Cages (27 page)

I pried the pistol from his
fingers at last and leaped back, aiming for the head.  Brian lay still
,
his legs
astride the barricade,
breath coming now in deep sinister rattles.  Soon he would be walking
again, looking for other life to consume and infect.  "Same as it
ever was," I said, my throat raspy with wear.  "Except this time
we get to shoot them."  Two shots, point blank, and the Bitten that
had been the guard Brian died.

The breeze from outside had
picked up and I took a moment to glory in it.  More than half a year in
this building and I had forgotten how wonderful such a thing felt, unhindered
by
windbreakers of
the
courtyard walls. 
G
un in
hand, I walked toward the doors
, threading my way through the barricades
.

What would I do when I got
out?  I pictured Biff out there somewhere, leading the kids like Moses out
of Egypt to another Quarantine, to safety and confinement.  The urge to
find him was severe.  He was the only one who could be trusted.  But
what if Biff was dead, a corpse abandoned in another hall somewhere, or a
Bitten shuffling in the underbrush around the building?  Panic gripped my
spine and I stopped at the double doors, inches from the outside world. 
The
chain-link door was still secure across the dirt, but the fence all around it
had been sundered and left broken on the ground like the remains of junkyard
chandeliers.  In the distance I could see house lights past the tree line,
sleepy fools who didn’t know what rough teenagers slouched towards them at that
moment. Out there was danger I would have to face on my own.  If I stepped
outside this Quarantine the plan that had been laid out for my life would be
disrupted, years of my mother’s expectations, my dad’s caustic advice, even
James’s strategy for social success.  I would throw their teachings by the
wayside.  None of it applied anymore.  If I stayed inside, I could be
properly harnessed and controlled, kept quiet and obedient, walls and bars and
guns shielding me from danger as soon as some Proper Authority came back to
claim me.  Odds were high I would live.

I looked up at the double bank
of security cameras positioned at the corner of the hallway
.  One
of the motorized eyes was trained on me
and
I
knew
secured deep
in his office Conyers
was looking back.

I can help you.  I can
lead you.  Let me fit my chains on you and you will be forever safe.

With a single step I broke
free of my cage.

Discuss
Cages
with the author, as well as get
all the latest info (along with some sneak peeks) on the sequel at
ChrisPasley.com
.
 
There may very well be pie.

Chris Pasley is
a videogame director who’s written, produced or designed more than forty games
for Adult Swim, Kongregate, Break Media and Majesco, including
Bible Fight,
Five Minutes to Kill Yourself, Sci-Fi Heroes
and
Legends of Loot
. 
For some unexplained reason he only likes big forks, but little spoons. 
About knives he stands ambivalent.  He currently lives in Boston with his
wife and two-year old daughter where it is just too damn cold.