leapt to his feet, pleading skyward. “How can using All2gethr be breaking the rules mate? That’s insane!”
“It was in the Terms and Conditions,” Alligator replied, his voice laden with officiousness.
Jo groaned and rolled her eyes.
“To make amends I’m going to have to initiate another forfeit.”
The winners glanced at each other nervously.
“Max,” Alligator continued, “is going to have to lose a friend.”
Max spluttered and ruffled his hair with his fingers in frustration. His All2gethr friend list appeared on the monitor screens, scrolling up the screen rapidly.
“My, you’ve got quite a few to choose from haven’t you Max? You probably wouldn’t notice if a trimmed a few of these people off the list...”
The list stopped scrolling at the name of one of his friends. A profile photo was there for all the passengers to see. It showed a smiling man in his twenties, not much older than Max.
“Alan Williams. He’ll do. Bear with us.”
The monitors snapped off again, black screens reflecting the taught faces of the passengers.
They all turned to Max, looking tense.
Max tried to explain. “Look I had to try something, didn’t I? Thought I could contact someone at All2gethr...”
“And what, exactly? Lodge a formal complaint?” Dave said, incredulous.
“Can’t really blame him - after what they did to your friend Rory...” Jo said.
Dave looked at her blankly. “Come on love! They’re filming this for some reality TV show, it’s just a colossal wind-up! Hello Mum!” He waved into the tiny webcam embedded in the top of the touch screen’s casing then turned back to Jo. “Listen, there are probably a million people out there, laughing their arses off at us right now!”
Jo shook her head. “Dave, shut up! It looked real to me. Really real. I think we’re in serious trouble!”
“‘Serious trouble’?” he mocked, “He’s a bloody cartoon alligator!”
Right on cue, the Alligator’s voice oozed from the speakers again.
“I’d listen to Jo if I were you. She’s the expert. She likes to watch people put to death...”
Dave snorted. “He’s got your number, love...”
Jo lowered her eyes guiltily. “Don’t you start, and if you call me ‘love’ one more time...”
“You’ll what?” Dave said.
“You’re not even worth it. We’ve all heard about the kind of filth you get off on.”
Dave’s eyes glowered at her. For a moment he looked like he might actually raise a fist, then he turned away.
“Gwen thinks it’s real, don’t you Gwen?” Alligator countered.
Gwen remained in shocked silence, body stiffly upright in her seat.
“But still you watched didn’t you?” he went on, “Turned the other cheek like a good God-fearing girl...”
“What the hell is your problem?” Max spat.
Alligator rounded on him again.
“Max. You broke the rules. It is time to catch up with your friend Alan...”
Nine
Max and the other passengers watched as their screens pulled up a video-cam feed.
This time, the cameraman was in the corridor of an office building. Drab utilitarian decor was swamped in cold light from overhead fluorescents. The intruder peered around a corner, giving the passengers a camera-eye view of the corridor ahead. He must have been wearing the device on a headset.
Alan, his face recognisable from his All2gethr profile, was a few metres away, dragging a cleaning trolley up to the closed doors of an elevator. Bottles of cleaning fluid jostled next to cloths and refuse sacks on the trolley. He yawned, scratching his head as he pushed the call button. Without warning, the assailant sped towards Alan, camera-view shaking with each stride.
Whack! The intruder swung his weapon, a heavy baseball bat, into the backs of Alan’s legs. His victim fell to the
“It was in the Terms and Conditions,” Alligator replied, his voice laden with officiousness.
Jo groaned and rolled her eyes.
“To make amends I’m going to have to initiate another forfeit.”
The winners glanced at each other nervously.
“Max,” Alligator continued, “is going to have to lose a friend.”
Max spluttered and ruffled his hair with his fingers in frustration. His All2gethr friend list appeared on the monitor screens, scrolling up the screen rapidly.
“My, you’ve got quite a few to choose from haven’t you Max? You probably wouldn’t notice if a trimmed a few of these people off the list...”
The list stopped scrolling at the name of one of his friends. A profile photo was there for all the passengers to see. It showed a smiling man in his twenties, not much older than Max.
“Alan Williams. He’ll do. Bear with us.”
The monitors snapped off again, black screens reflecting the taught faces of the passengers.
They all turned to Max, looking tense.
Max tried to explain. “Look I had to try something, didn’t I? Thought I could contact someone at All2gethr...”
“And what, exactly? Lodge a formal complaint?” Dave said, incredulous.
“Can’t really blame him - after what they did to your friend Rory...” Jo said.
Dave looked at her blankly. “Come on love! They’re filming this for some reality TV show, it’s just a colossal wind-up! Hello Mum!” He waved into the tiny webcam embedded in the top of the touch screen’s casing then turned back to Jo. “Listen, there are probably a million people out there, laughing their arses off at us right now!”
Jo shook her head. “Dave, shut up! It looked real to me. Really real. I think we’re in serious trouble!”
“‘Serious trouble’?” he mocked, “He’s a bloody cartoon alligator!”
Right on cue, the Alligator’s voice oozed from the speakers again.
“I’d listen to Jo if I were you. She’s the expert. She likes to watch people put to death...”
Dave snorted. “He’s got your number, love...”
Jo lowered her eyes guiltily. “Don’t you start, and if you call me ‘love’ one more time...”
“You’ll what?” Dave said.
“You’re not even worth it. We’ve all heard about the kind of filth you get off on.”
Dave’s eyes glowered at her. For a moment he looked like he might actually raise a fist, then he turned away.
“Gwen thinks it’s real, don’t you Gwen?” Alligator countered.
Gwen remained in shocked silence, body stiffly upright in her seat.
“But still you watched didn’t you?” he went on, “Turned the other cheek like a good God-fearing girl...”
“What the hell is your problem?” Max spat.
Alligator rounded on him again.
“Max. You broke the rules. It is time to catch up with your friend Alan...”
Nine
Max and the other passengers watched as their screens pulled up a video-cam feed.
This time, the cameraman was in the corridor of an office building. Drab utilitarian decor was swamped in cold light from overhead fluorescents. The intruder peered around a corner, giving the passengers a camera-eye view of the corridor ahead. He must have been wearing the device on a headset.
Alan, his face recognisable from his All2gethr profile, was a few metres away, dragging a cleaning trolley up to the closed doors of an elevator. Bottles of cleaning fluid jostled next to cloths and refuse sacks on the trolley. He yawned, scratching his head as he pushed the call button. Without warning, the assailant sped towards Alan, camera-view shaking with each stride.
Whack! The intruder swung his weapon, a heavy baseball bat, into the backs of Alan’s legs. His victim fell to the
Similar Books
