Z

by Michael Thomas Ford

  “Come on,” Scrawl said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  He and Josh ran for the doorway. When they exited onto the platform, Josh looked over the railing. Far below them the burning body of the z lay on the floor. Then, to his horror, the zombie moved. She pulled herself along with her hands, managing to get about ten feet before collapsing.

  Scrawl scrambled quickly down the stairs. Josh followed. When they reached the bottom, they ran to the burning body. It was now nothing more than a charred mess, unrecognizable as anything approaching human. The flamethrower had done its job.

  Josh heard a crackling sound. Then the robotic voice he’d heard earlier said, “The quarry has been eradicated. Please report back to the rendezvous site.”

  The lights went up and Josh blinked as his eyes adjusted. Scrawl turned and started to walk away, but Josh grabbed his arm. “Hold up,” he said. “What just happened? That thing was real. The flamethrower is real. It’s not supposed to work.”

  “It’s a game,” said Scrawl. “That’s all.”

  He pulled his arm away from Josh’s grip and kept walking. Josh took one more look at the smoking body of the zombie and trotted after Scrawl.

  “That is real,” he said. “You can’t tell me it isn’t.”

  “You did a good job,” Scrawl said. “Well, except for taking us into a dead end. But you didn’t know the door wouldn’t open.”

  “And you did?” asked Josh.

  Scrawl grinned. “Got you,” he said. “The whole thing was set up to see how you’d do.”

  Josh’s mouth fell open. “Then the z wasn’t—”

  “Cybernetic,” Scrawl told him. “Clatter’s a robotics genius. He builds them for fun. Pretty real, huh?”

  Josh sighed. “Too real,” he said. “I just about lost it when the torch shot flame.”

  Scrawl laughed. “I did too the first time,” he said. “That’s another of Clatter’s tricks. He switches it on from the monitoring room.”

  “But I could have torched you!” Josh objected.

  “No chance,” said Scrawl. “Well, maybe a small chance, but Clatter doesn’t make it live until he’s sure you’re in position and anyone with you is out of the way.”

  Josh found himself laughing with relief.

  “The guy’s a little bit nuts,” said Scrawl. “But you’ve got to admit, that was intense.”

  “Yeah,” Josh agreed. “It was.”

  “You liked it,” said Scrawl. “I can see it in your eyes.”

  Josh hesitated a moment. “Yeah,” he said again. “I did.”

  They walked in silence until they got back to the starting point. Clatter and the other team members were there. When Josh drew near they all started clapping loudly. Charlie came up and high-fived him. “I knew you’d do it,” she said. Then she grinned. “Of course when I did my first run, I nailed the meatbag in about half that time.”

  “That was very good work,” Clatter told Josh.

  “That was a very realistic zombie,” Josh replied.

  Clatter laughed. “It’s nothing,” he said, although he sounded pleased. “Just a little hobby.”

  Josh looked at the others. “So you were all in on this?”

  Black-Eyed Susan laughed. “Consider it your initiation,” she said.

  “We were all watching from the monitor room,” Finnegan explained. “You really kept your cool.”

  “Yeah,” said Freya. “When Stash did his first run, he saw the z and just about burned my hair off.”

  Stash spat a shell toward Freya. “My meatbag was way scarier than his,” he said sullenly.

  The others laughed, and Josh saw Stash shoot him a look. I don’t think he and I are going to be best buds, he thought.

  “So, Josh, do you want to join our merry band?” Clatter asked.

  Josh nodded. “But I still don’t really get what you all do. This seems like a lot of work just to play the game.”

  “Ah,” said Clatter. “That’s very perceptive of you. You’re quite right. But you see, this is more than just a game.”

  “I don’t understand,” Josh said.

  Clatter came closer. “Before I explain further, I require your promise that whatever is said here remains here.”

  “Sure,” Josh said.

  Clatter cocked his head. “I’m very serious,” he said. “Don’t answer lightly. Should you break your promise, the ramifications are very … unfortunate.”

  “He means if you shoot your mouth off about this, we’ll make sure your reputation in the game community is dirt,” Seamus said.

  Josh hesitated. They were taking everything really seriously for it being a game. He wondered if he’d gotten himself in over his head. But it didn’t seem like he could back out now. “It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t talk.”

  “Excellent,” said Clatter. “Because Seamus is right. I’ve invested a great deal in this operation, and there are people who would dearly love to know how I’ve achieved what I have. It’s a business, and a very lucrative one.”

  “A business,” Josh repeated. “You mean people pay to play it? To play against us?”

  “Actually, they pay to watch you play it,” said Clatter. “And they make bets as to who will make the most kills in a game.”

  “Gambling,” Josh said.

  “I prefer to call it wagering,” said Clatter. “It’s more … civilized. We hold games, and people come to watch them. They place bets on the team as a whole or on individual players.”

  “Or on the meatbags,” Stash added.

  “Or on the zombies,” Clatter agreed.

  Josh thought about this for a moment. “But if you make the zombies and you own the team, how do the gamblers know you haven’t rigged everything?”

  “The wagerers,” said Clatter, “have generally had other dealings with me. They know me to be a man in whom they can place the utmost trust.”

  “And it’s all legal?” Josh asked. “I won’t get into any trouble?”

  Clatter smiled. “I admit that not every aspect of my operation is, shall we say, completely approved by the authorities. As you know, the topic of zombies is a very touchy one. I’m afraid there are some people who—if they knew about this—would call for us to be shut down due to their own ignorance and fear. But I assure you that I take very good care of my team. You have no need to worry.” He paused for a moment. “And of course you will share in the rewards of our success.”

  “You mean I’ll get paid?” said Josh, surprised.

  Clatter nodded. “As a junior member of the team, you’ll receive base pay of two percent of the take. In addition, you will receive a bonus for each zombie you dispatch during a game. And occasionally a wagerer will take a liking to a particular player and tip handsomely.”

  “Wow,” Josh said. “Getting paid to play the game. That’s pretty cool.”

  “We generally play one or two times a week,” Clatter continued. “I arrange the games so they interfere with your outside life as little as possible.”

  Josh shrugged. “I guess I don’t have any reason to say no,” he said. “I’m in.”

  A smile spread across Clatter’s face. “I’m very pleased to hear it,” he said. “Welcome to the team.”

  The others came and one by one shook his hand. When it was Stash’s turn he gripped Josh’s fingers tightly and gave them a painful squeeze, smiled stiffly, and said, “Good to have you.” Everyone else seemed genuinely glad to have him aboard.

  After Josh had been given an electronic-reader card containing a handbook to study, he and Charlie left the building together. This time they exited through a door that led to the back of a warehouse filled with boxes marked TEA.

  “There are a dozen or so ways in and out,” Charlie explained as they made their way to the street. “Some of them are in the handbook, but some you’ll only find out about when somebody shows you. By the way, make sure you memorize the handbook. You’ll have to give it back next time we meet.”

  �
��Tell me how you started playing,” Josh said.

  “Bess recruited me,” Charlie answered. “We played together in a hologame group.”

  “How long have you been doing it?”

  “About a year,” she said.

  “And the others?” asked Josh. “Have they all been playing that long?”

  Charlie shook her head. “They come and go,” she told him. “People burn out or move away. The only ones still here from when I joined are Scrawl and Bess.”

  “Scrawl seems like an interesting guy,” said Josh.

  “He used to be a tagger,” said Charlie. “A graffiti artist. That’s how he got his nickname. Clatter caught him tagging one of his buildings and trained him to be a Torcher. He’s nice like that. I know Clatter looks kind of weird, but he’s been great to me.”

  “I don’t think Stash likes me much,” Josh admitted.

  Charlie laughed. “Stash doesn’t like anybody. Or at least he pretends not to. I think really he just doesn’t know how to have friends. His family is kind of messed up. His dad is in prison for murder, and his mom is a drunk. He’s the youngest of six kids. The others all left, and he’s the one looking out for his mother. So don’t take it personally. He’s just not good at trusting people.”

  “It sounds like there are a lot of stories on the team,” Josh said.

  “There are,” said Charlie. “Finnegan and Seamus had a little trouble with setting things on fire and ended up in juvie. Clatter managed to get them out. They live with him, and he’s teaching them all about robotics. Freya’s dad is an ambassador. She got kicked out of three or four boarding schools, so now she lives with her dad, but he’s never around, and he has no idea whether she’s home or not.”

  “And Black-Eyed Susan?”

  “Bess?” Charlie said. “She’s kind of a mystery. No one really knows where she lives. Personally, I think she’s a runaway.”

  “So what’s your story?”

  Charlie grinned. “Mine’s pretty boring. Family I like. Good grades. No sociopathic tendencies. I’m just really good at playing the game.”

  “Same here,” Josh said. “I guess we’re the token normals.”

  They stopped in front of a subway entrance. “This is me,” she said. “Go home and read the manual. Com me if you have any questions. Clatter will let us know when the next game is.”

  “Will do,” said Josh. “Oh, and thanks for inviting me to play. This is going to be fun.”

  Charlie smiled. “It will be better than anything you could ever imagine,” she said.

  8

  Josh slipped the card into his reader and waited for it to load. Ever since he got home, he’d been dying to look at the manual, but first he’d had to sit through dinner with his family, and then he’d had to do his math homework. But now all that was done, and he could devote his attention to more interesting matters.

  The first section was standard Torcher information, basically an outline of the Rules. Josh already knew these by heart, so he skipped ahead to the next section, which was a description of the various zones in the playing field. In addition to the underground area in the Docklands, Clatter had set up three or four smaller fields throughout the city. One of them used the maze of underground tunnels beneath the abandoned Central Station, another was laid out in the ruins of the Great Park at the northern tip of the city.

  Josh pored over the different maps with growing excitement. He couldn’t believe Clatter’s operation was so extensive. This is going to be so cool, he thought as he tried to memorize as many details of the maps as he could. He wanted to impress the others the next time they played.

  As he was looking at a map of the sewers that ran beneath the ship graveyard, the telecom sounded an incoming call. “Firecracker is calling,” the machine’s voice said. “Firecracker is calling.”

  Josh went to his desk and hit the answer key. Firecracker’s face filled the screen. “How’s the paper going?” he asked.

  Josh wracked his brain. “The paper,” he said, a sinking feeling growing in the pit of his stomach.

  “Right,” Firecracker said. “Did you get your part done?”

  “Just about,” Josh lied. “I’m still researching a couple of things, but I’m almost finished.”

  “All right,” said Firecracker. “Make sure it’s good. My presentation is going to kick major butt, but it’s only half the grade. Don’t forget you have to submit the written report to Darjeeling by eight tomorrow. She’s going to have them graded before we do the presentations.”

  “Don’t worry,” Josh said. “It’ll be done.”

  “Okay,” Firecracker said. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Firecracker out.”

  The screen went dark, and Josh groaned. He’d forgotten all about the paper. He looked at the clock. It was almost ten. Reluctantly he closed the manual he’d been reading and started to pull up information on Antarctica.

  His computer beeped, signaling an incoming message. He opened it and saw a note from Charlie.

  The next game is Saturday. Meet me at the park at 1400 hours. Study the maps for Location 4.

  Saturday? That’s the day after tomorrow, Josh thought. That didn’t give him much time, especially since Friday night was family night, when he and Emily were forced to do something with their parents. You can’t show up unprepared, he told himself.

  He started to pick up the manual again, then remembered the planetary geography paper. Paper first.

  He worked quickly, locating the information he needed and cobbling it into something that resembled a paper. When he was done he read it through. It wasn’t his best work, but at least it was finished. Hopefully it was enough to get them a decent grade.

  He glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that it was after one o’clock. He was exhausted, but he forced himself to open the manual file and start reading again. Location Four was also in the Docklands. It was an old amusement park called Happy Time that had been built along the boardwalk. Since the ocean around the city had become too polluted to swim in, nobody went there anymore, and like everything in that part of the city, the boardwalk—and Happy Time—had been left to slowly fall apart. Josh had never been there, although his parents had told him and Emily stories about going there when they were kids.

  According to the manual, there were a number of buildings still standing at the park, as well as several underground tunnels that must have been used for maintenance purposes. They formed a complex maze that Josh found difficult to keep straight, so in order to memorize them he focused on one section at a time, taking in the details and then closing his eyes and trying to re-create the map in his mind.

  The problem was that every time he closed his eyes, he felt himself drifting into sleep. Several times he woke with a jerk, having dozed off in the middle of trying to picture a stairwell or hallway. Then one time he closed his eyes and didn’t wake up.

  Josh dreamed about trying to find his way out of a dank cellar. He’d lost his bearings and no longer knew where the stairs he’d come down were. Things were moving in the dark, and he couldn’t remember how to use his flamethrower. Hands were grabbing at him, and he felt cold breath on his face. The alarm clock jolted him awake.

  He sat up and looked around his room, his heart racing. The dream had been so real. There was a knock on the door, and Emily looked in.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Sure,” said Josh. “Why?”

  “You were yelling in your sleep,” his sister told him.

  “Oh,” said Josh. “It was just a nightmare.”

  Emily nodded. Then she noticed the reader lying next to Josh on the bed. She came in and picked it up. “What are you reading?”

  “No!” Josh yelled, grabbing the reader from her.

  “Ohhh,” Emily said, a grin spreading across her face. “You were looking at something naaauugh-ty!”

  “I was not!” Josh countered. “It’s just something for school.”

  “Okay,” Emily said, giving Jo
sh an exaggerated wink. “Sure.”

  “Get out of here,” said Josh. “I have to get dressed.”

  Emily scurried out, laughing, and shut the door. Josh looked at the reader. It was still open to the map of Location Four. Close call. If Emily had seen the map, she definitely would have asked a lot of questions.

  Twenty minutes later Josh was downstairs having breakfast. Emily looked at him from across the table and smiled sweetly. “Read any good books lately?” she asked.

  Josh glowered at her.

  “Don’t forget, tonight is family night,” his father said. “We’re going to go play mini golf.”

  “Yay!” Emily said, genuinely excited by the news. Josh was a little excited too. Mini golf was super old-fashioned, but it was also kind of cool. He would never let his parents know, but secretly he was looking forward to it.

  Fortunately for him, the mini golf news also made Emily forget all about the reader. On the train to school all she talked about was how much fun it was going to be. When she got off at her stop, she waved good-bye to Josh and ran to catch up with some of her friends who had been riding in the car ahead of theirs.

  The rocking motion of the train almost lulled Josh back to sleep, and he was glad when he reached his stop and could get out into the cool air.

  Firecracker caught up with him as Josh was opening his locker. “Did you get it done?” he asked.

  “I did,” Josh answered. “And I sent it to Darjeeling. The rest is up to you.”

  “Piece of cake,” said Firecracker. “I’ll see you later.”

  The day dragged on. At lunch Josh tried to perk himself up by downing an energy drink, but all it did was make him feel sick. By the time planetary geography class rolled around in the afternoon, he was both wired and sleepy. It was a horrible combination, and all he wanted to do was sit at his desk and zone out.

  Unfortunately, he had to listen to the other presentations. There was going to be a test on the information, so he forced his eyes open and tried to concentrate on what was being said. Beside him, Firecracker’s leg bounced up and down anxiously as he waited his turn to go before the class.