Virtually Existent

Chapter 03 - A Sudden Parting

Eli pushed a crate up in front of the door to bring the number of entries someone could butt in unexpectedly from by one before turning to the teenage girl and asking again, “What are you doing in the melee?” She looked at him this time, having calmed down a bit “My stupid friends put my name in the draw!”

Eli grinned, barely containing a laugh, “And what name would that be?” she let out a low groan “Jennifer. I’ll kill those idiots when I get out of here.” Eli helped her stand up “Um... I’ve heard that you, well you feel everything in here...” Eli’s friendly smile fell “Yeah, that’s right. It’s supposed to make it more real for the viewers.” With those words, Jennifer buried her head in her hands “I don’t want to know how dying feels,” she said softly. Eli pulled her hands down and hugged her “Hey, calm down. It’s not real, remember?” Over Eli’s shoulder she muttered “This feels real too...”

“Wait, you’re Eli,” she realised, stepping away from him “You’d be used to killing people now, wouldn’t you?” He feigned hurt “That’s a little harsh.” Jennifer stepped back from him “It would take a monster like you to actually volunteer for this,” she told him. “Gee, thanks.”

Taking a quick look at the remaining pickups, Eli grabbed a handful before returning to Jennifer’s side and offering them to her “Take these. Ammo and a brownie.” She cocked her head to the side quizzically at the mention of the brownie “Look, don’t question the pickups,” Eli told her jokingly, placing them into her hands before he walked off. “Woah, where are you going!?” Eli raised his hand as he left “I’ve got monster things to do, see you around.” He wasn't going to kill her, someone else without a conscience could.

Having left Jennifer, Eli was once again alone, not having to rely on anyone but himself. He briskly crossed the street and hopped up onto a ladder so he could climb to the roof of a pristine white warehouse filled with literally nothing, if his view through the windows was anything to go by. When he reached the final rung he glanced back at Jennifer’s building for a moment “We’re better off alone,” was the only excuse he could make for not allying himself with her.

Staying low, Eli pulled the disc from it's holding area on his front while crossing the roof. He neatly crushed it between two fingers, snatching the newly materialised notebook out of the air before he knelt down to use the roof as a writing surface and slipped the pen out of it’s rings.

He began drawing out a detailed map, remembering the view from atop his starting skyscraper. He’d been able to map out just about everything visible in the city fairly well, not counting the areas hidden behind other skyscrapers. Once done, Eli began drawing out numbers on the buildings to rate the odds something would be worthwhile getting within, and rating them for chances of others thinking the same with letters. The page was a mess by the time he had finished.

"Grand Melee, prominent, terminal." Eli rolled the words around in his mouth like a half finished jawbreaker. "Important? Protruding?" Eli raised his head up when he said that, looking at the skyscraper towering above all others in the distance "That certainly counts... Now what does terminal mean?"

Eli drew a line from his current position to the skyscraper, following it as the line ran near each vaguely valuable building and determining that this route had enough chances to find equipment as any other. Just before he was heading off to investigate the skyscraper he stopped and looked back towards Jennifer. With a sigh, he folded the newly made map into a plane before sending it off at her building with the hope that it could keep her alive.