Michael Ford - Z

“You’re not turning me into one of those things,” said Scrawl. “I’d rather die.”

“That could certainly be arranged,” Clatter replied. “But the alternative is so much more interesting. No, I’m afraid I can’t make an exception for you, Arthur.”

Scrawl stiffened but remained silent, staring at Clatter.

“What do you want?” Josh asked Clatter.

Clatter turned his attention to Josh. “Who says I want anything?” he asked. “Am I to understand that you think this is some kind of negotiation?” He laughed.

“I want Charlie and Firecracker,” Josh said firmly, though terror threatened to take control of him. Now that he knew what Clatter was doing, the possibility that he might not leave the underground lab alive seemed very real.

“You want?” Clatter said. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be wanting anything.”

“Well, maybe I have something you want,” Josh countered.

Clatter raised an eyebrow. “And that would be?” he asked.

“Money,” said Josh.

Clatter leaned against the doorway. “Are you offering me a bribe?”

Josh shook his head. “You know I don’t have that kind of money,” he said. “But I’m worth it.”

“A ransom,” said Clatter.

“No,” Josh said. “Not a ransom. I mean my game playing. And his,” he added, nodding toward Scrawl. “We’re the best gamers you have.”

Clatter shrugged. “You’re good,” he said.

“Really good,” Josh said. “We bring in more money than anyone else on the team.” He didn’t know if this was entirely true, but he figured it was worth a shot. When Clatter didn’t contradict him, he assumed he had guessed correctly.

“Let’s play a game,” he continued. “Me and Scrawl against your zombies. Call in your biggest wagerers. Make a big deal about it. A match to the death or whatever.”

Clatter thought for a moment. Josh held his breath, hoping his idea would work. “Go on,” Clatter said.

“If we win, you let us go,” said Josh. “All of us. We won’t say anything about what you’re doing down here.”

Clatter chuckled. “Or I could just kill you and not worry about that anyway,” he said.

“Except that before we came here I sent my parents a com message telling them where we were going,” said Josh. “It’s set to open at five o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Clatter shook his head. “You’re lying,” he said.

“No, he isn’t,” said Scrawl. “My sister will get the same message. It has maps and everything. The cops would be here by six, and there’s no way you could clear everything out of here by then. Even if you killed us, your entire business would be wiped out. Plus, I think there are some people who would love to get their hands on you.”

Clatter looked from one of them to the other. He’s trying to decide if we’re bluffing, Josh thought. He decided to beat Clatter to the punch. “No, you don’t know whether we really did it or not,” he said. “But you have more to lose by assuming we didn’t than you do by assuming we did.”

To his surprise, Clatter grinned. “That was very well put,” he said. “All right. We’ll play a game. But it won’t be just you and Arthur playing. Your friends will join you. All four of you must survive, and all the zombies will have to be killed. If you can manage that, I will let you all go.”

“How do we know you’ll hold up your end of the bargain?” Josh asked.

“You don’t,” said Clatter. “But you have more to gain by assuming I will than you do by assuming I won’t. So, do we have a deal?”

Josh looked at Scrawl, who nodded.

“Excellent,” Clatter said. “At this hour it will take a little while to gather together an audience. But I think that makes it even more exciting, don’t you? I’ll send the message out immediately. In the meantime, I imagine you’d like to see your friends. Come with me.”

He walked to one of the cells and typed a code into the keypad beside it. Josh and Scrawl stepped back as the door opened.

“Don’t worry,” Clatter said as he stepped inside the cell. “It’s unoccupied.”

Josh and Scrawl followed him into the cell; then the door slid shut and the floor began to drop. It took a second for Josh to realize that they were in an elevator. It continued down for twenty or thirty seconds, then came to a halt. The doors opened and Clatter stepped out into a tunnel very much like the one through which Josh and Scrawl had entered the lab.

Josh was surprised that Clatter had turned his back on them. Maybe we could jump him, he thought.

“He has weapons,” Scrawl whispered just loudly enough for Josh to hear him. Josh nodded to let him know he understood, even though part of him still wanted to knock Clatter down and hurt him.

“You know, Josh, I could use someone like you on my team,” Clatter said. He turned and paused. “My other team, I mean. I plan to introduce Z to the streets shortly. You’ve tried it. You know how popular it will be. The profit potential is extraordinary. Are you sure you won’t consider joining me?”

“I’ll never be like you,” said Josh.

“You wound me,” Clatter said, feigning sadness. “And here I thought I was such a role model to all of you.”

They walked for a few minutes and came to a stone archway covered by an old iron grate. Behind the grate was a small room cut into the rock, and Charlie and Firecracker were sitting on the floor, not looking at each other. When they heard noise in the tunnel, they glanced up. Josh saw expressions of hope flash across their faces but quickly disappear when they saw that Josh and Scrawl were with Clatter.

“I’ve brought you some company,” Clatter said as he removed one of the keys tied to his coat and inserted it into the ancient lock. The lock opened reluctantly, and Clatter pulled the grate open just far enough for Josh and Scrawl to go inside. He shut it behind them and locked it. “I’ll go make the arrangements,” he said. “I suggest you fill your friends in on what we’ve agreed to.”

As soon as Clatter disappeared, Charlie and Firecracker started talking at the same time.

“Where did you go, and what happened to your face?”

“Dude, what the hell are these people doing?”

“I didn’t mean to—”

“I was only trying to—”

“Quiet!” Josh said. “Just listen. We don’t have a lot of time.”

He explained to Firecracker and Charlie about the zombies and Z, and about the deal he’d made with Clatter.

“What do you mean we have to fight our way out?” asked Firecracker. “Like for real?”

“For real,” said Josh.

“This is insane,” Charlie said.

“Look around,” Scrawl told her. “This whole thing is insane.”

Charlie shook her head. “This isn’t happening,” she said. “It’s, I don’t know, a dream. Or a bad Z trip. I just have to wake up.” She started beating at herself with her hands.

Josh grabbed her and held her. She struggled for a moment, then slumped against him. He felt her shake as she sobbed.

“We can do this,” he whispered. “We’ve done it a thousand times.”

“Are you telling me you guys have been playing the game with real zombies?” Firecracker asked. “And real flamethrowers? And now we’re playing to get out of here alive?”

“Yeah,” Scrawl said. “That’s pretty much it.”

“That’s awesome,” Firecracker said.

“It’s not awesome!” Charlie yelled. “Don’t you get it? We have to kill people!”

Firecracker snorted. “We have to kill meatbags,” he said. “Big deal.”

“Some of those meatbags are our friends,” said Scrawl.