Frags

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  "Good luck," was all she could get out as her heart threatened to jump out of her throat.

  Gabby was about to fly back to the Caterpillar to tell them the plan when she heard Jaxon behind her. "Give my daughter to one of the families. They're all good people, I'll trust your judgment."

  Gabby nodded.

  "And one last thing. What you wanted to know...about the losers of LifeGame. Do you still want to know?"

  Gabby's face screwed up in confusion. Why wouldn't she want to know?

  "I do."

  Jaxon sighed. "Okay. But don't get mad at me for what you probably don't want to hear. The GSA has been selling them to the Southlands for decades as cheap labor."

  Gabby gasped for breath. The soldiers they'd been fighting had once been her schoolmates. Maybe not her school, but others like it.

  "How do you know?"

  "I used to work for the GSA. I did the selling." Jaxon stared into his hands, not meeting her questioning gaze. "Now a former LifeGamer is in charge down south and I guess they want their revenge. The war between the two countries had always been a sham, a falsified pretense to keep civil liberties low, but now it's going to happen for real."

  Gabby gripped the iron bar until her knuckles hurt.

  "Now you know why I didn't want to tell you. Why I hadn't told anyone. I was ashamed of my involvement. I was prepared to let the Southlanders kill me in a karmic twist of justice until you came along. I'm still going to die, but at least I'll accomplish something by doing it." Jaxon's lower lip trembled as he bit back his emotions. "Just find a good family for my daughter."

  Gabby nodded before flying back to the Caterpillar. The others, including the townies fighting along side the Frags, looked to her.

  "We're leaving town. Round everyone up, we're going to punch a hole to the northwest and meet up with the survivors."

  One of the townies, a stout man with a hunting rifle over his shoulder asked, "What's Jaxon going to do?"

  "He and a few others are going to cover our escape. The Southlands have a huge force ready to invade."

  Drogan turned the Caterpillar around and the small force rumbled through the town, engaging in brief skirmishes. Once they were through the worst, Gabby flew back and retrieved Patricia. The girl kept her eyes clamped shut as Gabby dove back to the group and left her in the back of the Caterpillar, curled up behind a sheet of metal.

  Content they'd passed through the worst of the fighting, she flew beside the huge vehicle. Milton strode next to it in street walker form wearing a scrap of fabric for a dress and wielding an automatic weapon.

  "I wonder how many foes you've stunned with your cleavage before you shot them?"

  Milton laughed and his chest jiggled. One of the townies locked his gaze onto Milton's chest, making Gabby laugh along with him.

  "Hey, what about your virus?" remembered Gabby. "Don't we have to get you debuffed before we can take you out of the city limits?"

  Milton glanced back to the others. "Uhm...I'm actually fixed."

  Gabby's eyebrow went up as she realized that it was Milton's real voice. "Fixed? Then why are you...oh."

  Milton's voice went to a low whisper. "Besides the other benefits of this form, I realized something during all these battles."

  "What's that?"

  Milton held up the wooden rod with all the teeth marks. "I haven't needed this once."

  "That's strange."

  "Yeah," he said. "I guess that seeing myself this way changes my brain patterns so stress doesn't trigger my epilepsy."

  Gabby smiled. "Does this mean you're not going to turn every other phrase into a sexual innuendo?"

  Milton matched her grin with a bigger one of his own. "Probably not. I have to get these things off my chest, you know."

  Gabby groaned. "Oh Mario. Now you have two sets of private parts to use for your lame jokes."

  Milton laughed so hard the townie's eyes practically fell out of his head. Gabby flew ahead to scout, chuckling to herself, but that levity crashed when she caught Michael's gaze. She looked to him and then back to Celia and decided she wasn't ready to hear him talk about his sister's dying just yet.

  She didn't make it far before explosions rocked the town, sending dust plumes into the air. The survivors paused and glanced reverently at the town, knowing that Jaxon had made his final stand. Gabby caught a few of them making gestures, touching their face and chest with fingertips.

  The pause was brief as they continued their flight to the countryside. They were to meet up with the remaining families of the Double Eagle in a nearby valley. As much as she wanted to worry about what they would do once they got there, her thoughts kept going back to Jaxon's revelation.

  Part of her was relieved to learn that the losers of LifeGame weren't killed and dumped into mass graves. But another part of her grimaced as she remembered the feel of the girl soldier's head impacting with the iron bar. That girl could have been Zaela.

  And if the Southlands invaded the GSA, they would be doing so with those the country had cast away for not keeping up. Even the irony did not lessen the pain of knowing that no matter which side won, her friends and former classmates would die.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  They met up with the other survivors of the Southland's assault and because of the broadcast, everyone knew who she was and expected her to direct them.

  In different circumstance, she might have resisted the position of leadership, but organizing the survivors gave her an excuse not to speak to Michael or Celia, not that Celia had ever really spoken to her. Drogan, however, practically broke her back in a hug when she finally saw him.

  "Gabby-umbrella!" he said, while his fuzzy facial hair tickled her face.

  "I missed you, too, Drogan," she said. "How was your trip?"

  His face lit up. "Me and Celia-bug had a grand adventure. We drove the Caterpillar through the Silly Lands."

  "The Silly Lands?"

  "Yes." He nodded enthusiastically. "The Silly Lands have giraffe-birds and humongous string hornets that shoot string out of their stingers!" Then he lowered his voice into a whisper, which with his deep voice, wasn't very quiet. "The Silly Lands are much better than Bubble World."

  Gabby nodded. "I bet it is. It's so good to see you Drogan. I’m glad you're safe."

  Drogan released her and appeared surprised. "Why wouldn't I be?! I was with Celia-bug the whole time."

  Gabby patted him on the back and let him go back to working on the Caterpillar. Whatever had happened between the Blood Farm and the Double Eagle, Drogan would never know. Celia had hidden it all in the Silly Lands, just like she had the Bubble World.

  A stout woman with her gray hair neatly tucked into a bun walked up gripping a shotgun. It was the woman that had yelled at her through the screen door. Gabby had heard someone call her Connie earlier.

  "You speaking for your friends?" Connie's words were as much a statement as a question.

  "I am."

  "We got a couple dozen scared families here waiting on what needs to be done next. Especially since you banned them from keeping scouts." Connie leaned on her shotgun, squinting judgmentally.

  "My friend Celia can take care of the scouting."

  Connie frowned skeptically. "That wisp of a girl can do what ten of our best hunters cannot?"

  "I, uhm..." Gabby wasn't sure how the Double Eaglers would take Celia's differences. "You'll just have to trust me."

  Connie had crossed her arms and was clearly trying to decide what to say next when Damon and Milton strode up. Damon had a purposeful look on his face, while Milton shuffled up on impossibly tall high heels.

  As Damon opened his mouth, Milton interjected "—we caught him preparing to leave."

  "I can speak for myself, girly-boy, and I don't think there's any laws against me wanting to get going while the getting and the going is good. Am I right?" Damon checked with Connie, who gave him an approving nod.

  "I'm sorry," said Gabby, "you've been a huge help, but
we just need you to stay another night. We'll be deciding where to go next and then we can all leave at the same time."

  Damon eyed her suspiciously. "I'd prefer to leave tonight. I don't like sitting within range of the Southlands army."

  "I thought you were waiting for someone?" Gabby asked.

  Damon made no motion to answer. Whatever he'd been doing in Double Eagle, he'd done or given up on. Gabby trusted him even less now.

  "My business has maxed out," he said finally, glancing back toward the main camp.

  "Where will you go next?" Gabby asked. Connie tucked an errant wisp of gray hair behind an ear as she glanced from Gabby to Damon.

  "To a safer place," he said, "and you?"

  He studied her intently. Gabby could feel the whole of him, weighing on what she would say. Why did he care where she went? Unless he had some purpose with one of the Frags? The way he'd been watching Mouse worried her.

  "Like I said when we first met, I have a friend I need to meet up with." Like Damon, she kept her words vague. He seemed to process her words carefully and then shrugged as if the whole exchange had no meaning. Gabby thought otherwise.

  "So back to you letting me leave today, before them Southlanders get smart and recapture us just sitting on our duffs." He glared mockingly in her direction. "Or are you going to calculate our escape again?"

  Gabby's mouth opened halfway as her hands shook with excitement. She knew who he was. Tilting her head sideways she saw the basic features without the skin on. He'd cut his hair with a knife, which had made the ends frayed and uneven. The rest was different enough from his skin.

  Gabby didn't know why she hadn't seen it earlier: the mocking looks, the mentions of "calculating" and "maxed out", and the prying attempts to find out where they were going. She knew beyond a doubt.

  "You're right," said Gabby, forcing her voice to be steady, "we shouldn't stay here much longer than the remains of daylight."

  Damon appeared surprised by her turn. "Good. Then when can I leave?"

  "Not just you. Everyone. I know we're just setting up camp, but we should move on from here. As far away as possible."

  Connie grumbled. "But we just got the children settled."

  "Would you rather them be slaves?" retorted Gabby. Connie grudgingly nodded.

  Gabby began pacing. "We need a better place to go. But where?" She pulled up a map of the Freelands and spread it out in front of them.

  She needed to find a place far enough from the Southlands that they could go on the reserves of fuel they carried with them without being too close to be attacked, but also capable of handling four or five hundred refugees. Connie and Damon gathered around, watching carefully. Gabby drew a circle in a wide radius around the Double Eagle.

  "This is the range of the vehicles." Gabby acted like she was searching around for the proper place even though she knew exactly what she wanted as soon as she'd opened the map.

  Gabby jammed her finger into a small Freeland to the north at the edge of their range. "The Blood Farm. We go here."

  Connie's eyes widened at the name while Damon's glistened with import. He clearly didn't like the idea, which Gabby didn't find at all surprising.

  "Their leader Ben won't be happy to see us at first, but he'll see the advantage of the new blood." When Connie reacted to the word, Gabby continued, "Don't worry, it's just a name they use to keep people away, though don't think Ben won't put you all to work if you join his land."

  "That's a long way," sighed Connie.

  "I don't think we have a choice. We don't want to be close enough to be raided again."

  Connie appeared unhappy by the logic, but not so stubborn as not to finally agree.

  "I'll speak to the others. They won't be happy but I think they'll listen."

  Connie moved to leave, but Gabby stopped her. "One more thing. Jaxon's daughter. Can you take her? Find the appropriate family for her?"

  "Done with her already?" Connie said sourly.

  Gabby held out her hands passively. "When we head north, I want to keep the Caterpillar at the rear to keep an eye on the Southlanders. Between Celia and my hovercraft, we'll make sure they don't sneak up."

  As Gabby glanced to Damon, who was listening with great interest, she had an idea. "In fact, as soon as it's fully dark, we'll take the Caterpillar south beyond the valley to be sure."

  Gabby jabbed her finger into the map again, dotting a string of locations that followed the western hills until they met the Blood Farm. "Follow this path north. Give the coordinates to all families in case they get lost. I'll check in on the hovercraft to make sure we're all staying relatively together."

  It was the same path that Celia had taken on the Caterpillar. It wouldn't put them in close range of any dangerous Freelands.

  "Okay. I'll take charge of Patricia and let the others know," said Connie before she finally left.

  When Damon moved to leave, she said, "Wait. Don't leave the camp yet." Gabby paused, trying to put the proper amount of indecision into her voice. "I have to talk to you, something important that I need to ask you...later before you go. But first I have to talk to the others."

  Damon narrowed his eyes and hesitated, clearly not expecting her request. "Okay," he said finally.

  They parted company and Gabby went in search of the others. Darkness was coming soon and she had to get them going if her plan was going to work.

  Gabby ran into Michael as she hurried around the Caterpillar in search of Drogan.

  "Hey! I was just looking for you," said Michael.

  His eyes drew her in like a vast blue ocean, warm and inviting. "I...I can't right now." She pulled away from his grasp. Her thoughts had been dipped in molasses.

  "It's important."

  "We'll talk later," she said. "Trust me, I want to talk to you." I want to hug you and kiss you and tell you that it's okay. I'll be there for you when your sister passes. "But I have something I need to do right now. More important than anything else. In fact, it's totally buffed that you're here now. We need to start getting ready. We're going to move out soon."

  Michael shook his head incredulously. "We are? We just got here."

  "Yeah. We need to," she said, wanting to reach out and wipe away his concerns with her lips. "We do. But I need Drogan right now. Have you seen him?"

  "Down at the pond, throwing rocks with Celia."

  Gabby left him bewildered. Whatever he needed to say would have to wait a little longer. She felt bad, considering he'd been locked up in that virus for so long without the ability to communicate, but she didn't have time.

  She found them standing on a grassy bank at the edge of a moss-filled pond. A cluster of reeds bunched up along the water. Drogan had broken off a reed and was swinging it around like a sword.

  Celia was crouched in a sitting position, head tilted curiously to the side like she was listening for a distant noise. The pale waif didn't acknowledge Gabby, panting and out of breath, even though Celia had to know that Gabby was there. Gabby glanced around for Celia's mechanical insects. The air seemed empty for the moment.

  "Drogan, I need your help."

  "Gabby-umbrella! Hello!" he said cheerfully.

  "Um, hello Drogan." Gabby put her hands out defensively when he came running at her with his reed in hand. "No hugs right now. I need a favor."

  Drogan nodded enthusiastically. "Anything for Gabby-umbrella."

  "Good. Meet me at the Caterpillar in ten minutes."

  Gabby glanced to Celia, who still hadn't made even the slightest move. Gabby wondered how far the sickness had advanced, but it was hard to tell. Celia was almost always motionless.

  After leaving without a word said otherwise (Gabby knew that Celia had listened in on her conversation with Michael and would certainly know they were leaving,) Gabby returned to the camp and quickly rounded up a huge tarp, a roll of heavy duty tape and a rag. Then she went in search of Damon.

  She found him sitting on a fallen log eating another apple. As she walked up
, Gabby had a second unexpected revelation about their new friend. The connections hit her so soundly, Gabby paused and put a hand to her stomach.

  Damon's eyebrow went up as she approached. Gabby looked around to make sure no one was watching before she pulled the gun from her pocket, the very gun that Damon had given her.

  "No time for talking. Finish chewing your apple and put this rag in your mouth," she said.

  Damon's whole body bristled with anger. Gabby hoped she wasn't making a mistake, but she couldn't think of another way.

  "Don't think I won't shoot you for what you've done," she added in case he thought about lunging for his rifle, leaning against his pack.

  "I hope you know what you're doing," he said before putting the rag in his mouth.

  I hope I do too, she thought as she handed him a piece of tape to hold the rag in. Then she unrolled the tarp and had him lay on it. When he was stiff legged, she rolled him up, leaving enough room at the end for air to get in. Then she wrapped it in tape and walked back to the Caterpillar to get Drogan.

  "Why do you have bang-bang?" asked Drogan as she strolled up, trying to act unhurried even though she'd wanted to run the whole way. She hated leaving Damon alone in case someone wandered up.

  Gabby glanced at the gun in her hand, forgetting it was there and then shoved it into her pocket. "No reason." She smiled. "Come on, Drogan. I need you to carry something to the back of the Caterpillar."

  "Okay, Gabby-umbrella!"

  Gabby smiled and they returned to the little camp to find the rolled up tarp undisturbed. Drogan picked him up as directed and Gabby gathered the other things, including the rifle. They put everything, including the tarp, into the back of the Caterpillar before the others arrived. Gabby assumed that Celia had seen what she'd done and hoped she would trust her judgment.

  When Gabby told them the plan to leave, everyone was excited, except Mouse, who seemed slightly concerned by the sudden change. Knowing the reason why, Gabby didn't press the issue.

  Before long, they had the Caterpillar packed up and rumbling through the darkness in a southwesterly direction. Leaving camp, they saw the others getting ready to leave and waved, promising to see them soon.