But tonight, Emma couldn’t help herself. She was researching Nazis. Everybody knew the Nazis were bad. Everyone knew that Adolf Hitler had been their leader and that the Nazis had killed millions of Jewish people during World War II. But now that she was looking online, it was confusing. Every source had a different estimate. Had 11 million people been killed? Or 17 million or 21 million? If roughly 6 million of those killed were Jewish, who were the others? And why had they been killed?

She paused in her research when the rest of the squad got online to discuss that day’s match. During the past month they’d had a follow-up discussion after each match, and Emma had begun to see a pattern. Zach was almost always silent. Nathan talked a lot, usually about how great he was and where his squad mates needed improvement. It could be annoying, but Nathan was their best shot, so they put up with him.

That night, Emma half listened while Nathan recounted in minute detail how he’d pulled off the triple kill. It became obvious to her that Caleb was only half listening, too, because in the middle of Nathan’s self-congratulatory ramble, he texted her: Zach set up that triple kill.

Emma scowled. Why did Caleb think that? But, as usual, Caleb had already anticipated her question. He sent a follow-up text: Long story, but the point is, Zach sees the whole picture. Gets inside the other squad’s heads. Knows what they’re going to do. I think he should be our squad tactician.

Except for Emma being captain, this was the first time anyone on the squad discussed the idea of specific titles. Emma understood why Caleb was making the suggestion. She had seen evidence that Zach was often more aware of what was going on in a round than the rest of them. But she also doubted that Nathan would respond well to the idea of Zach providing them with strategies. And since she was the captain, shouldn’t she be the one who decided if there should be a squad tactician? For a moment, Emma was tempted to say that if Caleb thought Zach should be the tactician, why didn’t Caleb just replace her as captain and make the decision himself? But Emma quickly reminded herself that she liked being captain. All day at school, girls like Mackenzie lorded over girls like her. But for a few hours once a week in the eSports club, Emma could tear Mackenzie to pieces in The Good War. She didn’t want anyone to take that away from her.

While Crosby waited for 88Rising to come online that evening, he thought back to the match his squad lost that day. He hadn’t been surprised. Gavin let himself get killed off early. It was obvious that the big red-haired boy wasn’t interested in the game. He’d been in a funk all day. At lunch, Tyler had plucked a French fry off Gavin’s plate, and Gavin had punched him so hard in the arm that Tyler had tears in his eyes. But Tyler was a moron. He should have known that when Gavin was in one of his black moods, you kept your distance.