The thought gave me pause. I had used sigiltech live on-air, in front of at least a couple million viewers and possibly more. What did that mean for the forgotten technology as its secret continued getting out? What did that mean for me? I knew Kill Spree was niche programming, consumed by a small but fervent fan base of bloodsport aficionados and military types. But in my mind, there was no way clips of the things I had done wouldn’t spread throughout the system. Not that there was anything I could do about it.

  We crossed paths with a few more dead people on the way toward the ruins. Two had been shot, another stabbed multiple times, all three killed by other contestants. Seeing them reminded me of the urban proverb. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. I definitely did.

  One sun was near its apex, the other slightly behind it by the time we reached the outskirts of the settlement. Creeping up slowly on the outermost ruins, it didn’t take much observational skill to realize there was no sign anywhere near us of the creatures that attacked so violently during the night. Now that we were at elevation, I tried to find the road along the slope leading up to the city, but a morning mist had settled over the lower valley, obscuring it. Were the demons still down there, fighting with one another or feasting on the remains of the losing army? Had they lost interest in pursuing humans and returned to wherever it was they had come from? It was impossible to tell. All I knew for sure was that they weren’t here.

  “All’s quiet,” Druck remarked softly, crouched beside me as we held cover behind the crumbling outer wall of what looked to have once been a residence. A simple square building occupied the center of the plot. Three stories high—weathered, filthy, and covered in a layer of moss or fungus—it remained intact. Wild vegetation surrounded the structure, mixed in with the tomato plants and beanstalks of an ancient garden. Similar plots lined the entire outskirts of the settlement for as far as I could see. Each was cordoned off by four-foot walls that hadn’t withstood the elements as well as the main buildings had.

  The door to the place was closed, which is why we were hiding. Any of the homes we passed could have killers inside, waiting to ambush or snipe other contestants or simply hoping to get some undisturbed rest. Matt or Quasar could be in any one of the houses, and while I didn’t really want to search them all, I also didn’t see a lot of choice. We would move deeper into the city before we resorted to that tedium, hoping to come across one or both of them before then.

  “Too quiet,” Druck said, finishing his statement after a dramatic pause. He smirked in amusement. “How do you want to do this, Boss? Rip the walls off to see what’s inside?”

  “I only want to use the sigils as a last resort,” I replied, tapping on my comm badge. “Kat, are you in position?”

  “Aye, Captain,” he replied.

  “Ixy?”

  “Yesss.”

  We had split into three teams of two, Ixitat paired with Emerald and Kat with Shaq. We would move on the three adjacent properties at the same time, creating a path through the outer residences that would hopefully reduce the chance of an ambush or being caught off-guard. The effort would be time consuming, but offered the best balance of progress and risk.

  “On my mark,” I said, turning to Druck. “I’ll go for the door, you cover me.”

  “Copy that.”

  “All teams, go!” I said, staying low as I rolled over the top of the wall and sprinted for the door. Druck rested one of Kat’s blasters on the masonry, watching the stained, opaque windows of the structure. He didn’t see anything to shoot at before I reached the entry, pressing my shoulder against the door and shoving. It opened without resistance, and I swung the blaster into the room that we’d scavenged from Emerald’s attackers.

  Decorated with a simple sofa, a table, and a pair of chairs upholstered in animal hide, the room appeared as if it had been empty since the settlers disappeared. The thick layer of dust that had settled across everything would have made it impossible for anyone to cross the floor without leaving a mark.

  I glanced at the kitchen at the rear of the ground floor before backing out and hitting my comm badge. “Clear.”

  “Clear here, too,” Kat said.

  “Safesss,” Ixitat announced.

  “We’ll move on to the next in line,” I said, waving to Druck from the doorway. He came out of his crouch, starting toward me. He hadn’t made it two steps before a sharp crack sounded nearby and a bullet hit him square in the chest.

  “Shit!” the shooter shouted as Druck threw himself back behind the wall, angry that he hadn't gotten a shot off at his target.

  I scanned the houses, finding an open window with a good line of sight three rows away from us. “Ixy, three down, one over.”

  “Yesss,” she said. I spotted her and Shaq leaving the house next to us and dashing for the target.

  Druck stood again, a deep mark in his armor, his face in a pained grimace. “I’m going to kill that son of a bitch,” he growled, taking off toward the house.

  “Druck, wait!” I said. He didn’t listen, rushing to get there before Ixitat and Shaq did. “Damn it!” I hit the comm badge. “Kat, Druck’s going rogue, you’re on your own over there.”

  “No problemo, Chief,” Emerald said through her comm. “I’ll take care of him.”

  I didn’t know why she had answered. “He is still alive, isn’t he?”

  “I’m here, Captain,” Kat said. “Emerald hogged the comm.”

  “I wanted to talk to you, Ben,” she said.

  I shook my head as I trailed behind Druck, keeping my eyes peeled for more killers. Ixitat and Shaq had reached the house, and they easily scaled the side, squeezing through the open window. Druck headed for the front door. He had just gone around the corner when the shooter hurried away from the opposite side, trying to escape. I could have stopped him with sigiltech, pushing him to the ground. At our distance from one another I couldn’t justify the expenditure, even if he had shot Druck. I watched him go, turning and running down the narrow gap between the walls directly ahead of me.

  He didn’t make it far. A pair of machine guns crackled near him, the impacts visible as they tore through his body and violently threw him to the ground. At least I hadn’t been wrong about moving slowly through this part of the settlement. The place was a serious meat grinder.

  Druck came back around the corner, spotting the guy’s corpse down the street. He ducked back as the machine guns opened fire again, bullets ripping into the wall near his head.

  “Kat, Emerald, we need backup,” I said.

  “On our way,” Kat replied.

  The two gunners came into view, sticking close to the sides of the houses they had used as cover. Seeing me, they pointed their rifles my way, forcing me to duck back into the house as bullets whizzed past. I waited for the gunfire to stop before leaning out again, pointing my blaster toward their positions. They had found cover somewhere too, gone from view.

  “Kat, Ixy, did you see where they went?” I asked.

  “Negative, Cap,” Kat replied. “Hey! Emerald come back! She took off, Captain.”

  “Don’t worry about her,” I said. “She can take care of herself. Keep your eyes peeled; there are at least two killers out here, probably more.”

  Plasma bolts suddenly sizzled from the top floor of the building I was in, crossing the distance and scorching the wall just next to Druck’s head. How the hell had he gotten up there?

  “Why the hell is everyone shooting at me?” Druck bellowed as he raced back around the corner, searching for cover. I sprinted across the ground floor of the building, kicking up the thick dust while searching for the stairs and finding them behind the remains of a simple patterned curtain. Running up, I reached the second floor, a straight corridor with three staggered doors on each side, the next set of steps at the end. More gunfire echoed outside, urging me to run faster to get to the shooter upstairs. I still couldn’t figure out how he had made it to the top floor without being seen.

  Figuring the shooter could hear me coming up the steps, I activated absorb, creating a shield in front of me as I scaled the last set of stairs. It caught a trio of plasma bolts as I arrived, coming face-to-face with a Niflin.

  “You,” he managed to spit as I gathered the collected energy from the bolts into my hand. He eyed the dense sphere as he dropped his rifle. “I surrender.”

  I glared at him as I considered putting a softball sized hole in his chest. Another shout from outside changed my mind. Looking out the window, I spotted one of the enemy shooters about to get the drop on Druck. I dispersed a plasma ball toward him, and while my aim was off, it hit the side of the building, the backforce enough to knock the shooter down and draw Druck’s attention. Druck whirled on the shooter and blasted him.

  I spun back on the Niflin, who was in the middle of trying to pick up his rifle. I pulled it to me and turned it on him. “Not so fast.”

  Bullets slammed into the window frame, all but one zipping past my ear, the one that didn't nicking my flesh just enough to make it bleed. Ducking low, I spun around again, planning to shoot back. Instead, I watched in amazement as Emerald took a flying leap at the guy. She grabbed his head between her palms and slammed her knee into his forehead, breaking his neck.

  I was starting to get dizzy as I spun back to the Niflin a third time. He hadn’t moved, his hands up. He scowled at me past his breathing apparatus.

  “How many in your group?” I asked.

  “Four,” he replied in harsh English. “One now, I assume. You shouldn’t be here.”

  “You know who I am. How?”

  “Furion. I was there. Sending us here is the Master’s punishment for failing to capture you or die trying.”

  “Tough gig.” He looked confused by the statement, not understanding the meaning. “I’m here for my friends. If you were on Furion, then you should know what they look like.”

  He nodded. “I haven’t seen them. They’re probably dead.”

  “And you’re still alive? I doubt that. How many other killers have you seen?”

  “Too many. When the Gorathi came, we all sought refuge here. The fastest runners had the best chance. Were your friends good runners? Good cowards?”

  “Cowardice or wisdom?” I replied. “You hid too. How did you get up here without leaving a trace?”

  He laughed and lifted a foot, showing off a magboot. “The frame is metal. Easy to climb.”

  I wouldn’t have realized that on my own.

  “Are you going to kill me, Benjamin Murdock?”

  “I’m not done asking you questions yet. You called the creatures Gorathi. You know what they are?”

  “Gorathi are mythical demons of Niflin lore,” he replied. “Created by Janarthi as punishment for our unbelief, they find sport in hunting Niflin. And humans, I see. They feed on your fear, and grow strong beneath the light of the sun. In our legends, they’re guided by the warrior god Sulamat. They are his pets.”

  “Captain, do you copy?” Kat said through the comms. “Are you okay?”

  “I copy,” I replied. “I’m fine. Just having a chat here with a new friend. How’s the situation outside?”

  “We’re all clear for now,” he answered. “With all the noise, I doubt it’ll stay that way.”

  “The demons?”

  “I don’t see them, but they reacted to noise before.”

  “Not in daylight,” the Niflin said. “Not without Sulamat’s urging. The night is their time. Right now, humans are your biggest threat. And mine.” He looked at me thoughtfully before falling to his knees. “I beg to enter your service, Benjamin Murdock. To take you as my new Lord and Master. Please accept my humble supplication.”

  I stared at him. I doubted he actually wanted to serve me. He had witnessed our escape from Furion. He knew I wasn’t part of the game. He had done the same math as Heckler. His best chance of coming out of this alive rested in the friends he made along the way. And he had never had a friend like me.

  “Fine, but if you so much as look at me funny, I’ll have Emerald slice off your head and use it as a hand puppet.” I tapped the comm badge. “We’re coming down. Meet us inside the first recon target.”

  CHAPTER 23

  “Ugh, a freakin’ Niflin?” Druck said as we emerged onto the ground floor of the home that was our first recon target. “You really will take in any old stray, won’t you, Boss?”

  “I haven't had a Niflin in my collection yet,” I replied. “Gotta catch ‘em all, you know. This is…” I turned to the Niflin. “Sorry, I didn’t get your name.”

  “Veneel,” he said.

  “Venereal?” Druck said. “Like the disease?”

  “Veneel,” he repeated.

  “Sorry, I’m a little hard of hearing after being shot at by three different assholes, including you. If you survive long enough for us to have some alone time, I’ll repay you for the plasma bolt that almost took my face off.”

  “Druck,” I said, glaring at him. He shrugged and dropped onto the sofa, a cloud of dust exploding around him and making all of us, except Veneel, cough.

  “Seriously?” Emerald said, annoyed with him. “How did at least one of three different assholes not kill you? If that’s my competition, I’ve got this thing in the bag.”

  “I didn’t think you were still playing,” Druck replied.

  “I mean, you know, my first choice was to skip town with my boyfriend.” She sidled next to me and draped an arm over my shoulder. “But failing that, I still plan to be the last one standing. Call it my contingency, if you will.”

  “Over my dead body,” Druck groused.

  “Exactly.” She laughed, keeping her arm in place as she looked up at me. “I won’t kill you though. You’re not even a contestant so I can let you live and still win.”

  “Why do you keep calling me your boyfriend?” I asked. “The only thing I know about you is that you’re insane.”

  “What else do you need to know?” she replied. “Don’t you think I’m beautiful?”

  I looked over at her as she made a pouty face she probably thought either looked sexy or terrifying, trying to sway my answer in one direction or another. Why did she have to put me on the spot like this? She wasn’t unattractive, but that wasn’t the point. “All of my focus is on finding the rest of my crew,” I answered. “I don’t have time to think about anything else.”

  She grinned widely, breaking into another fit of laughter. “That’s why you’re going to be my boyfriend one day. Because you’re so sweet and so determined, and at the same time so naive and dorky. I love it.”

  “I’m never going to be your boyfriend,” I said, ducking out from under her arm. I thought she might blow a gasket, but she seemed to appreciate my bluntness.

  “We’ll see,” she sang before laughing again.

  “There has to be a point at which your ability to kick ass is eclipsed by the difficulty of dealing with your existence,” Druck said.

  Emerald stopped laughing and pulled her knife, lunging at Druck, coming to a stop just before she reached him. His face had paled, his positioning had left him totally vulnerable. “Gotcha,” she snapped, sheathing the blade and circling the couch. She fell onto it beside him, turning and draping her legs over his lap. He pushed them off.

  “You seemed almost normal back when you were telling us about your sister and giving us your innocent sob story,” he said. “Can we go back to that version of you?”

  “Nope,” she replied.

  “Captain,” Kat said. “We need to refocus.”

  “I agree. Veneel, this is Kat. That’s Emerald and Druck. And the two non-humans are Ixitat and Shaq.”

  “The jagger,” Veneel said. “We’ve crossed paths before. A formidable opponent.”

  “Mmm-hmmm,” Shaq agreed.

  “You made it up here last night, I take it?” I asked.

  “It isn’t as impressive as it may seem. My crate landed a short distance from here, and it opened away from everyone else and away from the Gorathi. I only had to kill two other contestants to reach the settlement.”

  “So you didn’t really see that much? Did you cross paths with the gorathi at all?”

  “Yes. I originally went for the center of the ruins, hoping to find a high perch to observe and shoot from. But the Gorathi were already there. Other contestants had been dropped directly into the settlement and they were doing their best to defend themselves from the creatures. I watched some of the fighting from an alley. It appeared the gorathi were coming up from underground. I believe there may be additional facilities hidden in the hillside beneath the settlement. The gorathi are attracted to energy of all kinds, so there may be an operational power source down there.

  "When I heard more gorathi calls in the distance, it became apparent to me that many of the killers who had been distributed in the wilderness would likely make their way here for the additional cover or to advance the game. As I was leaving, I crossed paths with the three you killed. They were looking to form an alliance to improve their odds of survival. A logical maneuver, I agreed to join. We retreated back to the houses with a plan to ambush anyone who tried to pass through. Three kills last night, and then nothing until you arrived. I wouldn’t have fired on Druck if I had known you were here. The last I heard before we left Kirillia, you were supposed to be dead.”

  “I’m not easy to get rid of,” I said. “How many other killers did you see?”

  “At least sixty. But none of them were from your crew. I imagine there are more players still traveling this way. As long as they arrive by nightfall, they should make it without additional difficulty. How did you survive the night?”