A Few Days More - Sanders Sides

The Day We Play

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of Shooting

Damion pulled into a parking space in front of our destination. Once he parked the car, Logan gave him a sock in the arm from the passenger seat. "That's the last time you drive with any of us in the car!" He grumbled.

"You're here in one piece, aren't you? Besides, I'm an amazing driver!" Damion gloated. I stopped listening to their argument. Instead, I excitedly opened my door and looked up at the building's sign. We were at a place known as Lazer Tag Tower. It was a local place that I've always heard about, but of course, never went.

Everyone else exited the car. I could feel Roman get out and wrap his gentle arms around my waist. "You excited, baby?" He asked, kissing my cheek.

"More than you know. I mean, when was the last time we all did something together?!" I exclaimed, pushing myself out of his grasp.

"I agree, kiddo!" Patton cheered. Remus and Damion lead the way inside the building. As soon as we were in, my exceptions were already blown away. The floor had bright neon carpeting that partly ran up the wall. There was an air hockey table next to a few other arcade machines.

At the front desk, sat a lowly teenager along with all the gear and equipment needed to play a round of laser tag. I was on the tip of my toes with excitement. Roman laughed at my adorableness but I just couldn't help it.

Ever since Logan, Patton, Roman, Damion, and Remus came into my life, I've started to feel like an actual teenager. Someone who doesn't have mental scars that cut deeper than knives. Someone who wasn't in a mental hospital. Someone who is normal. They are my real family, and I'll never forget that.

Logan got us set up with the teenager. He gave us our gear and laser guns. Roman helped me get my shield, body protector, thingy on before the teenager began explaining the rules. "Alright, you'll be in two teams of three. The thing in the middle of your vest is where you have to be hit to be out. In the laser tag course, we only ask that you don't break anything," He seemed to look at Remus when he said that, "And, as always, have fun." With that, the teen opened the door and let us inside.

When the door was shut, the course lit up with all sorts of bright neon colors. "Wait, how do we know which team we're on?" Patton asked. No sooner than after the words left his mouth, did our vests light up. Damion, Roman, and Patton's lit up red while Logan, Remus', and mine lit up blue.

"Oh, I love it when the teams are split by tops vs. bottoms." Remus joked. The loudspeakers crackled, playing some type of dubstep before a voice rang through.

"Alright, team blue vs. team red. Players, you have 60 seconds to find a good base or hiding spot. Once that time is up, you are vulnerable! Ready? Begin!" The sound of a ticking clock began to play as everyone split up in a different direction.

I ran along the wall, doing my best to follow it so I wouldn't crash into anything. I could barely see a tower that I could climb up to. I did my best to find its base and climb up that way. The clock stopped, meaning everything now was fair game. I just barely made it onto the tower before I heard what sounded like Remus scream.

"He better not get caught in the first three seconds," I said to myself. I laid on my stomach, just peeking off the edge of the platform with my laser gun pointed out. I was trying to snipe someone, but I couldn't see anyone.

Blurs of Roman and Damion kept going by, but they were becoming too fast to shoot. Damion had stopped, meaning I had a lock on him. Once I did, I was just about to pull the trigger, when I felt someone lightly kick my leg. I almost dropped my gun it scarred me so bad.

I turned around to see Patton, his gun pointed at my chest. "Sorry, kiddo. But you know the rules!"

"P-Patton, please, you don't want to do this!" I begged, scooting right on the edge of the platform. I had the guts to look down, seeing about a five-foot drop below me.

"I really don't, kiddo. But a game is a game." With that, I shut my eyes, waiting for him to shoot and my vest to sound off. But, nothing happened. I looked up to Patton to see his vest color had gone white. I turned around to see Remus on a platform behind me. He was laughing and cheering.

I smiled at him. But watched in all horror as Roman came up behind him and shot him. Remus' face lit up white as he looked down at his vest. Dramatically, Remus fell to the ground. Roman and I made eye contact, my heart skipping a beat. He pointed the gun at me. Right before he was able to shoot, I rolled out of the way.

I was off like a rocket after that. I sprinted off the platform, landing crookedly on my feet. After that, I sprinted along the wall, trying to keep my distance from Roman. I thought I had lost him until Damion ran out in front of me. I screamed, skidding to a halt.

He had his gun pointed at me. I went to run away but Roman had me cornered. At this point, it was either get shot by Damion or get shot by Roman. "Nowhere to run, baby!" Roman hollered, taking a step closer. "It's the end of the line."

"Says you!" I ducked to the floor before shooting Roman's chest until his vest turned white. Then, before Damion could react, I sprinted away again. I had to find Logan and hope he wasn't hit.

I ran and ran, having no luck find him. That was until I turned a corner and gracefully fell on my face. My vision was spinning for a second until I was turned on my side. I saw Logan looking at me, continuing to wave his hand in front of my face. "I'm so sorry about that, Virgil. Are you alright?"

"I'm good. But what are you doing hiding over here?"

"Well, when I heard you scream, I thought it'd be best if I laid low until I knew who got shot," He explained.

"Well, it's just you, me, and Damion now. So I think we can-" I got cut off by Logan's vest turning white. He looked just as surprised as I did upon it happening. Glancing up at the tower opposite of us, there was Damion, ready to shoot me too.

I stood up, pointing my weapon at Damion. "It doesn't have to be this way!" Damion shouted, placing his finger on the trigger.

"But only one team can win!" I shouted back. I shut my eyes as I pulled the trigger. I could hear him do the same. It was a deathly silence for a couple of painful seconds. I waited for my vest to make a noise, symbolizing my loss. However, when I opened my eyes, Damion's vest was white and mine was not.

I looked at the platform next to me. Chest level was a neon dot, showing me where Damion had actually shot. He missed. I won.

The lights turned back on as Logan and Remus ran over to me. "You won!" Logan cheered.

"BOTTOMS WIN!" Remus roared. I laughed as Patton, Roman, and Damion came over. Roman gave me a peck on the cheek as celebration. We walked out of the course, all of us were hand in hand. This day couldn't have been any better.

Hello everyone! Sorry for updating this so late. I've been a little busy on here. What with, From What I've Heard, Stronger than Blood, and...a secret project. But, of course, if you have any suggestions for this book, please comment them! Who knows, your suggestion might just appear here!