The Calling. James Frey

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СКАЧАТЬ hot, brainwashed, alleged killing machine only because of some dumb prophecy that doesn’t really exist.”

      Christopher catches his breath. Sarah stares at him, smiling sadly.

      “It’s for real, Christopher.”

      “How do you know? I mean, is there some kind of commissioner who runs this game? Like the NFL?”

      “Them.”

      Christopher dips his chin. “Them?”

      “They have lots of names,” Sarah says, not meaning to sound so cryptic. She’s having trouble putting the next part into reasonable-sounding words.

      “Give me one,” Christopher says.

      “Cahokians call them the Sky People.”

      “The Sky People?”

      “Yes.” Sarah holds up a hand before he can interrupt. “Listen—you know how every culture around the world believes that their god or gods or higher power or source of enlightenment, whatever you want to call it, comes from above?”

      Christopher shrugs. “I guess. I don’t know.”

      “They’re right. God, or the gods, or the higher power, whatever and whoever it is, did come from above. They descended from the sky amid smoke and fire and created us and gave us rules to live by and left. All of the world’s gods and myths are just variations of the same legends, variations of the same story, the same history.”

      Christopher shakes his head. “This is crazy. Like, Jesus-riding-a-dinosaur crazy.”

      “No, it isn’t. It makes sense if you think about it.”

      “How?”

      “It all happened so long ago that every culture adapted the story to fit their experience. But the core of it—that life came from above, that humanity was created by gods—that’s true.”

      Christopher stares at her.

      “Sky People. You mean like …” He shakes his head. “This is insane. What you’re saying can’t be real. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard! And you’re crazy if you go.”

      “I’m sorry, Christopher. If I were in your shoes I’d probably react the same way. Actually, probably way worse. You know me as Sarah Alopay, your girlfriend, but I’m also someone else, and even though Tate was supposed to be playing, I always have been someone else as well. I was raised, as were 300 generations of my people, to be a Player.

      Everything that just happened—the meteor, the piece that we found, my necklace becoming part of it, the message and the code—it was all exactly as foretold in our legends.”

      Sarah studies him, waiting for a reaction. Christopher’s face has gone completely serious; he’s no longer trying to talk her out of Endgame, as if that tactic ever had a chance.

      “Why now?”

      “What do you mean?”

      “Why did it have to start now?”

      “I’ll probably be asking myself that question until I die, Christopher. I don’t know the answer. I know what the legend says, but I don’t know Their real reasons.”

      “What does the legend say?”

      “It says Endgame will begin if the human race has shown that it doesn’t deserve to be human. That it has wasted the enlightenment They gave to us. The legend also says that if we take Earth for granted, if we become too populous and strain this blessed planet, then Endgame will begin. It will begin in order to bring an end to what we are and restore order to Earth. Whatever the reason, what will be will be.”

      “Fucking Christ.”

      “Yeah.”

      “How do you win?” he asks in a low voice.

      “No one knows. That’s what I’m going to find out.” “In China.”

      “Yeah.”

      “And it’s going to be dangerous?”

      “Yes.”

      “You talked about choice in your speech—choose not to do it.” Sarah shakes her head. “No. It’s what my parents were born to do, what my brother was born to do, what I was born to do. It is the responsibility of my people, and it has been since we appeared on this planet, and my choice is to do it.”

      Christopher has no words. He doesn’t want her to leave. Doesn’t want her to be in danger. Sarah is his girlfriend. His best friend. His partner in crime, the last person he thinks of before he falls asleep and the first person he thinks of when he wakes. She’s the girl of his dreams, only she’s real. The thought of someone trying to hurt her, it ties his stomach in knots. The idea that he’ll be thousands of miles away when it happens makes it even worse.

      “The stakes are dire, Christopher. You probably won’t ever see me again. Mom and Dad, Omaha, Tate—I’m looking back on all of it already. I love you, I love you with everything in me, but we may never see each other again.”

      “What the hell does that mean?”

      “I may not come back.”

      “Why?”

      “If I don’t win, I’ll die.”

       “Die?”

      “I will fight to stay alive, I promise I will. But yes. It could happen. Easily. Don’t forget that I’m a backup. Tate was supposed to be here, not me. The other Players, they’ve probably been training since before they could walk.”

      They stare at each other. The sounds of the airport—the announcements of gate changes, the whispering wheels of rolling luggage, the squeaks of sneakers on polished granite floors—swirl around them.

      “I’m not gonna let you die,” Christopher says. “And if you have to win to stay alive, then I am coming with you. I don’t give a shit about the rules.”

      Her heart drops to the floor. She knew saying good-bye wasn’t going to be easy, but she didn’t expect this. And in a way it makes her love him more. Kind, generous, strong, beautiful Christopher.

      She shakes her head. “The Players have to go to the Calling alone, Christopher.”

      “Too bad for the others, then. Because I’m coming with you.”

      “Listen,” she says, changing her tone. “You need to stop thinking of me as your girlfriend. Even if you could come, I wouldn’t let you. I don’t need your protection. And, honestly, you aren’t up for it.”

      So much for finding a quiet gate where they can make out. Sarah knew it could come to this, that she might have to be harsh with him. She sees that her words hurt him, that his pride is wounded. She’s sorry about that, but what she said is the truth.

      Christopher СКАЧАТЬ