S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND, Season One Omnibus (131 page)

Reggie exhales. I can see the muscles in his shoulder trembling. He's still shaky from his implant trying to activate. That and the strain of pushing the cabinet over to the door. He doesn't look well.

“
At least we know he's still close by,” Kelly says. “That's a good thing, because now we know he hasn't gotten very far, and that gives Heall time to get away.”

“
That would be true if we could get a hold of him,” I say.

“
Did you try to ping Micah's Link?” Reggie asks.

I nod. “But Micah answered.”

Reggie looks confused.

“
The brothers took it away from him last night. They were going to hold onto it—and Micah—until I got back with Kelly and Jake. Looks like he escaped.”

Reggie's look of confusion grows. “Go back?”

“
I was supposed to get you and Ash off the island, then return to Brookhaven with Kelly and Jake.”

“
Why?”

“
Because they're infected and the treatment only works for a limited amount of time. They need repeat injections.”

“
Repeat injections?”

“
They need to stay with Father Heall.”

Kelly gets up and walks away. “No, I don't believe it. Arc will have—”

“
Arc doesn't have anything like this, Kel,” I say over my shoulder. I turn back to Reg. “Anyway, the fact that Micah answered this Link means we can't get a hold of Heall.”

“
He could already be dead,” Kelly says. “All the more reason to forget about going back to Brookhaven.”

I bite my tongue. Reggie turns his dark eyes toward Kelly, but he doesn't say anything.

“
We won't leave without Ash,” I tell him. “I promise.”

He looks at me so hard that I have to look away.

“
Don't lie to me, Jess. You just told me that Kelly can't leave, so neither will you. That's an empty promise. Stop wasting my time.”

“
We'll still go after Ash. We still need to get to Ben before he gets to Heall.”

“
How often does the injection have to be given?”

I shrug. “Every few months. They don't know exactly.”

“
They don't know exactly?
” he cries. The noise in the hallway grows. Reggie lowers his voice and asks, “And Kelly doesn't want to go after them? I don't understand.” He raises a hand to his head and runs his fingers through his hair, making it stand up on end. He looks like a cartoon of somebody who's just been badly frightened. I guess he has. We all have. We should all be looking like that.

“
I don't buy it,” Kelly whispers. “So, Heall knows how to make the stuff. I'm sure there must be notes about how to make it. Someone else must know. He can't be working alone. One of the brothers, for example. They have to have some kind of laboratory set up, right? I mean, wasn't Brother Matthew some kind of scientist before the evacuation?”

“
Chemist,” Reggie answers.

I shake my head. “There is no lab, Kel. At least not to make the stuff.”

“
What the hell do you mean? Of course there's a lab. Unless you mean he's cooking it up in his kitchen, which I wouldn't doubt, not after that crap they were making with those leaves.”

I feel my face flush with anger. “If there's a lab, it's for testing. And, no, he doesn't make it in his kitchen, either.”

“
So, how does he make it?”

“
By staying alive.”

Both Kelly and Reggie frown at me.

“
It's his blood,” I tell them. “The treatment is his blood. I saw Brother Matthew extract it from his neck. He makes it in his blood. So, yes, if he dies, then there will be no more treatment.” I turn to Kelly. “And you will—I don't know when, but it'll happen—you'll turn into one of those things out there. Except somewhere inside of you, you'll still be aware of everything.”

I stand up. They both watch me, stunned looks on their faces. “So, stop arguing about whether we're going to leave or go find Ben or rescue Ashley. We need to figure out how we can get out of here. Then we stop Ben.”

 

Reggie stands and looks around
at our twenty-by-twenty prison cell, then at the elevator car. We've turned off all the lights in the room, so there's only the light spilling in from the hallway. He exhales noisily.

Kelly looks over from his perch beside the door, careful not to get too close, in case an IU reaches through and tries to grab him.

Reggie looks a lot better. He's still stiff and a bit shaky, and he keeps stopping and blinking, as if to clear his head. And he's squeezing his Link like he wants to crush the life out of it. Under different circumstances, I might think it was funny, since it's already dead. But it's not funny, and I'm worried that something's not right with him.

“
I tried to fix it,” Kelly quietly tells him. “I think something's loose inside, a connection or something.”

The news doesn't seem to make Reggie feel any better. He grunts and squeezes and blinks and paces.

“
Still out there?” I ask.

Kelly carefully leans over to look out into the hallway. He nods.

“
How many?”

“
I can see maybe…twenty. At least. Maybe thirty. Hard to tell.”

“
What are they doing?”

“
Just stand—”

He ducks down again, looking like a turtle that's been spooked.

“
They can't see you,” Reggie snorts.

“
The hell they can't.”

“
I think they can,” I tell him. “I don't know how, but I think they can see. They can definitely smell and hear. Just don't get too close.”

Reggie shivers. “It just doesn't seem possible. They're supposed to be dead. They have no heartbeat. They don't breathe.”

Tell that to the neck-breather
, I think.

“
Their blood is clotted and their brains turn to dust after a while,” he goes on. “Their eyes are all fucked up. How in the hell can they see or hear? How in the hell can they do anything? They haven't fucking eaten anything for thirteen years!” His voice rises. “How are they even possible?”

Kelly frowns at me. He looks worried.

“
I think there's a lot we don't know about them,” I quietly answer.

“
That's a damn understatement,” he grumbles. “I also think there's a lot we haven't been told about them either. Or were just plain lied to about.”

“
Just keep it down, Reg. This barricade isn't going to hold forever. The less strain we put on it, the longer it'll last.”

“
Any ideas yet?” I ask. “How are we going to get out?”

“
Through them?”

“
Is there any other way?”

“
Maybe they'll just wander off,” Reggie says. “Maybe they'll get bored.”

“
I don't think so,” Kelly whispers. “They're just standing there, like they're waiting for something. And in case you forget, they can out-wait us.”

“
Thanks for that little bit of news update,” Reggie says, giving him a dark look. He checks his Link again and once more I watch as he tries to boot it up. My own Link feels heavy in my pocket. I know he's thinking about it, wishing mine into his hands.

Not Kelly's, though. He'd never even think about asking for Kelly's.

It's not that we don't trust him. We know he won't try to contact Ashley again—and even if he did, it's not like it'd make any difference now. Even if Ben hadn't discarded it so we can't track him, he already knows we're here and alive. We're just afraid Reggie will somehow figure out Ashley's dead and go ballistic.

I think about Ben. I wonder what he meant by sending us something else. Is he really gone? Is he hanging around to watch us suffer? Is he that sick that our suffering is like a game to him?

The son of a bitch is long gone. Last thing he's going to want to do is stick around here just so he can torment us.

“
You're wrong,” Reggie mumbles.

Kelly looks over. “Wrong about what?”

“
Nothing,” Reggie answers. He walks over to one of the IUs we've killed and nudges it with his toe. Then he bends down to inspect it. “Never mind.”

“
What are you looking for?” I ask.

But he doesn't answer. He reaches over and grabs the knife and jabs it into the back of the IU's neck. Kelly and I watch him warily, wondering if he really has lost it. Finally he sighs and shakes his head. “No implant.”

“
They weren't Players, Reg. I could've told you that.”

“
I just thought… I don't know. How could someone make them all come in here and attack us?”

“
They attacked us because they're hungry and we were making a lot of noise.”

“
I'm glad they weren't Players,” I grumble. “They were a bitch enough to kill. If they were CUs, we'd all be dead.”

“
IUs shouldn't be so hard to kill.”

“
Says the man who slept through it all,” Kelly grumbles.

“
Oh, so now it's my fault?” Reggie hisses, the muscles in his face tensing.

“
Guys, hey, let's not start this right now. Please?”

The next several minutes pass without a word. Both boys continue their grumbling and fidgeting, but they keep their thoughts mostly to themselves. Nobody comes up with any ideas for getting out. Kelly keeps an eye on what's going on outside while Reggie paces. He crosses the room, limping, then turns and comes back. Then he sits and stares at the wall or his Link. Then gets up and paces again. He looks everywhere but at me or Kelly. He smolders from Kelly's implication that he didn't help. He doesn't remind us that if it weren't for his help, we never would have been able to block the door.

We don't blame him for not helping to fight. That's not what we're mad about. We're mad because he let Ben know we were still alive. Same reason he's mad at himself.

I want to pace, but the space is too small and I don't want to get in Reggie's way. I try to sit, but I can't. I'm exhausted, yet restless, full of pent up energy. I'm also afraid if I sit down, I'll never be able to get back up again. I think about going downstairs and checking on Jake, but I don't want to leave. I tell myself I don't want to leave the boys without the elevator, but the truth is, I don't want to leave them alone with each other, nor do I want to leave Reggie alone by himself. That leaves Kelly to check on Jake, and I don't think he wants to leave me with Reg, either, though for different reasons than mine.

If I'm being totally honest, I guess I don't want Kelly to check on Jake. I don't know why, I just don't.

I exhale with frustration. Both boys look at me resentfully, as if they think I'm waiting for them to come up with an answer. As if they expect me to come up with it.

I glance at the elevator again. It's a measure of last resort. Going downstairs to get away from the Undead might buy me and Kelly some time, but it would kill Reggie. Maybe we could just get into the car and close the doors and not go anywhere. We'd be safe like that for a little while. The zombies wouldn't be able to get in.

Not unless one of them managed somehow to push the button.

This worries me. I go over and inspect it. It's the usual recessed kind of button, but it wouldn't take much, an elbow or a bony hip, and the doors would open. And then what? There's no room inside to fight. They'd overwhelm us. We'd all die in there.

“
What are you doing?” Kelly asks.

“
Just looking for something to cover the button. Just in case.”

The boys seem to understand. They start looking around, too. It's something to keep them busy, something to distract them from not figuring out how to escape.

“
There's nothing,” Reggie says. “No cardboard or tape.” He gets up and pulls the plastic trashcan over and places it on the floor in front to block it. We all know it won't work.

I shake my head and start to pace.

I think some more about Jake downstairs. I picture him waking up, alone, scared.

He won't wake.

“
I should go check on Jake.”

The others don't answer.

I keep pacing. Kelly keeps watching the hallway. Reggie keeps squeezing his Link.

Finally I just give up. With a sigh, I go over and push the button and Kelly asks what I'm doing.

“
Somebody needs to check on Jake.”

Reggie looks over at Kelly, but Kelly purses his lips and doesn't say anything.

“
I'd go with you if I could,” Reggie offers.

“
I know,” I say. It's a nice gesture, and all three of us are acutely aware that Kelly doesn't make a similar offer. “I'd take the stairs, but—”

Kelly's head whips around. “Damn it, Jessie. Christ, I'm so stupid!” And his face pinches. “They're probably already downstairs.” He gestures into the hallway. “We left the door propped open.”

The three of us stare at one another for a moment, none of us speaking, realization dawning. I could go downstairs and walk right into a bunch of them.

“
Do you think they'd bother with him?” Reggie stammers. “Jake, I mean. He's already infected.”