S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND: Season Two Omnibus (Episodes 9-11)

by Tanpepper, Saul

  Kelly didn’t like the sound of that.

  * * *

  Missus Daniels was already awake when Kelly stepped into her room, surprised that she was still here. The television on the wall was on but muted. He was surprised to see that it was tuned to one of the Survivalist stations.

  She turned her head as soon as he walked in and asked, “Have you heard from my son?”

  He shook his head. “I was hoping you had. I haven’t been able to get him to answer my pings.”

  Missus Daniels’s face clouded. “They came and took him away yesterday, the police did. And no one will tell me anything.”

  “They arrested him?”

  She turned away and sighed. Her face was drawn, the lines cutting deep into the corners of her mouth. Although she’d regained some of the weight she’d lost while being starved in Ashley’s basement, the circles under her eyes seemed only to have grown darker since he’d last seen her, her hair grayer. “They shot him, shot my boy.”

  Kelly gasped and hurried over to her side. “Is he all right?” he asked in alarm.

  “It was with one of those guns they use for the Omegas. I think they thought it was fitting, given his job. They’re cruel men, the police.”

  A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye and coursed down her cheek. She didn’t bother to wipe it away. “I told him not to go into that damn job, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I think he felt like he had something to prove to himself. And to his grandfather.”

  “Is he all right, do you know?” Kelly asked again. He picked up his mother-in-law’s hand and gently squeezed it. “Where did they take him?”

  “I don’t know. To the jail, I guess. I’m just afraid that they—” Her voice broke. She swallowed dryly, and the lump in her neck bobbed, looking to Kelly like an animal squirming beneath her skin. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

  Kelly could feel her hand shaking inside of his. She was trying so hard to keep herself from falling apart. He didn’t want her to say the words she was thinking out loud, that Eric might have been conscripted.

  Finally, she opened her eyes. “I don’t know where my boy is. I don’t know where my daughter is. They’ve all left me. I’m alone.”

  “They didn’t,” he tried to assure her. “Jessie didn’t leave you. And you’re not alone. I’m here.”

  “She hates me. My daughter hates me. I’ve been such a horrible mother.”

  “No.”

  He hooked his toe around the leg of the chair behind him and dragged it closer so he could sit down. “I’ll find him. I’ll find Eric. It’ll be okay. And Jessie, too. I swear it.”

  He could see some of the tension leaving her face, though not all. He didn’t know if she believed him, believed that he’d be able to do what he promised. He wasn’t even sure of it himself. Now that Eric was inside the system, what could he do? People had a tendency to disappear once they got taken away.

  “Can you tell me where Jessie is?”

  Kelly hesitated. “She’s out of town. I’ll be talking with her soon.”

  “I dreamed about her,” Missus Daniels whispered. “About my little girl. The nurse came in after they brought me back and gave me a shot to calm me down. I was so upset over what they did to my Eric. Oh, and it did make me so calm. It calmed me down until it felt like I was floating in the water, down a river. It must’ve put me right to sleep because then I remember dreaming my Jessie was here with me. She told me to get up and walk, but I couldn’t even move.” She looked over at Kelly and squeezed his hand. “Did she come visit me?”

  He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

  Missus Daniels sighed. “She was holding me, trying to lift me, to lift my arms and make me stand up out of this bed. I could hear her talking to me, calling my name, urging me to move. I think she wanted me to come with her somewhere. But when I woke up, she was gone.”

  A sob escaped her throat.

  “Where did she go, Kelly? Why hasn’t she come in to see me?”

  “She’s . . . .”

  Kelly had promised Eric not to say anything about where Jessie had gone. He feared it would only lead to more questions, which would lead to the truth about what Arc was doing. Eric feared it would upset her too much. She needed her strength to recover.

  But as Kelly sat there with his lips pressed tightly shut, he wondered how long it would be before Jessie’s continued absence upset her even more than not knowing? He cleared his throat. “I know she’d want to be here if she could.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “Nothing.” He stood up to leave knowing he’d overstayed his visit, but she wouldn’t let go of his hand. “I’m not supposed to be here, Missus D. And you need to rest, and here I am just getting you worried about—”

  “That’s my job, honey, worrying about my children. I’ve done it all their lives. What makes you think I’m just getting started now?”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know what you meant.” She still wouldn’t let him go. “My daughter hates me.”

  “Jessie doesn’t hate you.”

  She squeezed his hand to shut him up. “I know she hates me. And you know the thing about that? It gives me hope, because you can’t hate what you never wish to love. I’ll make no excuses for my failings; they’re mine to bear. I just hope she can understand that and forgive me. Forgiveness is the bridge between hatred and love.”

  She let go of him then. “You go now, find my children and bring them back to me, Kelly Corben.”

  He didn’t move at first. Finally, he stood, and her eyes followed him, bright and sparkling with tears.

  “I’ll do my best,” he began to say, but her face went suddenly slack and pale. “What is it?” he asked, alarmed. “Are you in pain?”

  She raised her hand and pointed shakily at the television behind him.

  On the screen was a solitary figure moving away from the camera. Beyond was a wooded area, still draped in mist. The scene might’ve been from anywhere, but Kelly immediately recognized the place. He’d seen those woods too many times to ever forget them. And the drizzle told him that what he was watching was live.

  Jessie was covered in mud and limping slightly. The left sleeve of her shirt was stained dark red from shoulder to cuff. Slung onto her back was a full satchel. She held a bloody sword in one hand. The injured arm hung limp at her side.

  The camera panned away, showing the gravel path she was walking. It was littered with the bodies of a hundred slain Undead, the thick, black syrup of their lifeless blood washing slowly away in the rain.

  As she stepped to the edge of the forest, another figure emerged into view behind her. She did not see him. The man turned briefly in profile before going after her, and in that moment the camera zoomed in. The hollow black eyes and gray skin so characteristic of the Undead were unmistakable on that face. Also telling were the determined movements of a Player under the control of its Operator.

  Kelly wanted to yell at the screen, to warn Jessie, but he knew she couldn’t hear him. He could only stand there in shock and watch as the man, now dead and a part of Arc’s detestable video game, was about to attack the girl he had professed his love for in his dying words just a few days before.

  “Micah,” he whispered.

  As if she’d heard, Jessie stopped, her head cocked slightly to one side.

  Turn around, Kelly urged. Please, Jess. Turn around before it’s too late.

  But before she could take another step, the screen went blank.

  “What’s happening?” Missus Daniels croaked in dismay. “Kelly? Please tell me what I’m looking at. I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

  But he couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. All he could do was stare as those infuriating words scrolled across the screen:

  WE APOLOGIZE FOR THE INTERRUPTION

  BUT ARE EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES.

  WE EXPECT TO RETURN YOU TO

 
; YOUR REGULAR PROGRAMMING SHORTLY.

  ~ ARC ENTERTAINMENT ~

  Chapter 11

  Jessie knew that it was all in her head, Micah’s voice. It was calling her, telling her to turn around. And she almost did, but she knew he wouldn’t be there.

  It had been a hard battle, heavily lopsided. But when it was over, she was surrounded by dozens of bodies. Not a single one of them had touched her.

  The last to fall had been a genderless corpse, its skin so brown and desiccated that she couldn’t tell its age upon reanimation. Its brittle skull dropped to her feet and cracked open, releasing a small puff of dust. She could hear the hard, desiccated brain rattle around inside as it rocked still, like a walnut that had petrified inside the shell. She was glad it was the last one, as her good arm was beyond spent, and the other was throbbing so badly she thought she might collapse, even though she’d not used it at all except to keep her balance.

  There was a rustling sound behind her, something large, something coming through the woods. She knew it wasn’t a bird. She knew it was coming for her.

  Just go, her mind ordered.

  That’s when she heard his voice again. Why did you come back, Jessie?

  She set her jaw and stepped down the path. She’d already wasted too much time and energy fearing the ghosts of her friends.

  Jessie, please. Turn around.

  “No,” she whispered.

  She didn’t believe in ghosts. She didn’t believe the dead could haunt a place, or even a person. The voices she’d been hearing were only her guilt. First, her master’s. Then Jake’s. And now Micah’s.

  This was the path they’d taken the day Brother Matthew had led them to find Father Heale. That’s why she was thinking of him now.

  Damn it, Jessie, turn around!

  There was a single low moan, and the hair on her neck raised. Slowly, she turned to face the figure on the path behind her.

  And it was him.

  She gasped and spoke his name, stumbling backward, yet wanting to run toward him. “How?” she asked.

  But Micah didn’t answer. He was dead. She could see that. She could tell by the way he walked and the color of his skin and the way the whites of his eyes had turned black that he was one of them now. That despite being so sure just a few days ago that his conscription had been a sham. Now she knew for certain that it hadn’t been. He was here. He was dead. And he was coming for her.

  Listen, Jess, he told her inside her head. He took another shambling step and a terrible moan came from between his purple lips. There’s something wrong with the Stream. The network’s down.

  “W-what?”

  Don’t let me get so close, Jessie.

  “What?”

  “Go!”

  It was exactly what her mind was screaming at her in her own voice.

  You have to run, Jessie! Don’t let me catch you.

  And yet she couldn’t move. He was fifteen feet away, twelve. Ten.

  JESSIE!

  She jerked from the blast of his voice and fell back just as he reached out for her. His cold, hard fingers brushed her cheek and slipped down her chin. They curled around her collar bone and held on. She spun away, crying out in surprise. He followed her clumsily, leaning forward and opening his mouth.

  Jessie, please. Go!

  She ran a few steps, then stopped, blinking in disbelief. How could he be—

  He’s not! It’s your imagination! Now run! Get the fuck out of here!

  She tripped over her own feet and went down. Micah followed her movements. He stepped forward and dropped to the ground next to her. His knees hit the road with a pair of resounding cracks that sounded painful. But his face registered nothing, only the same hungry expression they all wore. He began to claw his way to her on his hands and knees.

  “No!” she screamed at him. “Micah, stop!” She kicked at his arms and he toppled face first onto the road.

  I can’t control myself, Jess. Please.

  “Why are you here? WHY ARE YOU INSIDE MY HEAD?”

  Listen to me, Jessie! What are you doing here?

  “What are you doing here?” she sobbed.

  I was supposed to be your Player. That was the plan.

  “What plan?” she shrieked as she scrambled away. “What the fuck are you talking about? Why the fuck can I hear you?”

  She gripped her head, certain she was losing her sanity.

  Quiet! You need to be quiet and listen.

  Listen? She needed to run!

  She crab-crawled away, terrified, confused. What the hell was going on?

  Dead Micah let out another moan as he pushed himself up. He resumed his steady creep toward her.

  “Oh my god, Micah. Oh my god! What the hell are you?”

  I said be quiet!

  Jessie got to her feet. She could hear other sounds now in the woods around her, leaves crunching underfoot, twigs snapping.

  “I’m going nuts,” she muttered. She spun around to get her bearings. The shuffling noises were getting closer, louder. She heard more moans. “It’s finally happened.” She grabbed her sword. “I’ve fucking lost my mind. I can hear dead people.”

  Micah planted a foot beneath him and rose. We’re not dead, Jessie.

  “Yes, you are! You’re dead! You’re fucking dead!”

  She pushed him down and started to run. She’d had enough.

  The network’s down, Jessie!

  Leave me alone! she screamed in her mind. Go away!

  She could hear dead Micah lurching after her, but he was far enough away that he couldn’t reach her. She turned around. “This isn’t happening.”

  The knees of his Player’s uniform were torn, and a viscous bright red goo was seeping out.

  Go away! she screamed in her head. Go the fuck away!

  But he just kept coming.

  “I don’t want to talk to you,” she cried. She was sobbing now. “I don’t want this to be true.”

  We’re connected, Jessie.

  He’d closed the distance between them. Thirty feet now. With each ungainly step he shortened it by another foot. Behind him, Jessie saw another figure emerge from the trees.

  No, she thought. I don’t want to be connected to you.

  You have to speak out loud to me, Jessie. I have to hear your words.

  “No!” she screamed, then clamped her hand over her mouth in horror.

  The second Infected turned toward the sound of her voice. A third stepped out from the trees and into its path. The pair collided and almost fell over.

  Behind you, Jess.

  She spun around and saw two more, not ten feet away. She’d been so focused on him that she hadn’t even heard the others coming out of the trees. They lunged just as she raised the sword, deflecting it. It twisted in her hand and clattered to the road. They were on her then, sprawling into the mud.

  She fell beneath them, the impact knocking the wind from her lungs. Something hard in her backpack jabbed her painfully in the ribs and spine. One of the two zombies had bounced off, but it was coming around again.

  She tried to yell, but all she could manage was a breathless wheeze.

  I can’t help you, Jessie. I can’t control my body anymore.

  The zombie on top of her was jerking in a strange way. It seemed to be having trouble moving. Jessie struggled to push it away but it wouldn’t budge. Her shoulder screamed as she reached up with both hands and shoved.

  The other one was back on its feet. It hissed at her and fell onto the pile. Another shallow gust of air left her chest. Her lungs refused to inflate.

  Slide to your right, Jessie.

  She wanted to tell the thing that was Micah to shut the fuck up, but she knew it was all in her head, the stress of seeing him dead like this, combined with the lack of oxygen to her brain, lack of food, lack of sleep. He wasn’t talking to her. She wasn’t hearing him. He was dead.

  To your right I said!

  She could feel her arms growing weaker, her mind shutting do
wn.

  Hurry!

  She heard the scrape of his shoes just a couple yards away, sensed him getting closer.

  I can’t help myself.

  It sounded so corny, like something Reggie would say to Ash, that Jessie actually laughed out loud. Air pushed into her lungs and a little bit of the fog in her mind lifted. It was just enough to get her moving again.

  She reached up with her bad hand and shoved the two dead things to her left. They wouldn’t budge, but she felt herself slide a little to the right.

  They’re stuck. Hurry!

  They were clawing at her. She could feel their bony fingers on her face and arms, scratching, trying to grab her. Trying to pull her to their gaping mouths rather than bringing their mouths to her. She grabbed the ears of the bottom one and smashed its head up and into the skull of the other. It pulled away, taking a chunk of the leathery scalp between its teeth. It chewed for a moment, then opened its jaws to moan again, and the dead flesh fell out.

  She finally managed to push herself out from underneath the pile. She jumped to her feet just as Micah stepped to her side, and she grabbed him by the collar and spun him around. He nearly fell, but she held him up.

  “That’s the problem with these uniforms Arc puts you in,” she grunted, as she shoved him back toward the second pair of zombies. “They’re too loose.”

  One of them fell over, while the other spun away. Micah somehow remained on his feet. He immediately twisted around and came right back at her.

  Jessie grabbed the sword from the ground. The first two were still lying in the dirt like a pair of beetles on their backs. Something was sticking out of the one on top. She raised her arm to strike them with the sword.

  Wait!

  “Shut up! Shut the fuck up!” she screamed at Micah. She drew her arm back, faced him, then thrust the blade straight forward. The point pierced the eye socket of the zombie behind him and exited the back of its head. It slowed but didn’t stop the monster’s advance.

  Spinning away, Jessie pulled down on the hilt, brutally wrenching its head down. She used its body to block Micah from getting at her. He tripped and went sprawling.

  Now, leaning against the weight on the end of her sword, Jessie kicked out at the IU getting back to its feet. Her heel connected with the side of its head, which hinged back with a resounding crack. It fell, but started to rise again.