After The End: Alex Rider FanFiction

~Chapter Sixteen~

Alex's (POV)

I'm sitting in the back seat of the truck, Mack sitting on the opposite side of me. Don driving, Lucy sitting passenger.

Sighing, I lay my head against the window. Lucy had come up to my room around twelve to get me for lunch, Don and Mack already eating.

But I hadn't eaten anything, didn't have the appetite to even attempt to eat, that relentless weight still on my chest.

Now I'm stuck in the truck going who-knows-where, the only clue being that Lucy had looked oddly excited when she was talking about it.

Glancing down at my watch, I notice it's almost two o'clock.

I feel the truck slow down. Looking outside, I see we're approaching town. Don takes a right as we enter town, then a couple more turns before stopping.

He parks in-front of a large brick building, the pavement showing its age with dozens of cracks, the paint fading. looking up at the large neon sign that hangs above the entrance, I finally see what all this hassles been about.

VIDEO ARCADE

Frowning, I step out of the truck as everyone else does.

Why would Lucy want to take us here?

"This is going to be so much fun!" Lucy exclaims as we walk towards the entrance.

I look over at Don and Mack, curious as to what their reactions are. Both have large smiles plastered across their faces, a spark of excitement in their eyes.

Of course she just wanted to come here for fun, there doesn't have to be a reason.

Looking around as we go in, I see it's a large, slightly dark room. Colored lights hang from the ceiling, the arcade game screens glowing in the dim lighting.

Some eighties music fills the room, matching the rest of the settings to a T.

The arcade games go around the whole length of the room, rows of them going up and down the middle, creating pathways.

I scan the room.

There's only a few groups of teenagers around, a single employee reading a magazine over behind a small desk in the corner.

Lucy looks back at me. "You have been to an Arcade before, right?"

A long, long time ago.

I give her a nod.

She digs through her purse, bringing out a ten dollar bill. She hands it to Mack, patting him on the head - much to his annoyance.

"Share the money, stay together, and have fun!" Lucy instructs, a big smile on her face. "We'll find you guys when it's time to go."

She looks at Don. "Come on, dear. Let's go play a game!" She giggles like a little school girl, grabbing his hand.

I watch her drag a reluctant Don over towards an older looking game, my lip twitching as I resist the urge to smile.

Mack laughs.

With a smile on his face, he turns to me. "Might as well go spend this money." He waves the ten dollar bill in front of his face, pretending to take a big whiff of it. He then walks over to a coin machine, exchanging it for quarters.

Standing there, I find myself continuously looking around, my mind not liking the dark settings.

Mack starts walking down a long row of games, his eyes examining each one. He suddenly stops, looking back at me when he notices I'm not following him.