Surviving Cancer

Thursday, January 4

LEVI POV

"Come on! You're kidding me!" I yelled. "How'd he even do that?"

"That was ridiculous." Greg said.

I watched the numbers tick down on the screen indicating my respawn time. Greg's fingers tapping away at the controller as we played Call of Duty. I kept dying. I'd spawn and no sooner did I start to venture out, the same person would get me. It was like they were gunning for my demise. Sometimes I hated online game play. Computers didn't hold grudges.

"If he kills me one more time, I'm done." I growled.

Greg laughed, "It's probably some 10 year old kid somewhere, who cares?"

I didn't answer. I knew it was ridiculous to get pissed but I was just trying to chill and play some video games. Just because I blew him up once didn't mean he had to search the map for me relentlessly. There were other people.

My character respawned and I swiveled the knob on my controller, making my character spin. I was checking all angles before venturing out. I slipped through the map, my character jumping over the uneven terrain. I was on a mission.

"Your guy's over here."Greg said. "Go in through the back."

I navigated over to the side of the map Greg was at, staying close to cover and only shooting when necessary. I didn't want to draw attention to myself if I didn't have too. Greg's screen erupted in gunfire, his fingers pounding away on the controller.

"Come on, come on, damn it!" He yelled, hanging his head in defeat. "This kid obviously plays way too much."

"He's going down." I muttered.

"We only need one more kill and we win." Greg said. "You better get him."

His character came into my screen. He hadn't seen me yet. I had snuck up behind him. It was the perfect opportunity to get back at him. I just had to pick the right method. If I could get in close, grab him from behind, I could use a knife. I could launch a grenade but he could move away easily. Or I could just start firing which unless I got a headshot would give him time to turn and fire back. His aim was way better than mine.

"I'm going in." I said, sending my character in motion.

I was going to have to be accurate and fast. My fingers were going so fast as I pounded in the right sequence of buttons to make my character grab him from behind. My chest was tight with adrenaline as my character collided with his and I hit the button to attack with my knife. His body crumpled to the ground, the score board flashing across the screen indicating we had won and I had gotten my revenge.

"Ha! Take that!" I shouted. "Not so tough now are ya?"

"That was awesome." Greg said, setting the controller down. "I'm starving."

"You're always starving." I commented but felt my stomach grumble too. "Let's go raid the fridge."

We climbed off my bed, leaving the game playing on the tv. I followed Greg to the kitchen, he made himself at home as he opened up the fridge and freezer to survey what our options were. I opened the pantry.

"I hung out with Jackie last night." Greg said out of nowhere, his face still searching through the refrigerator.

I stopped moving and looked over. Jackie was a topic I didn't bring up when I was hanging with Greg. And I wasn't sure if I wanted him to bring her up either.

"Oh." I managed to say.

"You guys are both still huge dicks." He said.

I nodded my head, my heart thumping in my chest a little. "I know."