58 Chapter 53

My eyes hesitantly parted but not fully. My eyelashes made it seem like I was looking out through a cage. In between the strands of hair, I could see a majestic mountain with a peak that was covered by divine clouds. My gaze lingered there for seconds before going down the mountain. Several different sceneries passed by; from clouds to the barren rock covered in a layer of white snow, which blended in with the heavens. Below that, there was a large layer of brown, frozen dirt. Below that, there was think vegetation that spurred all kinds of restless creatures. The vegetation changed at the foot of the mountain; from tall, ancient trees that shielded the view to the bottom of the mini-forest to small saplings and lightly colored grass. My back felt comfortable as it took in the sensation of soft grass. It was like I was laying on a bed of air. The shoes on my feet must have fallen off somewhere because I could feel the light breezes of air whisp through the spaces between my toes. I opened my eyes all the way.

I propped myself up on my forearm, laying on my side. I could see a small trail of smoke rising from somewhere up the mountain. I looked around until I was astonished that the wall of water was right behind me. It wasn't moving, but it was there. I touched it, and the water rippled up the wall until it reached a top that I could not see. It seems like the mountain range was covered with water with the exception of this single mountain. I checked the number of people: Three hundred and seventy-six. Now, I understood why. Right now, our team's objective should be to gradually climb that tower until we reached...wherever the peak was. The water should not reach there, but if it does, then the remaining twenty would have to duke it out.

I sniff the air to smell a fire coming from somewhere near me. Was I near enemy territory? I slowly stood up and crept through the soft grass. The smell grew sharper as I approached the bunch of bushes. I parted the bushes, only making a rustling sound. I saw two figures sitting down on the ground, tending to a small, delicate fire as it danced in its small circle of stones without a care in the world. I chuckled; it reminded me of the cave that my grandpa and I used to live in. Good times. Good times. I sighed and leaned in a little closer to get a better view of the two figures. My eyes bulged a little when I saw who they were. I grabbed a two-handfuls of the moist earth and sprint over. As soon as I got into firing range, I threw both clumps of the dirt into the fire. *SSSSSSSSSsssssssssss* The water content in the dirt extinguished the flame as it went out with a saddening hiss. "Hey! What the HELL dude! Did you hit your head on the way down?!" yelled one voice.

"Yeah, what the fucks wrong with you, Vincent! You know how long it took to make that fire?!"

I stared at the twins in contempt. "Shut the hell up," I lowered my voice to a hoarse whisper, "You imbeciles! What is wrong with both of you!? The fire's going to give us out to the team on top of the mountain." I pointed in the direction where I lost saw the other smoke trail. It was gone now.

Both of them lowered their heads in embarrassment. George apologized, "We're sorry."

I retorted with a question of my own, "Also, what's up with you guys just leaving me over there?" I pointed at the place where I woke up.

Bill chimed in to make a decent answer, "We didn't just leave you there! We covered you with some leaves!"

I looked back a the location. He wasn't lying, there were leaves strung from someone that was draped over where I was asleep. But, it still left a lot of me exposed. "Some leaves, for sure. Anyone who looks hard enough can see my feet!"

Bill retaliated, "Then, what were we supposed to do?!"

"I don't know...DRAG ME TO WHERE EVER THE HELL YOU GUYS SET UP CAMP?! I mean, it's literally, like, ten steps away."

George said in a soft voice, "We thought that if we got caught, then you shouldn't get caught with us."

I looked at both of them, and both of them were showing innocent-looking eyes that played my heartstrings. I slapped my head and sighed, "It's...fine. Just, I trust you guys enough to place my life in your hands. Well, okay. Maybe not my life, but...let's say...one of my kidneys."

George gave me a disgusted look. "Eww, hell naw! I don't want your slimy-ass kidney!"

"Shut the fuck up!" I snapped. "Just listen! Next time you guys decide something, I want to be included whether I'm in my right mind or not. I trust you guys enough to give you that."

Bill said, "Thanks." I nodded my head. Then he said, "What are we supposed to eat?"

"Don't we have anything?" I asked.

George explained, "Those ninja guys took everything! We don't even have the red pill!"

"OK. Since we don't have any food, for now, let's discuss what we're going to do tomorrow." I clapped my hands together and took a seat on the grass. We were surrounded by a dense, thicket of trees and bushes, so there won't be any danger tonight. Hopefully. "Actually," I continued, "fuck your opinions because I already made a plan."

"That's not nice," George cheekily said.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued, "There are about three hundred people here. The space that all of us have including the height of the mountain and the width and stuff is about thirty-five square miles."

"Meaning we'll run into another group soon," said Bill. The evening was falling, so it was getting harder to see each other's faces.

"Yes. Exactly. And when we do, we're screwed because..." I trailed off.

George finished the sentence, "We don't have anything. No weapons. No pills. No nothing."

"Precisely." The twins looked at me in confusion. "Let me explain. We have nothing, so we shouldn't be so adamant about winning. So get that out of your system." I waited for them to say something. When I only heard crickets- literally, I continued, "We may have nothing to lose, but the other teams have everything. From now on, we must play like scavengers. Like vultures, like foxes, like fish. We must trick the fool, eat the leftovers, and slip away unnoticed. Do you understand?"

George dragged his palm down the side of his face. "That's a nice prep talk, but can we get down to the detail, genius?"

I nodded my head. "We locate three groups. It doesn't really matter how big they are, but the bigger the better. The three of us split and herd them to a single spot via fear tactics, suspicious activity in the forest, etc. Then, they fight, and we pick up what's left."

Bill said, "Now, wait a second. The rules state that players with over fifty percent aptitude can't be in groups. So, how can we find three when there are only three hundred people left when all of them didn't come to this point because of dumb luck?"

George added, "Also, it's not that easy rounding up people, especially when they're good. How? Just how?"

I nodded my head to their very sensible questions and answered, "The rules state that players with fifty percent aptitude or more cannot be in groups. Yes, but that doesn't include in-game alliances. We are a group because we can sense each other's arrows on the map. But, they can't. That's the difference. And that's what we'll use."

I scooted closer to them and talked them through the things that they were going to do when they have located their groups. It wasn't easy going through the plan 'cause there were so many holes, but we managed to patch up a tangible plan. That may or may not work. Guess we had to find out.