S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND, Season One Omnibus (30 page)

“
And again on Saturday?”

“
The same.”

“
You went to the same place twice in two days because…you were bored?”

“
I didn't say we were bored.”

“
So, there was a reason?” He grunts, but doesn't push it. “Your brother is Eric Daniels?” I nod. “The NCD team leader?”

“
Yes,” I say, hesitantly. I'm aware of how poorly regarded the NCD officers are by the other police officers. They're considered a bunch of misfits and Undead-obsessed freaks. I can't really argue against that. As far as I'm concerned, it's a fairly accurate assessment.

“
So you're aware of what happened last night down in Manhattan?”

This is where things get tricky. I don't know if Eric was supposed to keep it hush-hush. He said it was going to be on Media this morning, but all I could find was that travel to lower Manhattan today was going to be restricted and remain restricted for an indeterminate amount of time due to a toxic spill of some sort. No mention of zombies. Typical Media spin. I figured they wanted to prevent a panic.

“
He was called down there to help out with something. I think it was a spill of some kind. I would've thought it might have something to do with the Undead, but he didn't say. He left early this morning, before I got up. I didn't get a chance to talk with him.”

The older cop rubs his Link on his cheek and regards me for a few seconds. “It was zombies.” He studies me carefully to gauge my reaction. I act surprised. “Doesn't it seem strange that there'd suddenly be this trouble with zombies in the exact same place you kids were messing around in just a few days before? And now one of you is missing.”

He looks over at his partner. “Doesn't it seem strange to you that, not only is he missing, but he seems to have completely vanished off the face of the Stream?” He shrugs. “Me? I think that's strange. What about you, Hank? You think it's strange?”

The younger cop shrugs. “It's strange, but I can't see—”

Old Mister Fat Cop leans over to me, his face just inches from mine. “I've been on this job for forty years. I've seen a lot of fucked up shit, young lady. I've caught a shit-load of criminals. I've broken a hell of a lot, too. I can tell you that this doesn't smell right. In fact, it smells downright stinky.”

If I weren't so scared, I'd laugh in his face and tell him shit usually does stink. Plus, he sounds like the cops from those old shows Micah has bootleg copies of in his basement.

I raise my hands in a gesture of defeat. “I don't know where Kelly is. I wish I did. I'm worried—”

“
You don't look very worried.”

“
Al,” the younger cop says.

The older cop inhales slowly. He straightens up, turns and walks to the window and looks out. Then he turns back to me and says, “We're pulling yesterday's checkpoint records. I hope I don't find that you all went back down to Manhattan.”

“
I was on a transit to Hartford,” I say. “And you're wrong about me not being worried. I'm worried sick about Kelly.”

The older cop glances down at his Link while I'm talking. He shows it to Al, then abruptly stands up and announces they're finished. I wish I knew what newsflash he just received.

As I show them to the door, the younger cop tries to make nice. “So, you take karate?”

“
Hapkido. Eric got me into it years ago. For self-defense.”

Shit-Head snorts. “You want my advice, young lady? Teach yourself to fire a gun. That's the only kind of self defense you need.” He rubs the forty five on his hip and leers, like it's his dick he's talking about. The asshole probably sleeps with the damn thing in his hand. “That fancy shmancy Chuck Norris stuff won't do you no good, not against the Undead.” He chuckles. “Not that you'd ever have any need to use it on them, right?”

He does a clumsy imitation of a karate chop.

I stare back at him with my best blank look, and not because I don't know who Chuck Norris was—I do—but to let him know he's a total prick. Mentioning someone from, like, fifty years ago just shows how out of touch he really is.

“
I suppose you've got all kinds of experience fighting zombies sitting at the local coffee shop, is that it?” I say after breaking the stare first. I know even as I'm saying it that I'm treading on thin ice. I lower my eyes pointedly to his bulging stomach. “I heard they like to eat, too.”

But he just doesn't get when he's being insulted. “A lot more experience than you, young lady. I was there in the City during the outbreak twelve years ago. You were probably still in your diapers. I hope and pray you never have to meet one of the bastards. Dirty, stinking fuckers. NCDs are just a bunch of wussy necrophiliacs, if you ask me.”

He barks out a laugh and claps his partner on the shoulder, who now looks about as uncomfortable as anyone could be. “Oh, excusee my Français. I meant zombie lovers.”

I glare as I hold the door open for him.

“
Thank you for your time, Miss Daniels,” the other cops says. “Sorry to bother you.” He taps my Link with his to transfer his contact info. “Ping us if you hear anything.”

I nod.

He walks down the steps, then turns. “Will you be around later this afternoon? We may have a few more questions for you.”

I shrug, which they evidently interpret as a yes. As they walk down the sidewalk, they hold their heads together, conspiring no doubt about their next move. Good cop and bad cop. Young cop and asshole.

I close the door and lean my head against it

“
You didn't handle that very well.”

Grandpa's voice startles me. I spin around to find him standing right behind me. I wonder how much of the interview he heard. And that makes me wonder why he didn't come in while the cops were still here. I sure could've used a little help against Fatso.

“
Antagonizing the police is always a mistake.”

I brush past him. I need some air. And I certainly don't need Grandpa trying to tell me what's right and what's wrong. “I'm late for class.”

To my surprise, he lets me go without saying another word.

When I arrive at the dojang ten minutes later, it's all abuzz about something big happening down in Manhattan. I try to stay out of it, though I do listen to what's being said. The theories range all over the place, but a few come uncomfortably close to the truth. At least as far as I know it.

Halfway through one of my sparring sessions, Master Rupert walks past. He catches my eye, jolting me out of my focus. My sparring partner takes immediate advantage of my distraction. The next thing I know, I'm down on the mat with my arm wrenched behind me. The ref grants him the win.

I pick myself up off the floor and hurry away without the traditional bow of respect and thanks. My shoulder's sore and my arm feels like it's been pulled from its socket.

“
Kwanjangnim Rupert,” I call.

He stops and waits for me, smiling in his usual easygoing way. “Sunbae Jessie. How good to see you. We missed you on Saturday.”

“
I'm sorry. I was…out of town.”

He nods and waits.

“
How's your back?” I ask, suddenly feeling unsure of myself. How do I ask him about Ash?

He furrows his brow for a moment, confused, then laughs. “Ah, all better. Thank you for asking.”

“
I'm glad.”

His smile wavers and he raises his eyebrows.

“
I was just wondering, sir.”

“
Yes?”

“
There's this girl I know. Her name's Ashley Evans. Do you… You wouldn't happen to know her, would you?”

He shakes his head and says, “No, I don't think so. Should I? Is she interested in taking lessons?” I'm not certain, but I think I see a flicker of something cross his face—surprise, maybe, or suspicion.

“
Not exactly. It's just that I saw that she had your contact info on her Link.”

He shrugs and looks away. “Could be for any number of reasons. Perhaps you should ask her.”

I nod.

“
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to prepare for the juniors class.”

He turns and leaves me standing there. It's true that the juniors class starts in a few minutes, but it's not like Rupert to treat any of his students with such brusqueness. Do his actions mean anything? Do they conceal a secret, or a lie? I hate feeling that way about a man I've known half my life and have always deeply respected for telling it like it is.

As I ponder what this all could mean, he goes into his office, shutting the door behind him. I watch through the glass as he pulls out his Link and thumbs the screen for a moment before lifting it to his ear. I can see him talking, though I can't hear a word he says. His back is turned, but then he turns and sees me and quickly turns around again.

It's this last bit that troubles me the most.

 

I see Micah's car
parked in his driveway when I pass his house going home. It's just sitting there, so conspicuously that it seems strange, especially given all that's going on with the police right now. I go up to knock on his door, hoping everything's all right. Hoping that maybe Kelly and Jake are back and everything's back to normal again.

I barely raise my hand when the door opens and someone yanks me inside. It's Micah. He takes a quick glance up and down the street before closing it again.

“
You weren't followed were you?”

“
Yeah,” I say, confused. “I think I picked up a tail at Vinny's pool hall. But I took evasive action.”

“
Huh? Vinnie's what?”

I sigh. “What's going on, Micah? I thought you were going to lay low. Your car's in the driveway.”

He starts pacing across the room. I've never seen him this agitated before, but there's an excited gleam in his blue eyes. There's worry there, too, but also excitement.

“
I wasn't sure if I should go by your place or not. I was afraid they'd be watching it.”

“
The cops? Paranoid much?”

“
I'm serious. Reggie says there's a car parked outside his house. Somebody's watching him.” He runs his hands through his curls like he's hyped up on caffeine. If I did that, my hair would be a tangled mess, but his just falls right back into place, looking exactly the way it was before. It's not fair that guys can have nicer hair than me. He probably doesn't even know what bed-head is. “Listen, are you free for the rest of the day?” he asks.

I shrug. “Yeah, I guess. Not like I can go anywhere.”

“
Well, you are. We're getting out of here as soon as Reg and Ash get here.” He checks his Link and shakes his head. “I wish they'd hurry.”

I move in front of him so he has to stop pacing. “Hold on a sec. What're you talking about?”

“
We're heading back down to New York.”

My heart skips a beat. “You can't be serious.”

“
We're going to get Kelly and Jake.”

Now my head really starts to buzz. And instead of the room coming into focus again, it just starts spinning even faster.

“
You okay, Jess?”

I fall onto the couch; the springs complain. The air conditioner hums away and a cool breeze blows across my face from the vent in the ceiling, but the room still feels too hot, too close. I think I might be sick. I push him away. I need to think.

“
You got a Link, right?” he asks.

“
Yeah, but—” I reach into my pocket and pull it out. “Wait, you can't be serious. Are you saying we're going back to Long Island? Have you lost your mind?”

“
Ashley finished the hack, Jessie,” he says, thumbing through my Link. “Christ, what a piece of crap.” He hands it back to me, then kneels down in front of me and grabs my hands. “Ash built an algorithm that could actually parse ArcWare's codex. It ran all day yesterday.” He waves his hand. “Doing that learning and adapting shit she's always going on about.”

“
Heuristic—”

“
Yeah, yeah. Whatever. The point is, it works, Jess! She got us into
The Game
! She actually got us in!”

I don't know if it's lack of sleep or food or the overdosing on stress, but I'm having trouble following him. “Are you talking about breaking into Gameland?”

“
Yes! I mean, no! I mean, yes, about the hack, not about breaking in.” He jumps to his feet and starts pacing again, waving his hands wildly about. He almost hits me in the face on one pass. “I'm talking about being able to see
everything
in there!”

“
Damn it, Micah!” I yell at him. “I actually thought you might be talking about going to get Kelly and Jake, but you're just talking about some dumb video game?”

“
I'm spewing, I know. Lack of sleep.” He hurries into the kitchen and pulls a Red Bull out of the case on the counter and chugs the whole thing warm. “Let me try again. What I've been trying to say is we can see everything inside. Well, almost everything. It's not a video feed, but we can track now. From out here!”

“
Still spewing nonsense.”

“
I
found
them. I found Kelly and Jake. I tracked them with this!” He reaches into his pocket and pulls up his Link. “The location app tells me where they are. We know they're alive!”