by Barry Solway
Sharon’s eyes opened wide in the first sign of hope Mel had seen from her. “Oh. That’s interesting. So I would be protecting you and I wouldn’t have to actually fight. Do they have shields in the games?”
“I’ve only seen them used a few times. We probably can’t take one in at our level, but shields are easy to build, right? Go ask Anna if she has anything we can use as a shield and let’s try it out.”
***
In the end, the rankings weren’t at all what Mel expected. Gorgeous was rated at a 40. Even with her considerable skill, this shocked Mel.
The next surprise, to everyone, was that Evan scored the second highest with a 20. Anna explained that the architects were likely making up for their past mistake of undervaluing Beats and Mirage. Also, they were trying to get a better handle on what the humans were capable of and had asked for footage of them training. Apparently, they were impressed with Evan. Jon and Jeff both came in at 18. Mel was a bit surprised because Jeff was clearly the better fighter. Jon must have been doing way better with the sniper rifle than Mel realized. Her own score of 15 had nearly doubled since the last game, and that was even with her missing over a week of training time.
Lastly, Sharon came in at an 8, which Mel thought was generous even despite her becoming at least adequate with the electromagnetic pistols. Sharon just didn’t have the mindset to fight, was too scattered to take directions or follow a plan, and generally relied on others to protect her.
Anna made a comment about the scoring that made it obvious she was worried. For starters, the game could take up to 125 points and the six people on their team only added up to 119. So they were starting out at a slight handicap compared to a fully scored team. But Anna expressed concern that some of their scores were inflated due to the underscoring of Beats and Mirage in the last game. Mel thought it likely that all the humans were over-rated by at least a few points, and Gorgeous by as much as fifteen or twenty points.
Of course, they did have Kathor’s AI, but considering how it played the last game by lying to them, Mel wasn’t ready to trust it. The AI might even win the game for them, but that didn’t mean it would get all of them out alive.
The other team was probably not as tough as the one in the first game. The man Evan had named Marksman was on the team, along with the cyborg, Junkyard. Apparently, the other team was put together last minute because of the change in the game ranking, and both Marksman and Junkyard had come in to replace other players who weren’t available. There was another of the lemur-like creatures, no relation to the two in the first game, with a score of 20, considerably higher than Things 1 and 2. Anna said that he had some proficiency at hand-to-hand combat, especially with knives, so they would have to be more careful. Evan called him Thing 3. There were two very strange aliens, both with light skin and long dark black hair. And a half dozen six-inch tentacles hanging down from their mouths. Apparently, the two were a married couple who were business executives where they came from and did the gauntlets for fun. They both scored in the 30s and were considered dangerous with improvised traps, close-quarter combat and firearms.
“Must be awesome to have a squid growing out of your face,” Riley said. “I’m going with Ugly.”
“Don ‘t be a hater,” Mel said. “For all you know he’s the hottest alien guy in the galaxy.”
“Oh, but I am a hater,” Riley said. “Especially considering my condition. Just for that, I’m calling the tentacle faced chick Fugly.”
“I am not going around calling them Fugly and Ugly. She’s not even fat,” Mel said.
Riley cocked an eyebrow. “Never said she was fat.”
“You are not calling her Fugly!” Mel said, in exasperation. “I don’t care if she’s an… an unfortunate looking alien.”
Riley shrugged. “We could call her Brenda. I had this girlfriend last year with this really long tongue—“
Sharon cut in. “That’s so gross, Riley. Stop it!”
“And you wonder why you don’t have a dating life,” Mel said.
“You humans do like your silly names,” Beats said. “In her native language, her name means ‘sunrise’.”
Evan laughed. “I actually have an Aunt Brenda. And I’m definitely not calling her ‘sunrise’. Honestly, it helps me to be able to call them silly names. It makes them less scary.” He looked around at the others, as if embarrassed to admit it.
“You’re welcome to call them whatever you want,” Anna said. “However, using the same technique I used to name Kathor, his name would be Carun and hers is Soryda.”
“Very alien sounding,” Riley said dryly.
“Carun and Soryda it is,” Mel said quickly. “Moving on please.”
None of them had stellar scores the way that the Whale and Wicked had, but this new team was well-rounded, with every member being potentially dangerous. Except one.
The last one made Mel sad. It was a small, sprite-like being that Mel thought looked like a little girl, even though it was male and for all Mel knew could be someone’s grandfather. Anna told them his planet was called Chota. He was only rated a 5, which was part of the reason Mel was convinced the humans were over-rated. She literally couldn’t believe that anyone could be more useless than Sharon or herself. The pictures of the Chota had him in a red sundress and Riley and Evan immediately named him Red Shirt. They both thought that was hilarious, an inside joke that Mel apparently didn’t get. Evan said it was a reference that meant he was being sent down to die. Mel reminded them both that he was actually being sent down to die, which stopped their laughter. But Mel couldn’t stop thinking that maybe she should be wearing a red dress, too.
Chapter 28
The team disembarked and stood in a small clearing of the jungle. Burn marks on the grass indicated the landing site had recently been cleared, but the jungle was already creeping back in to reclaim it. Mel suspected it would be completely covered within a few weeks.
She checked her pack, although she already knew everything in it. The temperature was much cooler than in the last city, probably in the mid to high 80s, but the humidity was horrible. She had made sure to pack extra water this time around. One addition was a little device that hooked under her left ear. Apparently agreeing with Mel’s concern, Anna had given them the external translators that morning when they boarded the dropship. Supposedly, the device would automatically translate their speech into Kathor’s native language, which the other aliens should understand.
The ship took off as the group gathered at the edge of the clearing to review their plan. The mission was the same as the last one; find the goal and take it to the red zone. The challenges were similar as well, from the environment to crumbling buildings to the heat. The new element in this game would be the predators. The AI had indicated that most predators would avoid them, but the risk was real.
Mel thought it was just as well that Beats wasn’t there. This humidity would be even worse than the dry heat of the last match. And crawling and climbing through the jungle would not have suited his size, either. Still, she was going to miss both him and Mirage.
Jeff drew her attention back. “See that spire over there, the really tall one? That’s the center of the blue zone, where the goal should be. It’s about a mile away, but in this mess, it could take us two hours to get there. If we get separated at all, head for that. You should be able to see it if you climb a tree.”
“Where’s the end point?” Gorgeous asked.
“Just west of the spire, maybe a quarter mile. Where that tall square building is to the left. And everyone should watch their backs in this jungle. It’s probably more dangerous than the other team.”
“What should I do?” Sharon asked.
“The same thing as the rest of us, at least until we get near the goal. Just keep your eyes peeled for any of the other team, any predators, deadly vines, pits or traps,” Jeff said.
They headed out, and it was even worse than Mel had expected. They didn’t have any weapons or tools, but were
supposed to keep an eye out for caches of weapons and other supplies. Buildings hid behind trees and vines in a surreal mish-mash of abandoned metropolis and primal jungle. Creepily, it felt to Mel like an urban fungus had devoured the city. Heading north, they made slow progress. Jeff took the lead and Gorgeous brought up the rear with the rest of the team moving in single file.
The jungle quickly swallowed the view of the spire building they headed towards. He used the compass on his watch repeatedly, but stopped every ten minutes to have Gorgeous climb a tree and make sure they were still on track. The first hour went by uneventfully and miserably, as they were soaked and weary from the effort of moving through the jungle.
Mel put her physical misery out of her mind, which was getting easier to do every day. Surprisingly, Sharon did well for the first thirty minutes. But then she began complaining, and finally Jeff told her to shut up before she attracted a predator or someone from the other team.
The jungle never seemed to clear, but there were spots that were slightly less dense than others. It seemed to happen in the vicinity of very large trees that blocked more light. They had stopped at one of these to take a break after an hour of walking, and that’s when Mel first saw Red Shirt.
She pulled the canteen from her lips as a quick flash of red blinked into view through the trees. Motioning to the others to be quiet, she searched the jungle for another sighting.
“What is it?” Jeff said.
Mel waved him to be quiet and crouched down, staring at the spot. She didn’t see anything. Creeping sideways to get a better view, she saw a small face peek out from behind another tree. There was that girlish face, even if it was male, and it seemed to have a permanently solemn expression, with a slightly downward, pouty mouth. The creature was no more than two feet high, even smaller than the Things. It made no move, but just gazed at Mel. After a moment, the sprite shifted behind the tree and disappeared.
“What do you see, Mel?” Jeff asked again.
“The Chota. Red Shirt. Behind that tree over there.” Mel crouched down and scanned the trees and surrounding jungle. If Red Shirt was there, the others may be as well.
Jeff, Jon and Gorgeous had the same idea and quickly formed a ring, scanning in all directions. It felt useless since they didn’t have any weapons, but there wasn’t much else to do.
Evan and Sharon stood for a moment. “What’s going on?” Sharon asked. “Are they going to attack us?” Jeff waved at her to be quiet.
Mel didn’t see anything moving in the jungle and didn’t catch another glimpse of the Chota. Something seemed off, but she couldn’t place what it could be. “Maybe not. I can’t imagine they found weapons and managed to track us down already. And there’s no benefit in attacking us hand-to-hand this far from the goal. The Red Shirt was only a 5; it’s more likely he went to hide someplace and got lost.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate her… him,” Evan said. Mel nodded in agreement.
The sounds of the jungle had almost become background noise. Chirping birds or other creatures, the buzzing of insects. By the time they had reached this stopping point, Mel had begun to tune it out. She suddenly realized that she no longer had to.
“Wait,” she said. “The jungle… where are the birds?”
They could still hear animals and birds chirping, but it was muffled and far away. Nothing sounded nearby. And according to their training, that meant one thing. Mel thought it a second before Evan said it out loud.
“Land piranhas.”
“Ohmygod, ohmygod, where? Where are they?” Sharon yelled.
Jeff grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth. “Listen! Listen for the croaking.”
Mel strained to listen, but there was only the deadening silence of the jungle. Then she heard it, coming from the same direction she had seen the Red Shirt.
Mel grabbed her pack and threw it on her shoulders, pointing back towards the trees. “That way, they’re coming from that direction. Move away, now!”
Everyone gathered their gear and set off at a fast pace away from the frogs. As they plunged into the jungle, Mel cast a glance backwards and saw a shifting mass moving in their direction. It seemed like there were thousands of them. The frogs could make good time in the jungle due to their small size and ability to climb obstacles easily. They tended to sit in a location for days, eating all the vegetation and any animals that would wander in, then move in a wave to a new spot. When they were on the move, they weren’t exactly hunting, but it wouldn’t be a good idea to get in their way, either.
They made better time because Jeff didn’t waste effort trying to stick to one direction. After a few minutes jogging, he called a stop and they all listened for noise of the land piranhas.
“They should have kept going straight,” Evan said, gasping a bit for breath.
But they hadn’t. Almost immediately, they could hear the frogs, almost directly behind them.
“What the hell? Are they following us?” Jeff said.
“They aren’t supposed to do that,” Evan said.
“Why don’t you go back and explain that to them, genius?” Jeff snarled. They set out again, with Jeff pushing them a bit faster than before. Mel had totally lost track of where they were and which direction they were going.
“Maybe we should climb?” Mel said. “We can’t keep up this pace.”
Jeff stopped, the croaking still behind them and getting closer. “I don’t like it. They’re still following us and they aren’t supposed to do that.”
“Bad luck, maybe, or they like the way you smell,” Mel replied. “But they stick to the ground, right? Let’s get some height and let them pass.”
Jeff looked up at a nearby tree and then at the others. “Okay, let’s climb. Hurry.”
The jungle trees were easy to climb, with their thick, low-hanging branches. Gorgeous easily jumped up to the nearest one and helped pull the others up. The six of them were able to get fifteen feet off the ground in just a few minutes, but Jeff encouraged everyone to go farther up. Gorgeous had already scurried to the top and then come back down, helping Sharon get higher. Finally, Mel stopped on a large branch with Evan and Gorgeous about thirty feet off the ground. Jeff and Jon were on another branch a bit lower and to their right, while Sharon was on the branch above them. The croaking grew louder. As she scanned the ground for frogs, Evan grabbed her arm.
“There!” he said.
“What?”
“I saw something, a flash of red. I think it was the girl. I mean the sprite, the boy sprite.”
“Really? The frogs came from his direction. I thought they would have got him,” Mel said.
“He’s light and probably fast. Maybe he climbed out of the way too,” Gorgeous said.
Mel squinted into the dim light of the jungle floor. Thousands of dark little frogs had moved into the clearing under the tree, slowing as they approached the base of the tree. Instead of continuing on, the frogs circled the tree and stopped, pulsing and croaking in a large, gross blob.
“What the hell are they doing?” Jon said.
Slowly, the land piranhas moved up the tree, like dark sludge pouring upwards instead of down.
“They’re climbing the tree,” Jeff shouted. “What the hell is going on?”
“We need to get out of here,” Mel said. She looked around and noticed how the branches of the other trees intertwined with hers. “The other trees! Climb higher and get to another tree.”
Everyone scrambled upwards, heading towards a thick branch that snaked across to another tree and would be a relatively easy jump. Gorgeous got there first and helped Sharon climb along the branch, then lowered Sharon to the branch of the other tree. Since the branches didn’t touch, Mel hoped the frogs would lose their scent, or whatever they used to track them.
Mel waited nervously on the large branch while Gorgeous helped Evan down. Jeff and Jon waited on another branch out of concern for getting too much weight on Mel’s. But the mass of frogs was inexorably climbing higher an
d seemed to be going faster as they climbed.
“Hurry up, they’re almost here!” Jon yelled.
Evan let go and landed on the branch of the other tree, almost slipping in the process. He motioned for Sharon to climb closer to the trunk. Mel crouched, then stood on the branch. It was several inches wider than a balance beam, but also uneven and the branch swayed slightly. Still, Mel had been more agile and acrobatic than Gorgeous until about three weeks ago, when the neural enhancement drugs Anna gave Gorgeous had really kicked in. Even though she knew it was silly, Mel found Gorgeous’s ease at getting around the tree a little annoying. Ignoring Gorgeous’s offer to help, she lay on her belly and slid over the edge, letting go of the larger branch and falling to land on the one below. She swayed for a second, then regained her balance. Risking a glance backwards, she saw the frogs were almost to the large branch above her. Jeff and Jon were slightly higher and off to the side, but there was no way they would have time to get to the larger branch before the frogs did.
“Jeff!” Mel said, pointing upwards. “Go up. There’s another branch there. It’s a jump, but you and Jon can do it.”
Jeff nodded, looking terrified. They scrambled upwards just as Gorgeous leaped down in front of Mel, shaking the branch. Almost falling forward, Mel regained her balance and glared at Gorgeous. Gorgeous’s mouth formed a grimace, which translated to Mel as a sheepish expression, then she ran nimbly along the branch to the trunk and climbed up to help Jon and Jeff across.
Mel scooted over to the trunk and looked back to see what the frogs were doing. A part of the mass had spread out onto the large branch, but they weren’t dropping down to the new tree. The main mass of frogs followed Jeff and Jon upwards. Mel nodded in satisfaction. If Jon and Jeff could jump across, it looked like they could lose the frogs. She looked down to make sure the coast was clear, then pointed to Evan and Sharon to climb down.
