Attack from Tilted Towers Read online

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  Copyright © 2018 by Hollan Publishing, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

  Cover art by Amanda Brack

  Series design by Brian Peterson

  Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-5107-4350-2

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-5107-4351-9

  Printed in Canada

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 1

  After an easy run through Greasy Grove, Grey glanced at the number of people left in the battle. There were thirty players even though only the third storm was upon them. Any minute Tae Min would say what he usually said—it was time for him to eliminate himself. Grey hated that Tae Min wouldn’t play with them for longer, but if Grey wanted all his friends to go home, he had to accept it.

  “Well, it’s about time—” Tae Min started.

  “You got out?” Finn finished for him. “Here, I’ll help you this time!”

  Finn threw an impulse grenade at Tae Min, who was running ahead of them by just enough so that no one else took the hit. Tae Min went flying over the edge of the mountain. The drop was a long way down, and Grey watched in shock as Tae Min hit the bottom.

  Tae Min had a great fall.

  “Why you . . .” Tae Min said, but then he began to laugh.

  Everyone else joined in. Playing with Tae Min had made Fortnite: Battle Royale fun again despite being stuck in virtual reality.

  “I want to eliminate Tae Min next battle!” Kiri said. “Revenge for all those head shots he landed on me.”

  “If we find impulse grenades,” Tae Min said, “I’m all yours, Kiri.”

  “Sweet as, mate.” Kiri let out a pretend evil laugh.

  “We should have thought of this sooner,” Finn said. “That elimination credit could help your ranks if we end up in ties with Lam’s squad.”

  “True,” Grey said. “We’ll rotate eliminating Tae Min then.”

  “This is what I get for training you?” Tae Min said jokingly.

  It hadn’t been long since Tae Min had joined their squad and began to train them. Grey had worried they couldn’t get every Victory Royale like Tae Min wanted, but so far either Grey’s squad or Ben and Tristan’s duo had taken the wins as planned.

  “Head through Snobby,” Tae Min said.

  “Okay.” Grey, Finn, and Kiri headed northwest, since the storm was pushing them that direction. It looked like the safe zone circle would be shrinking between Haunted Hills and Pleasant Park, in a mountainous area that would be precarious to fight around. “It’s a good thing we got Lam’s squad down early. She’d be all over those mountains.”

  “She’d already have her base outfitted,” Finn said. “But Zach and Hui Yin are still up. Vlad and Yuri, too.”

  “No slacking,” Tae Min said. “Ben and Tristan are counting on you for backup in the end.”

  Ben and Tristan had made an alliance with Grey’s squad once Hazel had decided to leave. And even though they couldn’t all fit in one group, it had worked out well. Tae Min had taught Ben and Tristan how to hide until the end of the game. It was boring, but it had paid off.

  Snobby Shores was untouched when Grey’s squad arrived there. “Should we loot? We have a minute until the storm starts to close, and we could use more mats.”

  “Go for it,” Tae Min said. “Expect some fights soon, though. Some may rotate from Tilted thinking the same thing.”

  “I’ll keep a lookout,” Kiri said as she ran into the closest house. Grey moved a bit deeper into the ritzy houses that made up Snobby Shores. There was a time when he worried about Kiri being on her own, but she had come a long way since their first days in the game. Kiri wasn’t a scared noob anymore—she was a sniper who was almost as good as Tae Min, and she also had improved her building enough to compete with the best.

  Grey broke down furniture and opened chests. So far, there hadn’t been any weapons better than what he had, but as he popped open the next one, a legendary rocket launcher glowed before him. “Got an orange rocket launcher.”

  “Awesome,” Finn said. “I found a chug jug and more small shields, but no better weapons. Who can carry the shields?”

  “I will,” Grey said as he glanced at his minimap to see where Finn’s icon was.

  “Ooo! A legendary sniper!” Kiri said. “We’re looking flash now, ay?”

  “So flash,” Finn said.

  “The storm is closing in three seconds,” Tae Min said. “You better get your flash selves to the safe zone.”

  Grey met Finn and picked up the shields, and then they all began to move again. The purple storm began to fill up more of Grey’s screen, and he knew they wouldn’t be able to outrun it. It wouldn’t have been too bad, but then gunfire sounded.

  “Ack!” Finn said as his shield dropped to half.

  Grey built several walls to guard them while he tried to spot where the shots came from. With the storm upon them, they didn’t have time for a fight.

  “Directly to the east!” Kiri said as she built a wall and ramp. She already had her sniper out and took a shot. “One is white.”

  That meant she had hit one for enough damage to burn off their shield, which showed blue numbers when it was hit.

  “It’s two,” Tae Min announced. “If they push, it’s probably Zach and Hui Yin. If they box to heal, it’s Vlad and Yuri.”

  Tae Min had most of the competition read down to the tiniest detail. He knew how they moved and what their play styles were. He knew where his enemies liked to land and what weapons they favored. And, of course, he knew how to counter them all.

  Sure enough, one of the players used a bounce pad. They flew through the air, aiming at Finn, who they had already damaged.

  They all fought back, but Finn still took enough damage to go down.

  The storm enveloped them at that moment, and Grey frantically tried to get their enemies down before Finn was fully eliminated. He couldn’t go down now . . . They still had twenty people left in the battle.

  “The no-skin is one hit!” Tae Min yelled. “Focus!”

  Grey turned his attention to the player Tae Min called out, and he landed one hit with his hunting rifle.

  You eliminated Zach.

  Grey took a hard hit that melted his shield, and he threw up a wall to protect himself. The storm was already ticking away at his health, but the sa
me was true for all of them.

  “Get somewhere safe, Finn!” Kiri yelled. Her health wasn’t doing so hot, either, but surely they could get Hui Yin down with the storm’s help.

  “There’s no way,” Finn said. “Hui Yin’s gonna thirst me.”

  Hui Yin eliminated Finn by head shot.

  “She’s low,” Tae Min said. “Stop hiding and get her.”

  Grey mustered his courage. One good hit from Hui Yin’s shotgun would take him out, but if he could hit her first . . . He built a few ramps to get the high ground. Hui Yin was doing the same, and he used one of his own walls to block her path. She began to move to the right, and Grey took the shot.

  You eliminated Hui Yin.

  “Now run,” Tae Min said. “Wasted too much on that.”

  “I know,” Grey said as he and Kiri began their frantic run to the safe zone. “I’m sorry, Finn. Maybe we shouldn’t have hit Snobby.”

  “It’s all good,” Finn said. “Still top twenty. I have a decent average.”

  Grey didn’t reply. He felt too guilty. He hated leaving a friend behind, especially his real-life best friend. Finn needed good ranks more than anyone since he came into the game halfway through the season and had fewer games to average out.

  It wouldn’t feel right if Grey couldn’t get all of his friends home by the end of the season.

  CHAPTER 2

  Ben and Tristan took the win for that battle, and then they all showed up in the battle warehouse for the end of the day. The Admin appeared with her usual smile. “This concludes Day Fifty-Five of Battles. There are now five days remaining in the season. No reports have been submitted. You may now use the practice area until mandatory rest time.”

  Five days.

  Grey looked at the rankings on the battle warehouse wall. That last game had dropped Zach and Hui Yin even more, and now it was Kiri sitting in the fifth rank. Grey was in the sixth. Ben and Tristan were in the ninth and tenth ranks with Finn in eleventh.

  “Oh my gosh, fifth!” Kiri put her hands over her mouth as she stared at the board. If today had been the last day of battles, Kiri would be going home.

  Grey was happy for her, and he smiled. “One down, four to go.”

  “We got this!” Kiri said as she held up her hand for a high five.

  Grey gave her one.

  “Nice, Kiri!” Ben said as he, Tristan, and Finn joined them. “You’re locked in!”

  “No one is locked in,” Lam said as she walked past them with her squad. Hazel followed her new squad leader, but she glanced at Grey as she passed. He could see the fear in Hazel’s eyes, even though she currently sat in the fourth rank. Another day of victories for Grey’s squad would probably knock Hazel out of that spot and Kiri into it.

  “Time to practice,” Grey said.

  Tae Min had already left the building. He had them meeting at the ghost town still, since they were tirelessly working on their close-­quarters combat. Grey panicked every day, wondering if it would be the day Tae Min announced that they were ready for Tilted Towers. But so far it hadn’t happened.

  Every day that passed, fewer people were spotted in the practice area. Today, as Grey passed through the cabin area, he spotted Hans’s squad around the campfire. They had been pushed to the bottom of the top twenty. So, even they were giving up now with just five days left.

  In another day, he wondered if only the top ten would be fighting for it. It made sense with so few games left and the ranks harder to achieve. But it made the games weirdly boring because they were so easy until the last ten or fifteen people. Maybe Grey’s squad had gotten better, but he had a feeling most people were just messing around at this point.

  “Did you see that the tomato man’s head is gone?” someone said as Grey passed by. “I can’t believe it! He was an icon.”

  “These rifts are so weird,” another person replied. “There’s one at the motel, too. They’re showing up all over.”

  “I can’t wait to see what happens next season!” chimed in a third person. “It’s gonna be epic!”

  Finn groaned. “Ugh! I wanna see what happens next season!”

  “You will,” Grey replied. “It will just be on a computer screen instead of here.”

  That didn’t seem to make Finn feel better, because he rolled his eyes at Grey. “C’mon, you really think it’ll be the same? One, it’s super cool to see it in person. Two, the video game version isn’t the same as the virtual reality, remember? If we get out, I could have missed everything already.”

  “When we get out,” Grey said.

  “Fine, ‘when,’” Finn replied. “But it still sucks not to see what will happen.”

  “Maybe you’ll miss some things,” Kiri said as they entered the practice area, which looked abandoned in comparison to the crowd around the campfire. “But it’s not like you won’t be able to play Fortnite. In here, we are literally missing out on our lives. And we can’t get that time back.”

  “Exactly,” Ben said. “Trust me, you don’t want to be in here for a year. I’d do anything to get a break at this point. Even for one day.”

  “Me too,” Tristan said.

  Finn didn’t say anything to that, although it seemed like he had plenty to say that he was keeping to himself. Grey wanted to ask him about it, but Finn didn’t like to talk feelings, especially in front of other people. Grey would have to find a chance to hang out with just Finn and see what was up.

  After they stocked up on weapons and materials, Grey and his friends headed out to the ghost town to meet Tae Min. As they climbed over the hill, Grey was shocked to see what Tae Min was doing.

  He was building Tilted Towers.

  Not that he could make it exactly, but he had used metal to build the dimensions of the different towers. He had added all the details to each one he’d built to the point that Grey could recognize some of the infamous towers, like the castle tower, the clock tower, the construction site, and Grandma’s house. Tae Min wasn’t finished, and Grey could see him putting up walls for another building.

  “Holy . . .” Ben said as they all stood there in shock.

  “And here I thought I knew the map,” Tristan said. “I could never rebuild it like this even though I’ve been here as long as Tae Min.”

  “This is crazy,” Finn said. “And freaking awesome.”

  “We better get down there.” Grey started walking. If Tae Min was putting so much work into their training, Grey wasn’t about to waste that effort. They needed to use this replica as much as they could in the hours before mandatory rest, because after that it would be reset for the next day.

  “There you are,” Tae Min said as he stopped building for a moment. “It’s not perfect, but this will help you get a feel for Tilted.”

  “You think?” Grey looked around in awe. “Do you need help?”

  Tae Min shook his head. “Use the finished buildings to play hide-and-seek for now. Everyone solo. Try to get familiar with the layouts of the towers. If you break stuff just build it back. I’ll call you when I’m done.”

  “Sounds good.” Grey turned to everyone. “You heard him! Let’s go!”

  “You are all going down!” Finn said as he ran toward the castle tower.

  “We’ll see about that!” Ben called back as he ran after Finn.

  Grey decided he’d take a look at the clock tower first. It was the size of a one-by-one structure and it went straight up. He opened the door at the bottom and looked up. There was a ceiling several stories high, but no stairs. He knew there was a balcony on top that usually had a chest or two, but this place seemed dangerous to land on. It could be easy to fall, and there wouldn’t be much loot or materials.

  As Grey walked back outside, he took several shots. He looked up and spotted Finn at the top of the castle tower.

  “Gotcha!” Finn yelled. “Try harder, Grey!”

  “I’m looking around!” Grey said with a smile. He figured they would all take shots at him, but it was good aim practice for them. H
e needed to learn the layout of this place because Tae Min would eliminate himself, and Grey would be in charge after that. Of all the places on the island, Grey knew the least about Tilted Towers.

  Grey chose to explore the construction site next. This building was interesting because it wasn’t complete. There were holes in the floor and some unfinished walls. As he looked around from inside, he could see how vulnerable he’d be in this building.

  In fact, he took no less than ten hits as he moved from floor to floor.

  “You’re miserable at hiding today,” Kiri said as she met up with him in the castle tower.

  “I’m thinking of hiding places,” Grey said. “But I’m trying to memorize these buildings.”

  “Good, because we’ll be going over chest locations now.” Tae Min’s voice came from behind. “And we need to discuss landing strategies. It’s vital to have a plan right as you go in. There isn’t a second to waste in Tilted Towers.”

  Grey nodded. “Let’s do this.”

  Ben and Tristan met up with them in the castle tower, and Tae Min began his detailed training on loot in Tilted Towers. He showed them every possible chest spawn point in castle tower, and then he tested them to make sure they all had the locations memorized.

  “This is mad,” Kiri said. “We have to do this for every tower?”

  “It’s majorly important,” Finn defended. “Getting a weapon is first priority in Tilted, and if you waste a second wandering, you might be eliminated right off because you didn’t pick up the gun first.”

  “Exactly,” Tae Min said. “Finn, your expertise here will be vital. You’ll need to back up Kiri and Grey while they get the hang of this in battles.”

  Finn smiled confidently. “I will, don’t worry.”

  “If we’re hiding,” Tristan said, “will this training help us at all?”

  “Yes,” Tae Min said. “Once we get this, I will switch squads like Grey suggested. I don’t intend to hide with you guys—we will be fighting.”

  “Oh . . .” Ben squared his shoulders. He hadn’t been paying much attention, but now he looked like he regretted that.

  Tristan smiled. “Good. I’m dying of boredom in those hiding spots all battle.”