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

His smile is both playful and evil. I smile back, and then, with one quick move, I reach my hands up, grab his neck and flip him off me. I look around when I stand, and I see the majority of both teams off to one side. It looks like one of the drones has the ball, and the Genesys are trying to tear it away.

From my left, I see two drones charging hard at the group. They get there before I do and ram through the majority of the Genesys. I see Sil, Al, Sodi, K, and Fe fall hard to the ground and get trampled over.

A few drones fall as well, but the strategy opens up an avenue for the ball carrier. He steps forward and bounces the ball high toward our pit. I chase after it and jump. I am a couple of inches from grabbing the ball when my legs get knocked from underneath me, and I tumble to the ground.

I land hard on my shoulder and look to see 80 break away with the ball, straight to our pit. When I turn to get up, a foot hits me swiftly across my face, and I fall back to the ground. I roll away and stand to face my attacker. It’s 13.

He stands tall, anticipating my move. He plants his foot to charge, but a large portion of the crowd erupts in cheers just before he does. I look around and see the drones watching this game, on their feet and yelling. 80 must have scored.

The drones on the field all walk back to their side of the field, and I see the Genesys slowly picking themselves up. I start to walk to join them on my side when 13 sticks his foot out and trips me. I land flat on my face and get a mouthful of dirt. Its dry, chalklike taste is a horrible combination with the saltiness of the blood in my mouth.

80 reaches me and helps me up. He smiles. “Give up yet?”

“No.” I spit the dirt and blood out to the side.

“Good. The next round starts the second you grab the ball.” He jogs to his side of the field.

I head back to join the rest of the Genesys, who have gathered around the pit. They all look defeated. I realize that we need a strategy if we are going to have any chance at this.

“Okay. Well, now we know how to play.” I smile, trying to get their hopes up.

“Ass,” Sodi mutters. A few of the other Genesys laugh.

“You’re right.” I play it off. “We need to have some strategy, so what I would like to do is attack like an arrow. Ten of us will form a ‘V’ and wedge our way through them. Knock them over, get them to the ground.”

“What about the other two?” Fe asks, panting through her words.

“One person will be in the middle of the ‘V’ with the ball, and the other person will stay back and guard the pit,” I state.

“I’ll guard the pit,” Ox says.

“Okay, good.” I look around at the group and spot Mag shying behind a couple of the others. She will be too timid to be part of the ‘V’ and take out a drone. “Mag, you carry the ball.”

“Okay,” barely escapes from her mouth.

“Let’s do it!” I shout, trying to get the Genesys pumped up. It doesn’t seem to be working.

Mag grabs the ball from the pit, and the screams from the other side of the field tell us that the drones are on their way. They are running at us perfectly spread out in a line. I take off toward the middle, and four Genesys flank me diagonally to my left, the other five to my right. Mag stays perfectly placed in the middle of us.

I scream as I run full speed at the drone in front of me. At the last second, I spin around him, grabbing his arm, and fling him to the ground. I stand on both his arms while he is down so he can’t get up. He thrashes his legs and curses at me, but he’s not able to shake me off.

I look around to see how the strategy is paying off and if anyone needs any additional help. As I scan the field, I see most of the Genesys engaged in fights with a drone. They’re all holding their own. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot the two unaccounted-for drones heading directly for Mag. It’s 13 and a second drone with longer hair.

“Mag! Watch out!” I scream as I jump off my drone. He swings his legs, connecting with my side, and I fall.

When I look up, I see 13 and the longhaired drone knock Mag to the ground. She drops the ball, and 13 scoops it up. I get up and start running after him. After a few steps, I’m tackled to the ground from behind.

The drone steps on my shoulders, preventing me from getting up. “Now it’s my turn.”

All I can do is watch what happens next; the drone with the long hair jumps up and stomps on Mag’s leg. A slight crack followed by her loud scream fills the air and silences the crowd.

“Mag!” I hear Ox yell as he leaves his post, defending the pit, and runs straight for the longhaired drone. He passes 13 on the way, completely ignoring him. I can see the red in his eyes where I lie.

Ox reaches the drone, grabs him by the hair, and flips him over his head by the handful of hair. The drone lands hard on the ground, and Ox stands with a handful of hair. He rears back and, with as much force as he can, he kicks the drone in the head. The drone’s body goes limp.

My attention is squarely on that exchange, so I don’t notice that 13 has scored. Applause by the drones on the sideline lets me know