by Devin Hunter
Once the Admin vanished, everyone relaxed and began to find their squads again. Grey looked over the rankings board. After five games, he was ranked 71. Many people had average rankings that were tied, Ben and Tristan included—Grey realized these were the squads. No one had a ranking of 100 like he started with.
Tae Min was at the top, with a shocking rank of 1. Grey could hardly believe he’d beaten everyone all day. That was impossible. Even the best Battle Royale streamers didn’t always win.
Kiri had the lowest ranking at 90. Grey spotted her looking at the sleeping assignments. Instead of crying like before, she had cinched her brows together in anger. He couldn’t tell if it was a show or not, but he still felt bad for her. They had an open spot in their squad, and he wished he could ask her to join them. If he could improve so fast with a little help, he thought Kiri could, too.
He didn’t think Tristan would go for it, since he barely let Grey in.
But Grey couldn’t shake the thought. He just had a feeling people were counting Kiri out before she even had a fair chance. He really wanted to give her one, like Ben had given him one.
Grey glanced at his sleeping arrangements next. He was happy to see Ben and Tristan in his cabin and was surprised to see Tae Min in there as well. The fifth roommate was someone named Lorenzo he didn’t know yet.
“Are you serious?” It was Ben’s voice, and when he turned he saw Ben with Tristan. They didn’t seem happy.
“You know I can’t refuse their offer,” Tristan said. “They always rank in the forties at least, usually thirties.”
It sounded like Tristan really had gotten recruited by a higher-ranked squad this time.
“Yeah, I know.” Ben looked hurt, though he’d talked about how he understood. He took a deep breath and said, “Good luck, I guess.”
“You, too,” Tristan said with the smallest hint of remorse. “You deserve better.”
As Tristan walked away from Ben, Grey felt bad but also relieved. He’d have a much easier time convincing Ben that they should add Kiri to their squad.
Now he’d just have talk to her and see if she’d join.
CHAPTER 7
Grey had several hours before their mandatory bedtime, so he went over to Ben and immediately started in. “Sorry about Tristan.”
Ben nodded. “Like I said, it was bound to happen. His new squad was one of the better ones last season, and their top guy got sent home at the end. They only had one spot open. He’s lucky.”
It seemed like Ben wished he was lucky, too. “Would you have gone to that squad if they had two openings?”
Ben didn’t answer.
Grey figured that meant Ben probably would have left him alone if he got an offer. They needed a topic change, so Grey sucked in a breath and gathered his courage to ask, “So, I was thinking of asking Kiri to practice with us, maybe join if she’s not as bad as it seems.”
Ben cringed. “I don’t know … she seems like a scaredy-cat.”
“Maybe she’s totally new, kinda like me,” Grey offered.
Ben took a moment to answer, but then said, “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to offer a practice session. If you can get her to say yes. She’s got loner status written all over her.”
“I’ll meet you over there,” Grey said. It didn’t seem like there would be anything to eat, and he hadn’t felt hungry or the need to go to the bathroom, so he figured practice was about all they could do. Although even if he wasn’t hungry, he wished there was food. He always looked forward to meals.
Many more people now began to head toward the practice area than had gone there during the battles. But Kiri lingered at a table away from everyone else. Grey walked over to her, and when she noticed, she rolled her eyes. “You don’t learn, do you?”
“I have learned, actually,” Grey said with confidence as he pointed to the score board. “I’m twenty ranks higher than you now.”
She gave him a nasty glare for that.
“Look, I’m trying to help,” Grey continued. “We just lost a squad member. It’s fine if you don’t want to join, but it’s an offer if you want it. At least come practice with me and Ben. He’s really nice and he’s been here since the beginning—he knows a lot. We could all help each other out, you know?”
Kiri pursed her lips, thinking. “I reckon I better.”
“Reckon?” Grey smiled at the term. The game might have translated everything from other languages or accents, but apparently not phrases. “You from Texas or something?”
“New Zealand, mate,” she replied.
“Oh, wow, cool,” Grey answered. He liked hearing different accents and was sad hers was gone. “Well, Ben should be waiting for us. Let’s go.”
“Sweet as.” She got up, and as they walked Grey began to feel awkward in the silence.
“So, first time playing?” he asked when he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Yeah,” she said with a hint of anger. “I lost a bet to my brother and he made me try it. He should be the one stuck here. Not me. I don’t even like gaming—I like sports.”
“Oh.” So that explained her panic. “Well, he must have got a shock when you passed out at the computer.”
Kiri smiled the littlest bit. “Didn’t think of it like that. I hope he feels guilty.”
“Apparently we’re all in comas,” Grey said. “So probably.”
“Was it your first time, too?” Kiri asked him.
Grey nodded. “I’d watched some of my friends play, but never got a chance myself. I finished school today and my parents let me play because I got good grades.”
“What a prize …”
He laughed a little. “Yeah. And hey, when you think about it, this is sort of a sport. It is a competition.”
“It’s not netball, but I guess that’s true,” she said.
“Netball?” Grey hadn’t heard of a sport called netball, but maybe it was something like cricket that wasn’t popular in America.
“Grey! Kiri!” Ben’s voice called to them, and it took Grey a moment to spot him with all the people in the open practice space. It was chaos in comparison to earlier, with squads building large structures and fighting each other out of them. Though things looked competitive, there was laughter and people talked and it didn’t seem nearly as tense as it did in the game.
“Hey, Ben, I’m guessing?” Kiri said when they got close enough.
“Yup.” Ben smiled, even though before he didn’t look excited to have her join them. “Thanks for joining us. Wasn’t sure you would.”
“I wouldn’t thank me. I’m rubbish,” she admitted.
“That can change,” Ben said. “Let’s see if we can find something you’re good at. Or at least something you like. We have a few hours.”
“Sure.” Kiri looked at the buildings all around her. “How do they build so fast?”
“Practice.” Ben motioned for them to follow to the practice warehouse to get weapons and materials. “Building is actually a massive part of how the best teams win. I wish I was better at it, but I feel like I’m average at best. Don’t usually get to end game when people build a lot.”
“Maybe we should focus on basics, though,” Grey said. “She’s never played at all or even watched.”
“Right. Cool.” Ben grabbed some guns off the wall for himself. “Then what’s the hardest part so far, Kiri?”
Kiri picked at the ends of her long, thick hair. “Everything? I see a person in the battles and I just … panic. They’re shooting me before I can even think to shoot back. Then I’m eliminated.”
“Okay then, shooting practice it is!” Ben said. “We can get away from the crowds and you can practice shooting us, all right? In practice you don’t get hurt or eliminated, so just unload on us until you feel better about your aim. We’ll hit the ghost town again.”
“I could use more dodging practice,” Grey said. “This works.”
“Sweet as,” she said.
Armed and ready, they headed back out to the ghost
town in the practice area. The sun was still in the same place, even though it was supposedly later in the “day.” Grey wondered if the lighting would ever change, but he realized it didn’t in Fortnite Battle Royale, so why would it here? The scenery was all stuck in place, nothing was really growing, there were no animals, no nights. Grey had a feeling this would get boring fast.
“So Kiri,” Ben said. “You stick in the schoolhouse, okay? We will come at you and you keep an eye out and shoot whenever you see us. Don’t be afraid to miss—you won’t run out of ammo. Just try to get used to people coming after you.”
“Right.”
“Grey, spread out and try to be sneaky,” Ben said.
“Yup.” Grey was ready and excited. He liked the idea of helping someone else, even if it was a competitor.
He took off running in the opposite direction of Ben, deciding he’d go out into the surrounding fields and hills. The schoolhouse was at the end of the ghost town street, and Ben ducked into the buildings for a different approach. Grey took shelter behind a big patch of rocks and counted to sixty before he decided to start heading back.
Waiting would probably stress Kiri out more, which would help emulate the game better. He imagined her searching desperately for a target. He heard no gun shots, so she hadn’t spotted Ben yet, either.
Grey peeked out from the rock formation. The schoolhouse was a tiny speck of a building from this distance, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t spot him. He’d seen players take amazing sniper shots at people. Kiri probably didn’t know she could do that, but he wouldn’t count it out.
There was a nearby patch of trees, and he decided that would be his first destination on the path back. He began running—jumping, too—in hopes of dodging potential bullets.
The sound of a shot echoed throughout the area.
To Grey’s shock, his body flashed to indicate he’d been hit.
He kept going, getting hit again before he made it to the trees. His eyes grew wide as he stared at the schoolhouse. Was that Kiri? He was so far away. It couldn’t possibly be her. Maybe there was someone else in the area messing around with him. He looked all around him, trying to find another culprit.
He didn’t see anyone.
The next closest cover was an outhouse on the outskirts of town. This time, he determined he’d look right at the schoolhouse to make sure the bullets came from there.
Grey began to run, and sure enough, a flash of fire came from the bell tower on the schoolhouse. He flashed again. If those shots had counted for damage, he was certain he’d be eliminated by now. One of the shots missed, and then she got him two more times before he ducked behind the outhouse.
Shots still fired, but this time there were more from inside the schoolhouse. It must have been Ben.
Grey began running for the schoolhouse, and this time no shots came his way. The fight was happening inside. As he got closer, he heard Kiri’s panicked cries and yelling. “Get away! Get away! Get away!”
“I’m right in front of you!” Ben yelled back. “How can you miss from here?”
Grey ran up the stairs that led to the bell tower, and he spotted them at the other end of the building shooting at each other. Kiri had broken several walls and roof tiles in her attempts to hit Ben, who moved back and forth to avoid her attempts.
“I’m trying!” she cried back. “You scared me! How was I supposed to know you’d sneak up on me?”
“I told you that’s what we’d do.” Ben began to laugh.
And then Kiri stopped shooting and started laughing, too. “I know, and I still panicked. See? I’m absolute rubbish.”
Ben cringed. “I hate to say it, but—”
“No you’re not,” Grey said.
Kiri squeaked in surprised, neither of them having noticed he was there yet. “Don’t do that!”
“Sorry.” Grey came closer, excitement coursing through him. He turned to Ben. “Dude, she hit me like five times from sniper position.”
Ben looked confused. “What?”
Grey pointed out the opening in the bell tower. “I went all the way out there to that rock formation. How far you think that is from here?”
“Like at least three hundred yards,” Ben said. He grabbed his sniper gun and held it up. “Two hundred and seventy-two, to be exact.”
“Well, she hit me several times,” Grey said.
“It’s easier to hit someone when I have time to aim,” Kiri explained. “And they’re not right in my face scaring me. You didn’t even notice me.”
“That usually makes it harder, being so far,” Grey said. “I’d have been eliminated. Ben, do you think she’s, like, some natural sniper or something?”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know, but we should try it out. No offense, but it’s one thing for her to be able to hit you, and a different story if she can hit me.”
“None taken,” Grey said. He handed Kiri his better sniper gun. “Here, try this one, too.”
“Okay …” Kiri didn’t seem to believe in her own skills, but if Grey was right, they’d just found an amazing ally. Not everyone could snipe well. Most of the time they were just lucky shots. If Kiri had more than just luck, they might be able to do really well in the ranks.
“Let’s build a taller structure and see what she can do,” Ben said. “C’mon.”
They followed Ben to the hill where Grey had hidden behind the rocks and built a tower much taller than the schoolhouse. Kiri sat atop it and smiled. “I do feel much safer like this. I need to learn to build towers. Much better than being out in the open.”
“If you know how to use them to your advantage,” Ben said. “Gotta be careful if enemies bust it down. You can fall and die.”
“Good to know.” Kiri kneeled down and put her eye to the scope. “What now?”
“Well, we disappear, and you try to hit us if you see us.” Ben was already heading down the ramp. “I’m a lot harder target than Grey.”
“You think you’re pretty flash, ay?” Kiri said.
“Flash? Uh, sure. Now focus!” Ben continued on his path, and Grey followed behind him as the ramp wound down the structure. Once they were further away from Kiri, Ben whispered, “If she’s a good sniper, we are so lucky. I might understand why Tristan left, but I still want to make him regret it.”
“I’ll do my best,” Grey said. “Maybe if she’s good at sniping, I can focus on learning how to build.”
“Yeah, totally. That’d be perfect.” They stood at the bottom of the tower, and Ben looked hopeful as he thought things over. “Okay, you head over there, and I’ll go the opposite. That way, we can see how she handles being surrounded.”
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
Grey ran off in his assigned direction and into a thick patch of trees. Last time he had waited a minute, but this time he decided to wait much longer. It wasn’t as if they were running out of time. He guessed they still had over an hour to practice before they had to be in their cabins. He didn’t know a lot about snipers, but he imagined there was patience involved. He didn’t think he could do it—he’d get too antsy and want to come down and find people to eliminate. Or he’d be afraid of someone else sniping him while he stayed in one place for so long.
It seemed Ben was taking the same approach as Grey, because the surrounding area was silent. There were gunshots in the distance, where everyone was trying their builds by the practice warehouse, but other than that, there was nothing to hear but his own breathing.
The nature around him didn’t make noise unless he interacted with it, and he had never realized just how noisy the real world was when he stepped outside his door in the morning. Traffic sounds. Wind in the trees. Birds chirping. There was nothing like that, only his breathing and footsteps when he moved or the sound effects of breaking stuff or shooting.
After what he thought was five minutes, Grey began to move through the trees back to Kiri. There was a small clearing, and he was curious to see if she had her sharp eye on him at all, so
he sprinted across the middle of it instead of skirting around the edge.
He got shot.
And grinned about it.
He must have been at least two hundred yards away still. That girl had to have binoculars for eyes to spot movement so far off. The scope might have helped her aim, but a person still needed to know where to point first.
Another shot sounded, but Grey didn’t see any flash of bullets this time. Kiri must have found Ben, too. Grey hoped she hit him on the first shot so he’d stop saying he was better at dodging—all dodging seemed like luck at this distance. Several more shots followed, but none were directed at Grey.
Once he reached the edge of the forest, Kiri found him again and didn’t let up with her endless supply of ammo. She’d finally realized she could take down obstacles if she kept shooting, and the trees broke down as she kept her focus on Grey. He got hit several times, though he couldn’t tell for how much damage or if they were “head shots,” which did the most damage and were the hardest to aim.
He and Ben finally made it back into the tower. As they climbed the ramps to meet Kiri, Ben couldn’t stop laughing.
“How’d I do?” Kiri said with a wide grin.
“I think you know already,” Ben replied. “Please, please join our squad. We’ll protect you while you snipe everyone down.”
“You’ll make everyone regret counting you out,” Grey added, hoping she would join.
Kiri looked away from them, her face growing serious. “Why didn’t you count me out, Grey?”
Grey’s words got stuck in his throat. It felt like saying the wrong thing might ruin their chance. He took a deep breath and went for honesty. “Well, everyone deserves a chance, don’t they? Just because someone is new at something doesn’t mean they won’t eventually be the best. We all start at the beginning. There’s no reason to be embarrassed by that.”
Kiri nodded. “Okay, I’m in. Let’s make them all regret overlooking us.”
Ben pumped his fists, and Grey let out a sigh of relief. It might take some extra practice, but he had a feeling they would make a great team.
