Inside, the place is a mess. Furniture is strewn all about. Brittle, yellowed papers litter the floor. I pick a sheet up. The printing is faded to a light brown. It's stiff and gritty in my hands, the dust of the years sheeting off of it. I squint at the words in the gloom. It's a page from a technical manual of some sort talking about local area computing networks, something that undoubtedly became obsolete after Arc's new Stream technology was adopted. I let it slip from my fingers. It settles back to the floor.
We encounter the first corpse twenty feet in, just past the doorway into the main room. Micah stops and stands there, just staring at it. I push my way past him and force my gaze deeper into the room. It's a battlefield. A dozen twisted bodies are strewn about the place. Beyond these killing grounds, along the opposite wall, is what I'm looking for: the elevator.
“
Are any of them⦔ Micah swallows and his throat clicks. “You know?”
I shake my head. “No. They're all Infecteds. I don't see our guys.”
We cross into the room, weaving between the carcasses. A few of them have been obviously Undead for a very long time, their skin gray and leathery and their scalps patchy and white. Infected Undead. IUs. Victims of the outbreak thirteen years ago.
Rest in peace.
The majority of the bodies, however, appear to be a lot fresher. These are CUs. Volunteers.
“
Players.” Micah's lips curl into a snarl when he says the word. He exhales appreciatively through his nose, but he frowns. “A dozen or so, by the looks of it. I wonder how they got in. And why are there so many?”
“
What do you mean?”
“
You ever watch an episode of
Survivalist
that didn't take place in one of the abandoned cities? Nothing happens out in the boonies, like where we are now.”
“
Doesn't mean there aren't CUs out here fighting. Just never makes it onto the show.”
He chuffs. “Why? Why
here
?”
“
Same reason that one on the road came here: it followed us,” I say. “These must've followed Kelly and the others.”
He makes his way through the rest of them, kicking each one with the toe of his boot to make sure they're really dead. It's strange to see them lying there in the same awkward position as their counterparts outside the fence, their necks violently snapped, their heads twisted nearly fully around. It makes me nauseous to look at them. And even if I don't say it, it does bother me that there so many of them.
“
Never seen a Player break an IU's neck,” he mumbles. “Or even another Player's neck, for that matter.”
I shrug.
“
Neck snapping doesn't get the same ratings as a beheading. People like violence. They like blood and dismemberment. This looks almost personal, almostâ¦respectful.”
He chuffs. We finally reach the elevator. The doors are closed and there's another body lying directly in front of them. I turn it over and recognize the face of the IU that bit Jake. Its face is frozen in a parody of animal hunger. There's blood on its chin. Fresh blood.
Jake's blood.
The handle of a knife sticks out from the base of its skull. It's one that Reggie snatched from the kitchen of the first house we were in.
I yank it out and wipe it on the zombie's shirt, even though there's no blood on it, just a thin black, waxy streak. I see the worried look on Micah's face and I say, “We don't know what happened here. Would've been chaotic. Maybe they didn't need this anymore.” But the knife sits in my hand feeling guilty, like it knows a terrible secret, one I don't want to know. And suddenly I'm tired of looking around. I want to see them right now. I want to know.
“
Kelly!” I scream. The word bounces around inside the empty room, clanging off the walls, bruising my ears. “Where are you? Ash? Reg?”
“
Be quiet!
” Micah hisses. He snatches my arm and yanks me to him, but I pull myself free and call out again. “Jessie! We don't know if there are more of these things here.” He looks around in alarm, as if he expects more of them to start coming out of walls. “Stop yelling. We'll find them. Lookâ
Hey!
Jessie, look at me. I'm pinging them right now, okay?”
He points to his Link. I can hear the faint mechanical sound of it searching for a sub-stream. Then Kelly's voice:
Hello?
“
Kel, it's Miâ”
You've reached Kelly Corben. I can't connect right now, so pleaâ
Micah swiftly thumbs the connection dead. “It doesn't mean anything, Jess.”
I start tearing through the place, ripping open doors, calling their names. I don't care anymore if there are IUs or CUs around. I don't care if a Player comes. I just want to find my friends. Everything'll be okay once we do.
Micah tries to grab me again, but I fling his hand off me. My shoulder tweaks, but the pain just pisses me off even more. I am so freaking tired of hurting. “Leave me alone,” I growl.
He's about to reply when the elevator dings.
We both step back. He brings his knife up and holds it in front of him, ready for whatever might come out at us. I reach around behind me for the pistol and almost panic when I don't find it in my waistband. But then I remember it's in my backpack.
There's no time to get it.
I grip the knife harder with both hands. The bell dings again. The doors stay closed.
“
It's coming up.” He steps forward, extending a shaking hand to hold me back.
“
It's not them,” I say. Something tells me I'm right.
“
It is, Jessie,” he answers, trying to reassure me. “It has to be.”
Another ding.
“
Christ,” he mutters, “this has got to be the slowest elevator in the world.” He shifts from foot to foot, making me all the more agitated. He can't stand still. He never could.
We stand in silence and wait, hoping for a miracle and expecting something short of one, until the distinctive chuff of the cables and pulleys tells us that the elevator car has finally arrived. It dings one last time and the doors open and someone steps out.
But it isn't Kelly.
In fact, I don't recognize him at all.
Â
The man stops and gives us a startled look. “I could ask the same of you, except I think I already know the answer. You're with those other kids, aren't you?” He shakes his head in disgust. “High school kids.”
I step forward, bristling. The man doesn't even flinch. “Where are they? What have you done with our friends?”
He holds his hands up. “They're all fine. Well, all except the one who was bitten. They won't tell me their names, but they're all down below in the basement. Brother Nicholas is attending to them now.”
He makes a move to step past us and Micah blocks him. “Wait a minute, Misterâ¦?”
“
Brother Matthew.”
Micah frowns. “Brotherâ¦? What are you, some kind of monk or something?”
“
Or something. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go pick some leaves.” And then, when Micah doesn't move: “Look, your friend is in a great deal of pain. Mugwort and willow leaves are the only thing we've found that can effectively alleviate it.”
He slips past us before we can even react.
“
Mugwort?” Micah says. “What the fuâ?”
I step past him and into the elevator car. “Are you coming or are you just going to stand there like an idiot?”
Micah blinks after Brother Matthew, then follows me into the elevator. I push the button and the doors close.
“
Who the hellâ I mean, whatâ?”
“
Never mind that right now. All that matters is that he doesn't want to eat us, so we'll worry about him later. Right now, Kelly and the others are downstairs. Let's go find them, then we'll figure out what to do next.”
The car jerks down, then catches and begins its painfully slow descent, the obnoxious ringing of the bell marking out every few seconds but otherwise telling us nothing about how far we've gone or how far we have left to go. Micah watches me, astonishment and hurt on his face. I don't look back.
We finally reach bottom and the doors take forever to open. I squeeze through them as soon as the opening is wide enough.
Kelly, Reggie and Ash are standing in a line, their backs toward us. On a table in front of them is Jake, but all I can see is his legs and feet, twisting and writhing. Sounds of utter agony come to me.
“
Kelly?”
They all turn around, surprise on their faces. Kelly's eyes flash with delight for a moment, but then his face goes blank when Micah exits the elevator and steps to my side.
“
I thought I told you not to come here, Jess. Jesus! What the hell happened to your neck?”
Anger and hurt flair up inside of me, but it's quashed by a sudden and desperate need to hold him. I hurry over and lean into his body. He finally relents, wrapping his arms around me. I'm so happy to see him that I want to cry. I take a deep breath and breathe him in.
“
Pew, Kel, you stink.”
His body stiffens against mine, then he chuckles.
“
You're not so springtime fresh either, babe.”
He releases me and I go to Ash. I ask her how she's feeling.
She frowns. There's pain in her eyes. They flicker to the bruises on my neck, but thankfully she doesn't ask. “Fine, as long as I stay down here. I can't even ride up the elevator without passing out.”
“
You're Link fell inside the shaft, didn't it?”
She nods and gives me a baleful smile. “You're such a brilliant girl, Jessie, figuring out how to use the Links to transmit the failsafe signal⦔ Her eyes flick up to Micah and she pauses and the same change comes over her that I just saw with Micah. It makes me wonder what exactly happened that caused this sudden change in everyone. I don't turn around, but I can almost sense Micah noticing the coldness in the place. He can feel that it's directed toward him.
“
Don't worry about it,” I quickly tell her, drawing her gaze back to me. “We've got more important things to worry about right now.”
“
Like Jake.”
I flinch. If Jake hadn't been trying to act like such a hero, Ashley would still have her Link and he wouldn't have gotten bitten. We'd all be able to leave Gameland right now. But instead, Ashley's stuck here for now, and Jake's suffering from an infection that will kill him unless we can get him back to Arc in time for a cure.
If there even is one.
“
You shouldn't have come,” she whispers, and once more her eyes flick past me. I can hear Kelly and Micah talking in hushed tones. I think it must be about Jake. From the snippets I pick up, it doesn't sound very good.
“
How is he?” I ask.
“
In a lot of pain.”
“
We passed someone up topâ”
“
Brother Matthew,” she tells me. “He says he might be able to help.”
“
Help how?” I can't imagine a few leaves is going to make much of a difference.
“
He said there might be a way to⦔ Her lower lip quivers. I can see she's drained, both emotionally and physically.
“
What?”
“
We've been too busy to talk. Jake's in a lot of pain.”
“
I know. He also mentioned that there's another guy down here.”
“
Brother Nicholas.”
She leads me over to the table. There's a man standing on the other side. He's short and thin and wiry. I hadn't seen him behind Reggie. They're both holding Jake down as he contorts and screams out in pain.
“
Keep away from his mouth,” Reggie warns me. He gives me a grim smile and says, “I told Kelly you wouldn't be able to stay away.” Then he turns back to Jake, leaning more of his weight into him.
It looks like the bite has clotted. The stain on Jake's shirt hasn't spread very far. In fact, there's not that much blood at all. But he looks terrible. His skin has a pale, waxy husk to it, the first signs of shock, and his face is contorted. Beads of sweat stand out on his forehead.
“
Brother Nicholas figures he's got another forty-eight hours at the most,” Reggie mutters.
“
Forty-eight hours?” I gasp. “Before he dies?”
“
Before he turns. He'll be dead before that.”
I go numb with shock. Usually there's a delay, a good twelve to twenty-four hours after death, the window which the government uses to inject the virus for reanimation so the Life Service Commitment can be fulfilled. Then another twenty-four hours before turning. It means he's very close to dying.
“
Butâ¦how? Why so fast? He barely got bitten. There's not even that much blood!”
“
The disease has mutated,” Brother Nicholas explains. “We've seen this happen before, new cases. Now that there aren't that many living victims to infect, the virus is changing. It's had thousands of generations to evolve, festering inside one of the Elders for a very long time. Time to become a lot more potent.”
Elders?
I give Reggie a puzzled look.
“
They call IUs Elders and CUs Deceivers,” Reggie explains.