Grid Seekers (Grid Seekers Book One) (18 page)

“Where’s that needle thing at?” I asked.

“Oh, it’s there, you just can’t see it. We keep it hidden until you’re about to enter,” Nina said, as she prepared something behind me.

I looked forward, seeing a metal tray on the desk in front of us, a bunch of things laid out on it, though I couldn’t get a good look at what they were. I wasn’t tall enough.

I looked back at Liam, who was now taking deep breaths, though they were fairly silent, like he was trying to keep them a secret. He looked back at me, noticing me, before giving me a little smile, though definitely not a happy one.

“We’re just moments away from the start of the competition, and all of the competitors are currently being strapped into their seats as they prepare to be launched into WorldNet. We want to thank you once again for joining us today, a record number of you so far, beating out every other year we’ve been on the air. Thanks again, folks!” Chet said.

“I’m going to insert your IVs after you’re inside the grid, that way you don’t have to feel anything. When was the last time either of you went in?” Nina asked.

“A little over two weeks ago,” I said.

“Oh, so your bump is still a little fresh. It might leave a permanent mark because of it,” Nina said.

Lady, you really have no idea, I thought. A permanent mark hidden on the back of my neck was the least of my worries at the moment.

“It’s been a few months for me,” Liam said, his voice cracking a little.

I could tell he was nervous, more than he was letting on, though I didn’t judge him for it or even worry a little bit. We were going into this together, like we said, and we were going to be okay…I knew it.

“I’m going to go ahead and activate the restraints now. We’re being told that the competition is about to start,” Nina said.

Neither of us said anything. The restraints came out a second later, going slow, before they locked on our wrists and ankles. I looked straight in front of me at the wall, my mind empty, though racing at the same time.

“We’re going to begin in thirty seconds. Good luck to you both,” Nina said.

As I took deep breaths, I felt something, looking over and seeing Liam’s hand reaching for mine, his fingers extended. I reciprocated, grabbing onto his hand. I could barely grab it, because our wrist restraints were a little too tight, though I did the best I could, this gesture a sign of our loyalty to one another as well as the fact that we were in this together. He smiled, his right eye winking, and it was in that moment I really knew we were okay.

“Ten seconds,” Nina said.

I looked forward, Liam doing the same, closing my eyes, waiting for the moment to come.

“Five…four…three…two…one,” Nina said.

The neck rest opened up behind me, the needle dragging itself out, before it sprung forward like a coiled, angry snake, pressing through my paper-thin skin and tapping into my central nervous system.

My eyes quickly opened wide, my back arching, as I gasped loudly for air, my mind being sent into the grid and the blinding white light.

Chapter Sixteen

There
was a ringing sound. The white light around me was painfully bright, my hand raising to shield my eyes as I squinted hard. I looked to my left, seeing Liam, though he didn’t look back at me, not even moving, like he wasn’t actually here. I looked forward again, seeing a blue orb floating in front of me, stopped there, like it was waiting for me.

“Hello, and welcome to WorldNet. You are competitor Alexia Meyers. Is this correct?” Gordana asked. I only knew it was her because of the distinct voice.

“Yes,” I replied.

I heard a clicking nose, the orb stuttering, before it shot away, a loud noise rumbling my brain as something shot towards us in the distance. It looked big, monstrous, and very, very green.

It was the ecosystem. I closed my eyes, my hands in front of them, before it stopped, the rumbling gone, the sound of chirping birds and buzzing insects all around me. I pulled my hands away from my eyes, opening them, my pupils adjusting to the scene of a forest all around me. I looked to my left. Liam was there, looking back at me, his eyes still a little squinted.

Everyone else was here, though we were all spread apart from one another. There was nothing besides an open field surrounded by scores of trees, all of us looking around nervously, nobody moving. I tried to move my legs, but they didn’t budge, and all I could do was move my upper half, like my legs were cemented in place. This had to have been the same for everyone, because I didn’t imagine some people, like Jason, would just sit around.

“Welcome to the grid. All twenty-four of you were randomly chosen for this year’s competition, and now that you all are here, we will soon get started. On your wrist you will find your skimmer. It is fused there, unable to come off. We have conveniently provided you with the cards you drew, attached to your waist, easily and readily available. The competition will end once both halves of the talismans are found and joined together, and the two competitors doing so will be declared the winners, eligible to receive one wish each of their choosing. Now, without further ado, we will get started in ten seconds,” Gordana said.

I looked at my right wrist, seeing my skimmer there, the dark metal barely reflecting any sunlight from above; it seemed to soak it up more than anything.

“Ten,” Gordana said.

I felt my hand bump against my card pack, a metal pack holding all of them inside. It wasn’t especially big, though it was big enough to fit more cards in.

“Nine.”

“Eight.”

“Seven.”

“Six.”

“Five.”

“Four.”

Liam and I looked at one another, him using his head to nod to the left, which I took as a cue to where he wanted to run once the timer struck zero.

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

There was a quick pause, Gordana not saying a word, our legs still frozen in place, though everybody looked ready to sprint.

“Begin,” Gordana said.

My legs unlocked, the ice around them vanishing, and I sprung to the left, Liam doing the same. We ran into the trees, my heart racing a mile a minute, as Liam hopped over small rocks and sticks embedded in the ground. I took note and did the same, mimicking his every move. I tried stay attentive, listening to hear if anybody was behind us, following us, but I didn’t notice anything, my eyes too busy on the trail in front of me to look back, as I knew I’d fall and risk getting injured.

I heard a few people yelling, their voices almost fully muffled by the distance, as Liam and I kept running. He led the way, though I wasn’t sure he knew where he was going.

“Where…are…we…going?” I asked, gasping between words.

“Somewhere safe,” he replied, his speed almost too much for me to keep up with.

“Where’s that?” I asked, my lungs burning.

“No clue,” he replied casually.

The smell of pine needles was overwhelming, the indescribable allure of the dripping sap tantalizing and toying with my senses for the first time in my entire life. I couldn’t believe how real all of this was, that while my body was safe and secure in that room, with Nina looking over us, I could feel the impact of the terrain on my knees and feet while we ran. My lungs were burning, a consequence of never really getting any physical activity. It wasn’t real, though…or was it?

There were rows upon rows of trees, mostly pine, the shrubs and bushes lining the path we were on. It was worn down, like it had been used for centuries. I could even feel something tickling the inside of my nose, like I was going to sneeze, but I didn’t; I wasn’t even sure if I could in here. It was sad that something so beautiful had to have something so evil and deadly attached to it. We could have all of this in the real world if they’d let us go, let us free, but instead we could only experience these things, these beautiful things, artificially. It really was a disgrace, and as Liam started to slow down, stopping in front of me, I began to truly realize it.

“Why’d you stop?” I asked, stopping behind him, my hands on my hips.

“I think we’re safe. We ran at full speed for a few minutes, and I can’t imagine anyone is following us, at least not this far into the forest. I don’t see anyone, anyway,” Liam said, peering behind me.

I looked behind me, almost scared that someone would jump out, even though Liam was already looking in that direction. I knew most of these competitors weren’t fighters, and they didn’t want to get into any confrontations, but what about the few who were craving it, like Bridgette and Jason? They were crazy, bloodthirsty, and worst of all, likely somewhere nearby.

“We should check out our cards. We don’t even know what we have,” I said.

“Not here,” Liam said.

“Then where?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s look for somewhere nearby, maybe. I don’t want to be on a trail, out in the middle of the woods, just in case somebody comes near,” Liam said.

Liam and I went off of the trail, pushing our way through some brush as crisp leaves and hard sticks cracked and crushed under our weight. Thin branches and thorns scraped against my legs, my pants protecting me, though I still felt them rubbing against my already tired calves.

“Do you hear that?” Liam asked as we continued walking, a minute later.

“It sounds like—” I said.

“Water,” Liam said, stopping on the edge of a small ravine, a shallow creek flowing through it.

“There’s something,” I said, pointing to the right.

There was a large tree growing on the bank, its roots jutting out into the opening as water trickled past it, feeding the tree as it flowed. Most of that area was obscured from view, the thick roots and mud packed between them providing a bit of cover, which was perfect for us to hide next to. Nobody coming from this side would even see us.

We walked over, Liam helping me down, my feet sinking into a small glob of mud, a squishing and slopping sound emanating every time I lifted my feet. Liam hopped down, sinking a little into it, before he brushed the dirt off of his hands and onto his black pants, it rolling off instantly.

“Okay, what do you have?” he asked.

I reached down, opening up my little metal holster and pulling out four cards, their brushed metal backs showing before I flipped them over, seeing what I had picked. I had a feast card, a plasma shield card, though it had a gold front, which I wasn’t familiar with, a carbine rifle card, and a canteen card, which seemed a little worthless. I wasn’t overly thrilled with all of my selections. The feast card looked the most valuable, but the gold front on the plasma shield card intrigued me, even though there was no writing on the card at all indicating what it was or why it was that way.

“Decent,” Liam said, nodding.

“Let’s just hope that yours are a little better,” I said.

Liam opened up his pack, all five cards in his, before flipping them over and fanning them apart so we could see them all.

“A duplication card, a camouflage card, a half health card, a staff card, and last but not least, a radar card. They’re okay,” Liam said.

“Better than mine. I just hope we don’t need these weapon cards, because I have a rifle and you have a stick,” I said.

“A
staff
,” Liam said.

“You can call it whatever you want, but it’s a giant stick,” I said.

I smiled, teasing him, before he perked up, looking past me, his eyebrows furled.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my nerves coming back.

He put his hand up. I stopped talking and I looked around also, my heart rate starting to pick up again.

“I hear something,” Liam whispered.

“Like what? People? How were we followed?” I asked, whispering.

“It sounds like…buzzing or something,” Liam said.

I listened carefully, hearing what he was talking about, something that sounded like a humming motor, and it was close. We both looked all around, even peeking over the edge we had hopped off of to get down here, but there was nothing in sight. Where was this coming from, and better yet, what was it?

As we both looked around, the sound getting louder and louder with every passing second, it appeared, flying in front of us, floating really, a small propeller on top of it spinning incessantly. It was an orb, a lens in the front moving in and out. No other sounds came from it besides the sound of the buzzing propeller. It was filming us, and I couldn’t say that I liked it.

“How did it find us?” Liam asked.

“They know our locations at all times while we’re in here. Something like this is going to get us spotted, and fast. Wouldn’t be hard to hear or notice one of these things flying around, following us, if you were another competitor,” I said.

“Then we should take it out so it can’t follow us,” Liam said.

“We can’t do
that
,” I said.

“Why not? I’m not going to risk your safety or mine because of some stupid floating camera,” Liam said.

Liam reached down, picking up a few rocks, holding them in his hand. The camera started to move a little, though not leaving our immediate area.

“What are you going to do? Hit it?” I asked, in shock.

“That’s the plan,” Liam said.

Liam chucked a rock at the camera, missing, though coming very close. It moved, panning us, as he kept throwing, each one missing, before finally, a rock hit the propeller’s edge, knocking it out long enough for it to fall to the ground, planting itself camera-side-up into the mud, the creek running all around it.

We walked over to it, the lens still moving in and out, and Liam stood over it, looking down towards the lens. He grabbed a large rock from the mud, a group of bugs scurrying underneath as they were exposed to the elements, and without skipping a beat, started to smash the camera, sparks flying out of it, the front becoming totally smashed, cracked, and broken before he dropped the rock, letting it fall on top of the orb.

“There, that takes care of that,” he said, looking at me, before wiping his nose with the top of his hand, his palm brown and muddy.

I smiled, looked around, and began to wonder if we’d be as exposed as I had originally thought. Maybe they wouldn’t bother coming after us with cameras anymore after all.