Reception

Chapter 16 - Copy and Paste

She fired off the final shot. The sound of guns firing and bullets flying died abruptly.

The two in front of them held up their hands, each of their counters blinking in blood-red.

Zero.

Damien and Sarah cautiously stepped forward, guns trained on their attackers. Their prey backed up slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements. Damien kept an eye on them as he took his right hand and motioned to the guns on the ground.

Sarah stooped down, picking up any usable magazines and an unused grenade. She pocketed the items in her vest and stepped backwards.

"You guys did real well," Damien said, trying to rekindle some sort of camaraderie that had long since disappeared.

"Whatever," the one on the left scoffed.

"Yeah, you're right," Sarah chimed in reply, "you sucked."

Damien laughed quietly and put his barrel down. The two in front of them no longer posed a threat. He looked further ahead, trying to determine if there was any more opposition.

"There's no one, I checked," Sarah answered his unspoken question, tapping her index finger on the rifle's scope.

As Damien began to press forward he found a hand grabbing his left arm. Sarah had stopped him, looking at him pleadingly.

"I think we need to go to the center," she explained.

"Why?"

Sarah dropped her view to her chest, the big number still jutting holographically out of it, "My numbers flashed, like there was a bug. The only thing that could drop my TED's processor down that hard is if something's happened to it."

Damien shrugged, "So you have some faults in the hardware, we'll get it checked later."

"No," urged Sarah, "I think something's wrong. I want to check and make sure Michael's alright.

Damien paused briefly and gave a sigh, "Alright, then, we're going back," he ordered.

Sarah simply nodded and gave one final, mocking salute to her enemies before trotting off after Damien.

*****

Their brisk jog took them to the center of the arena where Michael had previously told them he'd be. They searched for him, but after what seemed like hours, they stopped, defeated. They found nothing that indicated Michael was still around.

"Wasn't this where he said he'd be?" Damien questioned, peering through bushes but finding nothing but a wall of foliage.

Sarah nodded, though he obviously couldn't see, "Yeah, he said he'd watch around here. You'd figure he'd be here."

"Hold that thought," Damien said, squatting. He followed the ground with his eyes, trailing them along displaced dirt.

Tracks.

"I think you're right," Damien said, "He would be around here. Only, he's not." Damien pointed at the ground leading towards the center of the outcropping. "Dead center in the middle - look at that. I'm no tracker, or anything, but I can definitely make out shoe prints. There have to be at least three people-"

"-four," Sarah interrupted, "look at these." She pointed to another set Damien had missed.

"Wait, so, is that three plus Michael? Or are any of these Michael?"

"Good question," Sarah replied, an idle lull in her voice. She was lost in thought.

"What does any of this mean?"