My eyes swept over the dark expanse of the empty space the arcade had occupied. Whereas before it had been lively, full of game music, laughter and people, it was now an empty shell. I scanned the walls and saw empty wall outlets staring back at me. Their receptacles mimicking shocked faces forever frozen in time. The sight gave me shivers.
I moved toward the back where the office had been and tripped over a board, one of the few things left behind, most likely an access panel to one of the machines when they moved them all out. It had occurred overnight, and no one had even seen it happen. In fact, no one had seen anything happen at all. Which was probably why everything had occurred unimpeded.
“You find anything, kid?”
I jumped at the voice beside me and pivoted to glare at the man it belonged to. “Jesus, Hopper! Don’t do that.” I placed a hand on my chest and felt my heart pounding. “What are you trying to do? Give me a heart attack?”
Hopper chuckled and swept the flashlight over the area. My eyes followed the beam of light and widened when it caught something. I grabbed his arm and directed it back to the spot. My breath caught and my grip tightened on his arm.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing toward the corner where Potentiam had stood months before.
I felt, more than saw, Hopper lean forward to get a better look. “Not sure. Hold on, this place isn’t the safest since the fire. I’ll go check,” he said before heading over to the corner.
The fire comment caused a wave of sadness to rush over me. Things hadn’t been the same since the night the arcade had disappeared. An epidemic had swept over the country within weeks, followed by the world a short while later.
The virus?
A way to control a person’s will and mind through video games.
I’d been right all along. It didn’t make me feel any better, however. The only good thing was some people seemed to be immune. Despite the technology morphing and bleeding over into regular TV and music, it didn’t affect all the population. Those it did, became mindless drones, controlled by some shadow entity everyone looked for, but could never find.
The night the arcade was abandoned and all the machines moved from it, a fire had started in the building. I still suspected it was to try and hide any evidence anyone had ever been there. The damage was extensive and the building was condemned now. But despite all of their efforts, Hopper and I were on to them. Since he was immune as well, we were able to hunt while others couldn’t.
“Hey, I found something.” I turned to see him holding something up. Whatever it was, wasn’t any larger than his hand. I started toward him when he waved at me to come over.
“What is it?” I asked while squinting to get a better look in the darkness.
“I think it’s something you’d like to have,” was the only response he gave me.
I looked at him in confusion. “Huh?” I stepped up to him and cocked my head. “What are you talking about?”
He studied me for a long moment before he held out what was cradled in his hand. “Here, kid. You should have this.”
I looked down, brows knitted, still no idea what he was talking about. My throat tightened and my nose began to burn when I finally saw what he had. The heavy duty, military grade black case had protected the cell phone it contained. I snapped my eyes back to Hopper’s and swallowed a choked breath. “Oh, my God,” I breathed.
He smiled at me sadly. “I’m sorry, Jenny.”
I sniffed and wrapped my fingers around the phone. Nat must have dropped it the night she disappeared. The same night the arcade was emptied out. I held it tight to my chest and fought the tears. When a strong arm wrapped around my shoulder and a kiss was dropped on the top of my head, I buried my face into the shoulder of the only person I had left. Hopper had become the older brother I’d never had and I was thankful he’d come for me when things had gone South.
“We’ll fix this, kid. For Nat,” he told me solemnly. “We’ll make it mean something.”
I nodded. I’d end it all, or I’d die trying.