Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town (14 page)

‘
If
you want to leave, now is your chance.’

They
all exchanged glances.

‘
I
think we have a better chance of surviving with you,’ said the
guy in the riot gear.

‘
I
still have a job to do,’ said Levi.

‘
Then
it is settled,’ I announced. ‘We will find the hospital,
set up a camp and treat our wounded.’ The nods were a clear
sign that the others agreed with this plan of action. I don’t
know how it happened, but I was back in charge and calling the shots
once again. This had ended badly once before, but never again. I was
not going to lose any more friends.

Chapter Ten:
Countdown to Death

I
walked up the ramp of the medical ship and took stock of the
situation. What was my next move? Jane and the others had gone. I had
no weapons. The only thing I had was the remote control unit for the
tactical nuclear weapon sitting in orbit, but how could I use that
now?  If I dropped a nuke on the city it would kill all the
others. We had located a medical transport ship. It was capable of
getting us off this planet, but the only problem was that nobody
could fly it. Flying wasn’t like in the movies. You didn’t
just jump into the cockpit and take off. It took years of experience.
We could gain abilities through the x-com, but that was currently
offline. The other problem is that knowing something and doing it are
two different things. You could learn how to do something, but
putting that knowledge into practise was difficult. So, we were stuck
here.

The
one positive is that the medical transport had enough supplies to
treat Clay, Fiona and Robbie. The three of them were sleeping
peacefully on the cots. The back of the medical transport was like an
extended ambulance. The girl that Skull raped was curled up in the
foetal position, crying her heart out. The memories of yesterday were
still fresh in her mind. The guy in the riot gear, the other guy that
had abandoned the woman, Levi and Rose were waiting down the bottom
of the ramp for me.

I
headed back out to see them.

‘
What
is our next move?’ asked the new guy.

‘
We
need weapons,’ I explained.

‘
Are
you going after Prisoner X?’ asked Levi.

‘
I
will when I am ready.’

‘
I
will go with you,’ said Rose.

‘
We
will talk about that when we are ready,’ I told her.

‘
You
think there will be weapons around here?’ asked the man in the
riot gear.

‘
This
game always has weapons,’ explained Levi.

‘
Let’s
spread out then,’ I replied. ‘Rose, new guy, you two will
be staying here. We need you to watch over the others.’

‘
The
name is TJ,’ said TJ.

‘
Levi
and...?’

‘
Sly,’
replied Sly.

‘
The
three of us will go look for weapons. Once we are ready we can decide
our next move. We are moving out in five minutes.’ I headed
back up the ramp and into the ship. I headed straight for Fiona. She
was sleeping peacefully on the bunk. Her shoulder wound was wrapped
up. A drip was in her arm. I stroked my fingers through her hair. ‘I
really like you, Fiona. I won’t let anything happen to you.’
I placed a kiss upon her brow.

‘
That’s
sweet,’ said Rose.

I
glanced over my shoulder.

My
heart stopped.

Time
seemed to stop.

The
Rose that was stood behind me was wearing all white. She was in a
beautiful white dress. The very fabric appeared to glow. I spun back
towards the ramp. My sister was outside talking to Levi. I returned
my eyes to the woman in white. She had changed already. The woman was
no more. This Rose was about seven years old. This is what my sister
looked like when she was a child. How is this possible? I’m not
sick. They told me I wasn’t sick. This Rose isn’t real.
How could she be back? This is the bitch that took control of my body
and killed all my friends. This is the sickness that lives within my
brain. She can’t be back. She can’t be.

‘
Miss
me, Brother?’

Rose
began to laugh.

‘
The
fun is about to being. I am going to fuck you up.’

Incoming Status
Report

....

Mission:
Reincarnation

....

Complete

....

Sixteen Players

....

Submitting Player
Status Information

....Incoming Status
Report...

Convicted Rapist

Prisoner 3-05 (A.K.A
The Librarian)

Level: 1

Missions Complete: 1

Kills: 3

Experience: 130/500

Credits: 40

Status: Killed in
Action...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Police Office

Sly Walker

Level: 11

Missions Complete:
15

Kills: 23

Experience: 230/500

Credits: 800

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Secondary School
Teacher

TJ

Level: 7

Missions Complete:
10

Kills: 8

Experience: 100/500

Credits: 290

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Earth Force Soldier

Levi Monk

Level: 22

Missions Complete:
30

Kills: 98

Experience: 010/500

Credits: 3981

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Dancer

Bella Hughes

Level: 1

Missions Complete: 2

Kills: 0

Experience: 200/500

Credits: 50

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Factory Worker

Saul Duke

Level: 9

Missions Complete: 8

Kills: 15

Experience: 250/500

Credits: 920

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

House Wife

Jane McCarthy

Level: 17

Missions Complete:
16

Kills: 22

Experience: 100/500

Credits: 1660

Status: Active.....

....Incoming Status
Report...

Student

Lena McCarthy

Level: 16

Missions Complete:
15

Kills: 20

Experience: 100/500

Credits: 340

Status: Active....

....Incoming Status
Report...

Military (Retired)

Arthur Sheppard

Level: 15

Missions Complete:
16

Kills: 33

Experience: 330/500

Credits: 1800

Status: Killed In
Action...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Security

Iaso

Level: 18

Missions Complete:
21

Kills: 64

Experience: 140/500

Credits: 3050

Status: Active.....

....Incoming Status
Report...

Air Hostess

Alisha Jones

Level: 16

Missions Complete: 5

Kills: 8

Experience: 80/500

Credits: 3100

Status: Killed In
Action...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Earth Force Special
Forces

Clay Evans

Level: 24

Missions Complete:
30

Kills: 53

Experience: 70/500

Credits: 2650

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Student

Robbie Jameson

Level: 1

Missions Complete: 3

Kills: 4

Experience: 340/500

Credits: 0

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Cargo Lifter

Rose Wells

Level: 3

Missions Complete:
10

Kills: 12

Experience: 320/500

Credits: 650

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Convicted Murderer

Fiona Knowles
(Prisoner 2-91)

Level: 17

Missions Complete:
16

Kills: 36

Experience: 420/500

Credits: 11,000

Status: Active...

....Incoming Status
Report...

Convicted Murderer

Prisoner 3-57

Level: 6

Missions Complete: 5

Kills: 12

Experience: 120/500

Credits: 2130

Status: Active...

Mission Four: Day of
the Damned

Chapter One: The
Mission