by Paul Bellow
Warning: Injury!
I spun around and saw a hideous beast with two heads, vaguely human, and four arms. The creature’s limbs looked like they belonged on a bear not a man. A prompt told me it was a Y-class mutant, not a huge threat.
“Die!” I hissed, stabbing it in the gut and pulling up.
The malformed mutant slashed me with the claws of its twisted right hand. It hurt, but I wasn’t worried. I stabbed it a few times before it fell to the ground in a pile of putrid flesh. The stench of death hit my nostrils, tearing up my eyes.
Combat is Over!
You get 100 Life Experience Points!
You have 2,150 LXP!
I’d turned off the amount I needed to get to the next level because I hadn’t been getting any real experience as a basic worker under Orlando. With all the trouble I’d gotten into recently, I didn’t have many opportunities to advance. Starting my own black market would help, but I still liked to keep my combat notifications to a minimum. Most people thought they were natural, just the way humans worked, but I remembered the real world. They annoyed me.
“What are you doing down here?” Bull asked, surprising me.
I almost dropped my knife as I saw him, hairy potbelly sticking out from under his ill-fitting and garishly colored striped shirt.
“The mutant attacked me,” I said, putting my knife away.
“Why haven’t you reported for duty? I tracked you down here when you didn’t show.”
Quick! Think!
“The lift broke again,” I lied. “Stupid thing brought me down here. When I got out, the Y-Mutant attacked. I had to defend myself.”
“You’re lucky it wasn’t anything tougher,” he said, glancing up and down my body. “Are you ready to work, or do you want to have some fun first?”
He grinned, revealing green-yellow teeth, chipped and disrespected.
“No, thank you,” I said, trying to sound as respectful as possible.
His expression changed in an instant, smile replaced by a scowl.
“Get your ass in the elevator!” he commanded, his belly flopping as he swiveled to the left and pointed.
I walked around the pile of mutant flesh and across the nearly empty warehouse. The smell faded as I approached the elevator. I smiled as I quickened my pace.
“Hey, hold on,” he huffed behind me.
I kept fast-walking toward the elevator. After getting in, I punched the button for the next floor up. The door slid shut as he wobbled up.
“Sorry!” I shouted. “Must still be malfunctioning!”
Bull wasn’t an idiot, but I didn’t think he would give me any trouble. I hadn’t been able to grab the salt while on the lower level which bummed me out. The lift stopped on Level 11 where all the waste for our shelter got treated, most of it turned into something usable. While nobody liked the idea of using recycled waste, our world demanded it.
I stepped out when the door opened. Knowing Bull would be along shortly, I walked back toward the office areas, intent on filching something. I slipped inside the main office and looked around for anything of value. A silver lighter caught my attention. While small, I could flip the item and make a few extra credits. I snatched it off the desk.
“What are you doing in here?” Bull demanded.
I glanced back and saw him in the doorway, sweat pouring down his face.
“Nothing,” I said. “Waiting for you.”
He stared into my eyes for a few seconds.
“Quit messing around if you’re going to be a tease,” he said. “We’ve got work to do.”
I relaxed as he turned and walked away. Following Orlando’s draconian rules hadn’t gotten me anywhere in the last few months, and nobody listened to my stories about the real world or took me seriously. With help from Harrison, I had a shot of working my way higher in the game. I couldn’t wait to find out who had trapped us all and why they’d done it.
Chapter 4
After my shift later that day cycle, I went back to Harrison’s quarters to let him know I’d failed to get the contraband salt on my first assignment. Would he fire me? I doubted the lighter I’d stolen from some poor joe wouldn’t impress him. The closer I got to his quarters, the sicker my stomach became, but I carried on. After months of wishing everything would fix itself and go back to normal, I had faced reality and begun working on taking care of Missy and myself. While we hadn’t known each other long, I wanted to help her. She was like the younger sister I never had in the real world.
When I reached my destination, I paused before I knocked to collect my thoughts. Should I try to lay the blame on Bull or live up to my first failure? After banging on the steel, I took another deep breath to calm myself. Harrison opened the hatch right away, motioning me in with a nod of his head. I brushed up against his body as I walked into his room. He closed the hatch behind me then turned, head tilted back and arms crossed over his chest as he waited for me to speak.
“I screwed up,” I admitted, not breaking eye contact. “A mutant attacked me, and Bull came down and sent me to work.”
“Get him some panties,” he said, grinning.
I cocked my head to the side. “Huh?”
“Just offer him someone’s used panties, and he’ll let you off your work duties. They don’t have to be yours. A pair a week should be enough. If he complains, tell him you’ll report it to me. He’ll get into line quick enough.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling and nodding.
“Besides, there’s no salt stored downstairs,” he continued. “I gave you the mission and told Bull you’d be down there to see if you lied or not.”
What an asshole.
“I thought about it,” I admitted.
“But you didn’t act on it,” he said, dropping his arms to his sides and relaxing his entire body. “I need someone like you if I’m getting out of here.”
Another wave of confusion hit me.
“Getting out of here? Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, walking over to his bed.
He sat down on the edge of the thin mattress, still looking in my direction.
“I need something else from you,” he said.
My heart pounded in my chest. “What?”
“I need backup for a meeting tonight,” he said. “Someone’s coming for the beacon.”
“That’s good, right?”
He grinned, stood, then grabbed a plasma pistol off a nearby table.
“Can you use this?” he asked, walking toward me.
I took it from his outstretched hand.
“Yeah, I’ve got skills.”
“Keep it hidden. I’m hoping this doesn’t go south, but you never know.”
“What are we doing, exactly? Isn’t it smarter to keep the beacon for yourself and get your own shelter? You want to leave this place, right?”
“There you go with your damn questions again,” he muttered. “Like I said, if this supposed shelter is out there somewhere, somebody should’ve found it by now. We’ve been looking for decades, and nobody’s found it yet. The chances of anyone finding it are slim to none.”
“Sorry,” I said, defensively raising my hands.
I’d forgot he didn’t remember or accept we’d only been in the simulation a few months.
“Come on,” he said, motioning for me to follow with a nod of his head.
We left his room and headed for the decontamination chamber and the hatch leading outside. I’d only been out a couple times for short periods since the Great Freeze, but I wasn’t looking forward to going back out. The enviro-suits would keep us toasty, sure, but I hated relying too much on technology with so much at stake.
Harrison stopped and opened a hatch by punching in a string of numbers. I followed him into the room filled with enviro-suits and other equipment, including plasma rifles and crates full of all kinds of grenades. He grabbed a suit and held it toward me without saying anything. I took it and put it on. He did the same.
&
nbsp; “Do you think there will be trouble?” I asked.
Harrison shrugged. “Who knows with these clowns.”
“Then why are you dealing with them?”
“Money talks,” he said then lowered his voice. “I’m getting out of here.”
I wanted to beg him to take Missy and me with him, but I kept quiet for the moment. As we donned our helmets then headed toward the hatch leading outside, I hoped Missy would be okay if I didn’t show up at my normal time. My back still stung, but I hadn’t taken any more of the artificial opiates Harrison had given me. I needed all my mental faculties.
The guard at the steel ladder leading up to the main hatch nodded his head as we entered. I followed Harrison, trying to control my breathing. At the top of the ladder, he punched in the code for the main hatch. I stared up past him as it swung open on its own. The sky looked gray and dead, exactly as I remembered when I’d last been out of Shelter 12.
Harrison climbed outside with me close behind. Light flurries of snow fell from the sky, adding to the snow-packed ground. I looked around, seeing the ruins of a city in the distance, where I’d arrived. The flickering lights from flames were the inhabitants’ only source of warmth in the bitter temperatures, but they desired freedom from the tyranny of rulers like Orlando and put up with the cold and a lot worse.
“Come on,” Harrison said through the helmet communicator.
I followed as he walked toward a half-destroyed brick building a few hundred feet away. On the way, I recalled the simulation I’d been in before the Great Freeze. Was the ruined city in the distance the same one I’d lounged in, or was it a different one? The bigger question of what had happened struck me too while I concentrated on matching Harrison’s long stride.
A dim, flickering light from inside the ramshackle building shifted as we got closer. Two men dressed in furs emerged. Harrison stopped before we reached them.
“Do you have it?” the taller man with a full beard asked. “Take off your helmet.”
Harrison removed his helmet. “It’s somewhere safe. Do you have the supplies and vehicle?”
In all the months of the strange new virtual world I found myself in, I had heard no mentions of vehicles. Maybe Harrison had an escape plan?
“We’ve got it,” the other man said, his partner remaining quiet.
The helmet’s advanced vision helped me keep an eye them both.
“I want to see it,” Harrison said.
“The vehicle’s somewhere safe,” the man countered.
“It’s too damn cold to be messing around,” Harrison snapped.
Both men pulled knives and lunged toward Harrison. He and I both stepped back, pulling our plasma pistols. I turned off the combat notifications to better concentrate as I fired off two shots, hitting the smaller man as he came toward me. Harrison fired too, but the plasma bolt fired harmlessly into the air as the taller man plunged his knife into Harrison’s stomach.
“No!” I yelled, turning and firing at the nomad.
He screamed as three bolts hit his chest, sending him to the snow-covered ground. I knelt beside Harrison as he struggled to sit up. Blood gushed out of the hole in his enviro-suit. My medical skills kicked in as I crawled over to grab some of the other man’s clothes. I pressed it against Harrison’s wound, causing him to yell.
“Careful!” he shouted. “I’ve got healing nanites. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Sorry, just thought I could help. You don’t need to snap at me.”
“It hurts, and it’s cold,” he said, frost forming in front of his face.
As I stood, dusting the snow off my enviro-suit, I checked the Life Experience Points I’d received for killing the men. Leveling my character sounded so strange when nobody around me, not even Harrison, believed we were in a virtual reality simulation. Harrison struggled to get up, no additional blood spilling out of his guts. I glanced around with my night vision.
“There’s nobody else that I can see,” I said. “What’s that about a vehicle?”
“I told you, I’m leaving,” he said, putting his helmet back on.
“What kind of vehicle is it?”
“Can you stop with the questions until we get back in the shelter, at least?”
I nodded, not saying anything else.
“The vehicle’s likely not real, but I’ve heard a rumor it’s connected to the experimental shelter beacon that doesn’t work.”
“I want to know more,” I said, still clutching the pistol he’d given me.
While I was certain I was still in a virtual simulation, taking another person’s life wasn’t something I enjoyed doing.
“Someone’s spreading rumors about some sort of machine. It’s probably as fake as this stupid black beacon.”
“You have it with you?”
“No, of course not. It’s hidden. Everyone wants their hands on it even though it doesn’t even work. Orlando’s even been pestering me for it, but I told him I don’t have it.”
“Smooth,” I said.
He grimaced and placed a hand on his wound.
“The nanites are helping, but we need to get inside before I freeze. Orlando has the only remaining enviro-suit with nanites. These won’t fix themselves.”
“Stop yammering, and let’s go,” I said, walking back toward the shelter.
“Hold on,” he said. “We need to check the bodies.”
“For what?”
“Anything they have with them. I need all the supplies I can get if I want to make it any distance away from this cursed shelter.”
“Take us with you,” I said as he walked toward the closest body.
He stopped, glanced back, and shook his head before resuming to loot the man I’d killed.
“I’m already helping you,” he said. “What more do you want from me? Go check that other body. We need to get moving. I’m freezing.”
He turned back to his grim task. I knelt beside the other body and rifled through the interior of his fur wrapping. The man had stashed four more knives on the inside along with a pocket full of protein bars. I grabbed all of them along with the crude weapons.
“Keep checking,” Harrison wheezed. “They’ll have more stashed.”
“I’m not digging deeper,” I said. “We’ve got enough.”
“No,” he said then pulled out a cloth bag and held it up. “See?”
“What’s in it?” I asked.
“Let’s find out,” he said, opening it. “More food.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Right?”
“It’s not bad. Come on, let’s get inside.”
About time, I thought but kept my mouth shut, following him toward the shelter. He crouched at the entrance and punched in a long string of numbers. As the hatch swung open, he stood and stepped back, motioning for me to go first. I climbed down the ladder then walked over to one of the decontamination showers.
I watched Harrison wince as he stepped down, stopping a moment on each rung. After being decontaminated by UV light and a shimmering mist of nanites, I rushed over to help him. He took the last step down, almost falling over.
“Thanks,” he said as I slipped my arm around his back.
I took off my enviro-suit as he cleaned off any trace of radiation from the outside. Small amounts wouldn’t kill you, but it added up. Some people in the virtual simulation could deal with the radiation and lived outside the shelters, but they were few when compared to those of us who lived in the underground shelters. Every day I spent in the post-apocalyptic world, the less I remembered the real one. And that scared me.
Chapter 5
Two weeks later, my situation had improved considerably. As I sat with my back against a wall in the cafeteria, I watched the others in the room, calculating how much each of them owed me. Bull had been easy to pay off. I gave him a few pairs of panties I’d snatched from Becky, and he allowed me to miss work as much as I wanted. He wasn’t the only strange one.
Whether it was drugs, ext
ra food, entertainment, or something to make life easier, I became the go-to person for anything illicit in Shelter 12. After just fourteen days, I’d already compiled a long list of people who owed me one thing or another. Since we were all trapped in the shelter, it was more about redistributing items, but I got a cut of most of the action.
I snapped out of my thoughts and smiled as Harrison approached my table. He looked gruff, but he always did, so I thought nothing of it until he leaned down and hissed, “Are you nuts?”
“What?” I asked, scrunching my brow.
“Meet me in my room. Half an hour.”
After his gruff demand, he turned and walked away. I watched, confused, as he walked across the cafeteria. People parted to give him a clear path. Was he going to shut down my operation just as I got it started up? He seemed upset about something. Intrigued, I stood and left the cafeteria, heading for the lavatory. As my waste hit the bottom of the metal toilet bowl a few minutes later, I thought about Bull and the waste treatment plant.
Would he continue to allow me to skip work if I gave him the occasional pair of panties from other women in my barracks? Or would he eventually demand more from me if Harrison stopped protecting me? With him on my side, I wasn’t afraid of Bull or anyone else in the shelter, not even Orlando.
I stood, wiped, then pressed the button to send my waste below. As I opened the door of the stall, I saw Becky leaning against the Stainless Steel sinks, arms crossed over her chest.
“What’s up?” I asked, trying to keep it friendly as I walked over.
“I want back in,” she said.
“Back in what?” I asked, holding my hands under a faucet.
A weak stream of water dribbled out.
“Don’t play dumb,” Becky continued. “You’re the one who told me I wasn’t working for Harrison anymore. I figure it’s better to work with you than against you. With that muscle-head protecting you, I don’t have much of a choice. Now, are you going to let me in, or not?”
