Prisoner 3-57: Nuke Town (16 page)

‘
You’re
just saying that,’ said Sly. ‘I just want to live.’

‘
Kill
him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him. Kill him.’

I
swallowed hard.

The
sound of her voice was causing my heart to beat like crazy. It felt
like it was going to shatter my ribcage it was beating so hard. My
hands were shaking. Was I this frightened of her? Did she have this
much control over me? I had to stop. I had to calm down. I couldn’t
let her do this to me again. I couldn’t allow her an inch, if I
did, she would take a mile.

‘
Kill
him!’

Why
wouldn’t she shut up?

She
wasn’t real. She is a sickness.

I
have to ignore her.

‘
You
have to listen to me, Sly. I want to live. I want to protect my
sister. There is no need to panic or do anything drastic. I don’t
have any weapons for fuck sake.’ I gestured to the empty thigh
holsters. Sly nodded his head, as he looked me over for weapons.
‘Sly, we need to get back to the others and figure out what is
happening. You don’t have to trust me. If you are who you say
you are then run away. Lock yourself in a room and don’t come
out until Prisoner X is dead.’

‘
Don’t
be a fucking pussy, kill him.’

‘
Okay...’
Sly backed away from me.

I
lowered my hands, as he started to walk away from me.

‘
You
are making a mistake,’ said the voice.

A
single gunshot rang out.

His
head popped like a balloon.

Blood,
snot and gore was painted across the road, as his lifeless body
collapsed like a house of cards. Fight or flight. Fight of flight.
Fight or flight? I turned and ran. What other options did I have?
Someone had just killed Sly. I had no weapons. I didn’t even
know where the shooter was. Gunshots rang out. It was hard to
pinpoint their location, as the echo was misleading. The tall
buildings and the silent streets seemed to amplify the sound. Windows
smashed, as large chunks of pavement were chipped straight out of the
ground. My feet thundered off the floor, as I sprinted with
everything I had towards the nearest shop. The doors opened
automatically, as I suicide dived into cover. Stuffed toys on the
shelf exploded into showers of white fluff, as an automated machine
gun tore through the front of the shop. I stumbled to my feet, losing
my balance once or twice, and ran for my life into the store. It was
only now that I was aware of two guns being fired at me. One gun was
releasing aimed shots, whilst the other sprayed like an amateur. They
managed to hit everything, but not me. I kept my head low and my legs
pumping. My heart was in my mouth. At the far end of the store was a
doorway. It had “staff only” written on a wooden sign.

The
door bounced off the wall.

I
took cover in a long and dark stockroom.

The
gunfire ceased.

The
only sound that reached my ears was my heavy breathing.

Sly
and Levi were dead.

Three
of my team-mates were AI’s, but who? Two of them had just tried
to kill me. How was I going to be able to get back to the others? How
was I going to fight without any weapons? Who am I going to be able
to trust? I had to return to the medical transport ship. Fiona and my
sister were there. That was my first objective. I had to get back and
make sure they were safe. I can figure the rest out later.

Chapter Three: The
Talk

‘
I
guess I was wrong,’ said the voice within my head.

I
tried my best to ignore her. This person wasn’t real. It was a
sickness. I had to focus on getting back to my real sister. I must
ignore this imposter that lurks within my mind. I jogged down a
surprisingly clean alleyway. There were no trash bags, debris or
horrid smells of any kind. I doubt this city had any rats, bugs or
other little critters for that matter. Prisoner X was the only person
that lived here. The alleyway opened onto a main road. My eyes
scanned the rooftops, but I don’t think anyone was following
me. I had doubled back on myself a few times just to try to confuse
them. Plus, I managed to exit the store out the back, which placed a
fair few walls between me and them. Since that point I have kept to
the back roads. I know where I am going. The hospital has sign posts
everywhere. All I have to do now is get back to my sister and figure
out who was shooting at me.

‘
You
still pissed about what happened?’

‘
Keep
going. Keep going,’ I told myself.

I
couldn’t give in to the voice.

‘
You
still annoyed because I killed Kevin, Nigel, Jackson and Stephanie.’

‘
I
will find Rose and everything will be okay.’

‘
You
know you’re sister isn’t real.’

‘
Fuck
you,’ I snapped.

I
was instantly annoyed at myself.

The
voice had got the reaction it wanted.

I
couldn’t see it, but I could feel the internal smile the voice
wore.

It
had got a rise out of me.

That’s
all it ever seemed to do.

It
loved to torment me.

‘
You’re
sister isn’t real. She never was.’

‘
Shut
the fuck up.’

‘
Are
you ever going to listen to me? I mean honestly. When have I lied to
you? Seriously, think about it. Think of one time when I have lied to
you. I told you I was your sister. I told you that you were in a
virtual reality prison. I told you that it didn’t matter if you
killed us both, I would be back. I haven’t lied to you once.
Your own brain created stories so you could cope with having multiple
personalities, but never have I lied to you. And I am not lying to
you now. You’re sister is not real.’

‘
You
are just trying to fuck me with,’ I told her.

‘
A
little,’ admitted the voice.

‘
I
know how you work. You get me rattled. It is like a door. The more
rattled I am the wider the door becomes. When the door is finally
open, you take over. That isn’t going to happen this time. I
won’t let you hurt any of my friends.’

‘
I
don’t give a shit about your friends. I want to meet Prisoner
X.’

‘
What?’

‘
You
wouldn’t understand. You never do.’

‘
Do
you know something?’ I asked.

‘
I
know everything. I can see the things you don’t. I am your
subconscious.’

‘
Why
do you want to meet Prisoner X?’

‘
That
would be telling,’ laughed the voice. ‘I will tell you
one thing. You’re sister isn’t real. I am Rose. She is
something they created so that you would fight to protect her. Do you
think it is a coincidence that she led you to the safe house, which
happened to have a train connected to Central City? She is your
reason to fight. They gave you something to protect. They need you to
kill Prisoner X.’

‘
That
isn’t true.’

‘
Keep
telling yourself that.’

‘
Fuck
it!’ I kicked a metal dustbin. ‘Why does everyone keep
messing with my head?’

‘
It’s
the medication. It is wearing off,’ said the voice.

‘
What
medication? I was never on medication.’

‘
You
don’t remember because you choose not to remember. You will one
day learn the truth about who you are and the things they did to you.
You are just a lab rat to them. And you are playing right into their
hands. Rose isn’t real. She never was real. I am the memories
you have of your sister. All the things she did, that was me. You
know this. Deep down within your soul you know I speak the truth.’

‘
Fuck
you,’ I told her, flatly. ‘I won’t listen to any
more of your lies.’

‘
Suit
yourself. Just don’t come begging to me when the shit hits the
fan.’

Chapter Four: Trust

Sweat
was starting to gather in some rather uncomfortable places. I hadn’t
run very far, but the city was hot and dry. It took less than ten
minutes to reach the hospital. The others were located near the east
wing. This was the accident and emergency area. Outside of the main
building was a landing strip with rows of medical transport ships.
They were about the size of a hover truck, but slightly longer. The
back compartment of each transport ship had eight beds with
hibernation bags. The hibernation bag would place someone in a frozen
state for a short period of time. This helped keep players alive long
enough to complete missions and get back to professional medical
doctors that could save them. I had used one in the last game to save
Lena’s life. The transport ship looked clunky and slow, but had
enough medical equipment to deal with the majority of cases. A few
had their own surgical rooms in the actual ship.

I
ran down the side walk

‘
Shit...’

I
came to an abrupt halt.

I
tried to take everything in.

‘
Don’t
you fucking move,’ yelled TJ.

He
was stood at the bottom of the ramp with a handgun pointed at my
sister. Rose was stood in the mouth of the medical ship. The barrel
of her standard issue police side arm was aimed directly at TJ. It
was a Mexican stand-off They both looked nervously towards me, but
kept their guns on each other.

‘
What
is going on?’ I asked them.

‘
Prisoner
X came here,’ said TJ.

‘
I
know. I saw him, too,’ I replied.

‘
He
told me that part of the group were AI’s that he has turned
against us.’

‘
I
heard the same thing. Didn’t you, Rose?’

‘
I
never saw anyone,’ said Rose. ‘I was out searching for
supplies.’

‘
That
sounds suspicious to me,’ said the voice in my head.

TJ’s
hands were shaking. He looked like he was about to cry. The man was
scared.

‘
She
left just after you,’ said TJ. ‘That’s when I heard
all the shooting.’

‘
Where
is Sly and Levi?’ asked Rose.

‘
Dead...’
my words hung in the air for a moment.

‘
No.
No. No. This can’t be happening,’ said TJ. ‘You’re
one of them, aren’t you?’

‘
He’s
losing it,’ said the voice.

‘
Just
calm down,’ I told him.

‘
He’s
going to shoot,’ continued the voice.

‘
TJ,
just put the gun down,’ said Rose.

‘
Point
the gun at me,’ I told him.

I
wanted that weapon of death away from my sister.

‘
That’s
a great fucking idea. He is going to shoot us now.’

‘
Everyone
shut up!’ TJ looked nervously at the two of us. His eyes were
as wide as saucers. ‘She went after you. Ask her where she
went. If she went for food, where is it? Two minutes after she left I
heard the gunfire. Tell her to put the gun down.’

‘
Rose...’

‘
Not
happening, Brother. I didn’t shoot anyone. If you put the gun
down we can go inside and talk this over. I don’t appreciate
being stuck in the open like this.’

‘
Rose
is right,’ I replied, ‘we need to get under cover.’

‘
You
two need to SHUT UP! I don’t trust either of you. I don’t
know you. Just put the guns down and get inside the ship.’ He
was shaking and stuttering. I slowly began to inch forward. ‘I
will sedate you both and the others. That is the only way to solve
this. I will put you all to sleep. STOP MOVING!’ He swung the
gun towards me. A single shot ended the problem. Blood and brain
matter splattered across the black tarmac of the landing strip. TJ’s
body hit the ground with a heavy thump.