“When do I get a crack at this?” I asked without taking my eyes off the screen.
“Are we talking about the simulator or me?” Cameron smirked.
“You don’t miss a beat, do you?”
“I’ll wear you down one day.”
“Today? Would it be possible for me to try it out today?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll have to clear it with Victor after he gets in first.”
“Victor doesn’t live here?”
“He has a room here, but he pretty much comes and goes. I don’t think any of us know where he lives, to tell you the truth. Blake will have to go in with you for your first time in the simulator for training purposes. You’ll need your helmet, too.”
“Don’t I have to be fitted for one?”
“We did it after you almost died on us the second time. Since you’re prone to passing out, we figured we at least ought to have something made for you to protect your head.”
“How very considerate of you.” I glanced back up at the screen, searching for the main event. “When do you think he’s going to strike next?”
“That’s a question you’ll have to ask either Lana or Brian. I deal with facts, not variables.”
“You’re saying that they don’t even know when or where it’s going to happen?”
“They rely solely on the information they receive from their informants on the outside. Most of the time, the information they receive is valid. Sometimes, we’re led on a wild goose chase.”
“Nice use of governmental resources.”
“It’s the government, not rocket science. Besides, thanks to President Brooks’ tax hikes, the pit our funding comes from is darn near bottomless.”
The doors opened with Blake emerging looking well-rested, a first since I’d met him. He was suited up, a helmet on his head and another in his hands.
“Victor wants us to hit the simulator.” He looked at me. “He also says to go easy on the first timer here.” My hands shot out from my sides just as Blake unexpectedly pitched the helmet to me. Pain from my shoulder struck my body like a bolt of lightning, almost forcing me to drop the helmet.
“Nice reflexes,” Cameron mused.
“Yeah, they take her straight to the floor.”
“Ha-ha.” I sneered. “If I remember correctly, I believe I was keeping pace with you rather nicely yesterday.”
“Blake is getting his butt whipped by a girl,” Cameron all but giggled.
“I wouldn’t talk if I were you,” I said, crouching down face-to-face with Cameron. “After all, I think I can take you, too.”
His eyes grew wide with excitement. “I’d let you wipe the floor with me any day.” I arose disgusted, and followed Blake into the simulator.
“Blake,” Cameron called behind us, “have you had Marcus check out your suit yet?”
“I haven’t gotten around to it.”
Cameron muttered something about suicide.
“What was that about?” I asked Blake after we entered the simulator.
“Cameron is being a little on the anal side. He seems to think that our suits are like tires and need to be replaced after so many miles. I’m not too worried about it.”
“Brave man.”
“There’s a fine line between being brave and just not giving a shit anymore,” he sighed. “You better put your helmet on.”
I fumbled with my helmet, pulling it over my face like a ski mask. The top portion was perfectly contoured to my skull. However, unlike the usual helmet, this one was made out of the same material as the portion shielding my head. The material came down through the back of my head, covering my ears. It masked my eyes, extending down to the tip of my nose. On each side were solid black metallic straps. I grabbed the straps, snapping them in place under my chin. Cameron’s voice blared over the loud speaker, subsequently echoing throughout the empty, padded room.
“Simulation will commence in sixty seconds.”
“Just follow my lead.” Blake’s muscles tensed as he positioned himself in front of me to protect me from the invisible threat.
“Who said chivalry was dead?”
“Thirty seconds.”
“If this is the one I think it is, it will be a piece of cake,” he reassured me.
I braced myself, trying to project an air of confident vigilance while I waited to be encased by the unknown. The tension was mounting in my body, and I felt as if I were going to leap out of my skin.
“Ten seconds.”
“Get ready to jump to the left and keep low.” Blake’s voice came over an ear bud on the side of my helmet.
“Let simulation commence.”
In an instant, the padded room before me changed into a scene straight out of a post apocalyptic movie. I found myself standing amidst rubble with felled wires, bricks, tiles, tires, and bits of motor vehicle parts rusted from their exposure to the elements at my feet. An orange hue illuminated the sky. Fires burned in the distance from the mountains of debris.
“Now!” Blake commanded.
I leapt over to the left, overshooting Blake, coming to a landing on my side in the rubble. Instantly, I regained my bearings, seeking refuge near a concrete pillar. Blake was on the opposite edge of the pillar, motioning for me to join him. Carefully, I crawled over the rubble. There were personal effects strewn about that I hadn’t noticed before whose presence only served to add an extra touch of eeriness. Books were scattered about as though a library had imploded. Chairs were overturned along with multitudes of broken glass and porcelain from once priceless heirlooms. However, what struck me the most were the stuffed animals and dismembered dolls intermingled in the chaos. Cameron was one sadistic bastard.
Crawling over the rubble evoked a feeling in me I hadn’t felt in years. From what I remembered from my years of therapy after The Lakes bombing, what I was experiencing was most likely from the post traumatic stress I’d been diagnosed with. Despite being covered by gloves, my hands felt clammy. I could feel sweat pouring down my forehead; and my breathing was becoming more and more shallow as I made my way towards Blake. I could feel myself becoming dizzy, making me fearful of passing out before I made it to him. “Snap out of it, Celaine,” I told myself, continuing my crawl. Once I was beside Blake again, I was able to regain my composure. His voice came over my ear bud once more.
“Look ahead; off to the right to about two o’clock.”
I followed Blake’s instructions, but wished I hadn’t, for what I saw made every hair on my body stand on end. Before us, standing about ten feet tall, was the same character I’d watched Cameron upload.
“Funny, he wasn’t so menacing on Cameron’s monitor.”
Blake laughed. “That’s because he was only four inches tall then.”
“Details, details…”
The graphics were unbelievably realistic. Even from a distance, I could make out every feature on the giant that stood before me, from the wrinkles in his clothing to the distinct markings on his face, including the large scar across his right cheek bone; a feature I hadn’t noticed before. But what struck me the most were his eyes. They weren’t vacant like I would expect from a programmed apparition. Instead, they appeared contemplative…evil. Almost as though there was actually life flowing within them. I shuddered to think that this thing before me may actually have a soul.
“Get ready. Show’s about to start.” Blake ordered.
“I was born ready.”
“That’s funny because you look and sound terrified. Remember, I have an ear bud, too, and I can hear every gasp you utter.”
“I always breathe like this.”
“Uh-huh. Just copy everything I do and try not to get too overzealous again.” Blake had no sooner spoken those words when Mr. Big and Ugly took charge with strides that could be measured in meters. “Jump!” he ordered, leaping into the air.
I followed suit, trying to give it less “oomph” than I had before which proved to be an even bigger downfall. Not only did I not k
eep stride with Blake, but the jump itself wasn’t quite enough to clear the giant I was trying to evade. Seeing that I wasn’t going to leap over him, I swung my leg out in mid-air where it made contact with the bridge of his nose, barely throwing him off balance. I landed in the rubble behind him, tumbling to rest next to a rusty sedan door. Dazed, I tried pulling myself back up when I heard Blake shout. “Celaine! Run!”
I looked up to see my pursuer looming over me. Quickly, I scrambled to my feet in an attempt to leap away from the gargantuan hand heading toward me. In mid-leap I was jolted back and then slammed down into the ground by a pair of hands grasping my waist. I felt my body being pulled upward and, before I knew what was happening, I was face to face with the monster. Tightening his grip around me, I felt a sharp increase in pressure around my abdomen and ribs. He squeezed me tightly like a sadistic anaconda with its newfound prey until my air supply became compromised and my ribs began to crack. Gasping for breath, I struggled to free myself from his death grip before losing consciousness, but the more I struggled the tighter his grip became, squeezing more and more air out of my body.
As I felt myself begin to black out, the giant suddenly released me from its clutches. I looked up to see what had caused him to let me go, noticing that Blake now stood where the monster had been with the cement pillar we’d taken refuge behind earlier gripped firmly in his hands. The monster rolled through the rubble striking his head on bricks that had broken loose from a simulated building.
“I totally had him,” I said, catching my breath.
“I could tell.”
With a subhuman growl, he got back to his feet, stumbling a little in the debris beneath him. “Charge him!” Blake yelled, running in the direction of the monster. Keeping my body in perfect sync with his, I ran with Blake. “Flank him,” he ordered.
I branched off, taking aim at the monster’s right side while Blake approached from the left. The monster, understanding what we were about to do, took steps to defend himself in response. He swiped at me, but this time I was able to dodge his outstretched fingers and, with a flying kick, made contact with his body just as Blake did the same. Big and Ugly moaned in obvious pain as his body was thrown through the air. With a blood curdling shriek, he was silenced forever, his body impaled on a steel beam. The gore was all so graphic and real that I had to turn my head for fear I would get sick at the sight of the blood that was pouring out of the monster’s wound.
“Cameron spares no expense when it comes to the realism, does he?”
“No. He’s a morbid little bastard. Brace yourself; we’re far from being done.”
“Fantastic.”
In a split second, two more monsters appeared before us. They were just as big and just as ugly as their predecessor except with a hint more anger in their eyes. It was as though they realized they’d journeyed here to avenge their friend’s untimely demise.
“More spawns,” Blake mused.
“Looks like I get my very own this time.”
“Do you think you can handle him before he handles you?”
“Very funny. Don’t worry, I can keep a man’s hands off me.”
“On my mark,” Blake commanded. “One, two, three, go!”
Side by side, we took off towards the offenders. In unison, they crouched down in a defensive stance to await our blows. Blake struck first, hitting his monster in the chin with his fist and knocking him back a couple of steps. It was my turn. Whirling my body around in a spin kick, I struck my target with my right boot heel just as he reached out to grab my other foot. My kick was just enough to knock him sideways, enabling me to twist my body around in a backwards flip where I landed perfectly on my feet. However, I didn’t have long to celebrate my feat of gracefulness when Big and Ugly, Jr. took charge. I leapt up into the air, landing behind him where I delivered a series of blows to his back until I forced him to fall forward. Triumphantly, I looked over at Blake only to see him casually resting upon his already slain opponent. Angry, I made one last flying leap at my monster, sending him crashing into the windshield of a pickup truck, silencing him forever.
Blake gave me a nod of approval as he stood up from his resting spot atop his kill. He motioned for me to join him as he ran behind the shell of a dilapidated building. Behind the building, he regained his stance of readiness, which meant only one thing. Seconds later, three more spawns appeared.
“I’ve got the two on the right,” Blake announced.
Again, I took off after him, repeating the scenario that’d unfolded with my last successful kill. For the next hour it played out like this. Blake and I worked as a team to take down our unwitting challengers. He stepped in when I needed him to and there were a few times where I landed the blows that allowed Blake enough room to make the kill shot to his opponents. I was thrown, kicked, punched and shoved into the rubble, but never for an instant did I feel like I was getting tired, nor did I feel as though I was in too much pain to continue.
With every opponent we felled, more appeared to take their place. Until, at one point, we had ten of them to contend with. After the final one fell, I turned to Blake and held out my hand for a congratulatory high five. He looked at me and shook his head.
“That was just a warm up,” he laughed.
“A warm up?”
I’d remembered my conversation with Cameron earlier that morning when I heard a disgusted grunt from Blake. There was no need for me to look up for I knew what was now in front of us. Swift booms and clangs approached us as The Man in Black sprinted through the rubble from across the simulated city. Instantly, I felt myself being transported back to The Lakes, my nightmares overcoming me. The Man in Black drew closer, but I was frozen back in time.
“Celaine!” Blake called frantically.
My body was in such an overwhelming state of shock that I couldn’t budge. Two things happened next: first, I stood mask to mask with The Man in Black; then, I was sent flying through the air into the rubble as an alarm rang throughout the simulator.
“Congratulations, Celaine,” Cameron’s voice came over the loudspeaker, “you’re dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Ruminations of LucyPierce
“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”
-Thomas Jefferson
Blake helped me up from my point of impact on the padded floor. We were within the sanctity of the dull, boring simulation room again.
“What happened back there?” he asked.
“I don’t know other than I choked.”
Victor’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Okay, you two, break time. Get ready for breakfast. Celaine, you will have another chance to redeem yourself later today.”
I looked at Blake, dejected. “Is that his way of saying I sucked?”
“Pretty much.”
We walked out of the simulator, Blake taking off his helmet and I following his lead.
“What the heck hap…,” Cameron began.
“Not now, Cameron,” I snapped.
He slunk back in his chair and whispered something I couldn’t make out to Drew, who’d joined him.
Victor stared at me, wearing a clear look of disappointment. I averted my eyes as I headed out the door into the hallway, knowing I hadn’t performed exactly up to par. After we‘d gotten a safe distance down the hall, Blake asked the obvious. “So, what did happen in there?”
“I don’t know.” I really didn’t care to talk about it, but I figured I owed my partner an explanation. “You never had a personal experience with The Man in Black, right?”
“If by personal experience, you mean have I ever physically come in contact with him outside of here then, yeah, you’re right.” There was a sense of offense in Blake’s tone.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to short change the fact that your best friend was killed. What I meant by that was, you’ve never personally been in the middle of the carnage and, with that in mind, I’m also assuming that y
ou’ve never been plagued by the nightmares that wait in the shadows to haunt your dreams on any random night of their choosing. I’ve never seen The Man in Black personally like you have. I’ve only had witness descriptions and newspaper accounts to aid in my mental picture of him. Seeing him today live and in color, even though it was just a simulated version of him, brought back all of those nightmares. I was once again that broken teenage girl who was plucked from the ruins of The Lakes Mall. So, I’m sorry to have let you down, but unless you’ve ever been in my shoes, you wouldn’t fully understand.” I was shaking as we entered the hallway containing our rooms. I’d vented in a way I’d never been able to before, not even with Chase. Blake stopped me in my tracks and took me by the shoulders, forcing me to turn towards him, forcing me to look him in the eyes.
“You’re wrong,” he began. “True, your experience was far more traumatizing than mine was. But if you think for an instant that I haven’t stayed awake at night thinking about Hank even before it was physically impossible for me to fall asleep, you’re wrong. If you think that I’ve never thought to myself over and over again repeatedly like a broken record what, if anything, I could have done differently in my life to have possibly saved him, then you’re also sorely mistaken. You see, he wasn’t taking a joyride over that bridge because it was a nice day out and he needed some air. He was coming to help me, to give me strength to face my addiction. He was coming to my house to participate in an intervention put together by my family because I refused to do a damn thing to help myself and give up that damn bottle. He died because of me and my choices. Don’t think I’m not haunted by that. The only difference between you and me is the fact that, instead of letting my nightmares consume me completely, I look them in the eye and fight right back. I fight, not for me, but for Hank.” He was stern without raising his voice, but I noticed a slight tremble in his speech. “I want you…I want you now to go back…go back to that day when your family was taken from you. Go back five minutes before it happened and you’re now suddenly face-to-face with that bastard. Only now you can do something about it. You can save them. Channel that the next time you’re in the simulator and let’s see if you back down then.”
Enigma Black Page 20
