Chapter 15

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I have so many questions I want to ask Jason Vasher, yet I know it's too risky to voice them. At least right now when we're trapped in a simulation, our every word monitored. So I choose to follow him silently. He doesn't say anything else the rest of the way.

We come across a house that reminds me of the white brick homes I lived in when I was still in the Reserve. These homes, however, are much larger and more luxurious. Walking in, there's plush chairs and couches, advanced-looking screens on the walls, and exotic plants decorating almost every corner. A man who seems to be around the same age as Jason comes forward.

"Hey Vasher," He nods, his green eyes narrowing. "Who'd you drag in?"

"This is Rachel. She took down a nepius on her own." Jason replies.

"A what now?" He takes a bite of some bright green fruit as he studies me.

"Scorpion monster thing." Jason answers, setting his gear on one of the nearby tables. "I'm exhausted. Showers work?"

"Yup," The guy replies, apparently deciding I am no longer in the room as he picks at his fruit and walks away.

"That's Greg." Jason tells me as he heads toward the staircase. "You can have the bedroom upstairs on the left. I'll take the couch. There's plenty of fruit in the fridge. Help yourself."

As if on cue, my stomach growls. It's a strange feeling. Being hungry but knowing it's not real, just a simulation. I walk toward what I assume to be the kitchen and open the sleek silver door of the fridge.

"Green fruit is sweet, red is sour." Greg mumbles as he walks by, startling me.

"Thanks," I stammer, grabbing a red fruit. The skin feels like a strawberry, and one bite fills my mouth with a tart juice. It's delicious, but a bit strong. I almost choke trying to swallow the juice.

"Told ya." He smirks. "You're welcome to take a nap. I know Vasher plans to. I'll keep watch. Maybe get lucky and get some more points before the sun goes down."

"Ok." I nod as he walks out. There's a part of me that would love nothing more than to get out of this armor, shower, and take a nap. Every muscle in my body is aching for rest after the past few hours I just had. But we only have 3 days here. Will I be able to get enough points to make it to Level One?

I decide to take a short nap in the bedroom upstairs. All the furniture and sheets are a light cream color, and everything smells like fresh clean laundry. Something about the sunset filtering through the window makes the room feel even more comforting. I slide out of the armor, feeling relief as it heavily clunks to the ground. Slipping into the covers, I set an alarm on the clock next to me for 30 minutes.

The fatigue from the past few hours causes me to doze off quickly. Surprisingly, I dream in this simulation. I'm in a field full of yellow flowers that smell heavenly. The sun is bright. Birds are singing. My body feels warm, happiness thickly flowing through me like honey. No worry. No stress. I haven't felt like this in a long time. Not since before the invasion.

Off in the distance, I can see a figure. It's a guy. Something about him feels familiar. I don't feel threatened. He begins to walk toward me and his features slowly come into view. Brown hair. Dark eyes. A smile that I know.

"Tyler?" The name slips past my lips without me even realizing it.

"Rachel," He's grinning now. I run toward him, unable to help myself. He opens his arms out of instinct and I leap into them. I clutch him to me, savoring the familiar warmth and scent of him. Tears sting my eyes.

"I've missed you so much," My voice chokes. "It's been hell without you. I-"

The alarm blares next to me, harshly pulling me away from my pleasant dream. I open my eyes slowly. Reluctantly. Tears collect on the pillowcase. Slamming my hand on the clock to turn off the alarm, I stay under the covers for a moment as the pleasant feeling of warmth quickly fades away. I'm alone again, but I cling to the feeling of that dream for as long as I can.

A howl in the distance snaps me back to my current reality, sending a shiver down my spine. Darthra. I jump out of bed, struggling to get my armor on as quickly as I can. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Let's go, Collins. Points for the taking." Jason's voice says as I shove on my helmet and open the door. He's already geared up, gun in hand. "Ready?"

"Yup," I nod, following him out into the Kofali wilderness.

"Where are ya, fuckers?" Greg yells out up ahead. "Come on!"

He's trying to get the attention of the darthra. Hoping to get all the points. It's dusk now, filtering everything in a shade of blue. The trees, the time of day, and the sound of darthra tearing through the woods. It's like deja vu.

When we spot Greg up ahead, the dartha move so fast we have no time to warn him. He manages to shoot one down easily, but the other is out of his sightline. That darthra leaps up and tackles him, sinking its teeth into his arm. He yells out in pain. My mind shifts straight back to when Tyler and I were on the run and he was attacked. Suddenly, I find it hard to breathe. I freeze.

Jason immediately fires his weapon, trying to get a clear shot. He knows one hit between the eyes is all he needs. But I'm finding it hard to move.

"You idiots!" Greg shouts. "Hurry the fuck up!" The darthra sinks its teeth into his abdomen, causing him to scream again. Jason gets the money shot and the dartha goes down, finally releasing Greg. Jason kneels down next to him, inspecting the cracked armor.

"Are you hurt?" Jason asks.

"Yeah, I'm hurt!" Greg replies angrily, whipping off his helmet and wincing in pain. "No thanks to your slow asses. And you-" He glares at me. "You didn't even help! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Words fail me as I still struggle to control my breathing. I clear my throat as if it will help me regain the ability to speak. All I can see is Tyler on the ground, bleeding and groaning.

"Lay off," Jason says. "She probably just got a little freaked out."

"A little freaked out?" Greg mutters as Jason helps him take his armor off to inspect the damage. Dark bruises are already developing across his body. "How is that going to help us? She'll just slow us down! Might as well kill her off to see the point value-"

"That's enough." Jason snaps.

"You know I'm right." Greg rolls his eyes, heaving himself up. "She's got three lives. What's the harm?" He lifts up his gun.

"Knock it off, Greg," Jason stands between us.

"What? This is my only chance to make it to Level One! I'm not gonna let some idiot get in the way of it." He staggers forward, but Jason puts a hand on his chest.

"Give me the gun." He demands calmly.

"What? No! Vasher, please get your head out of your ass. We only have three days to get the points we need. We should at least ditch her."

"We're not doing that, Thompson." Jason growls.

"Why are you defending her? She just proved she's completely useless. Let's just go." He tries to walk but Jason won't let him move forward.

"Give me the gun." He says again.

"No, dude. Come on."

"Fine. Then Rachel and I are leaving. You can have the house."

"What? You're leaving me? After everything I did for you. That's bullsh-"

A monstrous noise stops all of us in our tracks. The ground starts to tremble. It's another nepius, drawn to the sound of their arguing. It shrieks as it comes into view. The boys begin firing, but they don't know the sweet spot.

"Underbelly!" I manage to shout above the noise. "Shoot the underbelly!"

The nepius moves fast, and as I snap myself out of my panic, it launches its stinger into Greg's exposed chest. Greg only manages the start of a scream before he's silenced. His body slowly starts to fade away. When he disappears, that's the only way we know he's one life down.

"Run!" Jason yells, taking off and grabbing my arm as he passes me. We sprint back to the house as fast as we can. My helmet makes me feel like I can't get enough air. My legs burn. My lungs scream. I don't know how we're going to survive this monstrous creature tearing through the forest. We killed the darthra, the only aid I had the first encounter.

The white brick house looms into view. Jason dashes around it and I follow. With a loud crash, we can only assume the nepius slammed into the building.

"Let's check if we have a shot!" Jason calls, and we run back toward the creature. I expect to see the front of the house completely destroyed with bricks scattered everywhere. Instead, I see the nepius caught in what looks like an invisible barrier, its belly exposed.

"Inside!" I yell, and Jason and I bolt inside the side door of the home, both of us unaffected by any barrier. When we make our way to the front and open the door, the nepius' weak spot is as clear as day. We each shoot and it goes down.

Silence settles upon the house as the beast slowly disappears, the only sound left in the air is our heaving breathing.

"Good job," Jason clears his throat. "Let's take a breather." He closes the front door and locks it, making his way to a nearby couch and taking off his armor. I do the same, feeling relief of the weight lifted off me.

"I'm sorry about your friend," I say, removing my helmet and feeling the cool air hit my face. The sound of rain beginning to hit the windows draws my gaze to them.

"No big deal, not like he's dead for real." Jason says, taking off his helmet and heaving a long sigh. "I'm sure he'll find his way back here. I'll try to keep him in line."

"I don't know what came over me," I untie my boots one by one, yanking them off. "I don't know why I freeze up sometimes."

"We've all been through a lot," Jason replies in a knowing tone, reminding me that we are being watched and listened to every second. "Gotta do our best to put it behind us."

"Yeah," I sigh too, rubbing the soles of my feet with my fingertips to kneed out the soreness.

"Kinda bullshit we can feel pain in this world, ain't it?" Jason smirks at me.

"Got that right." I chuckle.

Suddenly, a loud string of knocking at the front door startles us to our feet. We immediately grab our guns.

"Let us in, please! The rain. It burns skin please let us in!" A female voice muffled by a helmet begs.

"Should we?" I look at Jason.

"Might as well. Could use more people." He mutters, keeping his gun raised. I unlock the door and open it slowly.

"Thank you!" The same voice exclaims as two fully armored people walk inside. "The rain...we didn't realize it until one of our guys took off his gear. Burns skin. Crazy." He uses his gloved hands to take off his helmet, revealing his face. I almost gasp.

Tyler.


Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading, please make sure to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter!

Also, let me know if you have any theories on what will happen next!

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