Finn switched weapons, blasting a cluster of zombies that had flanked his position. "Good comms. You saved me."
Miguel beamed at the acknowledgment.
“How much gold do you have?” Finn inquired.
“Uhhh, ten,” Miguel said sheepishly.
“Ten!? I thought we agreed we were collecting all our gold so we can afford to buy the cannon?”
“We did agree to that, yes. But then I spent all my gold to upgrade my machine gun to max level.”
Finn shook his head. “Unbelievable.”
The game continued, growing more intense with each wave. They were deep into round seven when the doorbell rang.
"Pizza!" Miguel exclaimed, not taking his eyes off the screen.
"Cover me," Finn said, carefully setting down his controller. "I'll get the door."
He extracted himself from the couch, digging Elena's cash from his pocket as he made his way to the front door. Behind him, Miguel's game character was spinning in frantic circles, trying to cover both their positions.
"You're gonna die!! You're gonna die, Finn!" Miguel shouted, voice rising in panic. "There's too many of them!"
Finn pulled open the door to find a young delivery driver holding their pizza, eyes widening at Miguel's increasingly frantic shouts.
"They're all over me! Shit! SHIT!" Miguel's voice carried clearly through the house.
The delivery driver took a half-step back, pizza balanced in one hand. "Uh... is everything okay in there?"
"Video games," Finn explained, reaching for the pizza.
"I'm surrounded! I’M INFECTED! FOR FUCK’S SAKE!" Miguel wailed from the living room.
The driver's expression moved from alarmed to relieved. "Oh, man, is that Zombie Apocalypse 3? That game is sick."
"Yeah, we’re addicted," Finn agreed, handing over the cash. "Keep the change."
He closed the door with his foot, balancing the pizza and Mountain Dew as he returned to the living room. Miguel was slumped on the couch, controller abandoned.
"We died," he announced solemnly. "It was a massacre."
"A noble sacrifice in the name of pizza," Finn said, setting the boxes on the coffee table. "Plates?"
"In the kitchen," Miguel replied, already flipping open the pizza box. "Second cabinet."
When Finn returned with plates and napkins, Miguel hadalready claimed a slice of cheese. "I thought you wanted supreme?"
Miguel shrugged. "Thought I would switch it up."
“Switch it up with some basic cheese, huh?” Finn said with an eyebrow raised.
They ate in companionable silence for a few minutes. The only sounds were the zombie groans from the paused game screen.
"My dad used to order pizza every Friday," Miguel said, staring at his plate. "Before he left."
The unexpected admission caught Finn off-guard. He set his slice down, giving Miguel his full attention.
"He lives in Boston now," Miguel continued, still not looking up. "Has a new family and everything. He sends birthday cards sometimes, but mostly he's just... gone. It kinda sucks."
