Faking Apocalypse (The Apocalyptic Games Book 1)

by Damien Steinfield

  “So, here’s the lemon & poppyseed cupcakes you’ve ordered. Your next request is on strike.” The waitress tells us.

  “I see you’ve been taking notes,” she means the cupcakes—they’re her favorite as of late. “That definitely deserves some credit.”

  “Just that? Credit? It that all you’re gonna give me?” My eyes sparkle in amusement.

  “Hmm,” she ponders, head asquint, eyes wincing upwards, nose wrinkled. “For now, I think that’s gonna be it. Let’s see how hard you’ve been trying.”

  I know now she’s just duping me. Well, it’s only fair that she dupes me now and then, being that I’m always a little bit bias on that and always get her over on.

  “Okay, so I’m just gonna cue in to the big moment,” I barge in unexpectedly. “So, my gift to you on this fetching day of ours has got to be this.” I lend over the tickets and look expectantly at her eyes. I know she’s gonna go crazy over it. But somehow, I am just way more pumped up about it, even though it has been her dream all along—spending a couple of days on her favorite island. I mean, we’ve been working hard and all this year, with the finals on the corner and the repulsion of all the college applications we wished for—that’s all well deserved.

  “One week on Brisbane, first week of November? Are you kidding me, Greyson? That’s awesome!” she jumped out of her seat and clutches me to suffocation. “Autumn holidays, the only thing better than regular holidays.” She mumbles joyously.

  “I mean, it’s gonna be cool, getting to spend an entire week with me. You just said it erstwhile how awesome each moment with me is.” You know, I’m just mocking with it. After all, someone has got to handle this much of excitement.

  It takes us a couple of minutes to get over the joyousness of having to getaway-indulge ourselves for an entire week far, far away from all the stress and jitteriness senior year has to offer.

  When I first took into account every which way things might’ve been like, I might say that up to now all of it has exceeded my resolution. But it gets way more outranked when I take notice that, even though I’ve book up just a table of two, other participates decide to join a rather private encounter, or celebration; call it whatever you want.

  “Ethan?” I scowl surprised. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well, you told you could pick me up and you didn’t.” He says nonchalantly.

  “Yeah, but, can’t you see? I’m busy.”

  “You’re eating muffins.” He frowns at me, as though I’m the bargee here.

  “I told you I’m on a date, with Zoey.” I grind, pesterously.

  “Yeah, well. Like, get over it. That’s the millionth date you’ve had with her over there. Don’t get so pissed about it.”

  “Hey, Ethan,” Zoey smiles at him.

  Don’t smile at him! He’s ruining our date. The date I pegged myself away about.

  “Why don’t you join,” she offers. My eyes crack the largest they could get.

  “Don’t mind if I do.” He tells carefreely and crackles one chair along off the closest table.

  “Who drove you all the way down here, anyway?” I ask him.

  “Oh, it was Cody. I thought I shouldn’t pester you since you were all drenched out with your dating thingy. And I sent him a text to pick me up.”

  “And, where is he?”

  “Um, he should’ve been here now. It was way cluttered up at the parking lot, he couldn’t find a free spot.”

  “Cody,” I say, as soon as I’m here. “What are you doing here?”

  “I’m sorry for being late,” he totally snubs my inquiry and takes another chair off of the nearest table and makes himself conformable on our table.

  I’m starting to wonder, when I first decided to get involved with Zoey, did I miss out on something? I mean, it was her I made a play for, not this whole package.

  Though all this muddle, I spot Zoey’s face, which is rather calm and merry for that dose of disturbance. I try to comprehend whatever is going on in her mind, though it’s hard.

  Had she really…?

  Nah, I refuse to believe it!

  “Zoey,” after struggling for a couple of minutes with this indecision, I decide to take some hint at by inquiry. “Did you know about all this?”

  She looks at me, eyes glinting in sneakiness, and I don’t need her to tell me anything. I already now. But why? Why would she turn our intimate date into a conjoined whoopee?

  “I just thought it’d be more fun having a coffee klatch, while relishing on the scrumptiousness of the cupcakes.” She tells me. But that just doesn’t make sense. Why would she give up on a cozy encounter, just to have a rumbustious klatch with the posse, let alone Ethan, who’s the epitome of fecklessness?

  “Okay, I ploughed on her about it.” My brother gives up and makes sense of this total nonsense.

  “It’s not fetching to see someone who wants to spend time with us get sent home because you’re too egotistic.” Zoey takes it from there.

  Ughhh. Anyway. This is way different from what I imagined my date to be. I know that the less people here, the better chance I have to get this date (which isn’t as such anymore) not turn into a mingle-mangle. I look at my cupcake for a moment and then think about my date, which I think it’s been, so far, incredibly newsworthy to see. I can’t put up with this. Really, I can’t. Though it’s also a little rougher to stickle the girl that you had the most engrossing sparks with. So, I just let go of a really intense objection, and decide to give it a try.

  “Carter?” I ask, shocked. Now, this is going too far. People are accruing around like flies around honey.

  “Have you already started without me?” he asks casually.

  Now, this, I don’t get.

  “What is going on here?” I ask Zoey. “My brother can be really sticky and I get that. If something strikes his mind, it’s really hard to put a plug to. But this… I mean, it’s way more than I can handle. Does it make sense at all?”

  “Well, sure it does.”

  “Really, does it?” The smile on her face is really bugging me. And that’s just a turn of events that doesn’t get to occur frequently. I mean, I love her smile. It’s one of the best things about her so far. Though, this is too much. Even for me.

  “Mm-hmm.” She says, delightfully and takes a bite at her lemon cupcake.

  I look strangely around. Am I to expect other people to join, or this about defines all the invitees there are? At this point, it’s hard to tell.

  “So, Zoey, what is the news to rally us all up here about?” Carter asks as soon as he’s been served the same cupcake that we’re all having on our big white plates.

  There is news? She didn’t mention anything to me about it.

  Boy, is she a sneaky!

  “Zoey, can you finally break it up and explain what is all this for?” I would very much rather cozy up with my girlfriend this night, than racketing with the others. But since there’s something on spot, I haven’t yet taken a glimpse at, I’m waiting for something more meaningful to occur.

  It took up a couple of another minutes for Zoey to muddle up into her cupcake and fetching up to get the news spread.

  “Okay,” she says, looking at all of us, one at a time. “You know how this is the last year we’re gonna spend together and how close we’ve gotten through these amazing years. Well, I don’t want this to end.”

  “Is this all? You brought us here to tell us you don’t want this to end?” Carter looks at her, dissatisfied.

  “I’ve gotten tangled with a couple of applications now,” Zoey totally snubs Carter’s interference. “But it’s been distressing so far. So, I thought. We’re all attending a top-notch college, my dad is one of the most unexcelled lawyers of the city. So, why not make these features of any use?” I look at her with googly eyes. Totally inattentive to what she’s saying. I take a look at Ethan. He’s so thrown off and in his head. Who could blame him? This whole varsity thing is too much for him at the moment. But surprisingly, I�
��m in my head too much, too. I guess, it’s just as disquieting for me as it is for him. “We made some calls last night to some influencing people my family’s close to, and guess what? I could book us all some space to individual meetings on Yale. Now I know that some of your heads might be elsewhere, but remember this is totally ex gratia. Just my impetus to have us all commingled even after high school.”

  First hand, I thought brining all these people in would affect our date, but now that I see where Zoey’s head was, and what her intentions really are, well, I could say I love her even more. She’s so thoughtful and caring. Even though she managed to ruin our first-year celebration and I’m not sure I can let her get away with it so easy, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’ll be her and I at the end of this date.

  “So, you want us all to stick with your compelling ass for another series of four years?” I mocked and bended through the chair to give a kiss. Good thing, I’m just sitting next to her, so I don’t have to lean too much forward and cause any mess to the table. Now that would’ve been too much.

  She looks at me endearingly. Ughh. I’d just want to get alone with her right this moment. I can’t handle that irresistible look upon me. “Would you”—she asks—“stick with me for another four years?”

  “And another four after that,” I smile while our lips tangle.

  God! It was, like, one of those moments, where it hits you how real this is. And up until now, I hadn’t given this new-adult life thingy much of a thought. To be honest, I’ve skipped over it. I was afraid. Of the future. Of unknowingness. Of change.

  I was scared this whole beautiful thing I’ve established during these last couple of years would all turn to smash. And it was just too fetching for me to wanna let go.

  “So, where’s Ethan in all this?” I raise an eyebrow, as soon as the presence of my brother pegs my attention.

  “He’s just too sticky to say no to. Gave me such a hard time about how bored he’ll be all day, so I invited him over.” She says to me. And at this point, their being here altogether doesn’t bother me anymore.

  12

  “Cody?” I look, perplexed, at the guy in front of me. I rub my eyes with my fists another time, as if I’d wanna rub the sleepy mood away with it.

  “Greyson?” he looks befuddled, too. I would never expect that, out of all the million bizarre things that might happen in this forest.

  “But, how come you’re…” I don’t know what to say. Alive? Cody I knew screamed out his last wee of light during that horrible experiment on the booth.

  “Here?” he fetches it up. “Well, I couldn’t stay there with those people, could I?” he smirks a little. He looks fine, which is strange, out of everything he’s been through.

  I should be delighted to see my friend safe and sound. I should go running to hug him, right now. It’s just that I’m so taken in surprise and shock by all this series of events, I cannot even gather myself and percept my surroundings.

  “How did you find us? How did you escape that place?” I ask him.

  “Man, you’ve no idea what I’ve been through back then. They had me scrambling into some progressive, scientific experiment, and it was painful. That’s when I realized I’d do anything to get out of there. Good news is I’m here now. And never thinking of going back.”

  I step back for a moment, frowning, but then I come to realization he’s really back. My mate is back. I hasten my way towards him to embrace him into a welcoming hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re here, man. Can I hug you?”

  “I would want nothing more.” He smiles and I figure how real this is. He’s back, right in front of me, even though I have such a hard time believing it.

  “So, turns out the world is just as livable as it’s always been.” I tell him. “So, like, I’m super stocked about this.”

  “Me too. I just was so panic-stricken going into this safari. But seeing all you guys made it, safe and sound, just makes it all feel so exciting.”

  “I know. But trust me, it isn’t just as half exciting as it feels.”

  It’s still dark. It feels like it was supposed to be morning be now, but the first light hasn’t just yet smuggled the ground. But now that my friend is here with us, after having thought that we wouldn’t hear from him anymore, just makes it feel like the day has already started for me. Even though I have so many questions to ask and wanna drench him in inquiry, which doesn’t feel appropriate since he must be exhausted by the long trip.

  “Greyson?” I hear Zoey’s voice echoing from behind.

  I turn around. She looks at me with goofy eyes. I let her to deal with the shock at first. It’s only normal she finds this occurrence unexpected and unreal. As for me, having Cody stand by my side, instead of confusing me, it’s just kinda calming my nerves. It feels like the posse is complete now.

  “What is happening here?” she asks me and looks at him like he’s a ghost or something.

  “Hey, Zoey.” Cody smiles at her. “Miss me much?”

  “Greyson, what is this?” she totally ignores him, which I find obnoxious. Shouldn’t she be happy our friend’s alive? “Is this a joke? A dream? Anything would make much more sense than what I’m witnessing anyway.”

  “Not quite the welcoming I was expecting.” Cody stares at her, still smiling.

  I see Zoey pinching herself.

  “What are you doing?” I ask.

  “I just want to make sure this is real. It just doesn’t make sense. Greyson,” she’s almost whining, and I hate to see her like that. So, lost and horrified. “You were there, you saw what they did to him. He wouldn’t have made it after that kind of radiant energy that was spumed over him.”

  “Can’t you just relish on the fact he’s here?” I ask her, trying to put emphasis to the fact she’s being kinda rude.

  “How did you know we’d be here, Cody?” she’s giving him the once over. Like, dude, what’s the matter with you? “The forest is so intricate and sweeping. Out of all the spots you could be, you’re here?” she asks him. What does she expect? An apology?

  “Zoey!” I put a demanding note on my tone, trying to make her realize she’s being obnoxious. “Dude, I’m sorry, we’re all just so disjointed by this turn of events. It’s been so much to go through.” I try to make an excuse for her, even though at this point she doesn’t deserve it.

  “Nah, man. Don’t mention it. We’ve all been through enough. Let this be the point where we move past the intricacy, and take delight in the opportunities that are coming our way.” He tells me.

  Zoey rolls her eyes and keeps looking at him suspiciously. “You didn’t answer my question.” She persists. “How did you find us up here?”

  Well, maybe if she gets her answers, she wouldn’t be such nitpicker anymore. So, I give Cody some space to have a causal chit-chat with her.

  “I didn’t. I just kept waddling onwards as far as possible so the crew wouldn’t find me, and I spotted you, right this morning, while running.”

  I scowl a little. Something just doesn’t add up.

  “Cody?” she looks at him, but now there’s some kind of other glint on her eyes. Boy, she’s up to something! “Did you say you carried along onwards?”

  “Mm-hmm,” he looks uncertain as to how should he be answering.

  “But you realize how struggling and how many turning points you have to take in order to get here? We have a map. We came here, just because it was the only place nearby a river.” She’s crazily conceited like she’s caught him with the cookie jar.

  “I mean, I was too fuzzy to pull down a peg and take counts.” He says.

  “What was our plan prior to the escape?” she asks him. This is nonsense. Where is she getting at with all this?

  “What do you mean?” Cody frowns.

  “There was an agenda we were after to, before they did whatever that thing they put you through was. I’m just asking what was it all about.”

  “Hmm,” he’s pondering. Why is he overthinking it
? The only thing we did the last week at the Eatonii was gabling about escaping that place and skipping the pills. But he’d already know by now.

  “Just, leave him alone, Zoey. He’s tired, can’t you see? Give the guy some rest.”

  She just looks at me, smiles (I recognize that smile; there’s an agenda she’s up to) and then hops over the acme she’s standing to. “Mind if I give you a hug?” she asks him.

  “Ah, not at all. Come on in.” he spreads his arms around and looks so relived, it makes me just so happy to have him back.

  “It’s good to have you back.” She tells him, all entangled. “If only it were really you.”

  I hear him snuffle, like he’s suffocating for air, which there’s plenty here, so it just doesn’t make sense. I look at him and try to make out of what is happening.

  I can see him staring somewhere unlocated in the air, and breathing heavily as if the whole atmosphere is radioactive and he can’t have the necessary amount of oxygen. After that I spot the knife on Zoey’s hand. It takes me a moment to realize and bear with what she just did.

  “Zoey!” I cronk. “What did you do?” and look shocked at my friend sliding off his knees and, through the lack of equilibrium, into the ground.

  She doesn’t respond. She just looks at me like it’s only me being overdramatic.

  “Cody?” I run at him, and get on my knees, slide my hand underneath his shoulder and try to hold him. She just stabbed our friend right to the back with a knife. Unhinged! That’s all I can think of it. I look at him suffocating for air, and keep holding as if this would help to bring him back.

  It’s just, I don’t know what to do. I’m not used to being around people getting killed. I don’t know what to do!! Exclamation point.

  It takes me a moment to realize that actually there’s no blood anywhere to be found, which is weird ‘cause I saw the knife gliding off his back. I hoist my head to look at Zoey, who is standing there all quiet and serene. As I’m all encumbered into trying to get a hint at what is happening here, the weirdest thing happens. His body starts to vanquish, little by little, pixilated, until there’s just my hands I take a gander at, standing adrift to where his shoulders were supposed to be. I’m too shocked to even ask her whether it’s only me, or this just happened for real.