Immersion World

by Max Jager

  They rushed to the city as quickly as they could, only to find that it was abandoned. It seemingly had been abandoned for a long time. A few people recognized it as Oline city, a city from the real world and the location of one of the beta testing sites. However, upon entering the city they found that it wasn't completely abandoned, many goblins were wandering the streets in small groups.

  The sun was setting, so the group took shelter in the first building they found.

  "There's no running water." Fate said as she messed with the sink.

  "Nothing in the fridge either." Snipes sighed.

  "Well there doesn't seem to be any power, so if anything was in the fridge it'd be bad anyways." Jake pointed out as he laid down on a couch to rest. His wounds were starting to bleed through the rags of the hoodie Carley had wrapped them in.

  "Looks like someone ransacked the place already." George sighed. "Everyone, it's a big apartment complex. Split up and make sure this place is empty. Search the apartments for supplies while you do that. Matthew, Jackson, and I are going to barricade the doors and windows down here.

  Jackson glared at George, but went to move a few heavy things in front of the door.

  Everyone else split up to go search the apartment complex. They would all return later that night, the building was clear and safe. Elliott had found an aluminum baseball bat, but no other valuables were found. Oddly enough all the silverware was missing so everyone who went to search the kitchen for knives came back empty handed.

  Everyone regrouped in the main room that night, some people dragged down mattresses to sleep on, but everyone decided it was best to sleep in the same room to make it harder for the killer to get anybody. Everyone except Jackson, Carley, and Dexter. The three of them did not return to the main room to sleep that night.

  George had first watch and noticed that the three of them were nowhere to be found. When his shift was over and Fate stepped up for second watch he left to go look for the three missing people. He returned near the end of Fate's watch.

  "Find them?" Fate asked.

  George shook his head. "Couldn't find any of them. But I didn't check outside the building. I don't know where they went."

  Fate nodded "Well, you tried. Goodnight."

  "Night." George added, before going to bed.

  Next Chapter: Fractured Trust

  Chapter 3: Fractured Trust

  - Chapter 3: Fractured Trust -

  Brooke woke up early in the morning to the smell of smoke and maple syrup. She curiously got up and followed the scent through the apartment complex until she found Carley in the kitchen. Carley had lit a fire in the kitchen sink, and was holding a frying pan over the flames, while also trying to fan the smoke out an open window.

  As soon as Carley heard Brooke enter the room they spun around and took a step back, then relaxed a little once they spotted Brooke. "The stove didn't work."

  "What are you doing? And where were you last night? Elliott said you were gone for his watch and Fate's." Brooke walked into the room, spotting a carton of milk and other ingredients on the counter. But that wasn't all she noticed, Carley didn't look very good. Carley was a little bruised up, had bags under their eyes, and their clothes were a little torn up and dirty. It looked like Carley had been in some sort of a fight or struggle last night.

  "Um, I'm making pancakes?" Carley's demeanor appeared weak and vulnerable, as usual, but it seemed worse today.

  "You really don't look good Carley, where were you last night? You can't avoid that question. You look like you didn't sleep, and you're more banged up then you were yesterday. Plus you must have gotten those ingredients from somewhere, they weren't in this house. Where were you?" Brooke walked closer but was being careful not to get too close, she was well aware that Carley preferred keeping people at a distance.

  Carley lowered their head in a submissive manner and quietly mumbled. "I went out scouting the city. It isn't safe here, the green creatures are everywhere. Not only that but I saw some giant bugs, spiders and wasps, and worst of all I think I spotted a dragon's head peek up above the rooftops for a moment."

  "Why would you do that? That goblin broke your ribs, you are so lucky that it didn't puncture a lung, you can't be running around the city as if you're unharmed. Are you trying to get yourself killed? Because that's a very quick way to do it." Brooke scolded.

  Carley turned away from Brooke and focused on the pancakes. "Of course not. I'm alive, am I not? If I truly wanted to kill myself, wouldn't it be absurdly easy in this world? All I'd have to do is run at the goblins and they'd kill me in an instant. Or I could've bothered the giant bugs, or the dragon, I coulda jumped off one of the rooftops I ran across. Heck, if I really wanted to do it I could've just used this." Carley shrugged and lifted the side of their shirt just enough to show that they had a dagger tucked into the side of their pants.

  Brooke was a little unsettled by what Carley was saying, but her eyes were drawn to the dagger. "Where did you get that?" Brooke questioned. She heard someone move and spotted Elliott walking towards them. She held up a hand to signal to him to stop and wait outside the room.

  "I found it." Carley answered simply, but then noticed that the answer was not satisfactory for Brooke. "I found it last night, it isn't like I had that thing this whole time. I never used it, and don't know if I could." Carley saw that Brooke had a cautious and questioning look on her face. Carley hesitated and pulled the dagger out, then held it by the blade and handed it to Brooke. "I know, I am a suspect for Olivia's death. That's why I told you about the dagger, didn't want to hide it and become more suspect. I honestly found it last night."

  Brooke thought about it for a moment, then took the dagger. "You seriously need to get some sleep tonight. You're only making yourself more suspect by being alone all night. I'm going to have to ask you to stay with the group tonight. Or at least stay with me and Elliott"

  "I can't. You don't understand." Carley paused and thought about those words for a brief moment. "Well, maybe you do understand. I'm not stupid, I know the people here are not bad people, I know they wouldn't do anything to me. But I'm not ready, I'm not okay yet, and if something did happen again it would kill me." Carley sighed. "I'm not mentally stable, I can admit that. My fear of others controls me far more than it ever should. But despite knowing this my wounds are too fresh, I had only just gotten my life on a better path before getting stuck here. I have to fix myself before I can trust anyone, because in my current mental state I don't trust myself to be a good judge of character."

  "You trust me, don't you?" Brooke questioned.

  "... I want to." Carley answered. "Please understand. I have a long history of trusting the wrong people. And when I live all day, every day, in constant fear, I'm always blinded by that fear. So I have to stop and ask myself if I'm in the right mind to tell who is trustworthy and who isn't. When fear is all I see, and I'm not thinking clearly, I can't honestly say that I believe I have the clarity of mind to tell friend from foe. Even if probability and common sense tells me that the vast majority of you are friends, if I can't tell the difference I should just stay away."

  "Well, you trust your girlfriend right? She's still out there somewhere, we'll find her eventually. You can still trust people." Brooke tried to spin a positive light on it.

  Carley didn't answer.

  Brooke sighed "I won't press any further, and I won't tell you to stay with us again. But please, as soon as you're ready, start staying in the camp at night. However, I will ask you two things. One, get some sleep tonight. George told me that he can tell you didn't sleep last night, or the night before. He wants you to rest, and so do I. And two, tell us where you are camping out, so we can at least watch over the area from a distance."

  Carley lowered their head. "I'll think about it."

  "If you don't, Elliott and I will have to go out and search for you. Which would put us in danger." Brooke insisted.

  Carley frowned and took a step back. "Fine, you win." Carle
y took the pancakes off the fire and placed the pan on the counter. Then quickly put the fire out by throwing a few cups of dirt into the sink to smother it. Carley added the pancakes from the pan to a plate that had a few more of them, then handed it to Brooke.

  Brooke took the plate and asked "You gonna eat with us?"

  "No." Carley answered.

  "Oh, then take yours before you go." Brooke stated as she handed the plate back, but Carley wouldn't take it.

  "I already ate." Carley answered.

  "I know you didn't, so just take one." Brooke insisted.

  "In addition to the food and dagger, while out scavenging I also found these in a pharmacy." Carley quickly changed the subject and reached into a small backpack that was on the ground by the sink. Carley pulled out two small bottles with red liquid in them. "Don't know what they do, but they look like healing potions. If they are potions, they would help you and Jake."

  "You need them more than I do." Brooke insisted. "I have a cut, the sword didn't pierce me that deeply. You broke your ribs."

  "It's no big deal, I've had worse." Carley insisted as they handed Brooke the bottles, but she wouldn't take them so Carley just left them on the counter.

  "Carley, a broken rib could kill you if it punctures your lung. You're lucky it hasn't done that already, any move you make could cause the fragments to pierce you." Brooke frowned

  "There's more important things to worry about." Carley shrugged and picked up the backpack. "Anyways, you guys have breakfast, and the potions are for you and Jake. So I'm going to slip out before anyone else wakes up. There's more scavenging to do. I'll be nearby if my help is needed."

  "Hey no! You still didn't take any food, or the potion." Brooke spoke up quickly and moved to block the door, but Carley went for the open window. Brooke moved quick to try and grab Carley, but in the time it took her to put the plate of pancakes down and cross the room Carley was already out the window. Brooke sighed and shook her head "How does she move so quickly with broken ribs?"

  "Who?" Fate asked as she and George walked into the room.

  "Carley made us pancakes, then left without eating again. She also found those," Brooke gestured to the small glass bottles on the counter. "They might be healing potions."

  "Oh, next time you see her tell her I said thanks." George said as he grabbed two pancakes with his bare hands and started eating them. He paused when he noticed everyone staring at him. "What? It's not like we are at a formal dinner, pancakes can be finger food." He mumbled with his mouth full.

  "Anyways." Fate sighed and shook her head. "Anyone have any further information on the killer?"

  "Do we still think there is a killer within the group?" George asked. "Nobody is dead."

  "I don't know, but it's better to assume there is one and be safe then to assume it was a freak coincidence and throw caution to the wind." Fate shrugged. "But Carley, Jackson, and Dexter were gone all night, and you, George, left for a short duration last night as well, despite everyone but Jackson knowing we wanted to keep everyone at the camp for safety purposes. George is still here, so he's fine, and I assume Jackson is camping nearby. Which leads me to ask why Dexter isn't here, he doesn't have a reason to not be here."

  "You thinking Dexter is the killer?" George asked.

  "Of course not! If there's a killer in the group, they would be someone who is either here, or someone who has an excuse to not be here. The moment they disappear without a reason is the moment they become a suspect, no smart killer would do that. Basically, Olivia died yesterday and Dexter is missing today, so we should make sure any information we have on suspects is shared with people we can trust. If you are holding vital information that you didn't share, and you die we will never get that information. It's possible Dexter may have been the next victim. We have no leads or proof yet, but better safe than sorry." Fate leaned back against the wall and brushed her long hair out of her face. "I trust you two, any new information?"

  Brooke hesitated, "Well, I don't think it was her but Carley looked extremely tired, and she had this on her." Brooke spoke up and showed Fate the dagger. "She said she was out scavenging last night and found it, as well as food and these two bottles." She gestured to the two small glass bottles with the red liquid.

  "That's suspicious." Fate thought out loud.

  "But Carley is so weak and fragile, do you really think she could actually kill people?" George pointed out.

  "No, at first I didn't think Carley was capable of overpowering anyone." Fate started. "But I'm wondering if it's all an act. Did you notice? George, Matthew, and I are probably our best fighters, and she's just as good as we are. Not counting that Jackson guy, he's in a different league altogether. But Carley went toe to toe with the goblin and would have walked away unscratched if it wasn't for Snipes. Carley also went toe to toe with the lizardman, and walked away unscratched. Now Brooke is telling me Carley went out into the city, alone? Did you look out the windows yet? The city is crawling with goblins, you can't go very far out there without running into them. That means she was out there fighting them by herself, and she came back unscratched again. Plus she just left in a hurry, right? She wanted to get out so badly she went out the window, who does that? Carley's not the weak and fragile girl we think she is."

  "So you think Carley is the killer?" Brooke questioned unsurely.

  "No. We don't have enough proof." Fate replied. "And it looks like she genuinely cares about people, so unless she's a really good actor or a sociopath that would contradict her being the killer. Just adding her to the list of suspects." She walked over to the glass bottles and picked one up to inspect it.

  "So who are your suspects?" George asked.

  Elliott slipped into the room and sat on the counter beside Brooke, he just quietly listened and took in everything being said.

  "Brooke, these might be potions. They could also be poison Carley left for us. Do you want to take the risk and test one? You're wounded, so if it's a potion it will heal you." Fate handed Brooke one bottle and ignored George's question for now.

  Elliott looked like he was about to protest, and Brooke hesitated.

  In her moment of hesitation someone took the bottle from Brooke's hand. "I'll test it." Jake spoke up. "I'm wounded too, and my wounds will probably get me killed anyways. So if it's poison, I'll find out." He suggested, then before anyone could stop him he drank the strange red liquid.

  Fate nodded "Thanks." She said, then she turned to George. "My suspect list? Evelyn is at the top right now. I noticed one of the sleeves to her dress seemed a little heavier than the other. I've worked in a casino long enough to tell when someone's hiding something in their clothes. I checked her last night while she was asleep, she's concealing a small pocket knife in the sleeve of her dress and hasn't told anyone. Aside from her, Jackson is a suspect. He came out of the forest, which means it could have been him that got Olivia. First impressions of him make him seem kinda scary, and more than capable of killing people. Plus he's not around at night. Carley is a suspect, for the reasons I mentioned before. And you, George, are also a suspect."

  "Why me? You just said you trusted me." George asked.

  "You disappeared last night, and are in a position of power within the group, plus it was you who formed the group in the first place. If I were a serial killer, that's how I would do it. I'd make a group, put myself as the leader, and pick them off one by one while pretending to lead the hunt for the killer. Although I didn't suspect you until you left last night." Fate answered. "And I do trust you, for now. My suspicion of you is very anecdotal, aside from last night you haven't done anything to raise any flags like the others did. I'm just keeping an eye on you."

  "Uh guys?" Jake interrupted. When everyone turned to him they saw that he was struggling to stand.

  George quickly walked over to hold him up. "Are you okay?"

  "My entire body is going numb. I'm gonna fall, someone help me get onto the floor." Jake's voice wavered in fear.

 
Fate turned to Brooke "Where did Carley say she was going?"

  "She said she was going to go scavenge, and that she would be nearby." Brooke replied.

  "I'm going to go find her and drag her back here so we can figure out what the hell is going on." Fate growled as she turned to leave.

  "Wait." George interrupted. "That's dangerous, there's goblins out there."

  "We need her here so we can figure out what is going on. If she was the one who poisoned it she might have an antidote." Fate insisted as she began walking out of the room.