THE MOMENT
Were things ever normal? Larry was running, terrified, and he couldn't remember a time when that wasn't the case. The sun was setting, but he still had plenty of light as he ran through the town. He was being chased by shambling, untiring zombies, and attracting the attention of more as he ran.
It was stupid to be out there alone, he knew that. He must've had a reason, but he was too scared to wonder about that right now. He'd lost his weapon, and now he was trying to get back to safety.
Larry took a wrong turn, and due to looking back, he hadn't noticed it was a dead end until he reached the solid brick wall hiding in the shadow of a tall building. His escape was blocked by the time he turned around, and the zombies were approaching.
One grabbed his shoulders, and the wall behind him was preventing his escape. He panicked on pure instinct and tried biting the foul flesh. A semi-solid coagulated chunk of the zombie's decayed skin came off in his mouth, and he vomited immediately.
"What's going on?" a new voice asked in confusion as Larry recovered from the upheaval. He looked up while wiping his mouth and saw the same zombie he bit, now with a normal pallor. She was a young woman who looked surprised at the undead around them, and she instinctively moved closer to Larry, the normal-looking human.
"I.. I don't know...?" Larry shook his head. Had he caused that? He looked around at the zombies, which seemed to have been affected somehow. They seemed to lose interest in him, but being zombies there wasn't much for them to do but stand there and groan. Could he do it again?
Larry looked down at his lunch all over the alley floor. His stomach flipped as a shiver ran down his spine, and he felt the mealy, grotesque texture of the zombie meat in his mouth. Could he do that again?
"What's going on?"Another new voice asked, and Larry looked up to see a portly high schooler with bushy brown hair atop his head, standing behind the zombies. As Larry tried to process it, he watched a tall black hole open next to the chubby teen, and a tall, pale, lean teen with a widow's peak emerged from the portal and looked at the shorter teen.
"What's going on?" he asked as well.
"That's what I'm trying to find out, I just got here," the shorter one said. He flicked his wrist upward, and Larry saw a large grey glass pane appear in the air in front of him.
"What's that?" he asked instantly. "Can you help me... help us?" he grabbed the woman's hand and she nodded at him. He didn't know what was happening, but the zombies weren't an active threat at the moment, and he hoped the strangers were all friendly.
"You can see this?" the shorter teen asked and pointed at the glass Slate hovering before him.
"What's your favorite number?" the tall one asked.
"34!" Larry tried to answer both questions at the same time and blurted the number out as he nodded his head.
"What about you?" the tall stranger looked at the woman. "What's your favorite number?"
"I'm with him!" she said quickly as she tried to move closer to Larry.
"Alright, well I guess that was easy," the shorter one said to the taller one. "We both lost a unit. Call it even and keep going?" he asked.
"No, this game is already tainted," the tall teen shook his head. "I'd rather not risk any other Awakenings. I'm willing to end this game in a draw to start a new one, if you like," he said. "Same stakes."
"Excuse me..," Larry tried to interrupt, but neither of the teens paid him any attention.
"Since we're renegotiating anyway...," the shorter one said. "I need a huge win," he said. He wasn't asking for a free win, he was establishing the scope.
"I'm listening," the tall one nodded.
"C'mon...," Larry nodded at the woman and decided to try and lead her away. The zombies remained still and let them walk around the group.
"I want to make it clear, I only want to borrow it for a few minutes, maybe an hour at most. I'm not trying to claim it or anything," he said. "If I win, you let me borrow La Espada."
"What makes you think I have it?" the tall one asked.
"I don't necessarily think you have it right this minute," the chubby teen shrugged. "But, I'm sure you could dig it up if you had the motivation. And, you're the only one I could ask who might be able to. I'm on the Outs with Sharp Development right now. Besides, if you can't deliver it, you'll just owe me a really big favor. But I'm going to insist you try," he said and offered his hand.
"Along with the previously established terms, I agree to your new wrinkle," he nodded and shook hands. "What shall it be?" he asked as the zombies disintegrated into white dust, along with the brick walls that made up the alley.
Larry and the revitalized woman were nearing the street when her hand slipped out of his.
"Hey, you ok-?" he turned in time to see her disintegrating into dust and fading away. He noticed the rest of the alley was gone, and the setting sun illuminated a vast white plain with only the three of them present. The city had disappeared. "What's going on...?" he mumbled the question to himself as his mind tried to catch up.
"Hey!" the shorter teen yelled at Larry. "We're starting a new game. Do you want to play, or do you want to leave?" he asked.
"What?" Larry approached with the question, then asked again once he reached the pair. "What do you mean? What's going on?"
"Never mind, none of us wants to explain it to you," he shook his head suddenly.
"You'll probably figure it out," he said as Larry suddenly dropped. A hole opened beneath him, and he sank like a stone as both teens waved at him. "Bye."