Chapter 25 - A Joy Ride

A few days passed, Vicky found a new place to stay, with the help of the captain. Vicky moved her pod into her new house, which looked pristine, and fresh. It was morning, Vicky was eating breakfast, when she received a phone call from Mia.

"Hello," Vicky said answering her phone.

"You won't believe who called me today," Mia said.

"Who?" Vicky asked.

"Your grandma. She called me," Mia said, talking slowly.

"How did she get your number?" Vicky asked.

"Uh… I must have given it to her," Mia replied, in a barely audible voice.

"Why would you give her your phone number? I haven't even given her mine," Vicky said, almost about to explode.

"Calm down. You don't need to get angry. Uh… How do I say this? I gave her your number," Mia said.

"You did what?" Vicky asked, and continued, "Why would you do that?"

"It just came out of my mouth. It was an accident," Mia said.

The doorbell to Vicky's house rang. Vicky walked to the door, and looked through the hole in the door.

"Mia, I'm going to have to call you later. There's someone at the door," Vicky said, and hung up the phone.

Vicky opened the door, and the captain stood outside.

"Hey!" the captain said.

"What are you doing here?" Vicky asked.

"They're updating the game, and adding some new levels or something. Can I come in?" the captain asked looking at Vicky.

"Please, come in," Vicky said, moving away from the entrance. Once the captain entered the house, Vicky shut the door.

"Did I disturb you?" the captain asked.

"No. I just finished having breakfast," Vicky said, carrying the plates to the sink.

"How are you getting used to the new house?" the captain asked. He looked at the few things that Vicky had brought into the house.

"It's good. I can't express how much it means to me, that you're allowing me to stay here," Vicky said.

"I think you just did," the captain replied. He looked at the boxes lying around, and asked "Haven't finished unpacking yet?"

"I am not sure if I want to unpack those," Vicky said. She sat on an empty chair at the dinner table, requesting the captain to sit too.

"Claire's trying to cut us out of the main circle," the captain said.

"How can she do that? You guys are the main circle," Vicky said.

"Not anymore. Now the main circle is just Claire, Caiden and their father," the captain said.

"For some reason, I just want to see Claire fail. I know it means that Manic wins, and endangers the whole world, with whatever plan he has going on," Vicky said.

"I think Manic wants to trap people in the game. Why else would he take the code-box to the HUD jammer?" the captain said.

"Trap everyone in the game, and then what?" Vicky asked.

"I don't know what he's planning, but I'm sure that it's nothing good," the captain said.

"What's the new update about?" Vicky asked.

"I don't know. Claire said they were adding new levels," the captain replied.

"New levels? That might be interesting," Vicky said. Vicky's phone rang, the caller was not from a saved number. Vicky looked at her phone, not knowing whether to answer the call, or not.

"Unknown number?" the captain asked.

"Yes," Vicky replied.

"I'd say don't answer. Unknown numbers are usually trouble, but sometimes it can be a friend in need too," the captain said.

"I think I know who this is. Maybe I should just ask Mia to recheck the number," Vicky said silencing her phone.

"I'm guessing that's trouble?" the captain said.

"All unknown numbers are trouble. You get a panic attack, not knowing who's on the other side of the line," Vicky said.

"I didn't know you hated phone calls," the captain said.

"I don't hate all phone calls, just the ones that have unknown numbers involved," Vicky replied.

The captain's phone rang. He looked at Vicky and answered it.

"Hello," the captain said answering his phone, and continued, "Really? So soon. I'll call the team." He then proceeded to get up from his chair, and hung up the phone.

"Mission?" Vicky asked. She too got up from her chair.

"Yes. You coming to the office or you staying?" the captain asked turning to Vicky.

"I am staying here," Vicky said. The captain smiled, and walked out of the door.

Vicky locked the door after the captain. She proceeded to check all the other doors that could allow an intruder into her house. After making sure that all the doors were safely locked, Vicky walked upstairs, to her pod, which was now in her bed room. The room was lit up by the sunlight entering the room, through the light, purple curtains. The room consisted of Vicky's bed, a closet, a table, with a laptop on it, and a lava lamp on the bed stand. The beauty of the room made Vicky smile, something she hadn't done for a long time.

Vicky walked into the pod, and closed her eyes.

Vicky woke up in the game. She thought she was the only one who had logged into the game, from the team. To her surprise, she found Mia and Rachel sitting on barrels, outside the barracks.

"Hey! Come here. I heard they updated the game," Mia said as she called Vicky towards them.

"I wonder what's it about," Vicky said.

"We saw a few posters. It had a zombie apocalypse world," Rachel said.

"Really?" Vicky asked. The breeze was blowing a little hard, causing the trio to speak a little louder than usual.

"Yeah. They added a few worlds. So those beams of light that go to the sky at the plaza, they take us to new worlds. They opened a new level at the plaza," Mia said.

"That's so cool. I wish Leo was here," Vicky said. As the three of them kept talking, Daemon walked towards the helipad, with an escort of soldiers. He didn't have any hand cuffs on him, and had his weapons were strapped to his back. The three of them looked at him. He walked past them, ignoring them completely. Vicky sat beside Mia.

"I can't believe their letting him go like that," Mia whispered for only the three of them to hear.

"Well, he is the owner's son, so technically he can do nothing wrong," Vicky whispered back.

"We should have ended him when we had the chance," Rachel whispered. Vicky and Mia both looked at her. "What? I'm being serious," Rachel replied.

"Girls. There you are," Claire said, walking towards the trio, and continued, "How would you girls like going out for a zombie hunt?" She was dressed in a different attire. She was wearing a brown jumpsuit, with two pistols on her hip, and brown boots.

"Since when did you start wanting to go out on missions with us?" Mia asked.

"You must have mistaken me for my twin sister Claire. My name is Clara," Clara said introducing herself.

"Clara. What are you doing?" Claire said running towards the group.

"I was talking to my new friends," Clara said.

"They're not friends. They are work colleagues," Claire replied.

"Why don't you worry about Manic, while I take my new friends out for a zombie hunt?" Clara said, sitting next to Rachel.

"Fine. But you have to come back after one round," Claire replied.

"Ok," Clara said. She got up from her place, and walked Vicky, Mia and Rachel to the garage. Claire stood back, looking at them.

"Bikes or cars?" Rachel asked.

"Bikes. We might get into some trouble with the cops on our way there," Clara said winking. They all got on bikes, and followed Clara out of the base.

"You're way more fun than Claire," Rachel said.

"That's what happens when you're sixty seconds younger than the grumpy one," Clara replied. She pulled a wheelie on the bike, immediately, attracting a police vehicle that was on patrol.

"Really?" Vicky mumbled to herself.

"Do you guys want to get more cops?" Clara asked.

"The more the merrier," Mia replied.

"There's a police station round the corner. If we start shooting at the station, they'll have to follow us," Clara said.

"Let's do it," Rachel screamed. Mia and Rachel took their guns out, Vicky just rode beside them, while they shot at the police station, which resulted in more police vehicles chasing them.

"What do you want to do now?" Clara asked.

"Get rid of them," Mia shouted from her bike.

"I think we should use comms from now," Clara said speaking through her earpiece.

"We can do that," Rachel replied, through her earpiece.

Vicky slowed down, to align herself with one of the police cars.

"What's that snowflake, or whatever her name is, doing?" Clara asked.

"Oh trust me you'll want to see this," Rachel replied.

Vicky pulled out her sword, and leaned down, towards the side of the police car. She stretched her hand, allowing the sword to puncture the tyre of the police car. The driver lost control of the vehicle, barrel rolling, and almost crashing into Vicky, who held the breaks on the bike resulting in a front-wheelie. Once the car passed, she once again rode up to the group.

"Wow! That was so cool," Clara exclaimed.

"Well there's a lot more cops on our tail, if you want to practise," Vicky said.

"Vicky," Mia said.

"I'm serious, go try it. Just be careful that they don't crash into you," Vicky said.

Clara looked at Vicky, and grabbed her pistol, and bent back on her bike, shooting a tyre on all the police cars following them, resulting in a pileup of five police cars. They had successfully evaded the police, and pulled up at the parking lot of the plaza.