A/N: I'm really sorry that the ending part of the first chapter was so rushed, but it ended up having to be that way. Please don't let that make you think badly of the story, though...
ALSO, PLEASE REVIEW! I MEAN IT! I'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT, TOO! PLUS, IT'LL INFLUENCE ME TO CONTINUE THE STORY...
Now, it's in third person P.O.V. for now...
"W...What the hell is this?!" Alex asked aloud as he got up, brushing the sand off his clothes. No matter how far he looked, all he saw were hills and dunes made of sand. It went on for miles and miles. An entire wasteland devoid of life...or was it?
Even worse, the sun high up in the sky, which seemed several times larger than the sun back on Earth, was beating its ultra-violet rays down upon them. There wasn't any nearby shade, either.
'Oh my god...I can't believe this is really happening...'
"I'm...I'm afraid..." Sarah stammered, covering her face with her hands.
Alex peered far off, but he didn't see a single sign of any living being. 'I don't see the other groups...what could have happened to them?'
"Damn...it's hot..." Billy grunted, stretching out his back.
Snarling and looking pretty pissed, Marisa got to a stand and shouted, "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT?! WE'VE...WE'VE GOTTA BE UNDER SOME KIND OF HYPNOSIS OR SOMETHING, RIGHT?! I MEAN...THIS CAN'T BE REAL!"
"Shut your mouth, bitch." Jackal snapped at her, seemingly unfazed of the current situation, "I hate whorish girls like you...this is as real as you and me."
"E-EXCUSE ME? WHORISH?! HOW DARE YOU-"
Jackal smirked defiantly. "Heh? What's wrong, whore? Did I...upset you?"
Walking up to the two of them, Billy yelled, "HEY! CUT IT OUT, BOTH OF YOU! WE IMMEDIATELY END UP IN THIS FUCKED-UP LITTLE GAME SET UP BY THE FUCKING GOVERNMENT, AND YOU TWO ARE AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS ALREADY!"
Marisa definitely didn't want to get on the bad side of a well-known former crime boss, so she gave in to his orders, as did a rather reluctant Jackal.
"Okay...I guess this is real, huh? We're stuck here for a whole goddamn month...great...just great..." Alex said aloud, sighing heavily.
"The other groups either ended up in different locations or already got themselves killed...I'm betting it's the former." Billy said, walking up alongside Alex, who was still a bit nervous around the big man.
Running her fingers through her hair, Haley whined, "Aww, dammit...intense heat like this always ruins my hair. Fuck..."
Taking a few steps forward, Billy scooped a handful of sand into his palm and watched as it slipped out from between his fingers for a moment. Sighing, he turned to the others and barked, "Alright then...let's get going."
"Get going? Where the hell are we even going?!" Haley snapped.
"Yeah!" added Marisa.
His expression now fierce, Billy shot back, "SHUT THE HELL UP! WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE BUT TO GO ONWARDS! WE'RE STUCK IN THIS PLACE FOR A WHOLE MONTH...AND OUR ONLY CHANCE FOR FREEDOM IS BY STAYING ALIVE! SO...THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO!"
Crossing his arms, Jackal smirked and remarked, "Heh...they never learn..."
Sighing, Marisa pressed her palm against her face. "...I...I guess you're right..." she mumbled under her breath, "...let's just get going...before we pass out from heat stroke..."
"I just hope there aren't any other dangerous life forms in this dimension." Alex remarked, mostly to himself.
With Billy in the lead, Group A began to traverse across the seemingly endless desert wasteland...
Zeke cursed loudly as he dragged his heavy feet through the sand. "FUCK IT ALL! WHY IN THE FUCKIN' HELL DID I END UP SEPARATED FROM THE OTHERS?! GODDAMN MOTHERFUCKERS! DAMMIT! FUUUUUUUUUUCK...WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?!"
Somehow, upon his entrance to this new dimension, he had been warped to a different location than his group members, which is probably the worst thing to happen to you when in an unknown place with a high probability of danger.
'Hmm...no matter which direction I look, all I see is sand...WHAT THE FUCK AM I GONNA DO?!' Zeke wondered, clenching his teeth, 'Who knows what lives in this unexplored world? Damn...I gotta be careful...'
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble violently, and Zeke caught sight of something underneath the sand moving towards him. Screaming, he turned around and tried to run, but the thing chased after him was much, much faster. Bursting out of the ground, a giant worm-like monster, it's body covered in thin needles and a huge gaping mouth full of sharp teeth, rose up and let out a mighty roar.
It had no eyes, but it was able to sense out food with the pores on its skin, which were like super-sensitive nostrils. It towered over Zeke like as if he was standing underneath a 10-story building about to crash down on top of him.
"W...WHAT THE FUCK IS THIIIIIIIIIIIIIS?!" Zeke cried before the giant worm then brought its mouth down upon him and dove back into the sand, leaving no evidence of the man that had stood there only seconds ago...
...except for a small spot of blood.
Alex couldn't help but actually smile when he ran up one of the many sand hills, and caught sight of a small oasis not too far away. A single large palm tree with a small pond of water nearby. Turning to the others, who were already panting and sweating, he exclaimed, "HEY! I FOUND A PLACE TO REST! C'MON! IT'S JUST OVER THIS HILL!"
"R...Really, Alex-kun...?" Sarah asked, a slight smile on her pale face. For some reason, she liked using Japanese honorifics, despite the fact she was American. Of course, Alex himself didn't mind it so much. 'At least we have ONE nice girl in our group...' Alex thought.
"Ugh...it's probably just dirty, infested water anyway. We definitely can't drink it!" Marisa grunted once she reached the top of the sand hill along with the others.
"You never know. Still, the whore is right...which I hate having to admit." Jackal spoke up.
Throwing a punch at him, which he dodged easily, Marisa snapped, "WHY DO YOU KEEP MAKING FUN OF ME, YOU BASTARD?!"
Jackal shrugged. "I make fun of everyone, dumbass bitch. Get over it."
"...Make it stop..." Billy mumbled, becoming fed up with their petty arguing.
Once they reached the oasis, Alex got onto his knees on the pond's edge and peered over the surface of the water, just to make sure there wasn't anything dangerous possibly waiting for them. Luckily, there didn't seem to be a problem, so Alex took a quick sip by cupping some water into his hands.
"Hmm...it tastes alright..."
"LET ME TRY!" Haley Storm suddenly ran over, pushed Alex to the side, and practically stuck her head into the pond before pulling it back out and letting out a refreshed sigh, her face and hair dripping wet. "That's much better..."
'Geez...' Picking himself up, Alex brushed himself off and walked over to the large palm tree looming over them. He noticed several round objects hanging from the top branches, so he figured they were probably fruits of some sort. Unfortunately, they were too high up even for a giant like Billy, and there was nothing nearby to knock them down.
"...I still say we should be cautious..." Billy muttered as he stood in the shade and watched Marisa and Sarah took their turns drinking from the pond. Oddly enough, he and Jackal both seemed unaffected by the heat, and they just stood there with crossed arms and furrowed brows.
"Wow...this water is so fresh and clean, despite all the sand and dirt. It's amazing!" Sarah exclaimed, speaking loudly for the first time since coming to this weird dimension.
"...Uh-huh..." Marisa nodded and laid on her back as the shade protected her from the sun's rays.
Glancing around, Jackal caught sight of something interesting; a large, oddly-shaped accumulation of sand a few feet away...and he could make out part of a roof sticking out. Without a word, he shoved his hands into his pockets and began walking over to it.
"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going?!" Billy snapped at him. Jackal ignored his words and swiped his hand across the sand, revealing an old red door. Looking over his shoulder, he called, "Hey, Billy and dumbass...come check this out."
'...He knows my name, though...' Alex thought as he and Billy walked over to Jackal, who was brushing off more and more sand, eventually uncovering what was most likely a small cabin. Due to so much sand covering it, Jackal was only able to get to the front door and the windows, but that was all enough needed to get in.
"H...Holy crap...there's a house here..." Billy said in amazement. Alex was speechless. The three girls just watched in silence from underneath the palm tree, wondering what was going on. It wasn't that their help wasn't needed, they just didn't want to help.
Jackal grabbed the doorknob, and it snapped off right in his palm. "Hmm...how do we get in?" Alex asked, a little afraid of what might be inside.
Jackal had the answer; he rose his right foot and smashed it agianst the door, shattered it into splinters. "Come on..." he grunted, and he walked inside without another word. Alex and Billy both exchanged nervous glances before following after their so-called ally.
The interior of the small decrepit cabin was rather empty; besides the sand that had seeped in through the walls and windows through the years, there wasn't much except for a single table lying in the middle of the room, and a box hidden underneath it. As they walked closer, Alex noticed there were three objects on top of the table: a glass of red liquid, a piece of parchment paper with something written, and...a human skull.
"Ugh..." Alex winced at the sight of the skull, but Jackal just walked over to the table, bent down, and pulled out the box. It was rather large, and shaped rectangular. It seemed to take all Jackal had just to carry it even a little. Placing it at Billy and Alex's feet, Jackal used his sand-covered hands to crack open the top of the box, revealing an assortment of weapons hidden within.
Smirking, Jackal said, "Heh...we could use this. Billy, help me carry this out. You, emo guy, see if there's anything else in here..."
'My name's not emo guy!' Alex thought as he watched Jackal and Billy exit the cabin while struggling to carry the weapons box with them, 'Dammit...why can't I just say what I feel? I'm so pathetic...'
Since it didn't seem there was anything else, Alex glanced at the letter atop the table. Picking it up, he tried to determine the language that the words were written in, but it was no use. He couldn't read it at all. Sighing, he crumbled the paper up and threw it over his shoulder as he headed back out into the smothering heat and quickly ran over to the oasis area, where everyone was already dividing the weapons amongst themselves.
"Damn...I haven't seen a katana this good for god knows how long..." Jackal remarked, sneering as he admired the long shining blade he held.
Taking up a can of hairspray and a cigarette lighter, Marisa held them close to her chest and let out a relieved sigh. "Ahh...finally, I can set things ABLAZE again...yes..."
"This'll do nicely..." Billy said to himself as he checked over the short-hand pistol for a third time.
"Mine." Haley Storm said, snatching up a pack of cigarettes that happened to be there.
Sarah remained silent as she took up a small pocket knife and stared at it.
The last weapon left in the box was for Alex...and it was a metal baseball bat.
Alex bit his lip. 'A...a metal bat...just like the one I used to kill those people...my parents...' His whole body shook, and sweat poured down his face. The horrid screams and shrieks of his victims pounded in his head. He thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest.
Alex opened his mouth to scream, but no words came out. 'Ahh...ahh...ahh...'
Sarah just stared at him, caught between either doing nothing or speaking up for his sake.
Noticing Alex was hesitating, Jackal rolled his eyes, snatched up the bat and forced it into Alex's shaking hands. "Here...it's yours. Now...you better use it to the best of your ability." he said before walking away without a second thought.
Alex couldn't believe that had just happened, but he didn't back down. He couldn't bring himself to do it...not at this point, especially.
Taking in a deep breath, Alex closed his eyes. 'Shockingly enough, he's right...I need to use it...I have no choice...'
Once he calmed down, Alex opened his eyes again and said, "Okay...let's go."
And so, the group took a final few drinks of water and then headed off into the blazing desert once again...and soon a giant forest with a large mountain towering overhead came into view.
This is where the story really begins...
