Gene. Sys. by Aaron Denius (best ereader for comics txt) 📕

“What are the teams?” Sil asks as he steps closer to his pal, Titan.

“No teams. It’s everyone for themselves. We will all spread out, and I will set the countdown for three minutes. The second the simulation appears, we start.” I know I have a slight advantage in knowing what will appear, but the rifles even the playing field a bit.

They each step forward, grab a rifle, and head to different parts of the room. I pick up the last remaining gun and set the timer. When I turn, I notice that the only unoccupied part of the room is where I’m standing.

As the time winds down, I look around at the Genesys scattered around the room. Most are also looking around, getting themselves into shooting stances. I want to tell them all that I’m sorry, but before I can, the alarm goes off. The lights shut off, and when they come back on, the protein pouch I worked so hard to keep down earlier comes back up.

The screams that emanate from every corner of the simulation are deafening. As bad as I feel, I know that they are all going to be face-to-face with death eventually. This will make it easier for them to handle the next time they are exposed to it.

I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing the lifeless eyes staring back at me. The scene before me has no shortage of these. It’s very similar to what I saw beyond the walls, a city in ruins. There are streets at an angle to my left and my right. Both are covered in rubble, trash, bodies, and blood.

My feet don’t want to move. I’m afraid of what I might see the deeper I go in. The sound of the first shots being fired snaps me out of my trance, and I instinctively fall to the ground. I look around and don’t see anyone near me, so I figure that the shots came from the other end of the room.

I stay low to the ground and crawl my way along the road to my right, making sure to keep close to the walls of the fallen buildings. My focus remains on protecting myself, which helps push the images of the dead bodies to my peripherals.

A blur crosses ahead of me, and I can barely make out that it is female. I hear a few more shots to my left and decide that my best option is to be patient and let the others take each other out. I shift myself back against the wall in a position where I can keep an eye on both ends of the road.

As moments pass, I do my best not to look at the bodies around me, but my memories begin to recall the smell I experienced. My stomach churns again, so I take a deep breath.

I sense movement to my left and turn to see Cal has taken cover behind a wall. Someone must be chasing him, because he keeps peering around the wall and hasn’t noticed me. I slowly raise my rifle to my shoulder and look through the viewfinder. Cal stands right in the middle of my crosshairs, and I inhale to steady the gun. I feel a brief moment of guilt as I squeeze the trigger, but I know that he might get me later if I don’t take him out.

The bullet flies through the air, and it hits him square in the back. He falls to the ground, not knowing what hit him. I look to make sure no one is around, and then I quickly run to where Cal fell. I crouch down next to him and pull his rifle away. It only has two bullets, but I remove them and add them to my own. I look down at Cal’s face and see him glaring at me.

“Thanks,” I whisper, and add a smile.

A few shots go off around the wall that Cal came from, so I slowly peek around. I see Ev and Titan shooting at each other from behind two separate barricades. I crouch down to avoid being caught, and I watch as they square off.

Without warning, a bullet hits the wall next to my head. I dive to the ground behind Cal. Another shot is fired at me, but it hits Cal in the leg. He grunts and winces at the shock. I feel bad using him as a shield, but I need cover.

Toward the end of the road, not too far from where I was before, Sodi crouches behind some rubble. Using Cal’s legs, I steady my rifle and put the only exposed part of Sodi’s body in my crosshair—her head. I inhale and squeeze the trigger, hitting her right above her eyebrows. I don’t envy the pain that the shocks must be giving her.

I scan my road for any more Genesys, and when I don’t see any, I crouch back against the wall. Behind me, the gunshots have stopped. I peek around the corner, but I don’t spot either Ev or Titan. I adjust myself and look around again, exposing my head a little more, and spot both of them on the ground. They have been taken out.

I duck around the corner, keeping my eyes in a peripheral focus. Slowly I work my way down the road, checking behind me from time to time. As I get closer to Ev and Titan, something strikes me as a bit strange. Both of them lie on the ground facing me. Someone else shot them.

I stop and crouch down next to a pile of bodies. I can sense someone watching me, and right now, I’m sitting vulnerable in the middle of the road. Just as I’m about to continue on, movement from the mound startles me.

Fe has popped out of the pile of bodies, and before I can react, has knocked me down with her rifle. I try to turn over, but a wave of shocks