Michael Robertson - New Reality - Truth

“We would have died if we didn’t run, Tom.”

Tom regarded Jake with lifeless eyes. He was clearly aware of that fact.

Moving closer, his rusty joints screaming a burning protest, Jake clenched his jaw against the pain and dropped an arm over his friend’s shoulder. When he gave him a soft squeeze, Tom’s bottom lip pushed out.

“Come on, man,” Jake said. “Let’s keep moving.”

Staring at Jake as he hobbled off, leading his friend on, she ran her tongue over her cracked lips. Why did he have to be so kind to his friend? What she had to do would be so much easier if Jake was a dick.

The woman’s large body was spread over the rocky ground like fresh dough. She was naked save for a small shred of what looked like the remains of a woolen jumper clinging to her wrist. Varicose veins pooled in her arms and her skin was pale.

Looking up, Jake scratched his beard as he scanned the surrounding storm for Bots. There were none. “Have you noticed how there are so many less gamers about now? I swear there were ten times as many only a few months ago.”

Without replying, Tom also scanned their surroundings.

“Tom?”

There was a distant look to the man as he said, “Why are we helping them? They’re in a better state than we are.”

“At least we’re conscious.”

“Exactly! They’re far better off. They say ignorance is bliss, New Reality makes that statement truer than ever. Ignorance is heaven now.” He shook his head. “I can’t keep spending what little energy I have making the lives of these idiots better.”

The woman they were stood over was in her late thirties to early forties. The only thing Jake could be certain of when it came to her physical health was that she was still breathing. Watching her chest rise and fall, he scratched his head. “What else can we do?”

Turning on his friend, Tom’s eyes lit up. “Let’s try and take her headset off.”

When Jake’s mouth fell open, he felt grateful for the scarf. If it weren’t for that, he’d be funneling grit. Staring at his friend, he couldn’t find the words to reply.

Tom shrugged. “So we know how to do it when we find Rory.”

“But that might kill her.”

“Rather her than my son.”

The logic made sense. Kneeling down next to the gamer, Jake looked closely at the headset. Rolls of doughy fat belched from beneath it. The device looked like it had fused to the top half of her head. “How do you think we can get it off?”

“We could just rip it off.”

“Rip it off?” The thought made Jake’s already weak legs wobble. “That would kill her.” When Jake looked up at his tall friend, he was met with a cold stare. Although Tom hated talking about Thalia, Jake felt like he’d have to remind him what happened.

After looking behind them again, Tom shoved the woman’s fat arm with his boot. “It’d put the bitch out of her misery.”

“You do realize what you’re saying, right?”

“Of course I realize.” He pointed down at the woman. “Look at her, Jake, she’s fucked anyway.”

“What’s wrong with you, Tom? Why would you want to kill an innocent person? Where’s this coming from? This isn’t you. Also,” Jake pointed at the Rixon Tower on the horizon, “have you forgotten about our corporate overlords?”

Without replying, Tom looked behind again. Biting down on a fingernail, he continued to throw glances out in random directions. “We got away with it once before. Besides, would it really matter if she died? We’d probably be doing her a favor. Speed things up for her.”

“What if you’re wrong about Rixon? What if they’re not interfering with everything we do in this world? Besides, what has this woman ever done to you?”

Tom didn’t reply.

Kneeling down next to the woman, Jake lifted one of her heavy arms and arranged it so it covered an exposed nipple on a saggy breast. The touch of her cold and waxy skin made him shudder. It was like moving a corpse.

Watching her large chest swell and subside with her breathing, the heavy, phlegmy death rattle sounding like it could stop at any moment, Jake wondered if Tom was right? Should they leave her be? She clearly didn’t have long left. When Tom barked his question, it made Jake jump.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Shall we do it?”

“Do I really need to spell it out? No! Absolutely not. I’m not a murderer.”

Screwing his face up, Jake could see the sneer even beneath Tom’s scarf. “But we are though, aren’t we?”

“We didn’t mean to kill Thalia. That wasn’t murder. Not like you’re suggesting now.”

Tom fell silent again and continued his search of their surroundings.

Planting his feet, Jake buried his hands into her side as he gave her a hard shove. Grunting from the effort, he looked up at his disgruntled friend. “I need your help, Tom.”

“Let’s just leave her.”

Standing up, his entire body popping, cracking and creaking in protest, Jake put his hands on his skinny hips. “What the hell’s going on with you? What’s all this bullshit about killing her? What’s wrong with you today?”

It was only when Tom looked behind yet again that the light switched on in Jake’s head. Clicking his fingers, he pointed at him. “You think it’ll slow them down, don’t you? You want to leave her as an offering.”

Unable to hold eye contact, Tom looked at the floor. “No.”

“You do. You want to leave her for them to feed on so we can get farther away.”

“Well it might work.”

Dipping his head to get eye contact with Tom, Jake reached out and gave the top of Tom’s skinny arm a squeeze. “Just tell me what you saw.”

There was no reply.

“What if something happens to you? I need to know what I’m up against so I can defend myself.”

A glaze washed over Tom’s face. Behind it was chaos. He wasn’t letting Jake in.

Clapping his hands did little to snap his friend out of it, but Jake continued anyway. “Right, so we’ve decided that we’re not going to kill her.”

“You’ve decided that.”

“Yes, I have. Now make yourself useful and help me.”

“You do realize that you’re probably not even helping, don’t you?”

“You’ve already told me that turning them over is better than leaving them lying still. That’s what they do in the hospitals, right?”

“Did, Jake. Did.”

“Whatever. Stop trying to get out of it and help me.” Rolling his eyes, Jake dropped into a hunch and waited for Tom to squat down next to him.

When the tall man finally moved into place, Jake smiled. “See, there’s a heart in there somewhere.”

“It’s not about kindness. I don’t help because of self-preservation. Why are we wasting energy on this fat slug? She decided to put the headset on.”

“She’s still a person.”

“She’s got all the sustenance she needs, and we’re living like rats.”

“Then why are you helping?”

Tom looked at the floor. “If Rory’s still out there, and if there are other people like us, I hope they’re doing the same. I hope someone like you has passed him and taken an interest in his welfare.”

Nodding, Jake said, “Karma.”

“I believe in science, Jake. I’m not a nutter.”

Jake laughed. They’d had the conversation too many times to repeat it.

Positioning himself so he was ready to push, Tom groaned from the effort of crouching down.

“Right—three, two, one, go.”

When Jake shoved her, the muscles in his back set alight and his head pulsed as if it was going to explode. With his feet scrabbling for positioning, and his injured legs screaming for him to stop, he looked at the gap between her back and the ground, desperate for any sign that they were making progress. “Come on, Tom. We can do this.”