Chapter 10 #4
Kyle had gotten over his fake embarrassment and went back to bragging about his family and wealth, but it didn’t bother me as much as it normally did. Perhaps it was because everyone around could see right through his bullshit this time.
Well, almost everyone. Clarisse listened wide-eyed to everything Kyle had to say, and I could tell she was clinging to his every word.
Partway through the evening, Tyler offered Claire a sip of his water, and when she accepted it, both of their collars suddenly buzzed and lit up blue, while the robotic voice congratulated them for finding their match.
Claire flushed bright pink, and Tyler immediately looked flustered.
I was glad to see that they’d matched, and I felt they were good for each other.
I glanced over at Sadie and watched as she spoke animatedly to Parker about a specific museum piece she’d worked on. She waved her hands around as she spoke in big gestures, and it was the most comfortable I’d seen her with anyone besides me.
I was glad they’d taken a liking to each other because they were both incredible people.
I wondered again what the matching thing could possibly mean. The disembodied voice had said we were each perfectly matched to one of the other contestants…
If that was the case, then who was Parker’s match?
Was it one of the men who had already died? Or maybe it was Martin. For some reason, the idea of her matching with someone else made me feel sad. At the same time, I’d already matched with Sadie, and I was thrilled about it.
Truly, I couldn’t think of a better woman to be paired with, but there was a small piece of me that felt continuously drawn to Parker, and I hoped whoever her match was, he was deserving of her.
We stayed up long after the day had turned into night, and the forest quickly grew black and cold. Despite my hesitation, we didn’t have much choice except to keep the fire going. Without extra clothes, shelter, and only a few emergency blankets to spare, we’d need the fire’s warmth to stay alive.
Once everyone grew tired, the emergency blankets were divided out. Kyle and Clarisse took one to share, much to Martin’s disapproval, Tyler and Claire decided to share one as well, while Sadie and Parker claimed another.
I offered the final one to Martin and told him I’d take the first watch. We could switch off when it was his turn to stay up, and Martin agreed.
Kyle was one hundred percent back to his usual annoying self because he scoffed at me when I mentioned keeping watch.
Idiot.
Why he always seemed so complacent in these situations was beyond me, because the aliens had proved time and time again that they didn’t care about our lives.
So, why would we be safe out here?
The others settled in to sleep while I stayed huddled close to the fire. I was grateful for its heat because the cold would be unbearable without it.
I had no real way to tell time, so I wasn’t sure how long I should wait until I woke the next person. I sat alone with my thoughts and watched the fire dance around, while I heard the soft snores of the others around me.
How many more trials would we be expected to face? How many of us would come out alive? Would the aliens only allow one couple to survive in the end? And for what purpose?
We still hadn’t actually seen the aliens at all, and we certainly weren’t aware of what their endgame was here.
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I watched as our fire slowly began to die out, and I quickly stood to feed more wood into it. Once it was burning bright again, I sat back down and continued to think.
Besides the initial destruction of the camp, the day had been perfectly peaceful, and even now, in the dark, there wasn’t a single sound besides the others’ rhythmic breathing.
Everything was perfectly calm and still, and it made me wonder if maybe the rest of this trial would go smoothly. I hadn’t even heard any distant sounds. No howling calls, no owls, no rustling of small animals or birds. There weren’t even any crickets.
I sat up straighter.
It was too quiet.
I listened carefully, and sure enough, there was nothing. Nothing but the crackle of burning wood and Tyler’s light snores.
I gazed around the clearing to see if I’d notice any movement, but it was black beneath the trees, and I wasn’t able to see anything.
This forest definitely didn’t seem normal, so perhaps the aliens had made it silent on purpose. It was creepy, eerie, and yet another way to psychologically torture us.
Eventually, the fire began to die down again, and I stood up and fed it more branches.
I moved back to my spot, but right before I sat down, I paused.
It was so quiet, unnaturally so, but I’d definitely heard a slight rustling sound from the trees across from me.
I listened intently, and there it was again, the same slight, rustling sound, and this time, there was a distinct sound of a small twig as it snapped.
I stared hard at the shadows gathered in that spot, and finally, I saw movement.
The firelight shone on its fur as it slowly lumbered out from its hiding place in the trees, and its footsteps were impossibly silent, but there was no mistaking it.
I inhaled a sharp breath as the creature came into view.
It was the biggest bear I’d ever seen in my life.