Approximately half an hour after N left, Yellow woke up. She let out a slight groan, put down her crossbow, and stretched her arms. Her body felt numb from sitting in a tree for so long, but she was able to ignore the sensation. For a moment, she forgot where she was, and what exactly what going on.
Within seconds, she remembered everything. Tightening her grip on the crossbow, Yellow began to tremble once more, feeling a lump form in her throat. She took in slow breaths in an attempt to calm herself. After waking up, she promised herself that she wouldn't begin to cry once more.
This wasn't the time to mourn her dead crush, as her life could be endangered at any moment. Also, many others on the island were losing their friends, and the people they loved, but it didn't slow them down. She decided that she would try and carry herself to the end of the competition, and if she ended up becoming the sole survivor, then she would spend as long as she wanted to mourn Red.
Besides, in her emotional turmoil, Yellow had even gotten rid of two potential allies. Of course, she had figured they would have left on their own terms regardless, but she still felt bad. She wondered if they were both doing okay, and in that moment, she began to worry that she missed the next report.
Looking up at the sky, she saw that it wasn't as bright as it was when she fell asleep, but the sun was still visible. All she could do was hope that she didn't miss the report. Letting out a small sigh, Yellow began to realize that falling asleep might have been a mistake.
For quite a while, she sat there, not knowing what her next course of action would be. She had contemplated looking for Blue or Green, but a part of her wanted to remain in the forest. Even though she had been there since the previous night, she still felt like she needed more time to be alone with her thoughts, and think of the best course of action to take. For all she knew, looking for her two friends, or any of her juniors, could end up being a mistake.
Maybe I need to eat something first, she thought, realizing that it would be difficult to think on an empty stomach. Looking towards the end of the branch, though, Yellow realized that her bag was no longer there. She furrowed her eyebrows. Did it fall while I was sleeping?
Yellow her knees against the branch, and clutched it. It was difficult to clutch the branch with her left hand, as she was still trying to hold onto her crossbow. Slowly and carefully, she moved along the branch, wincing as the rough tree bark scraped her knees, threatening to rip the fabric of her pants.
Once she reached the end of the branch, she looked down, and tightened her hold on the branch. The ground wasn't as far down as it previously seemed, but Yellow decided to examine the area further before making any decisions to get down.
Directly below her was a long bush. After examining it for a few seconds, she noticed that a certain shade of green didn't fit in with the leaves. On top of that, it was a cylindrical shape, leaving Yellow at the conclusion that it was her bag, which had fallen into the bush while she was sleeping.
Looking over her shoulder, she had no idea how she would be able to turn around and go back to her previous spot, which would make climbing down easier. Despite the fact that she had spent a lot of time in the wilderness, she was still knew there was a strong possibility she would fall in the process of turning around and moving back to her previous spot. Once more, she looked down.
"It isn't that much of a jump..." she mumbled to herself. Her mind had been made up.
Taking in another deep breath, Yellow balanced herself into a sitting position, causing the branch to bend downwards, due to the pressure. She took one more look downwards, ensuring she would be okay. Even if the distance was longer than she expected, she was reassured by the fact that the bush would break her fall. Besides, she had made her decision, even if she was beginning to wish she risked the climb back to her previous position.
Finally, she forced herself to shift forward. Her legs were no longer wrapped around the branch, and any chances of changing her mind were gone, as she was falling. Much to her relief, the bush was directly below her, guaranteeing her a safe landing. The wind howled in her ears, and came to an abrupt stop when she landed, almost directly in the center of the bush.
Her limbs were entangled in the branches. Although she couldn't be certain, Yellow thought that her feet were in contact with the ground. When she landed, a searing pain ran up her legs and arms. She assumed that it was due to the sharp, defined branches, and the fact that she had landed so quickly.
When she tried to move her arms, though, it came with some difficulty. She let out a small grunt as she attempted to pull them upwards. The movement was accompanied by pain moving up her arm. It felt as if, whatever had caught onto her arms, was digging in further as she attempted to pull her arms out. It was beginning to worry her; branches shouldn't be this rough.
Calm down. You won't be able to move a limb unless you're completely calm, she thought.
Yellow waited a few moments. As she waited, her arms and legs throbbed in the places they had been pricked. Whatever had hurt her was still digging into her, and she was almost afraid to move. Then, after those seconds past, she forced her arms above her head, as quickly as she could.
Crying out upon lifting them, she brought them back down to eye level. The first thing Yellow noticed was that her sleeves were soaked with blood. The second thing she noticed was the barbs digging into her hands and arms.
"Was I tricked?" she asked quietly, to no one in particular.
The pain was worse in her legs. She was terrified to try and move them, but knew that her first priority was freeing her arms of the barbed wire.
Wincing, she curled the fingers of her left hand around the barbs protruding out of her right arm. She yanked them out, and dropped the bloodied wire into the grass. Blood dripped from her arm, and she was beginning to lose feeling in that arm, but she couldn't worry about it just yet. Not hesitating another second, she ripped the barbs out of her left arm too, and held her freed arms out in front of her.
The damage was awful. Her sleeves were torn in various places, and the blood kept on flowing. The part she was mainly worried about was her hands, however. Holding them in front of her face, she could see that they were deeply cut, and soaked. Despite how terrified she was, Yellow tried to pour all her concentration into healing them.
Several seconds past. Her head hurt from concentrating so much, and at the most, there was the weakest flicker of her healing abilities activating. Even after that flicker, more blood kept flowing, and a dreadful thought occurred to her: Those healing powers were rendered useless.
Shaking, Yellow dropped her arms down, carefully ensuring that they wouldn't end up falling back into the bush. One of the only comforting thoughts that had gotten her this far was the idea that if she, or her friends, obtained any serious injuries, she would be able to cure them. Somehow, those powers were useless when she needed them the most. She had no idea whether they became useless before she received the cuts on her hands, but those details didn't matter to her.
What am I doing? Am I really going to give up here?, she thought, looking down at her legs. They were still caught in the bushes, and the throbbing seemed to intensify with each passing minute.
She decided that she couldn't give up. Someone had obviously tried to hurt her, and make her completely unable to go on, and she had an idea of who it was. She refused to give up simply because that person wanted to eliminate her in one of the slyest ways possible.
Determined not to let that said person have his victory, Yellow took in another few deep breaths. Then, with all the strength she could muster, she dragged one leg forward. As she did, she cried out, and quickly laid her hand over her mouth, gasping. The sensation of the barbed wire dragging through her leg caused her to shudder, and she wanted nothing more than to get through this quickly.
The following steps were easier, since she knew what to expect. It was still incredibly painful, and each step felt like it dragged on for eternity. As she dragged her legs towards the end of the bush, she was biting down on her fingers to avoid making any noise. Fresh blood had been drawn from where she was biting down on, but she barely felt it.
When she approached the end of the bush, she picked up her daypack with her right hand, and continued walking, gripping tightly onto it, along with the crossbow. By that point, the crossbow had become a mix of shiny metal and crimson, due to the fact that she had barely put it down throughout her venture through the bush.
Taking in one last deep breath, Yellow knew that a few more steps would do it. Biting down on her hand once more, she continued to drag her legs, which were beginning to feel like lead. After what felt like an eternity, she finally stumbled out of the bushes, falling to the ground. She tossed her crossbow aside for the time being, along with her daypack, which had a bloody handprint on it.
Almost with some reluctance, she glanced down at her legs. Most of the barbed wire had been left behind in the bush after her final tug, but she saw that some piece still remained. Wincing once more, she pulled them out in a quick process, bringing a fresh surge of pain to her hands as she came in contact with the barbs once more.
Once her legs were released as well, she tossed the barbed wire as far away from her as she could, Yellow examined the damage to her legs. The pants were ripped much more than her shirt was, and the cuts seemed deep. From that venture alone, she had lost a lot of blood, and yet blood kept on pumping.
Yellow felt lightheaded. She knew that she had lost a lot of blood, and the pain in her limbs had reached its threshold. At that moment, they felt numb. It was a strange sensation, but much more welcomed than what she had felt moments before.
Could I really die from something like this?, she thought, gritting her teeth. Then, after several seconds, she shook her head. I refuse to die this easily. Even if I can't heal myself, I'll do my best to make it.
With all the effort she could bring herself to achieve, she placed both feet on the ground. Then, after pressing her injured hands against the ground, she managed to force herself to stand once more. Once she was standing, she tried to steady herself, finding that she was swaying quite a lot.
After she felt as steady as she would be, Yellow picked up her crossbow, and held it by her side. Then, she looked around the forest, turning her head from side to side. It was not too different from Viridian Forest. Although it was an unfamiliar location, she decided that this would be her sector, and she would defend it from anyone who posed a threat to it, or the people within it.
She had no idea where she was going to settle at that point. All that mattered was that that person's plan had failed, and she was still standing, as difficult as it was to do so.
19 Remaining.