Red

by Ryan Rinsler

  Connor smiled. “You don’t need to. It’s nice just you being here.”

  She smiled awkwardly and increased the pace of her unpacking. “You got me so much stuff,” she said quietly. “I feel so bad.”

  “Don’t worry about it, not for a second. If you need anything else just let me know.”

  “You’re sweet, Connor Cooper.”

  His face filled with burning tingles, to which Kate responded with another giggle as she turned and continued sorting.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” said Connor.

  Kate spun around. “You don’t have to go,” she said. “Well, I’m going to have a shower but if you want to I thought we could go and sit in the garden? It’s nice out.”

  “Sure.”

  He left her and headed out alone to wait for her. The air was cool and crisp, with the warmth of the low, afternoon sun taking the edges off the biting breeze. He sat for a long while, looking out onto the mountainous valley, not particularly thinking about anything, just taking in the world. Kate wandered over in a toweling pajama suit, her hair still wet from the shower. She sat next to him on the bench seat and took out a brush, running it through her matted hair as she shared the view with him.

  “It’s amazing here,” she said. “I’ve never seen anything like this place except on T.V.”

  “I forgot this place existed for the longest time. The city brainwashed me into thinking the whole world was like that.”

  “It has a habit of doing that, I think.”

  “I feel bad because I let it. Now I’m here it feels like I’ve missed it, with everything going on.”

  “How long has your dad lived here?”

  “A long time. It wasn’t always like this. I helped him rebuild a lot of it. It’s very old.”

  “And you used to live here with him?”

  “Mmhmm.”

  “What... umm...” She stopped herself.

  “You can ask.”

  “No, I was just gonna ask, where is your mom? I mean, did they separate or… you know.”

  “It’s complicated,” he said. “Jacob’s not my real dad. “

  “He’s not?”

  “No. My real parents died in a car wreck when I was young. Me and my brother were in the back seat.”

  “Oh my god, that must have been terrible.” She placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

  “Honestly, it was and it wasn’t. My dad was an asshole and my mom was an alcoholic because of my dad. I didn’t know it at the time but when I grew older I recognized the signs. After that was harder. Much harder. My brother took the worst of it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a deep breath. He’d said all he wanted to for now. “I brought us out some wine.”

  “Yeah, I saw that!” she said excitedly, clearly reading Connor’s will to change the subject.

  He poured two glasses and handed one to her. “It’s real, I think. Well, it must be. Dad doesn’t drink synthetic.”

  “He’s so sweet!” said Kate, donning the same expression she always did when speaking about Jacob.

  “I know, he’s been very good to me.”

  “It’s so good of him to let us all stay here.”

  “Yeah, I think he enjoys it really. He loves to help people, that’s just his nature. If there’s something someone needs that he can provide, he’s the first to give it to them. I look at him and wish I could be that selfless. Nothing he does comes with a debit. Nothing. He doesn’t expect absolutely anything in return for the good things he does for people. There aren’t many like him.”

  “That’s for sure.”

  “What about you? You’ve not really told me anything about your parents, except they’re boring.”

  “Yeah, that they are. Nothing exciting ever happens in my life,” she said.

  “There’s a lot of that going around,” Connor mumbled.

  “To be honest I was glad to get out of there. My mom is one of those people who thinks they always have to help you. Not like your dad, I mean, he does it in a nice way. My mom just interferes. She thinks she needs to help me because she thinks I can’t cope on my own. That’s part of the reason I moved to Cali to work at Silk. To prove her wrong, you know?”

  “I’m not sure that trait is limited to your mom,” said Connor. “I guess all parents have that in them. I don’t think there’s ever a point where they consider you’re old enough to look after yourself.”

  “Yeah, it’s nice, I guess, that she wants to help, but it just gets a bit much after a while, ya know? She forgets I’m not fifteen anymore.”

  “And your dad?”

  “My dad’s my dad. He doesn’t say much, my mom does enough talking for the two of them. He just does his own thing, but he’s always been there for me. We’re quite alike, me and him. More than me and my mom. He’s more chilled, where my mom is always worried about what people think.”

  “Yeah, you don’t strike me as the kind of person that gives too much of a shit what people think of you.”

  She laughed. “Do I take that as a complement?”

  “I’m not sure,” he replied with a smile.

  “It’s good you’re opening up a bit, Connor Cooper. I remember not that long ago you were coiled up like a spring. You seem different now.”

  “I do?”

  “Yeah, more relaxed. Level-headed. It’s good, I like this you.”

  “I like this you, too,” he said with a warm smile.

  “Nice,” she said comically, brushing her hair. “So who’s this woman then?”

  “What woman?”

  “The one at the party?”

  Lacey. He couldn’t remember the last time he spoke to her. “Yeah, sorry about her. We go back a long way. Her kid is sick and I’ve been helping her. I guess I’m tied in.”

  “You’re the dad, right?”

  He chuckled. “No. Matt will swear I am till he’s blue in the face but no, I just care about the kid.”

  “And he’s sick?”

  “Real sick.”

  “Shame. But you’re not together, right?”

  “No, not for a long time.”

  She started brushing her now smooth hair more vigorously. Connor could sense an awkwardness growing between them, not that he’d said anything wrong, but he could see Kate was feeling nervous. He knew what it was building up to, and his first instinct was to make his excuses and run out of there. His shyness and romantic awkwardness urged every fiber of muscle in his body to stand up, but before he could, Kate did just that.

  “Right, I’m gonna go get dressed,” she said, then, with a quick smile, turned and abruptly marched off toward the house.

  Connor blinked with surprise, a little disappointed she’d left so suddenly. Did I do something wrong? he wondered, searching his memory for anything he’d said that may have killed the moment. When nothing came to mind, he sighed, then returned to the house, where Jacob and Alex were busy preparing food.

  “Come in, son,” said Jacob, taking off his oven gloves. “I’ve not seen you since you got back. How have you been?”

  “Oh, you know, glad to be home.”

  Jacob grinned widely. “Home! I like the sound of that!” He returned to the stove and continued with what he was doing. “I’m just making knick-knacks. Things that can go in the fridge that you guys can pick at when you fancy. Pies, pasta, some salad, beans. Most of it Alex grows in the allotment at the top there. All fresh stuff, none of that plastic crap you city boys like to eat.”

  The next five days passed wonderfully slowly, Connor’s early morning walks with Kate and afternoons spent relaxing in the garden a welcome change of pace to the previous weeks of exhausting travel and activity. He’d not seen much of Matt, who had spent most of his time lounging in his room watching movies and playing games on the console Jacob had bought him from town while they were away. Stanley had been up and about, and had been chatting to Nolan and helping him with the technicalities of the Seeker and brain ca
ps. It so happened that Stanley had met Nolan before, but in a default timeline, and they had much to talk about. As Connor entered the morning room where they both sat, he didn’t understand a single word they were talking about. Between them they’d got the second cap working, and Connor was ready to enter with Stanley to begin talks with Mana on how they can move forward and best utilize Stanley’s abilities.

  While they’d been in California, Nolan had begun work on a system to replace the ‘toilet pants’, which would keep a constant flow of hydration and waste removal without the cumbersome and potentially messy underwear. Although it wasn’t yet complete, with Jacob doing daily parts runs to town with lists from Nolan, it was beginning to look like a professional piece of medical equipment.

  “We’re not going in for too long,” said Connor. “I think about three or four hours, max. That should be enough time to talk to Mana and get the ball rolling. What do you think?”

  “Yes, I agree,” replied Stanley. He lay down on one of the beds in the center of the room and slid on a cap. “This’ll be the first time in, I can’t remember how many years.”

  “Feels weird going in with you,” said Connor. “Who would have thought, when you first sent me in that we’d be sat in some old ranch in Colorado going in together?”

  “You’re different now,” said Stanley. “You were, how can I say, fragile the first time you went in.”

  “You’re not the first person to say that this week,” he replied, slipping on the other cap. “This is fully functional, right Nolan? It’s not going to fry me when you press that button?”

  “All tested. It’s all been tested.”

  “I wouldn’t like to be the guy testing it,” said Connor, dryly.

  “Simulations. We run simulations,” said Nolan, pointing to the screen attached to the Seeker.

  “Oh great, so it’s not actually been used yet?”

  “There’s nothing to worry about,” said Stanley. “I take it back. You’re still the same,” he said, laughing to himself.

  “Thanks,” said Connor defiantly, before lying down with a thump. “OK, let’s get this over with.”

  Nolan tapped a few times on the screen, and Stanley’s eyes closed, his head jerking back slightly as they did. Nolan glanced at Connor and gave him a nod.

  And then, black.

  48

  Connor awoke to a deep rumble, then a thump he felt in his chest. He sat up immediately and surveilled his surroundings. He was in a small bedroom in the bunker, and a quick glance at his hands told him Kyle was his host once more. He was alone.

  Boom… came another dull, low thump. He flinched as it hit his chest, then jumped to his feet, his eyes flicking around the room. What the hell is going on?

  Suddenly the heavy metal bedroom door burst open with a squeal, then a woman poked her head around, a look of fright and concern on her face. “Come, now!” she shouted, beckoning wildly with her arm. Connor burst into action, running from the room and following her down the long, dark corridor. Others were joining them, and as they reached an open room they flooded inside. Two men stood at the back of the room throwing machine guns to those who didn’t have them, and as Connor was bustled closer to them, he realized he was going to have one thrown at him too. He glanced around the room to see if there was anyone he recognized, and as he did so he had a weapon thrust into his unexpecting arms.

  “Wait!” he said, but his cry went ignored as the person behind him pushed by and took a weapon of their own.

  Another boom, this time louder, followed by a deafening crack which echoed around the tunnels. Connor ducked, then looked at the gun in his hands. It was a machine gun, but beyond that he had no idea. Suddenly he heard gunfire. This caused everyone to step up a gear, barging past him on their way to the source of the commotion.

  As he squeezed through the door, almost falling into the corridor, he saw Mana, who had a large gun in one hand and was using the other to usher people past him.

  “Mana!” shouted Connor. “Mana!”

  The background noise was deafening. The deep booms, the cracks of gunfire and the stamp of feet made it hard for Connor to hear his own voice, let alone project it to Mana. He ran toward him, dodging runners heading in the opposite direction, and shouted once more.

  “Mana!” This time he grabbed his full attention. “It’s Connor!”

  Mana paused. “Come with me,” he shouted, and took off in the opposite direction to the gunfire. They passed only two doors before Mana disappeared into a room. Connor followed and entered somebody’s quarters, and Mana closed the door behind him.

  “What the hell is happening?”

  Mana shook his head, his eyes wide with concern. “They’ve come. They’ve found us,” he said. “I can’t stay long, you need to get out of here. I’m sorry, this started only a few minutes ago.”

  He headed for the door. “Wait,” he said, turning back to Connor. “Can you fire that thing?”

  “I’ve used a gun before, yeah,” he said, accidentally overstating his abilities.

  “If you disconnect now, Kyle will be useless to us for hours. If you can, you’d be more use to us on the front line, we need everyone we have right now. Can you handle it?”

  “Yes, yes, just tell me what to do.”

  “Remember, you can’t die but Kyle can. Guard his life like it’s your own. Find Ruby, she’s near the gate, she’ll tell you what to do. Go.”

  Connor rushed from the room and headed toward the sound of the fight. There were what looked like soldiers all the way up the corridor, some on a bent knee loading their weapon, some running alongside Connor. He glanced at his gun once more as he ran, the switches and dials completely alien to him. Up ahead there were a few people stopped. One of them was Ruby.

  “Ruby!” he called as he reached her. “It’s Connor.”

  “What the hell are you doing here, cowboy?”

  “Bad timing I guess. Mana said to find you so I can help.”

  “You know how to use that?”

  “Not really. Just switch it on for me and I’ll do what I can.”

  “Swit—” She sighed and shook her head, grabbing it from his grasp. “This is safety, this is your selective fire. Leave it on this setting, which will fire burst of three rounds at a time. Here, take this ammunition, and only fire when you see one of them. This ain’t a video game, we can get hurt too. Clear?”

  “Clear.” He grabbed the two ammunition magazines from her and began running in the direction in which she pointed. He was soon nearing the end of the tunnel, the door to the outside world wide open.

  He hesitated as he reached the foot of the steps, terrified to go beyond them in fear of being shot as soon as he poked his head out, but as footsteps thumped behind him he had no choice but to make his way up and toward open air. The person behind pushed past him on the stairs and reached the top before him, looking left and right before disappearing. Connor peered over the crest of the steps into the darkness and saw flashes, white projectiles zooming left and right, and a bright orange glow from somewhere nearby. He had no idea who was on his side and who was the enemy, so he relocated the person who had exited before him, and ran after them, ducking as he went.

  As he reached them, they were crouched behind a fallen tree, watching the battle. Connor crouched beside him. “What’s happening?” he asked.

  “We’ve pushed them back from the gate but they’re pushing us back now. I think a lot of our guys are getting hit.”

  “What do we do?”

  “I don’t know,” said the man, looking at him with exasperation. “I’ve never done this before.”

  “Neither have I,” said Connor. “We can’t sit here. Follow me.”

  He stood up and began running through the dark field, lights and explosions up ahead giving him some target to head for. Suddenly he saw the enemy — dressed in full combat armor with black masks, and red flashlights on their foreheads and attached to their weapons.

  “That’s them!
” he shouted. “Find some cover!”

  The two of them dropped into a small, dry riverbed and lay on their front, their heads and shoulders poking over the bank. Connor checked his weapon. He pulled back a lever on the side and let go, then took aim toward one of the members of the enemy. His new friend did the same, and as he took a deep breath, the enemy firmly in his crosshair, everything seemed to slow to a halt.

  Click.

  He fired. The barrel of the gun shot upwards, nearly spinning backward from his grasp, the recoil taking him completely by surprise. Embarrassed, he glanced at his partner, who nodded and took aim himself. Connor readied himself once more, then, with a tight grip in anticipation of the recoil of the weapon, he held down the trigger and fired three rounds. After seeing sky then grass, sky then grass through the scope he knew the bullets had missed by a big margin, but, undeterred, he fired again. The enemy were advancing, with members of the resistance breaking cover and running back in Connor’s direction.

  “Should we get out of here?” asked his partner.

  “Wait,” said Connor. “We can give these guys cover.”

  The retreating resistance were at least a hundred meters away, so Connor and his partner opened fire, his aim becoming more accurate with each burst. The butt of the gun thumped him in the shoulder repeatedly, the noise and violence of the bullets exiting the gun as exciting as it was terrifying.

  “GAS! GAS!” somebody screamed as they approached. “Get the hell outta here!”

  “What?” shouted Connor, turning to his partner. “Gas?”

  By this point his partner had already got to his feet and was twenty steps away from him. He stood up and ran, head down, back toward the bunker, where members of the resistance were dropping in one by one. He jumped down the steps, almost slipping and tumbling down, and made his way into the bunker. Following everybody else, he continued down the tunnel until he saw Ruby, where he stopped and tried to get her attention. Eventually, after giving at least ten soldiers orders on their way past, she looked at Connor.

  “Go, get back off the front line,” she said.