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  “I’m stuck.”

  “Take cover,” she said.

  “Why?”

  “’Cause I’m fixing to unstick you.”

  Kurtis dropped to the ground and covered his head. A percussive blast vaporized a section of the wall. Miraculously, there was very little smoke or fragments filling the air. Kurtis squinted and saw Tae through a hole in the wall, just large enough for him to squirm through. She was standing at the top of a ramp. She threaded her way down the ramp, reached out a hand, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him through the wall, and up the ramp into an octagonal room.

  “Congratulations,” Nadine said. “You have reached Sublevel 1. You have acquired an additional 100 experience points.”

  Kurtis flopped to the ground, lying on his side, slotting a fresh magazine of ammunition into his rifle. He checked that he still had his Glock and tomahawk, then cast a wary glance in Tae’s direction. He examined his HUD, but as before, Tae’s statistics did not populate. He did notice, however, that he was down a single health point.

  “What’s going on, Nadine? I just healed myself. How come I’m at 9 health points?”

  “Because you were wounded by a particular Level 2 monster. Each monster has separate attributes, some more deadly than others.”

  Before Kurtis could ask another question, Tae pointed. “We need to get moving now, big guy. The stairway to Sublevel 2 is gonna close pretty soon.”

  “How do you know?”

  “’Cause while you were dicking around in there, I was exploring.”

  “How do I know you’re not an illusion?” Kurtis asked.

  “Think about it, buddy. If I were some alien illusion, would I be trying to get you out of your daze?”

  “No. I guess not.”

  “You ‘guess’? Oh, for fuck’s sake, Kurtis, snap out of it!”

  Yep, even with the little time they’d spent together, she definitely sounded like Tae. He held up his hand and she hoisted him up.

  “Thanks for getting me out,” he said.

  “Thanks for not doing all kinds of wrong to me after I tried to kill you. What’d you see in there?” Tae added, gesturing to the room containing the dead Hecatoncheires.

  “The Hecatoncheires caught me in an illusion. I’d rather not go into details, if you don’t mind.”

  She nodded and helped him forward. They crossed the space and headed up a ramp made of what looked like stone. Kurtis saw on his HUD that they were on Sublevel 1 and the first thing that greeted them was a body lying on the ground. The body of a young man whose face looked familiar. He was dressed in black cargo pants, and a compression shirt under an olive-colored vest. Kurtis scanned him, but couldn’t get a read on the boy’s statistics, which meant either his HUD was malfunctioning, or the kid had enough points to block Kurtis.

  “Is that…is that him? Is that Gabriel?” Kurtis muttered, still choking out poison.

  “I think so,” Tae answered. “Can’t get a read, but he looks like him. Course there’s only one way to know for sure.”

  She pulled out the Swiss Army knife they’d snagged back in Jimmy Mulvey’s house, shuffled over to the boy, and nicked his arm. A few beads of blood oozed out. The boy remained motionless, but breathing and alive.

  “He’s human at least,” she said.

  “Was that absolutely necessary?” Kurtis asked, holding up the photo of Gabriel with his mom and Jimmy Mulvey. “Could’ve just used this.”

  Kurtis held the photo up next to Gabriel’s face. It was him. Kurtis dropped the photo and checked the boy’s pulse and examined him. His face was a mosaic of scratches and welts and he was missing his left pinky finger, but otherwise was in decent shape.

  “Been unconscious like that ever since I found him,” Tae said.

  Kurtis stood and staggered. “You’re still down a health point,” Tae said as Kurtis placed a hand on her shoulder to stabilize himself.

  “That monster back there hurt me.”

  “Harness that pain,” Tae said. “Use it like fuel. My father used to say, ‘hate the pain, but love the scars.’”

  “Worst fatherly advice ever,” Kurtis snorted with a half-smile.

  “You need another medpack.”

  “What about it, Nadine?” Kurtis asked via Mindspeak. “Can I fully heal myself with another medpack?”

  “I am afraid a medpack will not completely heal you this time, Kurtis. You have been wounded by a Level 2 monster, infected by a substance known as Heartbreak Grass. As a Level 1 fighter, you may still purchase medpacks to boost your health points, but you will continue to bleed points for every fifteen minutes you remain alive. Your only chance of recovering in full lies with reaching Sublevel 3 and acquiring a Soucouyant Ragetag.”

  “What’s that?”

  “A tag that allows the user to drain health points from other participants. Once you have completely drained the points from another participant in Sublevel 3, you will reach full strength.”

  “Wonderful,” Kurtis said out loud.

  “What is it?” Tae asked.

  “I need to move up a level and get one of those Ragetags or I’m gonna reach my journey’s end.”

  Tae held up her rifle. “Then let’s go get us some points and level the fuck up.”

  They cut their eyes to the still-unconscious Gabriel. “What do we do with him?” she asked.

  “I got him,” Kurtis said. He handed his rifle and tomahawk to Tae, then re-secured the Glock, bent down, stuffed the photo of Jimmy Mulvey and his family in a pocket. Then he hoisted Gabriel over a shoulder. Grimacing, he took back the tomahawk so he’d have something to fight with if necessary. Gabriel was skinny, but his lanky frame made him difficult to carry, especially in Kurtis’s weakened state.

  They pressed on across Sublevel 1, with Kurtis huffing and puffing, his health fading. “What’s the lowdown on my health, Nadine?” he asked.

  “A mixed bag, as your kind might say,” she replied.

  Species:Homo Sapiens (Evinrude, Kurtis)

  Infected: Heartbreak Grass – Drains health at a slow and excruciating rate

  Chattel:9 mm G17 Gen-5; Tomahawk (Melee-class); Remington ACR 5.56 mm

  Health:5/10

  Level:1

  Class:Fighter

  Kills:11

  Vitals:BP – 121/80; T – 99.00f; RR – 13bpm

  XP:344

  Kurtis was getting the hang of things, and he’d picked up double points for killing a monster, but it had come at the cost of an infection that would kill him in the long run unless he found a way to get the Ragetag. He spent twenty-five experience points on a medpack, boosting his health back up to 10/10 for the moment, but lowering his experience points to a three-hundred and nineteen. He realized he would need to acquire a sizable number of points to obtain the required Ragetag. It was going to be more difficult, that much he could feel in his gut. There would be more participants and monsters lurking about, bigger monsters, more dangerous ones, not to mention traps. He began to wonder whether it had been a colossal mistake to ever venture into the black spire.

  They trekked to the bottom of a stone staircase that curled up into the spire. Kurtis looked at his HUD. Sublevel 2 was directly above them and there were red and yellow dots everywhere, including a cluster that appeared to be directly behind them.

  “We’ve got company,” Tae said.

  “I see ‘em,” Kurtis answered.

  “We need to hurry.”

  “Moving as fast as I can…”

  Kurtis gritted his teeth and followed Tae up the staircase.

  At the top of the spiral staircase, they came upon an ancient double-door entrance to the second level. The doors were made of what looked like polished purple glass, and they were centered by a lock the size of a softball. Kurtis was exhausted from carrying Gabriel up and took a knee, setting the teenager down on the ground. Kurtis accessed his HUD, but couldn’t get any specific information about what was on the other side of the double-door.

  “I though
t ex-cons were supposed to be in awesome shape?” she asked.

  He flipped her a middle finger and shot a look at the doors. He glimpsed indecipherable inscriptions and symbols that ran from the top to the bottom. Along the frame, there were more inscriptions and symbols that looked very similar to pentagrams. Maybe the priest was right about the Melee being straight from the devil.

  “We made it,” Tae said.

  “You’re surprised?”

  “Frankly I’m shocked that we’ve lived this long,” she said.

  “Don’t get too excited,” Kurtis replied, still recovering from the psychological damage of seeing his wife and child turn into a monstrosity and then having to kill said monstrosity. “Sublevel 2 is on the other side of those doors. I’m not exactly sure what’s going to be there, but I’ll wager it ain’t going to be a welcome banquet and parade.”

  She kicked at the ground. “I’m going to say something here, Kurtis.” Kurtis groaned. “We make a pretty damned good team.”

  “Don’t—do not say that.”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “Because that’s always the point when something terrible happens to destroy the pretty damned good team.”

  “So you do think we make a good team then, eh?”

  “Yeah, possibly, maybe,” he replied. “But don’t be going around shouting it or anything.”

  She laughed and Kurtis pressed his hand to the doors. They were so cold that he pulled them back as if they’d been scalded. He also lost a health point, which felt like a quick jab to the ribs. He reached out his right index finger and tapped the lock. It wasn’t real. It was some kind of hologram that morphed into yellow dust. The lock fell away and so did the doors, vanished from sight to reveal yet another space that was as black as the bottom of the ocean. Kurtis was about to take a step forward when he heard a clicking sound. The kind of note made by a hammer on a pistol when it’s cocked back. Kurtis looked back to see Gabriel resting on one of his elbows. The other one held a tiny pistol that Kurtis had evidently missed.

  “You got ten seconds to talk to me before the shooting starts,” Gabriel said.

  13

  The Darkness Within

  Gabriel stared at Kurtis with large dark eyes, tired beyond sleepiness. He didn’t blink. Kurtis held up his hands. So did Tae. He’d expected Gabriel to be a sack of nerves given everything that had happened, but he was wrong. With the gun in his hand, Kurtis thought the kid looked like a grown-ass man.

  “Put the gun down, Gabriel,” Kurtis said.

  Gabriel stood, rubbing his head, keeping the pistol trained on them, his gaze low and threatening. “How do you know my name?”

  “Jimmy Mulvey – your father, he sent me.”

  “Bullshit.”

  “Your mom too,” Tae said.

  “My mother’s back in her house.”

  “Not anymore,” Tae replied.

  Gabriel’s face clouded. He marched over and placed the barrel of his pistol against Tae’s cheek. “I’m gonna say something and you’re gonna listen.”

  “Spit ya lick,” Tae replied, giving no ground to Gabriel.

  “I want to know how you know what my mother is doing.”

  “Because we just came from her house,” Kurtis said. “I’m Kurtis and this is Tae.”

  “You’re lying about my mom.”

  “Check my left front pocket,” Kurtis said.

  “I’m not checking anything.”

  “Then let me.” Kurtis dropped his hand to the pocket and Gabriel aimed at him. “You do that and I shoot.”

  Kurtis didn’t avert his gaze. He stared right at the young man. “Go ahead. But you do that and you’re gonna let every fighter and every monster from here to the top of the goddamn spire know where you are. We’re already down to four or five minutes, maybe less, before some very bad things find us.”

  Gabriel’s hand quivered. Kurtis reached into his pocket and removed the photo of Gabriel, his mother, and his father. He handed it over. The barrel of the gun came down a few degrees.

  “What happened to my mom?” Gabriel asked.

  “She put up a helluva fight,” Kurtis said.

  “My dad?”

  “Your dad saved me, kid. He was a good man, maybe the best I’ve ever met. He asked me to come and look after you.”

  Gabriel’s face was flushed, his eyes red-rimmed. He looked like he was on the verge of a mental meltdown. His fists clenched and unclenched and when he spoke, he stuttered. “I d-don’t need a-anyone to look after m-me. I’m doing just fine by myself.”

  “You weren’t doing so fine when I found your ass back there,” Tae said.

  “I got knocked out. Had a shit-ton of points too before somebody ambushed everyone.”

  “Yeah, well, you’d be dead if I hadn’t come along. Food for one of those monsters.”

  “I’m gonna kill ‘em all,” Gabriel said. “I’m going to kill every last thing in this fucking place for what they did to my folks.”

  Kurtis wanted to ask why the hell Gabriel had left his mother at home, but kept that to himself. Tae read his look and offered some words to Gabriel. “I love your energy and attitude, but first we need to beat our feet.”

  Something screamed from the bottom of the stairwell. Several yellow dots were just below them. Kurtis glanced down and spotted two monsters, two giant, bulbous humanoid heads that were positioned atop what looked like ostrich legs. The monsters’ mouths were oversized and they dropped open, unhinging like a snake’s mouth, emitting a soul-shattering shriek.

  Kurtis fired at the monsters, who scrambled for cover. Tae grabbed his arm. “Let’s go!”

  “Congratulations,” Nadine said via to Kurtis via Mindspeak. “You have reached Sublevel 2 within the black spire and acquired an additional 100 experience points.”

  Tae powered up the light on her cellphone and waved it at the space on the other side of the doors. A face peered back.

  A head.

  The flesh-ragged skull of a woman that was pinned to the wall by a sliver of bone. The woman’s eyes were wide and glassy, her mouth still open, tongue drooping between shattered teeth. Beyond her, Kurtis could see a passageway that was slicked with gore.

  “I need to see a map, Nadine,” Kurtis said.

  A map appeared on his HUD. It showed that the space just up ahead, hidden behind a veil, broadened into an almost-colosseum-sized space with a series of spiral-shaped pillars that stretched from the ground to the roof. The exit out of the chamber was near the roofline, but there was no way to reach it save for a series of pathways that hovered in the air, long ropes of barely visible dimness no wider than a man’s shoulder, that led up what looked like a balcony that was situated thirty feet off the ground. Kurtis intuited that Sublevel 3 lay on the other side of the balcony.

  “What are those paths?” Kurtis asked.

  “The chamber contains pockets of compressed, gaseous material,” Nadine replied. “What you call paths, are called stepping platforms, footways in the Melee.”

  “Made of air?”

  “Yes.”

  “How many participants?”

  “Twenty-nine.”

  “How many monsters?”

  “Three.”

  “What is it, Kurtis?” Tae asked.

  Kurtis powered his HUD down. “Oh, not much. Just found out we’re going to have to fight our way through the sky to get to Sublevel 3.”

  “Come again.”

  “Check your HUD.”

  Tae did and cursed, failing to notice Gabriel, who was charging ahead.

  “The kid’s got serious stones,” Tae said, as she and Kurtis rushed after him.

  The trio sprinted out of the passageway and into the chamber, which was partially lit by coils of light pressed into the ground. Kurtis’s HUD blazed warnings and a withering volley of gunfire rang out. The fire was coming from every angle, including overhead.

  Kurtis grabbed the back of Gabriel’s jacket and yanked him down to the ground next to
one of the pillars, saving his life from a barrage of gunfire. The trio knelt there, listening to incoming rounds bounce and snap in every direction.

  “You saved me,” Gabriel said, lying on his back, staring up at Kurtis.

  “Just like your old man saved me.”

  Gabriel worked to catch his breath. “I never did ask how you knew Dad.”

  “We were work acquaintances,” Kurtis answered.

  “You were a guard?”

  “Negative.”

  “An inmate?”

  “Ding, ding, ding,” Kurtis said, making a bell ringing sound.

  “What’d you do?”

  “A lot of bad shit that I’m currently trying to make amends for.”

  “This probably isn’t the best time to become a white knight,” Gabriel replied. “We’re all just points now. You, me, her. Twenty-five friggin’ points.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  “Them’s the rules,” Gabriel said.

  “Rules were meant to be broken, kid.”

  “I know how to break the rules. I know there’s a room on the other side of this one.”

  “Yeah, we know. Sublevel 3.”

  “No, there’s something else. A secret passage.”

  “To what?”

  “Level 2.”

  Tae arched an eyebrow. “And you’d know this how?”

  “Because I didn’t come here alone. There were originally five of us, me, Jimmy Sterling, Mike Buckley, and some of their friends. We researched everything as much as we could, scoped the dimensions of the spire, Jimmy ran computer models cause he was a total geek, and me and Mike studied the designs of ancient buildings figuring it all might come in handy.” Gabriel reached in his pocket and pulled out a battered walkie-talkie. There was a bullet hole in it. “Before that got shot one of my boys made it through. He even made it to the next room, into Sublevel 3, and saw what he called a monument, a slab of rock that would serve as a doorway, like one of the star-shafts in the great pyramids. He said it led to this huge wall of white light in the sky, to the shortcut.”

  “What happened?”

  Gabriel pointed to the bullet hole in the walkie-talkie. “Lost contact with him.”