Free The Participants by Brian Blose Page B

purge the poison. Hess tried to stand, but his legs couldn't
support him. He eyed the bell on the table by Elza's elbow. “Call
servants,” he said.
    Elza rang the bell and they waited.
    When the door opened, a servant and two
guards entered. “Help us to bed,” Elza said. The servant ignored
her and turned to face Hess. “Was your mead poisoned?”
    An inside job. Great. This will start all
sorts of zombie rumors.
    The servant's eyes followed every twitch of
his face in a familiar manner. “Observer,” he said. The servant, a
plain young woman, nodded. “It's Ingrid, Hess. And your sick game
of Empires ends now. We've debated among ourselves and decided that
your disobedience has to be punished.”
    His tongue became too numb
for speech. Hess sought Elza with his eyes as the other Observers
placed him on the bed and wrapped him in linens. A frustrated anger
boiled within him. I will make them regret
this.

PART III
     

Chapter 15 – Zack / Iteration 144
    His plan was to rent a room, clean himself up,
buy clean clothes, sleep for a few hours, and make his way into
Pittsburgh to catch a bus early in the morning. What happened was
Zack lay on his bed and fell asleep before he dredged up the
motivation to move.
    He woke midmorning to the sound of talking
in the room next to his. Zack checked the clock, saw it was after
nine, and rolled out of the bed. In the bathroom mirror, he
appeared normal enough save for his clothing, which was sliced and
faded from repeatedly soaking in his blood. While the blood may
have vanished from his shirt and pants, the damage it had caused
remained.
    Studying his appearance,
Zack decided a change of clothes would be worth the delay. Anything
that made him harder to spot could potentially save him. Which was
why he needed to abandon the truck as soon as possible. Why didn’t I learn anything about the closest
city that didn’t come from a television? I really am a terrible
Observer.
    Zack tore the wrapper from
the tiny hotel soap and turned on the water. He thoroughly washed
his face and hands. While he was toweling dry, Zack glanced at the
wedding band perched on his ring finger. He imagined Lacey at home,
clutching her phone, unsure if he lived or not. She deserves to know. Well, maybe not know the truth, but to
have some sort of closure. If I tell her I know the baby isn’t
mine, then she can move on with her life.
    The hotel room phone felt
heavy in his hands as he dialed Lacey’s number. He took a breath
and prepared himself for the accusation that would be in her voice.
The phone rang twice and picked up. “Hello?” The voice was Erik’s.
“Is that you, Zack Vernon? Hess? ”
    What is she doing with
Lacey’s phone? Shit, this is so wrong. “What do you want?” he said.
    “Hiya Hess! Seems like just yesterday you
were on the farm. So anyway, I was thinking you could stop over for
another visit. Lacey’s here right now and we were just talking
about how much happier she would be if you joined us.”
    Zack had to clear his throat to speak. “Why
take her? She doesn’t know anything.”
    “Same reason I abduct anyone. Cause I wanna
play. Now I want two things from you in exchange for the little
darling’s life, Hess. First, come back to the farm. Second, tell me
which one of these shitheads helped you escape.”
    He squeezed his eyes
shut. Am I supposed to just abandon her?
There has to be another way. The solution
struck him. “I’ll call back with my decision in an
hour.”
    “I don’t think so,” Erik said. “You call the
authorities and things go very, very bad. Things look squeaky clean
at the farm right now. Ingrid’s got the legal right to be here.
Cops won’t find shit if they show. This ain’t my first rodeo.”
    “I’m not coming back to the farm,” Zack
said.
    “That’s a shame. Well, you called to talk to
Lacey. Here she is.”
    “Zack?” Lacey’s voice climbed octaves as she
spoke. “Why are they doing this? I’m afraid for the baby. Oh,