13

On Monday Josh was at his locker, hanging up his coat, when Firecracker appeared. “Where were you yesterday?” he asked.

Josh shut his locker. “Why?” he said. He hadn’t spoken to Firecracker since the incident with their report, and things were still a little weird between them. In addition, he had a headache. He’d taken a Z the night before and spent almost all night playing the hologame with Charlie.

“I called,” Firecracker said. “Your dad said you were out taking pictures.”

“So?” said Josh.

Firecracker snorted. “Come on,” he said. “What do you think I am, stupid?”

“You said it, not me,” Josh snapped. He started to walk away.

“Hey!” Firecracker called after him. “What’s your problem?”

Josh ignored him. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to Firecracker. Last night he’d played a zombie for the first time in the hologame. Now he understood why Charlie liked it. The Z had really helped him get into the zombie mood. He’d seen things differently, felt things differently. Everything had been more intense—primal. He’d hunted the Torchers like they were animals, smelling them out and following the sound of their hearts beating. He’d killed four of them and gained sixteen experience levels.

But the Z had also kept him up all night, and now he was exhausted. He thought about taking half a Z this morning, but he didn’t want to waste it. They had practice that afternoon, and he wanted to save it for that.

Josh managed to avoid Firecracker the rest of day, though it meant skipping lunch and hiding out in the bathroom. But that was okay—it gave him some time to rest. He’d actually fallen asleep in the bathroom stall, waking up only when some seniors dragged a freshman into the bathroom and threatened to dunk his head in the toilet if he didn’t pay them off. The kid had screamed bloody murder, and Josh jolted awake thinking he was in the middle of a game.

Now the day was over and he was on the train heading to the Docklands. He couldn’t wait to see Charlie and to play with the rest of the team. He also wanted to find out if Stash was okay. He didn’t like the guy, but he was still a Torcher, and they had to look out for one another.

When he reached his stop, he got off and walked toward the wharf. He was thinking about the Z in his pocket, and not really watching where he was going. So when someone came up from behind and grabbed his arm, he yelled in surprise.

“It’s just me,” Firecracker said, holding his hands up.

Josh stared at him. “Are you following me?” he asked.

“I just want to talk,” Firecracker said. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing’s up with me,” said Josh.

“Then what are you doing in the Docklands? Coming to help the homeless?” Firecracker stared at Josh, daring him to lie.

“It’s none of your business,” said Josh. “Just go home.”

“Or what?” Firecracker asked.

Josh felt himself getting angry. “Just go,” he said. “Leave me alone.”

He turned and started to walk away, hoping that Firecracker would give up and go the other way. No such luck. Firecracker rushed forward to block Josh’s path. “I want to know what you’re doing,” he said.

Josh stared at his friend. Why couldn’t Firecracker just let it go? He started to push past, but Firecracker moved over and cut him off.

Without thinking, Josh shoved him. Firecracker reeled backward but didn’t fall. His face reddened and he stormed toward Josh. The two collided, Firecracker pushing Josh against a brick wall. Two Zooeys who had been standing on the corner turned to stare at them.

“Get off!” Josh grunted, trying to push Firecracker away.

“Josh, come on,” said Firecracker. “Tell me what’s going on.”

Josh put one foot against the wall and used it to push himself forward. Firecracker stumbled back. Caught off balance, he was an easy target. Josh punched him in the stomach, and Firecracker crumpled to his knees.

“Hey!” yelled one of the Zooeys, a boy in a duck costume. “Fighting isn’t cool!”

Josh took a few steps toward the boy and the other Zooey, a girl dressed like a koala bear, grabbed the duck’s hand and pulled him away. Josh turned back to Firecracker, who was standing up again, holding his stomach.

Before Josh could react, Firecracker swung at him. His fist connected with Josh’s cheek, and there was a sharp crack. Pain exploded in Josh’s head. He ran at Firecracker, tackling him. The two of them fell to the sidewalk, where they wrestled for position until finally Josh had Firecracker pinned beneath him.

“Get it through your thick head,” Josh said, flecking Firecracker’s face with spittle. “I don’t want you following me.”

He could see confusion in Firecracker’s eyes, and for a moment he felt bad and almost broke down and told the truth. Then he remembered that if he let Firecracker know what was going on, he would be risking everything. He had to keep his part in the game a secret.

“Stay away,” he said. “You got that?”

He waited for Firecracker to nod, then got up. Without looking back, he walked as quickly as he could down the street. He turned a corner and waited to see if Firecracker passed him. After a minute he took a look and saw that the sidewalk was empty. He’s gone, he thought with relief.

Still, he took a different route to the shipyard. He didn’t want to take any chances. Firecracker wasn’t stupid. He was a good tracker, and he could easily be tailing Josh. But Josh was pretty sure he had hurt Firecracker’s pride enough that he would just leave. He hated himself for having done that to his best friend, but he’d had to—for both their sakes.

Only when he was safely in the tunnel walking to the ship graveyard did he relax a little bit. He was all right. Firecracker didn’t know anything.

When he saw Charlie sitting on top of a ship’s propeller, cleaning her flamethrower, he felt much better. She saw him and waved. “Hey there,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Yeah?” Josh said. “Why’s that?”

“So I could give you this,” Charlie answered, giving him a quick kiss. Josh tried for another one, but Charlie shook her head. “We have to be careful,” she said. “Team romances are kind of a no-no.”

Josh sighed. “I suppose I can do that,” he said dramatically. Then he pretended to think of something. “Or I could break up with you. Then it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“Just try breaking it off,” said Charlie, squinting. “Then next time you’ve got a z after you, I might just have to trip you.”

Josh didn’t say anything, distracted by the throbbing in his cheek.

“Come on. I’m just joking. Don’t be mad.”

“It’s not that,” said Josh. He hesitated, not sure he should tell Charlie what had happened. Then he sighed. “It’s Firecracker. He followed me today.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “He followed you? Did he see where you went?”

“No. I caught him in time,” Josh answered.

“Don’t tell Clatter,” Charlie said quickly. “He’s super paranoid about that kind of thing. Keep it to yourself.”

“All right,” said Josh. “I’m going to get changed.”

He left her to finish cleaning her thrower and went to the locker room. Finnegan, Seamus, and Scrawl were already there, talking, but when Josh came in they stopped abruptly.

“Hey,” Josh said. “Am I interrupting something?”

Finnegan and Seamus didn’t say anything, but Scrawl shook his head. “Nah,” he said. “We were just talking about Stash.”

“How is he?” Josh asked as he opened his locker and took his uniform out.

“Not great,” Scrawl said. “He’ll be fine, but his bite got infected and he won’t be playing for a while.”

Josh slipped into his uniform. “How does a cyber-bite get infected?” he asked.

He saw Seamus and Finnegan look at each other. Then Finnegan said, “He got dirt in it. We told him to be careful, but you know Stash.”

Josh snorted. “Yeah,” he said. When nobody responded, he added, “Not that he isn’t a good guy, or anything.”

“It’s okay,” Finnegan told him. “We all know Stash can be a jerk.”

Josh smiled. “That doesn’t mean I want him to get hurt,” he said.

“Like I said, he’ll be fine,” Scrawl said. “He’s just on temporary time out. Now let’s go kick some zombie butt.”

The others left the locker room, and Josh sat on the bench to tie his boots. Then he reached into the pocket of his jeans and took out half a tablet of Z. He put it in his mouth and swallowed hard, feeling it go down.

When he rejoined the group, they were still waiting for Freya, so everyone was just hanging out talking. Bess came up to Josh, frowning. “You cost me twenty bucks,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Charlie told me all about it,” she whispered. Then she made kissing sounds with her lips.

Josh looked over at Charlie. She was looking up at the ceiling, pretending to be interested in something.

“I’m going to get both of you,” Josh told Bess. “You just wait.”

“Ooh, I’m scared,” Bess said, wiggling her fingers and miming fear.

Josh walked over to Charlie. “I thought we weren’t telling anyone,” he said.

“I had to tell Bess,” said Charlie. “Otherwise I would have owed her twenty bucks.” She laughed.

“Hey,” Charlie said, looking around. “Did you take the Z?”

Josh nodded.

“Me too,” Charlie said. “Let’s make sure we’re on the same team for practice. We’ll kill!”

Caught up in Charlie’s excitement, Josh forgot all about Firecracker and his earlier worries. The Z was starting to work, and his thoughts were slipping away.

“Kill,” he said, grinning at Charlie. “That’s just what we’ll do.”