Co-op

A stifling waft of hot air hit them as they entered the arcade. Immediately every sense was overwhelmed by strobing neon lights, Blaring, Looping jingles, electric whines and of course, the overall stickiness of the place.

“Nathan, get us some drinks.” Mike ordered, already on his way to hog Streetfighter. Sam gave him an apologetic shrug before joining Mike at the machine. Nathan debated if he should just leave. It was loud, he wasn’t sure his friends wanted him there, but it beat the hell out of letting his anxiety spiral out of control.

He walked over to the bar and stood for a good two minutes whilst the bar staff chatted in a huddle. He only caught bits of their gossip, apparently some strange customer was back again.

“Three cokes’ please,” he eventually ordered.

A girl with a huge head of curling hazel hair reached under the bar without a word. She grabbed three coke cans and dumped them in front of Nathan. He sighed internally and grabbed the cans, expecting them to be chilly to the touch but finding them tepid.

He picked up two and slid the last can into his pocket before realising she was so disinterested she hadn’t charged him.

He left the big haired bartender to her conversation and headed toward his friends. Most of the light in the arcade came from the various consoles lined up against the bare brick walls. The general darkness being interrupted by slashes of vibrant light. He could see the outline of his friends huddled around Streetfighter. Neither acknowledged him as he put the cokes down on the table next to them, instead they mashed buttons and wrenched the joysticks in every direction.

“I got ‘em for free.” Nathan said to Mike and Sam’s back.

The arcade machine let out an animatronic wail of pain.

“You lose.” The machine mocked as the words “insert coin” flashed repeatedly on screen.

“Again!” Mike demanded, patting himself down for another coin. Sam shrugged his shoulders.

“It wasn’t even close.”

“Nathan, give me some money.” Mike said, jabbing his hand out.

Nathan pulled out three pound coins, Mike snatched them from him and whipped back round to the machine. Nathan opened his mouth but was drowned out by the high energy synthesized beats the game spewed out .

“Round one fight!”

Mike and Sam dove into a button hammering frenzy whilst Nathan cracked open his coke. He looked around, at the side of the bar he noticed an old pinball machine. He didn’t really care much for it, but he knew he could play it by himself.

He walked the length of the black floor avoiding the taped down wires and dug in his pocket for a coin. The pinball machine was old, across its glass surface, countless circular stains from perspiring glasses had left their mark. Nathan took a beer mat from the bar and set down his can. From the side of him he heard the bar staff giggling, he felt his face redden.

“Look!”

He turned to the bar staff, breathing a sigh of relief when he realised, they weren’t looking at him. Down the far end of the room a lone gamer stood feet apart, shotgun in hand. Despatching zombies with a cool precision.

Bang, tcha-chik, bang, tcha-chik, bang.

Why are they laughing? Nathan thought. Couldn’t be because they were bad, they looked to be raking in points. He abandoned the tired old pinball machine and stepped closer, squinting to get a better look at what the bar staff found so funny.

Maybe it was how small the player was? The shotgun seemed comically large in comparison to its wielder and their little bob of curly hair shook every time the gun kicked back.

“She's always here alone, used to come in with a young lad.” Came a voice to the side of him. It was the big haired girl who’d served him.

“She?” Nathan asked.

She let out a laugh

“She’s got the second highest score in the whole place!”

Nathan decided to go in for a closer look, his friends obviously weren’t interested in playing him maybe this person would. Even if she wiped the floor with him. The screens glow caught in her hair; he realised those curls were silver. This woman had to be in her mid-seventies at least.

He let out an involuntary laugh and looked back toward the bar staff, a look of total shock on his face. They all hooted at his surprise, when he turned back the pensioner was staring at him. The round ended and the screen cast a red hue over her face. Nathan smile dropped.

“No, I wasn’t laughing at you.”

She turned back to the screen and readied herself for the next round. Nathan wanted to apologise but he wasn’t going to talk to the back of, yet another person’s head. He took a seat and watched her play. Throngs of zombies staggered toward the unfazed grandma; she blasted a path through with an adept calmness.

Bang, tcha-chik, bang!

Nathan watched in awe, half an eye on the leader board. Her score climbed ever higher, hot on the heels of the highest score. Now less than 100 points away, Nathan had gotten out of his seat. He couldn’t believe it; this pensioner was about to beat the all-time high score. He was wondering if the staff would give her a prize when suddenly she lowered her gun. Zombies poured over the screen. Rotten gnashing teeth and decaying fingers clawed at the screen now dripping blood. The old lady let out a sigh, carefully placed the gun back on the rack and looked at her score, less than 50 points from the top.

“What are you doing?!” Nathan blurted out.

She paid him no more attention than the zombies, hopping up onto a stool and taking a discreet swig from a hip flask hidden in her anorak.

“You almost had it there. Why did you put the gun down?”

She shrugged her shoulders at him. The alphabet flashed on the screen; it needed a name to add to the scoreboard.

“Aren’t you going to put your name in?” He asked.

“Nah, it’ll go off eventually.” She said.

“Well let me at least do it for you, don’t want it to forget that score!”

Nathan walked over and picked up the shotgun clumsily.

“Lydia.” He heard her say.

He pointed the shaky barrel at the letter L and pulled the trigger, much like a real shotgun it gave a kickback into his shoulder. It took him a while, but he did eventually manage to shoot out the name Lydia. The scoreboard lit up and her name sat just under the leader, Matt&Gram.

“There we go, don’t ever see anyone beating that score.”

“It’s lucky those letters weren’t moving.” She said.

“I prefer a cosy farming simulator.” He laughed.

She chuckled with him but when her eyes were drawn to the scoreboard, her face grew sad.

“Did I spell it wrong?” Nathan asked.

“No, nothing you did.” She took another swig of her hip flask.

“I’ll buy you a drink if you tell me how you got so good.” He offered.

“I used to come here a lot, with someone special.” She looked down at the floor saying the words, Nathan decided not to push it any further.

“OK, I hope you like warm coke.”

She nodded and he returned a few minutes later with the drink, the large haired girl had remembered to charge him this time. He put down the coke in front of her and tapped it with his own.

“Cheers.”

“Cheers for what?” She asked.

“I don’t know, don’t see that many older gamers. Right on for not caring.”

She looked past him to the bar, the bar staff immediately fell silent and busied themselves. She cracked open the can.

“Thanks.” She said, took a sip and grimaced.

“You weren’t lying about it being warm then?”

“Afraid not, although nothing like a lukewarm drink in a sweaty arcade.”

They sat together sipping their drinks, Nathans mind was pulled back to that high score. Why didn’t Lydia just beat it?

“Why aren’t you playing with your friends then?” She asked him.

He looked over to Mike and Sam, still huddled over Streetfighter.

“Think I’m a bit of a third wheel.” He admitted.

“They seemed happy enough for you to pay.”

Nathan didn’t know what to say to that, it had been his idea to go to the arcade. Mostly because he couldn’t stay in his flat alone for much longer. He had hoped his racing thoughts would slow amongst his friends in the noisy arcade. It wasn’t till that moment he realised, speaking to Lydia, his mind had quietened down.

“Yeah well, they’re having fun, that what we’re hear for. You must come here often, to be so good.”

“Oh, not for a few months,” she said, “used to come every Sunday.”

“Why stop.”

She left his question hanging. The conversation fizzled out, Nathan thought it might be best to leave Lydia to her thoughts, she clearly didn’t want to talk about the high score. He didn’t want to leave though, talking to her had lessened the dread that had circulating in his belly. He knew he was ok; he just didn’t want to be alone just yet. Maybe Lydia felt the same.

“Hey, fancy a few rounds?” He asked.

She gave him a surprised look.

“Play some co-op, us two?”

Nathan nodded his head and moved toward the machine. He squatted down, looking for a coin slot. The machine wakened with the low groaning chorus of the undead. When he looked up, Lydia had already paid and was busy adjusting the settings on the side of her shotgun.

“Cover me,” she said, “I’m going to try and split them up and you pick off the stragglers who try to get behind me.”

She cocked the gun and pointed the barrel at the accompanying one, still lying in its cradle. Nathan chugged the last of his coke, wiped his mouth cracked open his second can and picked up the gun. Even though it was just a plastic replica it was still big and unwieldy. His triceps throbbed at the weight.

“You’re gonna strain your wrist holding it like that.” Lydia said. She put down her own gun and repositioned his hands.

“That’s it, tuck in the elbow. Let the weight guide your aim.”

“Did you used to be an assassin before you retired?” Nathan laughed, testing out his new grip.

“I had a good teacher.” Lydia replied, using the gun to cycle through the menus. She selected a map “high school horror” and the game began. When they loaded in Nathan swore, he heard Lydia say the name “Matthew” under her breath.

She outpaced him easily, ducking and decapitating whilst he wrestled the point of the barrel where he needed it to go before firing too late, accidently shooting Lydia in the back.

“Shit, sorry!”

“Forget it, keep moving.” She chuckled.

His cheeks burned, he suspected the bar staff were watching him, probably laughing at him as well as Lydia. She carried him through the next few levels, but he did get in a fair few kills of his own, even saving her from a neck bite.

“Nice one kid!” She shouted over the moans of the lumbering brain eaters. Nathan smiled, it wasn’t until they began to climb the leader board, did he realise just how much fun he was having. Lydia’s instructions came less often, he felt they were in sync with one another. Stepping and shooting and always moving forward.

“This is great!” He said, Lydia smiled at him over the shotgun’s stock.

“Your friends seem amused.”

He lowered his gun and looked across the bar, Mike and Sam had abandoned Streetfighter instead he and Lydia had become the nights entertainment.

“You two going back to her place after?” Mike shouted.

Nathan looked back to the screen and kept shooting, he missed a headshot and Lydia took damage.

“Sorry!”

“Are you going to say that every time? Ignore those chuckleheads and watch my six.”

“Yes ma’am.”

His head back in the game, the points began to rack up. Stealing quick sips of coke between levels kept him suitably wired for the non-stop gore fest they blasted their way through. Climbing into third place, Nathan noticed Lydia arm begin to shake.

“Not too far to go now!” He said, trying to encourage her.

Lydia kept shooting, but her aim fell lower and lower. As they went from third to second Lydia slid the gun back into its cradle.

“Come on,” Nathan said, “We could be number one!”

“Do what you like.”

Lydia turned and sat back down on the stool behind him. Nathan lowered his gun and looked back. Lydia’s pulled out a handkerchief stuffed up the sleeve of her anorak and dabbed at her eyes. He looked back to the screen; zombies were advancing on him. From this distance he could take down enough to put him on the top spot. He put down the gun.

“You could have had that!” Sam yelled.

Pixel zombies cracked his head open and devoured its contents. He left them to it, pulling up a seat next to Lydia.

“Want to tell me about that high score?”

She pulled her anorak tight and looked away. Around them the sounds of beeping, whirring, laser beams and the clacking of pinball levers filled the silence. The game had finished tearing Nathan and Lydia to bits and now wanted a name for the scoreboard.

“You know I had fun tonight for the first time in ages.”

“I’m glad, you look like you could use it.” Lydia said.

Whoop, whoop, briiing! A nearby machine trilled out.

“You must love that game.”

“Yeah, it was Matthew’s favourite. That’s all gone now.” She shook her head briskly.

A morbid curiosity creeped into Nathan’s head, if it were Mike or Sam here, they would probably demand she spill it.

“My name’s Nathan by the way. Can’t remember if I introduced myself.”

“Thanks Nathan.” Lydia said.

“For what?”

She paused for a beat. “Nice to have some company in here, thought I’d here alone.”

He didn’t push it; Lydia was tough that much was obvious but whoever held that high score was too raw of a memory for her.

“If you’re here next weekend we could have another game? Can’t see either of them two minding.”

He gestured toward Mike and Sam who had grown bored of the spectacle and returned to Streetfighter.

“They don’t seem worth your time to me.”

“Well, you more than are. I want to learn how to get that good.”

She smiled and at the corner of her eye Nathan spotted a single tear before it was blinked away.

“Listen Lydia, I’m gonna need to get going but see you next week. Gotta drop those two off before I head home.”

“You will be careful, won’t you? You haven’t had anything to drink?”

A bit taken aback by Lydia’s sudden insistence Nathan put his hands up.

“No officer,” he laughed, “warm coke was as close to alcohol as I came. Next week then?”

“I Promise. Please drive safe.”

He returned to where he’d left Mike and Sam. They were midgame, eyes bloodshot and brows creased.”

“Ok I’m tired. If you two want a lift I’m going now.”

Nathan headed out, not so much as looking back, it took the pair a few minutes to register he’d gone. When they finally decided he wasn’t bluffing they abandoned the game and went chasing off after him.