by A. Anders
When the compound was finally in front of us, I felt a surge of both relief and anger. We had lost so much to get here. All I could think about now was revenge.
From the edge of the jungle two hundred feet away, we came up with a plan. The compound was bigger than it had appeared from the foot of the tower. It was also surrounded by another eight-foot chain link fence topped with curling razor wire.
“A place like this one would need a security team of between six and twelve. Let’s assume the worst. And we should expect them to be armed.”
“What are we going to do about that?” Thorin asked. “We have one gun between us.”
“Give me the gun,” I told him. “I’ll find a way to even the odds.”
Thorin looked at me uncomfortably.
“Do you think we even have a chance here?” Thorin asked. “If you’re saying that there are twelve of them and three of us and you’re injured, then don’t you think that we should, maybe, figure something else out?”
Thorin didn’t exactly seem nervous, but it was obvious that he was going to need some convincing.
“Look, one of two things is gonna happen. Either, they’ve been watching and listening to everything through the chips, and they’re inside waiting for us. Or, they were using the pawns as cameras, and they’ve lost track of us for the past three days. If we’re lucky, it’s the latter. ‘Cause otherwise, things are gonna turn bad for you real fast.”
“How do we get in?” Rose asked, quickly changing the topic.
“There’s a gate,” I said, pointing at a truck entrance. “I suggest starting there.”
“There’s gotta be cameras watching the place, right? Or maybe bots like the ones guarding my cabin?” Rose asked.
“We’ve been here for ten minutes, and there’s been no movement. And as for cameras, there’s nothing on the corner fence poles, and nothing projecting from the roof.”
“Okay,” Rose conceded. “Let’s say we get past the fence and the guards, and we get in. What do we do then?”
“Thorin?” I asked, turning to the man who stared pensively at the compound.
Thorin turned to us, struggling to catch up with the conversation. “We, umm… Well, if this is some sort of monitoring headquarters, I’m guessing it’ll have a chipping room.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s where someone like me puts in and takes out the chips. You’ll know it when you see it. It will have a chair with a large arm coming from it. It will kind of look like a dentist office.”
“Okay. Here we go. Are we ready to do this?” I looked at the two of them for confirmation. Thorin turned to Rose, giving her a knowing look. “Is there a problem, Rose?”
She opened her mouth to say something but changed her mind. “No. Nothing. I’m ready.”
“If you have something to ask, this is the time. You might not get another chance.”
Rose looked down as if searching the ground. “I was just wondering if it was necessary to remove the chip.” I looked at her, surprised. “I mean, yeah, we turn it off. But, can we leave the chips in? At least mine?”
Not knowing what to say, I turned to Thorin. He seemed to be fighting an awkward smile.
“I just put them in and take them out. I don’t know how to turn them off. That was another department.”
“Rose, why would you wanna leave it in?” I asked, confused.
She looked at me and then lowered her eyes again.
“It’s nothing. Never mind. Forget I asked.”
I touched her arm, prompting her to look up at me. “No. Please, tell me.”
Her eyes bounced between Thorin and me and then with a deep breath settled on the ground. “It’s just that once you take your chip out, you can’t put another one in. I’ve had one since I was eighteen years old. That’s my entire adult life. It’s defined me. I don’t know who I am without it.”
I understood. I took her hand in mine and squeezed it, hoping it would give her comfort. “You think that everything you have is because of your chip. And without it, you’ll lose everything. But you won’t. You can’t lose me. I’m never going anywhere.”
She looked like she wanted to smile but couldn’t. Instead, her eyes dipped again. I bounced her hand hoping to reclaim her attention. She looked up at me, exasperated.
“You say that now. But what about when you learn other things about me. It’s not like you know me. I haven’t always made the right decision. What happens when you see the real me, and you decide that you don’t like it?”
Her head tilted in gentle vulnerability, and my heart melted. I squeezed her hand as I spoke.
“And what happens when you see the real me, and you decide that you don’t like it?”
“Then you’ll return to your life. And without a chip, what will I return to? Being a camera is all I am. I’ve never been anything else.” Her voice hitched as she fought back her emotions.
How could I convince her that I would never leave her? How could I show her that I would give up my life for her?
“Rose, I’ve seen you with my life in your hands. I know you.”
She tightened her lips and placed her palm on my chest. Her touch was warm honey. But even as it poured through me, she looked like didn’t understand.
This time, my eyes dipped. I didn’t know what else to say, so I just spoke from my heart.
“I’m a simple man. And I don’t try to be more than that. I was taught that when you say you’re gonna do something, you do it; no matter how hard, and no matter the consequences. And I’m telling you, Rose, if you fall, I will always be there to catch you.
“You said that you don’t know what love is. This is love. I love you. And I will never stop loving you… even if you stop loving me.”
Her face barely changed. Had I gotten through to her? I wasn’t sure.
I turned to Thorin whose eyes had wilted with sadness. In the moment, I had forgotten about him.
I considered everything Rose and I had just said to each other. If he did have feelings for her, what he had just witnessed would have hurt. Hell, if I had just watched Rose say the same thing to someone else, the pain would have driven me insane. There was no telling what I would have done in response.
Nonetheless, I had kept my eye on Thorin since he had come back. He hadn’t said or done anything that indicated that he had real feelings for her.
I knew his type. Thorin was like the techs who worked on the Tods. They were more interested in schematics than women. In fact, I had no idea how Thorin had ended up on the island with the rest of us. Boredom, maybe? Didn’t he say something about wanting to have fun on a game show?
In any case, I was sure that what he cared about most was getting home. Once he was surrounded by his little machines and devices, whatever feelings he had for Rose would vanish. I envied his simple life.
“I want you to remove my chip,” Rose told the pale man.
Looking pained, Thorin’s eyes continued to droop. “Are you sure about that? What about your vid feed and all of your fans?”
“I can’t risk anyone else’s life,” Rose said gently.
“But, the people who watch you…” he argued.
Rose put her hand on his forearm, silencing him. “Thorin, I can’t risk your life.”
I watched as whatever hope Thorin had was ripped away. It affected him more than I thought it would, but I knew he would be fine. Perhaps it would even motivate him to help us save his life.
“Okay. I’ll take it out,” Thorin conceded.
“Then we’re set. There’s only one thing left.” I faced Thorin. “I need the gun.”
He was slow to respond. I didn’t know if he was still processing Rose’s news or if he didn’t trust me with the gun. But I held out my hand, making it easier for him. He looked down at my palm dazed.
When he still didn’t move, I considered my options if he became a problem. Rose interrupted my thoughts.
“Thorin,” she began. “Ford was in
the military. He was Special Forces. He’s the best person to have the gun.”
Thorin looked at me surprised. “You were in the military?”
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“Did you tell anyone that?” Thorin asked strangely.
“No. It’s something that I don’t normally talk about.”
“Don’t you think that might have been important?” Thorin questioned, becoming angry.
“Important to people on a game show? No, I didn’t.”
“You should have told someone,” Thorin concluded, clearly unnerved.
“I’m telling you now. And I’m saying, give me the gun.”
He looked at my grimace in a new light. It was enough to convince him to hand it to me. I checked the display. The gun had four shots left.
“Good. First we look for a way in. Once in, we find Thorin’s room and remove the chips.”
Keeping our eyes locked on the weed-infested grounds around the building, we stayed low and ran towards the fence. Our rest had done me some good. I was moving better. If I found myself in hand-to-hand combat, I had a shot.
Putting our backs to the chain links, I heard a metallic rattle. I looked at Thorin.
“I’m sorry,” he said, holding up his hand apologetically.
I took a quick look around, assessing our exposure. It was ridiculous. I would never say that a mission didn’t have a chance, but this one was close.
We scurried along the fence to the gate. Not only was the gate chained with a padlock, but small green sprouts covered the land in front of it.
“No one’s used this gate for a while,” I said, jiggling it. It barely budged. “We can’t get in here.”
“Can you shoot the lock?” Rose asked in a whisper.
I lifted the gun enough for her to get a better look at it. “It’s basically a pellet gun. A shot would barely scratch it.”
“Then what do we do?” Rose continued.
I led the two past the gate to the other side of the first pole. Although fence poles were always cemented into the ground, the chain link that touched the ground between the poles usually weren’t. If we didn’t luck out with the gate, I was hoping to climb under.
I got onto my knees and dug under the fence. I immediately hit concrete. The fence was probably cemented into the ground for the same reason it had razor wire on top; to keep out anything that could kill the people inside.
I returned my back to the fence and thought. This mission had been poorly planned. What was I thinking? Our best chance was to retreat and return under the cover of darkness.
I turned to the others to suggest it when I saw Thorin staring towards the jungle. I followed his gaze and saw it. The tower stood over the trees like a cyclops eyeing his land, and goddammit, GOD DAMN IT if it wasn’t glowing a pale shade of pink.
“What?” Rose asked, seeing my face.
She looked before I could answer. Her mouth dropped open in horror. “I didn’t do that. I swear!”
“You didn’t do any of this. None of this is your fault,” I reminded her.
She wasn’t buying it. Worse than that, we were running out of time. If we couldn’t retreat, and we couldn’t go under, over, or through it, only one option was left.
“Let’s go,” I said, following the fence around.
It took over a minute to work our way around the border of the compound. Not once during that time did we see another way in or movement on the grounds. They had to know that we were here by now.
Were they just toying with us, knowing that they could kill us at any moment? Was that why the tower had been triggered so quickly? To bring this sickening game to an end?
We stopped running when the ground turned from dirt to sand. We couldn’t go much further. The fence that we had followed continued across the white sand beach and out one hundred feet into the rough, blue water.
We all stared, watching the choppy waves curl at the last moment and crash onto the shore. We had reached the end. The compound only had two ways onto it, by air or by sea.
A helicopter had been parked in the back when I had first seen the compound from the tower. Scanning the grounds now, I could see it was gone. Getting in by air was out. That left one option.
“We have to swim around,” I announced to the group.
Thorin looked at me, stunned. “I don’t know if you know this, but there are a lot of sharks near these beaches.”
I looked at Rose, giving her a knowing smile.
“It’s not funny!” Thorin insisted. “Look, I know that you’re not afraid of anything or whatever. And you mock me because I’m not like you…”
“I not mocking you,” I clarified. “I’m trying to save your life. Do you understand that? When that tower turns red, you will die. Not me. You. And as tough as that is to hear, that’s what’s gonna happen. So if you want help saving your life, then that’s where we have to go.”
I didn’t like having to say it like that, but he needed a jolt of reality. It looked like it worked. He was angry but focused.
“I think that Rose and I should go. You should stay here,” Thorin said, suddenly calmer than he had been.
I could have responded in two ways. I chose to smile. “You tryin’ to get rid of me, Thorin?”
He remained cool. “It’s not that. It’s just that there are probably sharks in the water and you’re the only one of us covered in blood.”
I looked down, remembering what I looked like. My shirt was caked in blood. He was right. When I looked at him again, I saw how much he enjoyed it.
I whipped off my shirt and examined my wounds. They weren’t bloody, but they were juicy. I twisted my stomach to test the scabs. The scabs held, but I wasn’t sure what would happen once they were submerged in salt water.
“You two will go first,” I announced. “When you’re far enough ahead, I’ll follow.”
“Shouldn’t you give us the gun in case you don’t make it?” Thorin asked casually.
I was starting to hate his smug ass. I had to remind myself that I was trying to save him for Rose’s sake. She needed one less death on her hands, and I was going to do what I had to do to make sure of that.
“If something happens to me, then you’re done anyway. You won’t get past security, and you won’t be able to fight your way in. So how about you just hope that I make it, huh?”
Thorin didn’t like my answer, but he accepted it. Rose didn’t respond, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was scared. I didn’t know if it was because of what I had just said or her memory of our last swim.
Neither she nor I could forget the feeling of something dark brushing our legs, the helplessness, the terror that came from not knowing what would happen next. My heart raced thinking about it. Watching Rose wade into the dark water, it got harder for me to breath.
“Something touched my leg!” she screamed.
“Stay close to the fence!” I shouted. “They won’t have room to attach.”
“Ahh!” she moaned grabbing onto the chain links.
I watched, dreading every move that took her further from me. I would have given anything to protector her. When she rounded the razor wire a hundred feet out, it was time to join her.
I launched my bloody shirt over the fence and stepped into the splashing waves. The warm water filled my shoe. In a few steps, I had submerged my knees. Charging forward, my waist quickly followed.
The saltwater stung when it hit my wounds, but it wasn’t that bad. What was bad was the throbbing pain I felt when I had to swim. I could practically feel the scabs break.
Quickly after that, the stinging stopped. I was bleeding again. I didn’t want to think about what that meant, but when the shadows swarmed around me, I knew.
Thorin and Rose approached me from the other side of the fence. When she got to me, she was staring as something to my right.
“Don’t look. Just keep going,” I told her.
When her face contorted in horror, a chill rattled up my spin
e. What did she see?
“Look out!” she screamed.
My head spun in time to see a large mass plowing toward me. It was too late to escape it. I gripped the fence and folded as something the size of a couch hit me. A whirlpool encircled my chest as its powerful jaws snapped, trying to get a hold.
I gritted my teeth as I felt its nose and gums against my flesh. With it raking its head left and right, it was bound to catch me. As it pushed into my side, I felt the first cut from its teeth and then nothing.
“Go! Go! It’s swimming away!” Rose yelled.
My heart was pounding. I didn’t bother to look, I just moved. I was sure it would attack again, so I considered my options.
I thought about my gun. I had jammed it into my pocket, but remembering the hole made by my butcher’s knife, I wondered if it was still there. I needed to check, but I didn’t have time. I had to keep moving.
I wasn’t swimming anymore. I was hugging the fence. Sharks attacked from underneath, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. When something brushed my leg, my muscles locked.
I gripped the chain links for dear life. I was going to fight being torn away. I pressed my chest against the metal, and nothing came. It was just a fin. So slithering across the submerging chain links, I kept moving.
Reaching out and grabbing razor wire, I stopped. I was halfway there. It was time for me to let go, swim out, cross the fence and then swim back. My pulse pounded in my ears, preparing for it.
I released my death grip and pulled my legs to my chest. With one arm, I held my knees, and with the other, I took small strokes. Pulling the water through my fingers, I floated outward, fighting to stay upright. As I readied to cross the submerged razor wire, a wave hit me.
I tumbled, losing control. I rolled into the razors, and they hooked into my back. It tore at my flesh. The cuts burned.
Yanked away by the waves, I started spinning. Everything was happening too quickly. I began to drift and sink. I was disoriented. I didn’t know which side of the fence I was on.