August 21st Saturday
I hear my alarm clock for the 8:00 ring. I look to my left and grumble as I slam the clock to turn it off. I looked up to see my mess I made last night. My Xbox controller lay on the foot of my bed and hot pocket wrappers littered the floor. I sigh as I remember what happened last night.
Flashback (9:51 pm)
"Gotcha!" I shouted as I filled Lincolns' avatar with lead
"Dang it!" Lincoln shouted over the mic as his character fell to my LMG
"That's 50-16," I said to Lincoln "Come on, those are rookie numbers. You need to bump those numbers up."
"Lincoln!" I heard Lola yell, "Go to bed!"
"Oh crap!" Lincoln shouted over the mic, "It's 10:00 already?"
"It is?" I said as I pulled my phone from my pocket. "Oh crap, we've been playing for 3 hours now."
"Alright, well I need to go to bed," Lincoln said "See you tomorrow."
"See you, tomorrow bro," I said
"What?"
"What?" I said, "We're bros, aren't we?"
"I mean… yeah, Yeah!" Lincoln said, "We are bros."
"LINCOLN GO TO SLEEP!" I heard all the Loud siblings and parents yell over the mic.
"Ok see you tomorrow," Lincoln said in a rush
"Ok see ya," I responded quickly
Lincoln left the Lobby and I was left alone with a half-eaten hot pocket on a plastic plate to my left. I lay in my bed while sliding the headphones off my head and for a while and it was… quiet. I looked around the room and saw that there was no one doing the same to me. I paused for a while but I pressed the home button on the Xbox controller and selected Doom 1993. I began to spray demons and in silence as my headphones were still left to my side. I heard faint cries of the dead through my still plugged-in headphones.
End flashback
I got off of my bed and I walked to my bathroom. I lowered the front of my shorts as I pissed into the toilet. I looked to my left and saw a US Army seal sticker on my wall and I started at it. I finished my business and I shook my tool and pulled up my shorts. I walked out of the restroom and walked to my closet. I opened it and sipped on a long, green, sleeve shirt and blue jeans. I opened my door and saw the emptiness around my house. Suddenly I hear a door creak and I look to see my parents dressed up in their standard attire. My mom was getting ready for an acting role in a small college film while my dad was getting ready for a business call.
"Morning sweety," Mom said "How did you sleep?"
"I slept well," I said "I was just going to go downstairs and get breakfast."
"Oh, want me to make you a cheesy egg sandwich with extra alfalfa sprouts?" My dad asked
"Sure," I responded
I took a step to the stairs but then a mass tackled me and I stumbled.
"Boo!" My sister yelped as she tackled my leg, "Did I scare you?"
I patted her head and laughed, "Yeah you got me."
"I have a playdate again," She said with a smile "Mommy's going to take me."
"That's cool," I said "Hope you have fun."
She let go and I continued to walk down the stairs. I soon hear my step-brother playing on his PS5 in his room and I ignored it and continued to walk to the front door. I opened it and saw beautiful blue skies with the trees beginning to look like deadwood. I look over to the Louds already making a ruckus and I sighed in defeat.
"Those Louds, can't go one day without making a noise," I said as I walked to the mailbox
I popped the lid open and looked inside. I saw a few letters in there with bills mixed in. I fished them out and I looked over them.
"Water bill, the electric bill, a letter from a scammer, pizza coupons, Military magazine," I said
I closed the mailbox and walked back inside as I hear the rumble of my mom's Jeep to get to the location for the production shoot. The smell of eggs filled my nose and I placed the mail onto the counter while I pulled the magazine from the pile. I sat at the table and opened it to see a man saluting while an F-22 Raptor is in the background. I continued to read and I hear a plate being placed in front of me. I look up from the magazine and see my sandwich ready for me. I garb it as my step-dad runs to the basement to get onto his meeting. I take a bite of the sandwich and continued to read my magazine. No one showed an interest in the military except for me. My mom is working on becoming an actress, Dad owns a business, my sister wants to be like my mom, and my brother wants to be an Instagram influencer… ffffucking yucky.
Bzzt bzzt
I felt my phone vibrate and I fished it out while still chewing on my sandwich. I looked down to see a text from Lincoln.
'Hey, can we play COD today?'
'Sure,' I replied
'Thanks, it's so nice that you can be here to play with me when my friends won't.'
'Why don't you invite them to play?'
'Well they don't have and COD or Xboxes'
'Did you ask them to see if they wanted to hang out
'Well, Clyde always passes every time he sees bloodshed in games. Now that I think about it, he never does anything his age, like plates, rated T or M games, or exercise. He still likes Ace Savvy. Stella just doesn't do non-arcade games. Rusty is alright but he doesn't know when to accept when he doesn't get the girls. Liam works on a farm so he doesn't play video games. Zach is ok.'
'Don't you like Ace Savvy? And I don't know who any of those people are.' I asked as I took a bite of my sandwich
'I mean yeah, but not as much as Doom now. They're my friends.'
'I see'
'Wait, Clyde is texting me.'
.
.
.
'What did he say?'
'He's asking if he wants to hang out.'
'What did you tell him?'
'I told him that I was busy and maybe later.'
'Oh ok, so see you in the Lobby,'
'See you, bro.'
Lincoln's POV
Lincoln slipped his phone in his pocket and ran to his room to play but soon a voice filled his ears.
"Hi Linky," Lola said, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, me and Mendez we're going to play games online."
"Ugh, you and your video games, just don't let me hear it," Lola told him "Wait, aren't you going to invite Clyde or one of your other dumb friends?"
"Nope," Lincoln said, "It's just me vs Emmet."
"But I thought you liked having fun with Clyde," Lola said
"Well, Emmet is online right now so I'm going to meet him on Xbox Live," Lincoln said
Lincoln rushed to his room and closed the door as he pressed the button for his Xbox and it came to life as the Screen the size of a computer monitor lit up.
My POV
I headed up to my room and closed the door behind me as I finished munching on my sandwich. I walked over to my bed and hopped on and held on the button on my controller and my Xbox turned on with a rev of the fan. The Tv with the size of a standard flatscreen lit up. I addManwitdaplan11 into my lobby.
"Hey Mendez," Lincoln said over the mic
"What's up bro," I said "Ready to get your butt whooped at Warzone again."
"Like heck!" Lincoln said
I selected the Warzone app and I logged into my Activision account.
"Hey give me a sec," I said "I'm going to open my blinds. It's dark in here."
As the Lobby was loading I walked over to the window and flipped open the blinds. I saw green and some brown patches of grass. Birds were flying south for their start of migration. I suddenly see a rustling in the bushes but I brushed it off as a squirrel or rabbit. I walked over to the bed and lay down again and I slipped on my headset.
"Hey, can we do squads so we can see who gets more kills?" Lincoln said as I saw his character walk through the gulag.
"Sure," I said as I flipped it onto the 4 man team
"Get ready, because now I'll win with the most kills!" Lincoln said
"In your dreams, you overcooked snowman," I said I hit ready
15 minutes later
I was walking through the marsh with my AK-47 while Lincoln was my right wingman and help a double-barreled shotgun. I looked to my right and saw that no one was approaching. I looked at the bottom left of the screen and saw the 2 X's over the 2 other squad members.
"Too bad our other squad members sucked and lost the gulag," I said
"Yeah," Lincoln said over the mic "It was so close when I got shot by that sniper on the building."
"Hahaha," I laughed "Yeah, luckily I was there with a sniper as well and shot him."
I tilted the joystick to look to my left but son a ray of light hit my eye. I squinted and looked out the window and saw a light coming from the bushes.
"Mendez! 2 Enemies at 264 degrees about 100 meters away. They don't know we're here yet." Lincoln said
I brushed it off as I continued to play. I pulled out my sniper rifle. I lined up one of the heads with the sight of the rifle. I stuck out my tongue as I was about to take the shot but soon the glare struck my eye again. I squinted my eyes as I blindly pulled the trigger. The glare went away and I saw the screen that I missed. Suddenly both players spun around and a hail of gunfire struck me and Lincoln. It lasted only 3 seconds but soon I and Lincoln were both nocked.
"Dang it," Lincoln said, "You made us lose."
"Damn, sorry," I said, " well, I guess it was time to get off anyways."
"Yeah I guess, I could kill for a fat burger right now," Lincoln said
"Lincoln… You're god damn right." I said 'Wanna dip and head to the Burp'n Burger."
"Heck yeah!" Lincoln said
I got up off of my bed and shut my Xbox off. I walked to my closet and grabbed my wallet that was still in my old pair of jeans. I opened it to see the contents of the item.
"69 dollars… nice," I said with a smirk on my face
I walked down the stairs and opened the front door. I stepped out into the green world around me and I took a big whiff. I heard another door creak and I look over to see Lincoln in his standard polo and jeans.
"Ok, so ready to go to the burger joint," I said
"Yep," Lincoln said as he pulled out his wallet
"Ok, let's go," I said as I walked to my garage
"Wait, the burpin' burger's that way" Lincoln said pointing in the opposite direction
"It's 3 miles away," I said "I don't want to get there exhausted from hauling your ass over there."
I turned to my right and pulled out a BMX Sledgehammer from the bushes. I get on top of the seat and rode to the sidewalk. Lincoln looked at the back and there were 2 poles sticking out from the wheels.
"Are you getting on or not?" I asked
Lincoln walked to me and set one foot on each rod. I looked forward and began to rotate my feet and the bike began to zoom down the street.
17 minutes later
I stopped my excessive leg swinging as I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant. I made a complete stop and Lincoln hopped off of the bike.
"Hey, you head inside as I get this thing secured," I said
"Ok, I'll save you a table," Lincoln said as he opened the swinging doors
I got off of my bike with my hands still glued to the bike handles and I walked it over to the rack. I took out a long metal wire with a loop on each end. I slipped it through the front wheel and around the rack. I pulled a lock from my other pocket and I slipped it through each hoop and pushed it down. I heard a click and I tugged on it to be sure. I got up and walked in the restaurant and it was mostly empty with only me, Lincoln, and 3 other customers. Lincoln was seated in a booth and I walked over to him.
"So, what do you want?" I asked
"I'll take one double patty burger and a large coke please." He said
"Ok, I gotcha," I said "Just stay here and I'll get it for yah."
I walked over to the counter and the cashier looked at me.
"Hello, welcome to the Burpin' Burger, How may I help you," She said politely
"Yes can I have 1 double patty burger, 1 spicy belcher, a strawberry shake, and 1 coke please," I concluded
"Ok, your total will be $23.76," She said as she pressed buttons on the monitor
I pulled out my wallet and I fished out $25 and slid it over the counter.
"Keep the change," I said
"Ok, so your number is 294, so just wait until we call your number," She said
"Thank you," I said before walking to Lincoln
I strutted to the booth where Lincoln sat. I sat down across from him but soon I heard the bell ring and I looked up to see a man enter the fast food place in an all black hoodie and sweatpants. I stared at him but soon someone called me.
"Hey Mendez," Lincoln said "So you went to a military school right?"
"Yeah I did," I said
"Were there any girls there?" Lincoln asked
"No, it was all boy," I replied
"Wow, that's why you don't like to hang around girls? You like boys better?" Lincoln said
"What?! No, I'm not gay," I said "Its… It's just that I don't know how to act around them so I come off as rough and heartless. But when I'm with the guys I like to have fun. I remember this one time we went AWOL once and ran to go see a movie around 1:00 in the morning and we brought back a fuck ton of candy and soda."
"Really?" Lincoln said
"Yeah, the best part was that no one knew." I said "One of my pals managed to get some from a girl behind the theater."
"What does that mean?" Lincoln questioned
"Ehhh, you don't need to know," I said as I waved it off
"Wow that sound so epic," Lincoln said
"Yeah that was totally-"
"Ok everyone hands up! Pull out anything of value and wallets!" A man screamed
I turned to see the same man in a hoodie with a surgeon's mask on with a revolver in his right hand. He looked around the store and people started to pull out their wallets, watches, ear rings, and cell phones with their hands in the air. He looked at the cashier and walked towards her with the revolver aimed at her head.
"Open the register and put all the money in here." He said as he pulled out a bag from his pocket and threw it at the girl.
I look over to Lincoln pulling out his phone and wallet with tears streaming down his face. I looked back at the man who was now going around the restaurant taking the valuables and shoveling it in his pockets. I slowly got out of my seat and walked to the robber when his back was turned. I pulled out of my pocket a pocket knife and flipped it open. I raised it and drove the knife into his back. The sweet sound of flesh being pulled apart filled my ears and I pulled it out and drove it back into his leg.
"AGHHHHHHH!" He screamed in pain and he fell to the ground
He looked at me and aimed his gun at my face and I grasped it with my hands and pushed it upwards.
BANG
A shot went through the roof and the burning barrel singed my hands. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and I was pushed off from him kicking me in the stomach. He stood up with a limp in his step and aimed his revolver at me but I smacked it away and the bullet went flying out the window. He looked at me in the eyes and I raised my fist and slammed it into his face. He stumbled backwards and fired to blind shots.
BANG BANG
I felt a sharp pain in my stomach and I fell to the ground. I held my stomach with both my hands as I winced in pain. I raised my right hand to my face and saw some blood coming onto my fingers. I heard footsteps coming towards me and I looked to see the man coming towards me.
"Well, well, well," He said as he raised his revolver at my head "This is what happens when you mess with the wrong criminal."
"Do it pussy," I hissed through my teeth "You don't have the balls that I gave to your mother."
I saw him grow angry at my comment and I saw his finger twitching on the trigger. I closed my eyes and was going to accept the inevitable and took one final breath.
.
.
.
.
Click click
I opened my eyes and saw him pulling the trigger but there was no bang. He opened the storage unit and I saw that there were no bullets... only empty cartridges.
"NOW!" I heard a man in his seat yell
Suddenly 2 people tackled the man and he was being restrained. I looked to my right and saw a woman on the phone. My vision was blurry and there was a ringing in my ears. I looked back up and ever so slowly. My eyes began to close.