Chapter 4: Lasers and Other Hazards
"Walgreens can suck my dick."
I was running as fast as my short legs could take me. I'd already been shot a few times and I was not going to allow those boys to make more points off my lifeblood. It wasn't fair, really. They were so much larger than I was but so quiet. Fucking Jake had sniped me from directly above, hanging over the safety wall and pointing downwards, as if he knew I'd be coming into view.
This was a really nice laser tag arena. Paul and the guys had taken me all the way out to Olympia to get here. It was three stories, tons of obstacles, hide-y holes and the arena has a few turrets that scanned around, deactivating players for five seconds if the lasers touched your vest. Right now, we were in free-for-all mode. The guys had purchased all night passes, and we'd already done a few rounds of teams. There were a few other groups at the arena, but the guys had already made one group of frat boys rage quit when they blew them out of the water three games in a row. I had to admit, that had been kind of funny. Watching college age boys whining like babies because they'd been beaten, fair and square, was great.
I ducked behind a pillar as a laser point appeared on the wall in front of me and the tell-tale sounds of electronically synthesized gunfire filled the air. Deciding a little drama was in order, I dove and slid around a corner... and instantly regretted it as my sweat pants rode up and I got a wicked carpet burn on my ankle. I hissed in pain, but got up and ran again.
A staircase came into view, heading down, which was interesting to me, since I was already on the ground floor. I hadn't noticed it before now, but the glowing yellow "WATCH YOUR STEP" announced it now. It was behind a wall, so perhaps it was meant to be hidden. Either way, I dashed down the steps quickly at full throttle and nearly ran smack dab into a wall for my trouble. It wasn't another floor at all, but just another little hiding spot. At the end of the steps, it only went another five feet and then curved into an L shape. I presume one could hide down here and then shoot anyone who tried to do the same.
I heard hard footfalls coming down the stairs that I had just traveled down, and turned around quickly, shooting my pursuer right as they did run into the wall that I myself had only stopped short of. Jared gave a dramatic sigh, his gun falling to his side as he turned to look at me, the run in with the wall seemingly not phasing him much. I guess he'd run out of lives as his vest flashed blue, signaling that he needed to go to the recharge station before he could resume playing. I shrugged in response to his clear exasperation and dashed back up the steps. Before I reached the top, however, I slowed and peered around the wall that hid the staircase to see Seth creeping around. I shot him on his back shoulder pad and then ducked back behind the wall. Except, Jared, upset about having to recharge, pushed me back into the open on his way up the stairs and soon, my own vest was flashing as Seth unloaded multiple shots into me.
"Well, fuck," I said, bummed out, and followed Jared to the recharge station.
Jared hit the recharge station first and was off before my vest resumed its solid red color. There was no shooting in the recharge area, so its not like he could have gotten me anyway, nor I him. I was on my way out when I noticed some movement from above. Most of the ways to the upper floors were simple stairs and ramps, but there was a cargo net one could climb if they so chose to the second floor. It was moving now as someone attempted to shimmy their way down from the second floor. I shot at the glowing lights while they attempted to untangle their gun from the netting.
By the time he hit the ground, Embry was glaring at me, his vest flashing blue. He pointed at me and then dragged his thumb across his throat in clear threat before stalking off to go recharge. I started to giggle, but was cut off when I heard more electric gunfire and my vest started vibrating. I took off and hooked around a post to cut off their line of fire.
A quick peak showed that it was Jake approaching me, his gun still raised. My vest was still blocked by the pole, so I raised my gun and started shooting myself. Jake ducked out of reach pretty readily, attempting to circle around so that my shoulder pads were accessible to him. He was quick, but just as he was able to reach me again, rapid fire had his vest turning blue. He turned to look at his surprise assailant at the same time I did. There was Paul, grinning. Jake flipped him the bird and went towards the recharge station. Paul raised his gun and I thought he was going to shoot me, but his gun tilted a bit to the side and he let off several more shots. I turned and saw one of the other players sigh with his vest flashing blue. I looked back towards Paul and he winked at me before darting off into the course, disappearing in a puff of fog released by a machine.
The round ended not too long after and we all piled back into the "debriefing" room to go over scores. Paul had won the round, having only been killed twice the whole game and having killed eighteen people over the course of the twenty-five minute round. Impressive. I only killed five. The next round was teams and we decided that would be our last one of the night. It was approaching midnight and we had a long drive home in front of us.
The computer divided us up into teams randomly and our vests glowed either blue or red. Me, Embry and Seth all glowed blue while Paul, Jake and Jared all glowed red with a handful of randoms on either side. Me and Embry fist bumped as we were led to opposite ends of the arena to be released. Each side also had a gate that was worth extra points every time it got shot down. One of the randoms volunteered to guard it and so, as soon as the starting bell whistled, we spread out and began the hunt. Embry headed for the second floor while Seth and I stayed on the ground, though we forked into two different directions. Electronic gunfire began shortly thereafter and I knew the game was on. I was hidden behind one of the many walls and was sniping people as they came across through a small hole cut in the wall. No one I recognized, but still, very satisfying as my previous failure in the last round.
I'd just killed another red when I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Jake behind me with a sadistic grin at his face. And he had me back against a wall. We quickly began shooting at each other in a rapid fire manner, trying to kill one another before the other kid, but the element of surprise gave him the edge and soon, my vest was flashing.
I stuck my tongue out at him and trekked off to the gate to recharge. When I got there, the guy who had volunteered to be guard was battling it out with Paul, so I recharged quickly and shot him just as the guard died, triggering the flashing of his own vest. Paul pouted at me and put a hand on his chest, as if he were deeply offended. "Sydney, how could you?" he asked in a mock-devastated voice.
I grinned and squeezed off another shot, albeit, a useless one, since his vest was already flashing and said, "Like that."
Paul sighed dramatically and turned to head back towards his own recharge station. I giggled, extremely entertained by his antics and headed off to kill more reds, this time taking to the upper floors. I hadn't spent much time on the third floor this game, so I took off up the second flight of stairs I came across just as quickly as the first. As I hit the top, however, I immediately had to take a step back as a laser point hit the wall directly next to me and the electronic shooting noises filled the air. Someone was sitting at the top of the stairs, killing people as they got to the third floor, I dropped to my knees, crawling with one hand and using the other to hold the gun aloft. Not expecting me to be so low, the person shooting aimed well above my head and I was able to take them out. "Aw, man," the stranger said, dejected as he headed down towards the first floor to recharge.
There wasn't too much going on up on the third floor, with most of the action being centered around shooting down the gates or some sniping positions from the second floor, so I headed back down. Almost immediately, I was accosted by gunfire and the feeling of my vest vibrating. I spun around to see who was firing, but felt the uncomfortable pull in my ankle that signaled that I'd moved too quickly.
I gasped at the discomfort and pain suddenly radiating from my ankle and collapsed as I tried to put my weight on it. I didn't even care about my vest flashing as I reached for the throbbing ankle, poking and prodding it. I felt the beginnings of tears pricking at the corners of my eyes because it hurt.
The guy who had been shooting me - not one of the guys - stopped and looked me over before shouting, "Hey, we got an injury in here! Time out!"
It took a moment, but the lights in the arena flashed on, illuminating the once dim laser tag arena. The guy who'd called for the timeout went on a search for one of the arena workers so that they could help me off the floor. I didn't think this kind of thing was uncommon, since the first thing you did when you entered the building was sign a waiver, but that didn't make it suck any less. I held onto my ankle tightly while I waited, the pressure calming down the throbbing just a little.
Seth came around the corner and when he saw me, he immediately became concerned. "Sydney, are you okay?" he asked as he came towards me.
I smiled, though I think it came out as more of a pained grimace. "I think it's just a sprain."
Before I could make any sort of objection, Seth leaned down and wrapped one arm underneath my legs and the other around my waist, hefting me into the air as if I was little more than a feather. The arm closest to him instinctively went around his shoulder to avoid getting crushed between us. I couldn't help but notice how taut his chest was as he carried me towards one of the entrances, nor could I miss the bulge in his biceps. And jeez, he was really warm. I could feel myself heating up just from being so close... or was that a blush?
I didn't have much time to ponder it, though, since the attendants found us. One tried to take me from Seth, but he snapped, "I got her!" before he could take me. I blinked and looked up at him, surprised. The attendant paused, but didn't argue, instead, leading us through the debriefing room and into a little office with a cot.
Seth set me down just as Paul entered the room at a run, clipping his shoulder against the door frame and cracking it. He barely even acknowledged the crack he'd put in the frame, instead pushing past Seth to come stand next to me. I thought I saw his hand reach out for mine for a second before he quickly snatched it back, but he moved so fast, I couldn't be sure. I didn't miss the extremely pointed glace that Paul threw at Seth and the hard look Seth gave him back. What the hell was that about? Ugh, boys.
I was distracted by the attendant pulling too hard on my ankle and I hissed in pain, reflexively reaching to protect the ankle from his rough handling, though stopped before I smacked his hand away like I wanted too. Jeez, I had a couple tears leaking out of my eyes and hadn't walked in here under my own power. You'd think that would tip a guy off that it might hurt and he should, oh, I don't know, be a bit gentle. Apparently not. He sighed and pulled off his glasses to wipe them on his shirt. "I don't feel any obvious breaks. It's probably just a sprained ankle, but it could be a fracture if you're unlucky. There's an Urgent Care two blocks away if you want to get it checked out. For safety and liability reasons, though, we have to rescind your play pass for the rest of the night." He cracked a smile. "Not that you'll be missing too much play time."
I cracked my own smile at that. This place shut down at midnight and we were about 20 till. He turned to address Paul and Seth. "If you want, one of you could stay here and keep her company while the rest of the players finish off the last round."
"I'll stay," Paul said, already pulling his vest over his head and handing it off to the attendant. He smiled, though it almost looked like more of a baring of teeth, and it was directed at Seth. "'Sides," he continued congenially, "It'll keep the teams even."
Seth's expression went a touch steelier, but he nodded. He and the attendants left the room and I heard the game resume on the other side of the door shortly after. I blew out a puff of air, ruffling my bangs with the force, and leaned back on the cot. "What's up with you and Seth?"
Paul grabbed the chair the attendant had been using while checking on my ankle and brought it too my side, plopping down next to me. "Ah, nothing," Paul said, waving dismissively as if it hadn't been icy as Siberia in here a moment ago. "He's just pissing me off. I'm sure it will be resolved in a day or two. What about you? How's your ankle?"
"It's throbbing," I answered truthfully, "but I think I'll live."
"Need an amputation?"
I chuckled. "I think I'll try an ice pack first, but if I need a foot removed, I'll be sure to let you know."
"If you say so," he said with mock exasperation. "But losing another foot when you're so short..."
It took me a second to understand what he was getting at but when I did, I turned to glare at him. "That was a terrible joke. It wasn't even a pun."
Paul crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. "It was so a pun. Puns are word play and I switched around two meanings for foot. Wordplay, pun," he argued.
"It was bad and you should feel bad," I asserted, decisive.
He chuckled, not seeming to feel bad in the slightest. I smiled, not feeling bad either. Aside from the pain in my ankle, I felt pretty hunky dory right now. Paul's presence was so nice. I was already really comfortable with him and he was easy to talk to, despite my brain occasionally short circuiting. And injury not withstanding, I'd had an awesome time tonight. I definitely wanted to come back sometime and I wanted to spend more time with the pack. Truth be told, I also just wanted to spend more time with Paul, but our time alone was coming to a close as I heard the timer go off and the abrupt cut off of the background cacophony of synthesized gunfire. The exit slid open and people began exiting.
I held out my hand to Paul and hadn't even finished asking, "Hey, can you help me up?" before he took it and hoisted me onto my good foot, steadying me when I wobbled. We filed into the debriefing room with everyone else. My team won the last round of the night, and despite the fact that I was grasping his forearm for balance, I turned to stick my tongue out at Paul in a gloating manner. Paul shrugged in an acquiescing fashion, gracious enough not to drop me for being a sore winner.
After everyone had put up their equipment, we all spilled out into the parking lot, laughing, and Paul still helping me hobble around. He'd offered to give me a piggy back ride, but I'd privately decided that if he held me, there was a 50/50 shot of my heart imploding, and so I kindly declined. We all gathered in the space between the vehicles we'd taken - Paul's truck and Jake's Rabbit. The passenger door of Paul's truck was open and he'd picked me up and set me up there so that I didn't have to stand anymore. "So miss, Syd," Jared said, leaning opposite me against Jake's rabbit, "do you think we need to take you anywhere to take care of your ankle?"
I considered the question, peering down at the offending appendage. My foot was bare, my sock and shoe lying discarded on the floor of the truck. I gave my ankle an experimental roll and I swear I've never seen five men's attention focused so intently on a foot. It gave a little twinge, but the already fading pain wasn't severe.
I shrugged. "I think an ice pack and an ace bandage will do the trick."
Embry thrust his finger in the air dramatically. "To CVS!" he announced.
"Why not Walgreens?" I asked.
Embry's head turned towards me in an exaggeratedly slow manner, his eyes narrowed at me. "Walgreens can suck my dick," he said caustically.
"He used to work for Walgreens and hated it," Jake said, by way of explanation.
I rolled my eyes, but turned myself in place to get more fully in my seat. Embry hopped in behind me, closing his door to allow me to close mine. "Walgreens fucking sucks," he muttered, still sounding bitter, causing me to giggle. I was so distracted by Embry's mutterings about Walgreens that I almost missed what happened outside. Almost. We'd come in two groups. Jake and Jared had left slightly later than the rest of us, so they'd taken the Rabbit while the rest of us had gone in Paul's truck. When Seth moved towards the truck, Paul put a hand on his chest, stopping him and giving him a light shove. Paul's back was too me, but I could see Seth's face and his features were clouded over in a storm of emotion. I was worried it was going to break into a fight right then and there, but Seth backed up and headed towards the Rabbit, where, I noticed, Jake had been staring at them just as intently as I had.
Paul hopped in the front seat and I wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but decided to let it go, since his face was already back to it's easy grin. "Let's get you all patched up," he said, practically jovial. "Your parents probably wouldn't appreciate me bringing you back all broken."
We drove to the nearest CVS and bought one of those ice packs you crack to get it to freeze and a bandage to wrap it to my ankle with. Sometime after it was secured, I nodded off in the passenger side. Which was to be expected since when I was jolted awake by the sound of a door shutting next to my ear, the dash clock said it was nearing 3 am. I looked to my left in time to see Embry give a quick wave on the way inside his mom's house. I let my head loll in the other direction to look at Paul. He grinned. "Hey, sleepy head," he said softly.
"Mmmm," I replied, blinking lazily in his direction.
Paul chuckled at my oh-so-articulate response. "Just a few more minutes now, sleepy girl. You'll be in your bed soon."
"Mmmm," I repeated, but sounding more content this time.
I was starting to drift off again when Paul pulled over, barely bringing me back from the brink of unconsciousness. I could tell we were at my house, though couldn't seem to lift my head up enough to even look out the window. Paul got out and came around to my side, scooping me into his arms. It was the second time I'd been carried tonight, but this time I knew for a fact I was blushing. That thought made me remember all the weird stuff with Seth from earlier
My hazy mind lost its filter and I groaned, "Why are you and Seth being such dicks to each other?"
I thought Paul sounded amused when he said, "Dicks, huh?" but he became more serious when he continued with, "I don't know. He's rubbing me the wrong way with how he'd been acting around you and I've always had sort of a short temper."
"He's nice to me," I said, halfheartedly defending Seth in my sleepy state.
It might have been my imagination, since I was still half unconscious, but I thought I heard him say, "Yeah, that's part of the problem." However, I before I could question him, he stopped and a quick peak revealed we were at my front door. "You think you can make it inside on your own?" he asked, raising an eyebrow like he doubted it himself. I nodded and he set me down very gently, making sure to maneuver me so that my good foot hit the ground first.
I fished out my keys, unlocking the front door on auto pilot. I looked at Paul, ready to bid him goodnight when I caught sight of how the moonlight highlighted his cheekbones, making him look like a bronzed elf. My filter abandoned my sleepy brain yet again. "You're really good looking, did'ya know that?"
Paul just blinked obviously surprised. His mouth opened and closed a couple times, fishing for a response before he seemed to settle on, "Thank you, Sydney."
I nodded blearily. "Goodnight, Paul."
"Goodnight... beautiful."
I heard him, but didn't register the compliment before I'd stripped down and fallen into bed. By the next morning, I didn't recall how I'd gotten home at all.
