CHAPTER 11
LANDRY
UNKNOWN:
Landry Andrews,
Your team name is: FALCON
Your fellow teammates are:
RORY STERLING
MORGAN WINTERS
KEN TANAKA
JARED MCKELVAIN
Your target team’s information will be sent at 5:00 PM tomorrow. You have until then to sign the waiver attached below.
The assignments had come through shortly after we had all been confirmed to play. None of the three of us had been on the same team, the seemingly all-knowing Gamemarkers most likely trying to split friend groups to make the game more interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised if I found out that they had been studying us around campus. The thought gave me chills.
We had argued about how much we should disclose with each other, eventually coming to the decision that we would share who was on our teams in order to help each other track them down, but to not say anything about who our targets were once we received them.
We had pinkie-promised that if one of us ended up with another as a target, we would either target somebody else in their group or let our teammates do the abducting, to make sure that we could still spend time together throughout the week without raising trust issues. If that were to happen, we had sworn not to warn each other, in order to keep with the integrity of the game.
We had stayed in my bed, exchanging team names as Bexley ran to her room to grab her laptop and I did the same. Olivia had done a freshman project with one of Bexley’s teammates and still had his phone number, forwarding it to her. I had found both Rory Sterling and Jared Mckelvain on Facebook, sending them message requests and hoping they would check them soon. We had less than twenty-four hours to find a way to all get in contact and decide on a game plan and home base before getting assigned our target team, so time was of the essence .
Thankfully, both Rory and Jared responded within minutes, Jared starting a group chat between us and adding Ken and Morgan whose numbers he must have received.
JARED: Alright guys, that should be everyone.
RORY: Hey guys, super excited to be playing with y’all this year!! :) #teamfalcon
MORGAN: Aaahh I’m pumped! Nice to meet you
guys! Who’s all played before? This is my second year playing! I got abducted last year lolol. I don’t plan on letting it happen again this time around! #oops #mybad
LANDRY: Nice to meet everyone! I’m a freshman so this will be my first year playing, any tips are welcome. Looking forward to playing with you guys!
RORY: I’m a senior so this ain’t my first rodeo ;) My team made it pretty far a few years ago but we got beat out in finals. Hopefully this will be the golden year!
I guess the Gamemaker tried to keep variety within the teams not only in respect to gender but also experience level. It gave me some relief knowing that someone on the team might actually know what they were doing.
KEN: Hey gang. Freshman here, first year playing .
JARED: Just started my Junior year, I didn’t play my freshman year so last year was my first year playing. Let’s get down to business and talk strategy—Does anybody have a place in mind for a home base? My family has a lake house about an hour from here. I know it’s a bit of a drive, but it could make it harder for the target team to try to rescue whoever we kidnap.
MORGAN: Love that idea! And once we kidnap them, we can just lay back and tan by the water for the rest of the week!!
RORY: Sounds like a plan! For strategy, I think it could be smart if we divide and conquer. If they have the same number of people as us, we could each pick one person to get intel on!
JARED: That works for me. You girls might have better odds of getting close to the targets without being detected, so we could figure out which target would be easiest to get to and then have one or all of you lure them into a trap where Ken and I can do the heavy lifting. Would that work for everyone?
LANDRY: It sounds like a good plan! Count me in!
JARED: Perfect. When the information about our targets gets sent out tomorrow, we can divide and conquer. Maybe we’ll get lucky and one of us will know a name or two on the list.
LANDRY: Question—Sorry, this is my first time playing so just curious if anybody has any tips on how NOT to get abducted. Lol.
RORY: Watch your back at all times! And don’t leave your house unless it’s for the mission or you absolutely have to.
MORGAN: For reals! I recommend either getting groceries like literally right now or getting them delivered lol. Oh, and also, DON’T TRUST ANYBODY!! I learned that one the hard way hehe.
JARED: Y’all stay safe this week. If it would make you ladies feel safer, Ken or I can accompany you if you need to go anywhere. Right Ken?
KEN: Roger that.
MORGAN: Thank you guys!! :)
LANDRY: Thanks!
JARED: Let’s regroup once we get our target tomorrow. Later guys .
Bexley and Olivia had also gotten in contact with their groups and began talking strategy, none of us disclosing anything that was discussed amongst our teams. I did, however, take Morgan’s advice on ordering groceries for Bexley and I. Olivia went home to grab a bag and come back, deciding to spend the week at our dorm since TJ was way too competitive to warn her if she was his target and would definitely kidnap her out of their own bed, while the rest of the guys in the group all had keys to her house. We couldn’t trust anyone but each other. I was glad to have her here with us, excited for a week-long sleepover with my two best friends.
From my understanding, Kaptan was the only one to not play this year, already having won his freshman year and deciding that was good enough for him. I wasn’t sure if Cashton had decided to participate, and I wasn’t about to ask Olivia if she knew, but since she kept talking about ‘the guys’ playing, it was safe to assume that he was.
We stayed up late listening to Olivia tell us stories about her time in Taken last year, eventually turning in around midnight, deciding to get some rest for tomorrow. I had no doubt that things would hit the ground running as soon as we received our targets.
Both girls fell asleep in my bed, and I actually managed to fall fast asleep with both of them between me and a comfort show playing softly in the background. I had no idea what to expect tomorrow, but after speaking with my team, the apprehension was slowly getting drowned out by the excitement.
—
UNKNOWN:
Team Falcon,
Your target team is: DELTA
Your target players are:
LUCAS BENNETT
EMILEE REED
ETHAN brOOKS
ZOE MORGAN
THALIA DAVIES