by Devin Hunter
Grey realized they expected him to decide. And he had no idea. So, he went with the first thing that came to mind. “How about we go back to Loot Lake? May as well try to figure it out when it’s so close to all those top-player areas.”
“Good thinking,” Tristan said. “I can guide us through the house on the island.”
“That’d be great.” Grey was surprised in particular by how supportive Tristan was being. He hadn’t even wanted Grey to be in the squad, and now he was happy to help teach Grey the ropes of leading.
Grey didn’t know what that meant, but he’d take it.
As the Battle Bus opened, Grey took one last deep breath to steel himself before the fights ahead. “Jumping in three, two, one!”
Grey flew through the air. He was happy with his choice of Loot Lake because it was an easy place to spot as the biggest body of water besides the oceans. Impossible to miss. The closer they got, the easier it was to see the house in the middle of the lake, and Grey used his glider to aim for that roof.
“We’ve got friends!” Ben announced as they broke open the roof.
Sure enough, when Grey looked up, he spotted a full squad with their gliders right behind them. It didn’t look like Hazel, but he couldn’t count on it because she and her squad mates could have changed their skins.
“Find the weapons first!” Grey immediately replied. There would be weapons lying around that weren’t in chests. Sometimes they weren’t the strongest, but he had learned over the last weeks that having a weapon of any kind made the difference in the beginning.
“This way!” Tristan said.
“We need to spread out,” Grey said. “Ben, take Kiri with you the other way. Get gear.”
“Got it.” Ben and Kiri broke off and moved downstairs while Tristan and Grey cleared the attic. There was a hunting rifle lying out, and Grey let Tristan take it. Grey was able to pick up a minigun and ammo, and they found a chest with a shotgun, a shield, and bandages.
Just in time, too, because shots had been fired and Tristan had taken damage. Grey turned—some of the squad had built up to the roof and were right behind them. Grey opened fire with the minigun, jumping around to make it harder for his opponents to aim. The minigun spat ammo out at a rapid pace, inaccurately, but in close quarters it mowed down their enemies.
Tristan added in a few shots, and soon the downed players gave up their gear.
You eliminated Petra.
Tristan eliminated Eric.
“Nice,” Grey said, his mind racing with adrenaline. Shots still sounded in the area, though he couldn’t see enemies. “Ben, Kiri, you guys okay?”
“We need help,” Ben said.
“They’re on us,” Kiri said. “Taking damage.”
“This way, Grey.” Tristan directed Grey downstairs to where their squad mates had blocked themselves off from the remaining attackers.
Grey dropped his bandages for Ben and Kiri to use, since he hadn’t taken much damage. He’d used all his minigun ammo on the fight upstairs, but he still had the shotgun. “What did you guys pick up?”
“A few impulse grenades and a pair of basic ARs,” Kiri said. “One of them has to have a purple or orange weapon—I only took one hit but it nearly got me.”
“Okay, follow me,” Grey said as he used a small shield. He used the edit tool to open a door in the wall that was taking fire. He raised his shotgun and tried to aim for the opponent, but she ducked behind the far wall. Grey rushed her position, determined to take her down.
Both players were in the next room, and he opened fire. He heard the sound of a trap being laid. “Don’t run in! Trapping.”
Shots came from behind him, and soon the players were eliminated. They spilled their gear, but Grey had to be careful to destroy the trap first before going in. Like Kiri had guessed, one of them had a purple weapon. Grey let Ben take it.
With that squad gone, Grey’s was free to ransack the rest of the house and island. Now that he was in the same area as Tae Min had been last game, it didn’t seem as ideal as he once thought. It was right out in the open, too, and if he hadn’t frozen, he thought there might have been a way to take out someone who was positioned here. Grey just wasn’t prepared. He needed more experience so he’d know what to do in every situation.
He’d have to get that experience through practice.
The eye of the storm was closing in soon. While Loot Lake was still well inside, it was clear the next storm would likely put them in a worse position. They needed to make their way west, toward Pleasant Park.
Grey built a ramp down to the water, which was really a giant puddle you could walk through. It was unnerving to be out in the open on the lake, but they seemed to be on their own after taking out the squad. It wasn’t until they got to the shore that Grey spotted a solo player, and Ben took him out with a few shots.
Ben eliminated Robert.
“Poor guy,” Ben said. “Still hasn’t made much progress, has he?”
“Yeah …” Kiri said. Robert was another player who started when Grey and Kiri did. He was an older man, and so far, no one had taken him into their squad. He was one of the lowest-ranked players with an average rank in the eighties.
The closer they got to Pleasant Park, the more people they found. And this time Grey regretted not having stocked up better on materials. They had gotten some wood, brick, and metal on their way but not nearly enough. He was starting to see why Ben always said they could use more. Grey had been spoiled by the llama in the last game and didn’t realize what an impact it had made.
“Back off, box up,” Grey said as they took heavy damage from another squad. He closed them inside a wooden structure for protection, but it wouldn’t last long. “We need to regroup.”
“They won’t let us go so easily,” Tristan said. “Pretty sure that’s Hans’s group. He likes that skeleton skin.”
Hans’s group was the one Tristan had left for. He was quickly kicked out the next day when he didn’t keep their rank up to par. They were still a good squad even with only three players, always in the top thirties or higher.
“Well, we’ll have to—” The sound of a rocket launcher stopped Grey from speaking, and he winced because surely that would come their way.
But to his surprise, their box still stood.
“Another squad on Hans!” Kiri announced.
“Let’s move then!” Grey opened a door through the back of their barely standing box and moved north away from the fight. It might have seemed cowardly, but it wasn’t always the right move to dive in if you knew you didn’t have the tools. They needed more loot. More ammo. More materials.
Then they could stand a fighting chance.
As Grey led his squad away from the crossfire, the sounds of the fight waned. He assumed this meant no one was following them, and it was a relief. They still had time before the next storm shrunk the map, but at least they were going the right direction and didn’t have to worry about getting stuck.
They broke down trees as they ran and were lucky enough to happen upon a chest that had a couple med kits to replenish their health.
There were still fifty-one players on the map, but Grey was sure that would dwindle based solely on the eye’s next location. Not many people landed in Junk Junction or Haunted Hills, so most people would be rushing toward the northwest corner of the map. Grey hoped, unlike last battle, that they would be one of the first squads to get there and not one of the final groups.
Hans eliminated Guang.
Hazel eliminated Mayumi.
Hans eliminated Hazel.
Grey always felt better when he out-ranked Hazel. It had become a benchmark for his own squad’s performance. Now he could rest easier, thinking the two games he’d been leader were two games they’d beaten Hazel.
“Soccer stadium might still have loot,” Tristan offered as they made it to the outskirts of a big structure. “It was popular when it first appeared in place of the castle but now not so much.”
“May
as well.” Grey hadn’t been there too many times, but they did need more loot, and it was on the way.
“There’s usually a chest in the semi,” Tristan said.
They swung around the building to where several semi-trucks were parked on one side. Sure enough, the back of one was open and there was a golden chest. The guns inside weren’t much better than what they had, but there was a bounce pad and a few sticky grenades. They restocked on ammo, shields, and bandages as they foraged around inside the stadium’s halls. But the place was missing one thing Grey really wanted—more wood for building.
There was metal and brick to break down, but it was obvious they wouldn’t be getting more wood if they stayed here. The area was also quite open, which reminded him of Loot Lake. That big soccer field felt like a danger zone, though with materials you might be able to defend yourself.
Grey wanted to move on, but as the next storm began, he checked his map to see if the one after might be at Junk Junction or Haunted Hills.
It was right over the stadium where they were.
“I guess we’re setting up shop here,” Ben said.
“Yup,” Grey said as he broke down more metal. It took the longest to build, but it was what they had, and he wanted to save the wood in his inventory for when they needed to build faster. Besides, a stronger metal at the bottom of their tower probably wouldn’t hurt if they had the time to build it.
The sound of explosions and gunfire sounded closer, and Grey began building right where they stood in the stands of the soccer field. His squad followed him up the tower, and at their taller viewpoint Grey could see the source of the commotion.
A build battle was happening just south of the stadium.
Grey couldn’t tell who was fighting, but the ramps and walls appeared at lightning speed. From the off-kilter appearance, he could tell the players were using the build to block off their opponents in attempts to get the higher ground.
Normally, he would watch and wait for one side to win, but today he knew he had to stop hanging back and take the lead.
“We’re going in,” Grey said as he began to build floors out over the soccer field to take them to the build battle in the sky. Maybe this time instead of freezing up, he could get the jump on this battle.
CHAPTER EIGHT
“Are you crazy?” Ben yelled as they all followed Grey onto the sky bridge he had built. They were at least five stories high already and not even close to the height of the build battle in front of him.
Grey started throwing down ramps to gain altitude. “Maybe?”
“Stop freaking out and shoot!” Tristan said. “We’re in range and they are focused on each other.”
“Fine!” Ben said as he pulled out his shotgun.
The players jumped around on their sky tower, and Grey was almost glad he was the one building because he was sure he’d miss every shot. But his squad mates took shots when they could, and their opponents definitely knew this battle was a three-way deal now.
Fire returned on them, and Grey had to throw up a few walls to protect them. He frantically connected their bridge to the structure of the other squads—that way they had something to jump onto if the floors got shot out from under them.
“Where are those sticky grenades?” Grey asked.
“Here!” Kiri said as she threw one as far as she could to the walls above them.
When it exploded, it blasted a hole that exposed the players above. Tristan took several shots, and one of the players fell to a crawling position.
“Throw more!” Grey insisted.
Kiri used all the sticky grenades she had, and soon there were openings everywhere. When they didn’t get immediately patched up, Grey realized something vital: The enemies were out of mats.
Which meant he and his squad had the upper hand if he could build well enough. He had just over four hundred wood left, and he began to build higher. While Grey’s squad didn’t have the high ground, their awkward positioning right below the enemy made it hard for them to take shots when there were still players up there to deal with.
Lorenzo eliminated Diana.
Gear spilled above them, so Grey knew that was local elimination. He saw an impulse grenade explode, and a player went flying off the mountainous tower.
Lorenzo didn’t stick the landing.
That “fall damage” elimination notification always seemed particularly embarrassing, but Grey also thought it was funny. There seemed to be two or three players left above them, so Grey built around to find a good angle on them.
Kiri eliminated Veejay by head shot.
“How do you do that?” Ben said. “Every time!”
“Not every time,” Kiri replied.
“Pushing up!” Grey announced as he began to use ramps. With two players left, it felt like the right time to gain the high ground. Surely the remaining enemies didn’t have full health after a drawn-out fight.
The storm was beginning to close in again, and they needed a breather before the next fights if they wanted to survive. Grey switched to a weapon the second he had built their ramp higher than their opponents, and he let off a shot as the one wearing a triceratops skin tried to hide.
You eliminated Anya.
“The other one is climbing down for cover,” Tristan announced.
Grey reacted instinctively by jumping down a couple levels to find the player. He didn’t want to lose this elimination. To his surprise, the person placed a bounce pad on a nearby wall and flung himself at it. The guy went flying off the tower, and for a moment Grey thought the guy was out to eliminate himself. But then Grey remembered that bounce pads made it so you didn’t take falling damage, and he realized it was an attempt to make a getaway.
So Grey used the bounce pad, too.
His squad mates yelled at him, though he was too focused to pay attention to the words. He shot off the tower like a rocket, and for a moment he panicked that this was a bad idea. But then he positioned himself so he could aim at the guy who’d landed on the soccer field. He let off a couple shots while he flew, missing one but hitting his opponent on the second.
The glowing items poured out as the avatar fell to the ground.
You eliminated Julio.
“Gone mad, haven’t you?” Kiri’s voice sounded in Grey’s ears even though they weren’t close.
“You guys wanted me to lead,” Grey said as he looked over Julio’s items. There weren’t any materials like Grey had guessed, but there were several more bounce pads, a grenade launcher with no ammo, and a few small shields he hadn’t had time to use. Grey picked up everything—he liked that bounce pad trick. He’d never thought to use them like that before, but now his mind raced through all the new possibilities.
“We’re coming to you,” Ben said as they all used the same bounce pad to get down from the tower safely.
As they came down, Grey took a look at the map to see how the storm would shrink next. He realized, as leader, he was already thinking more about this aspect of the battle. He hadn’t noticed how much less he paid attention when Ben was leading and how important it was to stay aware of positioning.
“The circle is closer to Junk Junction next,” Grey said. “Let’s keep moving. I have no mats after that.”
“I’m low, too,” Tristan said.
“I got nothing,” Ben added.
“Take mine.” Kiri offered all her wood. It was only a couple hundred, but it was better than nothing. Grey picked it up and they headed for the next zone. They were once again in the top thirty, and he felt good about that.
A whopping ten people got lost in the storm as it closed in on Junk Junction, showing just how difficult a position it was to get in. Grey imagined there were some people on the opposite side of the map who had spent the entire battle just trying to stay inside the safe zone. They had had battles like that, and they sucked.
There were only two people in Junk Junction, and with a full squad, Grey’s squad was able to eliminate them without much trouble. After th
at they stocked up on items and destroyed everything they could for materials while Kiri kept an eye out for anyone coming into the area. She had found a port-a-fort and stayed perched up there while the rest of them gathered below.
The storm began to shrink, and Grey’s materials were almost maxed out when Kiri called from her sniper nest. “We have big incoming! They’re fighting each other!”
“You stay up there,” Grey said. “We’ll go in and see who we can pick off at closer range.”
“Sounds brilliant!” she said as she opened fire.
Grey followed the direction of her shots, and sure enough, the builds were going up at the edge of the newest safe zone. “Tristan, ramp us up there.”
“On it.” Tristan began to drop his ramps, adding a few walls in for support in case anyone tried to blow up their build from below. Grey had found some ammo for his grenade launcher, and he used it liberally to disrupt the fighting and building in front of them.
The sound of a rocket launcher hit Grey’s ears, and he said, “Need a launch pad!”
“Dropping one now!” Ben answered.
Ben placed it on the floor Tristan just laid, and Grey jumped onto it. He sprang into the air and deployed his glider. He took a couple hits, but they only ate his shield. There were several players building and fighting, and the chaos was a lot to take in.
Grey wasn’t sure they’d survive, but he wanted to take down as many as he could. He pulled out the minigun now that he had plenty of ammo for it, and he unloaded on anyone and anything in sight. Walls and people went down, and Kiri cleaned up any player who fell to their knees.
But Grey had already lost his shield, and now he took damage though he tried to box himself in. Tristan and Ben weren’t faring much better.
“This might be it, guys,” Grey said as he attempted to use a bandage. It was interrupted by someone breaking the wall and shooting him.
He was officially downed.
“We went out in a blaze of glory!” Ben said as he, too, ended up in downed state.
“We took five more with us though,” Tristan offered.
Grey’s vision went to black and white, and his gear scattered around him. He had finished at rank fifteen for the battle, which was a few better than last time. Kiri made it to rank ten in her sniper perch before Tae Min once again took her out. It was as if he wanted to make sure everyone knew there was still at least one person better at sniping than Kiri.
