Chapter 9 #3
Everyone was silent and somber as they each picked at their plates, and I knew the truth of our situation had finally set in.
We were all in danger.
Even Kyle was unusually quiet and brooding, which was probably for the best, because I still had half a mind to pummel him for his actions yesterday.
I didn’t have much of an appetite, but I knew I’d need my strength for whatever was to come, so I forced myself to make a plate of food.
I chose hearty, herb potatoes, steak pieces, scrambled eggs, and I mixed it all together to create a homemade breakfast hash.
Then I sat down between Sadie and Tyler on the sofa.
Even though I was nervous, and didn’t particularly want to eat, I couldn’t help but savor the way my breakfast tasted. The steak pieces were extremely juicy, the potatoes were soft with a crispy outer crust, and the eggs were seasoned and scrambled to perfection.
I carefully savored each bite.
“Did everyone sleep okay?” Tyler asked the group around bites of his own food.
“Not particularly,” I admitted. “But I’ve definitely slept worse.”
Everyone else mumbled their agreement.
I glanced at Parker a few times, but she seemed very deep in thought, so I didn’t try to push a conversation with her. Instead, I focused on my breakfast.
“What do you think the trial will be today?” Claire asked with a worried expression.
“I’m not sure,” I replied. “But I think as long as we stick together and work as a team, then we’ll be okay.”
The others nodded, and they actually looked slightly more reassured.
I took my time eating because I knew the second we were all finished, we’d be instructed to get ready for the next game, but I inevitably took my last bite of potatoes, and sure enough, there was the disembodied voice.
“Please return to your rooms to prepare for the next round.”
I tried to give everyone a reassuring glance as we all stood up and headed down the hall, but I could feel my own stomach flipping and fluttering with nerves.
When I got to my bedroom, I was surprised to see more than just the usual stack of clothes on my bed. There was also a massive backpack, too.
I moved closer to investigate, and inside the backpack I found a plethora of emergency supplies: a flashlight with spare batteries, a medkit, a pocket knife, matches, a set of extra clothes, an emergency blanket, and one day’s worth of food and water.
I checked out the stack of clothing, and they consisted of a thick t-shirt, sturdy-feeling cargo pants, and a warm jacket.
Similar to all the other clothes the aliens provided, when I slipped the new clothing on, they proved to be more breathable and comfortable than regular clothes, and they also felt lighter, yet more durable somehow.
Once I was dressed, I pocketed the flashlight and pocket knife before I shrugged on the backpack and headed back to the common room.
Everyone was already dressed, with the women in the same sort of outfit as the men, except with a more feminine cut to the material, so it showed off more of their curves. They were all waiting outside the transporter room by the time I arrived.
Wow, I was dragging today. I needed to get my head in the game.
Especially because the aliens had just given us a bunch of survival equipment, which meant this next trial couldn’t be anything good.
“Please step onto the transporter pad,” the disembodied voice spoke as soon as I’d reached the others.
We all moved into the transporter room and waited to be beamed into the next arena, but the humming and flashing light didn’t immediately come.
“This next round will be a camping trip,” the voice continued. “It will last one day, and it will test your ability to work together.”
Weird, the voice had never gone into detail like that before.
Still, a camping trip didn’t seem so bad, especially one that only lasted a single day.
But based on how all the other trials had gone, that probably meant it was going to be horrible and extremely dangerous.
“The trial will end after a full, twenty-four-hour period, at dawn,” the voice explained. “You will be transported in ten seconds.”
I tried to give myself a mental pep talk. We could do this. It was only twenty-four hours, we had plenty of supplies, and we would work together as a team. We could totally do this.
I hoped.
My body began to hum, and I quickly shut my eyes. A few seconds later, when I opened them again, we were all standing in a small clearing in the middle of the woods.
It certainly wasn’t a forest I recognized. The trees were all massive and gnarled like something you would see straight out of a horror movie. Their branches twisted high into the air and blocked out a good deal of sunlight, and the surrounding area was covered with tall grasses and brush.
It was beautiful here, and I could hear the trickle of water from a nearby stream or river, along with the distant sound of bird calls. Everything seemed so peaceful.
I hoped it stayed that way.
“Alright, guys,” I said as I clapped my hands together. “I think the first thing we should do is find a safe spot for shelter.”
“What’s wrong with right here?” Kyle complained. “There’s plenty of open space, we can just stay in this area for the night.”
He was right, there was certainly plenty of open space, and this spot did seem perfect. Which was exactly the reason I wanted to leave. I didn’t trust that this small, safe haven we’d been transported into would remain that way.
But I couldn’t exactly argue logic away with gut feelings. The others might believe me, but Kyle wouldn’t, and with the announcer’s warning in mind, I was determined to stick together. This whole day was a test to see how well we worked as a team.
Splitting up would be the worst thing to do.
“We don’t have any sort of sleeping bags or tents,” I pointed out. “In this clearing, we’d be totally exposed to the elements.”
“So?” Kyle argued. “Look around, it’s a beautiful day. What elements are you worried about?”
Kyle either had to have some sort of crazy personality disorder, or his parents dropped him on his head a lot as a baby because there was no actual way he could possibly be this dense.
That, or he simply wanted to argue with me.
Who was I kidding? That was probably the reason.
“Just because the weather is nice now doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way,” I said as calmly as I could, when really all I wanted to do was grab the man and shake him. “What happens once night falls?”
“We’ll just build a fire to help keep us warm,” Kyle said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
I seriously doubted a fire would do us much good if it began to rain. I thought about how quickly the storm had formed during our beach day.
If those bastard aliens sent us another hurricane while we were completely exposed…
“Besides,” Kyle continued with a sneer. “Who the fuck died and made you leader? You don’t get the right to tell everyone else what to do. I don’t have to take orders from you.”
I shut my mouth after that because I knew the next words out of it would certainly start a physical confrontation, and Kyle seemed to take my restraint as surrender.
He smirked and moved closer to Martin and Clarisse.
God, I wanted to punch him so badly.
Those few hits I’d gotten yesterday hadn’t been enough.
“Liam, if you think we should find shelter, then we can just go,” Parker murmured as she shifted closer to me. “Leave those three to their fate, and the rest of us will go with you.”
She sounded so sincere, and as I glanced at the others in my group, they all nodded in agreement.
I was honored that they all trusted me so much, but I also knew splitting up, even if it meant finding a better shelter, probably wasn’t the best call.
“No,” I sighed. “We need to stick together, but if he makes any stupid calls that we feel will put us in danger, we’ll go.”
The others muttered their agreement, and I reluctantly turned back to the jackass.
“Alright, Kyle,” I said loud enough for the cocky bastard to hear. “What do you suggest we do then?”
“First, we need to get some dried wood to make a campfire, enough to last the entire night.” Kyle’s smug grin was obvious as he barked orders at everyone. “Then we need to find fresh water.”
“Okay,” I agreed.
It was a sound plan. Even if it had been concocted by a big idiot.
“Alright then.” Kyle smirked. “If everyone’s in agreement with my plan, then let’s divide up the tasks into groups. Parker, Claire, and Sadie, you three can go check out the river, and Martin, Tyler, and Davis, you can go collect firewood.”
I didn’t like the idea of the three women going off alone together. Not that they weren’t all incredibly capable, but I just didn’t know what sort of things could be out here.
This forest felt… old.
I figured once we were all out of earshot, I could tell the women to just come look for firewood with us, and then we could all go check out the river together. I was sure they’d be more than willing to go along with the plan, though I wasn’t sure if Martin would have any complaints about it.
Which led me to another question…
“What about you and Clarisse?” I asked. “What will you be doing?”
“We’ll hang back and prepare the campsite,” Kyle said quickly, and I thought I saw him cast a quick wink in Clarisse’s direction. “We’ll also be watching over everyone’s things, since the heavy backpacks will only weigh you down while you’re working.”
“That doesn’t sound like much of a job,” Tyler pointed out, and I was proud of him for speaking out.
He was becoming bolder.
“I’m the group leader,” Kyle scoffed. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. Besides, my job is the planning aspect of everything. Your job is to help carry out my plans.”
His logic was stupid, but I didn’t have the patience to stand there and point out the flaws in his explanation.
“Come on.” I rolled my eyes, shrugged my backpack off, and set it down in the middle of the clearing. “Let’s just get this over with.”
One by one, everyone followed my lead as they set their backpacks in the clearing and moved closer to the edge of the woods.