Chapter 12

Dad dropped me off at school in the morning. I told him he didn’t have to, but he insisted as he wanted to leave the moment school was out at 3:09pm. He dropped me off in his truck, minus the bed, as his next stop was back in Summerville at the dealership to get the stake bed installed.

Geometry was the big surprise, Mr North handed me a very thick book as I entered class, “Sam, here’s Algebra 2. I can’t move you until 1st quarter finishes at the beginning of November. Until then, start working from the beginning of the book. I need you ready to hit the ground with the rest of the class in Chapter 11 on November 9th.”

I handed back my Geometry book, but he said to keep my workbook, as I might need it for my tutoring group.

“You know about that?”

“I heard about it from the others you helped earlier in the day. Also, your schedule will change when you go to Algebra 2, I’m keeping you as my student instead of handing you over to the other math teacher, Mr Knight. That means swapping with PE.”

“Ok, that’s fine,” I told him, and settled in to work on my new text book, and the new workbook I discovered underneath it.

When he came around again later as he was checking progress on the class assignment, I asked him, “So what was the score on my geometry final?”

“98%, but that only affects your Q1 report card. Q2 will be the entirety of Algebra 2, so make sure you get the workbook assignments done.”

That made me happy, and a little nervous. I was finding the material familiar, mostly Algebra 1 review in the first two chapters, then some Geometry stuff. I was hoping he had been right when he said that there wouldn’t be anything new until the beginning of the second quarter.

Dad didn’t need to honk for me to find him in the pickup lane at the end of the school day. He did anyway. I pulled open the passenger door, and waited for the ladder to extend. Getting settled, I put on my seatbelt, and closed the door.

The truck had a faint new car smell, the leather interior was probably most of it. The front was not exactly a bench seat, but two seats that could independently adjust. I adjusted mine, and looked over at Dad as he tried not to run anyone over.

“How long until we get there?”

He glanced at the center console where a large screen showed the destination, a building in the downtown area of the State Capital. “Two hours maybe? We need to get there before 6pm. Then we can get dinner and go to Trader Joe’s.”

“Ok, I’ve got homework to finish.”

I settled back, and got to work. Photography needed pictures showing motion, so I took a few shots out the window.

I was startled when Dad announced we arrived. I was deep into the math workbook, having completed the practice problems in the book, and checking my answers in the back.

The large brick building had as much glass facing the street as the structure would allow, and still support the floors above. The interior was brightly lit, compared to the shadows of the street we were parked on.

Dad was excited as he got out of the truck. I followed him into a very cool place. The first description I thought of was Man Cave Store. It was awesome.

There was big leather furniture, pool tables, wet bars, massive TVs, projectors, even stadium style seating with cup holders for home theater systems!

I wandered around while Dad headed straight for the center checkout. I could hear him telling the guy who he was, and what he was picking up.

“Would you like to try our virtual reality system?”

I turned to find a nice looking man had come up behind me, he was wearing dark slacks, a white shirt under a sweater vest, with a bright yellow tie. I can’t tell a person’s age very well, but his poofy hair and the rest of him said, I’m old, I grew up in the 70s.

“Sure, what system do you have?”

“We carry all the major systems, what we have exclusively is customized room tracking, and personal three hundred sixty degree treadmills.”

“Cool, I’d love to try something like that.”

He smiled, and led me over to a small stand, with steps going up to a platform. The platform had a safety rail, and an open gate. I stepped up, and he shut the gate behind me.

“Stand in the center, and I’ll turn it on in demonstration mode.”

I stepped to the middle of the four foot wide circle, and he hit a button on the outside.

“Go ahead and walk in any direction, and the floor will move to keep you centered.”

I took a step, and the floor moved. I did a step to the side, and it followed me, keeping me in the center of the space.

“Lasers and pressure sensors track your feet, other sensors watch your upper buddy. You can run at up to fifteen miles per hour and it will keep up with you.”

He hit a button and screens lowered around me, creating a circle. “This is Zombie Chase, an exercise game. Try not to get caught, and reach the goal, a helicopter waiting at the Stadium.”

The screens began showing everything around me, as I looked around. The graphics weren’t high resolution, but sufficient as I noticed a moaning zombie shuffling up behind me.

I started running, checking around, looking for groups and singles. I stopped at the corner with a view of a big stadium above a building in the distance. Despite the low graphics, the movement was compelling, and I found my heart beating in excitement and a bit of fear. I eventually found a doorway that was open at the stadium and ran inside, where a helicopter was waiting.

The screens showed level complete, and the time, and then lifted.

“That was really good. How did it feel?”

“Even with the low resolution graphics, it felt real, and the running was seamless, my heart is pounding from the adrenaline and the exercise,” I told him.

“Wow, can I try?” Dad asked.

I opened the gate and started down, Dad smiling as he took in my sweaty form. “Got a bit of exercise, didn’t you?”

“Enjoy, it’s fun,” I said, still breathing strongly.

He went up, did the test movements, then the screens lowered. A TV on the outside showed him from behind as he ran. The camera shifted with him, so it started behind him so we could see where he was running. In the corner of the screen was the view of his face as it went thru periodic flashes of surprise, determination, and worry. It really was hilarious to watch.