The Widows Harem

Chapter 9 - COD

Jocelyn

"Oh my lord, where the heck are you!?" Riley shot as his COD character ran around on the screen, trying to find me.

My laughter filled the room as I made my character duck down again after my failed attempt to shoot him. I had already taken Vincent out, and he was watching in amusement as we played.

Vince had suggested playing a game and Riley chose COD. I had played it before a handful of times, but I wasn't that good at it.

"Jesus, stop trying to snipe me woman!" Riley's character was zig-zagging and jumping around, trying to avoid my sporadic shooting. When he was out of reach, I left my perch and went in pursuit of him. It was time to sh*t or get off the pot. Once Riley realized what I was doing, he turned his character around. We had an all-out mini-war and I came out the victor.

"You're pretty good at this," Victor complimented.

"Thank you. It really doesn't feel that way though." I smiled up at him.

"You're a freaking cheater," Riley ribbed. "There is no way in h*ll you haven't played this more often."

"Dude! The last time I played this was about three years ago," I countered. "And I was no expert then either."

"Must be beginner's luck," Vince chuckled.

"I think we should go online and let her have some real fun." Riley smirked.

"Online? Like, against other people and not computers?" I clarified.

"Yep," Riley confirmed.

"We'll do teams," Vince assured me as he pulled out a few headsets. After turning them on, he passed them out.

It didn't take long to get situated, and then we were off to the races.

I stayed quiet for the most part. I had heard horror stories of women being bullied relentlessly on platforms like this. Not that Vince or Riley would allow that type of behavior to commence in the first place, I assured myself. It was more of just being on the safe side, and also being out of my element. This was an unfamiliar game, and I was being thrown into the wild of the online community without proper training. It was just a bit much.

And so, I simply listened to the chatter and overall camaraderie. It was fun listening to them talk and rib each other.

As they were in the thick of it, I was holding my own and I lost myself in the game and knee-jerk responded to someone's banter. The silence on the mic was evident.

"Who's got the woman?" One of them finally asked, and I couldn't tell if the speaker was upset or not.

My gaze connected with Vince, my heart pounding. I was afraid I had done something I shouldn't have and ruined the fun for them.

"FT-1," Riley replied proudly. "You got a problem with that, Riker?" He called out the other player by name.

There was a pause before he responded, "No problem at all, Ry."

The game commenced. Even though the cat was out of the bag, I still didn't engage much. We won most of the games, with Vince and Riley carrying the team. I did random s**t, going off on little excursions and, every once in a while, running into another player. Sometimes I got them, sometimes, they got me. It was interesting, though, watching Vince and Riley play. They didn't have to speak in order for them to know what the other needed or intended. This had to be a very watered-down version of whatever they did back in their military days, and their training, and connections, were still as sharp as ever.

Those we were playing against ganged up on us and it was over. As we were waiting to start a new game, there was chatter over the mic. "The woman's with FT-1. She's the one with the cowboy hat." My character's description resounded. Were they going to intentionally target me? It sounded that way.

Vince and Riley both eye-balled each other. It almost felt as if they were having a silent conversation before they turned back to the screen with purpose. They didn't say anything to me, or ask me to do anything different from what I had been doing. So, I just went about my merry way, curious as to what would happen.

"Roll," Riley commanded under his breath. I did as he said, even though I was confused by his request. Until I saw the bullets flying over my character's head.

"Run," Vincent whispered right as he took out one of the shooters with a knife.

Well then, I thought to myself as I ran for cover. My guys had my back and weren't going to let the others' actions slide.

"Below the hill is a tunnel. Take cover in there," Vince said.

It didn't surprise me that they knew these maps like the back of their hands. It was in their nature. Plus, they had probably played so many times they knew the areas inside and out.

"Follow it," Riley said as he took out two more enemies who were firing on me. "It leads you back to the main area. I'll meet you near the entrance."

"Keep an eye on the horizon. Riker will be there, somewhere. He's not in the thick of it."

"Which means he's sniping," Riley grumbled. "Wish Lark was here. He would have already taken him out."

"He likes the north-east corner or the nook in the tall tower."

"I'll take the tower. You're closer to the other spot."

"Sit tight in the tunnel, Jo," Vince ordered. "And shoot anything that moves."

They didn't have to tell me twice. I was in the thick of it with these two men and having a peek at what their inner world was like. I was enjoying every moment of it.

"He's up there, but I can't get him," Vince said.

"I got the one up in the tower."

"Fall back. Riker will take you out before you have the opportunity to start looking."

"Distract him," Riley said.

"I can do that!" I stated excitedly, moving out of the tunnel. I wanted to help, and I knew this was something I could do. I jumped over a wall and made myself visible and just started running around like a madman.

"Cover her," Vincent growled to Riley as he worked his way up to where Riker was.

"Go left," Riley commanded. I did right as the first of Riker's attempts hit the ground.

"Stop helping her!" Someone roared on the mic. "That's cheating!"

Riley was picking off the others who were closing in on my location one-by-one.

"You ganging up on someone just because they aren't like you is bullying, and we don't tolerate that," Riley snarled back.

"Roll," Vincent ground out as another bullet whizzed by my character. "I'm almost in position. You're doing great," he complimented.

I beamed and continued on my merry path. I was making my way over to the tunnel again, taking the very open and direct path to it this time.

"There's four left," Riley announced.

"Three," Vince corrected as he took out Riker.

We could hear Riker's curses over the mic. Along with several others talking s**t. Riley and Vince were ignoring them, focused on their mission.

Vince took over Riker's spot and took out one more enemy.

I had made it to the tunnel at that point and was starting to run back through it again.

"You're not going to be able to save her," a new voice purred over the line, and I saw both Riley and Vince tense up.

"Get out of the tunnel, now!" Vince ordered.

"Where is he!?" Riley snapped, as he searched through his scope, trying to find this new threat.

It was only a game, I reminded myself. But, for some reason, it took a personal turn with this new player.

"Have her stay there." Another voice said firmly over the mic.

Was that Tristan?

"Did you create another account, you bastard?" Riley shot, sounding relieved.

"Cover her," Tristan pressed.

"This isn't how the game is played, Lark. You aren't on their team," the other player shot. "Stand down."

"I stand against any kind of bullying. You know this, Rhys," Tristan stated evenly.

On the screen, I saw Vince jump down. He was the closest to the tunnel. I had already turned back around and was waiting close to the entrance into the field.

Riley was just about to enter the other side of the tunnel, to cover my back when he was taken out.

"Damn it!"

"Follow me," Vince said as he ran out of the tunnel. I did, doing everything he did.

There were a few close shots. We took a couple non-lethal hits. While it should have been an enjoyable experience, I could feel the adrenaline starting to crash my system. This was feeling far too real for some reason. I didn't like this cat and mouse game we were playing anymore.

Seconds later, there was a bunch of cursing on the line. Tristan had found his target.

Vince silently led me to where Tristan was. "Thanks," Vince said into the mic before shooting him and winning the game.