He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred and Nine - Apocolypse Convention

The venue was large and mostly open plan. It often catered to events like job fairs for nearby colleges and universities, but it had also been rented out for fashion shows, art displays and even a wedding or two. It was bright and white inside with large metal columns rising upward to hold a mixed angle roof made of steel girders and glass. Not that anyone was gazing at its architecture at that point.

The convention had been neatly organised into sections; movies, books, games and other. Most of the 'other' portion had been taken up by the square stage and large screen ready for Our Final Hour's grand competition between Factions. The remaining part of this area had become a seating area with coffee, cake and hot sandwiches available at above average prices.

The crowds were already thick around the various stalls and for every five in civilian clothes, there was one in costume. It was probably unnecessary to say that the majority of those were in varying zombie costumes. A few were in camouflage style clothes with fake weapons made out of polystyrene and odd ones could be seen wearing similar costumes to those in a recent post apocalyptic movie.

After the five of them had arrived at the venue, they had split up, with Jack and girlfriend Lily heading straight for the Zombie Fest; the place where most of the zombified masses lurked. Owen was all for avoiding this area completely and Alexandria stayed with him as she was completely out of her element to begin with. Henry chose to linger at the entrance of the venue, waiting for his friends, all of which happened to be in Thirteen Levels of Purgatory. This amused Owen, but not enough to linger with him. In fact, now he was here, he was all for leaving!

Owen and Alexandria went to the quietest area, the cafe, for it was too early in the day for lunch and people were too busy enjoying the displays and stalls to hang out in this very plain place. Owen slumped over the table. "I'll get you a coffee," Alexandria said, thinking that the boy was just tired. He just grunted in acknowledgement. He wasn't really tired, he just felt out of place.

Was that strange? He wondered. When he was hanging out with friends in the game, it was fun. He could relax, mess around, there was no need for image, there was no need to be perfect. He didn't feel alone in a house that was way too big for one person. When he was at school, he maintained a facade, an amicable smile that offered no promises and did not provoke. Here... he had come to realise that he did not like crowds; the noise, the smells, the heat of too many bodies.. and then there was the other issues...

"Omigod! Did you see?" A girl squealed.

"I know right, his face is as dreamy as his voice!" A second girl replied.

"What are you talking about?" Asked another girlfriend.

"Black Zeus, the faction leader of Last Surviving Fortress just arrived!" Ugh, what a headache!

"Huh? Are you talking about that game again?" The third girl sighed. "And besides, how do you know it is him?"

"Well, he just picked up his V.I.P pass from the organisers," the first girl said. "So he can play in the competition later."

Ugh... even bigger headache. Owen had avoided the organisers, had managed to get past them by handing over his ticket to someone distracted, who let him through without checking who he was. Why did he attend this event again? Oh yes, because there was something worse than a headache waiting for him back home and he was delaying the confrontation.

"There you are!" Henry called out loudly. He was with three friends, all about their age. Owen glanced up, but didn't make any other effort to move.

"Are you really our Faction Leader?" One of the boys, a very round youth with black framed glasses asked. He was wearing an Our Final Hour slogan Tshirt over designer jeans. In fact all of the boys seemed to be wearing clothing that would not look out of place amongst the kids in his school.