Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town (23 page)

Authors: Simon Smith-Wilson

My
fingers tapped away on the touch screen.

The
destination was set. This building was the target.

‘
Is
that the best you got?’ asked Rose, without looking back.

I
hit the confirmation button.

‘
It’s
over. The nuke is coming.’

‘
No.
It’s not.’ She raised a hand up into the air. It was like
she was pointing at the sky. I walked up to the edge of the room,
stopping short of the non-existent window. A fireball appeared far
away in the clear blue sky. It was so small that I could hardly see
it. ‘You can’t kill me. I know all too well about your
nuclear weapon, but how about you see mine.’ She turned to face
me. A sickening smile was spread across her face. Murder was in her
eyes. A cold shiver ran down my spine, as I looked up at the sky.
Thousands upon thousands of black dots were popping into existence.
They were falling down from the heavens. It took only a handful of
seconds for me to work out what they were. They were missiles. Vapour
trails covered the skyline, as the missiles flew off in various
directions.

‘
Welcome
to NUKE TOWN!’ Rose let out a deep laugh.

A
painful bright white light consumed the horizon. I squeezed my eyes
tight and turned away, but that didn’t seem to do anything to
stop the light from stinging my eyes. The pain was immense. It felt
like someone was stabbing a knife into my brain. The building shook
beneath my feet, as a loud explosion rumbled on the horizon. I could
hear alarms going off from vehicles and buildings in the city. One by
one more and more explosions struck this alien world. The intensity
of the shaking grew by the second. It felt like the entire planet was
falling apart. I fell backwards and used the chair to steady myself.
The bright light was starting to subside. I opened my eyes and looked
out across the landscape. Hundreds of mushroom clouds were billowing
into the air. Rose was killing the four million players in the game.
The blue sky was now black. The red glow of fire and destruction
could be seen everywhere. An eerie light of death consumed the
horizon.

I
grabbed the gun from the arm of the chair.

‘
Stop
this, Rose!’ I held the gun up towards her.

‘
When
will you learn? That can’t hurt me.’

‘
You
think so?’ I put the barrel against the side of my head. ‘You
need me.’

‘
What
the fuck are you doing?’ The voice in my head screamed.

‘
Haven’t
we done this already?’ asked Rose.

‘
I
killed myself once. I can do it again,’ I told her.

‘
If
we die, we die. There is no coming back from this,’ said the
voice.

‘
Once
again we are at a stalemate,’ said Rose.

She
was no longer smiling.

Chapter Six: Suicide

‘
Are
you fucking kidding me?’ The voice demanded.

‘
Is
this the best you can do?’ asked Rose.

‘
You
leave me no option,’ I told her.

‘
You’re
solution to difficult situations is to kill yourself. How did you
survive this long?’ she mocked.

‘
Fuck
you.’

Hesitation
momentarily filled my soul. Was this really the only way? I had
killed myself once before to stop this bitch. She had been killing my
friends one by one. The only way to stop her was to kill myself.
Things are different this time. She is a God in this virtual world. I
can’t do anything to stop her. She is too strong. Rose needs
me. She wants to use me as a vessel to get to the real world. Her
path of destruction would continue there. I couldn’t allow
that. If I had to die, I would die. I just want to do something right
for once in my pitiful life. This is the only way. It is.

I
took a deep breath and exhaled deeply.

‘
Are
you mental? Stop this!’

I
closed my eyes.

The
time had come.

‘
NO!’

I
could feel the voice fighting for control. It was trying to take
over.

It
was trying to stop me, but it was too late.

I
squeezed the trigger.

The
gun clicked.

Nothing
happened.

Rose
let out the deepest belly laugh she had ever done. I squeezed the
trigger a second time, but no bullets came out. I turned the gun to
the side. A numbing defeat pulled down on my stomach, as sand poured
out of the barrel. That is how she did it? She turned the bullets
into sand. Is this it? I can’t even kill myself in this world.

‘
I
can’t let you kill yourself, 3-57.’

It
was over.

I
had lost.

‘
I
think it’s time we ended this little game.’

Rose
began to walk back from her bridge of glass. I attempted to back
away, but my body wouldn’t move. It was like someone had just
glued my feet to the floor. I was stuck. I looked up at Rose. She
must have been able to see the fear carved into my face. Her smile
was so wide that it nearly consumed her eyes and ears. Rose stopped
in front of me. The palm of her delicate hand was placed upon my
sternum. Slowly, the tips of her fingers began to push into my body.
Pain erupted within me. I could feel my skin being ripped open. It
was like she was pushing knives into my chest.

What
could I do?

I
didn’t want to die.

Not
like this.

‘
FUCK
OFF!’ The voice screamed.

The
words came out of my mouth.

My
right fist caught Rose across the side of the face with a devastating
hook. She stumbled backwards. The voice looked down at my right fist.
I could feel the smile spreading upon my lips. I tried to move, but I
had no control. The voice had taken over. It was back in control.
Normally, I would be worried, but for once I was glad. Suddenly, I
moved forward as fast as an Olympic sprinter. The voice threw a
straight left. Rose had recovered enough to put up her hands, which
took the brunt of the blow, but she was still off balance. We threw
hooks, uppercuts and all sorts of boxing combinations that my father
had taught me. My little sister’s nose exploded in a mist of
red, as blood dripped from her mouth.

‘
Get
away!’ She threw her palms forward.

It
was like getting hit by a two hundred mile an hour gust of wind.

We
were blown off our feet and sent spiralling through the air.

I
landed with a heavy thud on the floor.

‘
You
little shit,’ Rose spat blood onto the floor.

‘
Do
something,’ I said, but my words were locked within my mind.

‘
Quit
bitching, just watch.’

The
voice held up a hand towards the ceiling. I could feel the power of
its concentration. He yanked his hand down. To my surprise part of
the ceiling collapsed down on top of Rose, but my sister responded
pretty fast. She waved a hand above her head, as if she was brushing
away a cobweb, which sent the falling debris flying through the air
and crashing into the far wall.

‘
So,
you worked out how to do it, eh?’ said Rose.

‘
We
are the same person after all.’

‘
I
forget out clever I was,’ she chuckled.

‘
This
is a world created by your mind, eh? I am the exact same mind. I am
you...’ This time the voice laughed. Rose didn’t appear
impressed by this. ‘Or should I say that you are just a cheap
copy of me. How does it feel to be the copy of the original?’

‘
You
are a sickness.’

‘
And
you are just a failed experiment.’

‘
I
am going to enjoy killing you.’

‘
I
will be the one that kills you.’

They
both sprinted towards each other. Rose ducked down slightly and
tackled us around the mid-section. The air was knocked from our
lungs, as Rose lifted us up off the floor and flew forwards like some
kind of superhero knock off. It was a strange feeling. A light hollow
sensation twisted my stomach, but it was quickly replaced by the
explosion of pain in my back, as we were smashed through the far
wall. Rose continued to fly forward. I could feel the voice focusing
its mind. It was doing something to my back. It was changing it. It
was like I suddenly wore a suit of armour down my spine. My body was
made of metal. The next impact didn’t hurt so much. Rose
smashed us through another wall, a third wall and finally a fourth
wall. My eyes nearly popped out of my head, as I glanced down at the
city below. We were flying backwards through the sky. Panic filled my
heart. I was sure we were going to die, but the voice was full of
excitement. It was getting off on the battle. I could feel the
orgasmic pressure building between my thighs. Suddenly, we spun in
mid-air and the voice tossed Rose down. She spiralled head over heels
and crashed down onto the roof of an eight story building.

The
voice looked down at our feet.

It
laughed.

We
were hovering in mid-air.

It
was like the law of gravity didn’t apply to us.

‘
I
love this fucking game.’

And
then we were dropping. We were dropping fast. Rose flipped up off her
back and spiralled sideways through the air like some kind of
gymnast. Momentum was against us. My feet were stomped downwards
through the roof, which instantly gave way. We crashed feet first
through three floors of the building before coming to a stop. Dust
filled the air, blocking out our vision.

Rose
appeared out of nowhere.

A
fist caught me on the right cheek bone.

It
felt like she was swinging a sledge hammer.

We
stumbled backwards, but she was on top of us in a heartbeat. Punches
came from all sorts of angles and directions. The voice did what my
father had taught us. Tuck your chin in, shoulders up, hands in front
of the jaw line, as if you were biting your gloves. This was the
peek-a-boo boxing style. It allowed you to take damage, which
protecting your weak points. We began to counter. It was an exchange
of blows. Blood covered my fists, but Rose was strong. Her petite
frame wasn’t the measure of her strength. The voice threw a big
right. Rose ducked and jabbed a fist into my ribcage. We doubled
over, which set us up perfectly for a knee to the head. The edges of
my vision blurred slightly. We regained enough composure just in time
to see Rose drop-kick us like some kind of professional wrestler. The
world flashed by in a blur of movement, as we destroyed several
office cubicles, exploded out of a window and shot backwards across
the black sky.

The
voice held out his hands, as if grabbing something to steady himself.

Our
flight backwards slowed to a standstill.

We
hovered above the city.

On
the horizon more and more mushroom clouds billowed into existence.

Howling
winds roared across the landscape.

Lightning
arched across the sky.

Below
me the city streets were cracking.

Buildings
were starting to collapse in on themselves.

Entire
blocks were falling into bottomless abysses, as molten lava sprayed
into the air.

The
planet was dying.

Rose
floated into the air in front of us.

‘
It’s
over,’ she said, ‘you cannot beat me.’