Free Server Down by J.M. Hayes

the back door, used one wall of the house to block the policeman’s view, and waited at the edge of the front yard for Ms. Jardine’s grand performance. It came right on schedule. The front door flew open and Jardine ran down the driveway in a convincing state of hysterics. The cop leaped out of the car and she threw herself into his arms.
    â€œPlease help,” Ms. Jardine cried. “Heather, she’s gone.”
    â€œWhat?” the officer said. “How?”
    â€œOut the back and down the alley. Come. Help me stop her. It’s not safe for a young girl out there.” Jardine dragged the cop up the driveway toward the back yard. The man resisted for a second, looking around as if deciding what to do.
    â€œHurry. I think we can still catch her.”
    That did it. The officer followed Jardine around the other side of the house and Heather slipped out of hiding and rushed to her rental. She fumbled with the unfamiliar lock and then slid behind the wheel. Ms. Jardine and the officer were still behind the house as she guided the car into the street and aimed it toward the nearest exit from the neighborhood.
    Ms. Jardine had said Tucson covered something like two-hundred square miles. That was at least a thousand less than the jurisdiction she was used to working back in Kansas. Two-hundred square miles was hardly worth mentioning, she told herself. She didn’t believe it, but at least she was out here. She had a chance.
    ***
    How can Fig Zit know who we are?” Englishman asked.
    Mrs. Kraus had an answer. “He’s a hacker. The security on this game’s pretty high, but I get people whispering to me about how I can buy gold or high-level equipment for cash all the time. This guy’s just at another level.”
    â€œYou’re saying he’s gotten into your account with War of Worldcraft?”
    â€œHas to be.”
    â€œBut how? You’re not even playing your own character.”
    Mrs. Kraus threw her hands up in exasperation. “Hell, I’m no geek. I don’t understand how this thing works. But Mad Dog and I turned out to be on the same server. It’s not like Fig Zit had to sort through all the millions of people who play this game around the world. Or maybe he did. I don’t know. But somehow he got into WOW’s files and used some kind of program to find me. After that, guessing you’re here would be easy.”
    â€œOnly if he knows Benteen County,” Englishman said.
    â€œThis has been interesting,” Fig Zit said, “but I’ve wasted too much time on you little people. Prepare to die.”
    A pink message appeared in the bottom of the county’s monitor. “Pam the Appalling, to the rescue—with dragons. Hurry back from the graveyard and help me kill him as he respawns.”
    â€œWhat do we do?” Englishman asked.
    â€œPrepare to die, like he said,” Mrs. Kraus said, typing madly. “Looks like Pam’s rescue effort will fry us just as sure as Fig Zit’s thunderbolts.”
    â€œVampire wizards suck!” Mrs. Kraus’ message appeared in a little bubble over Madwulf’s head.
    Fig Zit laughed. “Very funny, Mrs. Kraus. You are a…how does your generation put it? Oh yes, a caution. You almost make me hate to do this.” The creature began rubbing his hands together, a sure sign he was about to cast a spell that would finish them.
    â€œHere we go,” Mrs. Kraus said. But she wasn’t talking about the fate Fig Zit had in mind for them. She was pointing over the monster’s shoulder at a figure astride a winged horse, and, just behind her, a host of monstrous flying lizards belching smoke and flames.
    â€œLordy,” she said, “I think Pam’s managed to bring Puff the Magic Dragon’s Elite Reptilian Air Force.”
    Fig Zit hurled a flaming snowball and Madwulf’s health all but disappeared. Not quite dead yet, Mrs. Kraus struck the