Zero Sum Game (23 page)

The nearest door was bent out of shape. Hina thrust her left hand in between the seam of the two doors; with a loud screech of metal she inserted her right hand through the door next to the door frame and ripped it off in an effortless pull. Grabbing hold of the second door, she tore it out in the same effortless manner. Passengers huddled near the exit, picking themselves up from the floor, attending to the injured and the scared.

"It's safe now," Hina said. "I'll be back."

She jogged towards the remaining car; behind her people talked as they freed themselves from the wreckage. She hoped they would have presence of mind to help the other passengers in the fourth and third cars as well. The first car was the worst, upside down on its roof, the sides pitted with gouges and scrapes. Some of the windows were broken, and already a few survivors were straggling out, crawling on their hands and knees through the small openings. There was nothing Hina could do for the train so she focused on getting the passengers to safety. She paused when her super hearing picked up the wails of police and rescue sirens on their way to the scene. She had to hurry, she couldn't be caught and investigated.

Rushing to the nearest set of doors, Hina punched out the glass, grabbed a window frame in each hand, and jerked the two doors out of their places. The metal shrieked in brief protest, but they were no match for the teen girl's incredible strength. She tossed the doors aside, then rushed to the next set. She repeated the move until all the doors had been ripped asunder and people now had exits to get themselves to safety.

Hina watched the survivors gather in groups, leaning on each other, crying, hugging, whispering, marveling at their good fortune. A young man in a video game t-shirt and too-short pants approached her. He coughed, placing his hands on his knees. When the coughing fit stopped, he looked around, taking in the wreckage and the survivors.

"How…how did you get us out?" He paused and caught his breath. "I thought we were dead."

The nearby wail of a siren saved Hina from answering. Voice spoke up. "Hina, we need to go, now."

She had never been more relieved for a command from Voice. Before she left, she said to the young man, "You're welcome." Then she ran down the train tracks, out of sight in seconds.

— — —

She wasn't sure what saved her life. Perhaps it had been the almost subtle tingling in her body, Voice trying to warn her, coupled with adrenaline. Maybe she had caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and it had been the battle suit's military software reacting and taking over. Whatever it was, she saw the deadly disc flying towards her, as well as the arm swinging it, and was grateful she had missed both.

Time seemed to slow around her. Her assailant struck when she arrived at the tunnel's exit. She bent herself backwards and fell to her knees; her momentum carried her forward, her invulnerable skin unaffected by the rough rocks sliding underneath her, as her ponytail trailed across the ground. A blue-clad arm and a circular shape passed overhead and out of sight.

She scrambled to her feet and backed away, her hands clasped in front of her chest.

Fujiya stood at the tunnel exit. He held a disc that was embedded in the rock wall. The weapon was about seventy-five centimeters in diameter. It had four holes in the middle for gripping, and the middle bulged then tapered to an edge finer than a razor's. The effect was that of an overfilled matte gray pancake. He pulled it free from the stone wall.

She eyed the device. "What does he have, Voice?"

"A self-micro-propelled hand disc. Very short range, but able to cut through almost any substance known. The Noigel prefer metal to energy-based weapons."

Hina eyed the deep cut marring the wall of the tunnel. "Great. He'd rather chop me up than disintegrate me."

"In essence."

Hina resisted the urge to flee, but continued to back away. The large alien smiled at her. He stepped forward, and Hina took a corresponding step back. He twirled the disc on one finger, like a child playing with his favorite toy. He stopped, reinserted all four fingers, pointed the disc at her edge first, and pressed a button. The device issued a tiny electronic click. He smiled wider.

"The onboard computer has locked onto you. Micro thrusters will control it for a short distance, allowing it to track your movements," Voice said. "I recommend you run."

"No argument," she said. She sprinted to the edge of the tracks and jumped. She sailed for fifty meters; for a brief moment she could see for kilometers around her. The rural community below her had old-style houses, many with small fields for growing crops. Straight roads created a grid pattern in the landscape, and farm equipment dotted the scenery.

Hina plummeted into a rice field. The crop had already been harvested, but the ground was muddy and thick. She made her way to the narrow one-lane road that separated this farm from its neighbor. Clumps of mud fell off her and streaks of water puddled onto the road as she stepped onto the hard surface. Voice was already pushing the dirt off her; by the time she turned around to search for Fujiya, she was dry and clean.

He leapt from the train tracks; unlike her, he would avoid landing in the field. She broke into a run. Behind her a heavy thud hit the pavement.

She ran down the straight road and managed to stay ahead of Fujiya. At an intersection she didn't slow down; with a mighty leap she sailed twenty meters over another field. Her legs and arms didn't flail like when she had jumped off the balcony, Voice superbly directed her movements. She landed, stumbled a little bit but remained on her feet, and continued running.

"Turn and duck," Voice instructed.

She didn't question him. Battle tactics were his forte, not hers, and she would need to trust him to get out of this fight alive. Last time, she had been lucky. Today, Fujiya was prepared. She slid into the driveway of a farmhouse, like a baseball player coming into home base, and went underneath a tractor.

Fujiya's disc rocketed towards her location. It altered its trajectory, ricocheted off a telephone pole, carving out a chunk of wood, and raced back to Fujiya. He held his right hand out, fingers spread, and the disc flipped itself into a vertical position and landed in his grip, the force pushing his arm back. She must have been out of the disc's range. Fujiya ran towards her.

Hina pushed herself up and hit her head on the bottom of the tractor, denting the axle. With a bit of maneuvering and leverage, she stood up and held the multi-ton tractor over her head. She tossed it at him, her throw awkward and clumsy. The tractor flipped and spun like an out of control javelin. Fujiya twisted at the waist, bearing the brunt of the impact against his side. He dropped the disc, picked up the tractor, and threw it back at her. Hina yelled and ducked as it passed overhead.

The tractor smashed through the house behind her and landed with an almost comical plop in the field beyond. Within the destroyed interior, an old couple sitting on the floor watching TV gripped each other in fear.

Hina heard a loud crack: a support beam for the ceiling was breaking apart.

"Hina, you must face Fujiya. Leave them," Voice said.

She ran inside. "Get down!"

The two adults threw themselves at the floor, and she covered them with her body. The beam came apart and landed on her broad back. The impact didn't affect her at all. She heard the people underneath her panting in fear. They were scared but safe.

She shrugged off the beam. It smashed an end table to bits, pinning it to the floor. "Run away," she told the couple. They got to their feet, unsteady and holding onto one another. They stepped towards the front hole, then stopped. Fujiya strode down their driveway, the disc in his hand. They turned their frightened faces to Hina, and she gestured for them to take the back way out of the house.

As soon as he was in reach, Fujiya swung at her. Hina stepped backwards and stumbled over the broken TV. She fell to her back as his swing went by overhead. He yelled in frustration; before she could scramble away, he grabbed her right ankle and spun around. He tossed her like a pillow, and she went through the screen door of the living room and impacted against the refrigerator. She left several deep imprints of herself on its metallic surface.

Disc in hand, Fujiya swung downwards. She grabbed his arm, stopping him from cleaving her in half. He grabbed her by the front of her blouse and head butt her; for a moment she lost all focus and thought. He tossed her through the air; her body acted as a wrecking ball as it crashed through walls and snapped support beams. She landed in a heap against a bed. The loudest roar of thunder she had ever heard in her life filled her ears as the house, unable to support its weight, crashed on top of her.

She never lost consciousness, but she stayed buried to give herself a few moments to recuperate. She knew she had to run, she couldn't keep fighting like this. Fujiya was a soldier and she was a junior high school girl. How was she supposed to save humanity from two aliens if she couldn't even beat one? She coughed out dust from her lungs, and pushed herself up. Tons of wood and stone fell off her.

Once clear of the debris, Hina ran, leaping over open fields, clearing half a kilometer at a time until she reached the forest. Thick branches snapped and splintered against her as she descended and landed in a crouch. She took off as fast as she could.

"You must stay and face him," Voice said. "We need to know the details of their plans."

She ignored him. Fear pushed her forward, its solid hand between her shoulder blades. It told her to never turn back.
Forward
, it said,
only forward
. She saw the hollowed out trunk of a burned and scarred tree. She crawled through an opening at its base. Inside was dim, but the sun poured through the hole above her. She ignored the smell of mildew and rotted wood. She closed her mouth and tried to breathe through her nose. The sound echoed in her small hideaway, she was sure Fujiya would hear her.

The forest seemed to be holding its breath. She couldn't see outside, so she looked at her feet. The small hole let in some light, and she hoped she would never see a shadow pass in front of it. She was afraid to move, lest the smallest sound alert the alien hunting her.

The command in Voice's tone brokered no argument. "Jump."

She leapt straight up out of the trunk half a second before Fujiya's disc cleaved through it. She wrapped her arms around her head for protection against the trees, forgetting she was invincible. Her head buried and eyes shut, she didn't see Fujiya leap through the air.

They collided in midair; with his greater bulk and mass he drove her to the ground. They slammed into a fallen log, their invulnerable bodies splintering it into pieces. Hina struggled and screamed as Fujiya maneuvered himself on top of her. A quick punch to the left side of her jaw quieted her down and ceased her struggles. The staggering blow was unlike anything she had ever felt before. It was more powerful than the train from earlier. He grabbed a handful of hair and slammed her head into the ground. He did it three more times, each blow driving her deeper into the earth. She couldn't get up; her head ached like never before and her mind was foggy. She wanted to lay there and let it end. She hoped Fujiya would strip the suit off her and let her end her mission. They had won; there was no way she could defeat them.

He kicked her foot. She opened her eyes, holding a hand to her forehead.

"You don't know what you're doing, do you? That suit," he pointed the disc at her and she pushed herself farther into the ground in fear, "is the only thing keeping you alive. You have no idea what you're up against."

He put two fingers on his watch and ran them over the top in a circular motion. Bright sparkles and glitter appeared around his body, growing in number until they obscured him from view, then disappeared in a quick flash. He had deactivated the hologram of his flash skin. He stood before her in his battle suit. It matched Ichihara's: black with horizontal raised ribbing. His head, feet, and hands were bare. After a second, the battle suit moved; shifting and sliding over his body like black mercury with a mind of its own. As it flowed and coalesced, pouring downwards and oozing upwards at the same time, it exposed Fujiya's true form underneath.

The suit formed a pair of black shorts over his hips and waist, covering him. He had plates of armor covering his major muscle groups, the texture and hardness similar to an armadillo's plating. His skin was rough and bicolored: white and dark green mottling his body. He was tall and muscular, like a pumped up basketball player.

Hina screamed, and Fujiya smiled with both of his mouths. His bare head had twin slits for a nose and a mouth with four rows of pointed crooked shark-like teeth, two rows on top and two on bottom. A split tongue pulsed and undulated behind his teeth. He had no eyes, not even eye sockets. He bared his short and pointed teeth at her; his flat nose pulsated as he smelled her. His second mouth grinned at her. Surrounded by bony plates, the thick rough lips smiled, revealing flat, square teeth and a gray tongue. He gazed at his bare feet and his hands, they had four digits. He whispered a command in Noigel, and the suit morphed back into its default mode.

"I know you're a Noigel." She tried for a strong tone but she heard only fear in her voice. "I know you want to kill everyone on my world and turn it into your own." She raised herself onto her elbows, still too dazed to get to her feet. "I won't let you." It sounded like an idle threat.

"You're a 'little fish,' as Shimizu would say. You can't stop us." The mouth in his neck spoke while his eating mouth smiled and bared its sharp teeth.

Hina willed herself not to look away in fear. "Ichihara-san tried. I'm going to do the same." She hoped the tremble in her voice wasn't as noticeable to Fujiya as it was to her.

The big alien paused when he heard the name. His face dropped its menacing expression and he lowered his head in sadness. "He was a soldier. A good one at that. And a friend."

A friend?
Hina tried not to let her jaw drop in surprise. This killer and the man in the shrine had known each other? A hundred questions came into her mind.