Free Age of Z: A Tale of Survival by T. S. Frost Page A

think you need more practice!”
     
    LS gave her an angry look, clearly frustrated by his losses, but the fury retreated slightly when he spotted Alexa's grin and realized she was only teasing. His angry look shifted to one of determination instead, and he seemed to focus more carefully on the game after that.
     
    Alexa hadn't realized this would turn into an exercise for the clone to learn how to control his abilities better. But she was surprised to find that after a half hour of play, LS was already learning to shift between restraining his strength for volleys, and utilizing it for getting around the court quick enough to keep up with Alexa's return shots.
     
    By the time an hour had passed, and LS reported the first telltale signs of hunting moans in the distance, the clone was actually grinning as he played, and the look didn't disappear even as they ran for their lives shortly after.
     
    Somewhere past Philadelphia Alexa managed to scrounge up a similar opportunity, in an old arcade that had probably seen better days even before the outbreak. She wasn't sure if it was nostalgia or inherent suicidal tendencies that sent her in there after LS reported hearing a few zombies, but they ended up beating in more than a few dead heads when they should have been running.
     
    When the wild adrenaline rush had finally worn off and the clone reported no further zombie sounds, Alexa took the opportunity to explore. Without any electricity the arcade was dark and cold, and it had absolutely nothing of value for scavenging, which an unimpressed LS was quick to point out–Alexa had noticed him developing a tendency towards bluntness lately.
     
    “It was much more impressive back in the day, I'm sure,” Alexa told him. “All this stuff would've been lit up and making noises and the games look like they were pretty cool.” She gestured at the details painted on the sides of a few machines with a fond look, and then grinned at what she spotted in a dark corner. “Oh, sweet! LS, help me drag this thing outside, we'll need light to play it...”
     
    'It' turned out to be an old air hockey table, which they relocated fairly easily to the more sunny outdoors. One of it's legs was broken and had to be wedged up with a few blocks of concrete, and it took Alexa a while to find an intact puck and a couple of mallets. Once she did and explained how to play, LS gave her a rather skeptical look, and asked flatly, “What exactly is the point to this thing?”
     
    “To have fun!” Alexa answered brightly. “It's not about training or surviving or whatever. It's just fun!” Her grin widened, and she added, “ Of course, I'm pretty awesome at this game, so I'll understand if you're scared you can't beat me.”
     
    LS's eyes narrowed, but by now he had gotten used to Alexa's taunting, and his own determined grin slipped on to his face a lot faster than it used to. “That sounds like a challenge.”
     
    “A challenge for you, maybe, this is a piece of cake for me!”
     
    “We'll see how easy it is!” And they were on.
     
    It wasn't perfect, of course. The table couldn't be plugged in, meaning there was no actual air to the air hockey, so the puck didn't slide as well as it should have, especially when the table was still a bit lopsided. And occasionally it would get stuck in the goal slots, prompting LS to tilt the entire table up and shake it until it fell out again.
     
    But mostly it was fun, and the friendly ribbing and genuine laughter was just as enjoyable as the game itself. They played three rounds in an hour and a half, and Alexa was a little surprised to discover she won two out of three of them, considering who she was up against. But LS took his losses surprisingly well, and appeared to genuinely enjoy the game for the game itself, and not the victory.
     
    They had been forced to move on as it got dark, to hunt out a shelter for the night, but LS had clearly enjoyed the experience and that was all that mattered to