Page 85 of Fighting for Brielle
She nodded.
“Good. I’ll be monitoring your vitals the whole time.”
The program began. Brielle entered a home and noticed a bomb counting down to zero on the floor in front of her. She didn’t have time to react before it exploded and knocked her backward through the living room window. Pain wracked her body as she rolled over onto her back.
Breathing heavily, she gasped, “What the hell? I’m not supposed tofeelanything!”
She struggled to her feet and felt blood running down her face and arms and legs. Just as the thought occurred to her that she needed to stop the bleeding, she noticed four men armed with semi-automatic assault rifles advancing on her. She dove for cover in the rubble of the house. A barrage of bullets barely missed her. Scrambling through the wreckage of cement and plaster and broken glass and splintered wood, Brielle made her way to the back of the house. Bullets pinged and ricocheted next to her. Without a weapon of her own, she needed to outsmart her attackers.
She noticed she was standing in the kitchen left relatively intact from the blast. A gas stove. Perfect. She switched on the gas and hunted for either matches or a lighter. Her pursuers drew closer as she yanked open drawers and cabinets.
“Come on! Come on! There’s got to be matches around here somewhere!”
Bullets flew. Her eager hand finally clutched a box of matches. Before the house blew up a second time, she checked her escape route, a gaping hole behind her. She waited until the gunmen were in range and then tossed a lit match onto the stove. A moment later the explosion shook the earth beneath her as she fled the fiery scene.
Brielle didn’t have time to catch her breath before she found herself behind the wheel of a car as it plunged into icy black water. The interior filled rapidly. She pressed the window button, all four, to no avail. Water covered her head. She began to shiver from its freezing temperature. Bracing herself, she kicked at the windshield and the window on the driver’s side, but neither cracked. Her lungs burned. She ached to take a breath.
If she died in this bizarre virtual reality world, would she die in real life, too?
She wasn’t about to give up. Spotting the keys in the ignition, she yanked them out. Good. No electronic key fob. She held her panic at bay as she kicked out the backseat and managed to swim into the trunk. Inspecting the contents, she discovered a lug wrench and hit the safety latch. The trunk popped open. If that hadn’t worked, she would have broken the taillights and tried to unlock the trunk from the outside.
Brielle broke the surface of the water and inhaled air into her lungs, choking and gasping.
The program continued with three more terrifying trials: finding her way out of a burning building blocked at every turn, fighting three assailants while blinded, and finally solving a puzzle which opened an escape hatch in a vault filling with dangerous fumes.
Exhausted, Brielle dropped to the floor. She pulled the leads off her chest and tossed away the virtual reality helmet. Just as her heart rate returned to normal, Anderson’s voice ordered through a loudspeaker, “Get up. You’re not done yet.”
Dr. Schow approached her and reattached the leads, in addition to new ones he placed on her temples.
“What are they for?” she asked in a raspy voice.
He didn’t answer her question. “For what it’s worth you’re the only one who has ever faced level five and…beaten each challenge.” Admiration shone in his eyes. “Good luck, Miss McAdams.”
You’re going to need it.She read his mind.
The program began again in the same house with the same bomb, only this time it was strapped to…her mother who was tied to a chair.
“Brielle! Help me! Please don’t let me die!” Brianna screamed.
Brielle rushed forward, crying, “Mom! Don’t move!”
As soon as she started grabbing at the duct tape holding the bomb in place, strong electric currents coursed through her body, incapacitating her. Her body jerked and she yelled, “No!”
The bomb exploded just like before, and Brielle found herself lying on the street amongst shattered glass and other debris.
She knew what came next?a hail of bullets. When her hearing returned, she scrambled to her feet, preparing to sprint toward the back of the house, and…stopped dead in her tracks. The four gunmen approaching were her brothers! And this time an assault rifle suddenly appeared in her hands.
“Oh, God, no!” She threw the rifle down. “I’m not killing my brothers!”
An electric jolt shocked her. Her brother Bryant lifted his assault rifle and fired. The bullet struck her in the shoulder. Excruciating pain shot through her. Ben fired next and another bullet hit her thigh. She fell to the ground.
“No, dammit! No!” Brielle gritted her teeth as more electricity traveled along her central nervous system.
Still, she refused to pick up her weapon.
A higher voltage of electricity caused her entire body to spasm.
She bit her tongue and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth.
