SAVE POINT 45
Rosabella
They weren’t getting it; that flag was mine. I’d seen it first, and it was mine. I wouldn't lose. I wouldn't. Adrenaline surged through me and, honestly, I forgot all about babysitting Dormouse; I charged forward.
I raced after the enemy brutes. Sparo flew up the stairs as my eyes locked on every detail of the new hallway: more brick, this one lined with a red carpet and a handful of wood doors with wrought iron hinges and handles. Which one led to the other side? I saw the yellow flag taunting me from the opposite side of the courtyard. The arched tower window made it all too difficult. How did I get to it? Goddammit, I wasn’t going to have time to try all these doors—which one was my way over?! Indecision grabbed me by both shoulders, shaking me.
Dormouse's Mimi avatar raced past, his green tag bobbing in the air over her head. "Hey, what does this lever do?" He turned blinking towards me on the couch.
...Lever???
My eyes darted towards his screen. Oh my God, it was a lever. He'd found a switch that blended seamlessly into the hallway wall. It was drenched in shadow and was sticking out from the hard, concrete floor. I would have never seen that...
"Hit it!" I all but shouted.
And Mimi's avatar did, her little, white hand grasping the metal and yanking it back. The boy's screen went into a cutscene, depicting a creaking, wood bridge lowering to the other side of the fortress—right where the flag tower was! My breath caught in my throat, "Dormouse, that's perfect!"
"I really am a genius," the kid drawled, as Joy elbowed him in the shoulder.
"Try to fit that pumpkin head through the door on the far side. You’re not finished yet," the pink-haired girl rolled her eyes, "And your genius is like selective hearing. If there's anyone to fight, you're doomed."
"Thanks for that positive note," Dormouse quipped. But excitement dribbled back into his voice, "Hey! There's hand grenades here!"
"Don't pick them up," Joy blurted.
But Dormouse grimaced, and I saw Mimi already bending in his screen to do exactly that. The grenades absorbed into her inventory.
"Are you serious?!" Joy fumed, "You won't even know how to throw them! You should have saved them for one of us!"
Dormouse shrugged, "Opps."
But I was past his antics. I was already overtaking him on the bridge, the running steps Sparo took making 'plinking' noises over the wood boards. I could barely breathe from the drama of it all. That flag was the one thing that could save me, and we were discussing hand grenades? If they weren’t going to grab the flag, I would.
"Come on!" I told him, "We have to get to that flag before they do." I could already see the red enemy dots on the mini-map circling in closer around the tower; some were on the higher level and some were below. They were like bloodhounds on a scent. Hopefully we could grab the flag up while we still had a small lead.
"Ahhh!" Dormouse ducked in real life like it was going to help him in the game, "They're shooting!"
And my HP told the same story:
[-5 HP, 101/116]
Shit.
I tried to duck, but we were out in the open on this damn bridge. "Go!" I yelled, "Get the flag, and come back. I'll cover you!" I watched Mimi's avatar shutter and jolt across the bridge with the typical, stunted movements as my stomach sunk. Oh God, I was giving Dormouse—the kid who could barely play—the most important responsibility? This was bad. This was going to turn out bad. What was I thinking?!
But I was forced to concentrate on the targets—there was really no other choice. Bullets flew in my direction, pelting the air around me.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Fuck off, dudes!" I told the air, feeling the controller buzz as I was hit repeatedly and pulling the trigger for my own fire.
[-2 HP, 99/116]
[-5 HP, 94/116]
[TEAMMATE MEATHEAD 2, KILLER 13: -10 HP, 80/143]
[TEAMMATE MEATHEAD 4, KILLER 9: -10 HP, 54/90]
Take that, motherfuckers.
I saw their HP clip downward. If I could just keep this up so Dormouse could get the flag. I had to protect him. He was defenseless—barely able to shoot in the right direction. I needed to hold them off to give the boy enough time—
"Uh—problem," the kid squeaked from next to me, but I couldn’t look up—didn't have time to look at his screen. I was kind of in the middle of something. Bullets sprayed from the machine gun in Sparo's hands as I locked on the targets again, but they were returning fire this time. "What—no. No problems," I told the kid sharply, "Just grab the flag."
"He already got it. Is that bad?"
Alarm screeched through me with such intensity that I almost dropped my controller. I stopped firing, and my eyes darted to his screen—
"That's one of our bots," Joy clarified, "shoot the fucker, grab the flag, and let's win this thing."
It was one of our teammate bots. The tactical-geared guy was holding the yellow flag, waving proudly over his head from the flagpole, and he was sprinting—
Straight into the wall. He was stuck, glitching and unmoving. Joy was right, Dormouse was going to have to shoot him—
"Shoot him?" Dormouse squeaked. Now, alarm was written all over his face. "I told you," he whispered fervently, "There's a lot of debate in The Gamer scene about whether people actually die from being shot in Multiplayer Mode—"
Joy rolled her eyes, "You don't die, you respawn—"
"If you have 'respawn' set on, and I don't remember!" Dormouse rushed, his face flushing brilliant red with anxiety. Mimi's avatar stood, still, mid-screen just watching the bot with the flag grind into the wall, going nowhere. "For all we know, that could be a very real man with—with a family and hopes and dreams. I am not a murderer—"
"Do you hear yourself?!" Joy exploded, "That's our flag—that's how we win. If we don't get it and win, Rosabella dies—in real life. Are you more concerned with the life of this potential jackass or the life of your friend?"
Wow. Joy. Respect gushed through me for the pink-haired girl whose eyes flashed enraged fire on my behalf. She’d just defended me... But Dormouse's face was still napkin-white and torn, and I was taking too heavy of fire to get to his avatar. I had Sparo crouch low to avoid it on the bridge, trying to get them back—
"I—" Dormouse bumbled, "Don't make me choose—a life is a life—ugh!" He threw down his controller to rub at his face with both hands, clearly upset and turning the pale skin there irritated red.
"Get out of my way," Joy growled.
And I saw pink hair fly past Sparo on the bridge; I watched the Warrior's boots kick up behind her as she sprinted into the tower behind the Mimi character.
And she brought up her grenade launcher.
POW.
Fire. Explosion.
[TEAMMATE SOLDIER, FRIEND 10: -20 HP, 0/120]
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: System Penalty: TEAMMATE SOLDIER, FRIEND 10 Eliminated -15 XP, 1332/1400]
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: System Penalty: What The F*** Are You Doing? Friendly Fire Is Not Fire! -30 XP, 1302/1400]
The bot dropped to the ground, blood leaking into a pool. The flag bobbed—
"See, as easy as—" Joy started, but green flashed by her pink hair. And, suddenly, the girl with green pigtails held the yellow flag and zipped past Joy and out the door.
"Oh no you don't!" I shouted.
She couldn't—
That bitch couldn't win. I wouldn't let her.
I aimed my weapon—
"Are you kidding me?!" Joy yelled, her character barreling after the girl with grenade launcher raised too, "She is going down—"
"What can I do?" Dormouse piped up.
"NOTHING," Joy and I answered together. If he managed to screw this up one more time—
Our eyes were locked on the screen, following the little, green target with the red enemy tag.
"What's your plan?" I asked Joy, letting my gun do the talking as I fired at EmeraldCity. She was firing too. The noise from the volley filled the room, making us have to scream over it.
"Mow her over, and take the flag," Joy told me, "Plain and simple."
"Got it," I responded. I could do plain and simple.
But Joy was closer than I was with a better angle; her shots were far nearer than I could get mine. I watched EmeraldCity weave around a stack of barrels to try to get some cover but—
POW.
Apparently, they were explosive barrels… I watched the stats fly across the screen:
[EMERALDCITY_88, UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL: -8 HP, 0/10]
[JOY, WARRIOR 14 AVATAR: System Reward: EMERALDCITY_88, UNIDENTIFIED CLASS, UNIDENTIFIED LEVEL Eliminated +15 XP, 1317/1400]
EmeraldCity went down. Dead? Was she…dead? My breath snagged in my throat at her doll-like form, unmoving on the ground.
The flag bobbed over her head.
"Got it!" Joy screamed, nearly standing on top of the sofa now. Her avatar lunged for the flag and grabbed it. ...And it was like one of those battlefield movies where the fantasy girl was running through a spray of bullets, arrows and spears with barely any clothing on, her long hair sweeping back behind her, her face glossy and perfect, determination building steel in her eyes—
As she ran.
Sprinted with the flag rippling over her shoulder—
"Cover me!" she shrieked.
And I raced down the stairs to get closer to her, "Will do!"
But my body was tense.
Because, for whatever reason, it didn't feel like this was over yet.