Page 43 of Tapeworld Induction

“Look out!”

The nearest neon wolf leapt towards Dylan. She bent her legs and built up a punch.

He thought of the huge beast’s metal claws grabbing Dylan’s throat, ripping through her tape self.

Would she die out there as well as in here?

The shot made a mess of the beast, an explosion of black, blue, and pink liquid spraying over Dylan’s face.

She glared at him, covered in gunk. “Isaak!”

He lowered his arm, the black gun still in his hands. “I had to… Look!”

The body of the wolf hovered in the air, its head no longer there, the mess of tubes and cables that connected to it now feeding into nothing. Around the wolf, or what remained of it, was the faint fizz of electric current. Then the whole thing turned into the digital dust of the Tapeworld, the light particles shooting off into the distance.

“It’s not real!”

She stared at the space where it had just disappeared. “I thought…” The multicoloured blood of the wolf slowly faded away from her face as she wiped it with a hand.

“You thought,” he said, still kneeling on the ground.

The other neon wolf was nearly on them, paws pounding towards them, snarling, saliva strands connecting the teeth of its large open mouth.

Isaak tightened his fist and shaped his finger around an invisible trigger.

At the same time, the metal wolf leapt in the air towards him. Neon-coloured liquid swirled around the tubing draped over and around its body, fur mixed with rust. It shrieked an attacking howl.

Dylan stood still now, letting him do his thing.

Isaak aimed and pulled the trigger, stopping the wolf in its tracks. The momentum kept the body travelling forward and its mass hit him even after the wolf was dead. He grunted from the pain, and fell back to the floor, matted fur pressed tightly over him. “Help me get this thing off me…” he said. “Please.” His breathing had become irregular, adrenaline rush hitting him as they surpassed the odds. He kissed the barrel of the black gun, a celebratory move from his Lazarus days that he’d make after eliminating another player from the match.

The vibration inside his side bag stopped. Was the package some kind of wolf detector? Is that what Astrid has me stealing?

Dylan walked over to him and shoved the wolf to the side. As it hit the mossy ground, it shattered into thousands of tiny shards, derezzing. She gave him a hand and pulled him up. Her skin felt electric to touch. He might have leaned into her and kissed her right there if they weren’t in some goddess-forsaken tape-space Astrid had sent him to, and if he knew she’d be into it.

The forest was quiet now.

It probably should have felt good, defeating the creatures and escaping with their lives, but Dylan seemed upset, and Isaak was angry at himself for putting her in danger.

“These must have been the only two,” he said.

“Yeah… Look, Zak, I’m sorry I tried to stop you. I thought they were real.”

“Those ugly fuckers?” He grinned.

“Still. I’m not supposed to take an animal’s life.” She walked closer to him, stabbing her finger into his chest through the leather jacket. “And neither are you.”

Goddess, she was so close he could smell her perfume. Funny that the tape would include your personal smell. Funny, and fucking exhilarating.

Their eyes locked. The moonlight played off her lips, glints dotted over their curvature. It felt right. He placed his arm around the small of her back and pulled her to him.

Her muscles tightened up.

She moved her face to the side, avoiding his.

“What?” he asked.

“What?” She stared at him, head askew. “Well, for starters, there’s the fact that we have to get the fuck out of here while we can. And after that there’s still a whole bunch of stuff like, what the hell am I doing here? Nevermind what the hell you’re doing here…”