Neverquest – Part 122

Characters: Sophia, Jesse, Alyssa, Neil, Pip, Kelsey

Location: In the woods outside of CNN

Time: Day 5 – Early morning, before dawn

Jesse was waiting for them. He had his back to them and he was leaning over Marcus’ body, turning over his face in the dirt.

Sophia was the first to reach him. The early morning dew was cold on her skin, like winter snow, but she didn’t start shivering until she saw the corpse on the ground. Then she froze and felt her feet sink into the earth. And maybe she would have if she hadn’t caught herself, if she hadn’t fallen back against a tree that was older than life and started gasping for air. They were in the woods now and she could see Marcus in front of her, lying cold and stiff in the dirt like another log waiting to be carried out to sea. His clothing was torn and foam trickled from his lips, making him look almost like a madman if his eyes weren’t so calm and lifeless.

“…Jesse, what’s going on…? What the hell is going on here?”

He was silent.

Neil and Pip were the next to arrive, followed shortly by Alyssa and then Kelsey, the CNN secretary.

“Marcus…” Pip said, stepping forward and then back, realizing he was dead. “No, how can he…”

All they could do is stare down at the corpse with their mouths wide open, letting out cold breaths of air.

“Looks like poison,” Jesse said, pulling his hand away from Marcus’ head. “Maybe from a copperhead or rattlesnake. You can see the puncture holes on his arms.”

 “But…what about the scratches all over his body?” Pip asked. “Those aren’t natural.”

“Well, by the looks of it, he was running from something and scraped a few branches and rocks along the way.”

“Running from what?”

Sophia looked up at Jesse. “We have to tell them, Jesse.”

“Tell us what?”

Jesse returned her look, hard and rigid. “Are you sure?”

“What are you guys hiding from us?”

“…Gibbers was killed, too,” Sophia said quietly, but they all heard her in the dead silence. “We found him at Siarra’s house, where he was supposed to be checking the access codes for you.”

Pip stared at her in disbelief.

“Did a snake kill him?” Kelsey asked.

Now they all stared at her.

“No…” Sophia continued. “He was shot.”

Jesse nodded and looked back at the body on the ground. “Well, Gibbers might have been shot, but that’s not what happened here.”

“Are you saying it’s a coincidence that they were both killed on the same day?” Pip asked.

“I’m saying those are definitely puncture wounds there. I’d know a bullet hole if I saw one.”

Neil shook his head. “Marcus and Gibbers were jerks, but how could you guys not go to the cops? What if there’s some maniac going around with an axe and a ski mask, killing everybody in sight?”

“Nobody said anything about an axe,” Sophia said. “And as far as we know, Marcus died of very natural causes.”

“But we still don’t know what he was running from, do we?”

“Well…” She was quiet a moment. “He did…run from me earlier.”

“What?”

“Jesse was driving me home. We went past the high school and I thought I saw Marcus in the parking lot. I called out to him and then he turned around and ran the other way.”

“Maybe he didn’t know it was you.”

“Or maybe it wasn’t him,” Kelsey suggested.

“No. I chased him and got close enough that I knew it was him and he had to know it was me.”

“But what would he run from you?”

“I don’t know, Pip.”

“…Maybe he really was mad,” Neil said. “Insane, I mean. He’s never been quite right in the head anyway. With his Canadian beliefs and all.”

Alyssa opened her lips to speak. “So he went crazy, stripped himself free of all mortal clothing and possessions, and streaked naked through the primordial forest of his ancestors, librated from the code of a hollow and monotonous civilization?”

“…Alyssa, he was fully clothed.”

“Well, that’s not how I would have done it.”

“Alright, I’ve heard enough,” Pip said. “I don’t know what sick game you guys are playing, but I’m calling the cops before somebody else gets killed.”

“Nobody else is going to get killed,” Jesse snapped. “This idiot shouldn’t have been running through the forest in the middle of the night anyway.”

“But he was! And we don’t know why.”

“…Something is very wrong, I know,” Sophia agreed. “I know it, Pip. It frightens me all the same.” She paused and stared off at the distant sun that was just beginning to scour the horizon of the forest. A ghostly mist weaved through her ankles and she shuddered again. “But…we have to think of my father and the kids who are trapped in Neverquest. If we call the cops, they’ll only eat up time, and that’s time we don’t have. You know that. And if they throw my father in jail, if those poor kids die because we couldn’t save them… Pip, I can’t allow that.”

“Sophia, listen to yourself! You’re talking crazy. People are DEAD. Doesn’t that bother you!?”

“It bothers the fuck out of me, Pip, but we have to start looking at the big picture. A lot more people could die if we waste any more time.”

“…She does have a point,” Neil said. “We have to think about the children, Pip.”

He shook his head and stepped back. “You’ve all gone insane. Marcus is dead—right in front of you—and you’re talking about a video game! What is wrong with you people?”

“Pip, don’t…”

“I’m calling the cops. This ends here.”

“Yes, it does,” Sophia said, quickly fumbling for the gun under her belt loop. She raised it and swallowed the lump in her throat. “Pip, I’m sorry. I can’t let you call the cops.”

He stumbled backwards and his eyes shot open as wide as the sunrise. “Sophia, where the hell did you get that?”

“Just shut up, Pip. Just shut up already.”

“…You’ve gone completely insane.”

“And you’ve given me no choice.”

He looked over his shoulder, but the dome-shaped CNN building was at least a hundred yards away and he didn’t think he could outrun a bullet, so he turned around to face her. “Are you going to shoot me, Sophia?”

“Of course not, Pip.”

“Then what? Are you going to tie me up and gag me?”

Neil frowned. Some guys got all the luck.

She tried to keep the gun steady, but her hand was shaky and doused in sweat and dew. “I don’t want to do anything to you, Pip. I just want you to listen to what I have to say.”

He dropped his arms to the side. “…I’m all ears, Sophia.”

“…There are at least a dozen people, not including my father, Wallace, and the rest of the security guards, trapped in Neverquest. Michelle said that if we don’t stop the virus at 5 PM today—that’s in less than twelve hours—all those people will be dead. Dead like Marcus, dead like Gibbers. It won’t matter to them if we call the police now or wait until tonight. Not if they’re dead, Pip.” She started to lower the barrel of the gun. “But if there’s a chance we can save them…and there is…then we have to take it. And it’s not for my father and it’s not for the future of Neverquest; it’s for the lives of those people in the game, Pip, and I thought you would care.”

“You know I care, Sophia.”

“Then promise me you won’t call the cops. At least, not until we get those kids out of Neverquest. Then I don’t care what happens.”

Pip looked at Neil, but his friend didn’t know what to say.

“Your girlfriend’s crazy,” Alyssa whispered into Jesse’s ear and then she stepped forward, locking eyes with Pip. “Don’t listen to her. She’s going to get us all killed.”

Jesse grabbed her arm. “Alyssa, get out of the way.”

“No! You’re not keeping me hostage anymore. I don’t want to end up like him!” Her eyes fell to Marcus and then turned wildly to Pip. “Run, Pip. Get out of here!”

“Alyssa, stop it!”

“No!” she screamed, coiling her body. Jesse threw himself around her and held her back. “Let me go.”

Pip took a step back.

Sophia shifted around the tree and raised the gun again. “Don’t do it, Pip.”

“You’re all insane…”

“Alyssa!”

Alyssa broke free and threw herself on Sophia, knocking her against the side of the tree. “I got her. Go for help, Pip!”

Scowling, Jesse grabbed her by the shoulder. “Alyssa, don’t be an idiot.”

“I love you, Jesse, but I’m not sticking around to die by your girlfriend’s paranoia.” Then she seized Sophia’s wrist and rapped her knuckles against the bark.

“Stop that!”

“Pip, run!”

Neil and Kelsey looked at each other, but before they could do anything, a loud crack pierced the air. Sophia screamed, the gun dropped into a pile of wet leaves on the ground, and everybody turned to Pip, where a bullet had grazed his ear and knocked him cold on the ground.

“Pip!” Neil screamed, falling beside his friend. He elevated Pip’s head and soon blood was pouring from between his fingertips. “Oh, my God. He’s been shot. You shot him, Sophia!”

She stood frozen, her fingers holding an imaginary pistol at her side, and she stared down in horror as the leaves turned red. Her lips quivered and the world seemed to spin faster than usual. If it weren’t for Alyssa, still holding her against the tree, her feet would’ve caved in and she would’ve sunk next to Marcus on the ground.

“You shot him, Sophia! He needs a doctor. Oh, God, Pip…”