And so, slowly, I started to inch my way back. It wasn’t easy by any stretch. And I hated not being able to see where I was going. The walls felt as if they were closing in, tighter and tighter the farther I crawled. At first, I figured it was my imagination. But then I realized it might not be. What if the designers were shrinking the tunnel right then and there? What if it got too small when I was still inside? My stomach swam. I felt like I was going to throw up. Or scream.
“Help!” I cried, my voice shaky and barely audible. “HELP!”
Suddenly, I heard a noise. Which could have been good—help on the way, and all that. Except it didn’t sound like help. It sounded more like… scratching. Scraping. Like a giant—
RAT!
“ARGH!” I cried as the hugest rat I’d ever seen started running in my direction, its brown furry body almost as big as my own. As it got closer, I realized in horror that it wasn’t just a rat, either. It was a zombie rat. With glowing red eyes. Sharp fangs.
And it was coming straight at me.
I tried to back up. I banged my head on the ceiling. My wrist turned the wrong way, and my arm buckled out from under me. The rat gnashed its teeth, growing closer.
I opened my mouth in a scream.
And everything went black.
“Ian!”
I yelped as something grabbed my arm. For a moment, I thought it was the rat chomping down on my skin. Then my headset was yanked from my head and I could see again.
Namely, I could see Mom standing over me, in real-life mode, arms crossed over her chest. More terrifying than any zombie rat.
“You’re still playing? Did you even go to bed?” she demanded.
“Um…” I blinked, desperately trying to re-register with reality. Everything around me looked blurry, as if I were underwater or something. Though I didn’t feel sick to my stomach, I noticed, like I had when exiting Dragon Ops. That was something, at least. Still, I didn’t remember feeling quite so disoriented then. As if I’d been living another life outside of my real body and had just been dumped back in without warning.
Beside me, Lilli was also trying to get her bearings, blinking furiously and looking a little ill. How many hours had we been in the game? It was then that I noticed Lilli’s window. Or, more precisely, the yellowish glow coming from her window. The sun! Had we really been playing all night long? So much for the whole time-compression thing. Maybe it didn’t work on the unfinished levels.
Mom grabbed the headset off the bed, turning it over in her hands. A small smile crept to her lips, telling us she knew she was supposed to be angry at all the screen time but kind of understood. “So the game’s that good, huh?”
“It’s pretty incredible,” I admitted. “I mean, I’ll never like apocalypse games more than fantasy games, but the world is intense. Super realistic.”
Mom nodded, her eyes taking on a dreamy look. “Man, I used to love this game when I was a kid. Of course it was a lot different back then. I remember there was this secret chest at the beginning. Like a weapons cache…”
I glanced at Lilli. She was looking at Mom, impressed. Wow. Guess we should have hit up Mom before diving in. She might have known more secrets than Starr.
Mom started to slide the helmet over her own head.
“What are you doing?” I cried, alarmed.
“You promised I could try it!” she protested. “Just for a minute!”
I watched, helpless, as she sat down on the bed. She turned her head from left to right. Then back again. Her arm waved in the air. Was she fighting the giant rat? Should we grab the helmet off her head?
But it turned out we didn’t have to. A moment later, she removed the helmet herself. “Pretty cool,” she said. “Though you didn’t get very far. I thought you’d played all night.”
I cocked my head in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“You’re at the starting area. In the warehouse. I remember it from the eight-bit game.” She smiled, handing the helmet back to me. “It looks so much different now, though. It was like I was really there.”
“Wait, we were in the starting zone?” I asked, my heart sinking. Oh no. Had we glitched out like Josh had said? Maybe we died and there was nowhere to send us but back to the beginning. Or Mom shut off the game before it autosaved. If it did even autosave on an unfinished level… I shot a look at Lilli, who mimicked a face-palm.
“I think so.” Mom rose to her feet. “Anyway, I gotta get to work. I’m already running late. And don’t forget, you two have camp today.”
“Camp?”
“Uh, yeah. Basketball camp? Remember you begged me to sign you up at the beginning of the summer? And, Lilli, you’re at soccer camp again this week.”
Ugh. I’d totally forgotten about that. Back when I was trying desperately to stay away from video games, I’d had this crazy idea to sign up for every sports camp under the sun. To help keep me in real-life mode all summer long.
But now…
I put my hand to my forehead. “I’m actually feeling kind of sick. I might need to skip today.”
“Same,” Lilli agreed, lying back on the bed and sighing dramatically.
“Real sick or sick from staying up all night playing computer games?” Mom asked, giving us a suspicious look.
Yeah. I should have known she wouldn’t buy that one. Guess it was better to just come clean. “Look, I’m sorry,” I said. “I really didn’t realize we had been playing for so long.”
Mom gave a long sigh. But I knew, of all people, she understood. “Look, I’ll let you stay home today. But that’s it. And I don’t want you playing any
