Layla pitched the length of rebar she still had in her hand at Kahneman. It whirled through the air and bounced off Kahneman’s left arm, just above the wrist. Bone broke and Kahneman dropped one of his two Uzi submachine guns but didn’t feel the injury as the drugs took effect.

  “Right, right!” Tommy said.

  Tommy hit the makeshift trigger on his weapon, mashing two wires together to create a spark. A bright, blue beam shot past Kahneman and started burning through the building behind him. Awkwardly, Tommy tried to angle the beam around but Kahneman recovered first. Letting out a roar of anger, he opened fire on Tommy. Several bullets ricocheted off Tommy’s armour as he ducked and tried to find cover, protecting his face.

  Kahneman’s sleeve was wailing with its flatline scream since Boche’s death. He let out a long, tearing burst with his T-shaped weapon. Picking up a rock, Layla got closer and hurled it directly at Kahneman’s face. The rock cracked off the side of the man’s skull, distracting him for a moment. Blood leaking down the side of his head, he whirled on Layla, right arm outstretched.

  “Tommy!” Layla yelled.

  Tommy straightened again, hitting the trigger for his cobbled weapon. The combined blue lasers lanced into Kahneman’s right arm, cutting through it just below the elbow. Kahneman recoiled, yelling in anger and surprise, and the lower half of his arm tore free. Blood arced through the air and sizzled as it hit the blue laser beam jerking around from the end of Tommy’s weapon. Dropping the Uzi submachine gun, the arm spiralled and landed close to Layla. Kahneman staggered back, swinging the stump of his right arm wildly.

  The hand and section of forearm that had been cut free was still wearing Kahneman’s screaming kill switch sleeve. A couple jets of blood pumped out of the severed end of the limb as the pulse weakened. Quickly, Layla bent over and grabbed Kahneman’s hand by the fingers.

  “Hey! Let me give you a hand!” Layla yelled.

  Layla heaved the severed arm back at its original owner. It smacked against Kahneman’s chest and fell to his feet with a small somersault. Kahneman looked down at it with an insulted expression, as if he couldn’t imagine why Layla had taken the time to do something so disgusting. Layla, however, was in motion, turning and running as fast as her lurching left side would allow her. Realising what was about to happen, Tommy dropped his laser and dove to the ground.

  The pulse died inside the limb and, assuming he was dead, the bomb attached to Kahneman’s kill switch exploded. Kahneman disappeared as the orange fireball ripped him apart. Pieces of the contestant splattered up the sides of the surrounding buildings. The shockwave echoed across the central arena section.

  Layla and Tommy waited until the blast faded and them gathered themselves up. Layla grunted as she got her left knee under her and straightened. A rain of blood and gory scraps showered from the air. Oily smoke billowed from the spot where Kahneman had been standing. Tommy dragged his laser weapon, its cables and collection of batteries out of the rubble.

  “Nice one, your quipping game is definitely back.” Tommy said.

  “Thanks.” Layla said, “Come on, the scorptank would’ve definitely picked up that explosion. Keep heading for that entrance where we came in.”

  xXx

  Digger and Homer returned to the spot where they had last seen the others. The Australian was hoping he could track them from there, although he’d been willing to abandon them not so long ago. He could trace them to a nearby parking garage thanks to a fresh trail of destruction. Another mech and its pilot had been through there.

  “Alright, Sonny Jim, through here and we’ll find the others in no time.” Digger said.

  Homer, however, took over the search. Without indicating anything, the boy led Digger through the entry to the garage, a height sign dangling from one chain off to one side of the entrance. Across the garage were scars of battle. Bullet holes riddled abandoned vehicles, and the walls and pillars of the garage. They saw a body in white armour splayed behind one of the pillars.

  “It’s Ridley.” Digger spotted the name on the mercenary’s breastplate.

  Centre of the merc’s chest was the craterous hole from the mech’s railgun. Digger looked away from the bloody abscess, sca
nning the garage.

  “Righto, well if the others got away then where would they go from here?” Digger said.

  Homer was already moving, taking off toward the exit where the others had run earlier. Digger had no choice but to follow. The corner was littered with more bullet holes but no bodies. The confidence with which Homer tracked the others out of the parking structure was unnerving. They emerged again into sunlight.

  “Construction site up ahead, looks like some of that fence has been torn up.” Digger said, “But you know exactly where you’re going, don’t you?”

  Smiling shyly under his bulky helmet, Homer looked back at Digger. It was that boyish expression that comforted Digger for a moment. When he thought back to how Ellis’ body had looked when Homer was finished with him, however, there was no place for comfort. Homer turned away and kept moving. They headed through a gap in the construction site’s barrier.

  “Digger? Hey, Digger! Homer!” Miller yelled.

  The medic crossed the construction site, her helmet off, waving at the two of them. Behind her were the other contestants, Echo Three, DFN and Bolt. Digger slowly took it in. The mech Klou had stolen was standing in the middle of the yard, badly damaged, although Digger wasn’t able to see it was the doctor inside. Not far behind it was the body of the mutated rhino DFN had shot. The canopy of the mech suit was fogged up by Klou’s breathing and perspiration. Heat from the desert sun would take care of Klou eventually if he was left in the unpowered machine. Fortunately, of course, his kill switch bracelet was no longer connected with Echo Three.

  “Miller, bloody hell, good to see someone survived.” Digger said.

  “Me, and these guys.” Miller said, “Ridley didn’t make it, Klou got him.”

  “I know, we saw him.” Digger said, “Klou is in there? We had to deal with a couple of mechs as well but they had civvies in them.”

  “Don’t know how he got it, but yeah, he’s not going anywhere now.” Miller said, “Used an EMP to take him down once the armour was breached, he’s still technically alive but his brains are scrambled as shit.”

  “That the medical term for it, is it?” Digger said.

  Miller had her compact submachine gun tucked against her side. She was still wearing her white armour but without a helmet Digger saw her face for the first time. Bolt and Echo Three helped support DFN as they came to join the others. Behind them, the last of the mechanised pack mules followed, its sides covered in weapons, ammo, and the large, hourglass-shaped EMP device.

  “Where are the others? Where’s Jackson and Nguyen?” Miller asked.

  “Dead, they’re all dead.” Digger said.

  “You saw them die?” Miller said.

  “With these own two peepers, sorry.” Digger said, “Scorpion tank blew them away to shit, fucking atomised them.”

  “My God.” Miller said.

  “And your mate Ellis just tried to take me out.” Digger said, “Homer here did him in first.”

  “Homer killed him?” Miller said.

  “Turns out you were right about those injectors, they were just working against whatever suppressants he was already on. Now they’re wearing off, and our boy has brain box powers all on his own.” Digger gestured wildly, “Homer’s in full working order, firing on all cylinders.”

  Miller looked horrified, eyes wide, still recovering from the pain of learning Layla and the others had died. The three contestants that had been traveling with her looked on expectantly. DFN had her lightweight rifle slung over one shoulder, and Echo had her axe, but they all looked worn out and done with fighting.

  “What-, what do we do now?” Miller said.

  “You kidding me? We get the H-E-double fuck out of here, sweetheart.” Digger said, “Get back to the trucks you used to get here and tear out.”

  “What about the mission? The one that Layla and the others died for?” Miller said.

  “Pardon my French, but I couldn’t give a pile of dead dingoes’ kidneys about the mission, I aim to live a long and healthy life as a free man instead.” Digger said.

  “I mean, if I’m the last one left, and it’s just you guys, then we don’t have any other choice.” Miller said, “Tactical retreat, we’ll get back to the spot in the wall where we cut through and go.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Are you fat? Ugly? Lonely? Unlovable? Struggling to fill the gaping void within yourself?

  CONSUME

  Inadequate in one or numerous ways? Depressed? Broken-hearted? Aware that you are aging? Afraid? Are you so, so afraid?

  CONSUME

  Brought to you by the Government Department of Consumption. Look for our subliminal messaging in supermarkets, every form of media, and all good bookshops.

  Zachariah watched what was unfolding on the main screen. Two and a half teams were left of the original fifteen, not including the Ringers who had been vaporised before they could get involved, and those teams were all planning their escape. The whole season had turned into a disaster. On another screen, Layla Jackson and Tommy Nguyen were avoiding the scorptank as they picked their way across the central section.

  “We can’t let them leave, I’d be a laughing stock!” Zachariah said, “After last season, and then this, the show would never recover!”

  “Sir, without the kill switches there’s nothing we can do to force them to kill each other.” One of the techs said, “They tried that last season after they teamed up, I mean-, it didn’t work, but I think we’re out of options.”

  “Send the security troopers to cut them off!” Zachariah said, “Send all the remaining ones up to the surface!”

  “I know there’s only a few of them left but-, sir, the clones got wiped out before.” The tech said.

  “I told you before, send them up with the trucks and heavy weapons we were going to give the contestants to fight the Slayer mechs.” Zachariah said, “Surely that will be enough to take on-, what? Five rundown contestants, a nurse, a reporter, and a crippled cyborg!”

  “Sending all the remaining guards will leave us defenceless, though.” Another producer said.

  “Hardly defenceless.” Zachariah scoffed.

  “What about the boy? I mean-, his powers, we weren’t even sure he’d be able to use them and the drugs were supposed to keep them suppressed unless he took the counteragent.” The tech said, “He’s out of our control now!”

  “A few little tricks, I don’t think that’ll count for much while we’re down here!” Zachariah said.

  “With respect, sir, the hospital we picked him up from-, there’s a whole lot more he could do if he goes completely out of control.” The tech said.

  “Enough questions!” Zachariah said, “Send the guards! Send the trucks! Do it!”

  xXx

  Digger and Miller worked in tandem to lead the others out of the arena. Leaving the construction site, they doubled back around the carpark where Ridley had died and down the street. Miller used a first aid kit from the robotic pack mule to properly treat Digger’s injuries from the fight with Ellis. A coagulant stopped the blood flowing and they’d been properly bandaged. She had given him some painkillers as well, and something that made him feel a measure of normal despite the bloodloss he’d gone through. His clothing was covered in drying blood stains.

  They needed to make it back to the other side of the Towers section and through Suburbia. That would bring them to the outer wall the mercenaries had carved through, and their vehicles. Miller had her face-concealing helmet back on. Guns up, they watched the side streets and the air. Assuming the game and the people behind it had no more tricks to throw at them was a perfect way to get killed. The others trailed after them in a tight knot. Homer stayed close to Digger in spite of the Australian’s reservations about the boy and his abilities. Echo and Bolt helped support DFN and her injured leg.

  “I can’t believe it was all for nothing, so much death-, the whole team, dead.” Miller said, “We didn’t accomplish a single thing we set out to do.”
/>   “You saved us, me, this lot.” Digger said, “That’s got to count for something.”

  “Of course, but-, look how many lives it took, all the others.” Miller said.

  “No offense, but I’m sure you all got paid a shitload of money for the risk involved.” Digger said, “I’ve worked with a lot of mercenaries, not exactly in it because they’re on the side of the angels. Buy the ticket, take the bloody ride.”

  “That’s not why I did this.” Miller said, “I really thought we could bring it all down, stop this bloodbath permanently.”

  “I love idealists, they make great target practice.” Digger said.

  Buzzing, a drone descended from the sky. One of the large, black and armoured ones they had seen earlier. Digger and Miller trained their guns on the drone as it hovered in front of them, its emitters firing up. The small spikes cast a hologram of Zachariah Hawthorne into the street in front of them. Even cast out of blue and green light, the head producer looked much more exhausted than before.

  “Welcome to the final act, contestants.” Zachariah said.

  “Not contestants anymore, remember?” Digger said.

  “That’s a shame, because the only things that should be running around my arena are contestants or meat, disposable meat.” Zachariah said, “In fact, I’m here to offer you a deal. You can still come out ahead, I see three teams here in front of me. One of those teams kills the others, you can still be declared winner of this season and walk out free.”

  “Wouldn’t a deal like that need some actual leverage? You butcher?” Miller said.

  “I promise you, if one of the teams doesn’t kill everyone else present, none of you will leave here alive.” Zachariah said, “It’s better for the show that all of you die if you won’t cooperate. Slayerz won’t survive another season of giving our viewers bloodlust blue balls by letting more than one team live!”

  “Well, shit, when you put it that way.” Digger rubbed two fingers together, “World’s tiniest violin right here, mate.”