“Careful,” Caleb cautioned. “This is a choke point. Not an easy angle to push.”

“No prob, bro. I’m feelin’ good,” said Nathan. “Just got a new sight for my Springfield ’03.”

“I’m in the bunker now,” Emma said into her headset. “Where are those guys?”

“They just passed back through their spawn,” said Zach. “They’re headed for the stairs.”

Emma felt a buzz of excitement as she joined the rest of the squad taking cover near the top of the stairs. The eSports club had competed three times over the past month, and so far, Gavin’s squad had won every match. But today they were tied at four rounds each. Going into this final clash, Emma felt that her squad had a chance to win.

Just as Zach predicted, Gavin’s squad came up the stairs. “Here they come! We can close this game right now,” Nathan yelled into his headset.

“Wait. Just wait,” Caleb, ever the cautious one, begged. But it was too late. Nathan began shooting, and the rest of them joined in blasting Gavin’s squad, who quickly dived for cover.

“How is he not dead?” Emma heard Nathan yell.

“Zach, why is your knife out?” Caleb cried.

“Gotcha, ya Nazi bastids!” Nathan shouted so loud, it distorted in Emma’s headset.

“Language, Nathan,” Ms. B warned. Normally the other squad couldn’t hear what they said online, but when Nathan got fired up, and shouted, everyone in the room could hear. And Nathan had good reason to be excited. He’d just clinched the round with an amazing triple kill! Emma’s squad won the match!

Emma pulled off her headset, and she and her squad shared fist bumps and big grins. Even Zach joined in, with none of his usual jitters. Everyone patted Nathan on the back. Emma was especially pumped. Over the past month she had discovered that she really enjoyed being part of the squad. She’d been on teams before, like soccer and softball, but she always felt insignificant because she wasn’t a standout player. But on the eSports squad she was one of only four. Her play accounted for one quarter of the team’s effort. And being captain gave her role even more importance.

Meanwhile, across the table, Gavin’s squad leaned back in their chairs, pulled off their headsets, and looked grumpy.

“You know, my brother says they weren’t Nazis,” Mackenzie said sourly. Today Emma’s squad had been the Allies and Gavin’s were the Axis.

“Come again?” Emma said. Mackenzie’s comment seemed to come out of nowhere. Almost. Knowing Mackenzie, she always had to have the last word.

“We were talking about it,” Mackenzie went on. “When you’re the Axis side, you’re the Wehrmacht. The German army. They weren’t the same as the Nazis. They weren’t trying to wipe out all the Jews. They were just doing their duty. You really should be more careful about who you call a Nazi.”

Emma’s squad fell silent. No one knew how to respond. But it felt like their triumph had been muted. Mackenzie smiled. It seemed to Emma that if Mackenzie’s side couldn’t win the match, the next best thing was to make sure the other squad didn’t get to enjoy their victory.