Glitch in the Script: ZPOCALYPTO - A World of GAMELAND Series, #13

By Saul Tanpepper

EPISODE 13

With a contract on her head, there's nowhere for Jessie to run to, nowhere to hide. But she doggedly continues with her mission to retrieve the one thing that can save her... and everyone from the scourge unleashed by her family a decade and a half earlier. This is the penultimate episode in the acclaimed cyberpunk post-apocalyptic zombie series by Saul Tanpepper.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brinestone Press
• Release date: Nov 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223102984

Saul Tanpepper

Subscribe for new releases & exclusive deals/giveaways: tinyletter.com/SWTanpepper Saul Tanpepper is the specfic pen name of author Ken J. Howe, a PhD molecular biologist and former Army medic and trauma specialist.  Titles include: The post-apocalyptic series GAMELAND (recommended reading order): - Golgotha (prequel, optional) - Episodes 1-4 - Velveteen (standalone novella, optional) - Episodes 5-8 - Infected: Hacked Files From the Gameland Archive (insights for the avid GAMELAND fan) - Jessie's Game #1: Signs of Life - A Dark and Sure Descent - Jessie's Game #2: Dead Reckoning Post-apocalyptic series BUNKER 12 - Contain - Books 2-4 (coming soon) International medical thriller serial THE FLENSE (a BUNKER 12 companion series) - CHINA: Books 1-3 - ICELAND: Book 1-3 - AFRICA: Books 1-3 - TBA Short story collections: Shorting the Undead & Other Horrors Insomnia: Paranormal Tales, Science Fiction, and Horror Visit him at tanpepperwrites.com

Book preview

Chapter 1

FOR IMMEDIATE TRANSMISSION

FROM: Qi Jacque Ma, Chairman and Founder, Abalila HG

TO: Padraig Harrison, President, Arc Properties

DATE: September 14, 2043

SUBJECT: RE: Gameland - Long Island

Dear Mister Harrison;

Our test audience was highly impressed with last month’s exhibition of the gaming arcade at Long Island, and your skillful manipulation of the current live demonstration has been especially remarkable. As such, I would like to invite you to meet with our executive team in Xanghou at the earliest convenience so that we may move forward with our negotiations. I am hopeful we can come to a mutually acceptable arrangement very soon.

Yours truly,

Jacque

Chapter 2

Negotiate? I whisper, incredulously. I don’t dare raise my head above the concrete barrier out of fear they’ll shoot me. Are you out of your damn mind?

Grant shrugs. "You convinced me, didn’t you? And I’m not the most reasonable person around, either."

More reasonable than them! I gesture in the direction of the arcade, where three of Grant’s fellow Live Players, including his former teammate Rosie Haycock, lie hidden from view. It took hours to change your mind, not to mention a dead man talking inside my head. Plus, we’d already...

What? he asks, when I don’t finish. We’d already what?

I don’t know, I say, sheepishly. Bonded.

Bonded?

Yeah, bonded, I repeat, indignantly this time. I have no prior connection to any of those people out there. They’re not interested in anything I have to say. All they’re thinking about right now is how ten million divided four ways is two and a half each! And I’m willing to bet they’re all secretly thinking how dividing it three ways is even better.

They wouldn’t.

No?

He thinks about this for a moment. Two and a half million dollars is nothing to sneeze at.

I give him a horrified look. So, all that talk about letting me go, that was a lie?

What? No, of course not! But I’m not sure I see another way out of this for you.

You mean for you.

"I’m talking about a way for you to go home alive.

There is no way in hell they’re going to let me live.

"That bounty is for you dead or alive."

And every second they I live is another second I might escape. They know that. There’s no benefit to keeping me alive.

Just let me go over and talk to them.

If you go out there, it’s all over. You won’t be coming back.

I think you’re underestimating my charm, Jessie.

No, I think you’re overestimating their willingness to be reasonable about me and sharing the bounty with you.

Trust me.

Trust you? You were wrong about them splitting up. You said everyone voted to go it alone. Does that look like what you said?

This elicits a second wince. They’re gamers, competitors. The conditions of the game have changed for them. Now that I’ve already got you, they’ve decided the best way to defeat me is to join forces with each other and then have me join them.

Because you’ve got me and they’ve got nothing.

Right now, they’ve got the tactical advantage and lethal weaponry, so we have no choice but to go and  talk to them.

They’re not going to cut you in. They’re going to kill you and take it all for themselves.

That would be murder, and they’re not murderers. They’re gamers. They won’t do anything to me.

Oh, so it’s murder if they kill you, but it’s part of the game if they kill me?

I can see him wanting to deny the comparison, but he must realize he can’t. He sighs in frustration and says, "Okay, look. I know Rosie. She’s a decent gal, got a family outside The Game. I can talk some sense into her. Like you said, she and I have a bond. So, just sit tight while I go talk to her. Give me a chance to explain to her what you told me. I mean, right now, what other choice do we have?"

He lifts the Link to his ear and thumbs off the privacy setting. You’re on speaker, he tells the group. Let’s talk.

"Come out."

I’ll meet only with Rosie on open ground. The girl stays here. And the rest of you need to keep your distance until we come to an agreement. And I’m telling you right now, if anyone tries anything, I’ll be collecting that bounty myself immediately. He puts a finger to his lips and winks. And none of you will get anything.

"Why not collect now and save yourself the trouble?" a female voice demands.

Because there’s something you should know about her first.

There’s a long silence. Then: "Fine. We understand."

He frowns. What do you understand? I need to hear you say it.

"You want the girl for yourself, all ten mil. All the fame and glory. But there’s enough to go around, isn’t there, Grant?"

Their laughter trips like fall leaves in a breeze across the infertile ground between us. Grant’s forehead wrinkles even more.

Told you, I whisper.

"Tie her up, Grant, so she can’t run. Then we’ll meet with you. On our terms."

That’s not necessary, Jo. Look around, there’s nowhere for her to go. She won’t run; she’s not stupid. You’ve got us surrounded, and it’s a hundred feet of open ground that you’ve already got covered. She ain’t suicidal.

"Except she knows her only chance now is to try to run, Grant. She could get lucky, and we could all miss."

This isn’t how this is supposed to go down. I got to her first. She’s mine.

"Then why is she still alive?"

I told you. There’s something you should know about her. And about Arc.

"She’s gotten to you, hasn’t she? She’s tricked you, too."

He gives me another pinched look. I don’t have to remind him I’d predicted they wouldn’t be convinced; his body language tells me he’s coming to that realization now.

"Tie her up, Grant. Take everything she can use for a weapon— that includes any guns, EM and otherwise. Tie her up, then send us a picture so we know she won’t be able to run."

I shake my head. Don’t do it, Grant.

All right, he replies. As long as you keep your distance.

"Sure, Grant."

More laughter.

And I’ll speak with Rosie only, Grant says. Which way is she?

"Look south."

A hand emerges from behind a rusted truck, waves once, then quickly disappears.

No funny business, Grant warns.

Just do what we fucking tell you! Jo shouts impatiently from her own hiding spot to the north.

Okay, okay, Grant says. He thumbs the Link to mute it. That woman is going to draw every undead within a quarter mile of here.

Not as long as the network’s up, I remind him. Not this close to the wall. They don’t like it.

He chuffs at the claim, but I can tell he’s inclined to believe me. I haven’t steered him wrong yet.

Well? Jo screams. Hurry the fuck up!

Of course, I add, if she keeps that up...

Give me a minute to tie her up, Grant says into the Link. I’ll ping you back with the photo. And for god’s sake, keep it down!

"Just fucking hurry up. And on second thought, leave your Link there with the video feed open. Prop it up so we can keep an eye on her."

Fine, he says, after a moment’s hesitation. He thumbs the privacy setting on again and stows the device in his breast pocket. He then reaches into his pack and draws out a length of paracord.

You’re not actually going to do this, are you? I ask.

He nods. It’ll be okay.

They’re not going to let you talk them out of anything.

Gimme your wrists, Jessie. Don’t argue, please. And sit down— no, not this side. Back up against the other barrier there, facing west.

No, Grant. Please, don’t do this.

"Keep your voice down! he hisses. Listen carefully: I’m tying a slip knot. You’ll be able to undo it by pulling one end with your teeth. Make sure it’s the right end. Same thing with your feet. I’ll create a diversion. First chance you get, you take off through the wall."

How? I don’t have a key.

There’s one on my Link. He taps to activate it. Just hold it against the portal.

So, you lied about not having a key.

Yes. We all have them. But if we activate it before our two weeks is up, we void our contract with Arc and lose our investment.

I stare at him in disbelief as he ties the knots, my emotions swinging dizzyingly between anger and gratefulness. Why? I ask. Why would you do this for me? You’ve just lost—

Everything? he says. No, I’ve already done that.

I wait for him to elaborate, but he doesn’t.

When he’s finished, he shows me which end of the rope to pull, then he takes a picture of me trussed up and sitting in the dirt, my back against the barrier. Do you still have the EM pistol in your back? he whispers. The other one?

I nod. But—

Good. Grab it when you go. You got Jo and Rosie to either side, which means Andy Emerson, Jo’s partner, is somewhere in the middle. I still haven’t figured out exactly where, but I’m guessing he’s off the side of the road, probably hiding in the brush about sixty or so yards back. You’ll be facing him. He’ll have the sun directly at his back. Remember that. It’ll be right in your eyes.

He picks up the sword, a large stick I’ve been using like a bo staff, and my pack. He stands up, makes a show of throwing each of the weapons far out of my reach, including my grandfather’s pistol and the EM gun I stole from the guard when I first broke in. They all end up in a scattered pile up at the base of the wall next to the portal. Then he stands up and reconnects his Link.

Don’t move, he tells me in a loud, gruff voice. He props the device up on the opposite barrier and taps it to send the video feed to the others.

Straight up the road, Jo calls over to him. Her voice arrives over the clearing sounding flat. Toward Emerson.

I said I’ll speak with Rosie. He turns to face south and takes a step in that direction.

I’m the one in charge here, not her. Straight up the road. And no funny stuff. My partner’s itching to use his gun. He won’t hesitate to shoot you, will you, Emerson?

Nope.

Slowly now. Holster your pistol and show me your hands. Up where we can see them!

I’m on your side, Jo. Remember?

Funny, I forgot that for a second. Maybe it was because you helped her back there.

I didn’t help—

Or it could be because you were about to let her escape.

You’ve got it wrong, Jo. I had to keep her alive until the network came back up.

Walk, Grant. And stop talking.

He glances down at me, and his face is a mask of stone, nothing there to tell me what he’s thinking right now. I’d been hoping to see at least a little regret. Sorry for keeping you in the dark, kiddo, he tells me.

You’re the one who’s in the dark, I spit back. About everything!

Yeah, well we all are at some point, aren’t we?

He shrugs and looks up, holding his hand up to shield his face from the late afternoon sun. Damn sun, blinding me. Soon, it’ll be blinding you, too.

Daylight’s wasting! Jo snaps. Stop procrastinating!

Not a minute to waste, he mutters down to me, and winks.

Then get moving, Jo says. You’re the one wasting time.

Please, Grant, I beg. Don’t.

He steps out from behind the cement barrier and begins to walk down the center of the road, still shielding his eyes. I can’t tell if he’s trying to pinpoint Emerson’s location. I arch my neck high enough to see, but the sun is just beginning to drop toward the tops of the tallest trees on the horizon. Daylight might last for another two more hours, but the shadows will cover the ground long before that. And when that happens, the dead will emerge.

Chapter 3

The minutes pass with inexorable slowness. A quarter hour, a half. I can’t hear a damn thing. I can’t see anything, either, since they’ve taken their negotiations out of sight.

What the hell do they have to talk about for so long?

I sit and glare at Grant’s Link. He’d set it on the ground in the shade propped up against the other barrier. It’s not what Jo had demanded, but she can see me just fine. I just can’t figure Grant out. He’d tied the knots specifically so I could free myself, but then left me in full sunlight. Any move I make will be seen by them.

I can feel them watching me right now. I have to assume they are, so I don’t move. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize Grant’s safety, just in case he somehow manages to convince them to let me live.

The shadows start to lengthen as the minutes pass. I’m baking from the heat coming off the barrier behind me, sweating and thirsty. I think about the water in my pack and wish I had a drink right now. I actually will the sun to go down faster, for the shadows to grow longer. They finally reach my feet and crawls up my toes. Another ten minutes pass and they’re up to my knees. I really need that water.

I puzzle over what Grant had said to me right before leaving to go talk to them: He’ll have the sun at his back. Why would he bother mentioning that? Did he expect me to use it to my advantage? And why mention Emerson specifically? The women seem more dangerous to me, especially Jo.

He’s a man. He’ll naturally assume Emerson’s the most dangerous.

But something about that strikes me as incorrect. Or at least irrelevant. Then again, for all his bragging about how good of a player he is, he’s made a lot of faulty assumptions.

The sun’s now shining straight into my eyes, blinding me. There’s no way this can be anything but an advantage for them. I can’t see a damn thing! I turn to the side, then try to scrunch down. The shade has now reached my waist. A shout immediately comes from my right: Sit the fuck up, girl! That’s it, in the light right where we can see you!

So much for them not watching me, I think resentfully. Why couldn’t Grant have switched me around with the camera? At least then the sun would’ve been shining right on it and blinding them instead of me.

Too obvious. They wouldn’t have let him do that.

The shadow rises like water from a slow leak in a boat. Now it’s up to the middle of my abdomen. Still not enough to get any relief from the heat.

I twist my hands on my lap and give the Link a double-barreled one-finger salute. I can’t even look at the damn thing now. I have to look away or else risk burning my corneas.

Nobody shouts back, which only makes me angrier. I lift my arms up over my head, and repeat the gesture so they can see it over the barrier.

Who the fuck told you to move? Jo yells.

I drop them back onto my lap. I try to glower at the Link, but the sun’s right in my eyes and I have to turn away again.

Move one more time and your friend gets nothing, chicka, Jo warns.

What do I care if Grant gets nothing? Why should I care if they kill him? He’s already a dead man.

I lift my middle fingers once more toward the Link, and there’s no shout. And that’s when I realize they can’t see my hands. With my top half lit up like a Christmas tree, the rest of me in shadow, the Link’s sensor is unable to compensate for the sharp contrast.

Sorry for keeping you in the dark, kiddo.

That’s why Grant mentioned the sun. That’s why he’d apologized. He was sending me a clue. That’s why he’d set his Link up where he did, instead of on top of the barrier or to one side. He knew.

That must be what’s taking so long. He’s buying me time. Or rather, waiting until the sun has set enough so that I can get these bindings off without them seeing. But their blindness won’t last long. As the shadows grow, the sensor will adjust to let in more light, switching from underexposed to over. They won’t be able to see my face for a bit then, but they will see the parts in shadow.

I slowly curl my legs underneath me, drawing my feet up to where I can reach them. I try to keep the rest of me immobile to make it look like I’m not doing anything. I need to hurry. I’ve already lost precious minutes.

My legs are stiff from sitting after the long walk, so it’s a struggle not to show any effort on my face. I’m also working blindly, as I try not to look down. I run the cord through my fingers until I find the end of the knot. I’m just not sure if it’s the correct end. If I pull the wrong one, I’ll end up tightening it.

What’s taking so long? I ask the Link.

"Soon, chicka, Jo replies almost immediately. She sounds pleased, like the negotiations are going exactly where she wants them to go. What’s your hurry?"

I give the cord a tug. It doesn’t loosen. The shadow’s nearly to my shoulders now. It might already be too late.

I pull harder, still to no avail.

Okay, Emerson shouts. We’ve come to an agreement everybody. I’m sending Grant out now. He certainly had some interesting things to say.

I stop pulling and get up onto my knees to see over the other barrier. Jo promptly shouts at me not to move. I drop back against the cooling concrete, but what does it matter now anyway?