Player is Waiting... (Ultimate Clan Wars)

by Wells, JB

  “Adam…I mean Pied-Piper?”

  Twitch stopped talking back and started pacing the dirt covered floor mumbling to itself. Its huge feet and podgy toes were slapping their way across the ground making heavy noises with every step.

  “How is this possible?” Kieran whispered, “How can you think for yourself?”

  “We was here first,” it hissed, its bleak eyes staring back. “We was here, but he came and now we does what he says.”

  “How?”

  “I is hungry, I is going to eat you before he can.” Twitch went back to pacing the floor.

  Kieran placed his hands on the wall either side of him to back away further. His hand slipped on the wall to the left, he placed it there again and his hand disappeared through. “Another one?” he muttered. Kieran had his arm dangling from one sector into another; would it be safe, could he be merging into another cave filled with biters? He pulled his arm back in and it had a dusting of snow lightly covering his armoured arm.

  “No,” Twitch snapped loudly.

  Kieran whipped his arm back down and waited to see what it was shouting at, but Twitch was still having an argument with itself. He had to bide his time, wait for the perfect moment to throw himself into the portal. He slowly moved over towards the wall to wait. It didn’t matter what was on the other side, surely it couldn’t be as bad as being holed up in a troll’s lair? Well, he knew he could end up in the middle of Adam’s castle, but he was willing to take the risk. The troll turned its back and tugged at the few straggly hairs on its head. He took the opportunity and fell sideways into the portal, pulling his knees up to his chest as he fell.

  He landed in snow, lots and lots of snow. Twitch screamed, an ear shattering noise and Kieran placed his hands over his head and hugged the pure white ground, worried at what would happen to him if Twitch followed. But Twitch didn’t appear, the portal had closed and with it so had all the noises. It was now silent. All that could be heard was the snow falling.

  Kieran slowly and painfully stood up. He had seen this place before. He was in one of the sections of Sector T, Freezers Feud. Maybe this was worse. At least in Twitch’s cave it was warm and sheltered. Now he was outside in the freezing cold with no health or ammo. For all he knew he could have been on top of a turning point, where they turned the taken. “Nice move,” he told himself.

  The cold was bitter and it was beginning to penetrate his useless armour. Hugging himself tightly, Kieran closed his visor once more and began to slowly walk across the snow, trying to find shelter in a world full of snow blizzards. “Chloe, can you hear me. I’m in the Freezer somewhere and I need ...” The cold was too much, it had breached his armour and he was freezing at the core. He fell into the snow, no shelter was nearby and he struggled to keep his eyes open. All he wanted to do was sleep.

  The snow quickly started to cover Kieran, forming a blanket that made him invisible to the eye. It was so easy for him to give up, and he couldn’t help but dream of his mum and brother. This wasn’t like a game, he couldn’t press pause and restart from the last check point, it would be so easy if he could. A noise quickly woke him, he stirred as a crackling noise bounced around his helmet and made him jump. His eyes were half open and his breathing still slow.

  “Chloe?” he called but there was no reply. There was white static on his visor. He watched intently, his eyes scanning every inch. Suddenly a broken picture of Chloe appeared in the corner and then she disappeared. It went on like that for a few seconds. “Chloe, I can see you.”

  Typing appeared under where her picture fuzzed in and out of view: ‘191, we have broken through Adam’s block, I can hear you.’

  “Am I glad to see you,” Kieran laughed, the daylight slowly fading due to the snow covering him.

  ‘Glad we found you.’ Her typing skills were fast, as soon as one sentence was there, it gave way to another. ‘That was a mess.’

  “It was a trap.” Kieran sighed.

  ‘We Know.’

  “Can you get me out of here?”

  ‘No.’

  Kieran rolled his eyes and caught her face quickly in the image before it broke up again. She looked worried and sad for him. ‘Can’t find a portal to get you out. You have to go further in.’ Chloe paused for a minute and another face appeared by the side of her. It was Thomas, he was in with her.

  “Hi, Curly.” Kieran warmed inside a little.

  ‘He’s been so worried, he’s the one who found you and got through.’ Chloe moved over and Thomas shared her chair. ‘You okay Kiwi?’

  “I’ve been better,” he laughed.

  ‘I know you’re tired mate, but do as we say and you’ll be okay.’

  “Sure, it’ll be a doddle running when you feel like you’re pulling a house.”

  Chloe ignored his sarcasm and typed quickly, ‘A few feet in front of you is some kind of escape hatch.’

  “Right,” Kieran lifted himself up to look around, disturbing the snow that had blanketed him. “Where?”

  Her picture cut out and came back, ‘Underneath you.’

  “Just my luck.” Kieran pulled his knees up with all his might and began clawing his way towards the portal. “Where does it go?”

  ‘Unknown.’

  “Great.” Kieran pulled at the snow, “I need health.”

  ‘We can’t get a drop to you without causing danger.’

  Kieran was more tired than before as he rolled over in the snow to catch his breath. Staring up at the sky, the thick white cloud coverage looked so realistic. Every so often a ripple ran across the sky. Behind the ripple there was a seam in the images and the bright green lines he saw on upload were there for a brief second. “It’s weird looking at this knowing it’s not real. I would love to be in the snow right now.”

  ‘191 move!’

  Kieran huffed and rolled over again, “I am. What are the cracks in the graphics?

  ‘Time ripple, happens in everything. No issue unless you touch it.’

  “Handy to know I guess, how far now?”

  ‘Less than 2 feet.’

  “I have no gun or weaponry.” He chuckled at the irony and crawled the last few feet.

  ‘I hope you won’t need it. Okay, you’re there.’

  “Now what?”

  ‘Dig.’

  Kieran laughed to himself as he painfully scooped snow away, he felt like he was playing on the beach minus the sand. “I’m so tired, can I just sleep?”

  ‘No. You’re losing oxygen, keep going your health is below critical!’

  Kieran dug and heaved the snow.

  ‘Sentry guards heading to your location.’

  “Okay, Okay I can see mud.”

  ‘You’re there so go in. We may lose you for a minute or two.’

  “Sure thing, what’s the worst that could happen?”

  Kieran took a breath, closed his eyes and fell towards the hole. He went through and everything turned around. Once he fell into the hole, he emerged from the ground on the other side. He was propped on his knees completely disorientated. “What was that?” he groaned and he picked himself up.

  He was in an underground cave of some kind, dirt and rock was all he could see. It was hot in there, not just hot it was almost hard to breathe. It started to cause condensation on his visor as he examined the rock walls of the cave. The walls looked wet, with a slimy oil running down from above the ceiling and it was on every wall. A gush of escaping steam made Kieran jump, he hugged the rock as the boiling hot cloud erupted through a crack in the ground. It lasted a few seconds and then passed. He relaxed but held his ribs, they were now aching and he couldn’t move fast at all. Kieran peered around the wall to see if the coast was clear but the sight of blue celestial lights on the wall stole his attention. There they were, a row of glowing ReGen pads ready and waiting for him to use. The little area he was in was no bigger than a cupboard, but it was part of a bigger room, a massive underground cave.

  Grinding his armour against the wall, Kieran glanc
ed around the corner to get a better scope of the room. But it wasn’t empty; he could hear a rumble and some screaming noises. It was a cross between a cat fighting and a baby talking, it was haunting and sent shivers down his spine. He watched as two infected scurried past him, their backs hunched and their eyes glowing red. Each of them carried a weapon that shone under the dim lighting of the cave. He waited until they had completely left the room and held the wall with one arm and his sides with the other. He slipped out of his little hiding space then went to run for the pads. More screams erupted behind him and he froze unsure if he’d been seen or not. He dashed back into his little cave and crouched down to hide.

  A group of infected foot soldiers stomped past, the Skab at the front called commands in their language. They passed and the rear Skab stopped, it had the body of a person with robots arms and its face was that of a boar. The infected sniffed the air, Kieran backed further into the dark silently hoping that he wouldn’t be found, he held his breath and willed them to pass. There was another call from its group and the boar-like soldier carried on, its eyes fixed on the wall as it left. Kieran slipped out again to see what was to the right before he ran for the pads.

  There was another wall with pads on them, but these looked different. There were bowls on the wall and cables attached to them. He stepped out into the middle of the room and approached the first one to see if it was an ammo dispenser. A spark ran along the cables on the ceiling, and Kieran watched as it travelled down to the bowl in front of him. An outlet like a tap sat over the bowl and it spewed out some goo into a bubble. The spark sat in the middle of the bubble and it turned into a miniature creature. Kieran backed off as sparks ran into the other twenty bowls that were there. The little baby creatures grew quickly, each of them forming into some mix of Adam’s creations. He watched amazed, the bowls growing with them forming into a sack of protection. The whole process took no more than five minutes. Then the sacs opened almost simultaneously and out stepped the infected. Oily slime gushed out with them and ran along the floor and out of the room.

  Another Skab appeared at the door and called to them. Kieran hid behind the first bowl and watched as the infected officer commanded the newlings to charge up. The soldiers moved forwards and used the ReGen pads, and then they went for their next stage of being turned. He shuddered at the thought that some of his school friends had gone through this. A few minutes later the room was empty again, and he knew he had five minutes before he would be caught.

  Running as best he could, he threw himself onto the ReGen pad. His health filled instantly, his suit restored back to its shining colour and his visor was clear again. He took a big breath in, he felt amazing. The noise of the spawn towers started again, it was time to move.

  He left the area he was in and found himself staring down into a bottomless chasm. “I’ve only landed myself in the middle of the infected starting ground!”

  30

  Kieran looked around and saw hundreds of levels, at least ten of the levels were Spawning sections. There were training levels where the newly spawned infected were given their duties, then there were levels where the bigger monsters were being created. The noise was loud, there were weapons popping up on workbenches, which made metallic scraping noises, and there were shrill screams of the creations coming from every floor. Steam jets were exploding all around and Infecteds’ were everywhere. On every floor thousands were stomping around. Each and every one of them a mix and match of Adam’s twisted designs, yet in their own way they reflected their own gaming choice.

  Kieran gently shuffled forward to look down to the bottom of the chasm. It went on for miles, it was dark, hot and every wall was covered in the spawn goo that made them glow ever so faintly. At the very bottom was a river of hot fiery lava. It erupted and splashed 0’s and 1’s as that was all the Trojan Virus was made up of. It hissed and lapped at the walls breaking large areas of the cave off in its wake. Now and then an infected soldier would get caught in the rock fall and become engulfed by the burning stream. Kieran watched in fascination as the river ran like veins through the cave, its light and heat keeping the place alive. He stepped back and looked up, he hadn’t landed on the top floor, he was about half way down, and that meant there had to be around one thousand spawning sections. “Oh…my…” Kieran gasped to himself, the heat still fogging up his visor. “That means that there must be at least one hundred thousand infected in here.”

  The crosshairs on Kieran’s visor sprung to life, red arrows pointed behind him. He’d hung around too long; the Spawners were heading in his direction. Feeling revitalised, he sprinted across the bridge that was no wider than a pathway, he ran as fast as he could whilst looking for somewhere to hide. The crosshairs on his visor appeared in front of him. “No, no!” he growled. He stopped and looked, but there was nowhere. The badly shaped walls had rivets in them large enough to fit a person, but there was no time. The further he ran across the bridge, the further away the walls became. Infected were approaching from all directions. He looked at the edge of the bridge and knew what he had to do.

  Kieran dropped to his knees and lowered himself off the bridge. He kept his knees up and clung to the small piece of wall as if he was rock climbing. The bridge above him groaned and creaked with the weight of the Infected. The regimented footsteps were so heavy that the rock around him crumbled and moved. Kieran was clinging on with all his might, the rock turning to dust under his grasp.

  “Come on, move!” he cried through gritted teeth, his arms were shaking and his muscles were burning.

  There were more of the garbled calls from above, the well-paced footsteps of the Infected became louder as they began to run. The bridge rumbled and bounced, and Kieran clung on tighter, rubble was falling for miles to the lava beneath him.

  “Hurry up!” he pleaded.

  The rock under one hand finally gave way. Kieran was left suspended by one arm on a bridge that was moving and swaying, his feet were scrambling trying to get a grip but he couldn’t raise his hand to steady himself. His feet slipped with every bounce until there was nothing left for them to grip onto, his hand was all that was supporting his body.

  Finally the Infected left and the bridge was still again. Kieran’s hand started to slip. It was all that was keeping him from falling to infection by burning up in the river. “Come on!” He shouted at himself, willing his other arm to swing up and grab onto the perishing stone. But it was too much, the bridge he held onto turned to dust and he began to fall. A hand grabbed his and began to pull him back up. He looked down at his fate and could feel the heat from miles below.

  “Give me your other hand!” A voice shouted.

  Kieran looked up and saw the black armour of a TakeDown cadet pulling him back to safety. With all his might, Kieran swung his arm up and gripped onto the cadet who hoisted him back over the edge, his armour scraped and clonked over the rock face.

  “You?” Kieran questioned.

  Emily clicked off her blackout visor so Kieran could see her face. “Oh trust me, I would have let you fall.” She looked at her arm plate and chuckled. “But that act of saving you just earned me, two hundred LP and an achievement. How else will I overtake Seb?”

  Kieran was on his knees breathing hard, he was trying to get back the feeling in his arms. “Thanks, I guess.”

  “No, thank you. Thistle will be spitting feathers when our clan wins the prize.”

  There were noises all around and Cadet Magnus scanned around quickly. “We don’t have time to stay here.” She started off and Kieran followed her. “Oh, no you don’t,” she called. “You make your own way. You’re not taking any of my points.”

  “Where are we?”

  “We’re in the heart of the operation. I have a team to release and points to earn.”

  There were more screams, Kieran turned and his visor sprang to life. He looked back but Emily had gone, hidden amongst the walls of the cave. There was no time to waste; it wouldn’t be long before the next sets of n
ewlings were on the move. Kieran carried on and ran the length of the bridge. It was hot and his arms were still hurting. Every time something moved he ducked low and tried to blend in with the scenery, but his blue armour stuck out.

  The end of the bridge was in sight, another cave just waiting for him to enter. Kieran ran fast, he didn’t want to risk having to suspend himself again.

  He made it into the mouth of the tunnel, it was dimly lit and the walls were all jagged as if it had been created by hand. Flaming torches lit the way as Kieran stealthily crept along the wall for security. The calls from one infected to the other could be heard echoing along the tunnel, and Kieran knew yet again there was nowhere to hide. He carried on through the winding corridor until he spotted two great big creatures shouting at each other. Kieran stopped and pressed his back into the wall, he watched what they were doing. One infected soldier was shouting and pushing another soldier. He couldn’t understand what they were saying, but from the looks of it one was being told off.

  The creatures looked as ugly as trolls, their legs were those of rabbits, but they were oversized and at the end sat claws as big as knives and as sharp as razors. Their hair was long and scraggy, a brush wouldn’t ever cut through the mass of tangles and knots, scissors were all that would sort it out. The skin of the creatures was grubby, liver spots covering every inch and veins protruding on their oversized animal legs.

  “What is Adam doing?” Kieran whispered.

  The soldier being shouted at stopped and turned having heard Kieran’s whispers. Its giant paws stomped as it moved towards his hiding spot. Kieran pushed further into the wall and held his breath. The other creature shouted once more and hit the one closest to Kieran. The creature backed away and walked towards the hole it had been guarding. Kieran leant forward and watched as they picked up pieces of armour and other weapons, and threw them down the hole.

  “Rubbish chute?” Kieran muttered under his breath. It was his only chance of getting out of there.