Outlive (The Baggers Trilogy, #1) by Chad Leito Read Free Book Online Page A

that he wouldn’t fall.
                  It was only a show. It was only a rerun on a HoloVision box.
                  His eyes shot open and he backed up against the wall. He thought of his two little girls. He nibbled absently on his huge fist. He felt the tears coming back, but fought them off.
                  “You’re okay, buddy,” he whispered to his red-eyed reflection in the mirror. It was what his dad used to tell him when he got sick as a little kid. “It’s going to be okay, child. It was just a show. It wasn’t real.”
                  Baggs concentrated on breathing for a few moments, willing himself to calm down. He thought, you haven’t entered Outlive. You weren’t there. You just had a scare is all. Normal. That was normal. Now, go see if Greggor has any gigs. I’m sure that I’ll feel better once Greggor books me for a few gigs.
                  Baggs flushed the toilet, turned on the faucet for a moment so it sounded like he was washing his hands, and then exited the bathroom. Greggor standing in the middle of the room, with his leathery arms crossed over his pudgy chest, staring at Baggs in the cautious way a person looks at a feral animal. Baggs made a point not to glance back at the HoloVision Box. He pretended not to notice the odd look that Greggor was giving him.
                  “Greggor, it’s been too long, my friend,” he said, stopping a few feet from his agent and giving him a big, happy grin in which he showed most of his crooked teeth. Greggor had never explicitly said so, but Baggs believed that his agent didn’t like shaking hands with Baggs. Baggs thought that Greggor viewed him as dirty.
                  “It has, it has,” Greggor said. He smiled back uneasily, showing a mouth with more gold teeth than white ones. Baggs was now close enough to see that Greggor’s nipple rings had diamonds on them. “How is your hand? Did you see that surgeon I recommended?”
                  He’s so out of touch with what it’s like to be poor that he doesn’t understand most of us can’t afford to go see a doctor for basic vaccines. Why the hell do you think they get people to enter Outlive, you ignorant ass! Baggs thought. Do you think they’re just stupid? Do you think that they want to die? Can you not realize that some people actually don’t have any money and they are STARVING like Olive and Maggie are while you adorn your fat nipples with diamonds!
                  Baggs held up his left hand and tried to not let the anger seep out in his tone. “Good as new. Yeah, I went and saw Dr. Turner. Real nice man.” Baggs did not feel guilty for lying to Greggor.
                  Greggor frowned. “Your hand doesn’t look right, Baggs. You sure it’s okay?”
                  “Oh, yeah. Doc Turner said it wouldn’t be pretty, but that I could still play. Say, you got any upcoming concerts or anything I could play at?”
                  Greggor made a clucking motion with his tongue, and then pulled out his cell phone to consult his calendar. While he did so, Baggs continued to do his best to appear at ease. See, you still have a job. There’s no reason to enter the arena.
                  “Next thing I got is a birthday party in two months,” Greggor said.
                  “Two months?” Baggs said a little too loudly. His voice echoed throughout the room. His heart was flooded with adrenaline and began to pound against his rib cage.
                  Greggor looked up at Baggs. “Is that a problem?”
                  “Yeah, it kind of is! I need work, Greggor.” We’ll be out of CreditCoins long before two months are up. “You don’t have anything sooner?”
                  “No. I’m not the one who was running through London with my daughter on my back and broke my