Z 2134 (27 page)

Keb shook his head. “You’re only saying
that since you’re a girl, and hand-to-hand’s not your thing. But Marcus would
agree. Guns are too easy, a lot like your crossbow. A knife is up close,
personal, and the only way to really taste the kill.”

“You’re an asshole,” Chloe said. “Why
would you want to get that personal? What in the hell is wrong with you? It’s
no wonder you’re outside The Wall.”

Liam winced as she said it — the third
such comment directed at Keb in the last half hour or so. Chloe’s subtle
personal attacks were designed, Liam was certain, to create some tension among
the men — the sort of comments that were likely dormant before Liam entered the
picture.

“Tasting your kill tells you who you
are,” Keb said. “And if you expect to survive out here and make it to City 7,
you
need
to
know
who you are.” Keb clenched and unclenched his
fist as he walked, shifting his sword from left to right, whipping its curve
against the wind.

“Why do I get the feeling you volunteered
your way outside The Wall like an idiot?” Chloe said. “Seems like you get off
on this.”

Keb shrugged. “One man’s idiot is another
man’s genius. We’ll see who’s stupid when I’m sipping cocktails in City 7. I’ve
been waiting for this since I was a kid. I’m finishing this shit nice and
alive. Sorry to let the three of you down, but not one of you stands a chance.
Sticking with me, though, that’ll definitely get you living longer than you
would’ve otherwise.”

Keb winked. Liam wasn’t sure whether it
indicated that he was just trying to rile Chloe up, or that he was making a veiled
threat at him, hoping he’d take the bait.

Marcus then piped in, “You might be good
with that blade, but you weigh less than a girl, man, so I don’t think you’re
gonna win shit if I’m still in this thing.”

Chloe laughed. So did Keb, though his was
a horrible icy cackle. The hairs on Liam’s neck stiffened as Keb stopped
walking mid-stride, then turned and stared up into the giant’s eyes. “You must
have me mistaken for someone who can’t kill a fucker a minute after he thinks
it.” He laughed again, louder. “You ever come across someone, and about a
second after you stared into their eyes you knew they was the one person you
shouldn’t have fucked with? Well, that was me behind The Wall, you big ape, and
I’m 100 times more dangerous out here.”

“Show, don’t tell, asshole,” Chloe said,
with a light laugh with just enough charm to keep Keb in a smile.

Marcus held Keb’s stare, then surprised
Liam by getting more articulate by the minute. “I’m not much for saying my
thinking out loud,” he said, “since folks don’t usually expect me to say much.
But the truth is, all of us are going to die, and probably none of us will make
it to City 7, if it even exists, which it might not. My kid brother Johnny won
the games about four years back, and I’ve not heard a word from him since.
Whether we make it to the end or not, all that matters is that we stand against
the enemy with our feet unmoving for as long as we can. Nothing is certain in
these games, and most times people win by accident. I’m glad to live a little
longer with the two, and now the three of you, by my side.” He turned to Liam,
smiled, then added, “That is all.”

Liam liked the guy more and more the
longer they walked together, even if he had an ass like an anvil.

Keb said, “You haven’t heard from anyone
from City 7 because they’re not allowed to communicate with the other Cities.
That’s a fact, Mack. And here’s another one: I’ve been ready to make my way to
the end since I was 14, and I guarantee I will.”

Marcus started walking. “Only reason
Johnny wouldn’t find a way to send word to his brother, whether it was allowed
or not, was if he was dead. Like I said, City 7’s likely a legend. Why don’t
you think they ever show past winners on the TV, huh?”

Keb said, “I dunno, it’s some policy
thing or something, who the fuck knows, but City 7 is real. If it’s not, then
we would’ve known by now. And we’d all be fighting in these Games for nothing.”

The group fell into silence. Liam figured
they were each contemplating the discussion and whether or not they were
fighting for nothing. Or perhaps they were each trying to figure out the best
way to get to the end, and who they’d have to kill first.

Liam wondered what Chloe was thinking.
She kept looking from one of them to the other, and acting like she wasn’t
looking at any of them at all.

They trudged through the snow, thinning
it to sludge as they did. The wind had practically died to nothing, which made
it easy to hear the first zombie nearly a minute before they saw it rambling
from the woods.

Keb started laughing, hysterical and
almost out-of-control, like a kid about to run out and play hit ball.

Keb stood still, body tensed, waiting for
the zombie to come closer. Once it was 50 yards away, Keb raced toward it
screaming, arm hovering high, where it stayed until he was three feet from the
undead monster, and he brought it down in a low swoop, landing deep into its
shoulder, drowning both blade and snow in buckets of blood.

Still laughing, he yanked his sword from
the zombie’s shoulder, then swung it around, making stupid sounds like he was
having way too much fun, or showing off what a badass he truly was with his
blade. Keb then swung the sword in a wide arc and chopped the zombie’s head
clean from its neck, sending it into the snow.

The zombie crashed to its knees, then
swayed for a moment before falling forward and spurting more dark blood into
the snow like a broken fountain.

Keb turned in a circle, holding his arms
to his side as though he were a T, waiting for applause that didn’t, and wasn’t
going to, come.

The silence stretched until it made Chloe
laugh.

“Fuck you, people,” Keb said with a
chuckle. “That was some warrior shit right there.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said, “You’re a reg — ”

Her comment was clipped short by a
high-pitched scream from the woods behind Keb. That scream was followed by what
sounded like at least a dozen more.

Oh shit!

Immediately, Liam thought of his gun with
no bullets. Not only was he unable to fight the zombies, but should they
survive the attack, he’d be exposed, and likely killed for bluffing his way
onto their team.

Without turning, Keb hollered, “What are
you waiting for? Attack!”

Liam ran toward the zombies, two steps
behind Chloe and Marcus, hoping Keb would die. He was clearly skilled but a
danger to all of them. If Keb dropped, then Liam could “lose” his gun and grab
the sword, and do some damage and continue his deception.

Liam reached the swarm counting nine
zombies total, fewer than he feared, but not exactly a light load considering
how fast they were moving, regardless of the snow.

They were nearly surrounded as Liam
entered the fray with his fists. Three zombies leaped on Zeb, dragging him to
the ground.

“What the fuck?” Chloe screamed at Liam
as she fired a bolt at a zombie coming right at her and took it down. “What in
the hell are you waiting for? Shoot the fuckers!”

 “My gun is jammed,” Liam said, the words
sour on his tongue. As if to pay for his lie, he ran straight into the swarm,
pulled an attacking zombie from Keb’s body, then snapped its neck and dropped
it to the snow before diving back inside for another.

Keb started screaming for help at Liam,
mostly profanities, as more zombies piled on top, teeth gnashing. His screams
turned to muffled mumbles, then died entirely, drowned by the thunder of
ripping flesh and the sloppy, soaking-wet sound of their feasting.

Liam saw Keb’s sword lying a few feet
away on the ground. He grabbed the zombie — a woman with skin, eyes, and hair
all the color of freshly bleached porcelain — and shoved her back as he
barreled past her, dived to the ground, and grabbed the sword, the handle
sticky with Keb’s blood.

Liam leaped up and ran through the
woman’s skull with the sword, then wrenched it down and up, making sure to
destroy what was left of her brain.

Liam killed a second zombie, then spun
around to see how the others were faring.

Keb had managed to kill three zombies
before they ended his breathing and chances of making it to City 7. Chloe took
two before the crossbow was knocked from her hand. She was fighting another
hand-to-hand, but was too timid in her battle and getting pushed back toward
the Fire Wall. To Liam’s surprise, Marcus had only managed to kill one, but was
now wildly swinging his pipe and keeping the remaining zombies away from Chloe.

 Marcus bashed one zombie’s skull, then
immediately moved to the next one, almost as though it was only one motion. He
laughed, growled, then ran at another pair of moaners, ducking low and bashing
them at the knee. Once the zombies were down, Marcus turned back to help Chloe.
He’d failed to finish off the zombies he’d knocked down, however, and seconds
after he turned his back on them, they leaped onto him.

Chloe screamed, running away from two
zombies that were grasping at her as she ran defenseless. Liam ran up to her,
swinging the sword into the first zombie’s head, killing it in an instant.

The second zombie ran straight into
Liam’s blade, almost as if committing suicide, which made Liam laugh before
finishing it off.

Liam then raced toward Marcus, who was
fighting the last four zombies as Chloe retrieved her crossbow. As Liam swung
at the creature closest to him, Chloe sent a bolt into the head of a second
zombie. By the time Liam was able to get close enough to help Marcus fight the
final two zombies, they’d already torn his neck open and were starting to feed.

Liam felt a flush of anger even though he
knew he’d have to kill the giant eventually. Nobody should have to die like
that.

Liam swung hard, the sword splitting the
creature’s skull open, then thrust the sword into its brain. Chloe took care of
the final zombie, and then they both paused, surveying the dead and scanning
the woods for more danger.

Above them the orbs hovered, watching and
recording their every move.

Chloe screamed out despite the fact that
she might call more zombies to them. Liam was gonna tell her to keep it down,
but she was walking away, as if she’d spotted something.

Liam watched as she bent down and picked
up something he couldn’t see, as her back was to him.

What’s she got?

Chloe turned sharply, glaring at him. In
her hands, she held his gun.

She threw it to the ground and raised her
crossbow, taking aim at him as she marched at him.

“You fucker! Jammed? You didn’t have any
ammo!”

Liam raised his sword, though it wouldn’t
do shit if she fired the crossbow at him. She marched at him and told him to
drop the sword.

“No way!” he said, holding it tight in
his hands.

“Drop it or I’ll put a bolt between your
eyes!”

Liam’s eyes met hers. She wasn’t fucking
around.

He dropped the sword as instructed.

She lowered the crossbow, then moved
toward him, screaming, “You lied to us! You cost me two players, you bastard!”

She swung before he could stop her,
hitting him hard in the head with the butt of her crossbow.

Liam fell to the ground as his head felt
like it was exploding.

Liam managed to laugh, using a
bulletproof tone that had diffused more situations in his life than he could
count.

 It wasn’t working today.

Chloe was on him, angry. She pointed her
crossbow first at Liam’s heart, and then raised her aim to his forehead. Liam,
still lying on the ground, didn’t have a play. He didn’t dare move. He didn’t
dare laugh again.

He had to reason with her and hope his
charms would get him through one more snag.

“Listen Chloe,” he said, palms open, eyes
pleading, “I’m still an asset. Let me help you. You don’t have to do this.”

Chloe twisted her voice into the tune of
mockery, so tight it sounded almost evil:
“Listen Chloe, I’m still an asset.
Let me help you. You don’t have to do this.”

She took another step toward Liam and
said, “Sorry, but I don’t need you any more. Now you’re only in the way,” then
pulled the trigger.

A
na stared in horror at the battle
erupting before her.

Liam and his new teammates were
outnumbered, and the creatures had already claimed two, a skinny guy and the
huge, giant guy.

Ana moved closer to them during the
battle but didn’t get too close, afraid the players might view her as a threat
rather than a potential ally.

When the last of the zombies was dead,
the blonde girl turned on Liam and screamed.

Oh shit!

“You lied to us! You cost me two players,
you bastard!”

Liam was on the ground, trying to weasel
his way out of the jam, as Ana had seen him do plenty of times before.