Outside the Box - Chapter 20

20 

Surprisingly enough, Leah is alive and she’s relatively easy to find. 

I explain my plan to Ezra and Miguel, which both of them accept with little question. I know Ezra is uncomfortable with the topic and misses his sister, but I need him to be strong right now. 

Apparently, my genetic modifications don’t work in this simulation, because I’m not running much faster than Miguel. 

We search the sidewalks after I provide a brief description of Leah. Miguel promises to look for her, as long as he can call dibs if he deems her hot. I ignore this, of course, still focused on actually surviving. 

My first thought is to search the edge of the city where the gangs were, but soon I realize most of the outer parts are enveloped in flames and decide against it. 

We actually find her, still wearing all black, dragging her gang members out of the smoke. A look of surprise crosses her face when she sees me and she casually strolls over. “I thought you died.” 

“I get that a lot,” I shrug. 

“I’m glad you’re alive,” Leah comments, looking at Ezra and Miguel strangely. 

“Quite frankly, so am I,” I respond with a smile. “Hey could you do me a…” 

“No,” Leah says, shaking her head with a sigh. “I’m busy right now, if you couldn’t tell. I’ve decided to leave the gang, they’re a bit too … violent for me. But I can’t just let them die so I drugged them and brought them here. They won’t be able to find me - or my body, should I die.” 

“You don’t seem to have much hope for the future,” Miguel says, raising an eyebrow. I roll my eyes. What happened to him and Gretchen? Oh, wait, I forgot. She died. Literally just like everyone else is going to. 

“Jake, who are your … friends?” Leah asks, an expression similar to Miguel’s. 

“This is Miguel, and this is Ezra,” I say. “But look, we need you too…” 

“I already said, no,” Leah sighs. “Look, I know we’re all gonna die. But at least let me die in peace.” 

“We’re not going to die!” I say loudly, catching Leah’s attention. “Just let me explain.” 

And I do. I tell Leah everything has happened to me since I left the city. She keeps quiet for the most part, glancing at Ezra and Miguel to verify my claims. But not once does she question the truth of my story nor does she leave, bored or annoyed. I take it as a good sign. And when I finish she sighs, placing her hands on her hips. 

“So what was the favor you needed again?” she asks, inhaling slowly. “I’m trusting you, Jake, so this better work.” 

“You know the inner workings of the city better than I do, with your gang work and all that,” I say. “Do you know how we could project a video onto every screen, every possible place we can? We need to address all the people at once and tell them to die so we can escape.” 

“It sounds a bit harsh when you put it that way,” Ezra whispers. “I already don’t want to die, and I trust you. These people might think you’re insane.” 

“Some will listen and the rest will follow,” I explain. “And if they don’t trust me, some of them might trust Leah.” 

“You’re forgetting my hobbies,” Leah points out. 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Miguel sighs. “The entire city is going to be up in flames if we don’t move now. I don’t care what you do in your past times, I don’t want to die for real.” 

“Then let’s go,” Leah straightens. “I know just the place.” 

Whatever Leah was thinking, I have no clue whatsoever. She leads us into the center of town, which is where I was expecting. But then she leads us into a still standing apartment building. 

We walk up several flights of steps after Miguel nearly falls down an empty elevator shaft, the bottom beginning to flood. 

We climb higher and higher until Leah gets to a dead end. She stops, pressing her hands against the silver wall until she finds a panel and pries it open with her fingernails. Then she holds her hand on what appears to be a scanner and the wall at the end of the hallway slides open to reveal a studio. 

I remember watching shows as kids when sometimes there would be blips in the signal and the feed would be interrupted by commercials advertising the nearest gang memberships. My parents always turned it off as soon as the commercials appeared, but I still saw pieces of them. This must be where they were filmed and broadcasted. 

Leah makes her way over to one of the cameras, experimenting with the many dials and buttons. She fiddles with it for a minute before giving us a thumbs-up. “We’re ready.” 

“Already?” I ask in amazement. 

“You said you wanted quick. So get in front of the couch and do your thing, cuz,” she smiles a bit as she says the last word. She didn’t really react when I told her we were cousins, I think part of her remembered it from when we were kids. 

“You used to say that a lot,” I mumble, taking a seat on the actual couch. 

Suddenly, I become self conscious of everything I’m doing. My hair is a mess and my clothes are torn, they appear to be the ones from Mental. My face is smudged with dirt, it looks so different in the camera then it did before. I feel stronger, too, although maybe not physically. 

“Cameras are rolling in three, two, one,” Leah counts, beckoning Miguel and Ezra to stand with her behind camera. 

What am I supposed to say? I wonder to myself, realizing I probably should’ve thought more about this plan. And who knows if the cameras are even working elsewhere? What if this is all for nothing? 

“Uh, hi?” I begin before immediately chastising myself. Hi? “My name is Jacob Tristan, and some of you may know me from before I… well … before I died. This might sound crazy, but this city is just a simulation, it’s not real. We’re all prisoners here, and the only way to escape is to die. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I jumped so long ago. I thought maybe I could escape my fate, my Date. And I did escape, and I found the truth. 

“And the truth is that this city is falling apart. There’s even a chance you can’t see me right now. The city wasn’t meant to last this long, we were meant to be free. There are people outside the simulation that want us to stay here, they want us to die. There’s a lot going on in the outside world right now, and the people are keeping us prisoner here in case they die. We need to escape and fight back. 

“I don’t expect you to trust me. I don’t expect you to literally kill yourself for me and for what I’m saying. But I can tell you truthfully that there’s so much waiting for you out there, so much that’s not just this city. There’s a whole world out there, waiting for you. 

“The only thing holding you back is your own fear. So let’s meet at the park square in ten minutes. Try to survive until then, and we’ll all die together. We’ll be strong and we’ll escape this prison. Anyone who wants to come, join us. I’m just here to tell you how much you’re missing.” I finish with a sigh of relief and Leah turns the cameras off. 

“That was good, Jake. I don’t how many will come, but we might have supporters,” Leah smiles at me, proudly. 

“We can do this,” Ezra smiles too. Miguel smiles as well, and I feel my own mouth rise. We are going to leave, we’re going to save all these people and we’re going to save Aspen. We’re going to leave. 

I can hear my heart pounding in my chest as Leah leads us out of the studio and down the stairs. It doesn’t take long to reach the ground, the sounds of chaos reaching us and overwhelming me. 

But then I hear it. In the distance, the faint sound of … singing? 

The people come around the corner, and I recognize a lot of them. My virtual teachers. The doctors who saved me. The manufacturers and the psychologists from the ward. Everyone, or what seems like everyone, all marching down the street in sync almost. 

A mob of people, all angry, but all united. 

They see me, and I can feel the hpe radiating off of them. Even Ezra seems to grow a little less tense as we join the mob and march towards the park. 

Leah grabs my arm, holding it tight. There are so many people, so many of them willing to fight against the Box for what is right. They want their freedom. They want to leave their prison of how many years. 

The mob slows as we reach the dying grass of the park. 

We are one as we congregate in the center. We are one as the people sing their songs and beat whatever objects they can find against the ground. 

We are one. 

The world may be collapsing around us. There might be people who want us stuck here. Heck, we’re willing to die for this purpose. But we’re together. 

These are the people I grew up with. The people that I’ve always known. 

At first, I’m unsure of how all of us are going to die at once, but the Box is already failing. The world around us is crumbling under our feet, turning to dust. 

The park is the last square of land left in a sea of ungiving darkness. We can all die, we can all die together. I grab Leah’s hand, and then Miguel’s. Miguel grabs Ezra’s, and Ezra grabs the mechanics. Everyone joins hands, making a long chain. 

And just as the world begins to crumble we leap into the void below. 

The darkness comes crashing down on us as our lungs seem to fail and our hearts almost stop. I don’t let go, and neither do the others. We plummet to certain death together. 

We are one. 

This time, the paralyzing pain strikes me full force as my eyes open again. Then I realize why; the force was real. I’ve been punched by someone. 

I roll off the table, clutching my head as I stagger to my feet. Someone grabs me around the neck and begins to squeeze, I choke, my vision still failing as I try to breathe. Then the pressure disappears and I spring to my feet. 

Miguel lands a punch on a security guard in the corner. Blood is spouting from the poor guy’s nose, but we can’t worry about that. “It worked!” I smile, voice raspy. 

Miguel hands me a bottle of water. “I nicked it from the guard. Look, we need to find those people from the city and we need to find Aspen. Ezra is in the room next to us, I saw him through the window.” 

“Good, let’s go get him,” I say without questioning anything. I don’t need to ask anymore, we just need to go. 

Ezra is actually still unconscious when we go in, but Miguel slaps him and he wakes with a gasp. There are no guards in his room, apparently they were called over to ours and he was left alone. Ezra stumbles to his feet, still half asleep as we drag him out of bed. 

“We need Aspen,” Ezra mumbles, running into the doorframe. “I won’t leave without her.” 

“Mental should be coming eventually,” I begin, but then I notice the water on the floor. Already, an inch of the cold wetness has begun to appear, which means more is on the way. The Box isn’t as secure as Dr. Marks thought. 

We slosh through the water, heading in no general direction but hoping maybe Aspen will run into us. I have no idea what we’ll do once we find her. 

Sure, the city folk can overthrow the people who work in the Box but it doesn’t change the fact that the whole world is flooding. “We need the boats too,” I add and Miguel nods, peeking around the corner. “All clear,” he whispers and Ezra and I bolt around the corner. 

We’ve checked every door we’ve passed to see if maybe Aspen is inside. The first door is a closet, the second an entrance to a lab. The facility seems empty - probably because of the water. That’s fortunate for us, especially when we come to the third door on the right in this hallway. 

Miguel swings it open, gun pilfered from a storage room pointed up at anything that moves. I clutch my own gun tightly, and Ezra holds a tiny dagger that won’t do him much good in the case of an attack. 

I drop to my knees, ignoring the chill of the water. The room is small, a tiny bed placed against a wall. The blanket is ripped and dusty, the whole room reeks of … old. An abandoned stuffed bear is sitting on a shelf above the bed. A dresser is across from the bed, the wood coated with dust as well, and a shirt is hanging out of it. 

“You recognize this dump?” Miguel sneers, poking the bear with his gun. 

“I used to live here,” I say, voice catching in my throat. Miguel frowns and stops poking the bear. “This was my room before they moved me to the city.” 

“It’s small,” Ezra notes. “Y’know, I remember when I first met Jake and I thought he was just another dead body. I’m glad that he’s not dead.” 

“Me too, bud, me too,” I smile, getting to my feet. 

“As much as I would love to take a good old trip down memory lane, now is not the time,” Miguel notes. “If Jake wants to sleep in his closet he’ll have to do it some other time.” 

Miguel strides out of the room, Ezra and I in tow. In the process, Miguel crashes into Leah and they both laugh. “Sorry, I was looking for you guys,” Leah says quickly. “As soon as I broke out of the simulation, I remembered everything. The memory serum dose they gave me wasn’t nearly enough. I can help you find Aspen - I think I know where she might be.” 

“Great,” I smile again. “Let’s go.” 

“Actually, do you by any chance happen to know where some boats might be?” Miguel asks quickly. 

“I don’t want a relationship right now, thanks though,” Leah rolls her eyes as she begins through the winding corridors. 

“For real,” I add. Leah stops in her tracks. “The world is flooding, we need the boats and Mental said that there would be boats here we could use. So where do you think they would be?” 

Leah thinks for a moment as we keep moving again. “Probably up top. I know it sounds weird, but the Box generally keeps things above the ground in case the facility is broken in to. That way, nothing of importance is taken.”

We all nod, keeping quiet as Leah takes the lead. It doesn’t take long for her to reach what she calls the offices. “The Box does most of their tech work here, it would be best for Aspen to work from the computers here.” She throws open the door, and Miguel and I charge in with guns raised. 

The room is empty with the exception of Aspen and Dr. Barron. Ezra runs to Aspen, giving her a big hug. I drop my guard but Miguel keeps his gun level with Dr. Barron’s head. 

“We’re taking the girl and leaving,” Miguel says, voice low. “Don’t retaliate or I shoot.” 

“No, no, Miguel,” Aspen holds out her hands frantically. “It’s okay. She’s on our side, we were actually just shutting down the city so no one can start it back up.” 

“I don’t understand,” I interject. “She works for the Box. We can’t trust her.” 

“Jake, she…” Aspen begins, but Dr. Barron shushes her. 

“I understand that you and Leah don’t remember me,” Dr. Barron smiles sadly. “But I used to try and help you. I was the one who made sure Leah’s memory enhancement got overlooked. I was the one who spiked the amnesia serums so they would wear off.” 

“But why?” Leah asks. “Why would some random woman help us?” 

Dr. Barron ignores her. “Jake, do you remember before I sent you into the maze when I said that more people cared about you than you knew? I was talking about myself - I’m your …” 

“Your my mom?” I breathe. 

“No, your aunt. Your mother’s sister. Leah’s mom,” Dr. Barron explains. “You used to call me Aunt Sam.” 

“I remember!” Leah gasps. “I remember everything!” 

I wait for my own memories to return but they remain missing. “Why won’t mine come back?” I ask out loud. 

“Leah has a memory modification as part of her genetic enhancements. She can remember everything,” Dr. Barron explains. “But we really must get going. I suspect the guards will realize something is wrong up here sooner than later and they’ll come for us.” 

“She’s right,” Aspen says quickly. “We need to go.” 

Just on time, the guards appear in hallways, shouting loudly. “They’re in here! And the traitor! The computer rooms!” 

“Run!” Dr. Barron cries. At first I’m not sure how she’ll handle the guards on her own, but she pulls a gun from under the desk and fires in a swift motion, impeccable aim. All of the guards fall to the ground, writhing in pain as electricity creeps up their bodies. There isn’t water here - at least not yet. 

Leah leads us through the halls, and although her and Aspen have never met formally they both seem to get along just fine. 

Dr. Barron returns not far behind us, panting. “We’ve got more on our tail. We need to split up.” I nod, still fine although the others are slightly out of breath. I grab the two people closest to me - Miguel and Ezra - and we make a left turn while the girls go right. 

“Get to the roof!” Dr. Barron cries. “Dr. Sybil told me about your plan, and the boats are up there. The citizens should be heading up there too, Aspen helped me send a message to them when they first died.” 

Then they’re gone and Miguel, Ezra, and I are all alone. “I think it’s this way,” Ezra whispers, pointing to the right at our next fork. “I remember seeing some maps during our last escape.” I nod, following him. Water is beginning to fill the corridors, about an inch deep now. I can hear several guards running not far behind us. 

“How far?” Miguel pants. 

“A while yet,” Ezra replies in a similar manner. “About three floors or so.” 

Miguel sighs as we keep running. I occasionally lose my footing on the slippery floor, my feet soaked through my shoes. 

The guards must be getting even closer now. I can hear them as if they are right next to us - but that might just be my enhanced hearing. “Miguel, we can’t run forever,” I stop in my tracks. “They’re getting closer. We need to fight.” 

Miguel nods as though he’s been expecting this. “Ezra, go around the corner and wait a few minutes. If we don’t come, run to the roof without us.” Ezra nods and ducks away just as the guards find us. I suppose they weren’t expecting us to be so willing for death, and their moment of shock gives Miguel and I ample time to begin pegging them off. 

The guns we grabbed shoot darts rather than bullets, but they do the job nevertheless. Besides, if the building is really flooding I guess we don’t have long anyway. 

Within minutes, all of the guards are unconscious. Or so we think. 

Miguel and I are just about to go find Ezra when we whip around to see him and a guard we must’ve missed. 

The guard is soaked, and so is Ezra. The young boy has a gun pressed against his temple, and I can see his hands shaking as the guard presses him forward. “You are to submit yourselves to the Box or I will put a hole in this boy’s head.”