Zyra nodded, then a smile spread across her face. ‘We beats the Fat Man.’
‘Yeah.’ Tark smiled in return. ‘We dids.’
‘We saved everything!’
‘Yeah,’ Tark agreed. ‘We dids.’
‘Unless,’ said Zyra quietly. ‘Unless all that wuz a game, too.’
They climbed slowly to their feet and walked around the basement, looking at everything, examining ordinary things, running hands and fingers across walls, over chairs, through the dust and dirt. It was all familiar, it was all the same, and yet it was so different. Zyra looked down at herself. She was wearing her leather coat.
‘A game,’ whispered Tark. ‘We is in a game.’
‘Maybe,’ said Zyra.
‘So do we play?’ asked Tark. ‘Does we goes on likes before?’
‘Wot else is there?’
‘Us,’ said Tark, walking over to Zyra and reaching out a hand to touch her arm.
‘But it's against the rules.’
‘Yeah, it is,’ agreed Tark. ‘But the Designers is gone. And I don'ts care.’
He took Zyra's hand in his and leaned forward, bringing his face close to hers. ‘Alls I cares about … is …’
He leaned closer.
‘… you.’
And as their lips met, everything changed.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Paul Collins who published my short story ‘Game Plan’ in his anthology, Trust Me! (Ford Street, 2008) and to Meredith Costain who first suggested that I should expand it into a novel. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my wife, Kerri, who read and commented on my first outline and early drafts. Her feedback had considerable influence on the final direction of the novel. Thanks also to Saralinda Turner for her insightful editorial comments.
To read more stories featuring the characters in this book, go to www.gamersquestbook.com
Table of Contents
Cover Page
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Gamers’ Quest
Contents
Prologue
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Part Two
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Acknowledgements
Gamers' Quest Page 12
