Walking Ghost Phase (29 page)

Sarah shook her bowed head.

Now a few tables away but not quite out of earshot, Emily heard the faint sound of John's voice. “Is there something between her and Matt?” The clanging of trays drowned Sarah's answer.

That night,
only eight soldiers gathered near the elevators, which meant Emily might enjoy another comfortable ride to the Sim chamber. Of course, she first needed to live long enough to board. She held her breath as she waited for the doorbell to chime, her head turning, eyes scanning the halls. No MPs in view yet. Emily had never been this close to late; the clock displayed 18:59. During orientation, Major Rogers made it clear, at least to the imagination, what painful experiences a tardy soldier could expect. However, silence still permeated the hallway, not the thudding of boots or hollow taps of a baton on empty room doors. The bell finally chimed, and the soldiers ahead of Emily dove inside the elevator. But she didn't climb aboard. It was as if something compelled her to wait.

“
Hurry up,” an Indian girl said.

The clock flashed 19:01. Now a mental image of green shirts blazed toward Emily
; a black flash of batons cracked at her ribs. The sense of urgency drilled deeper in her brain. Then a shadow at the nearest corridor appeared in the corner of her eye. A slow-moving figure lumbered down the hall. “Hold the door,” Emily said.

The Indian
's jaw gaped as if someone just insulted her mother.

“
Sarah,” Emily called. “Let's go.”

Sarah kept her gaze on the carpet. Her right leg trailed behind her in an obvious limp.

Emily waved. “Hurry, before an MP sees you.”

Sarah gave an uncaring glance over her shoulder.
“I'm coming.”

Emily was still processing Sarah
's muttered words when a shrill buzz came from the elevator. “You've set off the door alarm,” the Indian said as she stabbed her finger into the close-door button. “The MPs are going to murder us.”

The noise grew louder, tingling Emily
's eardrums. She swung her left arm between the elevator doors and broke the infrared safety beam. Before the doors fully reopened, she grabbed Sarah's sleeve and pulled her inside the elevator. The alarm ended.

Sarah slouched forward and stared at the floor. Dark puffs of skin hung beneath her eyes.

“Did you oversleep like me?” Emily asked.

Sarah sighed.
“No, I'm just tired.”

Emily squeezed the crease of Sarah
's elbow. “Maybe after you shoot your squad-mates and hide underneath their bodies, you can take a nap.”

“
I doubt it.” For the rest of the ride, Sarah didn't speak again.

In the chamber, Emily grabbed Sarah
's arm. “Is something wrong? Did something happen after lunch?”

“
Yeah, I figured out this place,” Sarah said, and yanked her sleeve from Emily's hand. “There's no point in trying anymore.”

“
You can't give up. Not now. You're getting better.”

“
You don't get it, do you? I don't want to get better. Winning isn't important. I want to go home to my bed where I can forget all about Greaver.” She shook her head. “Of course you don't understand any of this. You have Matt.”

“
What's that supposed to mean?”

“
My roommate is never around. Except for you, no one ever talks to me, especially since Raven died.”

“
Matt does.”

“
That's the problem,” Sarah said. “He's not our friend. He's hiding something. You saw his reaction today at lunch. He lied through his teeth.”

He did.

“But he was dead-on about one thing,” Sarah continued. “The point of this place
is
to make us miserable, and somehow they found all the right buttons to push to make me feel so alone. I wonder how they figured it out. Maybe you should ask Matt.” She walked toward the locker room without glancing back.

As Emily followed Sarah, the defender
's warning from last night echoed in her mind.
Keep trusting him. See where it gets you.
Now the obvious questions begged for answers. Why didn't the MP make Matt finish his lunch? Was he one of them like the defender said? How did she end up in his squad so often?

Am I part of his game?
 
No, she had memories of him. The house, the little boy and his toy dump truck—those were real.

But after she lowered into the gel, her cheeks flushed red. Matt
was
hiding something. She couldn't deny it any longer, and in a few moments she knew she would somehow end up in his squad, although the odds of that happening for anyone else seemed more than remote. Still, he would expect her to trust him without hesitation. She balled her hands into tight fists and watched the green and red lights flash.
Sarah's wrong. Winning is important. For Matt at least.

Blades of grass rose to Emily
's waist, and lilies and sunflowers swayed in an autumn breeze, tickling her palms. A distant row of aspen trees lined the horizon under the shadow of a snowcapped mountain. The chirping of birds came from every direction.

“
Get down,” Matt said.

Bingo.
Emily ignored his order and looked across the field at a village of wooden shacks and dirt roads. Black figures peeked above the roofs, and a glimmer of sunlight reflected off their gun scopes.

Matt grabbed the front of her belt and pulled her beneath the grass stalks.
“Are you trying to get us killed?”

“
What's out there?” asked A1, a girl.

Matt eased his head above the canopy.
“A small village about seven hundred yards due south. Defenders have the outskirts covered. Looks like they're patrolling in teams of four.” He planted his chest to the ground. “Morons. Another squad is moving in. They won't stand a chance with a frontal assault.”

“
It's him,” said A4, a guy. “It's him. You're him.”

“
Keep your voice down,” Matt said.

“
Does anyone have a problem if I defer command?” A1 asked.

“
I don't,” A4 said.

Emily didn
't answer.

“
All right,” A1 said. “What's the plan?”

“
Our position is too wide open,” Matt said. “They'll see us coming before we get close. Emily, what do you think we should do?”

“
How the hell did you know it was me?” Emily asked.

“
It's not important right now,” Matt said.

“
Uh, yeah, it is,” Emily replied.

“
Can we talk about this later?”

“
You had your chance.”

“
You two know each other?” A4 asked.

“
No,” Emily said.

White mist fogged in Matt
's visor. “I don't have time for this.”

“
Of course not,” Emily said.

“
Listen, are you going to work with me or not?” Matt asked.

“
Do I have a choice?”

“
Yes or no?”

“
Sure,” Emily said.
For now.

Matt looked at A1 and A4.
“Stay back. A2 and I are moving closer. Once we get halfway to the village, take a few shots to draw them out. Don't worry about taking cover. They won't return fire until they close the distance. After we drop the last defender, get to the village as fast as you can. We won't have much time until the remaining defenders seal the perimeter gap.”

“
Roger,” A1 said.

Emily crawled through the grass, beside Matt. Stalks stabbed under her visor, scratching her cheeks, and a furry, brown spider raced across her hand. She huffed and flicked it above the grass canopy.

“What's with the attitude?” Matt asked.

“
Keep moving,” she said. “One and Four are waiting on us.”

Matt stopped.
“They can wait longer.”

Emily rolled on her side and stretched her arms. She hoped to get inside the village, which would make her squad more vulnerable, before she confronted Matt. There, rather than in this field, she could hold a stronger threat of sabotage over his head; he answered her questions or she would get everyone killed. She would then find out how much he cared about winning.
“Sounds like a plan.”

“
If this is about today, I didn't talk because I know how bad this memory thing sucks. I can't make you remember.”

“
You're holding something back, and I want to know what it is.” She sat up. “So here's the deal. Tell me or I'll jump out of this grass and wave at the defenders. They'll run out here and kill us both. Poof. There goes your precious victory.”

Matt looked at her, not answering.

“Are you going to work with me or not?” she asked. “Yes or no?”

“
Stop signs,” Matt said under his breath.

“
What's that?”

He sighed.
“Yeah, you would get us killed to prove a point. You'd argue with a stop sign if you thought it was wrong. Your mom used to tell you that when you argued with her. Do you remember? Yeah, Em, I know you. Happy now?”

“
Who are you? Why did she never mention your name? How are you doing this?” Emily ripped a few blades of grass from the dirt. “Tell me!”

“
And there it is, ladies and gentlemen. The theatrical display of rage.”

“
Start talking or it's going to be a long night for both of us.” She prepared to stand. “See you in about seven hours?”

“
So you're willing to die for this?”

“
In a heartbeat.”

“
Odd,” he said, and stared ahead. “Okay. I'll make a deal with you. When this is over, I'll tell you what I can. But if you die, the deal is off. Fair enough?”

“
Everything.”

“
Everything I can.”

“
No, every—”

Before she could repeat her demand, Matt continued toward the village.

Emily slammed her elbows into the dirt and crawled beside him. Above her, the tips of grass shined purple and red under the noon sun. A chill of air passed through her fatigues, lifting the shirt from her back. Her hands now trembled, and tightness constricted her chest.
Focus on the objective. If I die, I'll still find a way to get the truth out of him.

Soon
they crept past three isolated Aspen trees on the right side of the field. Emily considered those the halfway point. Matt apparently did, too, and raised his fist—the signal to stop. Then a short burst of gunfire erupted in the distance. “Get ready,” he said. A subtle thump of boots grew louder as the approaching defenders whooped and shouted. “Just a bit more.” The ground shook. The crackle of breaking grass stalks echoed all around Emily and Matt. “Now!”