by Logan Byrne
“Modify,” I said, before swiping the card.
Out of thin air, a smorgasbord of a feast appeared before us, bottles of water for all of us to enjoy, steam floating off the top of a shepherd’s pie, and a beautifully roasted and glazed ham sat there as well, the sheer aroma enough to make you drool.
“It’s…beautiful,” Matthew said, before swallowing his spit.
“Dig in,” I said.
Jamie and Matthew dug in, ripping off pieces of bread, a carving knife appearing with the feast. They used it to slice off chunks of ham, chewing everything as fast as they could so that they could get even more down their throats. None of us were the fastest of eaters, generally, but with only five or so minutes on the timer we had to hurry before it disappeared.
Liam and I went in as well, though not as crazily as them, since we had eaten a little late last night. I was hungry, but not starved, and after all they’d endured thus far, they deserved all of this even more.
A few minutes later, the five-minute mark for the card being up, the feast started to glitch a few times, coming close to disappearing completely as Matthew and Jamie started grabbing food off of it before it fully disappeared. They got some just in time as it went away, though the food they had picked off stayed around for them to eat.
After they had finished, Matthew rubbed his stomach, belching loudly, as Jamie leaned back, completely bloated and full of food.
“Good?” I asked.
“Great,” Jamie said.
“Thank you so much for sharing with us, guys. I’m glad we have this pact,” Matthew said.
“It really has been helpful for both teams. This is what the competition is all about. Some people are crazy and take others out, but it really doesn’t need to be that way at all. We can have a healthy competition without hunting each other down,” Liam said.
“We definitely agree,” Matthew said, smiling.
The four of us sat around talking for over an hour, going on about home life, the perils of training, and the annoyances of the competition. Making that pact with them on the first day in training was one of the best things Liam and I had done, if not for the fact that we didn’t have to worry about them. We didn’t hurt them, they didn’t hurt us, and even though I didn’t see us traveling together for very much longer, it was still nice to run into some friendly faces and talk for a little bit, if not to remind ourselves that we were still human.
“I wonder how we’re doing,” Jamie said.
“Well, nobody has found any talismans yet or anything,” Liam said.
“Not in here, I mean out there—in the real world. Our bodies are all hooked up, and we’ve been in this place for so long now that I’m almost starting to wonder where the true line is between reality and digital reality,” Jamie said.
“I know we’re in good hands. Our woman was really nice. She said she was going to watch over us,” I said.
“Yeah, but we’re going to be in here for a long while, potentially. Waking up from all of this, if you could call it that, is going to be a much different change of pace. What if something happens in the real world? What if we go crazy, unable to see the blurred line between real and fake?” Jamie asked.
“I think you’re looking too far into this,” Matthew said.
“Yeah, we’re going to be fine. No competitor has had any problems before,” Liam said.
“That you know of,” Jamie said, pointing her finger.
“We should get going soon. We need to keep moving and make a camp for tonight. I’m sure Peter is going crazy out there in the real world waiting for us to stop messing around,” Liam said, looking at me.
“Yeah, we should. Well, it’s been really awesome running into you guys, but I think we should probably part ways for now,” I said.
“No!” Jamie exclaimed nervously.
“Calm down, Jamie,” Matthew said, looking at her. “I think she’s just a little on edge after being attacked last night. Maybe we could stick together for just tonight? Break up in the morning and go our separate ways then? I know it would really make her feel better.”
I looked at Liam, and he looked back at me, both of us saying a lot without saying anything at all. I could tell he wanted to ditch them, not because they were rude or annoying or anything, but because only he and I were a team and it would get messy with two more bodies around us. I gave him a look, wanting to just give in to their request no matter if it were a strain or not. They were nice enough people, and after all, they did just recently get attacked and ambushed. I would be rightfully nervous as well.
“Okay, but just for tonight,” Liam said, after I didn’t back down with my stern looks.
“Do you mean it?” Jamie asked, perking up.
“Yeah, it’ll be fun,” I said, smiling.
“It sure will,” Matthew said.
•••
We had finally decided to get up and moving after another twenty minutes, all of us still a little full and fairly tired, nobody seeming like they had gotten that great of sleep last night, especially Jamie and Matthew. When Jamie and Matthew patched into their hacker, he told them about an area on the map about a mile from us where there was a large hill. He said we should be high enough there to see where we were, since there wouldn’t be many trees up there to obscure the view, as it overlooked a large portion of the map, and we were already near the edge of the arena as it was.
The hill was steep, its sides covered with loose dirt that was far from stable. It crumbled under our weight, our feet sinking a little into it, the energy needed to even get up it far outweighing any true benefits their hacker could have for us. We got to the top, which was expansive, a plateau, and started forward, Peter saying there were a few hundred feet until the edge.
Jamie and Matthew walked behind us, Matthew not able to move quite as quickly because of his ankle, before we saw something, someone, who we had no desire to ever see in here.
“Well, look who it is,” Jason said.
He and Bridgette stood there, their arms crossed, as they smiled sadistically, like they had planned this. Liam and I stopped in our tracks, Jamie and Matthew doing the same, as we were all a little nervous and on edge. I tried to think of what they could want, since their skills weren’t quite up to par with Liam’s and mine, though I knew they wanted to knock us off ever since we were in training. Jason had even told us to watch our backs, and here we were face to face, a showdown feeling almost imminent.
“What are you doing here?” Liam asked.
“Just looking out over the forest. Beautiful place, wouldn’t you say? The better question is what you are doing here,” Jason said.
“I’m just helping my friends and partner. We’re trying to figure out our next moves, which don’t concern you,” Liam said.
“Friends? I don’t see any friends,” Jason said, looking around.
Liam looked back quickly, past me, before looking back at Jason, an un-amused expression on his face.
“Don’t be stupid, Jason. They’re right there,” Liam said.
“I see two people, another group, but they aren’t your friends. Nobody in here is your friend,” Jason said.
“Maybe not for you, but things are a little different for me,” Liam said.
“Bridgette, do you think that Jamie and Matthew here are their friends?” Jason asked, looking at Bridgette.
“Why no, Jason, I don’t. I do think they’re something else, though,” Bridgette said.
“And what might that be?” Jason asked.
“Opportunistic and smart,” Bridgette said, smirking.
I looked back at Jamie and Matthew. Their stances were different; Matthew wasn’t favoring his ankle anymore. He was standing normally, something very different than before, as Jamie and he fanned out a few feet, both of them standing a little aggressively.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked.
“We’re so sorry we have to do this,” Jamie said.
Even though they were standing aggr
essively, like they were going to pounce, there was still a look of sorrow in their eyes, like they were feeling bad about what they were doing. These weren’t the people I knew, the people I’d made a pact with, and the longer I stared at them, the more I realized that our pact was nothing more than a whisper in the wind.
“Why would you help them?” I asked, my sadness coming out as I spoke.
“They’re making us. We get to stay alive and out of prison if we help take you both out. I need to get back home. I have a family,” Jamie said.
“And you think they’re going to let you win? They’re only using you so that they can win. They don’t care about you at all!” I exclaimed.
“Yeah, but the longer I stay in here the better. At least in here I have a chance. If they eliminate us, then we have nothing,” Matthew said.
“It makes total sense now. That’s why you wouldn’t let us leave, insisting we stay together tonight. You wanted to ambush us all along,” Liam said.
“Like we said, we’re sorry. We don’t want to do this. We have to do this,” Matthew said.
“You’re making a big mistake,” Liam said.
Liam backed up to me, his back to me, before his head leaned back, whispering into my ear.
“Don’t talk to one another! Jamie, Matthew…take them out!” Jason screeched.
I reached into my pouch, pulling out my rifle card, handing it to Liam.
“What’s that?” Matthew asked, inching closer.
“I told you you’re making a mistake, Matthew. I meant it,” Liam said.
With one fell swoop, Liam placed the card against his skimmer. “Modify,” he said, before swiping it, my carbine rifle appearing in his hands.
I ducked down and Liam twisted around, firing two shots, one at Jamie and one at Matthew. They were direct shots, hitting both of them square between the eyes, both of them screaming before they turned into a bunch of pixels floating away.
“New York City group one has been eliminated,” Gordana said overhead.
“You just made a big mistake!” Jason screamed.
“Did I?” Liam asked, turning around, pointing the rifle at Jason and Bridgette.
They didn’t budge, instead reaching into their own pouches, before Liam shot Jason’s pouch, the cards inside scattering on the ground, and Jason’s face turned beet red as Bridgette ground her teeth furiously.
“You made a mistake there,” Jason said.
“Did I?” Liam asked.
Jason charged forward, not bothering to pick up a card. Liam tossed me the rifle as it fumbled in my hands, Jason quickly coming up and throwing a punch at Liam. He dodged out of the way, Jason falling to the ground.
“Oh, come on now. You can do better than that!” Liam said, smirking.
Jason stood up, wiping his nose with his sleeve, before huffing and puffing, Bridgette yelling at him to take Liam out. They circled one another, Liam moving back towards me, guarding me, the rifle still in my hands but pointing upwards.
Jason came forward, throwing punch after punch, Liam slapping them away like they were annoying flies that were bothering him. I didn’t know if Jason was this bad of a fighter, or if he was just too angry to fight with a clear mind, or both. Liam lobbed a punch forward, knocking Jason back, and Jason spat to the side, his nose starting to bleed a little.
I smiled, cheering Liam on, knowing that Jason didn’t have a chance without any cards to swipe. He was fairly powerless in comparison, and should’ve realized that when Liam knocked him out in training.
My smile didn’t last for long, though. Liam had backed up towards me, and Jason back towards Bridgette, before he reached down, picking up his cards. He looked at them, but before he could pick one, it happened. The ground below us started to rumble, a massive earthquake of biblical proportions rolling through as a shrieking siren went off overhead. We all stumbled around, unable to stay standing, before Jason dropped his cards again, quickly reaching to pick them up and secure them in his pouch.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“It’s the ecosystem! It’s changing!” Bridgette said, pointing in front of me.
Liam and I stood up, moved a little closer to the edge, and saw the landscape changing at lightning speed. The pine and maple trees vanished, a large canopy popping up in its place as gray clouds formed overhead, dropping floods of rain down in the distance.
“What do we do?” I asked, looking at Liam.
“It’s going to get rough, but we’ll get through it. Just try to stay low and close to me,” he said.
As the changing landscape got closer it dropped off, not disappearing, before a massive crack in the earth began opening up, the pit below much, much further down than we were now.
“Wait a second,” Jason said.
“What?” Bridgette asked, a tone of panic in her voice.
“This is going to disappear,” Jason said.
“What do you mean, exactly?” Liam asked, panicking.
“That’s way too far down and getting closer. What we’re standing on now isn’t going to be here anymore. We’re not going to be up here,” Jason said.
“Then where are we going to be?” Bridgette asked, looking back and forth between Jason and the incoming implosion.
Jason turned his head slowly, looking at her, the look of fear in her eyes something I wouldn’t soon forget. “Down there.”
“We have to get out of here,” Liam said, grabbing my hand.
All four of us began to run, enemies just a few minutes ago and now not allies, but working towards the common goal of surviving this. We had no idea how much of the land we were on would disappear, or if it even really would at all, but taking the chance of finding out wasn’t an option.
I looked back as we ran, Liam still holding my hand, and saw the cliff we were on start to quickly break up and disappear, with nothing at all popping up in its place. The ground was being swallowed up whole, like something out of a nightmare, and I desperately wanted to wake up.
“It’s here!” Jason screamed.
Just as we got to the edge of the hill we had climbed up with Matthew and Jamie, the ground under us disappeared, drifting away, and my feet were cycling through the air, my stomach turning. I closed my eyes, Liam still holding onto my hand, though our fingers started to slip apart as we fell. Our hands were both sweaty, so our hold on one another wasn’t tight. I opened my eyes again, seeing what was below us.
We were falling towards water, a lot of water, and we must’ve been a hundred feet up in the air. I clenched my teeth, the rush of humid air flooding my nostrils as I tried to breathe, even though I had the overwhelming urge to hold my breath.
I looked at Liam, both of our eyes barely open, before it happened. We hit the water, my eyes closing all of the way, and we shot down like torpedoes, though we didn’t go deep enough to hit the bottom.
The water was lukewarm, like a once hot bath that had been sitting idle for an hour with nobody in it. I flung my arms downwards, my head facing up, trying to get to the surface before my burning lungs ran out of the precious air we all desperately needed.
I hit the surface seconds later, my mouth opening wide as I gasped for air, and I opened my eyes, the murky water dripping off of my eyelashes, my hair slicked back, as I looked all around for Liam. I didn’t see him, or Jason or Bridgette either, and I began to fear for the worst.
As I panicked, I heard a gasp, looking to my left quickly to see Liam trying to get air, coughing hard, before spitting something out. He opened his eyes, seeing me, and I swam over towards him. We used each other to float more easily as we treaded water.
The water was dark, brown and murky, and I could hear the sound of howling monkeys in the trees in the distance. Neither Jason nor Bridgette were anywhere in sight. I didn’t care much about their well being, only making sure they weren’t right on top of us. I looked over and saw a shoreline not too far away, and Liam and I started to paddle our way over there.
The air was dreadf
ully humid, much warmer than in the forest ecosystem. The buzzing of insects in the distance was met by the noise of swarms of mosquitoes that hovered above the water, circling Liam and I like vultures out to get their next meal.
As we slowly swam towards shore, something swam by in front of us, the wake of water soon brushing up against us, causing us to stop dead in our tracks. I looked behind us, seeing another wake coming, brushing up against our backs.
“Is something here?” I asked.
“I bet it’s Jason,” Liam said.
I looked overhead, seeing a bunch of birds flying away, squawking, like they knew something that we didn’t. The wake came in front of us again, slowing down, before stopping, like it was right in front of us, floating there, waiting.
“I was disconnected for a few because of the ecosystem change. They really aren’t giving us hackers a good hold on everything. I see you’re in the water?” Peter asked.
“Yeah, and I think Jason is here or something,” I said.
“I’m detecting something, but I’m not detecting any people,” he said.
“What are you saying, then?” Liam asked.
“I’m saying that there’s something there, but it isn’t a someone…it’s a something,” Peter said.
“Like what, then?” Liam asked, as we treaded water.
The thing surfaced, moving towards us, its reptilian eyes like slivers as its long, scaly snout parted the murky water like Moses. It was an alligator, and it didn’t look friendly.
“Liam!” I screamed.
“I can’t get my cards out in here!” he shouted.
“Move!” I yelled, before pushing him away.
The alligator cruised between us, clamping its jaws shut, as both of us pushed hard so we wouldn’t get caught. I looked back, swimming towards the shore, and Liam did the same, though much faster than I. I wasn’t a great swimmer, since I’d never really had any type of lessons, that sort of activity being reserved for people of wealth. I looked back, seeing the alligator circling around, looking even angrier and much, much hungrier.
I swam as fast as I could, my legs kicking, though it felt like I was kicking through molasses. My heart was racing, my limbs cramping, but I fought through it, knowing that stopping would mean my ultimate demise. Whatever pain I was experiencing wasn’t worse than the pain of being eaten alive.
