The Immortality Game

Marcus pressed himself close to the wall as the air car lifted behind him. At least someone will survive this, he thought. When he drew close to the doorway, he forced himself not to look at the bodies. A gun lay on the ground near the outstretched hand of one of the corpses. Marcus considered picking it up, then decided against it. The sick terror he had felt while trying to shoot Tavik had taught him that he wasn’t cut out to use guns. He peered through the arch at an astonishing scene. There was Zoya, crouched and running down the middle of the casino floor. Dozens of people lay prone on the carpeting or hid behind gaming tables and slot machines. Zoya pointed back in Marcus’s direction and cried out, “He’s crazy! He murdered those men. What are you waiting for?”

Someone Marcus couldn’t see replied, “There’s just one?”

Zoya shrieked at him, “Yes! Do your job before someone else gets hurt!”

Three men emerged from their hiding places, guns at the ready, grim looks on their faces. They signaled silently to one another and began to converge on the arch. Crap! Marcus thought. She’s sending them right to me!

He was about to duck away when he saw Zoya turn as if to follow the men. She shuffled after them a few steps, stopped, and lifted her weapon. Three quick shots and the men were down. One flopped about and screamed until Zoya dispatched him with another shot.

Madre de Dios! She’s slaughtering them! Marcus watched in horrid fascination as a tube lift arrived and two men with Uzis emerged. It took a moment for the men to take in the scene, and by then it was too late. Zoya had ducked behind some slots, emerged around the other side of the bank, and blew both of them away before they could even turn in her direction. She looked around the room once, stepped over the bodies, and entered the tube lift.

“Wait!” Marcus shouted and began running toward Zoya. She can’t leave me here alone! Zoya looked back at him and shook her head. Marcus couldn’t tell whether she was amused or disgusted. He was out of breath as he joined her in the lift.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” she said.

“I’m…” He panted. “…the idiot?”

She ignored his rejoinder and examined the lift. “There are no controls.”

Marcus was finally able to catch his breath. “You just tell it where you want to go. Look…” He pointed at Cyrillic lettering on one wall. “…it tells what each floor is for.”

Zoya smiled. “What do you think? Straight to the top…‌or start at the bottom and work my way up?”

“You’ve lost it,” Marcus said. “Completely out of your mind.”

“I know,” she replied. “Fun, isn’t it?”

“Murdering people?”

She stared at him, the seconds stretching out for what felt like ages. “They’re the murderers, not me.”

Marcus shook his head and said to the lift, “Nearest restroom, please.”

Zoya scowled at him.

The lift replied, “The nearest restroom is on this level, just to the left.”

Marcus shrugged at Zoya. “What? I need to go really badly.” To the lift he said, “Nearest restroom on a different floor please.”

A dim light flicked on and the lift began to rise.

“Jesus, your face!” Marcus said. The left side of Zoya’s face was swollen and bruises ranging from yellow to deep purple ran down her jaw line and circled her neck.

Zoya turned the left side of her face away and looked down at the floor. “You sure have a lot to learn about women.”

Marcus felt himself flushing. “Sorry…‌it’s just…‌I really think we should get you to a hospital.”

“It’s a little late for that,” she whispered.

Moscow

Sunday, June 8, 2138

10:48 p.m. MSK

The proximity alert beeped on the dashboard and Tavik’s air car slowed to a crawl as it entered the parking bay. Panicked-looking people swarmed everywhere, trying to push through the crowd or jumping into cars. More congregated around the tube lifts to the hotel towers.

“What the hell is this?” Tavik said. “Quick, get to my spot before all these cars take off.”

Tavik’s car spun and skimmed toward its normal parking space seconds before dozens of other cars took off and crowded toward the exit.

“Just in time,” Tavik said. He grinned. “They must have met Zoya.” He patted the door and it slid open. Tavik snatched up his stun rifle from the rack. People pressed around him as he climbed from the vehicle. He jabbed a man in the ribs with an elbow and raised the ugly snout of the stun rifle. “Out of my way, assholes!”