It had been a couple days since Niall had that run in with the old hobo by Game Sign, yet he still hadn't played the game. 

He wasn't stupid, he knew he needed another witness incase this went badly or his computer shut down. After all, Jay could have been lying.

That's why he waited until today, which is when Liam was coming over to work on homework with him. 

Niall thought that if he were going to suffer the wrath of this mysterious game, so were Liam. 

Just then the doorbell rang, signaling Liam's presence and heightening Niall's eagerness. 

~*~

"Do you need help?" Liam offered his friend, who seemed to be either struggling with his math or just distracted. 

He put down his pencil and looked at his friend readily, as math was his passion.

"Um," Niall began, debating if now was the time to bring up the game, "Actually yea, but not with math." 

Liam tilted his head in confused and furrowed his brows, "If you think I'm gonna pop another pimple in your ear, you're wrong. Go see a derm or something! I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to be green..." 

"No! It's not that, I haven't had once since your godly hands cured my leprous ear, so thanks." Niall replied, becoming a little warm with embarrassment. 

"Oh, you're wanting to stalk that girl from our English class? I think I'm following her on some platform, cant remember though." Liam mumbled, pulling out his phone and quickly typing in his password. 

"No, not that either." Niall couldn't help but laugh. Him wanting to look into a girl? How absurd! 

"Then what is it?" Liam gave up, sliding his phone back into his pocket and looking at Niall. 

"Well, long story short, this hobo gave me a game and I don't really know what to do with. I haven't touched it since I brought it home, and I'm sure it has lawn bacteria all over it. But, you know Jay from history? He recommended it." Niall explained, pointing to the black cover on his desk. 

The cover was resting on a stack of white paper towels to prevent further infecting of his room.

"This thing? Huh, I thought it was a piece of garbage you left over from cleaning your room." The brown  haired boy mused, walking over to the dresser to grab a closer look. 

"Might as well be! I got it near the dumpster at Game Sign." 

"Why were you snooping around the dumpster? That's so unhygienic, Ni! Did you wash afterwards? Here I have some hand sanitizer in my book bag." Liam rushed, quickly grabbing a small, triangle tube with sterile gel inside. 

Niall took some anyways, ignoring how 'motherish' Liam was. "Yes, I took a shower and got all clean. I even put the game on towels for you! Look at that, I'm learning." 

"Learning how to be a civilized, clean person of society. I'm glad." Liam sighed, dousing the game cover in sanitizer as well. 

"Learning how to be a germaphobe." Niall mumbled, watching at Liam was too focused on cleaning to listen to him. 

"Have you opened it yet?" Liam asked, grabbing the cover with a piece of folded paper towel. 

"Not yet, I was waiting on you. I thought if I die, I'm dragging you along with me." Niall mused, earning a playful glare from Liam. 

"Hey! At least we can both go out Romeo and Juliet style," Niall held his hands up in defense, "Although i'd much rather induce myself into an eternal sugar coma, this works too." 

"Yea," Liam lightly laughed and agreed, "Do you have any rubber gloves?" 

"I think in the kitchen-what fo-wait, don't tell me you're gonna use them to open that cover." Niall raised a judging, thin eyebrow at his friend. 

"I am, Im not taking any risks." Liam defended himself, walking towards Niall's door In attempt to retrieve some gloves. 

"My friend, life is all about taking risks! If not, do you really live, or merely exist?" Niall groaned, mocking a posh accent. 

"Oh, don't go all philosophical on me, you know I suck at English." Liam bit back, taking the bait Niall had put up. Liam was distracted.

"This is just one of the risks we must take." Niall explained, dashing to his dresser and prying open the cover before Liam could protest. 

"Ni." Liam groaned in annoyance, but only for a second as curiosity swept over him. 

A small, thin piece of paper fell out of the cover and floated to the ground. 

"That's not what a disk is supposed to look like." Niall observed, picking up the paper and scanning the inside of the cover for any other clues. 

"Is that so?" Liam heckled, approaching Niall to get a better look. 

"Its just a URL code," Niall pursed his lips, flipping over the paper to inspect the back but it was blank, "I guess ill just type this in." 

A couple minutes and one fight over who gets to sit in the swivel chair later, the boys find themselves starting at a completely black screen except for a start button. 

"This must be part of the new technology Jay mentioned, you think?" Niall asked Liam, hovering his mouse over the big, green 'Start Game!' button. 

"No clue," Liam frowned, scanning the monitor for any viruses, "I mean, I'm guessing its some kind of video game. You don't see a description anywhere?" 

Niall shook his head, "The guy only gave me this URL and told me to play, which doesn't seem alarming at all." 

"Right?" Liam laughed but only for a second, "I don't know if this is such a good idea." 

"What was that? Click play? Alright, but if my computer implodes you're buying me a new one. The model with 1080xp, 20 inch and double fans." The blonde hair boy warned, before clicking the button and sending the two boys into a world of adventure.

___________________________________________________________________________-

has anyone read The jungle by Uptin Sinclair? It is so frustrating to read, everything that can go wrong GOES WRONG. plus its so gross??

anyways bros, what do you think the game is gonna be like? 

you think I'm gonna kill anyone in this book? ;)