Replay: Green

By K. Weikel

He was there for you during that first reboot. He made you feel right at home with his kind nature. So easy-going, but with a fierce jealous side as you learned recently. It'd be insane to let him slip through your fingers. The only problem, however, is he's not who you're supposed to be with. He was meant for Karika.

But your heart has other plans.

He was supposed to be Karika's happy ending... but could he be yours instead?

| ALTERNATE ENDING 3 OF THE REPLAY SERIES - CHRIS

• Language: English
• Publisher: K. Weikel Publishing
• Release date: Aug 20, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463006306

K. Weikel

K. Weikel uses her three-dimensional characters to tell stories of life and adventure and magic."The One-Hundred" won the Wattys Award in 2015 and has reached over two million reads. Weikel has also won the 2017 Writers Awards for Building Monsters. She has written 60 books, including her first manga, "Katharsis". To learn more, visit her website: http://www.kweikel.comSERIES:Underdogs (4)Replay (13)Katharsis (1)The One-Hundred (6 Books, 1 Short Story, 1 Novella)The Haunted Mansion (4)The Blood Room [3 Alternate Endings]TRILOGIES:Dead MenMaskless TrilogyTrapped TrilogyCOMING SOON (1)DUOLOGIES:The Unnamed DuologyStop; GoSTAND-ALONES:WaterloggedThrough the Dimension of NightmaresWhen the Sky EatsCreatures of the BelowNord and the BordSamenessBuilding MonstersDollhouseThe Vampire's CarnivalKrystal's WorldLabyrinthFiguresMatchCagedList X

Book preview

Replay: Green

Book 10

Alternate Ending 3

Chris

By K. Weikel

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is currently coincidental.

Text copyright © 2020 K. Weikel

Jacket photograph copyright © 2020 by K. Weikel

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact [e-mail]

Jacket design and photo-illustration by K. Weikel

The text of this book was set in Calibri. Chapter titles set in Bedtime Stories.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Replay: Green / by K. Weikel. – First paperback edition p. cm.

Copyright © 2020 by K. Weikel

All rights reserved. No part of this public action may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic of mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brie quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Printed in the United States of America

Imprint: Independently published

Other books by K. Weikel

The Replay Series

Amnesia

Reboot

Tiptoe

Crimson

Glitch

Lifeline

Ghost

White

Black

Green

The One-Hundred Series

The One-Hundred

Untouched Water

Tamir

Damian’s Deeds

The One

The Deal

Human

The Blood Room

Alternate Endings 1, 2, & 3

The Unnamed Duology

The Unnamed

The Elite

The Maskless Trilogy

Hiding Behind A Mask

Hiding Behind A Name

Hiding Behind A Face

The Trapped Trilogy

Trapped

Wiped

Grounded

The Haunted Mansion Series

The Haunted Mansion

The Haunted Band Room

Revenge

When Dead Men Bleed

Through the Dimension of Nightmares

When the Sky Eats

Nord and the Bord

Creatures of the Below

Stop

Sameness

Building Monsters

Krystal’s World

Caged

Figures

Catrina Billowson

The Vampire’s Carnival

Labyrinth

Dollhouse

Match

Déjà vu

Chapter 1

The gears lifting the stone doors squeal, Karika pulling a knife from her pocket. She flicks it open, her eyes glinting with craze as she reminds her goons not to shoot aimlessly or they’ll hit her. Her smile sends a chill down your spine. 

The guys glance back at you, the moment feeling like an eternity.

A knot forms in your throat as your attention flicks to Chris, standing so close to Karika. If only she would listen to him, to you… 

Chris meets your eyes as he wipes his lip, a fire you recognize from your previous conversation with him resonating in his hazel irises. The other guys’ warnings about him echo in your head, your mouth drying out. Chris won’t give up on you if he knows there’s a chance. It’s possible he believes there’s nothing he can do about the Karika situation. It’s possible he’s brinking on giving up on her. If only you’d… 

Cora, Peter speaks up, pulling your attention away. We need to leave. 

You switch your eyes to Karika as Chris grabs onto the half-ladder beneath the trapdoor. Had no one in Karika’s group thought to use it? Maybe they don’t have access to the area because Chris barricaded the doors or something. 

Sorry, you guys, Karika smiles. She twirls the knife in her hand, the wound in your stomach throbbing at the sight of it. "But none of you are getting out of here alive. 

Peter ducks under the nearest door. 

Karika, you burst, brushing past Ronnie and facing her head on. The guys freeze, watching you. Ronnie’s the only one who moves. 

Cora, leave it— 

You shake his hand off and turn back to Karika, who watches you with glittering eyes. Karika, this is your last chance. What if we die and can’t come back?

Fury burns within her. Then so be it. 

She shifts forward, bringing her hand up. You wince, moving just in time to avoid the blade, feeling it nick your arm. Her knuckles brush your skin, red crimson sparking. You almost don’t notice it. 

A hand wraps around your bicep and pulls you back, away from Karika as she regains her footing, shouting at her guys. 

Chris forces you to the ladder, telling you to climb. 

In a daze and feeling like you need to talk to Karika, you climb, watching the other guys disappear into the tunnel, Oliver tugging Ronnie through just as bullets rip across the room. You spill onto cement, dirty footprints around the trapdoor. A dusting of dirt litters the floor, the echoes of firearms loud as the sight of the fog replays over and over in your head. It came from you. Not a butterfly. Not the cabin’s floor. Your body. Just like in the dream. 

You clutch your stomach. 

The metal ladder strains with weight just as Chris grabs the door and lets it drop, using a padlock to lock it tight. A glimmer of panic washes over his face before he covers it, swallowing hard. He takes a second to breathe. 

It’s over, he whispers to no one. Then he turns to you. What you did was stupid, he chides. But either way, we have to go. Doesn’t matter where. We just need to get off her radar. 

You nod. Something inside tells you it’ll all be okay, but it’s just your brain trying to calm itself down. You saw the crimson. Why? Why?

Your brain kicks into high gear, and you press the button on your earpiece. 

Are you guys there? you ask hesitantly, hearing nothing but static on the other end. 

Give it a minute, Chris says, turning his on as well as he walks past you. The other direction is a dead-end. You aren’t sure why you thought the trapdoor would open into a room. Karika’s guys must have thought they had you cornered. They’re in more trouble than we are right now. 

The two of you carefully walk through the hall, wooden crates littering the walls. You jog down different pathways, careful to listen for voices and footfalls. At one point, you come across two sets of stairs, one leading above and one leading below. 

You share a look with Chris. 

Up or down?

He shrugs. If we go up, there might be more guys waiting for us, expecting us to try to leave. If we go down where the others are, that means there are even more guys. We might want to stay on this level. 

Maybe we can hide, then? you offer just as voices blossom in your ear, the two of you taking off to the left.

Oliver, you’re headed for a dead end. Find a way out of there. 

I got him, you hear Ronnie respond to Peter, his voice staticky. 

Rapid pops explode from one of the other guy’s lines. 

Thanks, you hear Oliver say just before Peter speaks again. 

Chris, you and Cora need to move. Karika’s going in the same direction as you and she’ll be on your heels in no time. 

He meets your eyes. Good thing we’re on the level above her. 

Yeah, well, you’re going to run out of floor soon, Peter comments. 

"Chris smash, you hear Ronnie comment with a laugh. Go through the wall! Avengers, assemble!" 

Chris frowns as voices fill the halls. 

Going dark, Peter snaps curtly. 

Unlike the floor below, a lot of these tunnels are forged from concrete and steel. There’s a few feet of dirt here and there, but mostly it’s concrete, steel, and wood. It’s kind of jarring and has an unfinished, horror-movie kind of atmosphere. 

You and Chris slip easily into an open room, the lights bright. There’s next to nothing in here; nothing to hide behind. It’s nerve wrecking. 

You grimace as the two of you press flat against the wall to stay out of view. 

Chris shoots you an apologetic look as the voices grow closer. 

Sorry I don’t have a second gun on me. But you have that knife, right? 

You nod, pulling your shirt up slightly, revealing your bandage and the strap around your ribs. You pull the knife out of the little pocket on the side and flick it open, your heart in your throat. It was Oliver’s idea, just in case Karika’s guys got handsy. 

When Oliver was teaching you how to shoot, did he by chance teach you any hand-to-hand combat? 

You shake your head as Oliver pipes up. 

She didn’t need to learn it at the time, he says, defending himself. 

Don’t know why we didn’t think about bringing some of these ourselves, you hear Ronnie mutter. Guys, don’t forget there are bulletproof vests in some of the weapons areas. We aren’t invincible, though we often tend to believe it when we’re with one another.

That’s handy, you hear Oliver sigh, material rustling as Chris presses the button on his earpiece.

The voices grow even closer and stop outside the doorway. 

Someone steps inside. 

Chris knocks the guy over the head, springing into action. He pulls his gun from his holster and cocks it, caught in a stand-off with the other guy. You swallow hard. You brought a knife to a gun-fight. 

Then again, so did Karika. 

Put your gun down and I’ll put mine down, Chris says to the guy. The dude is shaking in his boots, the gun quivering in his hands. Karika will never know, and neither will Axel or Justin.

You—how do you know who those people are? the guy asks, his voice verging on panic.

Chris lifts his free hand, flashing a friendly smile.

I thought you were new, he breathes. I’m Chris. He puts his hand out for the guy to shake it. And you?

The guy swallows, his eyes darting to Chris’s hand and back. You one of Akner’s guys?

Nope, Chris shakes his head. "Just trying to get out of