Deliverance – Part Three by Elliot Pearson

They reached the city center. It was drenched in red, purple, and green neon. Impossibly tall black glass and steel high rises formed a circle around them. 

It started to rain. The droplets felt real on Kash’s skin.

A lightning bolt struck the street a few feet ahead. It left something behind. An object. Kash recognized it from the original Deliverance games—a Hydro Shotgun. Neon demon killer. There was a bandolier with shells beside the gun and Kash strapped it around her waist.

A blood-curdling scream rang out then and reverberated through the streets, followed by another, and another.

Kash loaded the gun.

“They’re coming,” she said.

“Who’s coming?”

“Neon demons.”

“Neon what? This is too much.”

A grotesque blue-gray creature adorned with bio-mechanical tech that leaked plasma was crawling down the windows of one of the high rises.

Kash looked around. Every building was covered in demons. Her vision started to blur. Her movement was jagged. The game was lagging, unable to support the sheer number of NPCs.

The demons scuttled down the glass and started rushing towards Kash.

The lag stopped.

She fired from the hip and blasted the demons with the shotgun’s electrified water shells as endless hordes of demons came with slashing claws and bared teeth.

Demon limbs and heads were flung from their bodies. Arterial spray fired out in thick long jets, drenching Kash in guts and gunge.

“This is strange,” Romero said.

“Talk about stating the obvious,” Kash replied.

“No—it’s like I’m thinking, you’re doing.”

“You’re right…I’m acting on reflex. I’ve never fired a gun in my life. I’m barely even thinking about what I’m doing.”

The demons were growing in number, seemingly spawning from nowhere. And now flanked by dozens of possessed soldiers wielding assault rifles.

Kash realized this wasn’t a level in the game, it was just a simple testing ground.

Deliverance Reborn was but a half-playable prototype.

“There’re too many of them,” Romero said.

Kash fired into the horde one last time. “Shit. Let’s go.”

They ran into an abandoned liquor store and an NPC sprung out of nowhere. Must have spawned in. A random male citizen stuck in a T-pose. His mouth was closed but his audio track played anyway. “My God! Ace Sterling as I live and breathe! Have you come to deliver us from the evil that infects our city?”

“Um. Yeah,” Kash said.

“Here—take my Chasm Gun,” the NPC said. “Head to the roof!”

A huge gun appeared in Kash’s hands. She left the NPC where it was and rushed upstairs.

***

Kash looked down at the endless horde of neon demons and soldiers.

The demons began scaling the building, making their way up to the roof. The possessed soldiers were already inside the building, rushing up the stairs.

Kash readied the Chasm Gun and fired down at the street. A golden beam of light shot out. It caused the ground to crack and open, creating a great chasm. The demons and soldiers were pulled down by a tremendous force below and sent screaming into the depths. But there were still a few demons making their way up and the sound of heavy footsteps nearing the roof.

Kash took several steps back and waited for the demons to appear first.

They leapt up onto the roof. Kash fired the shotgun, sending them flying off the roof like ragdolls.

She turned as the soldiers kicked the door open and aimed their assault rifles at her.

She fired off a few shots, hitting several soldiers, but there were too many.

She ran to the other side of the roof to look for some way to escape.

Bullets hit her and it hurt like hell. But she managed to soak up a lot of them without faltering.

“Kash, what’s that?” Romero said.

She could see the outside of the game’s map beyond—just empty white space—and had an idea.

“Romero, this game is far from finished. Just a test and buggy as shit. I think I might be able to crash it.”

“Whatever you’re gonna do—do it fast.”

The demon horde had respawned and was climbing back up.

Kash fired the Chasm Gun directly at the soldiers. Something that resembled a black hole opened up in midair and the soldiers were instantly sucked into it, vanishing completely.

Kash took a few steps back, got low, then sprinted forwards until she reached the edge of the roof, then leapt off and cascaded down into the white space below.

Kash was blinded by white light. Then there was nothing but darkness.

She heard rushing water and Tobias panicking.

She was back in the room.

The bolts to the headset unscrewed and she tore it off.

She rose and turned. Tobias had a look of terror in his eyes. The terminal was sparking. Tobias went to raise his revolver, but Kash smashed the headset into his face, breaking his nose. He stumbled back and fired off a shot blindly. Kash rushed him, wrestled the gun free and struck him repeatedly with it until he fell and passed out.

The tank containing Romero was emptying, flooding the room. Romero was released from the tubes and cables. The respirator shot out of his mouth. He slipped down limply. The tank opened and Kash ran over. She held Romero in her arms. “Romero! Wake up!”

He rubbed his eyes. “You did it. You freed me.”

Romero embraced Kash and held her tight.

Tobias began to stir. Romero stood and looked at him. “Want me to end him?”

“You told me you were a bank robber…”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“No killing. I have a better idea.”

Romero helped Kash place Tobias in the chair. Kash put the headset on him. “I can reprogram this,” Kash said, tapping maniacally on the keyboard, trashing the game’s code.

“What’re you doing?”

“Finding a way to alter this headset. Tobias can decide his own fate.”

The headset’s bolts locked into place. Tobias wouldn’t be going anywhere.

“Perfecto,” Romero said.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. I’m going freelance.”

***

Tobias awoke. The shrieks and screams of neon demons reverberated through the streets.

He tried to pull the headset off.

No luck.

The demons approached.

Tobias screamed.

The headset wouldn’t come off.

Something snapped.