Wolfpack

Ah, the Wolfpack.

Back when I was in Junior High & High School, Photon was born. Photon was a place where they gave you a gun that shot light and a sensor that would register that light and threw you into a big maze with a couple dozen of your peers. Or so, I’ve heard.

I never went to Photon. Lack of money for one thing. Lack of friends for another. By the time I had found some friends, they had all grown tired of Photon. They were ready to move on.

Back then, O’Neil Park was actual wilderness (now it is surrounded by track houses). The Wolfpack would go up there for the weekend with their tents and their sleeping bags.

And their “Lazer Tag” equipment.

This was the coolest thing ever. Games tended to go deep into the night. I discovered that while I couldn’t shoot for shit, I could climb trees like a mutherfucker. I have a clear memory of “Playing Predator”. Climbing a tree and crossing from tree to tree from the upper limbs. I was much younger and much lighter. Iceman had a Hell of a time finding me that day. I should probably mention who these guys were…

Iceman: Leader of the Pack. Killed everybody. My first “grown-up” friend.

Warlock: Tank-ety, Tank. Tank-ety, Tank

Mandrake: “He’s behind us!”

“Holy Shit! How’d he get in front of us!”

Lady Drake: Boo-ya!

Hotlips: Earned the name…

Doc: Doesn’t really belong here (tho’ he was there). A friend of mine from Elementary School. Had some really cool Callsigns, but by the hand of fickle fate, Doc is what stuck.

Ripley: Didn’t use a gun to kill. Another story, another time…

And the regular gang: Hobbit, Frost, Phoenix, Striker, Myself…

The craziest stories from this time had nothing to do with Lazer Tag…

JHO