by Magus Tor
About the time they were wrapping things up with Sr., the delivery of food came and Drew and Max slipped out while he was putting his groceries away. They couldn’t help but feel like Adam couldn’t be working alone. Drew also knew that he had made a mistake in the game when he told Max that Adam was the robot. Now Adam would know they were onto him. He can’t possibly keep track of hundreds of people’s thoughts all at the same time; that would literally be impossible. Drew really hoped his thoughts were right.
When they returned to Drew’s apartment, they were having trouble focusing on what to do next. It was all such a mess. So much had gone on, and they felt like they hit a wall as far as new information coming in. Rather than drive themselves crazy going over the same stuff again, they decided to wait to hear from their contacts about any new information. Taking an evening off could do them good. They ordered Chinese again and took it up to the roof. The sun would be going down soon and it was a pleasant evening.
As they sat watching the sun dip down behind the buildings as far to the West as they could see, they leaned back in their chairs and let the breeze blow across their faces. Late spring in Chicago is absolutely beautiful. As soon as the sun was gone and the darkness surrounded them, they walked over to the east side of the roof and looked toward the lake. Max found it amazing how just this morning she was watching the sun rise over the water and now it was so dark. Aside from the moon, the stars and the glimmers of light on the water, there was nothing.
As if nature was out to get them, Drew and Max noticed a storm rolling in behind them. It was odd, because there were barely any clouds in the sky only moments before. The clouds moved fast and before long, they had swallowed the moon and stars. Thunder roared above them and lightning went wild in the sky. Just as they were about to turn to go inside, Drew saw the little light appear in the distance, moving up and down in the wavy water.
Max grabbed the bag of trash from dinner and Drew grabbed their drinks and they ran downstairs and into the apartment before the rain hit. When everything was put away, she tossed a fortune cookie at Drew and they plopped on the couch to see what their fortunes would be.
Drew’s read: Not all is as it seems.
Max’s read: Others will dictate your future.
“What the hell kind of fortunes are those?” Max sounded frustrated.
“I know. It’s almost creepy. It’s like they are talking to us specifically.”
“Well, according to yours, we are seeing something wrong, or there’s more to what we have found. It’s obvious what mine means. But, why would we get these now? This coincidence is just too strong. I don’t like it.” Max sounded worried.
“It will all be fine. We will figure things out tomorrow. Wan to watch a movie in the dark while the storm rages outside?”
“Sure.”
They put on a cheesy disaster movie, turned the lights off and enjoyed a bowl of popcorn and some sodas as they watched. They were no more than twenty minutes into the movie when the thunder crashed so loudly that it rattled the windows. After both of them jumped they both laughed. Then the lightning lit up the sky and when the flash was gone, so was the power.
Since they couldn’t finish the movie, they decided to take their down time into the bedroom. They cracked the windows open just enough to hear the rain beat on the windowsills and then jumped into bed. That’s when Max noticed the alarm clocks.
“Drew, if we don’t have power, how are the alarm clocks still on?”
“Hehehe, I put batteries in them. I wanted to make sure we got up early tomorrow. I wanted to watch another sunrise with you.”
“Whew! I was about to be really freaked out!”
The rest of the night was spent enjoying each other while lightning lit up the sky and thunder crashed. It was exciting and scary all at the same time for both of them. More than an hour later, they were both sleeping through the thunderstorm.
*****
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Drew didn’t know where he was when he opened his eyes. Looking around, he knew he hadn’t been here before. Light was coming into the room through a partially covered window, and he could see that he was alone in the room. There was some trash scattered around, but other than that, the room was completely barren.
Before getting up, he checked his weapon. He then stood and made his way over to the door at the opposite end of the room. Before opening it, he noticed the paper that seemed to be out of place taped to the door at eye level. The paper was crisp and new and the black letters read: Keep your head in the game. You’ll never defeat me.
Drew knew not to let his thoughts enter the game again. He had made the mistake once before, and he couldn’t do it again. Leaving the note alone, he exited the room and made his way down a long hallway, cautious as he walked past a dozen other doors. When he reached the end of the hall, he entered the stairwell and began moving down the steps, weary of being in such close quarters.
Once at the bottom, he saw two doors. One he figured went back into the building. He hoped the other door led to the outside and opened it. Drew stepped out into the alley and looked around. Still unsure of where he was, he worked his way through the alley, ducking behind dumpsters for cover as he went. At the end of the alley, he could see that he was just across the street from the park.
Through the abandoned cars, he could see people moving toward the path. Looking around to make sure that the robot was nowhere in sight, he took aim and fired. He hit one man, but knew that the rest would be eager to fire back. As if playing the rifle game at the carnival, Drew proceeded to fire four more rounds, in even succession, hitting each of the four men. He moved closer to the park, staying low behind the cars.
Once on the other side of the street, he collected the weapons of the men who he had just taken out. Drew was careful to stay off of the path that would lead him straight to the playground. Instead, he found a route through the trees and shrubs that would offer him better cover. It only took him a few minutes to get to a point where he could see the swing set. It was empty, so he decided to move on. Before leaving the playground area, he decided to check the shed. It was empty.
Drew considered going back to the boat, but felt that Max wouldn’t have gone there after what happened last time. He wondered if she would have gone back to the library, but he really didn’t think she would. He was stuck. He didn’t want to stay in one place too long, but he felt like he couldn’t go back to the places they usually went. Rather than totally discount the boat, he decided to head to the other end of the park and see if he could see movement at the pier.
Drew noticed that it was eerily quiet everywhere he went, with the exception of the five men he just encountered. He didn’t hear the breeze blow through the trees, he didn’t hear the sound of guns firing in the distance, and he didn’t even hear the sound of the lakes water sloshing on the boats. He was at the end of the path, staring across the street at the row of boats. The water was still, it was almost as if everything was on pause but himself.
He grabbed his flashlight, surprised that it was in his pocket, and flashed it at the boats three times. Then, he waited. More than a minute passed before he saw three flashes of light come from the window of the smallest boat. He rushed to the harbor and ran down the pier to the boat, hoping that he hadn’t been seen.
As he climbed aboard, Drew hoped that it was really Max inside. He slowly went down the steps, gun drawn. Max was sitting on top of the small stove, feet dangling above the floor. Thank God! Drew was relieved to see her there.
“Where are the children?” Drew asked in a whisper.
“I don’t know. They weren’t at the playground and they weren’t at the library. I don’t know where they are.”
“Have you noticed how quiet and still it is out there?”
“Drew, it’s weird. I saw one small group of men, but I was able to avoid them. Other than that, there’s nobody.”
“Yeah, and the breeze isn’t even blowing. Not even the water is movin
g. The boat didn’t even move when climbed on.”
“I know. It’s like everything is on pause.” Max said, almost in a question.
“That’s what I thought, too.”
They sat there for a while, not really sure what was going on. Drew told her about the note he found on the door of the room he entered the game in. She found the exact same note in the library where she entered. They figured that the game appearing to be on pause must be a test of some sort. Knowing that anything was possible they decided to stay put for a little bit and see what happened.
Taking turns pacing the floor and looking out the windows, Drew and Max grew restless. They wanted to leave, but didn’t want to abandon the children. They decided to give it a few more minutes and then they would venture outside.
When they went topside, Max accidentally kicked her shoe loose as she climbed onto the pier. They both looked down at the water and then back up at each other.
“Drew, do you see that?”
“Yeah.” Drew was stunned.
The shoe was sitting on top of the water. When it hit, the water didn’t move. There was no splash and there were no rings on the water. The water was solid. Carefully, Drew climbed down to the water. He was standing on it as if it were concrete. He bent down and picked up her shoe. Quickly, he climbed back up to the pier.
“That is so weird,” Max’s voice sounded as confused as Drew felt.
Neither one could figure out what was going on. If the game was paused, why are they able to walk around? Why aren’t there any other players? Who were the five men Drew killed? Drew was growing tired of all the questions. They decided to test their guess that the game had paused by walking around freely, no hiding, no ducking for cover, just openly walk.
They decided to stick close to the park since night was falling. They found it odd that nothing was in motion and yet the sun was setting. They made their way through the park by walking right down the middle of the path. They were cautious, walking with firearms in hand, but bold at the same time. It was the first time in the game that they actually felt somewhat safe. That made both of them a bit nervous.
When they reached the playground, the children were nowhere in sight. They perched themselves on their wall and waited. As they looked out over the water, they were amazed at how still it was. Neither of them had ever seen the lake without even the smallest of waves.
As the sun set low in the sky, they watched the one spot on the lake where they had seen the light before. Like clockwork, once the sun had completely set, the light came on. Now, however, it didn’t move with the water. It sat completely still. Drew and Max knew what they had to do.
As if reading each other’s minds, they both jumped off the wall and ran back through the park. Once on the street, they turned right and headed away from the city toward the beach. They ran as hard as they could through the sand and when they hit the water part of them expected to feel the cold water splash up at their faces.
The water didn’t budge and soon they found themselves on top of the water, about fifteen yards out. They stopped and looked back. Not wanting to waste any time, they hurried along toward the light. Neither one of them wanted to think about the possibility of the game going back to play and them being out in the open water.
The light was growing brighter but it was still quite a way in the distance. Knowing how far they had run and how far they still had to go, they decided to stop for a few minutes to catch their breath. With the knowledge that the game could start back up at any moment, they decided to lie on their backs. That way, if the water went back to being real water, they would be ready to float.
After they rested for a short while, they decided to get back on their feet and keep going. Knowing that at any moment the game could change, they didn’t want to waste any more time. For a short time, they felt as if they weren’t gaining any ground on the light, but then it started getting bigger and brighter. They slowed to a walk but kept moving. As they drew closer, they were more cautious not to make noise. They had nowhere to hide and that made them nervous.
It was a yacht, larger than any they had ever seen in person. It was definitely bigger than any boat at the harbor. From their spot on the water, they could see that there were port holes lining the entire side of the boat that was facing them. They moved to the side and tried to avoid being directly in front of any of the round windows.
As they approached the yacht, they grew even more nervous. As carefully as they could, they began looking through the windows. The first two revealed an almost entirely dark state room that was empty. They moved on to the next set of windows and saw a bank of large monitors all showing different parts of the city. An empty chair sat in front of the keyboard on the table.
They moved on to the last set of windows and round another state room. This room, however, was not empty. The room was almost totally dark, but they could make out a figure lying in the bed. Just then, they saw a shadow of someone coming down the hall toward the room. They moved out of sight of the window.
Hearts pounding, they knew they had come upon the control center for the game. If only they could see who was in the bed. That would give them the most important piece of the puzzle. Up until now they had assumed that Adam was in charge, but now they had the person lying right in front of them. They had to confirm who it was.
Slowly, they made their way around to the back of the yacht and up the ladder that led to the ski deck. As Drew stood on the deck, he dreaded having to turn his back to the large sliding doors that led inside, but he wanted to make sure that Max made it up the ladder safely. He bent down to take her hand and that’s when the shots rang out. Drew ducked and Max lowered herself back down to the water.
Drew had to think quickly and decide if he should stay aboard or go back with Max. Max said she was fine, so Drew stayed low and slid the door open. Once inside he hid behind the couch and tried to get his bearings. He spent a brief moment trying to get his heart rate under control and then he started making his way through the room. Drew heard more gun shots outside and knew Max was in trouble.
Knowing Max had plenty of lives left in the game, he realized that he had no choice; he had to find the state room. He had to know once and for all if Adam was the monster responsible for everything going on. Inside, all was quiet. Just as he made his way to the steps he hoped would bring him to the state rooms, he heard another shot. He felt himself lunge forward. He could feel every step as he hit them. No! He screamed to himself. I’m almost there!
***
Drew opened his eyes and shot upright in his bed. He reached over and felt for Max’s arm. They were both sitting straight up in the bed. They quickly reached over and turned off the alarm clocks. Then they spun their heads around and looked at each other.
“Can you believe it?” Max was the first to speak. She was almost screaming. “We found the controls!”
“Yeah, but we still don’t know for sure if it was Adam. I didn’t make it to the state room.”
“But at least now we know we have to find a boat.”
“Sr. We need to talk to Sr.”
*****
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“I know you said you and Adam fished together. Do you have a yacht?” Drew’s question came as he walked through the front door. He didn’t take time to say hello, he went right for it.
“We have a sport fishing boat. I would hardly call it a yacht. Why?”
“In the game, we came across a yacht in the lake. It looked to be the control center for the game.”
“My boat is just a typical sport fishing boat. Yeah, it’s large, but by no means is it a yacht.”
Drew explained how they were able to stand on the water and look into the state rooms. He described the room with the monitors and the room with the sleeping person. He also described the ski deck and the living room area that led to the stairs to go down to the state rooms. Sr. confirmed that it was not his boat.
“I really wish it were my boat. I jus
t never could justify paying millions of dollars on a boat that I would only use a few times a year.”
Max made sure that Sr. was comfortable and that his needs were being met, and then they headed back to Drew’s place. On the way back, they stopped in at The Bean. As much as they dreaded going inside, they did have the best coffee and muffins in town. At home, they grabbed their laptops and phones and headed up to the roof. It was such a beautiful day; they decided not to let it go to waste.
They put in a call to the office and let them know about the yacht. A search was ordered for any boats in any of the names Adam used. They also verified that Sr. did in fact own a fishing boat and that it was docked in San Francisco. They sipped their coffee while they searched for docks on Lake Michigan, close to Chicago, that could house a yacht the size they saw in the game. When they found what they were looking for, they decided it was time for them to take a little field trip.
Once at the Belmont Harbor, they made their way to the famous J-Dock. This is where the large boats are kept. Knowing that there are yachts owned by judges, CEOs and even someone from the Chicago Blackhawks at the J-Dock, they knew they would get to see some pretty fantastic boats.
They went to the slip leasing office and spoke with a very friendly woman. She informed them that at this time, all slips were full and that they wouldn’t have any available all season. Not wanting to give her any information about what they were looking for, they asked if they could at least have a tour of the slips for future reference.
As they made their way from one slip to the next, they realized that nobody was out on the water from J-Dock. All slips were in fact full. The yacht farthest from the shore was almost as large as the one they were looking for, so they knew it was possible for a harbor on Lake Michigan to house it. They thanked the woman for her time.
