Chapter 6: The Boffer Club (Part 3)

Playing a zombie was even more fun than playing a human. Sam didn’t smile much these days, but she was certain she had a wicked grin spread across her face.

That didn’t stop her from dying, though. A few times. Sam could take down one person, maybe two, but unlike Mike she couldn’t be everywhere at once. Someone would always stab her from behind, or in the side. There were too many. But what little skill she had was more than made up for by the Zombie Lord. Mike carved through human after human, turning the tide almost single-handedly.

Then her eyes landed on easy prey.

“S-Sam!” Mary gasped, her face turning pale. She stepped back, shaking like a leaf, and held up her swords. She couldn't even keep them straight.

Sam lifted her sword and thrust it at Mary's chest. The other girl batted it away as best as she could.

It quickly became apparent that the matchup was terribly one-sided. Sam had a longer reach than her opponent, and Mary kept stepping back whenever she advanced.

“C-Come on, we’re friends, right? Don’t-“

Sam cut her down without hesitation.

“Yikes, you’re a cold one, huh?”

She whirled around to see Carly’s smiling face. She raised her sword, but Carly held her hands up.

“Whoa, hold on there girl, I’m a zombie too.”

“…Oh. Fine then.” Sam turned to go look for a human to fight, and-

Pomf.

…And she was immediately stabbed in the back.

“…Sorry that was a lie.”

Sam swallowed her curses and stomped back to the respawn point as Carly danced past her, cackling.

…

After a few more rounds of Zombies, Sam was starting to get the hang of fighting with a foam sword. It was tricky to only use one hand, but she could manage it. Combined with all the running she wasdoing, this was getting to be quite a workout!

Mary didn’t feel as excited. Her face was flushed with sweat and she shambled forward like an actual zombie, looking like a light breeze could knock her over.

She was relieved when Carly announced that the next game wouldn’t involve as much running.

“We’re going to be playing Sprouts!” She declared, leading everyone to the far end of the field, by the goalie box. “So the way this game works, is it’s basically a free for all. The only goal is not to die.”

“So it’s like you’re fighting until the last one standing, then?” Sam asked. That sounded rather difficult with this many people, especially if she had to go up against Mike again.

“Not exactly. Once you die, then you step out of bounds over here, and wait until the person who killed you dies. Because when someone dies, then everyone they killed comes back to life! So it’s really important to remember who got you. Until then, just chill and catch your breath!”

Whoa, so it was a game that never ended? People would just keep coming back over and over, it was almost like they were all zombies!

No, wait, there is a way… Sam realized almost the same time Carly explained it.

“What that means is the only way the game ends, is if someone kills everyone! You have to personally kill every single person or the game will just keep on going! Sound fun?!”

It sounded like a challenge to Sam, and she loved challenges! She just had to be smart about this. Last time Mike had got her because she was stupid enough to charge head-on. This time, though, she’d come at him from behind.

“Great! Let’s all get out there and spread out a bit, and have some fun!”

It was actually pretty cramped to stand in the box. There were enemies on all sides. Sam held up her sword and listened for the whistle.

When the game started, it was utter bedlam. People ran right at each other, and five people were knocked out in a flash. Sam dodged one boy’s swing and he nearly crashed into another, before a third slashed him from the side.

…Yeah, she was starting to question just how “safe” this club really was.

Then she spotted Mary. Poor, pathetic little Mary backed into a corner and swinging her swords frantically at the guy approaching her, doing little more than kicking up a soothing breeze.

Honestly, she felt kind of bad. So she snuck up behind him and knocked him out with a single stab.

“Dang it!” The guy cursed, stomping off the field. She turned to Mary who sighed with relief, looking warily back at her. She really seemed like she could use a break.

“Want to just sit this one out?” Sam offered with a shrug. She stabbed her chest with no resistance and the other girl trudged over and sat down for a much-needed rest.

Carly’s maniacal laughter snapped her back into the game.

“Mwahahaha! Yes! The mighty Michael has fallen! Struck down by my blade! Beware, all of you, for if I should fall, then it shall be he you unleash onto the battlefield this night!” She threw back her head and cackled like a hyena.

“You stabbed me in the back.”

“Silence, you loser of a worm!”

Sam grimaced. This girl was… something. She just didn’t know what.

“Well, hello there.”

A cheery voice to Sam’s right caused her to spring back, turning her sword. Fuck! You really couldn’t let your guard down for a moment in this game!

It was a boy a few years older than her with a lanky build and short black hair. He was smiling at her, and in his hand he held…

…A knife.

That was it. A knife. Not a sword or a spear or an axe, just a silver knife less than a foot long.

“My name’s Cain. What’s yours?”

Sam wasn’t in the mood for chatting. She swung her sword, but to her surprise he slipped to the side by a hair’s breadth. She immediately jumped back. If he was able to dodge like that he wasn’t an amateur like her, that was for sure.

“Come on, this today’s supposed to be about meeting new members, right?” Cain laughed. “At least let me call you something.”

“…I’m Sam.”

His smile widened and his green eyes twinkled. “Well, nice to meet you, Sammy.”

“…Please don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s so… cheerful, Sammy.”

Her eye twitched. She tightened her grip. “Stop.”

“Okay,” he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “…Sammy.”

That did it. With a roar she lunged forward, swinging as hard as she could. It was all she could do to resist smacking him right in that smug little grin!

Her blade hit foam as he raised his knife to block. She was about to pull her sword back and swing again when-

Plop, plop.

Two soft thuds hit her chest. She glanced down at the shiny shapes in the ground. They were little… throwing knives?

“Those would be mine,” Cain said, picking them up. “Throwing knives. Pretty cool, huh?”

What?! There were projectiles in this?!

“That’s not fair!” She blurted out.

He shrugged. “Take it up with the president.”

“Carly!” Sam shouted, but Carly was in the middle of fending off some freshmen. Mike walked over instead.

“Cain, are you teasing another freshman,” he groaned.

“He just threw those knives at me!” She exclaimed. “That can’t be allowed!”

“Throwing weapons are allowed, as long as they have a purely foam core. But even if you’re hit, you don’t die immediately. You have to get hit in the torso twice to be killed by one.”

…Which she had. Sam ground her teeth together in frustration.

“Sorry, Sammy, better luck next time!” Cain winked at her, strolling off.

“I’ll fucking murder you!”

Sam clutched her sword so hard her knuckles turned white, stomping away glared daggers at him from the sidelines.

“Um, Sam…”

Sam turned to Mary, who was looking up at her with a shaky smile.

“You… You did good! Good game!” She tried her best to sound encouraging.

“…I killed you, remember? That means you’re up!”

“Oh! I totally forgot!” She gasped, hopping to her feet. Her face burned with confidence. “Don’t worry, Sam! I’m definitely going to avenge you!”

Sam wasn’t holding her breath.

Needless to say, her lack of faith in Mary was vindicated pretty quickly. The scrawny girl ran after Cain, swinging desperately at him. Just like with Sam, he blocked her swing with one hand, while tossing a couple of knives at her with the other. It was a pretty sleazy play, all things considered.

Mary trudged back, hanging her head.

In spite of her best efforts, Carly still fell. Cain took out an arm with a well-thrown dagger, and then stepped in to finish the job with his knife. That brought some real change, because all the people she had killed flooded back onto the field, Mike among them.

And with him in the fray, a lot of those people were quickly sent back to the sidelines.

If there was anyone here who had a chance of taking out everybody else, it was definitely Mike. No one could stand up to him in a one on one, and he moved to quickly to let himself get surrounded. People came and went, but the amount of players was steadily decreasing until finally Cain was cut down as well.

Relieved that she could finally get some action, Sam practically sprinted back onto the field.

“Good luck out there, Sammy! You got this!”

She whirled around and raised her sword, beating back the temptation to storm out of bounds and give him a beating. What was this guy’s problem!?

“Stop calling me that!”

She was so enraged she barely managed to dodge Mike’s swing at her. It was less of a “dodge” though, and more like she fell over on her ass. Panicking, she frantically scooted back as someone else charged him, thankfully drawing his attention and giving her some much-needed time to recover.

Sam hopped to her feet and held her chest, feeling her heart pounding. Damn. That guy made everything seem so terrifying.

Her respite was short-lived because Mike cut through the guy in a second and was already heading her way again, his eyes burning so intensely she actually thought for a moment he was about to kill her and she froze with her sword half-raised.

Then Sam spotted Mary. The scrawny girl was coming at Mike from behind, swords shaking with fear.

As if he could sense her somehow Mike spun around with incredible speed and slashed; his was blade so fast it was a blur in the night. Shrieking, Mary jumped backwards, and crashed right into a slab of muscle twice her size with a sickening “smack”

The next thing Sam heard was her roommate’s pained wail.