New Reality: Truth (2 page)

Fire tore through Jake's biceps and his entire body shook. With both men grunting and moaning, they slowly raised Thalia from the ground.

Holding her in place, Jake tried to blink away the sweat stinging his eyes. "Hurry up, Tom." Each breath was shallower than the last, and he shook more vigorously. "The Bots will be here soon."

The only thing Jake saw move was Tom's Adam's apple. It bobbed on his long neck. "Hurry up, for fuck's sake!"

The tall man moved around in front of her, grabbed the headset and froze again.

When Thalia slipped, Jake had to adjust his feet to hold her upright. Gravity was winning. "I can't hold her forever, man."

The glaze had returned to Tom's eyes as he stared at his wife's face.

As soon as the acrid smell hit Jake it smothered him. Settling on the back of his throat, it tasted like stale sweat. When he looked down, he saw excrement leaking over her waistband. Several heaves flipped his skinny body. What little strength he had in his arms vanished. His legs went bandy. His stomach clamped. "Do you need me to do it, Tom?" More shit belched out. Rixon's synthesized sludge went through the gamers like water.

Tom shook his head.

"Well, bloody hurry up then." Jake slipped again. The woman rolled to the side, but adrenaline helped him stabilize her. Grit flew into his eyes. "If you don't hurry up, I swear I'm going to drop her. If I drop her, she ain't coming back up again."

Tears glistened on Tom's cheeks.

"On the count of three, yeah?" Jake said. He looked around. Still no Bots.

Tom didn't respond.

"One."

The tall man came to life. "Am I doing the right thing, Jake? Will she be grateful for being freed from New Reality? Is a harsh truth better than a fake paradise?" His eyes widened. The effort of shouting turned his face beetroot. "Will this fucking work?"

Cramps held Jake's shoulders in a tough grip. "We can't turn back now. Two..."

Tom was hyperventilating.

"Three!"

"Arghh!" Tom yanked the headset free.

Thalia's shrill scream jabbed Jake's ears, and all he wanted to do was drop her. It sounded like she was being skinned alive. The Bots must have heard that. The people in the tower probably heard that one too.

With the headset in his hands, Tom held it as the food tube recoiled back inside. It left a line of white syrup up his chest. Dropping it, Tom grabbed his wife's shoulders.

Stepping back, Jake let Tom take the weight, his own limbs close to giving up. While scanning for Bots, he rolled his tight shoulders and stood next to his friend. Any second now, and they would have to run.

Although Thalia had stopped screaming, her mouth was still flung wide. Yellow teeth sat in her dark gums. The smell of dog shit filled the air. Was that really her breath? Not even the wind could dispel it. Jake shuddered and stepped back. He swallowed the hot saliva in his throat.

Reduced to a snapshot of suffering, she sat there. Greasy hair. A thick neck. Wide eyes. Her irises glaring a pained accusation. Frozen. Broken.

When she tilted to the side, Jake's stomach lurched. Although he wanted to help, he couldn't. She was sure to crush him if he tried.

Crack!
Her temple hit a rock. Claret belched from the wound. Tom knelt down and brushed her hair from her face. Blood continued leaking out. Jake looked around again. Where were the Bots?

Putting his hand on Tom's bony shoulder, Jake shook his head. "There's nothing we can do. She's gone."

When Tom didn't respond, Jake leaned in close to hear him talking to her.

"We need to go, man. She's dead. There's nothing we can do. We need to get out of here before it's too late."

Tension snapped through Jake's body when he heard the mini helicopter blade, and his bowels fell to his bollocks. It was already too late.

Chapter One

One year later.

"It's a trap."

Jake looked at the bloated corpse in the crater and then back to his tall friend. "You reckon?"

Tom nodded. "Definitely."

"What makes you say that? They haven't set traps for us before."

"No, but they probably thought we wouldn't last this long."

Following the line of Tom's gaze, Jake stared at the onyx tower in the distance. It was mostly hidden by dust clouds, but the red writing down its side glowed like a ruby in murky water. Each letter was at least seven stories tall, and although he couldn't read them from where he was, Jake knew what they spelled. The horizon was branded with the name of the world's new deity--RIXON. "So you still think they want us dead?"

"Absolutely. I think they would have wanted it to be through natural causes, but their patience must be wearing thin. We've lived without a headset for four years now. Even the initial objectors put them on within the first year. We may be the only two still eluding them."

Looking at the naked gamer in the bottom of the crater, Jake's eyes settled on the shiny glasses on his face. They looked brand new. His headset had fallen off and was on its side next to him.

Pointing down the hill, Tom shrugged. "If it's not a trap, then why have they left the headset there? They're normally super-efficient at cleaning up after themselves, so why not this time?"

The grit in Jake's eyes burned so bad he wanted to claw them out. "Maybe you're right, maybe it's a trap. But that doesn't mean they want to kill us. Maybe they just want us to play New Reality." Scratching his beard, he blinked several times, his eyes streaming. "I need those sunglasses."

"Of course. We both do. That's why they've put them there."

Clenching his teeth, Jake glared at his friend. "Yeah, but I saw them first!"

Pulling his head back as if the words had dealt him a physical blow, Tom held his hands up. "Calm down, pal. I know you saw them first. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't go in there because you'll die. Come on, Jake, open your eyes. Can't you see what's happening?" Tom counted the points out on his fingers. "One, there's a dead gamer with something we need. It's the first dead gamer we've seen in four years--"

"But what about--"

Tom growled through clenched teeth. "It's the first dead gamer we've found lying around, all right?"

Biting his tongue, Jake watched Tom's face redden. They didn't need to talk about Thalia.

Clearing his throat, Tom continued, "Two, not only is it the first corpse we've seen, but it's the first pair of glasses we've found. Think about how many people wore glasses previously. Don't you think it's strange that we haven't found a single pair before now? Also, how are they even on his face? It's impossible to put a headset on without taking them off."

Looking down at the fat gamer, Jake suddenly realized just how blurry his vision was. "I want those glasses, Tom."

"Of course you do. They're banking on that. I'm sure the only thing that stopped them leaving a Christmas hamper with a pre-cooked turkey was the fact that they knew we'd share it. They had to leave a prize that we'd tear each other to pieces for. That's the sport of it."

The thought of roast turkey pulled at Jake's concave stomach, and the metallic taste of hunger lifted onto the back of his tongue. "So you're saying I shouldn't go for the glasses I found?"

"Jesus, Jake, you're not listening to me. I'm saying that neither of us should go and get them. We have no idea what they plan to do to us once we're in the crater, but I'd bet it ain't nice."

"They might only want to entice us into playing New Reality. But I don't want the headset. I want the glasses." After throwing an angry finger at his friend, he said, "Besides, it's easy for you to say we should leave them, you have nothing to lose. Those glasses are rightfully mine."

Before Tom could reply, Jake added, "Maybe he died of natural causes and the headset fell away."

"Natural causes? I wouldn't call filling someone with so much sugary sludge they die from heart disease 'natural causes.' And, ignoring the fact that you can't wear a headset and glasses at the same time, like I just said, if he has died on his own, why haven't they collected the headset? I've not known them to hang around in the past."

"Maybe he's only just died."

Tom raised his eyebrows. "Maybe."

"Don't patronize me, Tom."

"You make that hard. Besides, we're talking in circles and it's tiresome."

"So if they want us dead, why don't they send a Bot to take us out?"

"Because they don't want blood on their hands. Directly at least. It would be nice to have a reason to kill us; that way they could rebuild the world and convince themselves it isn't built on the death of millions. All the fat gamers die of heart disease and the nuisances like us die from tragic 'accidents.'" Tom threw air quotes with his fingers.

Jake's entire body leaned towards the crater. The dark glasses wedged on the bloated corpse's fat head were calling to him. "I saw those glasses first, so I'm taking them."

"You're going to risk your life for a pair of sunglasses?"

Jake looked at the crow's feet that radiated from Tom's bloodshot eyes. They spread halfway around his head. He looked at the flecks of blue that hinted at his once colorful irises. Years of dust storms had diluted them to nothing. "Yep. They ain't just sunglasses. They're sight! I don't want to be blind in a couple of years' time."

"Don't you remember what happened last time? With Thalia?" He couldn't say her name without his mouth buckling and his voice wavering.

"I do." The scar tissue ached on the back of Jake's triceps, aggravated by the memory. "I took a bullet for you so you could do what you had to do. I stood by you when all I wanted was to run." He looked at Tom. "And I paid the price for it."

The long man's tense frame sagged.

Lifting one of Tom's long and cold hands in both of his, Jake said, "All I'm asking you to do is keep a look out for me. You don't have to put yourself in the firing line like I did. Just warn me if a Bot's coming." When Tom neither agreed nor disagreed, Jake patted him on the shoulder. "Thanks." He then plunged into the crater.

###

Thrusting his arms out for balance, Jake rode the landscape as the debris slipped beneath his feet. The rush of rocks sounded like gushing water.

Something caught Jake's eyes, but he was traveling too fast to see what it was. It wasn't a Bot, of that he was sure. His breath ran away from him. It must be them.

Hitting the level ground, Jake fell to the floor, a sharp pain running from his kneecaps, up his thighs, and into his stomach. Gasping, he took three deep breaths, scrambled to his feet, and moved on. No time to wait. Even if the Bots weren't coming, the things almost certainly were.

As he headed for the gamer, Jake turned to see Tom looking in the direction where he'd just seen movement. Had he seen them too? Would he say something if he had? He said he didn't believe they existed. Surely that was a lie. How could he not have heard them at night? How could he not have seen the shifting shadows? How could he not have felt them watching? He believed in them as much as Jake did, he was just too scared to admit it.

In Jake's mind, they were salivating, stinking human mutations that craved blood--horrors born of this toxic world. A shudder rattled through him. Whatever they were, they were getting braver, and it wouldn't be long before they revealed themselves.

Maybe they took the corpses away. The gamer's died, the headsets fell off, then they showed up to remove the body and feed on them. Gritting his teeth against the pain in his legs, Jake pushed forward. The glasses were his.

The ground shifted beneath his feet, sapping his strength with every stride. He moved as quickly as he could. Too fast and he'd break an ankle. Too slow and he'd lose his prize and maybe his life.

Although the crater acted as a wind block, he still had to dip his head to avoid being blinded by grit. Squinting as he looked up, he focused on the naked gamer's glasses. Lying there with the grey skin of a waxwork, the gamer was spread across the uneven terrain. The nipples on his flabby chest rested on each arm.

When Jake looked over his shoulder, Tom tapped an imaginary watch on his wrist.

Like he didn't know time was short. Idiot. As Jake dropped down next to the gamer, his raw joints screamed like they were filled with sand.

The stink of shit hit him, and a slow heave rolled through his gut. All the gamers smelled the same when you got too close. Constant exposure to the gassy smell of decomposition had desensitized him to it. He didn't want to get so well acquainted with the smell of human excrement.

Looking around again, Jake saw nothing. What were the things waiting for? When he tugged the glasses, they came free easily, almost as if they'd only just been placed there. Jake looked around again. The acrid stench of shit sent another heave through his stomach. Standing up, he stepped back.

Putting the glasses on, Jake saw clearly. Shouldn't they be scratched? Maybe they'd been protected by the headset for the entire time. Maybe Tom was wrong.

Having worn a permanent squint for the past few years, Jake couldn't relax his face behind the protection of the lenses. That would take time.

With his eyes shielded, Jake saw farther into the storm than he'd ever managed to before. Although it wasn't far enough to reveal much more of his world. Imagining a Bot bursting through the clouds of dirt, Gatling guns trained on him, Jake covered his heart in an attempt to slow it down.

But he hadn't done anything wrong. He had to remember that. They had no reason to kill him. They'd looted from gamers before and been fine. It was interfering with the headsets that Rixon got uptight about. The other things? He didn't know what pushed their buttons. Just the thought of them made his stomach clench like a fist around a light bulb.

It made Jake jump when Tom called down, "Hurry up!" His voice was both muffled by the wind and the tight scarf tied across his mouth.

Something moved in Jake's peripheral vision. Something languid and dark. Then it was gone. Stepping towards his friend, Jake stopped again.

"Jake! For fuck's sake, man. Hurry the fuck up!"

Tom didn't swear often, but it wasn't often that Jake found a discarded headset. There was a white teardrop of synthesized sludge hanging from the food tube. Staring at it, pregnant with sustenance, Jake's arid mouth started to water, and his dry tongue lifted involuntarily. He jumped when Tom called again, "Jake!"