“Come on, Rann. I know you are in there.” He leaned his head against the door. “Look, I want you to come tomorrow. It would mean a lot. I swear, nothing is going on with Mandy and me. Once the games are over, I won’t see her for a long time. She’ll probably go back to Newton. which I hope happens, and we can get back to doing what we do. Just us.” He pressed his ear to the door. It was hard to tell if anyone was in there as children were walking by, making a racket by drumming on the other doors. Gabe caught a tall homely girl gawking at him. She turned away with a giggle when she saw him. Another girl spit black juice on the ground. Her teeth were all black when she smiled.
Once the group passed, Gabe reached down and grabbed the garage door at the bottom. He yanked it up. “Surprise!” The small metal room was empty. Rann’s pack was gone. For some stupid reason, he went inside and checked under the mattress. There was nothing there, just a roach that scurried away. He turned at the sound of footsteps coming his way.
Stewart, Clancy, and Earl blocked the door. The grungy gang had long looks on their faces.
“They took her,” Stewart said in a depressed voice. He held a ballcap against his chest.
Gabe grabbed Stewart by the collar and shook him hard. “What did you do? Tell me, Stewart, what did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. It was the guards. They came and got her hours ago.” Stewart’s chin was down.
“It’s true, Gabe,” Clancy said, with his wide foot clawing at the ground. “It wasn’t us. We wanted to help, but this happens sometimes.”
“Yeah,” Earl added.
“You’d better not be screwing with me. Any of you! Or I’ll bring back my dragon, and I’ll burn you alive!” Gabe ran to the front gate. The gate shack guards sat around a small table playing cards. It was the same two who’d harassed Rann before. Gabe leapt the small table and pounded on the guard shack.
“Hey!” One of the guards caught up and pulled Gabe away. “What do you think you are doing, boy? You’re going to get your head busted open.”
“Where’s Rann?” He kicked the guard. “I want to talk to Tim! Where is she?” He snapped his head back, smashing the guard in the chin. The guard dropped him.
“That’s it! I’m going to bust you open.” The guard brandished his club.
“Both of us are,” the other guard said. They surrounded Gabe and came in swinging.
Gabe ducked one swipe and dodged another.
Tim opened the guard shack door. “What’s going on out here? I need my sleep, Gabe. What’s your problem now?”
“It’s Rann. She’s gone! They say the Blue Guard took her.”
Yawning and rubbing his eyes, Tim spoke to the guards. “What do you know about this?”
“What of it, Tim?” said the guard Gabe had hit in the chin. “It happens. You couldn’t expect a girl like that to stick around long when the Dominion gets word of her. She’s gone now.” He jutted his chin out at Gabe. “She’s gone forever, boy! First, her ear was missing, now the rest of her. It happens. You didn’t really think you’d be able to keep your little girlfriend, did you? No, she’s off to the Dominion’s pleasure palaces.”
Gabe shrank under the man’s harsh words. Numbly, he said, “Pleasure what?”
“You’re a fool, boy. We were fools once too.” The guard sat back down in his chair, and so did the other. They resumed playing cards.
Gabe shuffled around to face Tim. “We can’t let this happen, Tim. She’s my friend.”
“It happens all the time, Gabe. It’s not my problem.” Tim stepped inside and closed the door behind him.
With a sunken heart, Gabe walked away to the sound of wicked chuckles.
CHAPTER 68
Clovis met Gabe inside the den that morning. It was just the two of them and the dragons, all locked in their cages. The gaunt man slicked his hair with the palm of his hand. Cage by cage, he studied the dragons.
“I like this one,” he said as he studied the tin nametag. “Rixy. Yes, that little dash of pink in the scales has a pop to it. She’ll be on your team, won’t she?”
“I don’t think we are teams,” Gabe said, not hiding his long face. His chin was down, and his eyes were on the floor. “Where’s Rann?”
“Oh, Gabe.” Clovis spun on his heel to face the boy. “The girl is safely kept. That is where she is. Safe. That is all that you need to know. And you need to make sure that you keep her safe. You see, Gabe, the Dominion knows that at big events like this, the Resistance likes to pull their tricks.” He picked up a silver tassel from a table and twirled it with his fingers. “It’s difficult to control them in the crowd. They’ll get the masses all goosed up and create chaos. Chaos is messy.”
“Then why have the games?”
“It fills the void. After all, it is only entertainment. And that’s a healthy thing. It’s a gift from the Dominion. But, if the crowds get reckless, then no more games, and they will turn on one another. Possibly, they will turn on the Dominion, and we can’t have that happening.”
“What does that have to do with me? I’m just helping the gamers.”
“True, but you exercise the greatest control over your dragon, and we can use that to our advantage. You see, the crowd loves the dragons. They have favorites. The Dragon Games give them something to live for. They need a new champion to root for. It excites them. I believe they grow tired of seeing Hoss winning all of the time.”
“So you want Squawk to win.”
“No, I want them to think Squawk will win, but in the end, your dragon must lose. Tell me, Gabe, how far can you take Squawk without winning it all? We need a new contender. It will be glorious for you.”
Squawk had fared much better in the last few practices. He was as good as Rex and Rixy, but Gabe wasn’t certain. His dragon still wasn’t himself, but Squawk improved enough to keep Mandy satisfied, and that mattered.
“I think I can do as you say. As long as I don’t win it all, nothing will happen to Rann?”
“If the Count is pleased, then yes, but I don’t want to assume. The Count has much on his mind, and your relationship with a girl is not a very high priority. Just look good, Gabe, but not too good.” Clovis patted Gabe’s cheek, headed to the tunnel entrance, and left.
Gabe went to Squawk’s cage. The dragon lay flat on his belly, staring right at him. Squawk’s bright little eyes seemed to know what he was thinking. “Squawk, I don’t know what’s going on, but you have to do well today. We have to do it for Rann.”
Squawk’s tongue flickered out. He rattled his neck and made a shrill hum. Suddenly, all of the dragons’ faces were pressed against their cages. They were doing the same thing, filling the den with a weird rattling-buzzing sound.
Gabe stepped back and spied them all. They sounded like an awakened nest of bees. “Squawk, stop this,” he said, not having any idea what to make of it. He was just glad that the dragons were all in their cages. He bumped into the workbench. “Squawk, enough!” He thought it as much as he said it. The dragons, one and all, went silent. Sweat ran down Gabe’s cheek. “What in the world was that?”
***
“I’m nervous, Gabe.” Mandy stood standing at her locker, letting Gabe help her dress in her gamer’s gear. “I feel like I’m going to throw up. Did you see how many people are out there? I think everyone is there, even the Dominion.”
Gabe strapped on her shin guard. “You shine in a crowd. You’ll be fine. Just smile. They’ll love you for it.”
“I’m new. Fletcher says they’ll want to tear my eyes out. They hate newbies.” She cast a disdainful glance at Fletcher. The cocky gamer was hamming it up with the others in the room. All of the gamers were getting their gear on. The dragons were still in their cages, but the den was crowded. “I’m a newbie.”
“You aren’t the only one from Newton here. Many of the gamers come from Newton. That’s where Dragon Valley is. You’re fine.”
“Just make sure Squawk doesn’t make a fool of me.”
“He
won’t.” I think.
The tunnel doors that led to the arena floor quavered against the hollering of the screaming masses that eagerly waited on the other side. Music blared beyond the door. It didn’t have words, but one of the gamers called it disco. People chanted, clapped, and stomped in rhythm.
Mandy grabbed Gabe’s hand. “Stay with me.” She noticed Harlan glaring at her. “It’s fine, Harlan. Really. Stick your nose elsewhere.”
The mute turned his heavy eyes away with a grunt.
All of the gamers were in full battle gear and preparing to enter the arena. Mandy’s team wasn’t the only one in gold. There were four teams of each color. The top dragon from each group advanced. There were winning stages and losing stages, and it wasn’t improbable that one bracket or another could be the same color. Roger and Sylvia had told Mandy all about this, and Mandy filled in Gabe. Distracted, Gabe hadn’t put it all together until he’d seen everyone in the same place.
“So if all the gold won and all of the blue lost, someone that bet on it could make a fortune,” Gabe heard a gamer say to another, explaining the rules. “My father tries to make a fortune on a bet like that. It’s all well and good unless your dragon gets eaten in the end. My father bet on that one too, even though he’s not supposed to.”
Gabe couldn’t believe his ears. Back in Newton, he’d seen people gambling all of the time, playing with cards and little dice. This was grander scale. The Dragon Games were rigged. It was all about taking people’s money. He’d never put it together before. Every scrap of valuables the people had taken up would be wiped out in a day.
These people are never getting out of this pit.
Mandy squeezed his hand. The gamers were lining up in four columns that led into the tunnel. The doors swung open. The ground went silent. The other end of the tunnel smoked.
Gunther’s voice bellowed from the other end of the tunnel. “Dominion! Citizens! Welcome to the coliseum!”
Mandy, Gabe, and Harlan were moved to the front of the gold line
“Helmets on, assistants! Let the Dragon Games begin!”
CHAPTER 69
Mandy led the way out of the smoking tunnel with her arms high. She seemed to stand ten feet tall as her face lit up in response the roaring crowd. She pumped her leather-covered fists. The tunnel they came out of had a giant dragon’s head fashioned over the top of it, making the tunnel look like a fang-filled mouth that could swallow them all. Instead, it spat out more gamers to thrill the crowd.
In the stands, colorful banners waved. The people, gritty and homely, screamed at the top of their lungs. Gabe had never imagined such a sight. The surge of people was intimidating. If they all moved the same direction at once, they could destroy anything in their path.
Gabe adjusted the chinstrap on his helmet. All of the gamers’ assistants wore them. They covered their entire faces, were painted their team color, and had the look of a dragon’s head. He kind of liked the decoration. It seemed to give him protection.
The Dominion crowd stood, clapping their hands and giving approving nods. The gamers moved along the partition wall, gesticulating with bravado. The Dominion members threw flower petals over the wall, which floated gently to the ground to be crushed under the gamers’ feet.
Colored lights shone brightly on the games. The glare came from brilliant lanterns in the catwalks above the arena floor and stands.
Gunther’s voice was amplified by other modern means beyond Gabe’s understanding. He’d gained a little knowledge of the electricity that powered things. Even the citizens made use of it in certain areas of the compound. The Maestro of the Arena led the gamers to their platforms. The four gold members of Mandy’s team climbed to the top. The assistants guarded each corner of the platform at the bottom. The stood at parade rest with their spears in hand. Each spear sported a ribbon of their team’s color at the top. All four teams followed suit.
All of the gamers struck a heroic pose. The crowd delighted as they hollered through hands cupped over their mouths.
Gabe scanned the thousands of faces. There wasn’t a friend among them. The numbers were too thick to make out anyone familiar. He did spy Tim and Williams standing guard at the partition wall that guarded the Dominion section. Behind him sat the Count, Clovis, and some of the other members of the gamers’ families.
It seemed impossible that Gabe would ever be free of their tyranny. Everyone who wasn’t Dominion would lose big today, including him.
“Dominion and citizens,” Gunther shouted, silencing the crowd. “Let me introduce to you a man who needs no introduction. Let me introduce you to the Count!”
To Gabe’s surprise, the crowd cheered. A metal staircase was pushed up to the barrier wall in front of the Count’s seat. He climbed over the wall and onto the staircase, where he was pushed to the center of the arena. Dressed in black cotton that covered him from neck to toe, he stood with his chin high.
Gunther strode past Gabe and said to him privately, “They love him because he used to be a gamer until the day his dragon died. No one is the champion forever.”
The Count drew his guns, pointed them high, and fired. The pop-pop sound was barely audible over the crowd, but the throng quieted. The rolling stairs had a safety railing at the top that the Count leaned casually against. He blew smoke from the gun barrels, spun the weapons on his fingers, and holstered them. He gave a nod to Gunther.
“This is the face of our fearless leader! Our caretaker! Our deliverer!” Gunther said in his amplified voice. “Our protector from the enemies beyond! The Count is the one we thank for the Dragon Games!”
Many in the crowd applauded and cheered as if the Count were some sort of deity. Their eyes were hungry with worship. Yet, there were scowls within the ranks. But unlike Angela, all of the citizens didn’t despise him. Instead, they worshipped him as if mystic wool covered their eyes. The Count was their provider. He was everything. Even many in the Dominion eyed him with awe.
Gabe subtly shook his head. I’ve got to get out of here. These people are mad. They delight in their tormentor.
“Bring out the girls!” Gunther said.
There were four tunnels out into the arena. Before, there had just been two, one for the gamers and the other one for Gunther’s den. Out of the third came a group of twenty young women, dressed in revealing, multicolored silks. Each carried a colorful medallion the size of a hubcap over their heads. The medallions were black, blue, silver, and gold. They paraded them through the arena. One of the girls was Rann.
Gabe’s heart stuck in his chest. He was overjoyed to see her, but she looked pitiful and scared. She followed the other girls in a broad circle around the Count. They moved at a brisk pace with frozen smiles on their pretty faces.
The men in the stands howled like wolves.
“Now, witness the awesome display of the Count’s fury!” Gunther stepped away from inside the women’s circle. “Twenty targets! Twenty shots! Can he hit them all?”
The ring of girls moved about thirty paces from the Count’s position. The shot wasn’t impossible, but with moving targets, it wouldn’t be easy either. Quick as a snake, the Count pulled his weapons. Taking aim on a girl clad in black, he fired the first shot.
The girl dropped like a stone, her medallion flung in the air.
The crowd gasped.
Two seconds later, the girl popped up, smiling as big as a rainbow. Springing away like a deer, she darted into the tunnel.
“The Count has a sense of humor too!” Gunther guffawed. “Come now, Count. You can do better than that. You have nineteen more targets. Can you hit them all? Or do I need to bring the gammas out to do it for you?”
The relieved crowd laughed along.
The Count showed a broad smile and took a bow. He pointed a pistol at Gunther. “I’ll shoot at the mutants later.” He took aim again at the medallions and started firing.
The painted ceramic medallions shattered in the girls’ hands. The fragments sparkled in the air and came
down like a soft rain. Girls flinched a little after every shot. The Count didn’t miss. He was dead accurate. Rann’s medallion was the last shot he fired.
Gabe breathed again as he watched the Count hold up his guns. It brought a wild clamor of voices from the crowd.
That’s when he heard another voice cut in over the loudspeakers. “He’s empty! Rise, Resistance, Rise!”
The Count’s eyes grew as big as the medallions when the Blue Guard gamers’ assistants surrounding the platforms turned on him, spears ready, and charged.
The rebellion was on.
CHAPTER 70
A knot of angry men in the lower level pushed through the stunned crowd and hopped over the barricade. More and more spilled into the arena. The citizens fought amongst themselves, trying to stave off the madness and protect the Count.
“Gunther,” the Count cried. “Protect me!” A ring of spears surrounded him. The only thing protecting him was the height of the rolling staircase. His fingers fumbled through his clothing, searching for something.
Like a mad bull, Gunther slammed into two Blue Guards at once. He smashed their faces together. Teeth broke off in their mouths. A Blue Guard jabbed Gunther in the shoulder with a spear. The man spun around. He grabbed the spear, broke it in half, tossed it aside, and drummed the guard into submission with his hairy fists.
The guards surged forward. Their spears jabbed at the Count’s dodging feet.
In the stands, members of the Dominion were abandoning their stands. They trampled one another on their way to their concourse. At least a thousand citizens crossed the arena at full speed. They climbed over the partition and after the Dominion.
Scrambling from their platforms, the gamers ran for the exit tunnel. Not all of them made it. Many were run down. Their armor was torn off. Sashes were ripped from their bodies like some sort of prize. Mandy, cradled in Harlan’s burly arms, was hustled away. The big man ran over two people at once and disappeared into the tunnel.
Flight from the Dominion (The Gamma Earth Cycle Book 2) Page 21