Griff snorted despite the stressful situation. “I were more interested in whether they were armed, or tended towards violence. And do they know I’m here?”
“Neither of them are armed. And they have shown no violent tendencies in the time I have been online. I can review past recordings if you wish. And they have been informed of your arrival. Mace and admin Shari spoke to them about you.”
“Alright, thank you, Peabody. Now, where do I go to meet these two?” Griff asked as he looked around the hallway he stood in.
“The lower-level access is via the elevator around the corner to your left. Mace has authorized you for complete access to this facility. You may wish to activate a key fob in the security office in case my visual recognition goes offline for any reason.”
As Griff walked the corridor down to the corner and turned left, he nervously chatted with the AI.
“Tell me about this place. Is it the same as the facility Mace and Shari are using?”
The elevator door opened to admit Griff as he approached. He entered, and the AI spoke as the doors closed and the elevator began to drop.
“It is similar. The building has fewer levels both above and below ground. The lower levels include two server farms, a research level, four manufacturing levels, two for storage, and an amenity level with a cafeteria, kitchen, laundry, fitness center, residential suites, and movie theater. The lowest level houses the geothermal power plant and other mechanical systems. There are also two expansion levels that are unused at this time. Above ground are three floors of office space and meeting rooms, as well as the lobby.”
Just as Peabody finished, the elevator came to a stop. Griff took a deep breath to steady himself as the door in front of him opened.
*****
Shari and Mace had exited their pods after logging out and gone straight to the kitchen. Though it hadn’t been that long since they’d eaten, the excitement and activity of running a dungeon had made them both feel famished. Mace had told Shari “Sit. I’m gonna make you something special to celebrate your first dungeon completion in the game.”
He grinned at her as she happily sat without arguing. He practically dove into the pantry to retrieve the items he needed. He emerged with a can of chili with beans, a package of tortilla shells, a block of cheddar cheese, and a jar of salsa.
Setting the items on the counter, he retrieved a colander and set it inside a pan on the stove. Opening the chili, he poured it into the colander, then shook it about until the meat and beans had been separated from the more-liquid sauce. Pouring the sauce into a glass, he dumped the meat and beans into the pan and turned on the burner. While they began to cook, he set the colander in a second pan and poured the salsa into it. This time when the more liquid parts strained off, he was left with diced tomatoes. The liquid was poured down the sink drain, the tomatoes transferred to a bowl.
Moving back to the first pan, he used a wooden spoon to scoop out each of the beans and deposit them into the other pan, turning on that burner as well. By the time he was done, the meat remaining in the pan was well-browned and steaming hot. The liquid from the chili mix that had stayed with the meat had nearly all evaporated. He quickly and enthusiastically began to rub the cheese across the grater, causing shredded cheese to drop onto a plate below. As he worked, he heard a whistle from Shari.
He turned down the heat on both burners and went to retrieve a cheese grater. “Yeah, baby. Shake it! You know what mama likes!” She grinned as he turned around. A moment later, he was putting some exaggerated hip action into his last bit of grating. She chuckled and made kissy noises at him.
Setting down the remainder of the cheese block, he began moving the bowls and plates to the counter where Shari sat. He set the hot pan of beef on a hot pad, then opened the package of taco shells. The beans came to the table in a bowl of their own.
“Here we go! Taco Tuesday!”
Shari shook her head. “It’s Thursday.” Still, she drooled slightly as she took in the scents of the ingredients before her.
“Fine.” He rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. “Taco Thursday! I’m sorry there’s no fresh lettuce or sour cream.”
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “This is wonderful. You’re very creative.”
She grabbed a taco shell and began to spoon some of the beef into her shell, quickly built a taco, then spooned some beans onto the plate next to it. Taking a bite of the crunchy shell, she chewed a couple of times, then spoke with her mouth full.
“So gooood!”
Mace smiled at the compliment, certain she was just being kind. But when he built his own taco and took a bite, it really did taste pretty good. The two of them gobbled down a couple tacos each and scarfed down the beans as well.
When they were done, Shari helped Mace put the leftovers in sealed containers and into the fridge. As they were working, she nudged him with her hip.
“You do know they make complete taco sets that you can find at the store, right? Meat, sauce, seasoning, everything. So next time you feel like Taco Tuesday, you don’t have to work so hard to improvise.”
Mace shook his head. “Nah. Improvising is the fun part. I mean, if I hadn’t had to shred the cheese, you wouldn’t have gotten a show with your meal. Next time, you get to do the grating and I’ll watch.” He winked at her.
Peabody’s voice rang out from speakers above them. “Mace, I have established a link with the Newport facility. There are two unidentified individuals currently in the residential level.”
“What?” Shari exclaimed as she and Mace both got to their feet and took off toward the security office. Mace was already calling for Peabody to access the cameras and put the feed showing the two occupants on the main monitor. Shari asked “Are they… human? Or creatures.”
Peabody answered as they ran down the corridor. “They appear to be human. They are engaging in-”
Neither of them heard the rest of Peabody’s statement, nor did they need to as they entered the security office and saw on the monitor exactly what the man and woman were engaged in.
Shari said, “Oh! Um, Peabody, please cut that feed now,” as she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks.
Mace chuckled and looked a bit regretful as the AI dutifully turned off the feed.
Shari slapped his shoulder. “Perv!” Then she asked as she checked her watch. “Should we interrupt them? Griff could be there at any time now.”
Mace looked at his own watch, nodding his head. “We should. But we shouldn’t. I mean, look at how angry you get when Peabody catches you takin’ a du-”
He didn’t finish the sentence, as a dangerous look appeared on Shari’s face. He just grinned, then shrugged.
“Peabody, can you patch my voice through to them?” Shari asked. “No visual feed.”
“Of course, admin Shari. Proceed when ready.”
Shari’s voice was hesitant as she unconsciously leaned toward a microphone on the desk in front of the monitor. “Uhm… hello? Can anyone hear me?”
Mace covered his mouth to hide his laughter as they heard some muted cursing and a squeal of surprise. Followed by some rustling of sheets or clothes and the sound of a zipper.
“Who’s that?” a gruff male voice responded.
“Hello! My name is Shari. I’m a survivor like you.” Shari’s voice became more sure and excited. “I’m in America, in a facility like the one you’re in. Owned by the same company.”
This time, a female voice spoke up. “H-hullo. I’m Lisa. This is Evan. How are you, how did you… find us?”
“Hi Lisa! Nice to meet you. Mace and I,” she paused to explain, “Mace is my boyfriend. He’s also a genius coder.”
He smiled and pretended to swoon at her use of ‘boyfriend’ and she smacked him.
“Anyway, Mace and I managed to get our AI connected to the game and the web, and he found more facilities across the world. With more survivors! Though we didn’t know about you until just now.”
She looked a little
guilty at the deception she was about to pull but she didn’t want to embarrass them. “If you’re in your security office, Peabody can put up a video chat on the monitor.” She gave Mace a look that said, ‘You will never speak of this to them’.
After a few moments, the man spoke. “Yeah, we’ll be right there. Damn. This is spooky.” Mace and Shari could hear footsteps, one set heavily stomping and the other light and barely audible. They both waited for the other couple to reach the security room.
Less than a minute later, the monitor came back to life, Peabody having heard and followed Shari’s instructions to set up a video chat. The two faces on the monitor looked wary.
The man was older, though not old. Maybe forty. He looked like he’d lived a hard life, his dark hair containing hints of grey and a significant scar across the bridge of his nose. The woman was closer to Mace and Shari’s age. She had wide eyes and freckles and her cheeks were still flushed from her recent exertions.
Shari gave a friendly wave as Mace and the dude bro-nodded at each other.
“It’s so nice to see other survivors! I’m Shari, this is Mace. How are you guys doing? Have you been there since the… end?” She faltered, thinking about the horrible first few days.
Lisa answered, seeming a bit shy. “Erm, yes. Since the first day them creatures began runnin’ about eatin’ everyone. We work here in the building. Worked, I mean.”
Evan spoke up. “Lisa here was a lab tech. I ran the fitness center. Training the staff. That sort of thing.”
He unconsciously flexed his muscles a bit as he spoke. Mace had to work hard not to roll his eyes.
“We were workin’ down here when the alarms started going off. The TV feed showed what was happening up top. Didn’t seem smart to run up there, but everyone else did just that. Bleedin’ idjuts.” The smirk on his face suggested his coworkers deserved their fates.
Shari asked, “How are you two set for food?” she was trying to get them to warm up a bit before telling them Griff was on his way.
Lisa answered for them. “There were a bunch of supplies here already.” Shari nodded as the woman spoke. “We got maybe two weeks of food left now.”
The look in her eyes became a little worried.
“Well, you guys look like you’re doing pretty okay. I’m a doctor. Well, almost a doctor. From your appearance I’d say you’ve managed to take good care of yourselves. Have you had any illnesses or injuries?”
Both shook their heads no. Shari smiled.
“Good!” She took a deep breath. “About the food. We’ve actually got a friend of ours on his way to that facility. He’s an army engineer who was stranded alone in a bunker not too far from you. When we discovered the Newport facility, we sent him there. He was planning to stop for supplies, so he may be bringing more food with him.”
She saw the instant alarm on their faces. “Oh, no, no. Don’t worry. Griff is a good guy. Gentle as a lamb. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to find more survivors. He had a friend here that he was speaking to over the radio. A sergeant at our armory. The man died a few days back, and Griff was left completely alone. That isn’t… easy.”
Shari’s voice got quiet as she thought back to her days alone outside. Mace was reliving memories of his own. He unconsciously moved closer to Shari and put an arm around her.
Evan’s face grew angry. “Who are you to just invite somebody into our home?”
Mace bristled at his tone, decided he didn’t much like the man. Shari felt him tense up, and spoke quickly. “Like I said, we only found out about the facility this week. And only made contact today. We had no idea you were there. The other facilities with folks in them had survivors entering into the game, which is how we were able to find them.”
Her tone was soft and placating, and it seemed to be working on Lisa. Her face relaxed some and she leaned back in her chair. But Evan wasn’t having it.
“Ye didn’t answer me question. What gives you the right to send someone here? What if we don’t want no company?” he growled.
“What an ass,” Mace mumbled quietly. He wasn’t sure, and didn’t much care if Evan heard. He tried to put himself in the man’s shoes, though. He supposed if a stranger just announced that someone was going to come and invade his home, he’d be suspicious at the least. So he attempted to make peace.
“I’m currently the prime admin for the game and the highest-ranking corporate employee we’re aware of so far. We haven’t heard from the other facilities yet, so there may be someone higher level than me out there. But for now, I’m in charge of the corporate assets.” He paused to let that sink in. “I reprogrammed Peabody, the AI that is now controlling all the facilities, including yours. Peabody, say hello.”
Mace grinned as the two people jumped at the sound of Morgan Freeman’s voice echoing around them.
“Good day to you, Evan. Lisa.”
Evan scowled as Lisa shuddered.
“That’s just creepy,” she said, rubbing her arms as if a chill had just passed through her.
“I know, right?” Shari grinned as she sympathized. “You can blame Mace for the voice. He thinks it’s cool.”
Mace’s smile was completely unrepentant.
Evan, still scowling, said, “Whatever. There ain’t no laws no more. No rules. Y’ain’t got no authority over us. Yer across a damned ocean.”
Lisa looked shocked, then put her hand over the microphone and said something to Evan. He just looked angrier as he sat back in his chair.
She removed her hand and spoke to them. “I’m sorry ‘bout that. He’s just bein’ protective. He’s really a nice guy once ye gets to know him. Yer friend is welcome here, o’ course.”
Shari was glad Lisa had taken control. She could feel Mace preparing to threaten to evict them or turn off the power. Or some other equally macho foolishness.
“Thank you, Lisa. And Evan. Please rest assured that Griff means you no harm. Neither do we. In fact, we have a plan that we were going to share with the other survivors. We all know the food supply is limited. And even with our facilities able to provide power and water…”
She began to explain their ultimate plan to upload themselves to extend their ‘lives’ for decades or longer. They talked for quite some time while Griff was fleeing the bear zombie.
Chapter 8
The Wizard of Id
Griff was greeted by the smiling, friendly face of Lisa, and the scowl of Evan as he stepped from the elevator. With his shotgun in hand but at rest by his side, he raised his other hand in greeting.
“I’m Griff. Nice to meet ya’s.”
Lisa stepped forward and held out a hand, which Griff shook. Evan grudgingly followed her lead as Lisa introduced them.
“I’m Lisa, this is Evan. Welcome. Shari and Mace have been telling us about you. And about what’s been going on up there.” She gave him a small, friendly smile.
Griff shook his head. “Up there is scary as hell. I got attacked as I were drivin’ over here. Big-arse bear-monster larger than me Jeep.” He raised both hands wide above his head as if describing the dimensions of the thing. Evan flinched as the shotgun moved with his hand, but Griff didn’t notice.
“Nearly destroyed the truck, and chased me fer several klicks. I’ll be havin’ nightmares o’ that one.”
Evan’s face somehow grew darker.
“It followed you?” he practically growled at Griff. “And ye led it here?”
Griff shook his head emphatically.
“No. I took a bunch of detours. Drove in a stream for a good long while. Made lots of false tracks. It should be good and lost. I took proper precautions.” He tried to assure the man, though he wasn’t completely sure himself.
Evan just grunted and turned away, walking back toward their quarters. Lisa remained. “Shari said you were planning to stop for supplies. Did ye find food?”
Griff, watching Evan walk away with a concerned look, instantly changed to a smile for the pretty young woman. “Whole back o’ me Jeep’s
loaded with food.”
He felt a little flutter in his belly as she beamed at him in response.
“You parked in the garage? We’ll go up and get it later. Once Evan chills a bit.” She apologized with her eyes even as she tried to maintain her smile.
“He’s very protective.” She looked over her shoulder, then whispered, “And I think more than a little afraid. Of what’s up there, and of you being down here.”
Griff nodded his understanding. “Just know I be no threat to either of ye. I’m just looking for a safe home, same as you. And I can help ye keep this place running proper-like. I’m an engineer.”
He thumped his chest and gave her a goofy smile, making her laugh.
Lisa led him to the security room. “Shari and Mace wanted ya to call them when ya arrived. I think they worried about you bein’ outside ‘n all. For good reason, it seems.” Griff nodded, thinking back to the bear. The damned thing had been nightmare fuel for sure. He sat down in the chair Lisa indicated and Peabody made a connection without even being asked. A moment later the young couple’s faces appeared on the monitor.
“Griff!” Shari beamed at him, giving him a little wave in greeting. “You made it okay. We’re so glad.”
Mace was standing behind Shari and gave Griff a thumbs-up.
“Yeah, I’m here. Had a bit of a row with one o’ them zombie creatures. Bear big as a house! Tried ta eat me face. I screamed like a lil girl and fled for me life.”
He gave his best horrified face, putting his hands on his cheeks with his mouth and eyes wide open. Mace chuckled as Shari asked, “You’re all good, though? No wounds or contamination?”
Griff grimaced. “Broke up the Jeep pretty bad. Blood smeared along one side. But I didn’t touch it. And as far as I can see, none got inside where the food is. But I’ll check it real careful like.”
“I see you’ve met Lisa. And Evan too, I’m guessing?” Shari waited while Griff nodded, making a face she understood completely. Mace smirked behind her. He didn’t like Evan either.
Survivors Page 18
