It was a dark and stormy night. I crept up the basement stairs silently, my brothers by my side. I gripped my flashlight tightly, waiting for the signal to turn it on. The others held their guns up to their faces, ready to shoot even in the complete darkness.

My brother held up his fingers to signal the count. 30… 29…

I wish I had a gun. My only hope of defending myself is picking up a sword from the ground. I suppose I could throw the flashlight, but then we’d have no hope of finding the attacker once he slinks away.

23… 22…

Only the older brothers got guns. It was kind of unfair, but I never could shoot them. Only the revolver worked for me, and I wasn’t too efficient with that. They needed someone to hold the flashlight, and they needed good gunners.

19… 18…

I could actually shoot the shotgun quite well, but I’d never be able to find the shells in this darkness. The crossbow was good, but Jeffrey always wanted to use it. He’s better than I am. Survival of the fittest, I suppose.

13… 12…

I suddenly realized my pistol was here somewhere. After the count, I could make a run for it, but my opponent could have hidden it. Or they could jump out and attack me while I was searching. The flashlight would alert them to my position.

9… 8…

I guess my only hope is that my brothers will hold off the attacker while I can get a gun for myself. I’m almost never the last one standing, but it is a possibility.

5… 4…

I brace myself. It’s almost time. I position my fingers over the flashlight, ready to turn it off.

3… 2… 1…

My brother makes the signal. We move out. He points to the Creeper Room. As always, Flashlight Boy goes in first. That’s what we call the position, even though I’m a female. I flick the flashlight on and wave it over the room, waiting for a hunter to jump out, and pandemonium will ensue almost instantly.

Nothing, My brother says over hand movements. We move out. The bathroom door is closed. We’re not allowed in there. The basement then opens up, with a ping-pong table in the middle, and the half of the room behind the stairs are dedicated to Legos. Next to that is a dark closet, filled with extra guns and rolled up sleeping bags. A neglected plushes are in there, mostly the ones that have been ripped open and therefore worthless. This closet is the hardest to search.

My brother, who has by now established himself as the leader, waves me over. I flick the flashlight on once again, and poke it inside the room. The door creaks open. The hunter will definitely know where we are by now. My brothers signal for us to spread out. My muscles tense.

As the closet meets the light from my flashlight, my brother peers inside. The plushies peer back. Nothing. My brother kicks at the blanket. Still nothing. I sigh. Playstation room, I sign. They nod. My eldest brother reaches to pick up a nerf bullet.

A flash of movement catches my eye. I whip around, my brothers looking on, realizing I must have spotted the zombie.

“Go, go, go!” My brother yells, as we charge toward the misshapen blanket lying on the ground. My brothers kick the blanket off, but underneath was nothing but our Air Swimmers Shark. I can hear someone in the group, presumably my step sister, groaning. “Fan out,” My brother orders. “We-”

He was cut off by my scream. The zombie lunges and tackles him to the ground. We all shoot at the zombie, but we all know there is no stopping what has happened.

My brother has gotten infected.

Total chaos ensued as we all ran, screaming, as the zombies recovered from the shots they had taken. I hid in a corner, behind the couch.  I couldn’t see well from there, and the darkness of the room certainly did not help.

Every hair stood on end as the pounding of footsteps and roars of guns being shot filled my ears. I waited for what seemed like an eternity, until a sudden blinding light filled the room.

“Ow, my eyes!” I yelled.

“Where the heck even are you?” Jeffrey, my youngest-but-still-older-than-me brother shouted.

I stood up awkwardly untangling my leg from the blanket and the couch. “Here. Ow!” I crashed to the ground.

He tossed me a sword. “You’re the next starter zombie.”

I examined the Nerf logo printed across the blade and hilt. It was everywhere, really. “I was the last man standing? Er… woman?”

Hunter, my oldest brother nodded. “Not something you see everyday,” Jeffrey muttered. I rolled my eyes in response.

“Maybe I was being smart,” I replied. “You could say I… DIDN’T THROW AWAY MY SHOT.”

“Oh my god shut up do not Hamilton just no YOU DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A SHOT YOU WERE FLASHLIGHT BOY”

“You’re lucky I didn’t throw my flashlight at you, because you’re really asking for it.”

“Enough! Let’s just start another round!” Hunter shouted above the fighting.

Whatever. He was just jealous that I won this round of Nerf Zombies.