by Isaac Stone
Through his scope, Kurt saw the flash from the grenade explosion and the results. He watched as a cloud of smoke rose into the sky and body parts of zombies flew all over the place. Most of the NZ’s in the middle were torn apart from the explosion. A few on the end were sent into the air. The creatures hit the ground hard when they landed. None of them moved after they went down.
Kurt stood up with the others and looked at the results. Once again, Ares fiddled with what they saw to heighten the blood and body parts on the ground. Kurt’s faceplate totaled up the points from the hit. He could tell it was a clean sweep. Another notice appeared in the HuD to remind him that Lavon was out of the game. As if he hadn't seen her pretty face turned into a volcano just a few moments before.
“Clean sweep,” Jesse said to him. “She had to have used one of the HE grenades. Effective but has shit for range, hence the rush into death and glory.” She walked out and looked at the massive carnage in front of them.
“Yes,” Kurt agreed. “I’d still rather have Lavon back. Now it’s down to the two of us. Going to be a lot harder to win that prize.”
“But only a 2-way split,” she pointed out "And after that hero stunt, I guarantee you Lavon is going to be selling the hell out of her branded energy drinks. Going out like that might have been her plan all along and she was just waiting for a perfect moment that could be clipped and go viral, you never know with those sponsored players."
They received their reward from the leader of the unit they rescued, but took a lot less than they’d planned since the operation cost them two members of the team. Both of them made certain they had all the ammunition they could carry and that it was in perfect shape.
“From what I heard,” Stevens said as he issued them the ammunition, “That drone saved us all. You were pinned down by a sniper until it showed up.”
“Long enough for those dwarf things to appear, besides I thought you called it in,” Kurt responded. “And getting rid of the stores behind them cost us two people. So thanks for the ammo, but I don’t know if it was worth the effort.”
“By the way,” Stevens mentioned. “A lot of the game players have reached the final point in city center, the transmitter that wins the game. They’re in some kind of staging area while they hunt down the last of the NZ’s. City center is wall to wall zombie apocalypse, but you know how it is, plenty of campers waiting around for us to do the dirty work. Let em wait, I'm racking up side quests. See you there, eventually.”
Kurt thanked him for the information, then turned and walked away with Jesse.
Chapter 12
“Do you think there are any save points before we reach the staging area?” she asked him. “There is something I want to look into.” Each save point had a screen where the game players could access the real world and check mail, or at least within the limitations of Rashid's security filters. He assumed this was what she needed to do.
“There is more to this game than you can imagine,” Jesse told him an hour later. Kurt had located a save point not a mile from where they walked.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Kurt commented. “But I don’t care so long as I get that prize money. Or split it with you, as the case may be. No energy drink contracts or trust funds waiting for me if I get a bullet to the dome,” He starred ahead and tried to see if there was any movement ahead. “We’ll have a nest egg, in any event. Maybe have a nice honeymoon.”
“Rashid has plans,” she spoke again, ignoring his flirtation. “I don’t know what he’s got in mind, but it scares me.”
“There are people in this world who always want more,” Kurt told her. “When I was a lot younger, I read a story about a rich family that pulled a big scam. They had it all, boats, servants and cash, but it wasn’t enough. They felt looked down on because people in their circle of friends had even more. So they were compelled to do whatever they could to get more money. And it brought them down. Me, I’d be happy with five million or so.”
Jesse shook her hair back and laughed that time. She’d popped her helmet off when they started on the walk into the town. Kurt had his off as well. Funny how Ares showed the helmets again once they were in danger. They didn’t know where the ghouls might strike next, but for now, both of them felt safe. In addition, it was hot as hell in this weather.
“Are you sure that’s all you need?” she asked Kurt. It was a slight, but did the trick.
Kurt stopped and turned to her. “No, Jesse,” he said. “I want a lot more. I want kids and a decent place to live. I want the kind of life my grandparents used to talk about, where you had a house that didn’t cost too much and a car that worked. I know somethings will never return, but I can start a family. Would you like to help me start one?” He put his hands on her shoulders.
“Right here? Dude you are really going for the prize,” she said playfully as she shoved his shoulder.
“Not at this very moment. We’ve been on several of these big tournaments before. We know each other. You might even out-rank me. So I think we have a good possibility here. Of winning I mean, forget the honeymoon jokes, I'm serious. What do you think?”
She laughed. “There are only two of us left out of the original Skull Legion, so I suppose it makes sense. We can take Killstreak," she said, and then paused to smile as he looked at him directly, "Kids and a house huh?”
Kurt stood there for a few minutes and looked into her eyes. She was beautiful, even in the body protective armor, and gun slung over one shoulder. The dirty boots and uniform didn’t bother him either. Kurt new what she looked like in real life, so this wasn’t an issue.
Kurt stood there and thought about what he really wanted out of life. The damn “Top Hundred” rank he’d achieved was all he’d wanted for a long time and now he was in that group. He could push harder after this tournament was over and try for the top slot. Most people remembered who the top player was each year, but the lesser ones were soon forgotten. However, was it worth his efforts? He didn’t think so. So much to think about, so little time.
“Why did you get into this?” he asked her.
She looked at the ground. “To tell you the truth, I did this as a way to pay for college. I found out how few women were in the games and decided it would give me an advantage. It did. Plenty of my opponents didn’t take me seriously or spent time hitting up on me. I let them, up until I needed to take them out and win the game. Soon, they called me an angel of death, but I didn’t care. It’s not like I was really killing someone and they knew it.”
They continued on their way shortly after. Kurt went back into gamer mode and tried not to think about Jesse, but he couldn’t stop planning for the future. What good was it to think about tomorrow when you didn’t know if next year all the fuel would run out? The country was on a dangerous slope right now as the government poured millions into solar and geothermal power research, but it would take a long time to provide replacement energy. In the meantime, everyone had to get by on what they had.
The latest save point was just up ahead on the map. Kurt slipped the map into his shirt pocket and continued to walk with Jesse at his side. They hadn’t said a word since the marriage conversation a while back. He assumed she was thinking things over as well. It was all in good fun, but he was sure they'd both had some serious moments too. Online gamer relationships were an odd thing, moving from one reality to the other, it could get confusing.
This save point was built into an old temple of some kind. Kurt looked around and saw a fair number of buildings around him, but no movement. Rashid spent a lot of money on this scenery and he hoped the viewing public appreciated the work. Even if Ares could wrap an appearance over the buildings, there still had to be something to work with to get the look right. Kurt even saw electric wires dangling from the main power lines. Just as if you’d expect to see in a poor country where people stole energy from the power lines with battery cables.
He saw the vehicle speed toward them from the distance. Both of them knew what it meant and
had their rifles unslung in seconds. Both Kurt and Jesse were down on the ground as it increased in velocity. They remembered the last time it happened and what it meant.
“Maybe it’s headed for the save point,” Jesse spoke to him. Kurt shook his head.
“No,” he said. “It wants us. They’ve had a good time picking us off, wearing each player team down so that its mostly every man for himself when it comes time to fight for city center. Just hang tight and don’t shoot until you get the driver in range.”
Kurt was down on one knee and looked through the scope. He could see the vehicle, which was a truck of some kind speed up as it approached them. He also had the driver, a full-sized Nazi Zombie wearing a Wehrmacht uniform, in the range of his rifle. He was about to squeeze the trigger when he saw what was in the passenger side.
It might’ve been human at one time, but this NZ was a protoplasmic slug that held a Thompson M1928A1 machine gun. How a giant slug was supposed to fire it didn’t concern him. It wasn’t that a slug might be a bad shot; it was that it could do it at all that amazed him. The scenario had transitioned into full blown nightmare monsters from hell. Ok. Doom it is. Time to fight like hell.
Kurt set his assault rifle to full automatic after he saw the slug. This thing would take more than a single shot to kill it. When he was certain the truck was close enough, he squeezed the trigger and the assault rifle began to bark. Seconds later he heard the sound of Jesse’s gun firing away.
The slug burst into a gout of slime, and the driver jerked from multiple impacts, but the truck kept coming as a second slug slid from the bed into the cab through the smashed rear window, and took up the Thompson. Ten yards away, Kurt flattened himself on the ground and tried to become a small target. He heard the slug gunfire continue, but he was too low to the ground to be hit. Kurt prayed the same was true for Jesse. Now was not the time to lose her.
Except that it was.
“Jesse is Dead” flashed on his Heads up Display and Kurt swore. As the truck continued on its way and into the night, Kurt ran to where Jesse had stood a minute ago. Nevertheless, she was gone. Not even a body in sight. Ares was pulling dead bodies out of the scenario for some reason. Or maybe it was still embedded in the grill of the damn truck that, no driverless, smashed into a concrete wall and was engulfed in flames. In any event, she was out of the game for now. Furious, he checked his standard recall switch, it didn’t work and he wasn’t about to use the emergency one.
A frustrated Kurt made it to the save point fifteen minutes later. Enemy reinforcements did not arrive, but he kept watch for just in case.
“I need a shower and some food,” Kurt told the man behind the counter as he placed his rifle and backpack on the counter. “I need to port out and back to real space for a few hours. Do you have a recall switch around here? Mine is broke and won’t work.
“Same for everyone, they get deactivated when you get too close to city center,” the old man spoke behind the counter. He swung his hand at the crowds of armed game players who were hanging out in the store. “It is a sort of punishment for the campers who try to bypass the campaign, but the side effect is that anyone who gets too close is locked in for the duration. Don't worry, they're taking care of your body.”
Kurt tossed his backpack on the floor and looked at the other game players who stood around the lobby of the place. They were almost all men, with a few notable exceptions. It was one of the reasons he was fed-up with this sport, no way to meet women. At least he’d found Jesse and they seemed to have the same passion for online games. Or so he thought. Kurt didn’t know a whole lot about her. This would be something he’d have to rectify once he left this place. He was officially smitten with her, and he hoped it wasn't just him that felt this way.
He thought about how his own parents met and tried to find a way to compare them to his situation. Most of the guys he knew weren’t married. Even the ones who were didn’t seem to enjoy the experience. He was sick and tired of the men who complained about their home life and snuck off for some side action every chance they had. It didn’t make any sense to him, but perhaps it wouldn’t.
There was a buzz behind the counter and Kurt turned around to see what it was going on. His reaction time was very good after years of popping enemy forces that jumped up from virtual foxholes online. The man behind the counter reached down and picked up something. He put it to his ear and listened while he nodded.
It took Kurt a few seconds to recognize an old-fashioned phone receiver. The man talked into it a few times and Kurt noted the cord terminated in a small rectangular box that had a dial mounted into it. Funny how some people still liked these relics from the last century. It had to be hooked into whatever network ran the game.
“It’s for you,” the man said and handed Kurt the receiver. “Seems Command is back up and running. Someone over there wants to speak with you.” Kurt took the receiver from the man and tried to remember how it worked.
The manager turned to the motley crew in the back of his shop. “You hear that?” he shouted to them. “Communication is back online. You can use the terminals in the rear, but make sure you pay for them in advance.” A line formed at the counter where game players handed the manager their tokens for the time they wanted to spend on the screens. Kurt slid out of the way and stretched the cord to its furthest length.
He remembered how to use it. “Kurt here,” he spoke into the receiver. “Who wants to speak with me?”
“This is Dave Crosse with Command,” a voice said on the other end. “We heard you lost all your people. You want to check out now? We can make it happen and you will get a payout based on what you've accomplished thus far.”
“Why would I want to do that?” Kurt asked him, recalling that the backstory was of a large merc force sacking a city full of Nazi Zombies, super basic really.
“Oh, come on, Kurt,” the voice became agitated. “You can’t expect to win with no team to support you. I’d take the offer and leave.”
“Thanks, but I’ll see this one through.” Ten million or bust.
Kurt handed the receiver back to the manager. He placed it on a cradle on top of the rectangular box with the dial. The manager was busy processing the game players who wanted to use the terminals, so he put the box and receiver back under the counter. Kurt turned and walked to the door of the save point, taking note that nobody else had suddenly disappeared, and none of them seemed to be taking the easy money either. His respect for the hot shot club grew a bit in that moment. The all or nothing crowd. He liked that.
He’s brought his gun and backpack with him. He didn’t smoke and wished he did once again. Could all the mechanical bots smoke? He didn’t see any of the other players smoke, so the answer might be no. It didn’t matter, he needed a chance to think and figure out some course of action.
Jesse was gone.
Right now, Kurt didn’t know where she was at the moment. He suspected she was at the outtake center or whatever Rashid called his version. People who spent too much time immersed in a game had to go through an exit interview. It was legally mandated after several gamers panicked on leaving a public game center and needed psychiatric help. It was one way to tell if a person’s internal personality was too stressed to go into human society. Most of the time the individual was passed onto the street and didn’t need help. However, the ones who did were sent off to additional counseling.
This game was several levels more intense than any he’d played, so Kurt expected it to be worse.
The sun was headed down. One thing Kurt could appreciate was the detail the game designers put into the scenery. A real town seemed to loom in the distance, but that had to be impossible. There was no way Rashid could have found one of this size and bought it, not even with his money. Likewise, he couldn’t have had one built in the middle of a desert. All of this had to be the Ares AI’s wraparound image over plain wire and wood frames. Kurt was sure the moment he placed his hand on any of it, he would know. It was impossible to
maintain this level of reality for any length of time.
He was still shocked when he turned and found Jesse standing next to him. He almost dropped his rifle.
“Surprised to see me?” she asked him.
Chapter 13
Jesse was out of her uniform and battle gear. She wore a business suit and a dress with stockings and heels. Her hair was tied back and she wore a pair of thick glasses. This had to be the real Jesse, but why was she back in the game? In addition, how did they manager to get her back in this short amount of time?
“This is a projection,” Jesse told him. “What you see is the real me. Well, not too real. I just had a shower and have a towel around me, but you don’t want to see that. What you’re seeing is how I look every day when I’m at work.”
“I don’t know,” Kurt replied, “I haven’t been able to see a whole lot of you outside that body armor. So why the intervention? You know the audience watching will demand an explanation.”
“The audience feed is cut. Right now, it’s just the two of us in this place. Moreover, someone will walk out of that save point back there. I don’t know when that will happen so I need to tell you why I’m here.”
“And that is?” Kurt asked her. He didn’t know if he liked this version of Jesse or not.
“I work for Rashid,” She gave it a few seconds to sink into him. “Directly.”
Kurt was floored. He didn’t know a lot about Jesse and assumed her background was much the same as his own. This was a revelation he didn’t expect. He needed to find out what she meant by “worked”. It might not be the same thing as he had in mind.
“What do you mean?” Kurt asked her. “We’re all working for him in one sense. At least one of us will be paid, don’t know about the rest, I didn’t read that contract over too well.”
“I’m a field psychiatrist,” she explained. “I worked in his company to pay for medical school. Once I got my degree, I had to find a way to finish paying for it. Rashid offered me this position as a way to eliminate the debt. You have no idea how much money I owe the government. School was expensive.”