Chapter 62: Chapter 62 - The Green Room

The sunset behind lit up the weed-strewn reef encircling the choppy bay. Rocks jutted up from the deep blue surf like drowning fingers. A small houseboat bobbed on the waves. The hanging light inside the cabin rocked back and forth and cast a wild yellow light out on the water. Four silhouettes danced and drank and partied as though the world were ending.

They froze as the Gambler’s announcement rolled out.

[Warning! Attention! Hello! A Mubilashi will spawn in your vicinity in 56 seconds. If you can navigate your boat beyond the reef, or reach the shore, you will find salvation. If you don’t… let’s just say that Mubilashis like playing with their food.]

[56 seconds.]

[55 seconds.]

The occupants of the boat were four young men. College-aged, and college drunk. Two of them climbed up on top of the roof.

“We don’t care!” one yelled as he waved a bottle of vodka. “Take your countdown and shove it up your ass!”

His friend laughed, and a third climbed up with a funnel and hose tucked under his arm. They started chugging beer. The laughing friend — still laughing — pulled down his pants and mooned the darkening sky.

The fourth figure ignored them all and dove over the side of the boat. His strokes were powerful and practiced, but he was far from the rocky beach and the waves were choppy. Currents dragged him back and forth. Seaweed wrapped around his legs. Slowed him.

The countdown ticked, and his friends poured alcohol onto their faces. Vodka and rum and orange juice spilled down their necks and chests. Washed away the tears. They flicked lit cigarettes at the pools around their feet, and one of them caught fire. Flames spread and the countdown hit zero.

The ocean ran black. No light glinted in the choppy water. The burning boat sank. The young men screamed. They passed beneath the surface and vanished. Black waves washed up the rocky shore. Foam as crisp and white as the whites of an eye, and the water the impossible black of a pupil. The monochrome wave retreated and dragged at the rocky shore. The water left the once smooth stones with deep scratches, as a thousand hooked claws rejoined the somber ocean.

###

Back in the studio, his snakeskin boots crunching the sand, the Gambler presented team 3 with his deepest condolences.

“Truly, nothing is more tragic than total failure. Such miserable results are bound to make you miserable, which is why I am sending all non-winning teams home with a consolation prize! Why don’t you tell them what they’ll get, me?”

On the far end of the stage that wasn’t there but now was, the female Gambler sashayed over to a white box upon the table. Her hips were of cartoonish proportions, her waist unnaturally thin, and her long skirt slit up the thigh. She smiled and reached into the box.

A thin copper snake coiled up her wrist.

“All contestants will take home a one size fits all python bracelet. This charm will allow you to communicate with the essence in your immediate vicinity. Need metal but can’t find any? Did you know there’s metal in blood? You did? But you think there’s not enough for a proper incorporation? Well, worry not, for with the python bracelet you’ll be able to incorporate adjacent materials to your heart's content. Once per day. For five uses. After which the charm will break and the python will once again know freedom… enjoy!”

The stage extension vanished into the surrounding darkness as the audience cheered. A white box appeared at the feet of each contestant. Eight boxes for the eight remaining humans.

Only Anton picked his up and checked inside. The serpent slithered up his arm until it coiled around his bicep and settled into its metal form.

“Thanks,” he said.

The Gambler tipped his hat.

“And they say the youth have no manners. Now, round 1 is over and it’s time to announce the winners.” He grinned and rubbed his hands together. “Well, the results are straightforward. Team 3 rescued no survivors, and so they sit at the bottom with zero points. Team 1 rescued two survivors, and have two points. Team 2, relying on the help of their betters, rescued all four survivors and lead with a whopping four points! Can we get a round of applause?”

The audience cheered and hollered, but Anton stuck up his hand.

“Excuse me?”

“Yes?” said the Gambler. “You have a question?”

“You counted the points wrong.”

The audience hushed.

“Please, explain,” said the Gambler. “Where did I go wrong?”

“Team 2 didn’t save anyone. They relied upon our time. If it wasn’t for Zoe, none of those kids would have lived. We should get team 2’s points.”

The Gambler stroked his chin as though in deep thought.

“And you would then win with six points. Is that why you bring this up?”

“Oh, is that so?” Anton shrugged. “I hadn’t thought about that. I just believe credit should go where it is due.”

“We should split the points,” Yvonne spoke up. “Without the time from our team, most of the children would have died.”

“Fine by me,” said Anton. “You’ll still lose.”

“But we won’t come last. And our points will continue to the next round,” she addressed this point toward the Gambler. “Correct?”

The Gambler nodded, but his eyes fixed on Zoe.

“Hmm, so we have a few options,” he pointed at team 2’s podium. “What do you think, Xavier?”

Xavier slumped down to his knees.

“Can you bring her back?” his hands clasped together. “We went through so much…”

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The Gambler shook his head.

“Sorry, that wasn’t the question. Trent? Any opinions on what should happen with your points?”

Trent, pale, trembling, shook his head.

“Well,” said the Gambler. “That’s too bad. Looks like we’ll have to take your points away and give them to… hmmm, I have an idea that could make this even more interesting.” The Gambler held out his fist for inspection and then opened his hand. On his palm lay a large silver coin. It glinted in the light like a Hollywood prop. “I’ll flip this coin. Whoever it lands in favor of, shall receive all the points from team 2, making this… anybody’s game! Except for team 2, unfortunately, you have forfeited yourself by being bad at the game and answering my question with another question. I hate that, as I told you in our pre-game interviews. Now, on with the show!”

He tossed the coin high. Higher than it had any right to go. It shot up, a silver star falling in reverse, up beyond the limits of the ceiling, beyond the limits of vision — even advanced by Insight — but still they saw it glinting and turning as it kissed the zenith of its arc. The coin fell, and the Gambler waggled his eyebrows as he held out his palm.

“Nothing is more beautiful than even odds. Now, in honor of our team 1 captain and the decisions she has made by tossing a coin: why don’t you call it, Zoe?”

Zoe flinched as he said her name, but she never stopped watching the falling coin.

“Heads,” she felt like scum playing along to his game but she didn’t want to lose. “Heads and we get the points.”

The coin hit the Gambler’s palm, and he slapped it onto his wrist hard enough to make Zoe’s ears hurt.

“The moment of truth,” he lifted his hand away. “Heads! Team 1 has won round one! What a happy day!”

Sand vibrated and skipped as applause washed over the stage. The female Gambler reiterated on the round one prize, as stagehands hurried out of the shadowy wings and approached the podiums.

“Please, Dr. Chambers,” said Ronnie. “This way to the green room.”

###

Zoe, Bella, and Anton followed Ronnie down a corridor. Various locked doors lined the walls of living shadow. When asked, Ronnie denied any knowledge of what lay behind them. He flinched at such questions with the shiftiness of a rat in a maze.

He led them to a glowing open doorway. Beyond, faintly visible through the bloom, was a bright blue sky, rolling green hills, and the swaying of flowering trees. Birds chirped, and soft music lilted.

“The green room,” Ronnie announced with a bow. “We were let inside on our first day, and I have to say it’s amazing,” he seemed on the verge of tears with his recollection. “Almost anything you could want is inside.”

“Thanks, Ronnie…” Zoe looked him up and down. “What happened to you? You said you’re a pet?”

“I can’t talk about it… but, well… those of us who made it to the tutorial received several options. Some of us chose not to fight,” he looked up and met Zoe’s stare. “I don’t know how you do it, Dr Chambers. I really don’t. Now, please, head inside and get comfortable. We’ll call you when it’s time for round 2.”

Zoe wanted to ask more questions, but she could read how much Ronnie wished them to drop the subject. She gave him a nod.

“It’s good to see you alive.”

“And you as well.”

Zoe entered the glowing doorway, and Bella followed. Anton paused and poked the stagehand in the chest.

“They cut off your dick and balls, huh?”

Ronnie’s eyes widened.

“No… just my balls,” he sobbed. “They treat us like animals.”

Anton nodded.

“You’d think for all the choices this system gives us, there’d be a right one… oh, well,” Anton clapped Ronnie on the shoulder. “Sorry about your balls.”

And he walked through the glowing doorway.

###

Zoe emerged under the shade of a weeping willow. A soft breeze moved the balmy air. She felt delightful. Soft grass underfoot. A leaf blew and spun and brushed her cheek. She laughed.

A long table with chairs sat under the tree. Platters of food lined the white tablecloth. Enough for a dozen. Roasted meats, golden pastries, fresh fruit sliced and glistening, cakes stiff with frosting, bain-maries filled with vegetables, stir-fries, spaghetti and meatballs, fried strips of chicken, even a platter of hamburgers.

With soft pops, Bella and Anton appeared behind her. White butterflies flittered up from the swaying grass as the three of them looked around the Elysian paradise. In the distance, on other hills and under other trees, team 2 and team 3 examined their tables.

They all shared a space, but they were all separate. Zoe waved, and Yvonne waved back. Xavier saw her, she thought, but he just sat against the trunk of his tree — a majestic oak — and wept.

Sadness brushed her heart like the flutter of a moth’s wings…

“We can’t forget what happened in that round,” she said. “No matter what they bribe us with.”

“I agree,” Bella said from the end of the table where a cooler sat. “The Gambler will get his, but for now, I’m going to enjoy this beer. I’ve earned it, and I don’t want to think about how long it will be before I can enjoy one in the real world.”

Anton nodded and moseyed over to her.

“What do they have?”

“Corona, fruity ciders, IPA’s, some kind of goose.”

“Gose? Pass me one.”

Bella tossed him a white can. He caught it, cracked it, and sipped the rising foam.

“Yeah,” he said before taking another sip. “Yeah, that’s alright.”

Bella lifted a corona and watched how it sparkled in the sunlight.

“This might be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” she cast a glance at Zoe. “You alright?”

“No.”

Zoe leaned against the table with a white-knuckled grip bunching up the pure white tablecloth. The food smelled like childhood memories. Like comfort on a rainy day. Like the answer to life’s problems. But she couldn’t stop thinking about the deaths that led to this moment. About the blood dripping from her soul. Her grip snapped holes in the wood.

Flutter of moth wings upon her heart…

She stumbled away, fell to her knees in the grass, leaned over, and puked up butterflies. The rainbow-hued insects spilled up out of her lips and fluttered away. A stream of them spreading and dancing on the balmy wind. They floated around her head, around the table, before lifting away.

Zoe wiped her mouth, but there was nothing on her scarred lips. No taste or residue. She watched the points of color spread throughout the fields of green. Bella crouched beside her and held out a golden Corona.

“Check this out,” she said.

Bella set her thumb against the bottlecap and flicked. The cap soared up into the leaves. A gentle foam climbed the bottle’s slender neck.

Bella grinned.

“Isn’t that magical?” She handed Zoe the beer and tapped it with her own. “We can’t undo things. We can only do things.”

Zoe stared at her beer.

“But what do we do?”

Bella put an arm around her and drew her in close.

“Whatever we can, mate,” she lifted her bottle and poured some beer onto the grass. “Cheers to the defeated, and cheers to us who still stand tall.”

Anton poured out a measure.

“May we burn it all to the ground so the gods can wallow in the ashes.”

They both looked at Zoe, and she raised her glass. Warmth bubbled up from her heart, and a smile touched her lips. She poured out some beer.

“Gone, but not forgotten. We do this in your name.”

Bella nodded.

“And what will we do, boss?”

“We’ll save the world.”