Sinner's Run Ch. 02

"The second round has ended. Zone closure in progress."

Through the window, Noah saw the Zone wall begin to advance towards him again. He gathered up the rest of what he could - a smoke grenade and some more ammunition for the pistol - and set off, determined to keep ahead of the Zone this time. He hopped off the shack decks into the shallow river, fording up against the current. If he kept going he'd hit the Dam eventually, which seemed to be where the Zone was contracting to. From there he'd figure out his next move.

At least until gunfire sounded from the ridge above him. Bullets hit the water around him, kicking up sprays of water. One clipped Noah's armor, making an electrical noise as the shield deflected the round. Panic seized him, and Noah looked around for where he could go. He remembered there was a tunnel near this part of the canyon that led to an upward path, and sprinted for it as fast as he could. Another few rounds pinged off his armor, the meter in his field of view dropping with each one. "Shit shit shit."

"Hey, you're doing well so far," the voice said. "Just by lollygagging on the Zone edge you made it into the top ten."

"Great, super, wonderful!" Noah said as he ducked into the small tunnel. "I need that frag I picked up, how do I get it out?"

"You have to holster your pistol first," the voice said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Noah lowered his hand with the N-10 in it, and this pistol snapped free of his fingers and attached to the side of his thigh. "Grenade grenade grenade," he muttered, thinking hard. To his surprise, the grenade appeared in his hand as he thought it, the sphere heavy and weighted. I've seen enough action movies to know how this works. Noah hooked his finger into the pin and yanked, then tossed the explosive under his arm without stopping.

At the end of the tunnel, the ground sloped up in a series of switchbacks leading up to the higher cliffs around the Dam. Noah started up the first one just as the grenade went off behind him. Even though he knew it was coming, he still stumbled in shock from the sudden sound. He kept running, not daring to stop and see if he'd scored a hit.

About halfway up, a shadow passed over him. His head snapped up just in time to see another duo jump down off the cliff above him. As they fell past, one of them took a shot at him with a Hacksaw, the buckshot chunking the ground near his foot. Noah stumbled, then found his footing and kept going. Gunfire erupted below him as the jumpers ran into the duo that had been chasing him. "Oh man," Noah breathed, hurrying towards the top.

He reached the top of the switchbacks. To his right was another incline, at the top of which was another duo about to slide down towards him. Noah turned left and beat feet towards the Dam. It was one of the largest structures on the map, with four whole floors to explore and plenty of small rooms. Any one of them would serve as a good hiding spot. Noah shouldered his way through the door to the inside. A wave of cool air washed over him, the sound of running water loud in his ears.

The sound was so loud he almost missed the gunshot from across the room. The Heartseeker rifle shot pinged off the wall near his head, and Noah scrambled to find cover. "You're kidding me," he muttered, running through his options. He had another frag grenade, as well as the smoke. Deciding to play it safe, Noah willed the smoke grenade into his hand. He turned it over, finding the twist fuse to set it off. It clicked in his palm as he twisted, immediately allowing a cloud of thick smoke to billow out. Rather than throwing it at his foes, however, Noah dropped it at his feet. Within a few seconds he and the area around him were completely obfuscated.

Then he heard the door open. More gunfire filled the room, and all Noah could do was sit in the smoke cloud and hold on to his tiny little pistol with trembling hands, hoping that none of the shots zipped into the smoke and hit him. A few came close, lancing right over his knees and past his chest. One struck the low wall he was leaning against an inch from his ear.

As the smoke cleared, motion on the catwalk above him drew his eye. Another duo entered from the upper level, firing down at the fight on his level. Noah stayed stock-still, knowing that if he moved they would spot him. As he did, he willed his other frag grenade out of his storage deck into his hand, remembering an angle. If he could just...

When the duo on the upper platform paused to reload, Noah stood up and overhanded the grenade up with all his strength. It bounced off the wall, landing right at their feet. "Shit!" one yelled, diving for cover. His companion was less quick on the upkeep, and was danger close as the grenade went off. He dropped to his hands and knees. The one who had moved away moved back to try to pick him back up, but the wielder of the Heartseeker rifle shot him through a gap in the railing. Both of the players on the platform disappeared, death boxes thudding onto the grilled floor.

Behind him, there was still fighting, and Noah forced himself to stay still, knowing he'd only get one, slim chance to pull this off. Whether or not he could go through with it was another matter. With how frighteningly real this had all been, would he be able to shoot another person with a gun? Then again, judging by the magical disappearing equipment, they were playing by video game rules. Somehow. Maybe there was a gray area.

The shooting behind him stopped. Noah peeked out from behind his cover. Two more death boxes had appeared on the floor. From behind a large crate crawled a downed player. His partner, the one with the Heartseeker, dropped down next to him to pick him up. Noah's fingers clenched around the gun. This was it.

He moved out from behind the low wall, running towards the player doing the reviving. His hands squeezed the N-10 in a vicegrip to keep it from shaking as he planted his feet and aimed. Noah hesitated for a moment.

"Behind you!" the downed player yelled. HIs partner looked back at Noah. His masked face was terrifying.

Noah pulled the trigger once, twice, three times. The bullets did chip damage, but it was enough. The third shot struck the man in the face, and both he and his partner disappeared in flashes of light, leaving only death boxes behind.

"Well done," the voice said in his ear.

A moment later, the death boxes vanished, and the voice boomed over the hidden loudspeakers. "Through smart play, and by the skin of his teeth, we have our winner!"

Noah felt the ground shift beneath him, and a sense of lethargy crashed down on him. His stomach did a flip, and the world started to turn white. "What the-?"

A flash blinded him, and he felt as though he were weightless, floating in a void. He threw up his arms to shield himself from the sensation. "Now what?"

"Now, we see where things go," the voice said.

"Wait." Noah lowered his hands, but the world around him was solid white. He was standing on some kind of ground, but couldn't see it under his feet, and had no idea where it began or ended. "What do you mean, where they go?"

"You won a preliminary match," the voice said, sounding louder in this strange space. "With a strategy some would call craven, for sure, but a win is a win. As such, you are now a Prime and are exempt from the...consequences of losing a preliminary battle."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"As such, I will now send you to the Barracks, where all the Primes reside during their time when they are not on the run. Quarters will be prepared for you, and you will take part in tomorrow's games. And the games after that."

"Wait, stop!" Noah said. "I thought if I won I got to go home!"

"I said that winning would start the process of you going home," the voice said. "Every Prime wants something. They are sinners all. Some seek redemption, others seek to further blacken their souls. It will be interesting to see which you are, and what you are willing to do to grasp that which you desire." The sound of fingers snapping followed, loud as a gunshot.

"Wait!" Noah yelled, holding out his arm. The invisible ground underneath him vanished, and he felt as though he were falling, down into a white abyss that had no beginning and no end.

"Hey. Hey, Killer. Wake up."

Something solid prodded Noah on the cheek, none too gently. He groaned, waving it away. "Lemme sleep, Milo..." he muttered.

"No Milo here, Killer. Unless that's someone's name that they never told me."

This voice wasn't androgynous like the last one. It was decidedly feminine, a little raspy, like its owner had smoked a few cigarettes too many. Noah stirred, finding himself sitting down with his back to a wall. "Who's Killer?" he mumbled.

"Ah, so he's dense as well as a sneak. Interesting."

Noah opened his eyes at the strange vernacular. The first thing he noticed was the large room he was in. It was an antechamber of some kind, the walls on either side of him taken up by large viewscreens showing Sinner's Run in dynamic angles. Familiar figures ran to and fro, shooting at one another in their chase for the victory.

The second thing he noticed was the pair of large golden eyes uncomfortably close to him, belonging to an individual he knew very well. A lioness's body, yet standing on two legs. Tawny fur criss-crossed with black stripes. A dark brown mane gathered into several long braids hanging down to her shoulders. Narrow shoulders, small bust, hips that flared out a little wider than expected then tapered into strong legs for running and leaping. Garthex's main squeeze, the feline alien Prime Nala.

Noah went from groggy to fully awake in a heartbeat. He scuttled away from her on the floor. "Whoa!"

She raised an eyebrow, the expression infinitely more animated than her face in the game. "You jump at gunfire and women. How about that"

Noah took his eyes off her, looking around the room. On the screens, he saw Archangel sneak up behind Montana and shoot her in the back with a Hacksaw. The sniper scrambled away down the slope, turning and shooting back as the electrical discharge of a broken shield surrounded her. "What happened to me?" he asked.

"You won the preliminary round," Nala said. She straightened up to her full height, staring down her muzzle at him. She wasn't wearing the armor that she did in-game. Instead she wore a kind of casual outfit, a sleeveless cropped shirt that looked ratty and frayed and pants in similar condition. Her feet were bare on the floor, her posture balance on the balls of her clawed feet. "First preliminary round in a long time. I was almost looking forward to seeing what kind of badass clawed their way to the top. But man, honestly? You're kind of a dud. No offense."

"I won the round," Noah repeated, eyes still locked on the screen. "I remember that. Then everything went white and I heard that voice."

"Ooooh, he hears voices too."

"And then I woke up here," Noah muttered. "Which is..."

"The Barracks," Nala said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder at the other end of the room. Through a low, wide threshold Noah saw a large atrium, with more hallways branching off from the main room to other wings of the facility. As he glanced at it, it took him a moment to realize that he was looking at the room that greeted players as they booted up the game.

"This is crazy," Noah said, getting up off the floor. He turned around. He'd been sitting up against a large bunker door, split down the middle and locked with a massive mechanical bolt. He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. "This is absolutely crazy."

"I'll say." One of Nala's clawed fingers prodded him in the shoulder. "You've got like, no definition at all. You only won because you got lucky and all those other FNGs were terrible at shooting."

Noah flinched at the touch, shying away from her. "Wait, why are you here? If I was in the preliminary fight, shouldn't you be on the Run right now?" He pointed at the monitors on the wall.

"Not everyone fights every day," Nala said, gazing down at her claws. They extended from their retracted state, the sharp curves hooking out over her palms about a half inch. "We only find out who's fighting at the beginning of each day when the call roster is posted. If your name's not on it, you can frag off to do whatever you want." Her eyes narrowed, her gaze full of scrutiny. "Come on, you have to have known that. There's nobody in the galaxy who doesn't know how the Run works."

"I..." Noah began. He trailed off. What could he say to that? His head was still spinning from everything that had happened, and was still happening. "I thought I'd get to go home after I won."

Nala's tail flicked. "Nobody gets what they want on the first win. Or even their hundredth. I would know. You have to work for it. Welcome to the grind, Killer."

Noah realized that she was referring to him with that title. "Why do you keep calling me Killer?"

"Because it's ironic," Nala said with a smirk. "I think you're the first one to get here by winning their prelim with only a single frag. Everyone else here dusted at least three or four on their way in. I did eight in mine."

Noah watched the screens again. Archangel and Montana were still fighting, the bio-angel chasing the sniper through the rocky gorge area in the northwest side of the map. Following behind them was the distinct while bulk of Larka, moving surprisingly quick for a being of her size and statue. "I've never even hurt anyone before," Noah said in a quiet voice.

"Man, you picked the wrong sport to take part in then." Nala cocked her head. "Did you sign the contract to take part in the Games while you were drunk or something?"

"I didn't sign any contract!" Noah said, his voice almost a squeak. "I just went to sleep at my desk and woke up in the dropship. I have no idea how I got from there to here, and more importantly, this place isn't real!" Noah turned and punched the wall with a cry of frustration. He regretted it a second later, as pain shot up his arm from his bruised knuckles. He cursed and took hold of his hand.

Nala pointed to his fingers. "Looks real to me."

"Exactly," Noah ground out through his clenched teeth. "Which is why none of this makes any sense at all. I shouldn't be here. I need to get out of here."

"Hate to tell you this, Killer, but that's impossible." Nala twirled her finger around to gesture at the structure around them. "Once you're here, you're here. That's the price you pay for entering the games, whether you did it willingly or not. You fight until you conquer the Run, or the Run conquers you."

Noah was about to ask what that meant when Nala made a face at one of the view screens. "Damn, they got beat. Come on, Larka, you're better than that."

On the screen, Noah caught a glimpse of two loot crates lying on the sand before the camera switched to two other Primes doing battle. A moment later, two flashes of light in the other room drew his eye.

"Come on," Nala said. "I'll take you to meet Larka and Arky."

She padded away into the next room, and Noah followed behind, mesmerized by the way her tail whipped back and forth of its own accord. They moved into the large circular atrium space, facing the large Sinner's Run banners that hung down from the upper level. One that side of the room was a raised dais, circuitry in the base pulsing with a soft red light.

Atop the dias were two other figures he recognized. Slowly standing up onto his cybernetic legs was Archangel, his wings retracted close to his back. In person he was a full head taller than Noah, and his features were decidedly unsettling. It was one thing to look at the metal and glass torso in-game, a whole other thing to see it shining and refracting light in front of you. "Cursed thing," he muttered, his voice like gravel rasping against itself.

"She's already becoming a problem." Larka's deep bass thrum had a decidedly Russian cant to it, and it weirded Noah out that she had the same voice here in this strange reality as she did in the game. A real, living voice actress had given Larka a voice, and Noah knew what that actress looked like, so to hear that same voice coming from the big woman in front of him made his brain hurt. "Is one thing to be shot, but to have that toxic cloud run you down?" She shuddered, from her rounded ears to her thick thighs. "Eugh."

"You two are FIFO today," Nala said, putting her hands on her hips. "Everyone's hung on for a good while today."

Larka muttered something that sounded like a curse to Noah as she stood up. She was just as tall as Archangel, but twice as broad. She cut an imposing figure in full armor with her built body. Her furred arms looked like they could break his back with a gentle pat. Larka rolled her shoulders, and her broad angelic wings shook out for a moment, fluttering once before pulling back tight against her back. Her green eyes found him, and blinked once. "Ah! The preliminary winner!"

Archangel took notice of him too. "Here already? That was quick."

"Uh, hi," Noah said lamely, looking back between the both of them. "My name's Noah. I know the both of you already."

"I figured as much," Larka said, stepping down off the dias to his level. "We've been here long enough that many of the new Primes have seen us since the beginning and know of us." She reached down and patted Noah's head. The broad expanse of her mighty paw covered the entire top of his head. "Welcome to the Barracks, young one. I think it will be an honor to fight with and against you."

"Th-thanks," Noah managed. "This is, ah, kind of a lot to take in."

"You did seem overwhelmed in the preliminary earlier," Archangel said. He didn't' offer a hand or a head pat, merely a respectful nod. "Do not worry. It passes in time as you adjust."

"R-right."

A moment later, the dias flashed again. Two more figures appeared on its surface, both of them female. "Damn their hides!" one said, slamming her fist on the dias before sitting up. She picked up a battered, wide-brimmed hat that had materialized with her and jammed it onto her head. "Bald-headed bitch dropped those spikes on me again. That's three games in a row she's done that!"

"Hey, you got off easy!" the other one chriped. She was a bit on the small side, wearing a lilac getup that looked equal parts utility belt and armor. Despite her small size, Noah couldn't help but notice how her chest was rather large. "You weren't in the middle of trying to whip up some repair cells real quick when some giant edgelord comes crashing in and whispers creepy things in your ear before shooting you in the head! I mean, if you're going to go to the trouble of whispering in my ear, take a girl out to dinner first! Jeez!" She pouted, then fall backwards onto the dais with a grunt of frustration.

"Montana and Fidget," Noah said.

Both of them looked at him, the pint-sized Fidget picking her head up to look at him. Her face lit up. "Oh man!" She rolled over and scrambled over to him, like a dog trying to get purchase on a hardwood floor. Noah leaned back as she got right in his face, her tulip-colored eyes examining him from every angle. "You're decidedly less impressive in person, but that doesn't matter! You made it here anyway! Congrats! We're totes going to be best friends!" She paused and cocked her head. "Well, maybe. I might have to shoot you. You might have to shoot me! But that's just how it works around here! No hard feelings among anyone, that's how it goes. I'd tell you that my name is Filomena Regincia III, and that that's a mouthful and you can call me Fidget instead, but you clearly already know that!" She pinched his cheek. "So there you go!"