Zane stretched slowly, wincing slightly as he tried to sit up. His hands rubbed over his face, still looking a bit groggy. "Alright, alright... I'm alive, I think. Barely," he mumbled, blinking at the dim light in the room as if unsure it was real.
Evelyn leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a smirk tugging at her lips. "You better be, or I'll come over there and slap the life back into you. Don't make me start that early today." She half-glared, half-laughed, like this was just another day in their chaotic lives.
Zane chuckled, his voice dry. "You'd probably just slap me so hard I'd forget my own name. But hey, if it works, I'm in."
She snorted, shaking her head. "You don't need to remember your name, Zane. Hell, half the time I don't even remember if you're my son or a stray dog I adopted by mistake."
"Stray dog, huh?" Zane raised an eyebrow, still smirking. "Well, at least I'm better behaved than that cat you tried to keep alive last summer. That thing was one step away from running a crime ring out of the attic."
Evelyn gave a dramatic sigh, exaggerating a wince. "Don't remind me. That damn cat would've been the death of me. And now I've got you, so who's worse off, really?" She nudged him with her elbow, an affectionate gesture masked by playful venom.
"Well, I could always run away with Dad if you think I'm that much of a handful," Zane said with a grin, though there was a flicker of genuine concern in his voice.
Evelyn rolled her eyes. "Don't even joke about that. Your father's probably off gambling our savings away at the casino, or... no, wait, I bet he's at the supermarket, buying snacks we'll never see again. That man's a walking disaster."
Zane groaned dramatically. "If he's gambling again, I'm taking all his credit cards and going on a shopping spree. Grandmaster Zane needs some new shoes!" He pointed down at his worn-out sneakers, his attempt at humor only half-hearted.
Evelyn snorted, shaking her head. "Why you'd buy shoes and still forget you've got them, then complain about not looking good to a girl. Typical. Speaking of which—when are you going to give me grandbabies?"
Before Zane could respond, Kade, who had been silently watching the exchange, finally spoke up, his tone serious but laced with a hint of tension. "We need to move, guys. We can't just sit here. There's a lot we're still not understanding, and we need to get out of here before things get worse."
Zane looked up from his half-laughter, his playful edge disappearing. "Move? You mean, like, pack up and leave? Because I was planning to just take a nap and pretend this whole 'weird stuff happening' thing was a dream."
Evelyn raised an eyebrow at Kade. "What's going on? Move where? What are you two talking about?"
Kade glanced at Zane before answering, his voice a little firmer. "We need to get ready to leave. Remember the mole creatures and the goblins we ran into before? Whatever's happening, it's escalating. We don't know what's next, but we need to be prepared."
Evelyn blinked, her expression a mix of confusion and curiosity. "Mole creatures? Goblins? Are you both out of your minds? I thought Zane had just hit his head too hard or something. And you're talking about... goblins?"
Zane, ever the joker, leaned back in bed like he was about to reveal some grand truth. "Yeah, Mom. Goblins. You know, little green dudes, probably with a bad attitude and a terrible taste in fashion. Honestly, I thought you were going to bring up Dad's poker nights again, but goblins are fine too."
Evelyn stared at him like he had just grown a second head. "Are you seriously telling me that goblins are a thing now? What are we, living in some kind of poorly written fantasy novel?" She crossed her arms, though there was a flicker of concern in her eyes.
Zane shrugged exaggeratedly, as if he were the expert on this. "I don't know. Maybe? I just woke up with weird screens, so goblins are the least of our worries right now. I mean, there's a good chance I'm just hallucinating all this. But, uh, if I am, I should probably stop eating so much of your leftover lasagna."
Kade gave a tired sigh. "He's not wrong. We've both seen... things. And I think we're dealing with something bigger than we realize. It's like we've been thrown into some kind of messed-up game, but we don't have any damn instructions."
Zane's eyes widened in mock excitement, his hands raised dramatically. "I get it now! This is it, Mom. Welcome to the apocalypse. No turning back! We've got monsters, and now we're probably going on a quest to find a base and Dad." His grin faltered for a moment, the seriousness of his words creeping in under the joke.
Kade's expression softened, but his determination didn't waver. "Exactly. We need to find them—your dad, my mom—and make sure they're alright before it gets any worse. We can't wait around for this to spiral."
Zane stood up, stretching out his legs with a grunt. "Yeah, I get that. But I don't know if we should drag Mom into this. It's bad enough she saw me all messed up like that... the risk of it happening to her too... I don't know, man. I'd feel better if she stayed here, safe."
Kade shook his head, his tone firm. "It's better to bring her with us than leave her here alone. If we leave her, she'll be stuck here with nothing but an apartment and monsters creeping around outside. At least if we stick together, we've got each other's backs."
Zane rubbed the back of his neck, hesitation still in his voice. "I don't want to put her in danger, though. We've got no idea what's going on, Kade. What if it gets worse and we can't handle it?"
Evelyn snorted and rolled her eyes. "Worse than this? Son, I'm still standing. Nothing happened to me. If you two can go off and do whatever this is right after waking up, it can't be that bad, can it?" She gave a short laugh, but there was a flicker of concern behind it. "Trust me, wherever you're going, I'm going too, at least until I know you're feeling better."
She paused, pulling out her phone and dialing once more. Her frustration growing as she spoke. "I tried calling your dad, but there's no signal. Same with the ambulance. Something's not right, and I'm not letting you two out of my sight until I know exactly what's going on."
Zane stared at her for a moment, surprised by her unwavering confidence. He looked to Kade, who gave a small nod, confirming that her involvement was necessary. Slowly, Zane nodded back, the weight of the decision settling in.
"Alright," Zane sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You're right. It's probably safer if we stick together. But if anything happens to you, I swear to God, I'll—"
"Yeah, yeah," Evelyn interrupted, waving her hand dismissively. "You'll what? Cry about it and whine like a little baby?" Her grin was teasing, but there was a strong undercurrent of affection in her voice. "Don't worry about me, kiddo. I've got this."
Zane's grin returned, though it was a little more cautious now. "Fine. We go together. But if any goblins get any funny ideas, I'm blaming you."
Evelyn laughed, her voice rich with mischief. Kade cleared his throat, pulling them back to the task at hand.
"Alright, enough with the jokes. We've got a job to do, people. Let's get to the store, find my mom and your dad," Kade said, his voice sharp and commanding.
Zane clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's go save the day. If I get eaten by a goblin along the way, just know I called dibs on the first exit."
Evelyn rolled her eyes, but her smile never wavered. "Just don't get yourself killed, or you'll regret it."