Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town (17 page)

I
turned my eyes towards Rose.

‘
We’re
fucked...’  

She
was aiming the gun right at me.

A
cold shiver ran down the length of my spine.

That
cold dead look had returned to her eyes. It was the same look she
used to have during her schizophrenic episodes. She held her gun with
both hands. Calmness oozed from her. It was like killing TJ wasn’t
even a thing. Was she going to shoot me next? Is this how I am going
to go out?

‘
Let’s
get inside,’ said Rose, as she holstered the gun.

The
voice in my head laughed.

‘
You
thought she was going to do it.’

I
breathed a long deep breath, releasing all the tension from my body.
Rose headed back into the medical ship. I stepped over TJ. The lights
behind his eyes were out. I knelt down and removed the handgun from
the palm of his hand. It fitted nicely into my right thigh holster. I
plucked the extra magazine from his belt. At least I had a weapon
now. It was then that a thought occurred to me. Was TJ one of the
AI’s? I doubted it. The guy looked just as frightened as Sly.
Had my sister just killed a player in the game? Is that the type of
person she was? Would she do what was needed to survive? It was the
same philosophy I had lived by in the last game. If TJ was human then
it meant three of the others were AI’s. We had just put the
odds in their favour even more.

‘
You
know you can’t trust her,’ said the voice.

‘
Fuck
off,’ I replied.

‘
You
know I am right.’

I
didn’t want to admit it, but it was. I couldn’t trust
Rose. I couldn’t trust anyone. I needed to think of a way to
end this situation without killing any more people. I had killed all
my friends once before. I promised myself that it wouldn’t
happen again. There had to be a different way to end this problem. I
had to think of something. I had to be creative.

Chapter Five:
Process of Elimination

‘
It’s
okay,’ I told Sophia.

The
young woman looked frightened, but nodded her head in reply. If there
was one person she could trust, it was me. I had saved her from
Skull. He had been raping her when I found them. The poor girl didn’t
stand a chance. Skull had already murdered two people. Sophia would
have been killed, too. I had saved her life, but it would be a long
time before she could ever return to a sense of normality. Rose
pressed her thumb on the end of the syringe. The clear liquid entered
Sophia’s body. The woman blinked once and then relaxed. Her
entire body went floppy, as her head dropped and her eyes closed. She
entered the world of sleep.

‘
That’s
all of them,’ said Rose.

My
sister got to her feet and sighed.

‘
Is
this what it has come to? We can’t even trust our friends.’

‘
There
are no friends in this world,’ I told her.

‘
You
are as cheerful as always, big brother.’

She
walked by me and headed towards the ramp. I watched her go for a
minute, as I attempted to take stock of the situation. Sophia was
unconscious and no longer a threat. Although, I never believed that
she was a threat. Robbie and Clay were on different cots. They had
both been unconscious since we escaped the train. Robbie had suffered
horrific burns during the gruesome battle on the train. Clay had been
savagely attacked by one of those demonic monsters after we had
escaped the drop zone. Both of his eyes had been ripped out. I never
considered any of them a threat. We were the ones that had carried
them through this battle.

I
stepped over to Fiona.

The
beautiful mahogany skinned angel was sleeping peacefully on a cot.
Unconsciously, I stroked my fingers through her hair, brushing some
loose strands behind her ear. I leaned down and placed a soft kiss
upon her lips. Fiona was a prisoner, too. She had fought hard to keep
me alive. She had been badly injured during the battle on the train.
I would go to hell and back to keep her alive. I think I am starting
to fall for her.

‘
I
will be back,’ I whispered.

I
got to my feet and followed Rose out of the medical transport ship.

She
was waiting for me at the bottom of the ramp.

‘
What
is our next move?’ asked Rose.

‘
There
is only one thing we can do,’ I replied.

‘
Jane?’

‘
Jane,’
I confirmed.

‘
You
know she isn’t going to want to see you.’

Rose
pressed a button on the side of the bulky vessel. A whining sound
filled the air, as the ramp began to retract and the airlock closed.
That would keep the others out of harm’s way for the time
being.

‘
Jane
might be in trouble,’ I told her. ‘Prisoner X told us
that three of our people are AI’s. Levi, Sly and TJ are all
dead. I don’t think any of them were the AI’s. Fiona,
Robbie, Clay and Sophia are out for the count. That means three AI’s
are still on the loose.’

‘
Are
you sure Prisoner X wasn’t just fucking with you?’

‘
I
think he was telling the truth...’

Honestly,
I wasn’t a hundred percent sure, or even fifty percent sure.

‘
Someone
shot and killed Sly,’ I added.

‘
So,
if three of the group are potential enemies then that means it could
be Jane, Rose, Saul, or Iaso.’

‘
Or...’
I stopped myself.

‘
You
still think I am not real, Brother?’

‘
I’m
sorry,’ I replied, ‘I don’t think I will ever be
able to trust you. They convinced me that you were dead. They said I
was sick. I want to believe you, Rose. I want to trust you, but I
can’t. I don’t know what is real any more’

‘
Jane
and the other aren’t going to trust you, though. You killed all
your friends.’

‘
I
know.’ It hurt my heart even to talk about it. ‘I can’t
just leave her. I owe her this much. If Jane is in danger I have to
help her. She may hate me, but she is still my friend. I owe her,
Lena and Iaso.’

‘
Okay...’

A
female voice screamed painfully.

It
echoed through the silent city streets.

It
was one long prolonged agonising howl.

‘
Jane...?’

My
body was moving before I gave the order to move. My feet were
hammering of the side walk, as I sprinted back towards the town
centre. That voice had been Jane. The thought of anything bad
happening to her made my stomach twist. She had been my first real
friend. She had been my first love. Losing her was the single biggest
pain I had ever suffered. Jane was the first person ever to be kind
to me. I couldn’t let anything happen to her. I didn’t
want to lose anyone else. I needed her to live. I needed her.

Chapter Six: No more
tears

The
screams led the way. A horrible hollow sensation filled my stomach.
It was Jane. It was her voice. She was pleading with someone. Her
voice was like a beacon. It was drawing me in. I knew it was a trap.
I didn’t take this long to kill someone. It was obviously a
trap, but I couldn’t help it. I had to save her. I loved her. I
always loved her. I had stopped the voice within my head from killing
her once before. The voice took control and killed everyone else, but
I wouldn’t allow it to kill Jane. My love for her was too
powerful.

I
sprinted into a multi-story hover car park.

It
was one of those five hundred space car parks, attached to a mall.

Every
single space was vacant.

I
came to a stop and listened.

Sweat
was pouring from my brow. My breathing was laboured. I hadn’t
run this much in ages. Just how unfit had I become? My chest heaved,
as I cocked my head to the side. I was sure the sound was coming from
here. Footsteps approached me from behind, as Rose came running into
the car park. She was gasping for air and clutching her side. I was
surprised she was able to keep up. I thought I had lost her.

‘
NO!
PLEASE!’ Jane’s scream roared down through the levels.

I
followed the incline in the road to the next level. Jane was above
us. Around and around I went, as I went from one level to the next.
Sunlight poured in, as I charged out onto the top level. I don’t
remember pulling it, but my side arm was now in my hand. A cold
shiver ran down the length of my spine.

Jane
was lying in a pool of blood.

I
scanned the surrounded area, but nobody was about.

The
rooftops were clear.

This
had to be a trap.

I
approached Jane. She was hardly breathing. The closer I got the more
my horror grew. I wanted to be sick. Severed fingers lined the path
towards her. Blood was everywhere. I stepped over an ear and walked
by a gruesome foot. Beautiful red hair danced across the tarmac, as a
soft breeze blew her gorgeous locks away from her bloody scalp. I
could see bald patches on the top of her head where they had hacked
off her hair. They had removed both of her arms at the elbows and
removed her entire left leg.

‘
Jane...’

‘
3-...5....7....’
blood was dribbling from the sides of her mouth.

‘
My
god,’ gasped Rose.

I
walked around Jane and knelt down on the floor beside her.

There
were no words to describe the horror before me. Jane’s one good
eye was open. They had sliced the other out of her face. Her body,
what was left of it, jolted with pain. She swallowed hard and arched
her back. Lacerations covered her entire body. They had carved her
up. Not a single inch of her body was untouched. They had taken
Iaso’s sword and tortured Jane.

‘
Now
this is fucked up,’ said the voice in my head.

I
squeezed my eyes shut and forced it back.

I
had almost forgotten that it was there.

Not
now.

Please,
not now.

‘
We
will get you out of here,’ I told her.

‘
Don’t...’
Jane couldn’t talk.

‘
We
have hibernation bags in the medical transport,’ I said this to
Rose.

My
sister nodded her head in reply.

‘
We
can put her in one. The game will end when I kill Prisoner X. She
will wake up in the real world without any wounds. We just have to
keep her alive.’

‘
Okay.
I will go grab one.’

‘
No,’
Jane wheezed painfully, ‘No time.’

‘
Jane,
we will get through this.’

‘
Please,
3-57.’ Her eye pleaded with me to listen. I didn’t know
what to do. If we acted quickly there might be a chance we could save
her. I had done it once before in the previous game. Lena had been
shot through the abdomen. We used a hibernation bag to keep her alive
until the mission was over. I just had to do it again. That is what I
knew I should do, but something through the window of her soul was
drawing me in. ‘Lena...’

‘
We
will save her,’ said Rose.

Jane
shook her head.

‘
Don’t
kill... her.’

‘
Why
would we kill her?’ asked Rose.

A
tear ran down Jane’s cheek.

It
finally hit home.

‘
She
isn’t real,’ I replied.

Jane
sobbed.

Lena
was an AI?

How
was that possible? I had been through so many missions with her.

Unconsciously,
I wiped away the tears, as I stroked my palm against her cheek.