When Darnell said armor, Alicia had no idea what Darnell actually meant. She pictured a suit of shining knight armor, no idea how he'd get it, but that would be cool. Or maybe, a samurai armor, with the colorful plates that resembled a dress? Again, no idea how he'd get it, but it sounded awesome. What Alicia didn't imagine, was that moments after Darnell stated "they needed an upgrade," that she would become a mummy.
"Ow," she uttered as Darnell fastened the final bit of tape on her left arm. Alicia now had layers of bandage tape, held down by duck tape along both her left and right forearms now. Her arms looked ridiculously bulky. Darnell patted the tape with a grin, proud of his handiwork. He looked up to find a not-so-pleased Alicia though.
"It's for protection." Darnell stated.
"It's weird. And tight. And itchy." Alicia complained.
"Well until you can whip up magical barriers or paint yourself red, this what you gotta do."
Ryan eyed Darnell after that last statement.
"Now gimme your leg," Darnell commanded.
Alicia reluctantly lifted up her left leg, and Darnell rolled up her jeans so he could put the tape under it.
"I didn't need this before…" she said.
"We didn't have this before." Darnell managed one layer of the bandage, "and it ain't like you got hair on your body."
"Well it still kinda stings…" she pouted.
"Well it's still kinda going to stop a zombie from biting into your skin."
Darnell didn't wrap as much on her legs as he did her arms, and stopped after a few layers. "You already got your jeans here, so I think this'll be fine."
Alicia felt like a patient of a car crash. She intentionally stuck her arms and legs out like they were in casts. Darnell eyed her skeptically as he rose up. Alicia just stared at him with her arms lifted up in the air. "Bruh, you good." Darnell pushed her arms down to her legs. As soon as he let go, she flicked them back up like a spring. Darnell just shook his head and grabbed more tape.
Alicia looked over at Ryan, who sat a couple of feet away, examining his hand. What happened earlier started to concern him. Would he be able to do it again? His hand was more sore than before, and there was a slight tingle now. Like when a limb falls asleep but less extreme. Ryan wanted to test it, but he feared it would only get worse if he did.
Alicia rose up awkwardly from her seat. She expected the tape to hinder her movement but it wasn't as bad as she expected. Still, Alicia made it her goal to be overdramatic. She waddled over to Ryan like a penguin, looking over her shoulder to see if Darnell was watching. Darnell had already started wrapping his own arm. He was wrapping his arm pretty fast. Ridiculously fast. His arms were just a blur as he did his left arm. Then switched to his right arm almost seamlessly. She just passed it off and brought her attention to Ryan. Alicia stopped waddling once she reached Ryan.
"Is it working?" Alicia asked him.
Ryan jumped up, not realizing she had approached him, "Oh, I think so. Not sure though."
"What is it supposed to do?"
"Not sure. When I was fighting, it suddenly appeared, and I just killed him with it." Ryan nodded his head at Kyle's decimated body.
"So is it like super strength or something?" Alicia tilted her head to the side.
Ryan shrugged his shoulders, "Probably… I still don't know."
"You wanna-"
"Alicia!" Darnell suddenly called out to her.
Both Ryan and Alicia looked to Darnell who was already wrapped in bandage tape, and holding a wooden stick about three to four feet long. The same stick Ryan saw earlier. Darnell held his hand out to Alicia. "I need the knife," he explained.
After Darnell's spear broke on their way to the gym, he made sure to at least keep the knife that was attached to it. He had given it to Alicia for safekeeping before he "attacked" Ryan. Alicia reached into her back pocket and pulled out the kitchen knife. She handed it over and Darnell walked back over to his seat with the tape.
"Are you making a new spear?" Alicia asked.
"Ye'tirr," Darnell chanted, as he inspected the knife. In the dark, it was difficult to tell if the knife was still sharp or not. "Well it don't really matter," he whispered to himself. He began shaving off one end of the stick with ferocious cuts.
Alicia turned back to Ryan and continued what she was saying before, "You wanna test if it's super strength?"
"Can I?" he asked her and himself. He already wasn't willing to pull it out just for looks, much less testing it.
"What could be wrong with it?"
"That, I also don't know. I just got it like an hour or two ago. I've only used it like, three times. Now my hand feels all sore and shaky-"
Ryan was disrupted by the overbearing sounds of whizzing behind Alicia. The two turned towards the sound and Darnell was slicing the air with a newly crafted spear. He skillfully spun the spear in windmills with transitions to slices and thrusts.
"Yo you're kinda crazy with that thing." Ryan called out to Darnell.
Darnell chuckled as he did his final swing. He stopped, breathing deeply, and turned to the others, "Let me find out I'm an Aztec warrior baby."
Darnell walked over to them with his new spear.
"So we're ready to go back out and fight?" Alicia asked.
"Dang girl," Darnell boomed, his eyebrows narrowed, "bloodthirsty ain't ya?"
Alicia smiled and looked off to the side, "Maybe…" she giggled.
Darnell shook his head, "Nah, I ain't had water since we dipped from Chess's."
Ryan pointed behind him, "There's probably some in my coach's fridge."
Near the bathroom was his coach's office, where the fridge was located. All three of the friends walked to the office door. Ryan pulled on the doorknob, but of course, it was locked. "Hmm," Ryan grunted.
"Punch it." Darnell said.
Ryan turned to Darnell, not processing what he heard, "What?" he went.
"Punch it." Darnell repeated, acting like it was the obvious solution.
Ryan looked at the door, not sure if it was okay to break into his coach's office.
"I highly doubt he's gonna need to file any papers anytime soon." Darnell said bluntly.
Ryan couldn't argue with his logic. What he could argue though, was that it might not be wise to activate his ability. Ryan looked down at his hand again. He balled it into a fist, reluctantly. As if he was testing that he could still control his hand.
"Did you try it with your other hand?" Darnell spoke up.
Ryan looked up to Darnell with a blank look, feeling Darnell had just broken open a dam in his brain. Ryan looked from his right hand to his left hand. He processed what Darnell said. Why hadn't he tried it with his left hand?
"Oh, I haven't..." Ryan uttered.
Ryan wasn't sure if it'd work or not, but he'd might as well give it a try. Ryan closed his left fist and replicated the same feeling he had in his right hand. The tingling returned, and almost immediately the red shell emerged in his left fist. Ryan's eyes bulged out of his head when he saw it happen so easily.
"Oh! Whoo!" Ryan cheered as he jumped up, pumping his fist in the air. Ryan waved his fist in Darnell and Alicia's faces, yelling, "Y'all see that? That right there!?"
Darnell chuckled as Alicia nodded her head.
Ryan stared at his red fist, "Heheh…"
So now Ryan knew he wasn't losing it. Ryan recalled how he'd held the shell on his right hand for an extended amount of time earlier. If that was why it was sore, then he just needed to give it a good break. Ryan proudly nodded his chin at his fist.
"Alright now punch it." Darnell stated.
"Right." Ryan said.
In the upper center of the door, directly in front of Ryan's face, was a window for the door. It had metal wires and blinds preventing anyone from peering or breaking inside easily. Easily. Ryan was confident that his fist wasn't "easy." He lifted his left fist. The shell encasing his fist and forearm as it should. Ryan reeled back, aiming straight for the window. With a grunt of power, Ryan rocketed his fist straight for the window. Like paper, his fist tore through the glass and the metal wires with ease. Ryan was actually shocked. He believed he could punch through it, but actually doing it was surreal.
Ryan reached his fist down towards the handle on the other side. His fist. Oh yeah, he thought to himself. He had to undo the shell or he couldn't move his hand. Ryan released the shell then grabbed hold of the door handle and unlocked the door. Just like that, they were in.
The three entered the room with caution. Darnell flicked on the light, and illuminated the room. The office was relatively small, with just enough space for a desk and a couple shelves. Some light really did them some good. Alicia and Ryan reeled back and squinted at the sudden flash of light. As they adjusted, Darnell called out, "Found it."
Darnell located the mini-fridge just behind the desk in a corner. He pried it open, revealing a couple of water bottles. "Finally! Water!" Darnell shouted.
"Water!" Alicia chimed in.
Darnell pulled out two bottles and tossed them to Ryan and Alicia.
"Stay hydrated young bloods," Darnell asserted.
In unison, they all twisted off the caps and began chugging the refreshing beverage. To all of them, water had never tasted better. Alicia didn't even realize how thirsty she was until her tongue made contact with the cool liquid. She kept chugging and chugging, as if her body was controlling her arm. Halfway through the bottle, she managed to tear her mouth away. "Ah!" they all went.
"Woo! I feel good!" Darnell sang, he tossed his already empty bottle into a nearby trash bin.
Ryan didn't need as much, but it still tasted amazing.
"Now, we're ready to go back out and fight," said Darnell, smiling.