Michael Ford - Z

Josh wiped his hair from his eyes and looked for the entrance to Happy Time. He spotted it a little way down the boardwalk—a huge grinning clown’s head, its paint worn away so that it had only one eye. Josh carefully made his way along the dilapidated boardwalk. Passing through the clown’s open mouth, he walked among the arcade of empty booths until he found one marked with a torn poster of a bearded lady. OME SEE THE FREAK SHO,it declared in big letters. To the right of the sign was a doorway covered by a dirty, yellowed curtain. Josh pushed through it and into the room beyond.

“You’re late.” Stash looked at Josh and popped a nut into his mouth.

“Five minutes,” Josh shot back. “The train sat in the tunnel for twenty minutes. I guess the tracks were flooded.”

“It’s no problem,” Bess assured him. She was just pulling on the heavy black boots that went with their uniforms. She gave Stash a scowl. “Besides, Scrawl isn’t even here yet, so settle down.”

Stash turned away and walked over to a battered old sofa upholstered in red velvet. When he sat on it, a cloud of dust rose around him. He started sneezing violently.

“Serves him right,” Bess said, laughing. “What a jerk.”

Josh set his backpack down and started to dress. He saw Seamus and Finnegan in another part of the room, but Freya and Charlie weren’t there. He asked Bess where they were.

“They’re helping Clatter bring the flamethrowers up,” she said. “He keeps a locker of them in one of the lower levels.”

“Have you played here before?” Josh asked as he stepped into his Torcher uniform.

“Once,” Bess answered. “It’s a little creepy. Most of the rides are pretty much gone, but a couple of them are still standing. They don’t work, of course, but it’s still weird walking around inside of them. She looked at Josh. “Don’t worry, though. It’ll be fun.”

A curtain at the rear of the room opened and Clatter entered, accompanied by Freya and Charlie. Each of them carried a bag and set it on the ground. Freya unzipped one of them and removed three flamethrowers. She opened the other two bags and removed five more.

“Josh!” Clatter said. As he walked over to greet Josh, his coat of keys jangled merrily. “Are you ready for your first big game?”

Josh nodded. “I think so,” he answered. “Who are we playing for?”

Clatter wagged a finger. “We never discuss the wagerers,” he said. “You let me worry about that. You just focus on playing a good game.”

Charlie came over to stand by Josh. “How are you feeling?” she asked in a whisper.

“Pretty good,” Josh said. “Last night was amazing.”

Charlie grinned. “Didn’t I tell you?” she said.

Josh looked at her. There was something funny about her eyes. They weren’t quite focusing on him. “Are you on it now?” he asked.

Charlie giggled. “Yeah,” she said.

“I thought you only use it when you play the hologame,” said Josh.

“Sometimes I take it when we’re playing for real,” Charlie answered. “It’s even more intense then.”

Josh looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Can I have one?” he asked.

Charlie shook her head. “You’re not used to it yet.”

“Come on,” Josh begged.

Charlie leaned in close. “Don’t talk about it here,” she said. “And no, you can’t have any. It’s too risky.”

Josh groaned. “You’re no fun,” he said, only half joking.

“Hey, guys.” Scrawl entered the tent, shaking water from his coat. “Sorry I’m late. The damn train got stuck.”

Josh looked over at Stash, waiting for him to say something smart. But Stash just looked down and dropped a shell onto the floor. He’s afraid of Scrawl, Josh thought with some satisfaction. He just thinks he can bully me because I’m the new guy. Well, we’ll see about that.

“Never mind,” Clatter said to Scrawl. “Just get your team together and meet at the starting point in fifteen minutes. You know what to do.”

Scrawl glanced at his watch. “No problem,” he said. “We’ll be ready.”

Clatter looked around at the rest of them. “In that case I wish you all good luck and happy hunting,” he said.

When Clatter was gone, Scrawl called everyone together. As he laced up his boots, he went over the plan for the game.

“We’re starting at the entrance to the funhouse,” he said. “Two teams. First team is Seamus, Finnegan, Bess, and me. Second team is Freya, Charlie, Josh, and Stash.”

Josh groaned silently. Why did he have to be on a team with Stash? But at least Charlie would be with him.

“There’s a total of twelve z’s running around this place,” Scrawl continued. “That means we each get at least one kill. The other four are up for grabs. But nobody hog them,” he added, looking meaningfully at Stash. “Everybody gets a chance at the bonuses. Got it?”

Stash looked away. “Got it,” he muttered.

“That’s all there is to it,” Scrawl said as he stood up. He turned to Josh. “Did you study the manual?”

“Yep,” Josh said.

“I hope you memorized the maps,” said Scrawl. “You’ll need them to play this field. It’s got some tricky sections.”

“I’m good to go,” Josh assured him.

“Put this in your ear,” said Scrawl as he handed Josh device the size of a small gumball. “It’s a communicator. You’ll be able to hear everyone else, and they’ll hear you. Keep the chatter to a minimum. You can imagine what it’s like if everyone talks at once.”

Josh tucked the communicator into his left ear. It fit snugly, then expanded to fill the space. There was a slight tickling sound as something bonded with his skin. “This is biotechnology,” he said, surprised. “I thought only the military used stuff like this.”

Scrawl grinned. “Like I told you before, Clatter has connections,” he said. “Let’s go.”

They left the freak-show tent and walked to the end of the arcade, where a dilapidated structure with FUN HOUSEwritten across the front stood with its doors yawning open. Scrawl went inside, and the rest of the team followed.

Scrawl checked his watch. “We should be starting right… about… now,” he said as the now-familiar electronic woman’s voice came through the communicator in Josh’s ear.

“Torchers, prepare for play,” it said.

In front of them, mirrored doors swung inward, revealing a staircase going down. “Use the lights on your torches,” Scrawl reminded them as he led the way.

Josh turned on his light, which produced a thin but clear beam courtesy of the halogen bulb mounted above the flamethrower’s barrel. He kept it pointed down as he followed Seamus into the stairwell.

At the bottom of the stairs Scrawl stopped. “Team one, we’re going north,” he said, indicating a long hallway off to his left. Team two, head south.”

Scrawl and his team moved out, leaving Josh, Charlie, Freya, and Stash at the foot of the stairs.

“Listen up,” Freya said. “I want this to be quick and clean. We make a sweep of our quadrant, we torch anything we see that isn’t human, and we collect our pay.” She looked at Josh and spoke in a low voice. “Remember, there are cameras monitoring us at all times. The customers want to see action, so make sure you’re always on.”

Josh nodded. He understood the rules. If they performed well, the customers made bigger bets and everyone made more money. But Josh wasn’t concerned just about the money. He wanted to show that he could really play.

“My guess is that we’re going to have a six-and-six,” Freya said as they started to walk. “Clatter almost always divides them up equally.”