by Magus Tor
The smoke was so thick that he was losing his breath. He ran into something as he ran and it knocked him to the floor. He realized when he reached out that it was a hospital gurney. Knowing that made him even more determined to get out of there; the amount of oxygen in the building would cause explosions big enough to level the place.
Sliding his way as fast as he could, he found what he figured was the reception area of the emergency room. He knew that the ambulance bay couldn’t be too far from where he was. He kept moving forward, and as he made his way through a chair lined room, he heard the first explosion. That explosion was followed by another and then another. He could feel the building shake and debris was flying everywhere.
The explosions grew closer and closer. Drew knew he was in trouble. He heard glass explode in front of him with the last blast. That’s gotta be a way out! Drew was frantic to make his way over to the exit. Again he stood, this time running for his life. As he reached the opening that would lead him safety another explosion erupted from the building, this time throwing Drew through the air. He never felt himself land.
***
“Drew? Drew?” He could hear Max’s voice, and he slowly opened his eyes. He was back in his bed, the soft blue of the walls a stark contrast from the black and gray of the smoke in the game. He looked up and Max who was standing over him like an angel.
“He’s upping the stakes. He’s changing the game.” Drew sat up and looked at Max, not wanting to talk about what just happened in his dream, but knowing he had no choice.
*****
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Drew and Max decided over breakfast, that heading back to the boat might be a good idea. Not knowing where Adam was made them both feel a little uneasy. The weather was still bordering on cold, which isn’t completely unheard of for springtime in Chicago, so Max insisted that before going to the harbor they needed to go to her house to pick up some warmer clothes. Drew thought that was a good idea and grabbed some for himself as well.
Sr. and the agent drove over to pick them up and they all went to Max’s place. When they got there, Max emptied her mailbox and her and Drew went inside. As they walked through the house, Max got a strange feeling in her gut.
“Drew, somebody’s been here.”
“Why do you say that? Everything looks fine.”
“I feel like something is out of place. It just doesn’t feel right.”
Max went into the kitchen to throw her empty water bottle in the recycling bin and noticed a glass sitting on the counter. Figuring that she just left it there when she was at home last, she went into the bedroom to get some jeans and sweatshirts. As she walked past the bed she noticed that the small round pillows on top of her bedspread weren’t in the right place.
Max pointed it out to Drew and together they went into her bathroom to put her shower gel and more lotion into her bag along with a couple more feminine products. As she was reaching for her shower gel she noticed that the decorative washcloth that usually hangs over the towel on the towel bar was gone.
“Drew, I never use the special washcloth. It’s gone.”
“We need to get out of here.”
They grabbed Max’s bag she had been throwing stuff into and headed out the door. When she was safely inside the van, Drew went back inside and made sure everything was locked, and aside from the door they entered through, everything was locked. On the off chance someone was indeed in her house that shouldn’t be, he made a thorough check, clearing the rooms one by one and then slipped pieces of paper in each window and door, taking careful note of where they were placed. He locked the front door on his way out and slid one last piece of paper up in the top corner of the door, out of sight of anyone entering.
“Let’s go. Your house is clear and I’ve taken measures that will tell us if anyone comes in again.” Drew tried to sound reassuring, but Max was too freaked out to notice.
“Drew, what if Adam was in my bed?” Max’s voice sounded almost terrified. “It was him, I know it was. He was touching my things.”
“If it was him, and that’s a big IF, then that means he knows we are on to him.”
They went back to Drew’s apartment and he picked up his computer and one of the monitors. He also packed up all of their research and loaded it all into the van. He would have to set everything up on the boat. He locked up everything and took the same measures there as he did back at Max’s house.
Drew made a call to the Chicago field office of the FBI and put in for agents to be placed not only at Max’s house but at his apartment as well. It didn’t take long for the agents to be in place. Soon Max, Drew, Sr. and Agent Troy were at the harbor and back on the boat.
After unloading the additional bags and the computer, they went to the rental office and let them know that they would be needing the boat indefinitely. Excited at the prospect of making an ‘indefinite’ amount of money off the rental of the boat, they were more than happy to accommodate their request.
Sr. pulled the boat out of the slip and headed for the open water. Since the boat was rented under a false name by the CIA, Drew knew that Adam wouldn’t be able to figure out where they were. He, however, didn’t feel comfortable staying in the harbor as many others did for fear of being seen.
This time, they anchored the boat about the same distance from the harbor as last time but moved up north of their last position. Sr. hoped that this would make them a little less obvious but still give them a view by binoculars of the entry to the harbor and also of “Just A Game”.
Drew set up his computer in the seating area of the interior, just outside of the small galley. Once hooked to satellite service, Sr. was back at the programming, hoping to figure out just what Thompson and Adam had changed and added.
Max called the office to see if her contact had made any sense of the list of names and found out that they all lived in areas around the world that had been affected by the deaths. The people on the list, however, were still alive. It was also relayed to her that every person on that list had at some point worked at a coffee shop in the affected areas.
They all then realized that there were way more people involved. Drew had agents sent to dig around and see what they could find on three of the people on the list; two in Miami and one in Dallas. Drew needed to link the people on the list to Adam.
***
“Hey, Drew, Max, I think I figured something out.” Sr. sounded pretty confident as he called them over.
“Sweet, whatcha got?” Drew was more optimistic than Max; she was still a little freaked out about the prospect of Adam being in her house.
“Well, from what I can see, the chips were reprogrammed to work in conjunction with a receiver. It also looks as if they are programmed to take commands from only one source.”
“So, probably from the computer on Just A Game?”
“Looks like it. I also found programming that allows the destruction of the chips. They can be destroyed one at a time, or all at once.”
“What do you mean destroyed?”
“That’s one piece of information I haven’t been able to find. I still have quite a few files to go through, but if they were sloppy enough to make this information so easy to find, I’m sure the rest is in here.”
“Great job, Sr.” Drew was extremely excited about the info Sr. found. “There’s just one thing that has me a little confused. If Adam’s on to us, why hasn’t he caused our chips to self destruct?”
“Only a psychopath like him would know the answer to that. Maybe he’s enjoying torturing you in the game?”
“Maybe.” Drew wasn’t sounding as confident anymore. He knew that if Adam had destroyed his and Max’s chips, he could continue to kill people one at a time for God knows how long. Drew found himself wondering just exactly how crazy Adam and Thompson were.
“Mr. Howard?” Max asked softly, still watching out the window.
“Please, call me Sr.”
“I’m sorry, Sr.,” she said and slowly turned
to face him. “Could the chips self destructing cause the hemorrhages these people have been dying from?”
“I would have to say that it is very possible. My chips were just a prototype built with just the basics needed to have pleasant dreams. The programming was pre-installed and there was no way for me to control them once they were implanted. If they were able to program them to play the game and continue to take commands, they certainly would be able to program them to self destruct.”
“Do you think you can figure out how it works and turn the chips off?”
“I truly hope so, Drew. That will mean, though, that I will have to start the game here and hope that I don’t set off any type of alert on their end. Judging by their lack of security and encryption on the files, I would doubt very seriously that they have taken measures to ensure that they are only logged on to one computer at a time.”
“Logged in, huh? That means we will need passwords.” Drew was tapping his finger on the table as he spoke.
“If the program requires a password, then yes, we will definitely need one.”
Drew’s mind was swimming. Things were coming together almost too quickly for his mind to react. He immediately went to the printouts and began searching for anything he could find that would contain the password for the game. As he searched through the papers, Max went up on deck and stood next to Agent Troy.
“Can you believe this insanity?” Her question was almost rhetorical.
“Actually, Ma’am, after seeing some of the crazy stuff I’ve seen, I can believe anything that comes my way.”
They stood, silent, looking out over the rolling water. The gray, cloudy day had made the lake look dark and dangerous. Night was sneaking up on them, and the storm from the night before had scared all other boats off the water. The only sound was the water as it lapped up against the side of the boat and the light wind that was blowing past them.
With her eyes closed, she took a penny that had been flopping around in her pocket and threw it over the deck rail and made a wish. For a brief moment she felt safe and at ease. The silence was taken over by the sound of a small motor drawing closer. Dreading to do so, Max opened her eyes, looking up at the agent. He was holding the binoculars to his face letting Max know he had heard the same sound.
“Ma’am, I think you should get back down in the cabin.” Agent Troy led her to the stairs with his hand on her shoulder and stepped down behind her. He then spoke to everybody. “A small boat is working its way in this direction. I believe it is Adam.”
Drew’s jaw dropped. When he spoke it was with a voice that demanded attention, “Troy, go back up on deck and throw your line in, time to go fishing. Give him a friendly wave of your hat and get pictures. Everybody else, sit tight until Troy gives the all clear.”
“You sound like you’re going somewhere, what are you doing?” Max sounded worried.
“I will only be on the steps, out of sight of anyone on the water.” By the time Drew turned back to the stairs, Troy was already gone. Drew went up about four steps and could clearly see Troy.
Not only had the agent already gotten the line in the water and the pole latched onto the side rail, but he also had the camera set up right next to the pole causing it to look like the reel. Within a few seconds Drew could hear the motor of the boat as it passed by them. Troy raised his hat in a friendly hello while the other hand was snapping pictures, one right after another.
The small boat carrying two men moved quickly past them and out in the direction of the yacht. Drew couldn’t figure out where he came from, because it clearly wasn’t from the harbor. He realized that if it indeed was Adam, he was pretty clever. Drew took the memory card from the camera and loaded it on his laptop in order to view the pictures, knowing in his gut it was Adam. Troy gave a confirmation from deck, but Drew wanted to see it for himself.
After confirming that it was Adam, they had almost all of the pieces to the puzzle. Knowing that the end was in sight, they stopped and ate. It had been hours since anyone had food and they were all famished. When it was completely dark outside they decided that it should stay completely dark on deck, and the agents should be the only ones to go topside.
Drew pulled out the printouts again once dinner was cleared away. He was determined to find a password or anything else that may help them shut down this sick and twisted game Adam was playing. Max was completely exhausted and fell asleep on cushioned bench seat they sat on for dinner. To her it felt like her eyes were closed for only a minute when she heard the shout.
“I found it! I found a password! It’s got to be!” He wrote the password down and handed it to Sr. “Tonight’s the night, Sir.”
“But, Drew, I know the chips can be turned off, I just haven’t figured out what will happen once I do it. What if I turn them all off and you and Max die?”
“Okay, you’re right. One more day of trying to figure it out and then we do it no matter what. With a fifty/fifty chance everyone in the game will survive, we have to risk it.”
Max couldn’t handle the craziness of the day one more minute. She kissed Drew lightly on the lips and excused herself. When she got to their bed, she flopped down like a rag doll and reached over to turn her alarm clock on. If they were going to be done with this game tomorrow night, she wanted to be with the children one more time. Knowing she couldn’t tell them what was going on, she just wanted to enjoy watching them swing until it was over.
Drew looked through the last few files after Max went to bed. It was in those files that he figured out that Adam had also infected his mother with one of the chips. Infected was the term Adam used in an email to Lana. The email was hard to read. It informed his mother of what he was doing and that she, too, would be playing the game. He demanded his mother purchase him the yacht and if she failed to do so or if she went to anyone with information about what he was doing, he would hit the self destruct button and her life would be over.
*****
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Drew hated waiting another night to end the game, but Sr. was right, if they ended it tonight and people died that would be bad enough, but if they died with a solution sitting right in front of him, that would be negligent. He needed to be sure.
Drew decided to go get some rest while Sr. kept searching for an answer. He set his alarm clock, allowing himself a few hours to sleep before checking on the progress being made at the other end of the boat. It was better for Sr. anyway; at least he would be left in silence to really concentrate.
Drew lay back in the bed and realized that having Max at his side was something he wanted to continue after this whole mess was over. He loved her, but he wasn’t quite ready to admit it to himself, much less tell her. He rolled to his side facing Max and fell asleep stroking her long red hair.
When he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t surprised to see smoke billowing out of building after building. His vantage point from the rooftop was amazing. He could see over the trees of the park and right out onto the lake. He stepped to the edge and looked down. There was destruction everywhere. He heard a noise and turned. There in front of him was the robot.
“You can’t end this, Drew. Only I can say when it’s over.” The robots voice was low but large.
Rather than say a word, Drew ran as fast as he could, right past the robot. Drew was much faster than the massive robot and was able to reach the other end of the building. Without stopping, he jumped, flying over an alley and landing on the next building. He hit the roof hard and rolled into a steel pipe. Pain shot through his shoulder, but he knew he had to keep going.
Finding a fire escape, he climbed down the steps two at a time, jumping onto the next level of steps quickly. It seemed like forever until he reached the bottom. He slid the last ladder down, inching his way using only his good arm and made it to the point of dangling over the ground below. He had no choice but to let go.
Once on solid ground, Drew looked around. He could still see the park at the far end of the alley, but won
dered if he’d make it. He knew that Max would either be there or at the harbor, so chancing it was what he would have to do. Staying as close to the buildings as possible and using anything he could find in the alley as cover, Drew worked his way to the street separating the park from the city.
He looked back and there was no sign of the robot. When he was sure nobody was around, he bolted straight across the street and into the park. Looking back once again, he wondered why the robot had not followed him. He had thought for sure that the night’s game play would be ending quickly for him, but for some reason the robot only spoke once and was done with Drew.
Turning back towards the park, Drew could see the children swinging in the distance. There on the wall sat Max. Running as fast as his feet would take him, he made it to the wall without incident. Max had a look on her face Drew had only seen a few times, and only in the real world.
“Drew, look,” Max said as she pointed into the park.
“What? I don’t see anything.”
“Look harder, they’re everywhere.” Max was smiling.
Drew looked around, still unsure of what Max was talking about. The sun was shining brightly, fluffy white clouds drifting by. The trees were a shade of green he hadn’t seen in a long time and he noticed that there were flowers all throughout the park.
“Are you talking about the flowers?”
“The flowers, the birds, they’re all here. When did that happen? There are so many!”
Something else caught Drew’s eyes. The children, they weren’t just rocking the swings back and forth, they were actually swinging. Drew even heard one of the little girls giggle.