Chapter 103: Escape

“This is so weird,” Zhizhi muttered as she fumbled her way up the Iron ramp.

To her, as it was to me now that I’d lowered my phone, the ramp was invisible. From the way her knees wobbled as she climbed it, I thought it bent more than an iron plate should have under her weight, but as she scaled it, she did rise off the ground.

She angled her camera downwards.

“We don’t have all day,” Matt called over his shoulder as he and Erin helped Donica to the Yukon’s open door.

“Right,” Zhizhi muttered. “Right.”

She scrambled the rest of the way up and tumbled into the snow outside.

Which just left Lena, Bernie, and I.

Lena had let Bernie flicker along beside us while she supported Donica through the halls, but with nothing else to hold, she scooped him up and hugged him close. She turned to me. “That’s the injured and the non-player out.”

“Which just leaves us.” I rested one hand on Lena’s hip and the other on the window frame. Despite her nearness, the cold from outside assaulted the worn patches in my gloves.

“Us,” Lena said, “and Albie and Marroll.”

I lowered my eyes. “Yeah.”

Despite the door between us and the hallways, and whatever space stretched between us and the warehouse, we could still hear Albie’s Air raging inside.

“Do you think,” Lena whispered, “we were just holding her back?”

I winced.

I nodded.

Lena nodded back, haltingly. “She did try to tell us.”

“She’s going to be okay,” I said. “She promised it wasn’t any danger to her, remember?”

I tried to smile.

I tried not to think about how scared Albie had looked back at the park.

I don’t think I managed either, because Lena pressed her face against Bernie’s head. But she said, “Yeah. I remember.”

She pulled herself up onto the window frame. I braced her as best I could. Thanks to her smart glasses, she was the only one who could see what she was clambering over. Even so, she said, “Oh, Zhizhi’s right. This does feel weird.”

“What about it?”

“It’s like my brain can’t decide if I’m climbing over metal or wood,” she said. “Freaky.”

Then she slid out, and I discovered for myself. I couldn’t describe the texture any better than she had, at least without taking my gloves off to feel it with my bare hands. Considering how cold I already felt, I didn’t plan to try. One instant, I felt a wood grain texture where I groped for the window frame. The next, smooth metal. Only the cold remained a constant.

What mattered was that the ramp helped me out of the construction site.

I rolled into the snow next to Lena.

Erin appeared beside us, both hands outstretched. We each clasped one. Between her pulling and us rising, we got to our feet. She spread her arms, and we let her drag us into a hug.

“How’s Donica?” I asked.

Erin’s breath hissed through her teeth. “Her ankle’s broken, and the lacerations look pretty bad. Miguel and I have her leg bandaged and splinted, and she’s resting in the backseat, but we have to get her to a hospital.”

Which meant leaving right away. I said, “Right.”

Lena tensed. “Are you still getting a feed from the camera we gave Albie?”

“I –” Erin gulped. “Why don’t you come and check?”

“I can already tell the answer is ‘no,’” Lena said.

Erin lowered her eyes. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

My hand tightened around her shoulder for emphasis, and around Lena’s to keep her from squirming away and rushing back into the construction site. “What happened?”

“Joon Woo was trying to see if we could get anything from playback of the footage,” Erin said. “We’ll have to ask him.”

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“What are we waiting for?” Lena demanded. She pulled out of our arms and started tapping on her phone.

“You’re not going to be able to see anything,” Miguel called.

Lena and I both looked up.

He waved us over to the Yukon. “If you insist on watching, at least do it on a proper screen.”

Lena broke into a run and skidded to a stop beside him.

I glanced at Erin.

Her mouth pulled in a tight line. “The feed cut out before the sound of the wind did,” she said. “If nothing else, that means she must’ve still been fighting.”

I realized I couldn’t hear the roar of Albie’s Air anymore, even distantly.

I tugged back toward the window, but Erin clamped her hands around my arm.

“Come on, Cam,” Lena said. “We gotta look at this!”

Erin nodded.

I set my jaw and stomped to the door of the Yukon. Lena’s legs and boots stuck out as she half-sat, half-lay on the seat, staring at one of the laptops. It was open to Discord, showing a video file Joon Woo had linked. Lena maximized it and hit replay.

“This is sped up five times, with some of the artifacting cleared up where we could,” said Miguel, who had given up his seat to Lena and now stood on the gravel beside me.

On the screen, we saw – nothing.

“What the shit is this?” Lena snarled. She looked up at Miguel and I.

“Miss Albie didn’t seem to need any light,” Erin said. “After you left, all we got was blank footage. But we did still get footage for several minutes while you fled the site.”

“Then what?” I asked.

She lowered her eyes. “Then... we stopped receiving anything.”

“That was six minutes ago,” Miguel said, “for us. I’m not sure how much time passed in there. Presumably less.”

“If it’s just a black screen, why did I have to come watch it here?” Lena asked.

“To get you to the car,” Miguel said, “so you wouldn’t do anything foolish.”

She wriggled onto her butt and sat up. Before she could surge from the seat, I pressed my hands on her shoulders. “He’s right, Lena.”

Her eyes blazed. “So you’re just going to abandon her?”

“I...” I winced. “I’m going to make sure the people who can’t protect themselves are safe first. Then I’m going to decide what to do about the person who seems way more capable of protecting herself than any of us.”

Lena hung her head. I bent forward and kissed her hair, slid my arms around her shoulders.

“You’re right, okay?” she whispered. “All of you. I get it.”

“In that case,” Donica said from where she lay in the back seat, “I’d really appreciate it if we saved the debriefing for after I get medical treatment.”

“How you holding up?” I asked.

“I don’t feel like I’m getting any weaker, so I’m just cold and terrified and in shock and in pain. What could be better?”

“She feels good enough to get pissy,” Lena said, “so that’s one safe. What about you, Zhizhi?”

The backseat’s other passenger flashed a shaky grin. “I’m just cold and terrified and in shock. So, by comparison? Way better.”

Lena chuckled. “Cool.”

I felt her shift in my arms and let go so she could move freely. She gave Bernie a squeeze, kissed his snout, and set him on top of the drink holder between the driver’s and passenger seats.

Matt, who’d taken the wheel, looked down at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Trusting the hell out of you,” Lena said.

He raised an eyebrow.

“I mean, it’s Erin and Miguel I actually trust, but you’re going to be there, too, so that counts for something, right?” She gave Bernie a pat. “You gotta watch over these idiots, okay, little guy?”

I heard his questioning burble.

“Make sure they get to the hospital all right,” Lena said. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you real soon. You can guard the Yukon when they get there, unless Donica really needs to take you up to her room as an emotional support animal.”

“Pass,” Donica said.

“Why are you asking us to look after your Daimon?” Matt asked.

Lena met his gaze.

He pinched his nose and shook his head. “This is absurd, and you know it.”

Lena swung her legs out of the car and stood up.

I backed up and let her.

Miguel looked back and forth between us. “You really intend to go back, then?”

Lena avoided his eyes. “We can’t leave her, Miguel.”

“Besides,” I said, “there’s not enough room for everyone in the Yukon with Donica hogging almost the whole back seat.”

She groaned. “Screw you, Cameron.”

“Understand,” Miguel said, “I’m not saying you shouldn’t do this. You do realize, though, that it runs directly contrary to what Albie herself told you to do?”

“I know it’s stupid, man,” I said. “But it’s the kind of stupid we’ve gotta be.”

He clapped us both on the shoulders. “For so many reasons, I hope you make it through this okay. It’s the kind of stupid I’d rather the world reward.”

“How has that worked out for you so far?” Matt asked.

“Well,” Miguel said, “I can’t say I’ve ever been a successful gambler.”

Matt snorted.

We stepped back from Miguel.

Which left only Erin standing between us and the construction site.

She hugged her arms. “I... agree with you. Even if we can’t help Miss Albie fight, it sounds like the fight’s over. She might be hurt. We might be able to help her.”

Lena flinched.

I asked, “We?”

“Yeah,” Erin said. “If I have HP left, I have to try to help.”

We were way past worrying about the legalities of the situation. I didn’t like leading Erin into danger, but the fact was, if the creature remained active and Albie and Marroll didn’t, we needed every player we could get to have even a chance at a fighting retreat.

The driver’s-side door opened. Matt said, “Zhizhi, take the wheel. Also, I need to borrow your keys.”

“What? Why?”

He sighed. “You don’t want your car left at this construction site, do you?”

“Of course not,” she said, “but why should I hand them to you? What are you even doing?”

“I’m being the kind of stupid,” Matt said, “that the world definitely does not reward.”