A Good Game Gone Bad
By: Atomic Kokoro
Storyline
Zoran joins the boys in an all-out war of Man Hunt. When the boys begin to disappear one-by-one, she drives herself to get to the bottom of this.
Before You Read
Here you go, Scarlet Luchia! A little story about Zoran. I hope you like it!
Chapter 1
Run and Hide
"But I wanna play, too!" Zoran cried, jumping from one foot to the other in her favorite pink dress.
"Zoran," Astro sighed. "Just me and the boys were gonna play. These guys don't play fair."
"Yeah," Rino muttered. "I'm gonna be the first one out if I'm not picked to be it."
Atlas chuckled and smacked Rino on the back. "Dude, you should learn to shut up once in a while." He earned a death glare from Rino.
"But Big Brother!" Zoran continued. "I can play just like you can. Please, please, please!" She pulled off one of her best puppy-dog looks. Astro sighed and brought a hand to his head. If he didn't let her play, he would never hear the end of it. If he did, she would lose and he wouldn't hear the end of that, either.
He sighed again. "Alright," he said. "You can play."
Zoran cheered. "Yay! Thanks, Big Brother! You're the greatest!"
Astro giggled as his little sister embraced him in a big hug. Ken rolled his eyes. So much for just the boys playing.
"Hey, who's gonna be it?" Ambercrombie asked to practically anyone who would listen.
Atlas chuckled. "Why don't we let squirt here be it?" he suggested, ruffling Rino's hair rather roughly.
"No!" Rino hissed. "I can't stand always being it!"
"You weren't it when Zade's men were after you," Ken mentioned.
Rino folded his arms and looked away. "Put a lid on it," he barked. Everyone attempted to stiffle their giggles.
After a moment, it was Astro who suggested to be it. Everyone laughed until they realized he was serious and unsteadily agreed on it. "Alright," he said. "I'll count to ten."
Everyone nodded and when Astro closed his eyes, they all scattered into the forest. Zoran had disappeared deep into the bushes. In her mind, she counted to ten and at nine, she jumped into a tree stump and covered her mouth to keep herself from breaking out in laughter.
She had taken off in a direction everyone else hadn't gone in to keep herself seperate from the others to increase her chances of getting caught.
Five minutes had passed and she figured it was safe to move to a better hiding spot. Zoran peeked out from her hiding spot and moved swiftly down the path that only she could see. She could feel a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach as she sped down the way. She almost wondered if they were looking for her yet.
Put-put-put-put-put.
What was that?
Put-put-put-put-put.
Zoran looked to the sky and gasped, spotting her brother hovering over the forest where she was, scanning the area below him. She looked around and ducked into a bush. The branches tore away at her dress. She ignored it and stayed completely still, frozen like a statue.
The sound of rockets blasting and a, 'oh, crap!' filled the forest air. There was a ka-thunk and giggling. "Gotcha!" she could hear Astro laughed.
"Aw, man!" It was Ken. Had he been following her? She hadn't known how close she was to the others. It was a small forest, after all, but enough room for a crew of seven to get seperated in.
Without another word said, the two went their ways. Astro continued on his way and Ken began to walk towards her. Her heart beat so loudly in her ears, she was afriad Ken might hear it and find her. But, instead, he just passed her, looking for his way back to the center where he could start again.
When she found herself in the clear, she pulled herself out of the bushes and examined the damage done to her dress. "Aw," she whined, dusting off her dress. "I just got this cleaned."
She yawned and headed down a random direction, not one that either Astro or Ken had taken. For about ten, twenty minutes she was walking. It was a little quiet in the forest. "This is so boring," she moaned.
"Then get over here," whispered a voice. Zoran froze, thinking she had been spotted by someone who was it. Rino's head poked out of the bushes. "Are you it?"
Zoran cautiously shook her head. "Good," he continued. "Come over here. I'm not it either."
She looked both ways and to the sky before carefully stepping into the bushes and sitting beside Rino. "Glad to know I'm not alone anymore," she muttered. Rino agreed. They sat and talked for a couple minutes until a rustling in the trees stopped them. They both got to their feet prepared to run.
Something red dropped down from the tree and Zoran and Rino scrambled in two different directions. Zoran couldn't see where Rino and the mysterious figure went, but she just continued to sprint away as fast as her legs could take her. She could hear Rino scream in terror and a laugh from someone familier. Probably Atlas messing with Rino.
She smiled. How that simple human was scared by such simple things. She sprinted for a couple of minutes before ducking into the hollow where she first hide before. She sighed. She was right where she started.
A moment later, she could hear Astro's voice yelling. She peeked out and the sound became clearer. "Zoran! Rino!" She smiled and jumped out. "Alright, you two! You win!"
Zoran cheered and ran towards her brother's voice. "I won!" she cheered. "I won!"
Astro chuckled. "Well, it was a tie."
"No," Zoran insisted. "I won. I saw Rino get caught by Atlas!"
Astro lifted an eyebrow. "But I just caught Atlas."
Zoran gasped. "If that's true then what got Rino?" Astro shurgged.
"Guys!" a second voice yelled. Ken and Ambercrombie soon joined the siblings. "Where's Alejo?"
Everyone looked at each other. "Atlas is gone, too," Astro brought up a couple seconds later.
"Where do you think they all went?" Ken asked.
Zoran inhaled and let out a rather long wail that contained words in there somewhere: "I was with Rino when he got caught and I thought it was Atlas so I left him there and now we can't find him and he and Atlas and Alejo are goo-ooo-ooone!"
She sobbed into Astro's chest. Everything went quiet for a moment. The heavy sounds of Ken and Ambercrombie's breathing from running could easily be heard by the siblings. A moment of fear that something would come out and catch them passed, but nothing happened.
Zoran pulled away forcefully and balled her fists, her sorrow switching to anger. "We gotta find them!" she insisted. "We gotta save them!"
The three remaining boys looked at each other. They knew that once Zoran was commited to something, there was no stopping her. They also knew that the decision had already been made before any of them had even considered the possibly dangerous thought.