Frags
Page 7
Gabby let out a defeated sigh: thinking hard about how futile resistance would be, picturing Vernon standing over her as she cowered in submission. She held that image in her head, letting her shoulders shrink inward, making herself small and inconsequential. Letting Vernon know she wouldn't resist.
His presence waited beyond arm's length. Gabby could feel his hot, excited breath, smelling slightly like onions, washing over her. She sensed his excitement.
The wait was agonizing.
He was letting his anticipation build. Licking his lips and penetrating her with his eyes. Vernon was only a few feet away, hidden by her eye-screens.
When he came at her for the third time, she knew he wouldn't stop. He might even have his device readied. As far as Gabby knew, he was planning on hitting her with it until she could only lie on the floor. Maybe he didn't believe her demure act or didn't care. He would break her like he had the others.
The Celia bug darted away—
—Gabby swung, leaning her body into the blow, swinging at the empty air...
...connecting with something heavy she couldn't see. Gabby leapt and followed it to the ground, punching the whole way down. She could feel Vernon's bony body beneath her as she struck him a half-dozen times until he wasn't moving.
The Celia bug bounced excitedly before her eyes. "Thank you," she whispered. It made a petite mid-air bow.
Gabby expected the doors to burst open and Vernon's cronies to come get her, even though she couldn't see the doors. The landscape around her was fire and black earth and distant volcanoes. Gabby knelt in a patch of partially-cooled lava. If the Flock had done a better job coding the reality, she would believe her legs were burning.
When no one came, she hoped that meant he was alone. Gabby suspected that Vernon was running the Flock solo, playing the parts as needed to keep people in line. She guessed even the beautiful charwoman was him, though she assumed he'd gotten the skin from somewhere else.
If it were just Vernon, she could slam his head into the floor until he was dead, freeing the Flock from his sick reality. But the sound of the man's head hitting the hovercraft came back to her. She'd never be able to do it. Maybe if she knew for sure it would save the others, but it was only a guess. There might be a few of them taking turns in the positions of power. It would be his death at her hands. It wasn't her way.
Gabby felt around, seeing the world beneath the illusion with her fingertips. A square box lay inches from Vernon. Gabby shuddered. He had the knockout device in his hand. If she hadn't put him down in one punch, the roles would be reversed.
She crawled forward until she found the edge of the cushioned bed. What it looked like was a huge black smoking rock, but she felt the cushions beneath. After orienting herself in the room, Gabby crawled until she hit the wall with her head. Then she felt around for the window. A few fumbling minutes later, she was outside the building, crawling after the Celia bug.
Gabby was familiar with the false realities of LifeGame. She knew when to believe and when to ignore what she saw, but she found it difficult to crawl over the flowing river of lava that blocked her escape. Knowing that perception created reality, she scurried across the molten river. Her skin became warm and uncomfortable, but never reached the levels of pain she would have expected if they'd been able to code tactile through the sense-web.
She crawled for what seemed like twenty miles, but was probably only a couple hundred feet. Her knees were bloody from slamming them into hidden rocks. When the bug stopped and made animated loop-d-loops, Gabby thought she might have been seen and froze onto the ground.
When her whole body rose into the air, picked up by some unseen giant, Gabby nearly screamed. The smells of oil and grease filled her nose as the unseen giant gave her a hug.
"Drogan!" she squealed.
Moments later, the hellish fire world disappeared. The Caterpillar was only a few steps away. She'd practically crawled onto it. Drogan had her in a one-armed hug, the other clutching the make-shift crossbow. Celia sat at the head of the vehicle, looking grim as blind justice with her eye bandages.
Gabby gave her a warm smile. "Thank you, Celia." She hugged Drogan back with both arms. "And thank you Drogan, my hero."
Drogan gave her another big hug. "We missed you Gabby-umbrella. We've been playing with bubbles." Drogan couldn't say her full name and liked to add umbrella to the end of the shortened version. It made Gabby smile even wider.
But then she saw that Celia still had her stony face. The pale waif nodded up the hill. A body lay facedown, clutching an axe. An arrow stuck out of his back.
Gabby glanced at the crossbow and then back to Celia. "Bubble world?"
Celia nodded.
The lively greeting ended as Drogan set her down. "We have to get the others." Celia made a face as she turned back to the front and revved the Caterpillar's engine. Gabby knew what it meant. Celia had used the Bubble World make Drogan kill the man coming after her. Even though Drogan had no idea what he'd done, Celia would carry that guilt for him.
Gabby climbed on and eyed Drogan for signs of recognition for what he'd done. He appeared less cheerily vacant than normal, his chubby cheeks bunched in a curious look. Drogan was as simple as a five year old, but even five year olds knew when something was wrong. She just hoped Celia wouldn't have to use him again like that before they left the Flock.
Chapter Ten
Celia had been able to override the Flock program when she'd gotten near enough, patching in through a cable while Gabby cowered on the ground. Proximity factored into the strength of a program. It kept distant powers from forcing their crude realities on anyone they could get a connection with.
Gabby had changed out of her dress, relishing the soft wool pants and shirt she now wore. Silk wouldn't have felt as good. Gabby adjusted the bandages on her knees and grabbed a metal pipe as her weapon. They were returning to the Flock's town right away so Gabby didn't have time to give her knees the proper attention.
She'd crawled much further than she thought. Maybe a good mile. Her exhaustion was right under the surface, but as the Caterpillar rumbled across the field, chewing up neatly planted rows and spitting out black diesel smoke, she felt recharged by her anger.
They hit Mouse's location first. The building lay on the far side of the mess hall. The Caterpillar punched a hole through the door with its huge clawed arm on the front. Gabby leapt off with Drogan right behind.
"Bubbles!" he shouted, sporting a cheerful grin.
Gabby wasn't feeling cheerful. In fact, the steel pipe she wielded matched her vengeful mood. But there was no one to take it out on. Only a roomful of cowering girls in green dresses, screaming as a Gabby entered.
When the small dark shape darted out from the corner, Gabby almost met it with the pipe, until she realized it was Mouse. Embraced in a hug, Gabby plugged into Mouse's system and cleaned out the Flock after a brief download.
"You're in your original clothes," said Gabby.
Mouse giggled behind a cupped hand. "I heard the Caterpillar."
They loaded back into their monstrous vehicle to get Michael. Gabby was surprised by the lack of resistance. Part of her wanted to go back to Vernon's building and finish what she'd started.
Michael had been sequestered in a locked shack on the edge of the planting fields. Gabby knocked the door in with her pipe. He stumbled out of the darkness, holding his arm to block even the dim light of dusk.
From up close, Gabby could see his ribs through his skin. She threw herself into his arms, forgetting herself for a moment. Feeling his skin against her hand, made her heart thump in her chest. This is real.
"We must go," said Celia in her eerily vacant voice. Her web of sensors had detected resistance forming.
Celia drove the Caterpillar directly through the town. Men in white shirts and women in brown dresses scurried away, their eyes white with fear. Gabby wondered what the Flock made them see, or was it that they'd never seen a vehicle like the Caterpillar?
His spine protruded from his emaciated body. The skin around the port was scabbed over. After a quick plug in, Gabby was surprised by what she saw.
"You don't have the Flock program?" she asked, confused.
His eyes betrayed some recent pain as he shook his head. Gabby cleaned out the program that had leeched onto his old system, forcing some horrible reality on him. Gabby could see that in his eyes. While her twenty days in the Flock had been difficult, his had clearly been a nightmare. Gabby thought about saving the program, but deleted it instead, wanting to rid Michael of the demons it so clearly possessed.
As the Caterpillar thundered toward a distant building, Gabby saw men with weapons gathering outside of it. Part of her cheered their presence. If there'd been no resistance then her choice not to kill Vernon would have been wrong.
"Bubbles!" Drogan announced again.
Gabby thought Celia was going to drive the Caterpillar right into the building, but then she saw Milton standing outside of it with the other men. He had an axe in his hands. Gabby's heart sunk. Either they painted a completely different reality over Milton's eyes or he'd gone over to their side.
When the battle was joined, the odds were overwhelming in the Frags' favor. The men of the Flock - while brandishing potentially deadly weapons: axes, pitchforks, knives and clubs - were clumsy and inept. The Frags, however, had been trained by LifeGame in various martial arts and were more than proficient with most weapons.
Drogan shouted his inane battle cry "Bubbles!" as they charged in. Celia kept him from using his crossbow. Instead, he punched one Flock man running up to hit him with a club. The man dropped to the ground in an awkward heap.
Gabby knocked an axe away with her pipe and curled it around and into his knee. His screams ripped through the air. Even Drogan seemed to notice something amiss in Bubble World.
Michael held his own, but his general state of health kept him from easily dispatching his foes. Mostly he parried and blocked, while Mouse snuck around and clubbed them in the back of the head with her short club.
Gabby's assault through the Flock men reminded her of her battle with the villagers in LifeGame. She danced and swung through them, cutting them down like weeds. Gabby tried only to disable, taking out knees and elbows rather than striking the head.
When Gabby and Drogan reached Milton, he tried to attack them. His eyes were bursting out of his head in rage. He ran at them with an axe over his head. Gabby neatly sidestepped him and knocked the axe out of his hand while Drogan punched him right in the face. "Bubbles!" Milton went down, shuddering in spasms. Gabby hoped the epilepsy would stay away.
Gabby knelt over Milton and checked his pulse. It was still strong. They hadn't hurt him too bad. Drogan stood guard while she searched for his port. Men lay moaning in agony across the battlefield. Mouse and Michael had cornered a pair of the Flock against an old dilapidated wagon. Gabby had Milton cleaned out, but he wouldn't know it until he woke back up. She was about to ask Drogan to carry him to the Caterpillar when she noticed out of the corner of her eye, another Flock man running toward her with a weapon in hand.
She heard the two words simultaneously. "Bubbles!" and "Gabby!"
Gabby looked up to see Daniel. He had a shotgun in his hand, though he was holding it by the barrel. His face was wide with delight and then it turned to utter confusion.
Her mind had heard the thrum of the crossbow, though she didn't want to acknowledge it.
"Bubbles?" said Drogan, also confused.
"Daniel," she said and ran to him. The fuzzy-chinned Daniel, stumbled once and reached for his chest. Gabby couldn't see a crossbow bolt, so she couldn't understand why he appeared hurt. Then she saw the lake of red spreading across his white shirt.
She reached his side as he drifted to his knees. His hands shook beneath hers. His lip trembled in fear. "I wanted to come with you."
Gabby wanted to tell him it would be alright, but she couldn't even get a word out. The bolt had gone right through him. He slumped onto his side.
"I'm sorry, Daniel." It was all she could think to say.
Gun fire erupted from the next street over. Vernon had woken up and gathered a more potent force. Vernon's face, even from a distance, appeared bloody and bruised. Six men with guns ran toward them, firing.
Gabby grabbed the shotgun out of Daniel's limp grasp. "I'm sorry," she said, again.
Drogan was still staring at Daniel. He seemed to see beyond the Bubble World and understand what he'd done. "Bubbles?"
"Drogan! Get Milton in the Caterpillar!"
Bullet impacts threw dirt over them. One pinged off the metal pipe lying in the dirt. Despite their frantic escape, Gabby kept looking back at Daniel, lying motionless in the dirt. Celia widened the distance between them and Vernon's posse. "Bubbles..." The words trailed off of Drogan's lips. Gabby wished he was saying "Cradle will fall" instead.
Celia was headed out of town when Gabby remembered. It wouldn't be far out of their way. Gabby climbed over the seat and tapped on Celia's shoulder.
"That building over there. We have to go there."
Celia ignored her kept driving out of town. "Please."
The pleading in her voice must have won her over, because Celia turned the Caterpillar toward the building. Vernon and his men were too far away to stop her, but she didn't have much time.
Gabby kicked in the door. Girls in brown dresses screamed as if she was a marauding monster come to eat their flesh.
"Delilah?"
"Gabby?" The reply came from the back of the room. Delilah ran out and into Gabby's arms. Gabby thought about trying to get the other girls to come, but they were so frightened of her she knew it was pointless. So she led Delilah to the Caterpillar and had the Flock's program cleaned out before they'd left town.
"Thank you for remembering me," said Delilah.
Gabby smiled wistfully, but couldn't speak. She'd saved one, only one, and left a town full of doomed people. Gabby put a comforting arm around Delilah and thought about Daniel. Daniel lying dead in the dirt. He'd wanted to come, too. But now he would never leave.
Chapter Eleven
The weather mirrored her mood: gray skies that went on forever, restless winds circling endlessly, and a black soot that covered everything.
The soot came from the east. They'd gotten word through their new interface that a volcano some distance north near the glaciers had spewed its guts into the sky. The system the Frags had cobbled together in the GSA didn't serve their purpose anymore and had nearly gotten them all killed.
As the Caterpillar cautiously trekked across the plains, they figured out how the Flock had happened upon them so easily. The geobox at that location had been corrupted by Vernon and the Flock. Once Milton had opened it, the virus infested his system and attacked his sense-web throwing him into an epileptic fit.
Milton sheepishly explained that for the first few days, he thought he'd died and been sent to a purgatory to work off his sins. Eventually he figured it out, but he said Vernon warped his reality so thoroughly he couldn't figure out who was friend or foe. He wouldn't say what he saw when he attacked them with the axe, just that he was afraid for his life. Gabby forgave him, as did the others. Forgiveness came easy for Gabby, with her experience from Final Raid still being relatively fresh in her mind. By the end, she hadn't known who to trust.
The new interface had been downloaded from open databases in the Freelands. It came with superior protections, but other perils of use. Back in the GSA, they'd stayed separate from the LifeGame network, not needing access to games or skins or advertisements. The purpose had been for communication amongst themselves and the other Frags hidden throughout the GSA. But that system didn't have the necessary protections to stop the Flock virus from taking over Milton's
system.
The six of them, with Drogan singing nursery rhymes by himself, debated adopting the Freelands system during one long night, huddling around a low fire. By tapping into the Freelands resources they would have access to information they wouldn't otherwise. But they would also be subject to Freelands rules.
Milton wanted the Freelands system. He'd seen firsthand what their own weak protections meant when he'd opened that corrupted geobox. Delilah took Milton's side, because, Gabby suspected, she had a crush on him. It made Gabby smile whenever she saw Milton telling stories to Delilah about his LifeGame accomplishments. Delilah nodded in all the right places and asked questions when Milton got uncomfortable during moments of silence.
Celia and Mouse both wanted to keep their Frags system. With Mouse, Gabby suspected she didn't want to lose that link to home, but the frantic nature of her arguing made Gabby wonder if there were other reasons. Did she have another agenda to keeping it? Gabby had never found out what the Coder had offered Mouse in LifeGame, nor had she figured out what the red box at the hovercraft tower had been.
Celia argued for keeping the Frags system for practical reasons. She was concerned the new one would interfere with her sensor bugs.
Michael stayed sullen and apart, not voicing an opinion either way. Whatever the Flock had done to him had wounded him deeply.
When the arguments stalled to pointed silences and crossed arms, they'd put the question to her. She'd stayed out of the argument for more personal reasons. Despite her logic telling her otherwise, she felt responsible for Daniel's death. She didn't want leadership of the Frags anymore and hoped Milton would continue to assert control. She didn’t agree with his reasoning, but thought the Freelands program was the way to go. Michael finally broke the tie, just to shut everyone up. Gabby didn't sleep well that night, but she hadn't since they escaped from the Flock.
While the Freelands program gave them access to information, it also made them more vulnerable. In the Freelands, freedom was held dear. That freedom was based on the homestead. Once you'd carved out a spot of land for your own, anyone that ventured onto those lands had to abide by those rules. By entering a land, one ceded access to your system. That point had been the main topic for their arguments. Why escape the Flock to allow everyone else to do the same thing?