Nice Day to Die by Cameron Jace Read Free Book Online Page A

those ClairVos down here so I can show them how scary it feels in here,” I mumble, getting Roger This’ attention.
    “The games can be watched on the iAms too,” he says to me, holding that joystick in his hand. “There are the extended versions of it broadcast on iScreen or TV, where the audience can comment and discuss the events of the games, and vote for their favorite Monster. Like that boy, Woo, last year. He was the audience’s favorite Monster before Carnivore killed him.”
    I don’t comment about him knowing Woo. I keep pushing through the crowd. Roger This decides to accompany me.
    “Sometimes,” Roger This says, playing with his joystick while looking up at the sky again, “if the audience sympathizes with a Monster, the votes are taken into consideration. It could spare your life in a certain game level. It’s like extra bonus ammo in role-playing games.”
    Who is this guy? He treats this situation as if it’s another new computer game.
    “In a world without movies, this is the movie of the year,” Roger This elaborates, still playing with the joystick, looking up. What’s he looking for? “No box-office speculation, no Oscar nominees, and no editor’s picks.”
    The thing he says about the movies rings a bell. Movies are prohibited in Faya. The whole movie industry is on hold. Woo taught me that the Summit is afraid of rebellious messages conveyed in movies. So the three days of the Monster Show are actually the Movie of the Year in Faya. The one and only movie. With all the side stories of the Monsters and tragic kills in the game, they can keep selling recaps and spin-offs all year long. This is a totalitarian government where even the winning movie is predetermined. The audience gets entertained, raising bets on who is the public’s favorite Monster, or who will die last, then spend the rest of the year gossiping about it.
    “Here it is,” Roger This says, looking up. “My beauty.”
    It turns out Roger This was summoning a small flying toy plane with his joystick. It flies feebly and buzzes over our heads. Seriously, I have to get away from him too. This is an asylum I am in. Everyone here is crazy.
    As I walk away from Roger This, a soldier shoots his toy plane.
    The teens in front of me are getting aggressive when I try to push through. “The other way,” they say. “They want us to go the other way.”
    I look behind, trying to stand on tiptoes to see what’s the other way. I can’t see anything. I just need to sneak past a couple of students to reach for the soldiers. I call for help, but no one hears me. I stretch my hand out and grab one soldier by his sleeve.
    “My name is Decca, Sir,” I shout. “Please. I don’t belong here. It is a mistake. I forged my iAm results to attend the game on purpose. I wanted to find my best friend, Woo, who I believe is still alive, hiding in the Playa. I thought if I forged my results, I could save him. I was wrong. This is a mistake.”
    The soldier looks closely at me, examining my body. I am spattered with mud all over, wearing Monster-branded running shoes. I don’t know how to explain this. Do I still look like a Seven?
    Suddenly, I get hit in the face with another soldier’s rifle. The last thing I hear is: “If I had a zollar for every time I’ve heard that.”
    As I am rolling back with no room for me to fall because of the density of the crowd, all I want to do is cry, but no tears come out. The warm liquid I feel on my cheeks must be my own blood from my nose. I don’t know if I am strong enough to go through with this.
    I surrender to unconsciousness over someone’s shoulder.
    If I sleep my day away, will I wake up and find everything solved?
    I start dreaming… of Woo.
    Woo looks at me with his peaceful, warrior face.
    “Why are you doing this, Decca?” he asks me.
    “You left, Woo. I am here all alone,” I say. “You’re my only friend in this world.”
    “Why do you still think I am alive?”
    “Because I