Countdown (5 page)

I tried to think back through the thick storm cloud of memories. “The accountant.”
He nodded. “Take a look.”
I looked in the direction he pointed to see the man who had been featured on the holoscreen. Bernard Jones. I recognized his balding head and bland features. He emerged from an electronics shop with a bag of purchases, then turned left and started walking toward the same exit we were headed for.
I heard the whir as a camera moved behind us. It was moving behind things to stay hidden from any regular people.
Rogan’s attention was fixed on the man. “We’ve got to follow him.”
“He’s got a wife. And a kid.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And we can’t let him leave our sight.”
“There are ten minutes remaining in this level of
Countdown
.”
I turned to meet Rogan’s gaze.
“You know what we’re supposed to do,” he said, his jaw tensing. “And we have ten minutes to do it.”

To successfully complete level three you are required to assassinate him,
Jonathan’s instructions echoed in my mind.
I shook my head. “No. It’s not going to happen.”
“Do you want us to die?”
I blinked at him as a sick churning steadily grew in my gut. “I don’t want us to die. But I also don’t want to kill a man I’ve never met before. Somebody who doesn’t deserve it or even see it coming. There’s no way.”
“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me along with him. “We can’t let him get away.”
“You can’t kill him.”
“It’s him or us.”
“I don’t care.”
“We’ll see if you’re still thinking that way in a few minutes.”
“I’m not capable of murder. I’m not like you.”
Rogan let go of my hand but kept walking. He didn’t look at me. “You don’t know what I’m capable of. You don’t know me.”
“I don’t want to know a sick bastard like you.” I pressed my lips together to keep from saying anything more. That had sounded crueler than I’d wanted it to.
That earned me a sharp look. “We’re running out of choices. Get that through your pretty head. There are no choices. We do what they tell us to or we die.”
“Maybe I don’t care. My family was murdered. I’d never do that to another person’s family. I’d rather die first.”
“I’m not in the mood to argue with you, Kira. We don’t have the time.”
I watched as Bernard Jones exited the mall through the swinging doors.
“So you’re going to follow him and then what?”
“And then I’m going to kill him.” He raised an eyebrow. “But then again, I am a sick murdering bastard, right?”
“So it’s that simple for you?”
His fists clenched at his sides. “You’re acting as if I have a choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
“Not for me,” he said grimly. “Not anymore.”
And with that he stalked out of the entrance to follow his prey. I raced to keep up with him.
Kill or be killed.
There had to be another way. And I needed to figure it out. Fast.

BERNARD JONES WALKED DOWN THE SIDEWALK outside of the mall completely oblivious to the fact that he was being stalked.
“Where’d the camera go?” I looked around the area, gray and bland, and noticed that we were alone again.
“It’s around, I’m sure.”
“You seem to know a lot about how this game works.”
He raised a dark eyebrow. “Do I?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yeah. You do. Who are you, Rogan? Who are you really?”
“I’m nobody.” He f linched and looked away from me, but not before I saw a hint of pain slide through his gaze. “You’re imagining things.”
Was that a moment of vulnerability? It was enough to unbalance me again. “I—I’m not imagining anything. I swear I’m going to figure out what your real story is.”
“Sure. Good luck with that.” His gaze returned to mine, but this time it was more guarded. “You think you can figure out what makes me tick other than the countdown in my head?” “Don’t make fun of me.”
“But you make it so easy.” He gave me a sideways glance, a bit of humor returning to his eyes. “Do you give all the guys in your life such a hard time?”
“There are no guys in my life.”
“What about your boyfriend, Oliver?”
I made a face. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“And what the announcer said about you using your body to get whatever you want?” His gaze slid down the length of me.
I ignored the sudden heat in my cheeks. “It’s not true. And even if it was, it wouldn’t get me what I want right now.”
“Which is?”
“To get out of this game.”
“So, that’s all you want? To get out of this game?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
Bernard slipped behind a corner of a crumbling building ahead.
“Then I want to figure out how to get into the Colony,” I said.
He smiled thinly. “Everybody wants to get into the Colony. What’s so great about that place, anyway?”
“It’s not here. It’s a place where somebody can make a fresh start and have a chance at a better life.” I crossed my arms as I trudged along. I didn’t want to reveal too much of myself to Rogan, considering how little I knew about him. It made me uncomfortable. “What about you? If you don’t want to go to the Colony, what do you want?”
“Revenge.” He said it so quickly that it surprised me.
“Against who?”
He smiled cruelly, showing his perfect white teeth. “Against everyone who’s screwed me over. Trust me, it’s a long list.”
His cold words chilled me. “I’ll try my best to stay off it.”
“Good idea.”
“There are seven minutes left in this level of
Countdown,
”
the disembodied voice announced.
Rogan’s shoulders tensed, and he picked up his pace.
“Wait.” Panic welled in my chest. “There has to be another way.”
He met my gaze, and I could see his was strained. “I have a theory. This guy…this Bernard Jones…he’s a plant, a paid actor. Something. Maybe he’s not as innocent as you think. Maybe he knows what’s going on, and this is just another test.”
“Why would you think that?”
He shook his head. “I’m not positive. But, the game…they don’t bring in outsiders. They don’t target civilians who have nothing to do with
Countdown
in the first place, it’s just not their style.”
“You keep talking about the game like you know all about it.
How?
”
“You’re going to have to take my word for it, Kira. Just listen to me. If they start bringing in unassuming civilians, then they run the risk of being exposed. The last thing the Subscribers want is to have their friends and family learn their dirty little secret—that they pay money to see torture and murder on live TV.”
It made sense. Even though the cops might not care what happened to criminals, they’d definitely care what happened to the regular civilian. The city might be a mess, but it wasn’t total chaos.
“So, you think all we need to do is confront him? Get him to admit who he really is?”
He nodded. “That’s my theory. I’m hoping like hell I’m right.”
Before I could say anything else, Rogan stopped walking and shouted, “Bernard Jones!”
The man halted and turned around. We were currently in the middle of a city parking lot that was totally abandoned. No cars. Nobody was even in the pay booth. Dusk had begun to creep in and the shadows grew longer in front of us.
Even from a distance I could see Bernard’s wariness as he saw the teenage boy who’d called out his name.
“What do you want?” he asked.
“Just to talk,” Rogan said.
“Who are you?”
“I’m Rogan. This is Kira. We need some help.”
He shook his head. “Not from me, you don’t.”
I looked back in the direction of the mall, but it was blocked by other buildings. This part of the city was vacant.
No witnesses.
No witnesses except for the cameras, that is. Two of them approached from behind us, parting and moving to either side of the parking lot.
Multi-view. How convenient.
“Who are you, Bernard?” Rogan asked.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“I mean, who are you? Who sent you here? Tell me what you know.”
Bernard shook his head. “I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
There was a sharp, discarded piece of metal on the ground, and Rogan snatched it up. He moved closer. “You have very little time. Tell us who you really are.”
“There are five minutes remaining in this level of
Countdown.
”
Bernard’s eyes widened, but he said nothing to give any indication that he was a game plant.
Oh, God,
I thought.
He
is
just a civilian
.
“Rogan, what are you doing?” My heart was pounding painfully against my ribs.
He didn’t look at me. “I already told you. I’m doing what I have to do.”
I shook my head. “You can’t. Please. My family—”
“What happened to your family has nothing to do with this.” He glanced over his shoulder at me and met my gaze. “I’m sorry, Kira. There’s no other choice. Not if we want to live.”
His eyes held a look of despair, which quickly closed off to cold blankness. Then he tore his gaze from mine and stalked toward Bernard.
Bernard froze as Rogan approached, weapon in hand.
Why wasn’t Bernard running? We didn’t have him cornered.
“You’re Bernard Jones,” he said.
“Yes. I already said I was. I don’t know what this is about. I—I don’t want any trouble.”
“Neither did I.”
The man blinked nervously. “Listen, you can have my money. All of it. Just don’t hurt me.”
“Money doesn’t do me any good anymore.”
I’d approached on Rogan’s left side, and I touched his arm, which felt every bit as hard as that metal bar would.
“Rogan…” He was going to kill this man in cold blood. I could see the icy determination in his eyes. I felt as helpless as I had the night my family was killed, when all I could do was hide in the dark and wait for the horrible silence to finally come, the silence that meant it was all over.
“Please!” Bernard’s voice shook as he eyed the shiny weapon. “I have a family who needs me.”
“Do I look like I care?” Rogan’s voice caught on the last word.
“I recognize you,” Bernard babbled. “You…you’re Rogan Ellis. You killed people. Girls. Killed them brutally. Some while they were asleep in their beds. I remember seeing it on the news.”
A tremor went through Rogan at his words. “Do you believe everything you see on the news?”
“You’re going to kill me, too, aren’t you?
Aren’t you?
” He fell to his knees and shielded his face with his hands.
“Rogan, please don’t do this,” I begged. I didn’t understand why this man was giving up so easily, without a fight. Without any physical resistance at all. “Please!”
Rogan’s chest heaved in and out. Then he raised the piece of metal above his head as if he would bring it down in a death blow.
But…something stopped him. Slowly he lowered the weapon back down to his side.
He looked at me, his brows drawn tightly together over haunted eyes. “Do
you
believe everything you see on the news, too?”
My breath caught. “I don’t watch the news. But, no. I make my own decisions. And you…I—I don’t believe you’re a bad person—no matter what they say. I
don’t.
You’re better than this. I know you are.”
I meant every single word. Somehow, I just hadn’t realized it before this moment.
His hands were shaking. “I can’t do it, Kira. I can’t do it. I can’t kill an innocent man. Even to save us. We’re going to lose.”
The deadly piece of metal fell from his grip.
“There are four minutes remaining in this level of
Countdown.
”
I pulled Rogan to me and hugged him tight. “It’s okay. This isn’t losing. If you’d done it,
that
would be losing to me.”
Bernard was fumbling around in his pockets. He let go of his shopping bag, and it hit the cement with a thud. Pieces of paper and old tissues fell out of his jacket pockets.
What was he looking for? His wallet? His ID? A piece of gum?
Then he pulled out a gun and raised it up to Rogan’s head.
When he smiled, there was something unnatural about it. “Other contestants have taken me out in less than ten minutes.”
Rogan tensed and swore under his breath as he let go of me, shoving me behind him. “I knew it.”
“You are supposed to be a remorseless murderer. I expected that you would have no problem at all with this level. She—” he nodded at me “—was the wild card. She’s not a murderer. It would have been interesting to see if she tried to stop you, but she didn’t.”
“I did,” I said as confusion slid through me over this unexpected turn of events. “I didn’t want him to kill you.”
He shrugged. “You didn’t put up much of a fight. He would have killed me, and you would not have stopped him. Unfortunately, Rogan Ellis is a coward. The Subscribers will be horribly disappointed. According to a recent poll, they had very high expectations that you would survive this level.”
Rogan eyed the gun. “Ask me if I give a shit what the Subscribers think.”
Bernard smiled that strange, steady smile. “It is fine. The Subscribers will be sated when I eliminate both of you for failing to complete the level successfully.” He moved the gun toward me. “Perhaps I will start with you, Kira Jordan.”
Rogan put an arm in front of me. “What are you?”
I frowned at his choice of words:
What,
instead of
who
.
Bernard’s head swiveled toward him. “I am highly surprised you don’t already know the answer to that, Rogan Ellis. I am an Ellipsis Cyber Drone, model number 6.1.”
What kind of an answer was that? What did that even mean?
“An
Ellipsis
Cyber Drone?” Rogan’s eyebrows shot up. “But—but how?”
“There have been many advancements made in artificial intelligence in recent years, Rogan Ellis,” Bernard said evenly. “I am only one of them.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, breathless, my hands raised in front of me, shaking. This was too much to understand— my head spun with confusion and frustration.
“He’s a robot,” Rogan growled without taking his eyes off Bernard. “With a very advanced artificial intelligence program. I knew there was something wrong, but I guess I just don’t trust my instincts anymore. Of course they wouldn’t make us kill a civilian.”
“Three minutes remain in this level of
Countdown.
”
Bernard’s fake smile slipped back to reveal more of his bright white teeth. “Rogan Ellis, a murderer scheduled to be transferred to Saradone Maximum Security Prison in three days, could not bring himself to kill an Ellipsis Cyber Drone. For that, both of you shall be eliminated from the game.”
A cold line of perspiration slid down my spine.
The robot smirked, and suddenly I could see what he truly was. Before I’d been too much in shock to see that this guy didn’t look human after all. He was too shiny, too seamless. His eyes ref lected no inner personality. His voice had a slight metallic tininess to it that reminded me of the computer countdown in my head.
“Rogan Ellis, willing to risk his life to compete on
Countdown
rather than go to prison. Did you fear it? Did you have nightmares of what might happen to you there? My database tells me that the scar on your face is from a fight with two of your roommates at St. Augustine’s. They wanted to kill you. Instead, you killed one of them with your bare hands. You are a killer.”
“You’re right,” Rogan growled, before f licking a look at me. “I am a killer. Don’t doubt it. And I’d kill that son of a bitch again if I got the chance.”
“Self-defense,” I whispered, my throat tight. “It’s different.”
“Didn’t feel different to me.”
“There are two minutes remaining in this level of
Countdown.
”
“You know what, robot?” Rogan said with zero emotion in his voice. “I still have two minutes left to reduce you to a pile of tin cans. You can’t kill us until
after
the level’s done, right? So, we still have time.”
The robot nodded with a firm jerk of his head. “This is true. I cannot kill you yet.”
He lowered the gun and pulled the trigger.
I fell to the ground, screaming and clutching my leg where the bullet had ripped into my upper right thigh.
“Kira!” Rogan roared.
“However,” the robot continued. “I can still entertain the Subscribers as we wait for the level to come to its conclusion.” He chambered another round. “Rogan Ellis, I would have believed that you would appreciate watching another young girl writhing around in agony before her inevitable death. Why do you look so unhappy?”
I could barely hear him. My leg was on fire, and it was all I could do to wrestle through the pain. For a moment, my vision went completely white. I couldn’t hear anything except the countdown, now at one minute.
One minute until there would be no more pain.
“59…58…57…”
Rogan rushed Bernard and grabbed his arms, wrestling him to the ground. The gun skittered across the pavement, coming to rest an arm’s reach away from me.
“Son of a bitch!” Rogan snarled as he pounded his fist into the robot’s face. Through my blurred vision I saw a glimmer of metal show beneath the artificial skin.
With a metallic roar, Bernard f lipped Rogan onto his back, effortlessly pinning him to the ground. A viselike metal grip fastened around his neck.
“Do not fear, Rogan,” the robot said in an eerily calm voice. “It will all be over soon. You failed. You failed Kira Jordan and you failed yourself.”
“30…29…28…”
I reached out and wrapped my hand around the gun, and then staggered up on my left leg, doing my best to ignore the searing pain in my right leg. Nausea nearly forced me back down to the ground. Swaying unsteadily, I somehow managed to stay upright. Bernard looked up at me from where he had Rogan pressed against the hard ground. I could see the robot underneath the skin. Just multicolored wires and smooth silver metal like the cameras that spun around the area taking in every angle of the scene. His skin must have been plastic. Just plastic.