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For a moment, Petra wondered what could’ve happened to the bike. Did someone steal it? Doubtful, not with that lock and chain. And, she had a feeling that not many Wisdom residents would go to the trouble of stealing a bicycle. A motorcycle maybe, but not a bike. Could it have been operatives from Streamboy? Grace did say they wanted to make her depend on them and stealing her only mode of transportation would certainly accomplish that. After a few seconds, however, she finally admitted to herself who had taken the bike.
“Those motherfuckers,” she said.
“Which ‘motherfuckers’,” Grace asked. “We’re dealing with a couple here.”
“That fucking show. It’s always that goddamn show.” Venom dripped from Petra’s voice. “Every time I take a few steps forward, they knock me back a couple.”
Pym nodded. “Yeah, that’s pretty much how it works.”
“So, what am I supposed to do? The place I need to get to is almost 20 miles away. I can’t walk that.” She thought for a moment, working the problem in her head. “Well, I guess I could. But, fuck, I don’t want to.” Shaking her head, she continued. “That’ll take a day at least. And, I’m not sure I have that to spare.”
“You don’t think so?”
“I mean, I could get there with time to spare but who knows what fucked up shit they’ll have me do once I arrive,” she said. “They could throw another challenge at me. Like, I have to fight a bear or something.”
“And, there’s those Streamboy fucks to worry about,” Grace said.
“Don’t remind me,” Petra shot back. Before she could say anything else, the tablet came to life and Hazelton’s face appeared on the screen.
“Hello, Petra. Just wanted to pop in and say you’re doing really well. Better than anyone has in quite a while. So, congratulations!” She opened her mouth to comment but he blithely went on. “You’ve gotten your final clue and, from your search history, you’ve figured out that you’re going to Skyview Ranch. We talked it over here at the studio and felt that a bicycle wasn’t appropriate transportation for the setting, so we picked it up.” His smarmy smile made Petra want to punch him. “But, if you can get to Hartley Mountain Outfitters, you’ll find everything you need for this last leg of your journey. But you’d better hurry, they close in 45 minutes!” The screen went dark.
Petra looked at Grace and said, “Hartley Mountain Outfitters. That’s either horses or backpacking.”
“I’m guessing it’s horses,” Grace said. “You know, with a ranch and all that.”
“Shit!”
“What’s wrong?” Pym said. “You don’t like horses?”
“No, not really,” Petra replied. “They’re big and scary and they smell bad.”
“So, you weren’t a horsey girl growing up?” Grace asked, a slight grin playing across her face.
“No,” Petra said flatly. “To be honest, I’ve never even sat on a horse.”
“What? Not even like on the pony rides at the fair?”
Petra shook her head slowly. “I told you, they’re big and stinky and scary.”
“Well, you’re gonna have to get over that,” Grace said. “And, pretty damn quick.
The tablet chimed and Petra looked down to see Hartley Mountain’s website pop up. She tapped the directions tab. “Shit,” she said, “I gotta get going if I want to make it before they close.”
Science fiction sci-fi
It was horses but it wasn’t as bad as she’d expected. She’d made it to the outfitter’s with some time to spare and the woman running it was very nice. She could see that Petra was nervous and stayed late to give her a quick and dirty riding lesson. Jack, an old cowboy who was the wrangler, rode out with Petra, helped her find a campsite, and stayed around long enough to show her how to set up camp. Now, here she was, by the fire, a cup of coffee warming her hands as she watched the sunset over the Bitterroot Mountains. It was glorious. If I wasn’t stuck in this dystopian nightmare gameshow, she thought, all this would be amazing. But I am, so let’s beat this stupid game. She got up, rinsed her cup in the nearby creek, and got ready for bed.
Before he left, Jack had warned her about the weather. It was late enough in the year, he’d said, that temps could dip below freezing and an early winter storm was a possibility. When she awoke the next morning, there was a chill in the air. It wasn’t below freezing but it felt close. She crawled out of her blankets, pulled on her jacket, and stirred up last night’s coals. She added some tinder, then firewood. Soon enough, the fire was going and she set about preparing breakfast. Back at Hartley Mountain, Crystal said the show told her to provide everything Petra should need for this ride, including food. This time, it wasn’t shitty protein bars and energy drinks, it was the real deal: bacon, eggs, toast, the works. She wasn’t the best cook, but breakfast was very tasty. Better get moving, she thought, and set about breaking camp.
Science fiction sciSciSci
She had expected it to warm up as the day went on, but that didn’t seem to be happening. If anything, it was getting colder. The wind had picked up, stinging her ears to the point that she had pulled her scarf up, trying to cover them. It didn’t work. Maybe they’ll finally get numb, she’d thought. But that hadn’t happened either. Around noon, she noticed dark clouds coming in over the Bitterroots and hoped they didn’t portend what she thought they did. Oh well, she said to herself, if it snows, it snows. I’m as well prepared as I can be and I’ll deal with it.
The first flakes began falling about an hour after she saw the clouds. It was light at first, just a few small flakes. They got bigger and heavier, driven by the wind, and finally turned into what she considered a blizzard. Her visibility had dropped almost nothing, and she wasn’t even sure she was going in the right direction. She checked the compass she’d been given and thought she was heading north-northeast but with no landmarks visible, how could she know for sure? Jack had told her this was a possibility and said if it did happen, she should find some shelter and ride out the storm. She didn’t like the idea of losing any more time but decided that was better than getting so irreparably lost out here that she didn’t make it to Abby before the deadline. Maybe I can find a place to hole up, she thought.
She found a small depression with a steep rock wall that was protected from the wind. She dismounted and staked her horse out in a bare patch of ground so it could graze, spread her bedroll out under the lip of the rocks, and settled in to wait. Jack had said these things usually passed through quickly and she hoped that would be the case this time. “The way my luck has gone,” she muttered, “It’ll probably snow for days.” Gnawing on a piece of jerky, she wondered what Grace was up to. I wish she was here, she thought. Some company would be nice. If nothing else, we could wrap up in the bedroll and keep each other warm. The thought of huddling under the covers with Grace thrilled her more than it should. “Stop that,” she said. “You don’t have time for that kind of thing.”
The snow finally stopped and she was back on her horse and making progress. It hadn’t lasted for days as she’d feared, but it wasn’t over quickly, either. She’d ended up spending a miserable night under those rocks. It had stopped before sundown but she didn’t think she’d find a better campsite than this, so she hunkered down. The worst part was that she’d had to make a cold camp since she couldn’t find any firewood. Water and jerky were not an ideal breakfast choice, she thought, especially when you’re freezing your ass off. But, if she figured her position correctly, she was only about an hour away from Skyview Ranch. “This shit is almost over,” she said and spurred the horse on.
Science fiction sci-fi
She sat on a ridge overlooking her destination. Doesn’t look like much, she thought. Kinda worn out and shabby. She touched her heels to the horse’s flanks and started down. There was no movement anywhere on the grounds, which she thought was odd. Surely, someone would be out and about. It was a working ranch, after all. And, it was significantly warmer than the day before. So much so that a lot of the snow had melted and the horse’s hooves squelched in the mud as she came up to the road leading through the gate. She stopped in front of the big log house and called out.
“Hello, is anyone here? Where am I supposed to go?”
An eerie silence greeted her request. She dismounted and tied the horse to the hitching post like the cowboys in the westerns she’d watched with her dad. Climbing the steps, she noticed the front door was ajar. Okay, she thought, that’s odd. Why would you leave your front door open. As she got closer, she could see the jamb was splintered. Oh, that’s not good. She stepped in and found a big room in complete disarray. Furniture overturned and broken, books and magazines scattered everywhere, even a couple of pictures lying on the floor, their frames and glass shattered. As she looked closer, she saw a reddish-brown stain on the floor. It had to be blood. She prayed it wasn’t Abby’s and was interrupted by the ringing of a landline phone that had been placed on a table where she couldn’t miss it. She picked it up.
“Hello, dear,” she heard Craven Stitch say. Petra looked around, trying to see if the older woman was there. “Oh, I’m not there,” Stitch said. “We placed a few cameras around to keep an eye on things.”
“Where’s my daughter?” Petra said, her voice low and level.
“Well, dear, you never gave me an answer on that thing we talked about, so I felt the need to… compel you. Just a bit.” Stitch sounded utterly reasonable like a grandmother asking their grandchild to stop by for a visit.
Petra shook with barely controlled rage. She was so sick of these corporate assholes, on both sides, jerking her around so they could squeeze a few more dollars out of this dystopian nightmare gameshow.
“What do you want?” she said.
“Oh, nothing much,” Stitch replied. “Just agree to read our statement and all will be well.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Well, Zeus is here, so let’s just say it won’t be pleasant for Abby,” Stitch said. “But, do as I ask, and you and your sweet little girl can be on your way with no more troubles.”
Something about this felt off and she didn’t like it. But, what choice did she have? “Fine. Where are you?”
“Oh, that’s not necessary, dear. Just read the statement that’s there by the phone and we’ll get it on camera.”
Petra laughed. “What, you think I’m stupid? I’m not reading shit until I’m with Abby.”
Stitch sighed. “So, we’re doing this the hard way, I see.” When Petra didn’t reply, she continued. “All right, meet me at Pioneer Storage in Wisdom. Unit D-17.” The line went dead.
Petra walked back outside to find Grace leaning back against her car. “So, how’s my favorite cowgirl?”
“Not good. Not good at all,” Petra said.
Pym straightened up and headed toward her. “What’s wrong?”
“Streamboy. They took Abby.”
“What?” Grace said. “How do you know it was them?”
“Because Stitch called and told me,” Petra said. “If I don’t read the statement, they’ll kill my daughter.”
“Oh god,” Grace said. “I knew they were capable of a lot of shit but this?” She shook her head.
“She said if I read the statement everything will be fine and they’ll let us go.”
“She’s fucking lying,” Grace said, bluntly.
“You think so?” Petra asked.
“Of course,” Pym said. “They can’t take the chance that you won’t recant later. Or worse, tell everyone how they coerced you. No, as soon as they’ve got footage of you reading that bullshit, you and Abby are dead.”
Petra slumped and would’ve landed on the ground if Grace hadn’t caught her. “Oh god,” she said, crying. “What the hell do I do?”
Grace took her face in both hands and said, “Whatever it takes to save your daughter. Now, get in the car. I think best while I’m driving.”
They were tearing down the gravel road that led back to the highway when the tablet chimed. It had been so quiet the past two days, she’d forgotten about it. She fished it out of her bag and a dialog box popped up.
You have violated the terms of the game. You automatically have three strikes and are out of contention.
Immediately after that, a video screen appeared and a production assistant spoke up.
“Stop the car, Petra. We’re sending a team to pick you up.”
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” she gritted. “I am so goddamned done listening to you assholes.”
The woman started as if someone had slapped her. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me, bitch,” Petra said, holding back her rage just enough to communicate. “I’m fucking done with you people.”
“Ah, no,” the PA said. “You signed a contract and we will enforce it.”
“Well, you let those dickheads from Streamboy kidnap my daughter,” Petra snapped, “So, I’m pretty sure your precious ‘contract’ is null and fucking void.”
“What?” the woman said. “Kidnapped?”
“Yes, kidnapped. Again, are you fucking stupid?”
“How do you know it was Streamboy?”
“Because they fucking called and told me so!”
“Oh,” she said. Then, “Oh,” She spoke to someone offscreen but Petra couldn’t make out what was being said. She came a moment later. “Everything looks fine on our feed.”
“Well, your feed is fucked up,” Petra said. “Didn’t they try to hack you a couple of days ago?”
“How do you know about that?”
“Never fucking mind how I know, just answer the question!”
“Yes,” the PA said after a moment of hesitation. “You thin— hold on a second.” She turned away again.
Petra looked over at Grace. “These fucking people,” she said, making Pym chuckle.
The woman returned. “You’re right,” she said. “They hacked our feed at the ranch. Pull over and we’ll pick you up.”
“Bitch, did you not hear me?” Petra said. “I’m fucking done with you assholes.” She terminated the call and tossed the tablet out the window.
Science fiction sci-fi
“That place did not look like I expected,” Petra said. They were sitting a couple of blocks away from the self-storage company in what passed for Wisdom’s “commercial” district.
“How did you think it would look?” Grace said. “I mean, it’s a storage business. Those places pretty much all look the same.”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t think it would be so… normal,” Petra said. “This is supposed to be life and death. It doesn’t seem right that it’s happening in a run-of-the-mill storage place.”
“Well, it is,” Pym shot back. “Now, we need a plan before you walk in there.” She looked up the company’s website and found a map of the facility. “Okay, what was the unit number?”
“D-17.”
Pym blew up the map. “Okay, D-17,” she said. “Here it is. Looks like it’s near the back fence on the middle aisle.”
“Okay,” Petra said. “So, how do we do this?”
Grace closed the browser and slipped her phone into her pocket. “You’re going to walk in the front gate and head down to the unit. You keep them busy while I slip in through the back fence and take out any help Stitch may have. Then, it’ll just be us and the old lady.”
Petra shot her a look. “How are going to do all that?”
Pym grinned. “I got skills.”
“What, are some kind of closet badass or something?”
“Baby girl, you have no idea.” She leaned over and gave Petra a quick kiss on the cheek. “Now, go.”
Science fiction sci-fi
Petra walked up to Pioneer’s gate, her cheek still tingling. She kissed me. She actually kissed me. That’s got to mean something, she thought. Then, okay, worry about this later. You need your head in the game to deal with this old pseudo-goth bitch. She made her down the drive past the banks of storage units, watching the signs until she came to the row marked “D”. Taking a deep breath, she turned right. She continued on, counting down the units as she passed. As she passed unit 13, Stitch stepped out just ahead of her.
“Hello, dear,” she said, sweetly. “So nice to see you again.”
“Where’s my daughter?” Petra asked, in no mood for small talk. She wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible.
“My my, someone is in a mood,” Stitch replied. She waved to the unit on her left and Abby came out, a tall, muscular blond woman with Eastern European features behind her. She tried to run to Petra but the woman held her back. “This is Sable. She made those lovely lunches we enjoyed on the bus.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Petra said. “How do you want to do this?”
Stitch smiled. “Right down to business, eh?” She pointed to her left again. “We have a little studio set up in here where we can make the recording.” She headed into the unit. “Come see.”
Petra was surprised at the complexity of the set-up, even though she thought she probably shouldn’t have been. Streamboy was the world’s number two entertainment provider, and it stood to reason they wouldn’t do things half-assed. Sable pushed Abby into a chair and went back outside. As she did, Petra heard a snuffle to her right and turned to look. It was Zeus, the pit bull that was to be Abby’s fate if she failed. He was even larger than she’d imagined and the only thing restraining him was a girl who looked like she was still in high school, holding his leash. Stitch cleared her throat.
“All right, have a seat here and we’ll get you ready.” A heavy thud sounded behind them. “Well, what have we here,” Stitch said. Petra turned and saw Grace lying in a heap on the unit’s floor, Sable standing over her. Stitch walked over and pushed her onto her back with a foot. “Grace Pym,” she said, brightly. “Why I haven’t seen you in ages. Are you still working for that awful gangster? What is his name? Shark?”
“It’s Shade,” Grace snarled, “And, you fucking know it is.”
“Wait, you two know each other?” Petra said.
“Oh my, yes,” Stitch replied. “We’ve had quite a few run-ins over the years, haven’t we Grace?”
“Fuck you, Craven.”
“You’re always so disagreeable,” Stitch said, disapprovingly. “Perhaps when we’re done recording, Sable can give you a refresher on manners.” She smiled down at Pym. “She’s so good at that. But, of course, you remember, I’m sure.”
“Why wait?” Grace said and kicked Sable in the leg. The crunch of the woman’s knee giving way filled the small room and she slumped. Pym jumped to her feet and punched the blond woman in the solar plexus. The air in her lungs rushed out and she wheezed. Grace executed a near-perfect roundhouse kick that should have caught Sable in the side of the head but she was ready. She caught Pym’s leg and gave her a short, sharp punch to her inner thigh, dropping her to the floor. The big blond raised her foot to stomp Grace in the chest, but she rolled out of the way and pulled herself up.
“Well,” Sable said with a hint of Russia in her accent, “You have toughened up a bit since our last encounter. Good. You know how I like a challenge.”
Grace said nothing as they circled each other slowly, favoring their injured legs. They exchanged a couple of desultory blows, each trying to get the measure of the other. Then, Sable came in hard for Grace, trying to pin her against the wall and pummel her. It was what Pym had waiting for. Dancing away, she landed another kick to her opponent’s injured knee, taking her down. She landed on the bigger woman’s back, slamming her face into the concrete floor several times before finally breaking her neck. She stood up, breathing hard, and looked over at Petra. Stitch, however, spoke up and ruined whatever moment they might have had.
“Well, that was very impressive, Grace. Your skills have certainly improved. Too bad it was all for nothing.”
Petra turned to look and saw that Stitch held Abby in front of her, a knife at the girl’s throat. “Okay!,” She blurted, “I’ll read your goddamned statement. Just don’t hurt her.”
“Of course, you will, dear,” Stitch said. “But, here’s a little demonstration of what will happen if either of you try anything” She nicked Abby’s neck with the knife, making the girl cry out. There was a low growl from the corner and Zeus broke loose from his leash, bounding across the small room. He leaped at Stitch, who pushed Abby to the floor and tried to defend herself. It was no use. The dog hit her full in the chest and slammed her back against the wall. Her head struck a steel support and she was dead before she hit the ground. The dog turned and trotted over to Abby who wrapped her arms around him and cooed.
“Good boy, Zeus. Good boy.”
Both Petra and Grace stared as the massive dog who’d been billed as a killer devolved into a puppy in the arms of a frail little girl who’d become his best friend.
“What?” Petra said. “Ho— how?”
Abby looked up at her mother, smiling. “I told you, Mama. Dogs love me.”
Science fiction sci-fi
Petra stood on the deck of a ranch house and watched Abby and Zeus play in the grass below. Six months out from their harrowing experience Abby looked none the worse for the wear. In fact, she was in better shape than she’d ever been before Petra did the show. It was amazing what kind of medical treatment you could get if you had the money. As she watched, she felt arms wrap around her waist and Grace laid her chin on her shoulder.
“I’m not sure what’s more amazing,” Grace said. “Her recovery or how much that damn dog loves her.”
Petra leaned back into her, loving the way it felt. “I know. I mean, yeah, she’s not out of the woods yet, but it’s still remarkable.” She shook her head. “And, I never thought I could even be in the same room as a dog. Much less, like one as much as I like Zeus.”
Grace straightened up. “Oh, we heard from the show.”
Petra turned. “What did they say?”
“That they are eternally grateful for our helping them out of that tough spot.”
Petra frowned. “Really? They said that?”
“Well, not in so many words,” Grace replied. “I was talking to a lawyer, so…”
“Oh,” Petra said, impishly. “What exactly did they say?”
Grace smiled. “That all your debts are cleared and they’re working on getting Abby on the priority transplant list.” Petra was conflicted about the list and felt bad about pulling strings. But, as Grace had reminded her, this was the world they lived in. Grace continued, “They also said that, upon signature of the NDA, they are prepared to increase the stipend to $1.5 million annually.”
“Wow,” Petra said, “They really want to keep this under wraps.” She looked back over her shoulder. “What about Streamboy?”
“Streamboy is no more,” Grace said. “The ‘government’,” she said making air quotes as everyone knew the corporations were the true governing force in this world, “Began an investigation at Umbrella’s request and turned up all sorts of juicy stuff.”
“Really? Like what?”
“The attorney wouldn’t go into specifics but it sounded like Stitch wasn’t their only ‘dirty tricks’ operative.”
“Wow,” Petra said. “So, the walls have finally come tumbling down.” She looked out toward the distant mountains. “And, all it took was kidnapping a sick little girl and threatening her life.”
“Nah,” Grace said, “They do shit like that all the time. What it took was the possibility of that shit coming out for the whole world to see.”
“Jesus, that’s bleak,” Petra said. “I guess I should be happy there’s a line. Even if it is an exceptionally shitty one.”
“A shitty line is better than no line,” Grace said. “So, what’s next?”
Petra shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“Not as long as we’ve got each other.”
