“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.