by Noah Barnett
Elva disappeared into the changing room next with the two extra mods. After a few seconds came out with a flush over her face. His phone began to ring, which was likely Jennifer, since it was nearing seven o'clock.
"How about you and Elva wander into the clothing store. Pick out something for yourself, and a shirt for me too." He said holding the rifle at arms length. Fara appeared after a brief flash and the two weapons left the store.
"Jen?" He asked answering the call.
"I want to thank you," the woman said.
Charlie was bewildered. "Thank me? I feel horrible about instigating all of this."
"It was you, who tore the rose colored glasses from my eyes. You told me Stephan was an asshole, but like some starry-eyed fan girl, I kept brushing it off. More than a few Toreador knew about Stephan's little escapades. I was a fool." She said allowing the bitter tone to creep into her words.
Changing the phone to his other ear he replied, "So he made you a rogue?"
"That was just to give him time to remove all my access codes. Even without them, I've been gathering my own loyal forces. Tomorrow I'll leave the sanctuary, and if I'm still a rogue, there will be a civil war. Half the clan elders will support me in the fight to become the new prince." Jen said.
"He'll have that fancy flaming sword though," Charlie warned.
She laughed dryly before saying, "Not likely, he'll be too worried the relic will get stolen in the melee." It was nice to know Jen hadn't given up, and that asshole Stephan was going to get his shit pushed in.
"Where are you now?" Charlie asked. He was hoping to steer her attention back to Gun Meister.
"I don't know, some shitty little motel lobby." She said over the phone.
"If you're near the competition center, I think I know where you are. I'm at the mall buying some things, so I should be about ten minutes. If not I'll call the pay-phone number back." He said hanging up the mobile. Charlie slipped the device back into his pocket.
His two weapons had returned while he'd been on the phone. Fara had tied his green army jacket around her waist. She wore a torn black t-shirt, which showed off a newly pierced belly button. Across the front, in glowing green letters it read, "To serve man."
Charlie recognized the reference, and he smiled. Deep down Fara might have a sense of humor, though it was a tad dark. She held out a small shopping bag, which he took with some trepidation. Elva was smiling precociously and that worried him. Fara must have hunted all over for just the right thing, because inside was a tiny pink t-shirt. Charlie almost admired Fara's sheer audacity as he examined the shirt. There was a funny smiley face and a rainbow with the words, "Sorry Girls… I'm Gay."
"Well, this will teach me to ask you for anything." He groaned removing his Kevlar armor and tugged the tight pink t-shirt on. It barely fit over his lean frame, and Elva coughed.
"You're going to wear it?" Elva asked still trying to stifle her laughter. He shrugged.
"It'll be under my armor anyway," he said pulling the form fitting gear back on. "Your weapon skin will have to wait. I need to meet with a friend." He added tossing the shopping bag into the garbage. Charlie wrapped an arm around both girls. Elva looked pleased; Fara less so, but she didn't move away. He guided the girls out to the parking lot and into the Mustang. The cheap coffin motel was a few blocks down. A tall woman with platinum blonde hair pushed open the door, and climbed into his idling muscle car without a pause.
"Yohan is gone," Jennifer said in annoyance.
"Who? Oh, your pistol." Charlie said, and glanced around for the big German hunk, but he wasn’t in sight. Charlie put the car in reverse and said, "It's been more than a month, so you lost the contract with him. People quit or stop playing for various reasons. The game isn't going to let guns sit around twiddling their thumbs."
"Where is he?"
"Most likely he's contracted with another Meister. If not, he'll be at the Armory." Charlie informed her backing out of the lot. He threw the car into first and spun out down the road.
"Can I get him back?" Jen asked loudly over the roar of the engine.
"If he's available, otherwise we'll find you a new one."
Turning the corner. The Armory came into view after a few minutes. The inside of the hotel had changed considerably since he was last here. Half of the lobby now resembled a gun store. Pistols were laying inside glass cases, and long guns hung on hooks behind the counter. The developers must have finally gotten around to decanting a new batch.
There was a metric ton of bikini clad females just lounging around. Hungry eyes locked onto him as they entered, but Charlie ignored the stares. He walked quickly to a couple of consoles, and activated one.
"You can probably search for him," Charlie said gesturing at a terminal.
Jen tapped a few commands into the search box. "He's here," she said excitedly. Charlie wasn't surprised. Gun Meister catered to the male ego, stroking it like an expert violinist. Even the supposed girl players were, in all likelihood, men in real life. Which explained the disproportionate ratio of female guns.
"Give him a buzz," Charlie suggested. The massive German appeared less than a minute later. His hair was wet as if he'd just climbed from a swimming pool, and there was an unused towel casually thrown over his shoulder.
Charlie and Jen moved to meet the Olympic God. His eyes found them and narrowed. "What do you want? No, don't answer that. I know why you're here, and no thanks. You'll just piss yourself again and quit." The man said in a cold Germanic voice. Jen blushed a dark crimson and turned to flee, but Charlie caught her by the elbow and spun her back around.
"Guns aren't stupid NPC's like in your vamp game. Convince him." He whispered into her ear. She had nothing left to lose at this point. The girl was still blushing as she faced the tall weapon.
Her back straightened as she said, "You’re right, I was terrified of even holding you. I might just quit again, but I paid for the three-month subscription. I want to try so, please… please let me be your Meister." She answered fidgeting. Her fingers worked together like she was tying a knot with her digits. It didn't take much convincing after all. Weapons went out of their way to find a Meister. Having one beg him instead must have tickled the man immensely.
"Come here, give me your hand," he said. Jen glanced at Charlie but stepped forward. She held out her arm, and the massive German grabbed her wrist. She was yanked forward and lifted off her feet. The man wrapped one arm around her torso as he forced her head away. Then his teeth sank into the flesh of her neck.
"Owwhhh…" Jennifer squealed. She gasped in pain and kicked her legs, but it made no difference. The tall German was inhumanly strong as he pressed the woman to his chest. Blood trickled down the back of her neck as he started sucking.
"Ohhh, oh…" Jen wailed but stopped struggling. She dangled in his grasp for another twenty seconds before the man dropped her. Jennifer stumbled back, touched her bleeding neck, and glared up at the weapon darkly. Yohan offered the towel to her, which she took and pressed to the side of her neck.
"You bit me."
"Interesting turn around isn't it. You've been a vampire for what, two years? Is this the first time you've been on the receiving end." Charlie said with a laugh. Despite the fact she'd just lost several pints of blood her face was beet red.
"Why didn't you tell me about that?" She asked angrily.
"Would you believe me if I said, I only found out today." He offered lifting his armor and shirt. The wound on his stomach was healed over, but Fara’s teeth marks were still visible.
"You have a weapon, that's what matters," Charlie said turning away. He hoped to escape the building before they were both accosted by a host of guns. Jennifer followed still holding the towel to her neck.
"What now?" She questioned as Charlie climbed into the Mustang.
"Weapons training."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Bloody the Water
Jennifer was unlike the other two blondes in the car. Elva and Far
a both had hair the color of rich honey while hers was a white gold. She removed the towel from her throat. The bite mark was already scarring over, but her face wrinkled as she touched the wound.
"I'll have to be nicer to my blood dolls," she muttered under her breath.
As the car pulled up to the stop light he asked, "You got a three-month subscription?"
Jennifer pushed her windblown hair back over her ear and said, "It was cheaper than by the month. I don't know if I'll stay, but I'm willing to give the game another try."
She opened the glove compartment and shoved the blood stained towel inside. Charlie was almost two months into Gun Meister himself, and in the next few days he'd hit Gold rank, so he had high hopes for converting the girl. The light turned green, and the Mustang slid forward with the traffic.
The competition center was already half full of cars when they arrived. Charlie climbed from the mustang first, and held out a hand which Elva took. She stepped out primly and smoothed the rumpled mini-skirt. Jennifer watched in amazement as the weapon used the side mirror to fix her hair. The wind had ruined her careful bun, and she tucked the stray strands back into place.
"That's incredible," Jennifer said.
"What is?"
"She just used a random object as a reflective surface. In 'Blood and Pride' an NPC wouldn't even try doing that without a compact or a bathroom mirror." She said in amazement.
"Any object with a high enough reflectivity is technically tagged as a mirror," Elva answered for herself. Jennifer stared at the woman utterly fascinated.
"You'll find that Gun Meister has a substantially more complex NPC system than you’re used too."
"Why waste it on this?" Jennifer asked pointing to the competition center.
"I disagree that it's a waste. I think Gun Meister is the perfect platform to test the system on. Imagine what would happen if you dropped Elva here into Blood and Pride. She would hunt you down and stake you within a week. In that game, you play a monster of the night, and the NPC's your prey. Here we are just human. Elva is my tool, which I use to kill other humans, so there's no moral quandary there. Still, you'd be surprised at the depth of Gun Meister." Charlie stated slipping an arm around Elva’s waist and glanced at Fara. After a brief second the teenager stepped into his waiting arm, which was a big step indeed.
They walked inside, and Charlie led them to the back stairs, and down to a series of simulation ranges. A counter nearby rented space and sold everything from pistol rounds to 40mm grenades.
"I don't have any money," Jen complained as she noticed the prices.
Charlie waved off her statement,"Not a problem. Credits come and go." A bland looking NPC was manning the shop. "We'd like to rent a lane, and I'll take ten boxes of 9mm as well." He said and touched the console nearby.
_____________
Player ID - NA1339872
Registered Competition Name - Charlie
Clan - None
Hours played - 234
Wins - 44
Losses - 19
Kills - 57
Deaths - 22
K/D Ratio - 2.6
Battle Rank - Silver Four
Player Score - 1590
Credits - 58,739c
His information flashed on the screen, and he accepted the charge. The NPC brought the boxes to the counter which he scooped up. Jennifer followed him in through the range door. He plopped the ammo down on the loading bench and turned to his co-worker.
"I'm not a proud man. I admit I screwed up badly when I started playing this game. I rushed into doing matches and slammed my head into a brick wall. Thankfully, I have a rather thick skull." He joked knocking his knuckles against his own forehead.
Jennifer smiled briefly.
"Training. It sounds boring, but it'll give you the skills you need to have fun. Two things will help you succeed. Being observant. I can't teach you all the tips and tricks to searching for enemies. For that, you have to learn on your own. Don't give away more information than you have to, and keep your eyes on a swivel."
He carefully chose his next words, mainly because Jen seemed to have a minor phobia of guns. She'd been ejected from the game, but Charlie hadn't been much better. He'd basically shat himself after killing his first player.
"The second thing you need to do is manage your stress. We all get jacked up on adrenaline, that's normal. When your heart starts racing your aim will suffer, and you'll make bad decisions." Charlie activated the screen and went down the list until he found the training scenario he wanted.
"That's what we are going to work on today," he continued gesturing to the scene. The dull concrete firing lane flashed, and they were standing on the wrong side of a dead-end alley. Thirty meters away the alley mouth opened onto a packed street. A horde of zombies shambled past in a river of dead flesh. Behind them, a chain link fence was topped with razor sharp barbed wire. On either side, the brick buildings loomed without exit or escape. The loading bench transformed into a small overturned dumpster.
There was a gurgled moan from the street, and a zombie walked into sight followed by several more. Jennifer looked nervously at Yohan, who started to glow, and a pistol appeared on the damaged dumpster.
"This one is called Zombie Alley. It will get you used to shooting and reloading under stress." Charlie said standing behind the blond.
Jennifer held the weapon nervously between her hands. She aimed at a zombie twenty meters down the alley and fired. The bullet punched into the pizza delivery boy’s chest, but he continued forward unconcerned. The weapon barked again hitting him in the stomach.
"You have to aim for the head. That's the only way you can kill them." Charlie advised as two more zombies entered the alley.
"I know, that's what I was doing," she said taking aim again.
"Let them get closer before shooting," he suggested. The first zombie slowly shuffled forward until it was close enough they could smell the rotting stench of death. Jennifer wrinkled her nose in disgust as she fired the pistol again. The bullet struck the zombie in the forehead, and it disappeared in a twinkle of lights.
Charlie opened the first box of ammo and started to reload. She fired two more times before the next zombie disappeared, then struck a zombie in the shoulder. It's ear came off with the next bullet, and she whiffed her third shot completely. Jen may have been trained in another game but she was using Point Shooting. Technically a valid way to use a pistol but it took a lot of practice. Likely they used it in Blood and Pride because the skill system favored it, but in Gun Meister, she was struggling to hit her target. Within a minute, a dozen shambling corpses were headed there way.
Her H&K USP’s slide locked back on an empty chamber. The zombie continued forward dragging its right foot and Jen struggled to reload her magazine. Jennifer turned the weapon in her hand and pressed the release. She awkwardly slid her spare into the well and racked the slide. The zombie was only a few steps away as she raised the pistol. Jen fired twice and the zombie disappeared. Three more walked into the alley attracted by the noise. Charlie stooped to pick up the dropped magazine, and started to load bullets as Jen fired at a groaning cheerleader.
"How long does this last?" She asked.
"Until you're dead," Charlie replied cheerfully. He slipped the last bullet into the mag and set it on the dumpster next to Jennifer. "That's why I bought so much ammo."
By now, the reek of decay permeated the alley like a palpable miasma, and Charlie thought this was a brilliant touch. The pungent stink alone was enough to make anyone nervous. Jennifer waited impatiently for the next zombie to get within arms reach. Then fired once hitting the corpulent sloth between the eyes. Another two zombies entered the alley. Each bullet she fired attracted another corpse, and killing a zombie added two more. Someone who didn't manage their aim would quickly be swamped. Jen dropped the mag and grabbed the one on the dumpster. She reloaded and fired four times at the closing zombie, who disappeared in a shower of light.
"You have de
cent aim, but you get easily spooked. I had the same problem."
"You did this?" She asked.
"Oh yeah. Zombies have eaten me so often I must be their favorite meal," Charlie laughed, as he picked up the mag on the ground.
He turned and started loading bullets. Thirty zombies shuffled to the back of the alley, and each one gave off a fetid aura of decay. Jen fired at an undead police woman, and a wooden truncheon tumbled to the ground as the officer disappeared in a sparkle of light. Jen snatched the fresh mag from the dumpster, and slotted it into the gun.
