Lance hesitantly sat on the old motel bed, hoping he wouldn’t be stuck spending the rest of the movie with some kind of gross bed bugs on him. He had more than enough to worry about without adding in poorly maintained hotel rooms. Josh didn’t seem to share his stepbrother’s concern, choosing to sulk on the other twin bed in the room facing the wall. Matt also seemed unperturbed sitting on the couch reading his spell book but Lance would assume all the veterans had reached a point that normal bugs couldn’t effect them.
After the team’s run in with the Creeper, they walked for nearly two hours before they found a small town. The team then found the first and cheapest motel in the town to stay for the night. They paid to have the rooms for a whole week but only got two rooms one for the boys and one for the girls. Toby couldn’t come into town as it was revealed he couldn’t take his armor off, so he and Logan were camping just out of sight of the road. Hopefully if the Creeper followed them to this town they would see and give the rest of the team a warning.
Lance wondered if the sleeping arrangements had been made with ulterior motives in mind. Such as giving the newbies the illusion of security by putting them in rooms where they outnumbered the veterans. The young man shook his head before he could go farther down that train of thought, something to examine later but right now he needed to focus on what he can do for the future. There was still six days till they were out of the movie and only 3 days until a completely unknown group of enemies came. First thing was to gather as much information as possible.
Jeepers Creepers was a series of movies that followed an ancient beast called the Creeper that awakens every 23 years for 23 days. It spends this time hunting down humans and eating specific parts of their bodies, which then form as his own. The first movie mainly focused on a brother and sister who accidently stumbled upon the Creeper and are then hunted down by it. Very little is discovered about the creature besides it’s desire to eat and improve it’s body.
Lance hadn’t watched the movie in its entirety but had read a brief synopsis online when a relative recommended it. He didn’t like movies that left so much unknown about the creatures in it, left him wanting more. Even after the third movie came out there still wasn’t enough information for him to invest his time into it.
“Hey Matt,” Lance broke the silence in the motel room “Can I ask you some questions?” He noticed his stepbrother jump a little from the sudden noise but chose not to bring it up. The veteran on the other hand only looked up calmly from his book.
“What kind of questions?” the pink haired man asked.
“Just some general questions about team battles and God’s realm.” The teenager replied turning himself so he could face Matt.
“Logan or Toby would be better to ask” the veteran said, “but I’ll answer the best I can.”
“Can you tell me why there’s a gap between when we came in and when the enemy team arrives?”
“The order is based on strength; the first team is supposedly weaker according to God’s judgement. The amount of time is random as far as I can tell.” Lance felt disheartened with this revelation, it was clear evidence they were at a disadvantage.
“Is there anyway to know what the other team has bought from God?” Maybe they could work out certain enemy team members to target and take out separate from the group.
“God has an infinite number of items and enhancements available in the Lobby. I’m sure one of them could give us that kind of Information but I don’t know which it would be and none of us have had that kind of points to spend.”
“I see” Lance pondered a moment before continuing “have you been in a team battle before?”
“No, only Logan and Toby have been. The movie before I joined was a team battle” Matt looked tired of talking but didn’t say anything to stop Lance.
“What’s going to happen on the seventh day?” Lance asked deciding to go for one last question “How to we return to the Lobby as you called it?”
“We will simply appear there. One second you’re in a horror movie” the young man snapped his fingers “and the next you’re in the lobby.” With this answer Matt opened his book again and began reading, effectively ending the conversation. Lance let it drop wanting to process the information he had. From what Matt told him it really was just a matter of not being killed until the seven days were over. The team already had a plan to work with the enemy team, so the Creeper was the greatest threat. Logically sending the newbies far away could be the best option. So, when the Creeper gained his tracking ability on the sixth day it would hopefully choose to go after the closer group. At that point ideally the two teams would be working together and then could face the Creeper in battle.
Lance wondered if that would work, it sounded like the whole point of the movies was to push humans past their limits; to unlock the genetic constraint. If that truly was the point than God would try to prevent teams from fleeing like that. Though if the goal is truly evolution through danger why bother with the movie at all? Why not just put the two teams in a world and say only one walks out? There must be a point to having a whole world available to them. Lance’s thoughts continued to span out drifting from topic to topic regarding God’s realm and survival.
No one noticed the time passing as the sun began to set on their first day in the movie world. The boys were content keeping themselves busy with their inner musings until a regal voice sounded in their heads.
“One member killed. Team East America minus one point. Currently at negative 4000 points. Members with negative points at the end of the movie will be erased...”
Matt was the first to react, jumping from the couch and rushing through the door. His goal was obvious, and the two Stepbrothers quickly followed the veteran to the Girl’s room. Gwen opened the door just before Matt could barge in, Ashley and Steele were standing behind her. Seeing the three boys all alive and present the gamer girl pulled out a small black square that flipped open to reveal itself as a communication device. Like a flip phone but it only had four large buttons to press on the bottom half and a blank screen on the top. Gwen hit one of the buttons at the same moment the regal voice sounded again.
“Two members killed. Team East America minus two points. Currently at negative 8000 points. Members with negative points at the end of the movie will be erased…”
In the next moment Logan’s face appeared on the screen fear evident on his face, to his side the armored arm of Toby could be seen. The fading sunlight revealed a forested area behind the two and it was clear no fight was happening with them.
“The newbies...” The leader said once he met Gwen’s gaze.
“All alive here.” Gwen said, dread rushed through the entirety of Team East America. Once more the Regal voice sounded in their heads.
“Two members killed. Team East America minus two points. Currently at negative 12000 points. Members with negative points at the end of the movie will be erased…”
“It has to be the separate group” Steele pointed out, moving her head to scan the surroundings.
'We'll check it out” Logan said after a short pause “if you don’t hear back from us within a couple hours or if another death announcement comes on steal a car and start driving.” With that last order the team leader hung up the communicator. The group stood in silence for a moment as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.
After a moment Gwen stepped aside and had the three boys join the girls in their room to wait. A few snacks were offered from the motel vending machine but no one could muster up much of an appetite. It was almost an hour of uncomfortable silence later that the communicator rang again. Logan was calling them but only stated that they were on their way back and would explain in person. He showed up at the door a short while later.
“They found the church” Logan spoke without being asked.
“What church?” Steele questioned
“The Creepers base?” Gwen added in her own question.
“Exactly” Logan said with a nod of his head “for those who aren’t familiar with the movie the two main characters find the Creepers hideout which is located under an abandoned church.”
“So the others found that instead of the main characters” Steele concluded “and the Creeper killed them all.”
“Yes,” Logan took a seat on the ground “and set the place ablaze afterwards. It was still burning when we arrived but we were able to find one of the pistols we gave them with the tracker to confirm it was them”
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“Could that have been why the Creeper ran off earlier?” Lance asked “he sensed them approaching his base.”
“That would be my guess” the leader replied.
“Those poor people” Ashley muttered
“Don’t pity them” Logan snapped, “we told them what to expect in this world and they made their choice”.
“That doesn’t mean they deserved to die” Josh cut in “They were just innocent people who made a mistake in an impossible situation”
Logan actually laughed at this “Innocent? Let me tell you very few innocent people enter this dimension”
“Regardless,” Steele was the one to end the argument this time “What’s the plan now? What’s our next move?” A moment of silence fell over the team as they pondered the future.
“We’re pretty screwed right now” Matt ended the silence.
“Are the trackers on the guns still active?” Lance asked, his gaze not focusing on anything.
“Yeah, we went for some of the best from the sci-fi category so they could withstand the flames” Gwen responded.
“Then could we use them to trick the other team?” The teenager asked looking to the team leader “Do the trade just like planned but leave out the fact that they already died”
“Maybe even set up an ambush” Steele added “If they think they are going after some no power newbies they probably won’t send all the strongest members.”
“Yeah that could get us out of the negatives” Lance agreed but the look on the Veterans faces was not hopeful.
“That’s a good idea guys but there’s a very small chance that would work.” Logan said regrettably.
“They probably have a psyche force user on their team” Gwen added “They would be able to do a mental scan of the area the trackers are in and see that no one alive is there.”
“I see” Lance took the dismissal of his plan in stride. There was still a lot about this world he needed to learn.
“So, our only option is to fight then?” Steele concluded.
“Looks like it” Logan let out a sigh “Whenever Team East Africa shows up, we’ll have to kill them all.”
“Do we really need to fight?” Ashley asked in a quiet voice.
“Is there another way to earn points in movies?” Lance asked. From what he learned from Matt God had decided their team was the weaker of the two. Plus, with the Creeper still free avoiding a fight might still be the best option.
Logan and Gwen shared a look before he responded “No, not without another mission from God.”
“We could probably get points for killing the Creeper” Matt voiced but nobody felt that was a viable answer.
“No, our only real option is to take out Team East Africa” Logan resolved “So we’re going to need you newbies trained up.”
“Us?” Ashley questioned, her face growing pale “but we don’t have any powers. We won’t survive a second against those guys”
“That doesn’t matter,” the leader scolded “If they do have a psyche force user, they’ll find us instantly and will be able to track us no matter where we go.”
“Meaning they can come after us at any time” Steele clarified.
“What kind of training can we get done?” Lance questioned
“We only have a day, so we’ll do basic shooting practice with your guns” Logan explained “We’ll start in the morning. Everyone should get some sleep.” With that the leader got up and left to join Toby in the woods. After saying goodnight, the boys and girls separated to their respective rooms for a long night of restless sleep.
The next morning Gwen and Matt led the newbies into the woods where they found Logan and Toby had set up a rudimentary shooting range. A series of crude statues made of broken logs and sticks that vaguely resembled people at different distances. They only set them up in groups of three as Steele with her military background wouldn’t need to practice shooting, instead she was sent to spar with Gwen and Matt.
Lance found the training quite interesting, he hadn’t shot a gun before, so he was a total beginner. The same could be said for Josh and Ashley. Josh was taking to it surprisingly well, though he seemed hesitant at the idea of shooting another person his accuracy was the best of the three. Ashley at first struggled, the recoil of the shots making her drop the gun a few times before she got the hang of it. After that she did moderately well and actually seemed to enjoy it, even asking Logan about possible guns she could buy after the movie.
The training continued for most of the morning, after the newbies had practiced enough with the stationary target Logan and Toby began to throw the targets into the air for them to try and shoot. They didn’t break till close to noon when Gwen returned with several bags of takeout food from local restaurants. Lance found himself sitting with only his brother and Ashley, as the veterans moved away with Steele to further discuss her previous training.
“How are you two feeling?” Josh asked between bites.
“Honestly really nervous” Ashley admitted “I’ve only been in a few fights before, but this is nothing I could’ve imagined.”
“I’d be a lot calmer if we had some idea of what to expect” Lance admitted “at least then we’d be able to come up with some kind of plan.”
“At least we have Logan and the other veterans” Josh pointed out “they at least give us a fighting chance”
Ashley let out a small laugh at that comment “its funny, I didn’t even want to come with them in the beginning.”
“You didn’t?” Josh asked in surprise “then why did you?”
“You didn’t notice?” Lance smirked at his stepbrother.
“When it came time for me to decide all the veterans were starting me down” the young woman revealed “with everyone else they didn’t seem to care one way or another but I could feel the attention when my turn came.”
“Do you think they would have forced you to come with them?” Josh questioned.
“I don’t know but I didn’t want to take the chance” was her only response.
“I doubt it” Lance added “they probably would have tried to convince you to stay with them.”
“Either way I guess it was the right choice” Ashley let out another dull laugh “id be dead right now if I hadn’t.”
She paused for a moment before continuing “josh I want to apologize”
“For what?” the young man asked.
“Back when we first found out their plan for the other newbies” she lowered her head in shame “I didn’t like the idea either. I wanted to say something but I was scared.” Josh remembered that she couldn’t even make eye contact with him at that time but he just let out a defeated sigh.
“I suppose it doesn’t really matter, “he said ruefully “they’re dead now and there’s nothing we can do to change that.”
“Maybe we can’t change the past” Ashley started “but once we survive this movie, maybe we can grow strong enough so that our team won’t need to rely on such tactics.”
“You think we can do that?” Josh asked doubtfully.
“You heard them, I’m going to become a key member of the team once I gain some skills.” Her voice started to take a more hopeful tone. “If you grow really strong too than we can make them change.”
Josh wasn’t sure how he felt about forcing his way onto the team. After thinking about it for awhile he understood why they tried to trade the newbies. He still didn’t like it and didn’t want any part of it for the future but survival was survival. He gave the young woman what he hoped was a cheerful smile and then changed the conversation into what she’d like to but from the shop when the movie was over.
Lance watched the two chat in silent contemplation, wondering if they could really change the team’s tactics or if they really needed to change to begin with. He turned to where the veterans were working with Steele. The former soldier worried the young man, she seemed determined to leave everything about herself a mystery. Only speaking when necessary and adding in her opinions begrudgingly when asked. She was definitely the most likely of the newbies to survive this mission, Lance wondered how would feel about changing the team’s tactics.
The break ended shortly later and the training continued. For the rest of the afternoon the newbies practiced their shooting. Going from just shooting targets that were thrown into the air to having to shoot the targets while Gwen or matt were chasing them. Steele even spent some time to show them how to throw a proper lunch even though if an enemy got that close it wasn’t likely they’d live long enough to throw one. They trained until the sun began to set then made their way back to town for what was most likely the last night of relative safety.