Chapter Text
The bricks around Jeremy turn a blinding red as he grins at the player and gives them a thumbs up, Survivor 2: Jeremy Heere flashing in block letters over his head. He sneaks a glance at his Survivor 1, Michael Mell, as the text over his head shows. Michael’s fist-pumping the air, his eyes are squeezed tight as he wrinkles his nose, grinning from ear to ear and Jeremy can feel his face heat up. The area small room around them is bright red, a contrast to the sickly green world they’re about to be dropped into.
Jeremy must’ve stared at their game millions of times over the years through the screen of Brooke’s game, Sweet! . He really doesn’t understand how Survive! does so well. Sure, it’s a fun and addicting game, but it’s a really old make. Each player had to use a joystick and the graphics are shit. It’s a small screen with the resolution of Space Invaders. Despite this, they must be one of the most popular games in the arcade. Jeremy’s sure he’s gone through the map millions of times since they were first brought in the arcade, and he wasn’t even selected in half of them. Michael, as player one, could go through the game alone. It may be considered hard mode and very few people who tried actually got to the trophy, but those who did got a fuck-ton of tickets. When they do play together though, the game had a way of bringing people together. Maybe it was how close he and Michael were, or maybe it was because they were in Magic Arcade: Where Every Game is One of a Kind . He wouldn’t know how true the slogan was–since he was stuck in the arcade–until there had been a weekend where high-end computers were brought in in the late 80s to help grow the ‘portable gaming’ industry. Apparently, none of the games in arcade had any other makes that any of the ‘internet games’ knew of.
The glow in the room changed from the blinding red to an emerald green as the floor opened up beneath him and Michael as they fell into the actual game. The wind whipped through his hair, and he could see the whole map. The sickly green color pallet contrasted by his bright blue cardigan and Michael’s red hoodie. He could see the shiny trophy in the middle of the maze of zombies and the stop where they ‘saved’ Rich on their way to the lockdown room. He could also see the thousands of zombies they could encounter, fumbling around in small chambers, waiting to be released onto them. Looking further, past the map, he could see where the coding ended, where he and Michael had never ventured. Green turning into a light blue, spiking off like lightning bolts. He had seen it thousands of times, and the sight only lasted a couple seconds, but it never failed to rattle him. Reminding him that he was nothing more than code. He was programmed very specifically. His actions, words, even feelings weren’t his own.
He grimaced, looking over at Michael for support. Michael was staring back at him with a concerned look on his face. He felt a small smile form as Michael reached out to him, taking Jeremy’s hand and squeezing. They were still freefalling as the game showed the main titles. Jeremy had memorized it by now. The same block letters that had flashed over his head in the beginning of the game now looked small under them. WELCOME TO THE ZOMBIE APOCOLYPSE! Jeremy takes a deep breath as he sees the first Zombies being released and start to roam the otherwise empty corridors. MICHAEL MELL AND JEREMY HEERE ARE THE ONLY STUDENTS LEFT WHO CAN SAVE THE SCHOOL. HELP THEM REACH THE LOCKDOWN SWITCH TO STAY SAFE WHILE ALL THE ZOMBIES OUTSIDE DIE FROM THE DEADLY ZOMBIE VIRUS! Jeremy had visited enough of the other games to know this was quite an absurd pretense and even worse writing, but the kids seemed to love the idea of the zombie apocalypse. KILL THE ZOMBIES THAT HAVE INFILTRATED MIDDLEBOROUGH HIGH AND MAKE IT TO THE CENTER OF THE SCHOOL! SAVE ALL THE STUDENTS YOU CAN! AND REMEMBER, STAY SAFE, DON’T GET INFECTED, AND SURVIVE! The last word fills the whole screen, and Jeremy and Michael are close enough to admire them in all their glory. The word popped out of existence as they entered the players' field of view, their weapons already waiting for them on the ground.
Jeremy leans down and picks up a crossbow, grinning as he looks spouts his programmed dialogue before looking over at Michael and letting out an undignified noise in surprise. Michael’s tossing around a fucking baseball bat with nails sticking out of it like it’s nothing. It’s a new weapon Jeremy’s never seen before. One of the cool things about the game is that it never runs out of upgrades, whether it be weapons, clothing, or types of zombies (the last is Jeremy’s least favorite). Michael’s flashing a blinding smile at the player before looking over at Jeremy, his eyes twinkling, and Jeremy couldn’t help but smile back.
"You ready to go?" Michael winks at Jeremy as he says the line that starts the game off and Jeremy's so happy that he’s programmed to say his next lines because he honestly couldn't think about anything other than Michael fucking winking at him .
And with that in his mind, they’re running through the corridors of what Jeremy would imagine a school looks like, zombie starting to surround them. Jeremy’s always right behind Michael, making sure nothing gets close to him. The players are good, making him and Michael work together, just how it should be. Jeremy’s memorized every corridor, every nook and cranny. He and Michael have fought through these halls together for years, Michael taking the lead and Jeremy right by his side. He’s aiming at a zombie down the hall when Michael’s smirk turned into a snarl, swinging at a zombie neither of them had noticed, seconds away from biting Jeremy. Jeremy turned just in time to see it’s decaying teeth, the sickly blue tint to its face, the pupils of its eyes. Too close to his face. He yelped and backed up, effectively falling into Michael and sending them to the floor.
“Shit, sorry” He squeaked, pushing himself up onto his elbow and reaching out for his crossbow. His fingers latched onto it as Michael shifted under him, sitting up. His legs were now on either side of Michael’s waste, Michael’s hand lightly placed on his hip, the bat gripped tightly in his other hand. He could only take out a couple zombies before he was out of arrows, and they looked royally fucked.
“Michael I’m out of ammo,” He whispered into Michael’s ear. He didn’t need to, the sickly green creatures had no consciences and couldn’t hear them, but he might’ve wanted a reason to get closer to Michael.
“It’s ok man, next game, right?” Michael’s arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him closer, reassuring him.
“I really don’t like dying,” Jeremy wined as he wrapped his arms around Michael’s neck, closing his eyes. He could feel Michael shift and fling his bat at the zombies and he heard the bat clatter to the floor, making no effect. He squeezed his eyes tight as the groans of the hoards of horrible decaying bodies got closer, just focusing on Michael.
Then, his eyes snapped open and he was on his feet running behind Michael, his crossbow and Michael’s bat were nowhere to be seen, but they weren’t on the ground anymore. The players must’ve paid for a cutscene, where they didn’t control them anymore and they watched a short video in better resolution. It was another special feature that Jeremy both loved (it was unique to their game) and hated (the cutscene’s usually ended with them in a less than happy predicament). The only problem with it was that there were only so many cutscenes that were animated, and Jeremy knew for a fact that there wasn’t one there, but then again, he had no idea the corridor he and Michael were running through was in the game either.
“You sure this corridor actually has a door?” Jeremy grits through his teeth in an insistent whisper. If they talk quietly enough the text won’t pop up above their head. They’d had some trial and error with this in the past, the number of times they’ve gotten close to being unplugged is almost laughable.
“I’m not even sure where we are,” Michael taps his glasses, still looking ahead. “I can’t see the map anymore, everything's just fuzzy. I’m lost, Jere,”
Jeremy can hear the edge in Michael’s voice. To anyone else, he would sound fine, if not a little out of breath, but he can read Michael like a book. He doesn’t have to look at Michael to realize that he’s out of his comfort zone, it’s in the way his voice hitches and how he clenches his hands a bit too tight. How every few seconds, he taps his glasses, even though they both know they’re not working. He reaches out and grabs Michael’s hand as they reach the end of the corridor, holding it tight.
There’s a huge blood red door in front of them that takes up the whole wall. He gives Michael’s hand a small squeeze before letting go, allowing him to reach forward and open it. Jeremy gets an uneasy feeling as the hinges creak and blue light washes over Michael, and they both slip into the room.
He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the light, tensing up as the room comes into focus. It’s filled top to bottom with weapons, power-ups and new clothes. He stares at the room in awe before looking over Michael, who’s sharing his idiotic grin, and they both giggle, Michael, going over and picking up gloves with blades sticking out of the knuckle.
“Dude this is the shit,” He takes a couple swipes at the air before hitting a power pose. Jeremy’s now laughing out loud, looking around the room, waiting for the player to move him to one of the items. Michael’s player locked in the claws and the countdown clock appeared at the top of the screen as he felt his heart drop.
“Michael my player isn’t moving me,” He mutters through gritted teeth. Michael looks over at him in shock, too preoccupied with his new weapon to notice Jeremy’s predicament.
“I’m sure they will any second, and if not I’ll be here, okay?” The concern in his eyes was enough to keep Jeremy from completely freaking out. He gave Michael a tight nod and glanced at the countdown.
Too soon, the clock hit zero, and Jeremy got the default weapon, a stick with a cute little leaf on it. Sweet and ineffective. The pixels changed around them, and Jeremy could feel Michael’s eyes on him as he took a deep breath. Bold text above them introducing the minigame, a shortcut to the end. The game had been bizarre, first with the cutscene in the middle of the map, then the out of place corridor and the upgrade room. Maybe they had gone through a system upgrade, he’d heard of them, put Survive! ’d never had one before. He was jolted out of his thoughts by the deep voice shouting Start! and the immediate swarm of zombies surrounding them. Michael immediately sprang into action, taking out hoards in seconds, while all Jeremy could do was helplessly fail his stick around, hoping to get half a point of damage on one of the monsters.
The waves of zombies just kept coming, and Jeremy was still rooted to the spot. Michael was doing a good job of protecting him, but there were too many close calls where Jeremy had to just smack the zombies over the head fast enough that they died before they got to him. He heard it before he saw it, the golden door that swung open to reveal the trophy. The end of the game. Jeremy had barely even processed this before he saw Michael sprinting toward it, leaving him alone. The zombies were closing in, and without Michael to protect him, he was left with wildly swinging his stick around.
“Michael!” Jeremy’s voice rang out over the groans of the disgusting creatures surrounding him. He felt the panic clouding his mind as his best friend didn’t stop running, didn’t even look back. He let go of the stick and clamped his hands over his ears, squeezing his eyes shut and curling into himself as the zombies got to him. All he could do was scream as the health bar appeared over his head, the blue bar quickly turning black as the world around him went blurry.
He was curled up in a ball, sobbing, before he felt the zombies disappear, returning to their cells for the next game. He didn’t open his eyes, didn’t stop pulling at his hair, he knew the threat was gone but he had died. They had gotten him and he should’ve made it. If Michael was there they made it, that’s how it was, but Michael had left, he had run . He heard footsteps coming towards him as his heart started to slow down, and he could stop pulling his hair out. He tried to focus on the world around him, but he couldn’t see much through his tears.
“What the fuck Michael!” Rich’s voice was harsher than usual and Jeremy focused on his shoes as he stepped in front of Michael, blocking him from Jeremy.
“Sorry, what?” Michael’s voice was distant and worried as he took a few steps back, farther from Jeremy.
“Where the fuck did you go? Do you know how hard it is to fight them all off when you’re stuck in place?” He did, it was impossible.
“I’m really sorry Rich, there was something up with the game, the map gave a different route and the players went that way,” Michael hurried through his words, trying to step forward around Rich, but the small boy was a force of nature.
“Bullshit, we both know you can disobey the player. You’ve done it plenty of times.” Rich snarled, Michael’s attempts to calm him down weren’t working.
“Come on man, you know that would’ve gotten us in trouble, do you really want that?” Michael became agitated and pushed past Rich, hurrying towards Jeremy.
“Whatever,” Rich scoffed, turning around and stomping out of Jeremy’s eyesight. “Have fun with your boy toy,”
Michael stopped for a split second, turning around to presumably glare at Rich, before running over to Jeremy and bending down.
“I’m so sorry Jeremy, are you ok?” He gently lifted Jeremy’s face so he could see his eyes. No, he wasn’t ok, he couldn’t defend himself, he was helpless, and most importantly, Michael had left him. He was less important to Michael than winning the game. He was just another fact of Michael’s life, and he was definitely not okay.
“Yeah, I’m fine,”