Free S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND: Season Two Omnibus (Episodes 9-11) by Saul Tanpepper

need to lay off the pills.”
    â€œI’m not stoned, Jess!” He sat down and began peeling the ruined socks off his feet.
    â€œBleach is never going to make those white again.”
    Reggie grunted and tossed them out the door into the sunlight. His feet were pale and pruny.
    â€œAnd you really need to clip your toenails. That’s totally disgusting.”
    He leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes, and the two sat like that for another hour before either of them spoke again.
    â€œJess?” he finally said, looking over. “Do you ever feel like you’re losing your mind?”
    â€¡ ‡ ‡

Chapter 7
    Kelly exited from the eastern entrance of the main school building and surveyed the exodus of tech-track students below him. He stood in the narrow band of shade against the wall, and it was only when he was certain Jessie wasn’t among them that he stepped out.
    A trio of younger boys — freshmen, probably, or maybe sophomores — cut him off on the stairs in their rush to leave the building. They shoved a girl out of the way, and she shouted indignantly at their backs, but they were laughing and jabbering on about something that had happened over the weekend and took no notice. Kelly waited for them to pass, then made his own way toward the street.
    The tablet in his backpack was full of his college-track homework assignments. The straps cut into the sore muscle under his arms. The wound on his side had been especially deep and it still harbored a bit of an infection. The antibiotic pills in his pocket rattled quietly as he walked.
    It was only the third week of classes and he was already way behind in his schoolwork. Between helping out with Kyle’s slow recovery from surgery and babysitting Reggie with the gear, he’d barely had any time for himself, much less for Jessie. In fact, they’d only spent one full night together at her place since they got married.
    Their place. It’s your home now.
    Except it didn’t feel like home at all to him.
    He felt his Link vibrating in his pocket and he drew it out. Seeing who it was only heightened his unease.
    â€œYes?” he said, perhaps a bit more sharply than he’d intended.
    â€œJust checking in. Is everything all right, honey?”
    Kelly nodded. “Yes. I’m on my way home now.”
    â€œGood.”
    He swallowed, and his throat made a clicking sound. “I’m not sure I can keep doing this.”
    His heart thudded in his chest as he waited for her to respond. His temples throbbed from the force of it and it was making him dizzy.
    â€œWhat’s the problem?”
    He leaned in the shade against a tree, grateful for the respite from the glare of the afternoon sun. A car slowly passed him. He looked over and it suddenly sped up and turned a corner. A child was looking out the back window.
    â€œI’ve done what you said,” he spoke. “I want to be told the truth now. Everything. I think I deserve that much.”
    â€œYou already know more than you should. Knowledge is a liability right now. You need to be careful. There are people watching.”
    Kelly’s eyes darted down the street in the direction the car had gone. The sidewalks were empty of pedestrians. Several automobiles were parked along the curb, but as far as he could tell, they were empty. The windows of the houses around him were shuttered against the heat.
    â€œWhat aren’t you telling me?” he demanded. “I want to know everything you know.”
    â€œYou need to be patient. What happened on Long Island was never supposed to. Everything has changed now.”
    â€œDon’t tell me something I already know!”
    â€œLook, sweetie, we’ve been working too hard and too long to throw it all away now. You need to trust me on this.”
    â€œLike I trusted Micah? Now he’s dead— conscripted, I mean. Do you know what it’s like to watch someone