Gaming The System [Book One]

by Parker Mayhem

  She asked him another question but he didn't seem to hear her. She tried again.

  "Fox?"

  He blinked several times then looked right at her as if just remembering she was there.

  "Do you think you deserve to be here?" Piper asked.

  "There are a lot of bad people in the world. And some..." Fox motioned toward the other inmates through the gate behind him. "Got what they had comin'. I ain't one of 'em."

  "Are you saying you were wrongly imprisoned? That you're innocent?" Piper asked, playing along.

  She wasn't stupid. Almost every con played the innocent card when asked. Behind him, Pusitz yawned and watched the block through the bars. Maybe he'd heard it all before too?

  Fox glanced around before leaning a little closer.

  "Oh, I'm no saint. I know that. You know that. But what I done...shouldn't land me in this shit shack...fighting for my life every day. They trumped up charges, gave me extra beef. The list of candidates for this place was getting kinda thin, ya know? Supply, demand. Next thing I know, I'm shipped here. Said I was violent. A menace to society. Can you believe that? Me? I ain't never had a violent offen—.” Fox instantly stopped talking, his eyes darting beyond her. “Oh, shit.”

  Piper turned to see what had shut him up so quickly. Lenox was nearly on top of her. Piper stood quickly and flinched back a step, wondering if the Reaper was going to hit her.

  Lenox grabbed her by the shirt and yanked her around the table towards the gate. Piper glanced behind for help as her heart slammed against her chest. She threw out a hand trying to grab Pusitz's sleeve but missed. Her hands kept trying, desperate to latch onto anything she could. She didn’t want to go anywhere alone with the monster.

  Piper’s heart rate climbed in her display until the faded numbers blinked a warning yellow color.

  Another spike of fear and hope rippled through her when she noticed Brevek tearing down the hall towards them. He seemed to be the rational one. The logical one. The only one capable of taming the beast. But he was too late. Lenox threw open the gate and pulled her out onto the block.

  “Shit.” Piper gasped as she glanced around the block.

  She’d never been on that side of the gate before. Everywhere she looked, she saw a blur of faces. Menacing faces that looked ready to kill. Ready for blood. She glanced back through the fence praying for help.

  Pusitz looked like he might follow but stopped short when he noticed the inmates on the other side. There were at least a dozen or so red bands drifting their way like sharks smelling blood in the water. Pusitz pushed the gate shut with a damning click, and avoided her eyes.

  “Oh fuck, he left me.” Piper hadn’t meant to say it out loud but couldn’t stop herself.

  Lenox hauled her along even as she glanced back over her shoulder and saw the distance grow between her and safety.

  I’m going to die.

  "Why were you following me?"

  Piper stumbled as Lenox released her shirt. She didn't dare take her eyes off the ghosted inmates moving their way. The bitch was crazy, Lenox was going to get them both killed.

  "I don't know what you're—“

  Lenox shoved her a little further and a gasp escaped her throat.

  "Do not play games with me!"

  "I'm not, I don’t—“

  She finally managed to tear her eyes from the inmates and glance over Lenox's shoulder. Brevek pushed Pusitz aside. Oh god, he was going to stop them from helping. She knew she couldn’t trust the bastard. Why would a Reaper turn on another? Hadn’t she watched him fight by Lenox’s side at the Wasted Space?

  A dash of relief crept up inside her when Brevek yanked the gate open and moved inside with them. She instantly felt terrible for doubting the man only seconds before. It was the fear talking. She wasn’t thinking clearly.

  Please, let me live through this!

  "Don't do this," Brevek said, glancing around.

  Lenox didn't even blink. That damn purple eye, staring straight into her, unnerving and intense. For all she knew, the Reaper hadn't even heard Brevek speak. Piper swallowed, her throat sand dry, she didn't know which she feared more—the Reaper or the inmates.

  Shit, shit, and more shit.

  She was screwed any way she sliced it. Her mind tried to work out which would be the lesser evil.

  "Lenox—“

  Piper shrieked as Lenox sprang forward and grabbed her arm, pushing her backward into a vacant cell. She felt her balance faltering, it was only chance that kept her legs under her.

  "Damn it, Lenox!" Brevek shouted somewhere behind them.

  Lenox ignored him and slammed the cell door, locking them inside.

  Piper's breath came in short spurts as she backed up from Lenox until she bumped into the dingy, cement wall. She could barely hear anything over the sound of her own heart. It seemed to echo in her ears. Her hands began to tremble and she clenched them to keep them still. She was trapped. Completely at the Reaper's mercy. Before, she might have clung to hope. That a Reaper was only feared in the game, but she knew better now. Lenox could do anything she wanted and there wasn't a damn thing anyone could do to stop her.

  Lenox crept closer. "Why were you following me?"

  "I wasn't...I don't know what you're talking about." Piper lied again.

  Lenox's fist flew and Piper shut her eyes and pulled her hands up, covering her face. She fully expected to feel the blows but heard the thud as Lenox struck the wall next to her head several times.

  "Stop...fucking...lying!" Lenox hit the wall again and again in a rage.

  She couldn't stop herself from shaking. "I'm sorry, I’m sorry. I was just doing my job."

  Lenox leaned in a little closer and Piper shrank back further against the wall. The Reaper seemed to stare straight into her soul. For all she knew, Lenox could. The purple iris watching her closely. It was the most unnerving thing she'd ever experienced. No remorse, no regret. The Reaper seemed immune to any emotion but rage.

  She stopped breathing when Lenox moved in closer, their faces nearly touching. She closed her eyes again, preparing for the worst.

  Somewhere behind them, she heard Ortiz's voice shouting.

  What was he saying? Was he coming to help?

  "I'm not your job. Me—my life—is off limits."

  Piper forced herself to open her eyes and look the demon in the face. She nodded slowly.

  “I can’t hear you.” Lenox growled in her face.

  “Okay, okay.”

  Brevek appeared at the cell door and shouted something that she couldn't make out. Her entire focus was on Lenox and keeping herself alive.

  Lenox barely blinked as she stared at her. Seconds later, the cell door rolled open and Brevek rushed in.

  Lenox never broke eye contact as she raised her hands and stepped back.

  As the distance between them grew, Piper's breath came back in rapid gulps. She felt lightheaded, her body still trembling as Brevek shoved Lenox aside and reached out a hand.

  "It's okay. I’ve got you.”

  Taking a chance, she took it, and he whisked her out of the cell. An inmate horde had formed between them and the gate. Everywhere she looked, she saw nothing but red.

  An arm grabbed at her and she cried out as she yanked away, nearly breaking Brevek's protective grasp.

  Brevek whipped around and placed a booted foot to the inmate's stomach, shoving him back. Two more hands grabbed at her shirt and neck as she tried to twist away. As soon as she’d slip from one pair it seemed like four more took hold.

  A hand closed around her throat, trapping a scream. She shut her eyes and started swinging. She’d never hit anyone before. Never had to. Her arms seemed to swing too slow, like swiping through butter. It had to be a horrible dream, a nightmare. She couldn’t move fast enough. It felt unreal to feel the dull thud of flesh beneath her fists, and the hand only tightened. She couldn’t break free. She tried to mentally prepare herself for the worst, then the hand jerked free.

&n
bsp; She gasped and let her eyes pop open. Lenox shoved the two inmates away and kicked at a third as Brevek pulled her along. She didn’t understand why the Reaper would help her just seconds after threatening her. It would’ve been more efficient to let her sink. Let the inmates take care of her. Problem solved. It had to be to save her own skin. If she died in there, all the blame would fall at Lenox’s black boots.

  The gate was so close, she could see Ortiz's wide, concerned eyes on the other side. He was shouting but she couldn't make out the words.

  As soon as they were within a foot of the gate, Ortiz opened it and thrust his hand out searching for her's. They made contact and Ortiz yanked her through, pulling her close. His muscled arms wrapped around her as she shook, not quite believing she'd made it.

  "It's okay, you're safe. I got you,” Ortiz said softly.

  It took what felt like an eternity to catch her breath and steady her legs and finally pushed herself away from the officer.

  "You okay?"

  She nodded, mentally checking herself over. When she looked up, she saw Brevek shove an inmate and move through the gate, Lenox right behind him.

  Ortiz moved between her and the Reapers.

  "What the fuck is wrong with you!" Ortiz shoved Lenox.

  Brevek jumped in when Lenox shoved the guy back.

  "Back off!" Brevek placed a hand on Ortiz's chest.

  "She nearly got her killed!"

  "I said back off!" Brevek warned. "I've got this."

  He waited for Lenox to pass by before releasing Ortiz and followed her out.

  Ortiz held her tightly, as she swayed on her feet trying to regain her senses. He said something but she had no idea what it was. She still couldn’t hear anything over the sound of her own heart.

  Ch 26 Lenox

  Holy shit, that had been close. Lenox was torn between reveling in the adrenaline rush and sinking further into the rage. She wasn't quite sure how she'd restrained herself. It was a genuine miracle her fist had found the wall.

  She needed a drink.

  Big one.

  Something to blur reality and hush the calling darkness.

  "Hey! I'm talkin' to you!" Brevek said behind her.

  She'd almost forgotten he was there. Hadn't heard a damn word he'd said since they left the room.

  Apparently, his patience had run out.

  Brevek came up fast and grabbed her arm, pulling her down the hall a few paces before shoving open a door to an empty room.

  He hauled her inside and she couldn't quite suppress a laugh. It was cute that he thought he could take her. She may be a third his size but she never lost. She’d kicked his ass on more than one occasion.

  When Brevek shoved her, she put up her hands.

  "I'm good, I'm good."

  He looked at her like she was crazy. Like she was a stranger.

  "What the hell is wrong with you? What was that?"

  "We were just having a chat."

  "A chat? You shoved an untrained civilian into a combat zone! What the fuck is wrong with you? She could've been killed."

  "You're starting to sound like Ortiz."

  "Yeah, well, he's right—“

  “Nothing happened! She was safe. I wouldn't have let anything happen to her. You know that."

  "Do I?" Brevek asked.

  "Come on, man. I was just having a little fun." Lenox dropped her head back and sighed.

  "That went way too far and you know it."

  He was right, of course. The second she pushed Piper outside protection, she'd fucked up. She couldn’t stop herself. She'd gone too far. But that only fueled her anger.

  She rubbed a hand across her face, trying to diffuse the festering rage.

  “I was just trying to scare her, get her off our asses, you know? Jesus, calm down. She’s fine. Nothing happened.”

  "What the fuck is going on with you?"

  "I'm fine, " Lenox said, closing her eyes a moment.

  "Are you? Cause I haven't seen you like this since—”

  "This has nothing to do with her,” Lenox snapped.

  "It has everything to do with her and you know it."

  Lenox lunged forward and grabbed Brevek's shirt shoving him back into a wall. She drew her fist back ready to strike.

  "You don't know what the fuck you're talking about," Lenox growled.

  "The fuck I don't!" Brevek shoved her off him. "I know she's got you all twisted up. You two and your damn head games. She’s fucking poison!”

  "You don't get to talk about her."

  “Why because you're still caught up in her? Face it, you're still not over the bitch.”

  Lenox swung and caught him just below the eye. She swung again, but Brevek jumped forward, ramming his shoulder into her stomach, driving her back into a small stack of chairs.

  Lenox growled and slammed her elbow down into his back. Then shoved him off her with her knee. The two brawled, exchanging blow after blow. Like titans throwing down. Each one getting in shot after shot on the other.

  After ten minutes, Brevek clenched his fist as he bent over huffing heavily. Lenox leaned over, her palms on her knees trying to catch her own breath. She could feel her cheek swelling, felt the trickle of blood dripping down her face.

  Brevek bled from his nose and he swiped at it with the back of his hand. His eye already starting to bruise.

  They made quite the pair.

  "Fucking asshole, get that out of your system?" Lenox asked, cracking a smile as she touched her split lip. It stung, but she liked the pain. It gave her something to cling to, something real to ground her.

  "Did you?" Brevek asked back, slowly returning the smile.

  Lenox let her head drop forward and spit a wad of blood and saliva on the floor. Silence filled the gap between them and Lenox broke it with a laugh. Brevek joined in.

  It was just how their relationship worked. They could be pissed, beat the shit out of each other, and be good after that. No "sorry" necessary. Had been that way for years. True friendship.

  "You want a drink?" Lenox asked.

  "Yeah, yeah I do."

  Ch 27 Piper LaRue

  "You sure you're okay?" Ortiz asked her for the hundredth time.

  She appreciated his concern. She really did. What she didn't appreciate, was the way he looked at her. Like she was some fragile girl, broken and traumatized. Sure, she could've done without Lenox's extreme terror tactic and tantrum, but she'd made it through. It had been scary as hell, for sure; like looking death in the face. But it wasn't her nature to break or, to back down. If anything, it pushed her to the next level. She didn't get mad, she plotted a way to burn your world to the ground and torch you right along with it. All Lenox succeeded in doing, was confirming what she already knew deep down. MAX was hiding something and she was going to expose all its dirty secrets and splash it across the net for the world to see.

  "I can't believe her," Ortiz said. "She knows better."

  "I can't believe you guys keep her around," Rico said, shaking his head. "She could've gotten her killed."

  "Can't trust wild animals," Jason added.

  Piper wanted to scream. She was over wallowing in it. It happened, get the hell over it. Men could be such babies. It could've happened to any of them, but it didn't, it happened to her. She was handling it, she just wanted them to get over it and move on too.

  "No one would blame you if you wanted to call it. Or take a break. I'm sure Delgado would let us back when you're ready." Jason suggested.

  Rico cringed and shook his head, trying to stop the guy. Ortiz nodded enthusiastically and Rico lowered his head into his hands.

  Piper's cheeks grew hot and she focused on not exploding.

  Fucking babies!

  "We're not taking any break, I'm fine," Piper said, crossing her arms. "Who else can we interview?"

  Both Jason and Ortiz stared at her.

  "Well?"

  "I don't...are you sure you're up for—“ Ortiz started.

  "Let's
maybe take a break, get some food or coffee or whatever. Regroup." Rico jumped in and cut the officer off.

  Piper stood her ground. She wasn't going to be coddled and shoved aside.

  “What did I just—” Piper started.

  "Just a quick breather. We all got a scare, you know? Let's get some food, maybe get our blood sugars back up or something. We'll take a second then hit the ground running," Rico said, moving between her and Ortiz.

  "Okay. But we're getting back out there.” Piper said.

  Rico nodded and looked at Ortiz.

  "Okay."

  On their way back to the break room, Rico kept Ortiz's attention. She had no idea what they were talking about but she could've kissed Rico for keeping the officer from trying to console her any further. From smothering her. Maybe he knew she was at her breaking point? Whatever his reasons, she was glad he'd said “yes” to the project and come along.

  They passed the pathetic break room the Reapers used and movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. Against her better judgment, and the tiny warning flares going off inside her head, she stopped. The door wasn't quite shut all the way, allowing her a slice of vision beyond.

  Lenox was once again slamming back a bottle as she held something to her cheek. It took her a second to recognize what it was. Ice. The Reaper lowered her hand as she passed the bottle to Brevek and Piper could see the red irritated cut across Lenox's cheek. She smiled inwardly. She hoped it stung like hell.

  Brevek laughed and took the offered booze. He was talking but the words were muffled, she didn't really care. Their conversation didn’t appear to be anything other than idle chit chat. Hardly worthy of eavesdropping. Brevek took a long drink and handed the bottle back as he pressed an ice pack to the back of his neck. For a moment, she would wondered if the injuries were duty related or, more amusing, they'd done the damage to each other. She couldn't begin to fathom how they could share a drink after beating the shit out of each other but there was a lot about them she didn't quite understand.

  She went to move on when Lenox looked over and their eyes locked. Piper thought about ducking back but quickly stomped the idea away. She wanted the Reaper to know she wasn't afraid of her, no matter what shit she'd pulled. Her pathetic terror tactics hadn’t worked and she wasn't going to be the first to look away.