Fragged

by Zachariah Dracoulis

  “Um… sure?” Pete said, clearly as thrown by the rest of us that Miles hadn’t just slapped him up the side of his head.

  And then he did.

  Slapped him I mean.

  Miles slapped Pete.

  Yeah, I figured you got what I meant, but I thought I’d just go ahead and make sure.

  “What was that for?” Pete asked as he nursed his freshly reddened cheek.

  “I’m not your puppy!” Miles snapped back.

  “Then why did you offer?”

  “I was being sarcastic!” Miles practically shrieked, “What kind of idiot would go down there again after seeing that? Or was that your plan? Get me killed off?”

  “You offered!”

  “Can we all please just quieten the fuck down?” I barked as quietly as I could, “We’ve come this far, I’m not gonna have you douches get me killed.”

  Miles seemed briefly ashamed while Pete went ahead and took it with the level of smugness I knew only he could really pull off and not piss me off by doing so.

  “Alright, now that we’re done with that,” I said, shooting Pete a sharp look, “let’s focus on what we’re gonna do from here. As far as I’m concerned it’s a freakin’ miracle that we haven’t been shot yet.”

  “Agreed,” Brendo added with a nod, “I think it’d honestly be in our best interests to see if we can spot any bodies near the bridge. They won’t be without faults, but it’ll be better than us goin’ up there and getting gunned down straight away.”

  “Good call,” Paul said, clearly chiming in for the sole reason that he didn’t want to get cut out, “though would it be safer if one of us went instead of the whole group?”

  Chad went to argue, but I was too quick, “Fair enough, better than sacrificing the entire group if we run into trouble. Chad, you’re with me.”

  “But-”

  “Thanks for volunteering.” I interjected with a smile, “C’mon, crouching like this is startin’ to make my legs cramp up.”

  “Your legs can’t cramp.” Pete scoffed.

  “Oh, yeah, right…” I muttered as the very real pain that had started to build up in my thighs vanished, “Weird. Regardless, let’s move.”

  Now, I pride myself on not being fucking idiot, but that doesn’t mean I’m too proud to admit when I missed something I should’ve seen coming from a mile awa… you know what? We’ll get there later.

  Chapter Four

  We had to go a couple hundred feet along the footpath, going well beyond where the bridge had once hung overhead, to find a body that had a pretty solid set of all black armour, complete with a decent visored helmet despite the mangled nature of his limbs and head.

  “Snug?” Chad asked after I’d pulled all the gear on.

  “More or less,” I replied coolly, “what’s up with you, man? I get that you weren’t exactly stoked about Liennam, but… I don’t know, you seem kinda off.”

  Chad shrugged at that, went to say something, stopped, sighed, then looked over at the smashed remains of the bridge, “I guess I’m just not handling the loss of the Js so good, you know? They’ve been around since the beginning and they’re just… gone.”

  “So were the girls,” I said somewhat accusatorily, “and you didn’t seem to have much of a problem taking them out.”

  “It was different with them though, wasn’t it?” Chad said as he turned his attention back to me, “They were turning on us, and they were always doin’ their own thing. Other than Felicity, how many times did the girls actually bail us out of trouble? They helped with the bunker, sure, but we kinda just ignored that when we lost it, didn’t we?”

  Honestly? I totally understood what he was saying.

  The Js were a much bigger part of our whole operation, and had gone above and beyond the call of duty when it came to saving our arses.

  Don’t get me wrong, the girls were definitely integral, but there wasn’t really much room for them with what we were doing, whereas the Js could’ve been around for everything.

  With all that being said, I have to admit that there was a small part of me that was grateful that we weren’t going to have to hide the Js and their steggies as we made our way through Liennam.

  “Zoey?” Chad asked, his voice having a small amount of desperation, indicating that it wasn’t the first time he’d said my name.

  “Hmm? Oh, sorry, got tied up in my own head there for a minute.” I replied coolly, “There’s this part of me that’s kinda… things feel wrong, you know?”

  Chad regarded me with confusion for a few seconds after that, then appeared to think about it for a few seconds, before finally making a face of surprised realisation and nodding, “Yeah actually, like there’s been something pulling us in but also pushing us away?”

  “Exactly.” I said with a nod as I looked over to the other guys who, thankfully, were waiting patiently for Chad and I to make our way back, before turning my full focus back to Chad, “Can I tell you something that might make you think I’m totally crazy?”

  “I mean…” Chad trailed off concernedly, “yeah, I guess? That’s kind of my job, isn’t it? Being your confidant?”

  “You do a whole lot more than that,” I said in an effort to make sure Chad didn’t think that that was the sole reason I kept him around before giving him a grin and a little shrug, “but yeah, I guess so. Alright look, again, this may make me sound totally fuckin’ whacko, but… I feel like… I don’t think I’m me.”

  “Shit, if I got a dollar for every time I felt that way I’d be freakin’ millionaire,” Chad joked, “seriously, I’m pretty sure everyone feels like that sometimes.”

  “No, I’m not talkin’ about some kind of existential crisis, I’m talkin’ about… Okay, so you know the real world?”

  “I know of it, yes.”

  “Okay, so that’s the part that’s been getting a bit hazy for me lately.” I said matter-of-factly.

  For a few seconds there Chad didn’t say anything, instead opting to stare at me blankly for a while before making a face of semi-knowing, “I… I think I get what you mean?”

  “You do?” I asked hopefully.

  “Yeah, yeah, you mean you feel like you’re slipping into the game, right?”

  I nodded, “Exactly, but not like I’m getting immersed, more like I’m getting… I don’t know, it feels like I’m waking up, if that makes any sense.”

  “Matrix-type shit, yeah?”

  “That… that’s actually incredibly accurate, yeah,” I said after being slightly thrown off by Chad comparing my life to the Matrix, “but at the same time I know I’m sitting in a chair, I know I’ve got a keyboard in front of me, I know I’m looking at a monitor.”

  “But at the same tim-” Chad started then stopped as we both received a message from Pete at the same time.

  GeriatricSuperHero (Community): Guys, we gotta get movin.

  I went to ask why right before noticing the guys vaulting the wall between where Chad and I were and the rest of Zoey’s Fighters.

  There were only three of them but they looked to have some pretty solid gear between them, including a hefty looking shotgun and some strong -looking armour.

  The good news is that they didn’t notice us in their mad scramble for the bodies in the river, and the bad news was that we didn’t have a whole lot of places to go.

  If we stayed where we were it would only be a matter of time before these new threats spotted us, but if we vaulted the wall and took cover there we opened ourselves up to being spotted by whoever was at the city’s edge.

  I was weighing up the options when, out of nowhere, a spray of bullets went flying over my head and towards the people moving around in the water.

  With that I made the decision to gesture for the guys to run over to me before turning to Chad and indicating that we should keep going along the footpath in the direction we’d initially been going in.

  “What’s the plan?” Chad asked curiously as opposed to fearfully as we hot stepped to the
best of our abilities along the footpath while at the same time remaining hidden from the shooters on the other side of the wall.

  “Honestly? I think it’s gonna be for the best if we just go ahead and wing it.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I replied as I came to a stop just short of a broken piece of the wall, “anything else and we’ll end up just getting thrown off guard. The only goal is to stick together.”

  “She says after leaving us all behind,” Paul joked as he and the others finally caught up, “for real though, I agree. Who here could’ve guessed that that bridge was gonna be rigged to blow?”

  “I did.” Julian added flatly.

  “Well, thanks for sharing with the class, Jules,” Pete jabbed, “that’s the kinda info that we could’ve used to, you know, look out for explosives.”

  “Yeah, thanks to you we’re down our bodyguards and dinos,” Miles chimed in aggressively, “seriously, if you even suspected that, why not tell us?”

  Julian took a while to respond to that, then settled for a sigh and a shrug, “Alright, so maybe I didn’t know that was gonna happen, but still…”

  “Can y’all shut the fuck up for two seconds?” I snapped after sneaking a peek around the corner and seeing that, other than the apartment block up over the hill, there wasn’t much else in sight.

  “You see anything?” Brendo asked.

  I shook my head, “Nah, but they could be hidden up in one of them buildings. Gap’s only… what, five feet wide?”

  “If that,” Chad said with a nod, “still though, that’s enough space for us to get shot the fuck up.”

  “True…” I trailed off before, without any warning, running past the gap and rolling at the last second, putting me behind the next section of wall without so much as a single bullet in my arse.

  “You’re fuckin’ nuts.” Pete chuckled after letting out a sigh of relief, and then followed my lead.

  Again, no shots fired.

  After that it wasn’t long before the others had joined up with Pete and I without getting shot even at all.

  “So… I think it’s fair to assume that there’s no one up there waiting to blow our brains out.” I said as confidently as I could.

  “That or they’re just slow as shit on the trigger.” Miles clarified, “I reckon it might be a good idea to just stick to the footpath for now, you know? At least we have a pretty clear sightline.”

  “He’s got a point,” Pete agreed with a nod, “we’ll just have to make sure we don’t run into anyone else doin’ the same shit.”

  “True,” Paul added before growing a big grin, “I seriously can’t believe we’re doing this.”

  “Doing what?” Brendo asked as I started moving again and gestured for the others to do the same.

  “Going to Liennam.” Paul replied from directly behind me with an amused huff, “Heh, shit, we’re in Liennam. I don’t know, it just feels so fuckin’ weird being this close.”

  “I know what you mean,” I said as the footpath started to curve with the shore, “but at the same time we’re not in Liennam. We’re on the border, at best.”

  “Eh, close enough.” Chad argued playfully, “Let him be excited.”

  “I ain’t trying to detract from his…” I trailed off as I stopped, forcing the others to do the same, “Oh… Oh shit.”

  Chapter Five

  There were at least a dozen laser-trip claymores along the footpath ahead with no possible way around them unless we wanted to walk directly into a clear kill box on the river side of the path or jump over the wall and, well…

  “Yep,” I practically cursed after looking over the wall and quickly dropping back down, “little grassy hill with a hut at the top. Single guy in it with a rifle, but he has a clear line of sight over this whole area.”

  “Wait…” Pete said, a smirk creeping across his face, “So you’re saying there’s a shooter on the grassy knoll?”

  I shot him a somewhat serious look before letting it fall away in favour of a light-hearted eye-rolling, “Yes,” I sighed dismissively, “that’s what I’m saying, very clever. Now, anyone have something practical? Julian? You apparently knew that something bad was gonna happen on the bridge back there, any insight here?”

  Julian looked at me unsurely for a few seconds as if he was trying to figure out whether or not I was joking, before shaking his head and shrugging, “Sorry, Zo, I’ve got nothing.”

  “Great,” I scoffed without bothering to hide my irritation, “guess it’s on me, yet again…”

  That little self-serving moan was supposed to make it so that the guys felt guilty and tried to come up with something or at the very least annoyed so that they would come up with a plan to spite me.

  Alas, that didn’t happen, so I was truly left to let the already overworked gears in my head churn harder and harder as my brain struggled to do much else beyond focus on that flickering dino thing.

  I’m not sure why I couldn’t stop thinking about it, it was like my mind was trying to process what I’d seen, and with the change of focus the thing was forced back into the forefront of my brain.

  “I’ve got it!” Paul practically yelped, “We charge him!”

  “Oh, great idea, Paul,” Chad replied snidely, “I mean, we wouldn’t wanna make it too hard for the shooter to take us out, would we?”

  “Yeah, not tryin’ to gang up on you, dude,” Miles added as supportively as he could, “but that’s not exactly your best plan.”

  “I’m not saying we just try to bum rush him,” Paul clarified, the words practically tumbling out of his mouth so as to prevent another person taking a swing at his plan, “I’m saying we all run at him, in all different directions, while Pete stays behind with his rifle and takes out the shooter while he’s distracted.”

  We all sat on the plan for a few seconds, undoubtedly because it involved most of us getting shot at, but after a few nods and agreeing shrugs it became clear that we were all in favour of Paul’s suicide pact.

  “How do you wanna do it?” I asked, “Three, two, one, go? Or-”

  I would’ve continued offering suggestions if someone, not pointing fingers, Chad, hadn’t taken my countdown as being an actual countdown.

  Not that it mattered though, we were all pretty quick to jump the wall after that, screaming and hollering as we zigzagged our way towards the house and the utterly stunned man inside.

  Now, I’d expected at least one of us to get shot, you know, because that’s what happens when you run at a gunman, but my expectation was way off.

  I think I’d been on the other side of the wall for all of a second before Pete had popped up and fired a single shot, splattering the shooter’s brains all over the wall behind him.

  RimJob4Life has been slain (World).

  The challenge wasn’t over though.

  Not five seconds went by after Pete had taken out the shooter before we had what felt like hundreds of bullets destroying the dirt under our feet.

  We weren’t about to get taken out by whoever it was that was laying down fire though, and quickly ran for the house, hoping that it would provide at least enough cover to keep us alive for a few seconds.

  Chad was the first to reach the house, vaulting the little wall that the shooter had been crouched behind before smashing through the glass doors next to the blood-splattered wall, followed swiftly by Paul, then Brendo, Julian, Miles, me, and then, finally, Pete.

  “Anyone hit?” I asked as my eyes darted around the small concrete hut we’d found ourselves in which had little more than a bed and a chest.

  After a few seconds of making sure they were good, the guys responded by shaking their heads in unison which understandably freaked me out slightly.

  “Good,” I said after getting over the uncomfortableness I felt, “now, check the walls. I wanna see if anyone can get in.”

  “I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem…” Paul trailed off as he walked over to the back wall and knocked on it a few time
s, “These walls are reinforced concrete, they’d need a tank to get in.”

  “This is Liennam,” Miles said before I could so much as breathe a sigh of relief, “we have to assume there is someone out there rockin’ a tank.”

  “Great…” I murmured disappointedly, “So we’ve got one entrance and exit, walls that’ll hold against small arms fire, but we might end up getting squished by a roaming tank anyway.”

  “And don’t forget the vanishing dino.” Julian added as if he was being helpful by doing so, earning him a rather annoyed look from me.

  “Thanks, Jules,” I said as sarcastically as I could, “I really needed to be reminded about that.”

  Honestly, I wasn’t entirely sure why I was keeping Julian around. He’d been cool when I was being held prisoner, but since getting out he’d just been trying to turn us away from Liennam.

  I couldn’t get rid of him though.

  Can’t tell you why, it was like he was… integral, like some kind of key that unlocked the next room, you know?

  Yeah… didn’t make much sense to me either.

  Chapter Six

  We were as good as locked the fuck down for at least five minutes before we finally decided it was high time for us to start working on an escape plan.

  “He wouldn’t have trapped himself in here, would he?” Brendo asked after flipping the bed in search of some kind of escape tunnel that he’d theorised.

  “I managed to shoot the dude before he knew what we were doin’,” Pete replied from where he sat crouched beside the former of the house we were in’s body, “I don’t know how forward-thinking he was. Just a camper with resources.”

  “That’s it then, is it?” I scoffed angrily.

  “I guess so,” Miles sighed, “I mean, at least we’ll be able to take a few of them if they try and ‘nade us.”

  “Unless they use a tank.” Julian clarified.

  “Yes,” Miles practically hissed, “unless they use a tank.”

  “Or if they just wait until night rolls around,” Paul suggested to everyone’s grand annoyance, “you know, let the Muties sort us out so that they don’t have to deal with it?”