by Mikael Aizen
"He is our Gamer," Xiaos said.
"Fucking dumbest Gamer I've ever seen," Bitch murmured. "If the real Jesus were here, he'd kick your fucking ass, Jay."
"For what?" Jay asked.
"For throwing away the blessings he gave you to use, the guns you moron."
Jay grimaced. "Again, I'm no Gamer. And I need ideas before another poor bas..." Bang! "...tard get's a bullet in his head." He looked at the lineup as a body slumped, then collapsed beside the others. It was bright out so they had to hide pretty deep in one of Bitch's "watchditches"--one of many holes that Bitch that had good sight of the surroundings.
The Slant Eyes were talking over some of the weapons they'd confiscated from the Finger of Gods. The Fingers, a good thirty people still alive, were lined up and blindfolded. The other seventy lay on the ground collapsed and dead. Jay counted two hundred Slant Eyes.
"Run for our own lives sounds like a plan to me," Bitch said. "What do you say, Xiaos?"
"I say that there are many options yet unexplored," Xiaos rubbed at his chin. "The best option is to thin out our enemies and use what resources we have."
"Which is?" Bitch prompted.
"You, me, Jay, his knife, your grenades, my suit." Xiaos ticked off the list in quick succession. Jay had to admit, it was a short list. "I do not think it will be hard," Xiaos finished.
Bang! Twenty-nine. Funny thing was that none of the prisoner's legs were shaking and there weren't any pools of urine or begging. Morir Natives were a hard bunch of defeated pessimists. "What's the plan then?" Jay asked.
"Our goal is not to kill our enemies, only to save the prisoners we can, recruiting them to our side." Xiaos shrugged. "We have Bitch. This is what Bitch is best at, why is this difficult?"
Because Bitch isn't a Thriller anymore, Jay thought to himself. He had been watching Bitch, no more was there the adrenaline excitement when they mentioned danger, only fear and survivalism. Bitch had changed. "I don't think that's a good idea, Xiaos. It's too risky."
Bitch gave Jay an indignant look. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"It's too risky," Jay repeated. Bang! "It's not worth it."
"Twenty...eight Jay. You're saying my life ain't the risk for twenty-eight soon to be twenty-seven lives? What happened to that 'choose to be a Protector' shit you've been talking about?"
"I choose to protect your ungrateful ass over theirs," Jay answered.
"Aww how sweet. Fuck you Jay, I'm not your replacement son while you're in Morir, I'm going." Bitch nodded at Xiaos. "If you can choose to be Protector, you can also choose to be Thriller. How awesome is it that I'm prepped as a Thriller by my last Gamer?" He grinned and began stripping. When he was done and his skinny butt bones stuck out as much as his face did, he grabbed a hold of two grenades, one in either hand. "The plan is that I lead them away and you blast away anyone left?"
"Bitch..." Jay started.
Bitch cut him off. "Just 'cause you got to see my cry doesn't mean you know anything. I'm going."
They hadn't talked about last weeks incident. Jay hadn't noticed it until then, but Bitch did look like he was a mix-race. He was always so dirty that you couldn't really tell.
"Get them, Bitch," Jay resigned. "If you leave any of them behind, I'll have your half-black ass on a platter." Bitch bobbed his head and turned. "Don't die," Jay called after him.
"...fuck you shithead..." then Bitch was gone.
"Right. What's the plan for us?" Jay asked Xiaos.
"Bitch left us six grenades. With my suit I should be able to sneak in and deploy them on those who do not give chase."
"Fine, what do I do."
"Sit and watch," Xiaos answered. "You are our Leader."
"Damn it Xiaos Wayng, you can't be asking me to do nothing."
Xiaos shrugged. "You are our Redeemer. If you die, there is nothing. People will need you to look up to, and you have the reputation already. We need it if we're going to succeed."
"Fine," Jay sighed, waving his hand at Xiaos. "Go."
Xiaos gave him one of those approving, "you're doing the right thing" nods and snuck away.
Jay counted for about ten seconds before he took off, circling around to the Slant Eyes' prisoner side where Xiaos wouldn't see him. Or at least stop him from helping.
Bang Bang! Two more prisoners collapsed and the Slant Eyes were fiddling with a different gun this time, like they were experimenting with how each weapon worked. The one they were messing with now had a handle that glowed. Guess not all the Enforcer guns had been disabled. Another gun was picked up, and the one shooting the guns--an officer--even tapped at the red side, speaking something to his partner. The rest of the DPRK soldiers were wandering the nearby headquarters of the Fingers or standing guard around the perimeter. The perimeter that Jay(and Xiaos, surely) had both pierced. No matter how disciplined the DPRK were, they hadn't lived in Morir long and hadn't learned how to move and hide with the skill that any Native of Morir had become accustomed to.
The DPRK officer lifted the gun and put his tongue between his teeth as he aimed at one of the prisoners. There was a sudden BOOM and bits of rock and goo rained all over the officer's side. The officer blinked and looked at his gun like he was a dumb-butt. He turned around and saw the half torso of his friend, still standing upright on two feet and half a pelvis beside him. Nice throw, Bitch.
The Slant Eye officer figured it out and barked commands as he backed away from his comrade. Troops fell into line in front of him. Another boom took out the line, spraying rocks and fleshy bits and leaving the officer standing all alone again. FUCKING good job, Bitch. The officer panicked, screaming orders and pointing at where he thought the grenades had come from. Soldiers seeped out of the headquarters like rats from a sewer. Another line, a mostly formed line, blew up too, and forming lines became secondary to giving chase. It had probably been Xiaos blowing up the last line.
Maybe twenty Korees went after Bitch, who at the moment was leading a bunny hop line and screaming like a happy lunatic.
Jay dubbed over the Korean's commotion inside his own head. "Get him! Where did he go? Over there! What is wrong with that boy? Look at the tiny penis!" Like those Godzilla movies that Jay's parents told him about all the time.
A soldier tripped over Jay's leg, falling on his face.
Jay grinned at him buddy buddy like.
Then he slugged the Koree in the face before the squishface could even lift his head off the dirt. Four more explosions took off and Jay saw something like a blur working through the nearby enemies like a ghost. Koreans gagged and choked and collapsed and Jay could've sworn he saw one of the Slant Eyes get his head knocked clean off. On his shoulders one second and flying off the next. Jay really wished he'd taken Xiaos up on his offer to learn to fight. The man was kick-ass, Chinese Rambo. One hundred enemies? No problem, Xiaos Wayng's got it. Heeyaaaww!
The officer decided that the prisoners weren't worth keeping. He pointed his personal bomb gun at the prisoners who'd already pulled off their blindfolds and begun scattering in the distraction. Bad news. If the officer pulled the trigger and managed to miss the prisoners, which was damn likely, Jay'd be the receiver.
Jay took a chance and threw his knife at the bastard.
The knife point went right into the barrel of the gun and stuck. Karma's gotta get even one of these days. The officer lifted the gun and stared at the blade coming from its end. The blade tipped and dislodged from the barrel.
He charged. He tackled the officer and began pummeling the man with right and...right hand again. Asians were so small and this one thought that it'd be a good idea to keep holding on to his gun. Jay made him pay for thinking that. He nailed the guy with his elbow and felt the guy's nose crunch inward. The officer went limp and stopped twitching.
He climbed up from the unconscious man and retrieved his knife. He saw the last of the nearby Slant Eyes take a nasty fall into a rock and Xiaos materialized beside Jay like magic. The ex-prisoners stared at them like J
ay and Xiaos were gods.
Jay raised his voice. "Pick up the guns and follow me."
Bitch's voice shot across from some unknown location, his voice bouncing and booming like he was running through a big tunnel. "We're here to teach you to be fishers of fucking Korean cock!"
Jay sighed. Bitch really wanted this penis badge thing to work. He looked at the Fingers, knowing they recognized him. Him and the bells through his face. All Natives knew his reputation and the bells, and soon the Slant Eyes would too. "I'm Jay," he said. "And we're The Redeemers."
Bitch came back with the most satisfied look Jay had seen on him in a long time. "Enjoy yourself?" Jay asked.
"Fuck yeah, didn't you?" Bitch wiggled the rifles he held in either hand and admired his emaciated biceps. He kissed an arm. "I like guns," he said in a baby's voice.
"I see that." Jay waited. Bitch seemed all right, no different. Maybe the Thriller had stayed put and not overwhelmed him like Jay had worried.
"What?" Bitch asked him with an annoyed frown.
"What do I do with them?" Jay waved his hand back behind him where the twenty odd people sat with slumped heads.
Bitch rolled his eyes. "Give them an inspiring speech, I don't know. Why are you asking me?" Bitch gave an exaggerated sigh and yelled. "Hey everybody!" Everybody lifted their heads. "Your Gamer has something to say!" Bitch looked sideways at Jay before honing back in on the guns. "All yours, Gamer."
Jay hesitated on Bitch a second longer before he looked at his merry band. "I'm not a Gamer. I'm a Redeemer. And in a sec, you will be Redeemers, too. We're a different kind of Team."
The men slumped their heads back down. Encouraging.
"We saved you because we need you. We saved you because you are gonna be useful to me. I'm your leader, but there are going to be rules you haven't heard of. Rules that I expect every one of you to comply with." In the movies it was always just one guy who spoke up. But these weren't the movies.
"Fuck do we care?" One said. "We're dead anyway, Korees moving in and changing the rules--"
"--we're the Finger of God, not some fucking Redeemers. Quit pretending we're anything but your prisoners--"
"--suck my shit, Esperanza, your last plan didn't work too good for you, did it?" Someone jeered.
"He's a weakass, why are we listening to him?"
Things were getting out of control before they'd even started. His reputation hadn't been exactly the one Jay'd thought he'd had.
"Fucking step up, Redeemer, you're losing them," Bitch mumbled out of the corner of his mouth.
Jay knew how to get them to listen. Morir style. Jay took out the last remaining grenade and pulled the pin with his teeth and shoved it at the last dissident speaker's mouth. The guy wouldn't open, glaring at Jay. "Bitch, make him open his mouth."
Bitch sauntered up and put the barrel of his rifle on the guy's cheek. "Open," Bitch said.
The man opened and Jay stuffed the grenade into the guy's mouth. He spun it slightly, until it was just right within the man's mouth. Barely fit for such a big talker. Jay admired his work. "Bitch, if he tries to take that out, fucking shoot him."
Everyone moved away from the son-of-a-bitch. "Gotcha, Gamer," Bitch said.
Jay turned up the Morir-esque vulgarity. "Now, I'm trying to giving you an inspiring speech, and you Fingers can't seem to fucking keep your cunts closed. So unless you shut the hell up, we'll blow your buddy's fingers off. If you keep talking, we'll take his hands. After that, his arms. All the way up until he hates your guts so much he'll run straight at you with that grenade in his mouth and blow you to bits while we play target practice on whoever's left."
Some kid opened his mouth. The man with the grenade whipped his head and glared. The kid shut his mouth.
"See that?" Jay said. "Perfect example of what I'm about to tell you fuckers."
They looked at him.
"While you bastards were killing each other and I was hanging out with my buddies happy as clams in Esperanza, we figured out something. There was a really smart scientist guy who'd been thrown in here who never had The Code in him. Politics, you get it." Jay waved his hand low. "He pointed out that everybody has The Code in them to a certain extent. Even the people outside Morir. We didn't believe him at first, but turns out he was right. Ever wonder why some higher-ups don't seem to be coming to Morir? Like the majority of them have a get-out-of-jail fucking monopoly card? Or did you really believe that no one's being murdered anymore outside? Believe that the government bastards and media couldn't cover things up if they wanted?"
Jay stared at the Fingers in turn. "Even crazier is that The Code doesn't mean you have to murder people, it just means that we're warriors. We fight better, we kill better, but we also defend better. How many of you before you got to Morir were the types that got violent and angry and aggressive when someone you cared about went through hard times? How many of you were athletes?"
Some people nodded.
"We're like that because we are Protectors instinctively. They got it wrong, people with The Code are the people keeping the rest of civilization safe and alive." Jay held up a finger and spoke with finality. "If we choose to, that is." He walked up to the guy with the grenade in his mouth, took the grenade out and threw it as far as he could. It blew up somewhere. "Got your attention yet?"
He nodded. "Sure. Still doesn't change anything. We're still in here, Protectors or not."
"What's your name?"
"Paul."
Another Paul. Quit haunting me. "You're right. I'm glad you're speaking your mind, Paul, it means you're thinking. And it also means that you're new here."
Paul nodded carefully.
"That's why I'm gonna choose to like you, Paul. You have people you care about on the outside?"
"My sister."
"That's sweet. How much would it mean to her that you aren't a born murderer?"
"A lot," Paul said.
"Well, you aren't. You're a born Protector if you choose."
"I still don't know how any of this matters," Paul said.
"It matters because they told us we had no choice. You do. By taking choice away from us, they took our humanity and our lives from us. By taking choice away they fucking killed us, murdered us even. They are the murderers. By taking away our choice, we were punished for a crime we didn't commit." Jay made a fist and then pointed out each one of the people listening. "None of us are born murderers. It matters to our consciences because we didn't murderer anyone, we've only protected ourselves."
Another man spoke. "You don't get it, do you, Gamer? We don't care because we're dead anyway. Damned Korees are going to kill us anyway no matter if we are murderers or fucking Protectors. So unless you have a plan to survive, we don't care."
"I do have a plan. Not to survive, but to save those I care about. The Korees have a plan to escape Morir. This is a organized army we're facing, that's why they aren't killing each other like we've been and why we can't stop the bastards from doing whatever they want. The only way to beat them is to make our own army and work together. Then we kill them as fast as we can because if they escape, our country and almost every other country is a sitting duck. The Korees will destroy the whole damn US of A and no one is going to stop them because we're all dead."
"Let me get this straight," the new man said. "You don't kill people unless you are 'protecting' people anymore. And you want us to join you in trying to defeat this Korean army which we know is hundreds of thousands strong already, soon to be more, to protect the very same people who put us in this fucking hell."
"Right," Jay answered.
"So you won't be killing us if we leave right now." the same man stated.
"No."
He nodded. "See ya." He got up and a bunch of others went with him.
It wasn't that Jay expected them to be moved by what he'd told them, but at the very least he expected them to care. He thought it would mean the most to the people being defined by The Code, get them angry or relieved,
something. But it hadn't. They didn't care because they were so drawn into the idea that they'd die and nothing else mattered. It was like trying to get a clinically depressed person to smile.
"You fuck at this," Bitch said, looking at the five people that hadn't left. Counting Jay, Xiaos, and Bitch.
"Paul's still here," Jay noted.
"Yeah, great. Have either of you been here longer than a week?" Bitch asked them.
Neither raised their hands.
"They’re fodder," Bitch said. "What's your next brilliant plan?"
Jay shrugged. "Get more people. What's your name?" he asked the other guy who looked like he was fifty.
The old man didn't answer, staring blankly in front of him like he was dumb or deaf.
"He's always like that," Paul said. "Never seen him do anything."
"Can he follow instructions?" Jay asked.
Paul shrugged.
"Stand up," Jay said.
The man stood up slowly.
"You know," Bitch said like he'd just realized something. "Jesus was much better at this than you. He still has people following him even though he's been dead for centuries."
"You're right."
"I don't think you're Jesus anymore. You're more...Senator G. Bush."
"Just give them guns and send them to Xiaos for training."
"Both of them? Why don't we use them as suicide bombers instead? At least the old man."
"Shut up, Bitch."
"Gotcha Boss."
Chapter 26
The order for sterilization has created a reaction that only further proves to society the nature of those with The Code. They revolt against law, with their violence and aggression, and demand their rights as "citizens" and "humans."
But I ask you, where were my sister's rights when she was killed? Where was your brother's rights when one of these monsters murdered him in cold blood. Where was your father and mother's rights when you found them dead in their beds, brutally killed.
