1. Drop the gun. Do what she says, for the moment.
You slowly hold up your flaregun and drop it on the ground.
"I don't want any trouble," you say. "I'm only looking around."
"We'll see about that," comes the reply. The voice wavers a bit, and the realization that whoever is holding the gun on you is scared sinks in.
You start to turn, but she orders you to stop. "Step away from the gun. Over toward the front door. Hurry up."
You comply, still facing away. You hear her come up behind you.
Something thumps in the dirt near your feet.
"Put these on," she orders. You glance down to see a pair of handcuffs.
"I'm not going to hurt you," you say. "I was only --"
"You've got five seconds to put those on, and then I blow your head off," she replies.
Grimacing, you realize you don't have much choice, at this point. You bend down and pick the handcuffs up. You start to turn to look at your captor, but she tells you to face away again. You fumble a bit with the cuffs before placing them on your wrists. Just as you're about to lock them, the girl speaks.
"No. Behind your back."
"Come on," you say. "Is this how you treat everyone you meet?"
"PUT ON THE FUCKING CUFFS!" she yells at you, her voice cracking.
Shaking your head, you do as she says.
"Now what?" you ask, your hands bound behind you. "Do I get a leg iron? Ball and chain, perhaps?"
There's an odd Phhsst sound from behind you, and you feel something cold on your neck, then a sharp pain.
"Ow!" you say involuntarily. You want to bring up your hand, but the cuffs constrain you.
You turn around, finally facing the girl. She's lowering some kind of rifle, watching you warily.
With one eye.
Things start to blur.
"Sssshit," you say slowly, your voice sounding slurry. Strange colors start to dance around in front of you. "You're... infected..."
"I know," she replies, as you drop to your knees, and finally face first into the waiting dirt.
***********************************
"You're asleep," Benny says.
You open your eyes.
Another doctor's office. Unlike the previous one, this one seems dirty and in disarray. The tongue depressors have spilled out of their little box and litter the ground near the desk. There's a syringe embedded into the wall.
Benny sits across from you, in the chair near the door, swinging his legs like a child.
You sit up, noticing the sheets on this bed are bloodstained. "What?" you say groggily.
"There's not much time, so I'll get right to the point," Benny replies. "You're out right now. The bitch shot you up with some tranquilizer. She's locked you in a cage, taken all your gear."
"How do you...?"
"How the fuck do you think?" he says, but his face is serious. "Listen, I can get you out of this. But I have to work fast. And I need your permission. Don't worry. You won't feel a thing."
"What do you...?"
Benny shakes his head. "She said it herself. She's infected. You really want to be held in some kind of cage, at gunpoint, by a chick who's going to burst into penises at any moment? I can get you out. It's that simple."
You shake your head slowly in return. "No. This is a trick."
Benny sighs, and reaches into his pocket, pulling out what looks to be a TV remote. He points it at a blank wall and there's a click.
The wall is suddenly showing a screen. It's sort of flickery, like a bad projection. You can see no source casting it.
It shows a strange sight. You see a body laying behind some sort of bars on a wooden floor. You can just make out the side of a gate coming into the picture. The padlock is large and obvious. You realize the body is you.
You also realize that the view is undulating a bit. As you watch, the view shifts in an odd manner, quickly blurring to the right, then back left, up, and around, until finally coming back to rest on you. It's very disorienting, especially in your current state.
Then the view shifts downward, and you see a pair of hands, holding your flaregun. The view, and projection, abruptly cease.
You look back at Benny. He's digging around inside his missing eye with the remote.
"Damn thing," he says, grimacing. "Itches all the time."
"That was her, wasn't it?" you say.
"Eh?"
"That ... TV. That view. Whatever."
"Oh. Yeah. So? You think I've got cameras set up in the cabin or something?"
"But... this is inside my head," you say. "How can you...?"
Benny shrugs, and cuts you off. "So. Deal, or no deal?"
"I'm not --"
Benny stands. "Shut the fuck up for once. There isn't any time. I can get you out. Now. While you're still asleep, and certain parts of your brain that normally block me are shut down. But only with your permission, on some level. So here I am. This is it, buddy. Your last chance."
You stare at him.
He shrugs. "Or, stay there and rot. I don't really care."
"You say that a lot," you counter. "I don't know if I believe you."
Benny smiles. You notice he's missing a tooth. That's new.
*****************************
1. Take the deal.
2. No deal.
*****************************
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Topic: The Ends (Read 59222 times)