W.A.R.S. Tournament Ch. 01

The year was 2055. W.A.R.S. was established for one reason and one reason only. To reduce overcrowding in the world’s prisons; rid society of its dredges. World Aggression Reduction System. Their pretense was to fight aggression wherever it appeared in the world. It appeared in the prison system so that’s where they started. Fifty to one hundred prisoners were dropped into a venue, given arms and the last man standing lived to fight another day. Fifty or a hundred in…one out…pretty good reduction of aggression. Win five tournaments and you win your freedom plus a half million dollar ‘get your life started again’ prize. World pardon, no matter what your crime. Hitler would walk free if he could win, problem was that they had it so rigged that no one was going to win five, but the public liked the idea. They were working on ways to broadcast the tournaments over the airways and make revenue from them too. The tournaments would take place on deserted islands, uninhabited areas of large cities, sports stadiums that were no longer in use, anywhere they could contain the combatants they held them. A bonus was the testing of new military weaponry. No matter what the reasoning, people were dying. They would fill the place with food, water and weapons in blue plastic containers. They irradiated the venue so there was nothing alive but the combatants.

Max Fallon didn’t belong here let alone in prison, but when the helicopter doors flew open he was one of the first ones out. He watched the young red haired girl dart out and run for her life, he had planned to follow her. When he hit the ground a heavy hand grabbed the neck of his Kevlar vest. He didn’t have time for this. He swung around and hit the arm holding him with a crashing blow. He heard the man’s elbow snap. The next blow broke the bridge of the big man’s nose, the third blow shoved his broken nose into his skull. His eyes rolled back in his head. Max was racing down the alleyway between the two buildings directly in front of him before the man hit the ground. Those that watched Max deal with this guy, which was almost everyone else on the chopper, went the other way. Six helicopters in all emptied their human cargo and took off. He had to catch that girl if he could.

He had watched the group on the flight in and tried to analyze his combatant foes. The big black guy who grabbed him was the one Max thought would give him the most trouble. The girl he couldn’t figure at all. These were suppose to be hardened criminals, she couldn’t possibly be…he decided to judge her after he caught up to her. She might be the deadliest one of them all. There was no talking on the flight. When they took off one guy popped off saying something. One of the guards shot him another guard opened the door and kicked him out. He grabbed another one of the prisoners and pulled him out with him as he fell. The fall was too high for them to live. Max decided there and then that they were here to die and die they would. At each other’s hands or the hands of W.A.R.S. guards, it didn’t matter which.

Max flew down the alleyway. He was running so fast he almost didn’t see the blue plastic container marked W.A.R.S. sitting to the side of the alley next to a Dumpster. He stopped and opened it. Jackpot! Two Ultra-light 3000s! These were the army’s new weapons of choice. There were three cases of shells. Two cases of normal bullets and one case of the new liquid shell Max had read about. He couldn’t believe they had actually manufactured these things. There was a backpack, Max stuffed his cache inside it. There was a box of vitamin wafers and two quart bottles of water. Max had eaten these wafers in prison, two or three of these three inch square crackers and you were full. Max loaded up and took off.

As he cleared the alley and crossed the street he heard shuffling in a basement entryway to an old hotel. He jumped back around the corner and slapped a clip into one of the Ultras. The sound of feet running was approaching quickly. Max leaped out and pointed the gun. The scared eyes of a young lady turned to wet slits as she looked up the steps to see him standing there, gun aimed at her. Her cry started as a low whimper and vaulted into a piercing scream as she turned and ran back the way she had come. Max chased her. She bounded around the corner and down the back wall of the hotel. The alleyway handrail was just above Max’s head. When he reached her she was shrunken in the corner of the basement entrance to the hotel. She was crying and holding her arms over her head.

“Pleassssse, please…oh no, don’t KILL me. OohHHhhhh…” She screamed.

Max knelt beside her and grabbed the back of her head by her shoulder length hair. He pulled her face to his. Put blonde hair on her, add twenty years and she looked just like…a tear rolled down his cheek. She slowly dropped her arms as she watched the tear fall.

“Aren’t you going to shoot me?” She asked trembling. “No baby, I’ll never shoot you. And if you let me I will try to stop anyone else from shooting you.” He said almost crying now.

“But why? You have to kill everyone. We all have to die for you to live. And all the others are trying to kill you and me and…everyone. There can only be one alive at the end right?” She asked confused.

“I think that’s right. This is my first time, I don’t know what I am suppose to do, but if you die I die.” He was doing his best to reassure this hysterical little thing.

“Oh, please…don’t rape me.” She started crying again, covering her head back up.

If he didn’t want her dead there could only be one reason he wanted her alive she thought. He wanted her for sex. When he was through with her then he would kill her. A desperate man looking death in the face and he would have one last sex fling…with her!

He studied her dirty but delicate features. She was beautiful under the grime. But why wouldn’t she be beautiful she was so much like…Max’s tears were starting to flow unhindered. He picked her up by her arm and grabbed the doorknob to the entrance.

“I tried it, it’s locked. That’s why I ran into you. I couldn’t get in here.” She said.

He wiggled the knob. It turned slightly. He turned harder and slammed his shoulder into the door. It crashed open with a bang. He looked down at her and shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess you didn’t push hard enough.” He said, smiling at her.

He pulled her inside. She didn’t resist. He held on to her though, not convinced she wouldn’t try to run. He knew if she ran into any of the others her fate might not be the same as it was with him, they were a nasty looking bunch. It looked like the wardens had picked the worst of the lot and sent them into the fray. What a way to get rid of prison problems. Those that went didn’t come back, those that didn’t want to go settled down and those that did want to go acted up and got to go. So why was this girl in this place looking at certain death? For that matter why was Max here? Sure he had killed but he wasn’t a killer. There is a difference. They made their way to the lobby of the hotel. There, in the middle of the floor, was another blue container. Max lifted the lid with one hand still holding tight to her arm. Just food and water in this one.

“If I let you go will you promise not to run away? I only want to help you, really.” He asked.

“No, I won’t run, where would I go?” She answered.

He let go and she made a mad dash for the door. Just as she pulled it opened Max caught her. A shot rang out! She froze in her tracks. She was unarmed. Another shot and another, it had begun. Someone was shooting at someone out there. Max suddenly looked like her best bet. She relaxed backing back into the lobby and closing the door carefully.

“Ok.” She said looking into his eyes. “I promise this time, I promise I won’t run.”

He let her go and returned to the container. If he was going to have to hold this little bird to keep her then he would have to let her fly away, no matter her fate. He couldn’t take the risk of keeping an enemy at his side. She had to be his ally or she had to be his…foe. He couldn’t stand the thought of killing her. As a matter of fact, protecting a woman from being assaulted had landed him in prison in the first place. She joined him at the container. She was suspicious but there she was.

It was growing dark and Max decided to pull the container out of the lobby. If one of the others saw it they would come in to check it out, maybe a good trap but Max wasn’t ready to set any traps, not yet. It looked like the main stairway had fallen down years ago. There was no way up to the other floors from the lobby. They checked the kitchen and found a servants stairway. They made their way to the top floor, the sixth floor. Max found a room overlooking the street. He figured if anyone came their way it would be up this street. There was no furniture. Just dust and fading sunlight. There were no streetlights coming on. All electricity was shut off. The red light of the laser barrier glowed between the buildings.

The barriers were laser poles. They were placed at the corners of the bound area. Every fifty yards or so another pole was set up. They were computer controlled. They each had six lasers at about eighteen inch intervals up the pole. When they were turned on it created a fence of lasers. The size of the boundary established the number of poles. They could be formed in almost any configuration to accommodate the needs. Nothing got in and nothing got out.

“What is you name honey?” He asked.

“Regina Phillips. My friends call me Gina, or Reg. I hate that though. A girl named Reg?” She said.

“I’m Max, Max Fallon.” He said reaching his hand out to her, she shook it and settled back against the wall.

It was getting darker by the minute and the red glow of the barrier was shinning brighter. Max opened a bottle of water and handed it to Gina. He passed her a package of wafers. They sat and ate in silence. Max felt the patch on his chest, just over his heart.

That’s how they knew everyone was dead. Each combatant had a patch glued to their chest with a chip in it. The chip was activated just before they were loaded onto the choppers. They were heartbeat sensitive and sent their signals to the computer. When the heartbeat stopped the chip quit sending. If the patch was removed while the heartbeat continued, an alarm would sound and drones would enter the arena and kill the body found breathing without a chip. When there was only one signal coming to the main computer an alarm would sound ending the event. The last combatant was retrieved and the venue cleaned up. If the combatant required medical attention he or she could have as much time in the hospital as necessary to regain their health and then they were returned to the next available tournament.

It was still dark, early in the morning when Max felt Gina slid up against him. She was shivering. He was cold too. Her body warmth felt good. She squeezed between him and the wall. She was getting the best of this deal, Max didn’t mind. Any comfort he could give in this hell he was happy to oblige. He laid his arm over her shoulder, she feel back to sleep quickly, Max heard her gently snoring. He thought how rough it would be on those that snored in this deal. Talk about a dead give away, literally.

Gina woke the next morning, Max was gone. Fear struck her heart. She took a deep breath and slowly looked around expecting to see a gang of men standing there watching her sleep. She was alone. The room was empty except for the things they had brought with them last night. Gina heard footsteps coming her way. She didn’t even have a gun. She looked around for a weapon. There was the other Ultra but it wasn’t loaded and she didn’t know how to load one. Max strolled through the door carrying something wrapped in an army blanket.

“Good morning sleepy head.” He said smiling down at her.

“Where were you Max? I woke up and you weren’t here, where were you?” She said sounding so frightened.

“Oh Gina, I’m sorry. I couldn’t stand to wake you up. You were sleeping so peacefully. It won’t happen again, I promise.” He answered with genuine concern.

She jumped up and hugged him. He held her for a few seconds then stood back and smiled and looked down at the blanket.

“Look what I found in a storeroom off the kitchen.” He said excitedly.

He laid the blanket on the floor and unwrapped the booty inside. He placed the items off the blanket and wrapped it around Gina’s shoulders. It was still chilly tough the sun was coming up. She cuddled in it and told him thanks, it was warm. There were actually two blankets. And inside were six hand held rocket launchers. “These babies put us leaps and bounds above the rest. And if the others find some too, then we are a least on even ground. Gina, listen, with the two of us working as a team we should be able to get out of this thing ok.” He told her optimistically.

“But there can only be one alive, how do we…?” She didn’t finish her thought.

“Listen, let’s worry about that later, for now let’s just plan a strategy as a team and work together.” He said, he secretly worried about the ‘one alive’ issue also…she wasn’t going to die if Max could help it. That meant the he would have to be…he didn’t want to think about the finally solution.

Gina was emptying a bottle and chewing on a wafer. Max started instructing her in the use of these weapons. The Ultras would be easy. Point and fire. He loaded hers and gave it to her, she looked at it like it was from another planet. The rockets would be another thing all together. He unlocked one of them and showed her how to aim and fire it. If they could fire two of these babies in different directions maybe they could cause enough confusion if need be to get the drop on the situation and stay alive. And they had six of them, six!

He was keeping one eye on Gina, he had just handed a loaded gun to someone he didn’t know at all. Max almost missed the dark figure sneak into the door across the street and one building down from them. He looked out the window just in time to see him duck in and shut the door. He watched the door like a hawk. Max was looking down at the corner of the building. He saw glass fly from the window around the corner of the building. The dark figure climbed out. He was standing in the alley between the building he exited and the one directly across from the hotel. He looked to be studying the hotel. He eased into the street looking in both directions. Max didn’t have time to get to the lobby. If this guy got inside Max might not ever find him, he couldn’t let him get inside with them. The figure made a mad dash toward the door of the hotel. Max jerked the rocket launcher up and fired out of instinct. The figure disappeared from sight before the rocket hit. The explosion was immense, the fireball shooting halfway into the street. Max heard a faint scream. They had five rockets left.

Max was sure all the commotion would draw a crowd. He hurriedly gathered their things, loading four rockets on Gina’s shoulders. She looked like a real trooper, all decked out in her Kevlar vest, rockets, her Ultra and that stupid helmet. Max hated these stupid helmets. Everyone got the same issue. He stuffed bottles and wafers on her where he could. He needed to keep as mobile as possible. Gina was reduced to a pack mule for the time being, she didn’t mind at all. She liked that idea better than having to fight to stay alive.

Max led her to the corner room. He studied the street, nothing. They made two flights down and he darted into the corner room and checked the street again. Nothing moving. When they got to the second floor he pulled her into the corner room overlooking the direction he figured trouble would come from. Trouble didn’t disappoint him, or maybe it did but there it was. Across the street about a block away he saw someone darting from building to building. Ducking behind anything he could to hide. Then he noticed another one coming down the alley across the street. He was approaching the location that the first figure had exited through the broken window. He was almost there. He unloaded Gina and placed her at the window facing the street. He unlocked and prepared her rocket, being careful to keep her out of sight. He held her head and moved her just enough to show her the target.

“You see those trash cans sitting in that alley?” He asked.

“Yes.” She answered, she could hardly breath.

“When I fire mine you aim for those cans and squeeze the trigger. Can you do that?” He said, they were running out of time.

“Oh, Max, I don’t know.” She was scared.

“Well, Gina, if you don’t you may not have to worry about how the two of us can get out of this alive, we may both be dead. We have two guys headed this way and probably more behind them. That rocket blast called the whole bunch. When I fire my rocket you hit those damn cans, now do it girl!” Max was trying to motivate her without scaring her, he did both. The man in the alley startled as he got to the street. He backed into the alley. He had heard something. Max watched him but kept an eye out for the other one. The man in the alley turned his attention to the front door of the hotel. He jumped back into the alley behind the trash cans, Gina’s target. The other guy was fifty feet away from the one in the alley sneaking down the building façade.

“You ready honey?” He asked, she didn’t answer. “Gina! You ready?”

“Oohhhhh, Max, please.” She begged.

Max sprung to the window and fired. His target never stood a chance, the rocket screamed toward him. It didn’t have to hit him, just get close. The guy in the alley dove for cover. To Max’s surprise and amazement Gina’s rocket screamed from the window. The roar was deafening in the room. Max turned to see Gina’s rocket miss the cans by feet, but the blood curdling scream told the story he was hoping to hear. He looked at her, her head was ducked and she was crying.

He picked her up off the floor and loaded her back down with their supplies. He wouldn’t say anything just now. There would be time for kudos later, she was obviously upset. She hadn’t asked to be thrown into the bowels of hell but nonetheless, here she was. They had three rockets left.

They made their way to the kitchen. Max left her at the back door and went to check out the lobby. He saw the burnt figure still smoldering in the floor. Three more down he thought. He rushed to Gina and left out the back. He studied the alley. When he was satisfied that it was safe he led her out. They made their way stealthily. Max thought he had seen two towers of what could have been a church just before sundown last night. He would try for them. A high place that would be easy to defend…he hoped.

Max thought they were about to enter the street that the church should be on to the best of his reckoning. He looked toward its assumed direction. The bullet hit his chest and knocked him gyrating to the ground! He let out a loud moan and fell silent. Gina looked down at him with gaping eyes! Then she looked at the figure standing in the doorway across the alley. Max’s attention had been in the direction of the towers, he never saw the guy. Gina backed down the alley away from the man. He stepped into the alley smiling. He glanced at Max and kicked his lifeless body, then looked at Gina.

“A girl? What in the hell is a girl doing in this mess?” He said like the cat that had caught the canary.

Gina started to raise her Ultra. He jerked his handgun up and took aim on her forehead. She closed her eyes and froze, expecting to get shot any second. When she opened her eyes he was standing in front of her. He ripped the Ultra from her grip and pulled the rockets off her shoulders. She backed up as he came at her. He was directing her toward an open doorway. She looked over her shoulders in all directions for a way of escape. When she had backed up two steps leading into the doorway he pushed her violently. She flew back and landed on the floor banging her buttocks hard. She let out a groan.