Chapter Twenty-Two
ANGEL SINCLAIR
Despite my exhaustion, I didn’t sleep well Thursday night. Kira and Hala were both tossing and turning, too, so I suspected they were also anxious. Only Frankie slept blissfully. When she woke, she was her useful cheerful self, although she mentioned her muscles were a bit sore.
We ate breakfast, although most of us could barely choke anything down, then assembled in Room 101 for orientation.
Once we were present and seated, Mr. Donovan entered the room. “Good morning, candidates. Today will be your first trial. We wish you the best of luck. Now, I ask you to please rise and remain still while we prepare you.”
I stood up hesitantly, not sure what he meant by “prepare.” Jonas, the student who had pretended to be the assassin in the active-shooter scenario, came up behind each one of us and arranged blacked-out goggles tightly over our eyes.
“From this moment until we reach our destination, you’re not to remove the goggles or speak to each other,” Mr. Donovan instructed us. “If you’re caught doing either, you’re immediately disqualified.”
Someone took my hand and led me down the hallway and outside, where I could hear the birds chirping. “Watch your head,” a woman said, as she lifted my leg and helped me up into what was likely a bus or a van. I was instructed to sit, so I did. Someone slid in beside me. I had no idea who it was.
When we were all loaded, the vehicle took off. I calculated a less than five-minute ride, so wherever we were going, it was close. I suspected we were being brought somewhere on the UTOP campus.
The vehicle halted, and we were taken off the bus one by one. We must have walked into a building, because a blast of cool air hit my face. We walked a bit more before I heard a door open and I shuffled forward.
We abruptly stopped. “Put your arms out, please,” a female voice instructed me.
I did as she said, and she secured something on me—a heavy vest or shirt. Something cool was fastened to my wrist.
“Hold on to me,” she said, placing my hand on her arm. “I’ll take you where you need to go.”
We walked until she suddenly stopped. I nearly fell over her. “Stay here. Do not remove the goggles or leave this spot until instructed. Once you remove the goggles, you can talk to the other participants as needed. Do you understand?”
I nodded, my mouth dry, still afraid to talk. I waited for what seemed like hours, but time passed differently when you couldn’t see. Finally a voice came over what sounded like a loudspeaker. It was Mr. Donovan.
“Students, you may remove your goggles.”
I reached up and pulled mine off, blinking a couple of times as my eyes adjusted to my surroundings. I stood in a dark cavern with fake plastic rocks and weird strobe lights flashing. Laser tag was the first thing that leaped to mind. Glancing around, I looked for the other students but didn’t see anyone else. I examined my outfit—a vest with lights and a belt with a laser gun. I removed the gun, holding it in my hand and pressing back against a fake rock.
My initial assessment was this wasn’t going to be so bad.
I’d played laser tag a few times in my life. I wasn’t great at it, but I didn’t suck, either. I figured Wally would be pretty good because he played online shooting games all the time. Physical maneuverability could be a problem for him, but I wasn’t too worried. He could hold his own. Frankie, however, might be in real trouble, not that I even knew where she was. I had a feeling laser tag wasn’t her thing.
“Your mission is to get out in under fifteen minutes,” Mr. Donovan continued. “Every successful shot is worth five points. Minus five points to whoever gets shot. Be careful if you get shot, because your sensor will light up for five seconds, making you a beacon to others. The timer on your wrist lets you know how much game time you have left and how many points you have in terms of your personal score.”
I glanced down at the plastic timer secured around my wrist. The top line, in glowing green numbers, read Game Time 15:00. The bottom line read Points 20. So, we started with twenty points. That meant we could get hit no more than four times without scoring against someone else. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Your chest, back, shoulders have hit boxes,” Mr. Donovan continued. “Your gun also has a hit box. You must score in the hit box to get points. Here are the rules. This is a noncontact trial. No tackling, fighting, or hitting. You’ll receive an immediate disqualification if you do not observe this rule. Also, no spawn killing and no stalking. Your primary objective is to get out in under fifteen minutes with the highest score. You shoot another player only if you want more time or you want to come out ahead in terms of points. If you lose all your points from getting shot, then the game ends for you. The person who comes through the exit first gets a large bonus. Each successive person who makes it through the exit will receive extra points as well.”
I inhaled a deep breath, wishing I could see more than just the closest area. But it was too dark beyond my immediate circle, and the momentary flashes from the strobe lights didn’t extend very far.
“If you get hurt, stop your play immediately and announce it,” he continued. “Health and safety are our top priorities. Remember, your sensors must be visible during game play. You may not cover your light or sensor. Also, no shooting the face. If you hit someone with a face shot, even if it’s accidental, you lose fifteen points. Too many mistakes with shooting, and you’ll be disqualified. That’s left to our discretion. Now, good luck, and may the best student win.”
The cavern fell into silence. I considered my play. First order of priority was to find the exit and avoid being shot. I slunk around a corner and ran right into Jax. He shot me immediately, and my vest lit up.
“Watch out, Red,” he said melting back into the darkness. I swore, fumbled, and shot at him but missed.
Crap.
Running in the opposite direction, I slipped and half crawled behind a rock, trying to think. I was down five points, but the exit had to be my priority. Feeling along the wall, I inched my way forward. I felt nothing. No door, no exit. I could hear shouting in the distance, a bit to my right. I took a chance and dashed to the opposite wall. A head popped up, and Mike shot me. He scored a hit on my left shoulder. I rolled right at him and shot him in the back as he made a run for it. I saw a flash of surprise on his face as he glanced over his shoulder. Perhaps he hadn’t thought I could be so accurate in nonvirtual reality.
Good for me.
I was at fifteen points. Quickly and methodically, I continued my search along the wall, feeling for a door. I glanced at my watch. Four minutes had passed, so I’d better get a move on. I crept forward and collided with someone.
I barely kept from pulling the trigger. “Wally?” I hissed.
“Angel?” He pressed a hand to his chest and lowered his gun. “You scared the crap out of me.”
I yanked him down into a crouch, keeping my voice to a whisper. “Have you seen Frankie?”
“No. Just Kira. She was the first one to shoot me. Someone else hit me, but I didn’t see who.”
I looked down at his arm. “What’s your point situation?”
He turned his wrist over and showed me his watch. He had ten points. Two more hits and he was out.
“We’ve got to hurry and find the exit,” I said.
“No kidding. Where do you think it is?”
“Hard to say.” I considered. “Most laser tag games have clearly marked exits. I hoped that maybe they kept the door but just hid the exit sign. But I have a feeling they aren’t going to make it that easy.”
“I agree.”
“So, it’s going to be hidden somehow.” I considered the possibilities. “We’re probably looking for a latch or a lever, something that will pop it open.”
“Maybe.” The strobe lights distorted his face, and it was freaking me out. “You got a plan?”
“There’s nothing in the rules that says we can’t work together, right?”
“Not that I heard.”
“Good. We’ll have a better chance if we stick tight. I’ll keep feeling along the walls for a hidden door, just in case, and you check the rocks and floor for a lever or something. Keep your eyes open for shooters and Frankie. I’m not sure she can do this on her own. But we have to hurry. Time is ticking.”
I heard Jax shout something several feet away, and Bo bellowed back. Apparently they hadn’t found the exit yet, either. I hadn’t heard a female voice yet, but it could be the girls were being quiet. Or maybe they were already out. It was hard to know.
We started moving along methodically, feeling for anything. Wally and I watched each other’s backs. Someone shot at Wally and hit him in the shoulder. I shot back, and someone’s vest lit up as they ran away. Wally was down to five points and I was back up to twenty.
“We need to get you healthy,” I said. “Let’s wait here a minute and see if you can score a hit.”
Seconds after I said that, we spotted Bo creeping around the corner. I elbowed Wally to alert him, but Wally was already poised to fire. He squeezed the trigger and scored a hit on Bo’s chest plate.
Bo started to fire back at Wally, but I shot at him. I missed but came close enough to ruin his shot. Lit up like a beacon, Bo cut his losses and moved away.
“Thanks,” Wally said. “I’m back at ten points.”
“No problem.”
We continued searching. Time was slipping past at a scary-fast rate. I patted the wall as fast as I could, trying to hurry, when my hand hit something hard and cold. I reached out and wrapped my fingers around a pole.
“Wally, I’ve found something,” I whispered. “It’s a ladder. We’ve got to go up. It’s either the exit, or there’s another level of play.”