Oliver smirked and crossed his arms. “Instead of saying anything, how about you let me kick your ass in a round of laser tag? JJ and I want payback for that water fight.”
“If I remember correctly,” said Alec, “you guys are the ones who ambushed me. Just because you lost doesn’t mean you deserve retribution.”
“Details, schmetails,” JJ said, dismissing Alec with a wave. “You’re going down.”
Alec grinned. “We’ll see about that.”
* * *
Everyone who wanted to play gathered around the front counter. The boys decided a schoolyard pick would be the fairest method of divvying up players, with Alec and JJ serving as captains. I ended up on JJ’s team, along with Oliver, Xander, Boomer, and a handful of other guests I didn’t know. A few minutes later, we stood in an antechamber off the arena while a Zap Zone employee whose name tag read Roger handed out blasters and explained the rules.
“Okay, Blue Team. Who here has played laser tag before?” he asked. All of us had. “Good, that means I don’t have to tell you the number one rule, correct?”
“Kick Alec’s ass at all costs?” Oliver suggested.
“Wrong. Laser tag is a noncontact sport. We’re not playing rugby, okay, folks? Any player who touches an opponent will be banned from the game.” Roger said all this in a flat, my-job-sucks tone of voice.
JJ held up a hand. “But what about an accidental touch? Is that allowed? Because it’s going to be dark in the arena, and adrenaline will be pumping. Hypothetically speaking, what if I round a corner and run smack into another player?”
“Also, you said we couldn’t touchopponents,” Oliver added. “Does that mean we’re allowed to touch our teammates?” Grinning, he reached out and stroked JJ’s arm.
In response, JJ puckered his lips and attempted to kiss Oliver.
“Gentlemen,” Roger said with a practiced patience, “keep your hands to yourself, or I’ll kick you out of the game, got it?”
“Roger that, Roger!” JJ replied with a mocking salute.
Boomer snorted. “You’ve been dying to say that, haven’t you?”
“Oh, you have no idea how badly.”
“Moving on to rule number two,” Roger continued, unfazed by JJ’s and Oliver’s antics. “The sensor on your blaster must be visible at all times. Covering your sensor to prevent yourself from being tagged is poor sportsmanship and will earn your team an immediate disqualification.” After going over three more Zap Zone rules, Roger explained the type of match we’d be playing. “There are a handful of different games you can play—immortal arena, civil war, zombie mode, et cetera—but your guest of honor chose capture the flag. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the game, but here’s a quick rundown of how it’s played in our arena. Each team has a home base with an electronic flag. If you get within ten feet of your enemy’s base, you can shoot the base to capture its flag. Once this happens, an alarm will go off announcing the flag has been stolen. Your blaster will light up and repeat, ‘I have the flag.’To win, you must return to your home base and shoot it. Does that make sense?”
Oliver’s expression hardened, like this was a life-or-death situation and not a game. “If a player has the flag, can they shoot other players?”
“No, and if a player is shot when they have the flag, it disappears and is returned to its home base. Also, each player only gets three lives. Run out, and your weapon will deactivate.”
“What’s the fire rate on these things?” JJ asked, holding up his blaster.
“Good question. Our rate of fire is set at six hundred RPMs.”
“Stun time?”
“Fifteen seconds.”
“Match length?”
“Normally twenty-five minutes, but since you guys rented out the building, I’ll let you play until someone actually captures the flag.”
Putting a hand in front of my mouth, I whispered to Xander. “Are they being serious right now, or are they still messing with him?”
Xander grinned as his friends continued to barrage Roger with questions. “Deadly serious. Oliver and JJ have a habit of turning everything into a competition, and they don’t like to lose.”
“Any other questions?” Roger said then.
Oliver looked at JJ, who shook his head. “Nope, I think we’re good.”
“Awesome. I’m going to start the countdown clock. When thetimer reaches zero, the door to my left will unlock, and you can enter the arena directly into your base. At that point, all blasters, sensors, and flags will be live. Have fun.”
