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Nature
Ian Viera, 23
March 25, 09:17 MST
Maybe it was just human nature.
Ian shook his head, watching the screens. Most of the contestants were finally on the move again, albeit a little sluggishly after the previous day's storms. Jaime and Kylena were heading west from the house, and Rick and Vi were heading northwest from the circle. Iola, Kiara, and Fae were headed south, as were both Seb and Savannah, but none of them were particularly close to anyone else. Liv, Elena, and Lee were still headed roughly in Savannah's direction, while Lea was still carrying Elio down the other side of the mountain.
In fact, the only two groups not on the move were Florence and Kenji, who had stopped to rest once they'd made it back to where they'd left their supplies, and Frederick and Henry, who were still waiting for Henry's golems to come back. Everyone else seemed anxious to get moving.
And on the one hand, that definitely made sense. Most of them had been stuck in one place during the storm; they were probably getting restless. There was something to be said for staying productive, for getting up and moving even if they didn't have a particular goal in mind.
On the other hand, most of them didn't really seem to have a goal at all at the moment. A couple of them were looking for some of the other contestants, but quite a few of the groups seemed to want to get moving just to start moving. To avoid staying in one place for too long.
In Jaime and Kylena's case, of course, this made sense, and had probably saved their lives. If they'd still been at the house when Florence and Kenji had arrived, things probably wouldn't have gone very well for them. So it was probably a good thing they had left, and just as well that Florence and Kenji had decided not to stay there, as well. The house was a target – a very clear target. But now there was no one home.
Ian shifted a little in his seat. He wasn't really sure whether that was a good thing or not, whether he should be glad they had left or frustrated that no one had been lured into a fight there. The sooner the contestants started finding each other, after all, the sooner the Games would be over. And the end result would be the same. Twenty-eight of them would be dead. Maybe it was better if it happened sooner rather than later.
But that wasn't how people thought – not really. It was human nature to try to delay something unpleasant, even if it was inevitable. That was the whole idea behind training the contestants in the first place, after all – to give them a better chance of lasting longer. But what good was lasting longer if all but two of them were going to end up dead anyway? Maybe the ones who had died quickly were the lucky ones.
Ian sighed, leaning back in his chair. Thinking like that wouldn't help anything. Helping their contestants survive as long as they could was their job, after all. And four of his were still alive, along with six of Maria's and seven of Vincent's.
And one or two of Penelope's, depending on whether or not Seb counted. That had surprised him. He'd assumed that Penelope's contestants would have a better chance with her as their coach, considering she'd actually survived the Games last year. On the other hand, she'd ended up with quite a few of the younger contestants, as well as quite a few contestants with more volatile powers. Maybe that had more to do with it.
After all, once the Games began, there wasn't much the four of them could do to help their contestants. Yes, the MAAB could send them things, but it was still the contestants who decided what to do with that information. Henry and Frederick had decided to team up rather than fight. Jaime and Kylena had decided to head for the house and ended up attacking Seb and Alphonso. Florence and Kenji had made the same choice but had been too late to find anyone. So luck was definitely involved, as well.
Except the fact that Jaime and Kylena had left hadn't been luck. It was planning. Strategy. The realization that if they had taken the opportunity to attack the house, then someone else might come along with the same idea. If they had received a message, after all, they probably weren't the only ones.
It had been Penelope's idea to send Florence and Kenji the house; Ian just hadn't disagreed. Just like he hadn't disagreed when Vincent had suggested sending Henry a glove that matched Frederick's. It felt like interfering, really, but it wouldn't ultimately change the outcome of the game. Twenty-eight contestants would die; two would live. Did it really make a difference who it was?
Except it did. He did want his contestants to survive. That was just human nature, really. He'd gotten to know most of them pretty well during training. Elio had kept to himself, mostly, but the others … He couldn't help it. He'd gotten attached. Just like last year. He'd known it would be more difficult to watch them die if he got to know them, but he'd done it anyway. They all had.
Because the alternative was even worse.
Seb
He would just have to keep moving, because the alternative was even worse.
Seb rubbed his eyes as he made his way forward in the sunlight, which glinted off the wet rocks. He was tired. His bare feet ached. It was getting warmer, but less snow meant more water – which meant the rocks were very slippery. But as long as he kept moving, at least he was doing something. If he sat down and rested, he might fall asleep, and there was no telling what might happen then.
Well, there was some telling what might happen. To start with, he wouldn't want to get moving again if he took a break. And if he stayed in one place for too long, he would die. Maybe he would starve. Maybe he would freeze to death first. Or maybe someone would find him. None of those options were good.
So he had to keep moving. He was heading south, but he had no idea whether that was good or not. He had a vague idea of heading north when the Games had started, but he wasn't really sure where he was now. Even if he'd known exactly how to get back to where they had started from the house – which he didn't – he wasn't entirely sure where he was now in relation to the house. Not really sure where he had appeared after the girl had shot him.
So one direction was probably just as good as another, really. More likely than not, he would die out here. Even if he managed to find some supplies, he would eventually have to sleep. And then anyone who found him would be able to kill him, and he would never know.
Seb shivered. It wasn't fair. What was the point of being able to write himself back to life if he was just going to die again? It was so pointless. Why had he gone and wished his powers away? Sure, he hadn't done it deliberately, but he could have thought of a version of himself with powers. Or at least with warm, dry clothes. Maybe some food, too.
But he hadn't. He hadn't been thinking – not really. It had been instinct, and he'd barely had time to write his name as it was. He was lucky to be alive.
But he didn't feel lucky right now.
One step. Then another. Gradually, Seb became aware that he had turned a little. The sun was no longer on his left, but to his back. Maybe that was a good thing. The light had begun to hurt his eyes, the way it shone off everything. Now at least he had his shadow in front of him to stare at. At least until the sun got higher.
Shadows. There had been a girl during the talent show who could make her shadow come to life. It had seemed like such a silly power then, but even that would be better than what he was working with now. Maybe he would have been able to use it as a jacket or something. Or a pair of pants.
Yeah, definitely a pair of pants.
Seb rubbed his eyes. That wasn't helping. He was stuck with what he had now, which was nothing. Absolutely nothing. No food. No clothes. No one to work with. It was only a matter of time before something killed him. Maybe it would be better to just lie down and wait for it to happen.
But.
The thought was still there, in the back of his mind. There was always a chance. He was probably going to die, but there was a chance – however slim – that he might find some supplies, that he might be able to survive long enough to get away from here. There was a chance that the MAAB would lose track of him, or decide to let him go, since he wasn't technically a part of their game anymore. It was a slim chance, but it was there.
And it was all he had now.
Henry Helstrom, 14
All they had to do now was wait.
Henry took another bite of a beef stick as they and Frederick waited for the golems to come back. "So how does it work?" Frederick asked. "When they come back, I mean. Do they talk, or…"
Henry shook their head. "No, I haven't been able to make ones that talk. Not yet, at least. I've tried a few times, but they can't seem to get the hang of it. Probably something about not having vocal chords. It's just a sort of … a sense, I guess. I can tell that they're still running around out there, that they haven't fallen apart yet or something. But if one of them found something … I don't know if I'd know now, or if I'd have to wait for it to get back. It's not something we practiced a lot during training. We figured learning how to fight would be more useful."
Frederick nodded. "And was it?"
"A bit, I guess, but we mostly practiced as a group. It was mostly me controlling the golems, helping the others learn how to fight them."
Frederick chuckled. "Bet you're regretting that now, huh?"
"Why?"
"Because if the others find us, they'll know how to handle you."
Henry looked away. They hadn't really thought about that. They'd sort of been assuming that even if they did run into Fae, Kiara, and Iola again, the others wouldn't want to kill them. Mostly, though, they'd been hoping that they didn't come across the others again at all. But if they did want to fight…
"Pretty sure I could handle them," Henry shrugged, hoping they sounded more confident than they felt. If the others decided they did want to hurt them, it wouldn't take Fae long to scream and make them deaf. But they would still be able to control the golems, so that had to make it a fair fight, right?
It was still an uncomfortable thought. At least the girl they'd killed before had been … well, she'd been a stranger. And she'd been trying to kill them. Henry's gaze strayed to where the body still lay, covered in the hail that still lay on the ground.
Frederick must have followed their gaze, because he nodded. "Looks like you handled the last person who attacked you pretty well."
"Yeah. How about you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah. You had to fight anyone yet?"
Frederick shifted uncomfortably. "At the start, I went after one of the girls, but … well, it didn't work out as well as I'd thought it would."
Henry nodded. "Yeah. Didn't work out so well for my group at the start, either. The vampire and the werewolf came after us."
Frederick's eyes were wide. "And you survived?"
"We got lucky. One of the girls I was working with – Fae – she can scream loud enough to make people go deaf, and she caught the bat while it was in range. They ran away after that."
Frederick whistled. "Nice. Sounds like you had it made."
"Could say the same thing about you," Henry pointed out. "You said you were working with someone who could make a house appear, and you still left." They shook their head. What the hell. Why not? "Iola was standing too close to Fae when she screamed, so she went deaf, too. We thought Kiara would be able to fix it. She heals people; that's her thing. Well, at least the others thought Kiara would be able to fix it. I knew she couldn't, because she hadn't been able to during training. Only, she thought she could … and Fae thought she could. When they realized she wasn't going to be able to make it better, and that I'd known…"
"That's when you left."
"Yeah."
Frederick nodded. "I would've done the same thing."
Henry blinked. The response had been immediate. Frederick hadn't even had to think about it. "Really?"
"Yeah. Kid, we're in a fight to the death. You don't need any more baggage than that. Even if they didn't blame you, being around them would just make you feel guilty, and that's something you don't need right now. You make it out of this, and then you can deal with feeling guilty. Not before."
Henry tried to hide their sigh of relief. They'd been telling themself the same thing for days, but it was … well, it was nice to hear someone else say it. It made it a bit more real, somehow.
A bit easier to live with.
Rick Clifton, 19
It was a bit easier this time.
Rick glanced over at Vi as the pair of them made their way along the rocks. He'd still wanted to get moving rather quickly, still wanted to get away from the body that the two of them had left at the circle, but the feeling wasn't quite so … urgent this time. Not as bad as looking at the bodies of the two contestants they'd killed at the start.
Maybe it was because this one had been older. Maybe it was because Rick hadn't actually been the one to kill him. But that just seemed like a technicality. After all, Vi wouldn't have been able to kill him if Rick hadn't distracted him, if he hadn't held him still. If he hadn't hugged him.
Rick shuddered. Now that he actually thought about it … yeah, it was a good thing they'd left the body far behind them. But it wasn't as if they'd had another option. Back at the start of the Games, they'd chosen to come back and look for the contestants Vi had known might still be in the tunnels. This time, they hadn't been looking for anyone. The boy had just happened to come along at the wrong time.
Well, the wrong time for him. The right time for Rick and Vi. And that was what mattered, in the end, because they were alive, and the boy wasn't. And the boy would have to die eventually. In order for him and Vi to make it out of the Games alive, everyone else would have to die. Everyone.
Rick winced as he adjusted the backpack on his shoulder. They'd refilled their packs with fresh food and dry clothes, and they'd brought along as many bottles of painkillers as they could find. Three bottles – that would last them a while. Quite a while. Maybe they didn't have to be quite so careful about rationing it.
No. No, they couldn't afford to get careless. Besides, they'd been doing fine with the amount they'd been taking. There was no telling what the side effects might be if they started taking too many. And there was no telling how long their supply would need to last. Although it did seem like the MAAB had refilled the bags that had been left at the tunnels, and even added a few more. If they were going to refill the bags periodically, it might be a good idea not to stray too far from the center.
Rick shook his head. If the contestants had known that beforehand, they might have planned a little differently. They might have gone with a different strategy. People might not have spread out so much at the start, and maybe it wouldn't be so damn hard to find anyone. The next year's contestants would probably have it a little easier – at least as far as supplies went.
Then again, the same seemed to be true about this year, compared to the year before. The year before, they hadn't even had a pile of supplies at the start. Vincent had said each contestant had gotten a backpack, but there hadn't been as much in it. Probably because they hadn't expected the Games to last as long last year.
And they hadn't. Last year's Games had been over in a few days. It had been almost a week now, and they knew there were at least a few contestants left. Possibly a lot more. They had no way of knowing exactly how many, but if there were only a few of them…
Then what? Last year, the island had started to break apart towards the end of the Games, but that wasn't exactly going to happen here. At least, he hoped it wouldn't. If Wyoming started breaking apart, after all, where would it stop? An island had boundaries. Here, there were just mountains. So many mountains. If those started to break apart…
Yeah, maybe they should stay away from the mountains. Of course, they had quite a while before they would reach any, at the rate they were going. They weren't moving particularly quickly. Vi had suggested they should pick a pace they would be able to keep up most of the day so that they could cover more ground. They could stop to rest if they wanted to, of course, but neither of them had suggested doing so yet.
Maybe Vi didn't want to stop either. Maybe moving was helping keep his mind off things. After all, he was the one who had killed the boy the night before. If anyone should want to get away from the body, away from the thought of the body, it should be Vi.
But he wanted to get away, too.
But it wasn't as bad as last time. It was easier. That was how things worked. The more you did them, the easier they got.
Now he just had to keep telling himself that.
Kylena Albright, 16
Now they just had to keep moving.
Kylena stifled a yawn as she and Jaime made their way along the rocks. She'd gotten some sleep the night before, at least. And it had been in a bed. That should have been nice. It probably should have been the best sleep she'd gotten since the Games began.
But it hadn't been, because of the dreams. She kept seeing the face of the boy she had shot, just as the bullets had left the gun. The panic in his eyes as he'd realized he was going to die. The desperation as he'd scrawled his name on the ground, hoping that it would be enough to save him.
She almost wished it had been.
Kylena clenched her fists. She couldn't start thinking like that, or she might hesitate the next time. And there would be a next time. There were still contestants who were alive, which meant there were still people who would have to die. Almost certainly people she would have to kill, if she wanted to make it out of here. If she wanted to make it home.
Home. The thought of home just made things even worse. She remembered the look on Nymeria's face when Alvin had come to collect her, the horror at finding out that her sister was a mutant. Nymeria had been afraid of her. And now … what if she thought she had been right to be afraid? Her little sister had killed someone.
But it hadn't been her power that had killed him. She'd shot him with a gun. A human in her position could have done exactly the same thing. Would have done exactly the same thing, if they were in the same position. If the MAAB had taken thirty humans and told them to fight to the death, they would be doing exactly the same thing she was doing – choosing to fight because the alternative was worse. Given the choice to kill or die, most people would choose to kill. That was human nature. It had nothing to do with being a mutant.
Part of her already knew, though, that it wouldn't matter if someone else would have done exactly the same thing. It probably wouldn't even matter to Nymeria that she might have done the same thing in Kylena's position. I hope that whatever they're about to do, it fixes what's wrong with you. That was the last thing Nymeria had said to her. Maybe the last thing she would ever say to her. Even if she made it out of here alive, would Nymeria want to see her again?
"Kylena?" Jaime's voice shook her out of her thoughts.
"What?" How long had Jaime been talking? Long enough to be concerned that Kylena hadn't responded, judging by the look on their face. "Sorry, just a bit … distracted."
"I was just asking if you wanted to stop for lunch."
"Lunch? Already?" Even as she said it, though, she realized how high the sun was in the sky. It was getting a bit warmer – and a bit humid, now that she thought about it. But for all she knew, that was perfectly normal for Wyoming.
Jaime shrugged. "Almost eleven, assuming this watch is still right." After a moment, they added, "assuming it was right in the first place."
Why would they give us a watch that didn't work right? She almost asked the question, but thought better of it. The MAAB had chosen them for a fight to the death. After that, something like giving them a broken watch wasn't exactly far-fetched.
"Yeah, I'm a bit hungry," Kylena lied. She wasn't. She hadn't had much of an appetite earlier, either, when they'd eaten breakfast. But they needed to eat. They needed to keep up their strength, especially now that they were moving again. Besides, she didn't want Jaime to worry about her.
"Tortillas and peanut butter?" Jaime asked as the pair of them settled down on one of the drier patches of ground.
Kylena nodded. It sounded about as good as anything else. But she couldn't help looking away as Jaime took out the knife and used it to spread the peanut butter. They'd washed it, of course, but still…
It was still the knife they'd used to kill the boy who had come to the door. The boy who had just wanted to hide away in his house and ignore the fact that they were in a fight to the death. He was dead, and Jaime was using the weapon they had killed him with to make lunch.
Kylena took the tortilla that Jaime handed her and took as big a bite as she thought she would be able to handle. Jaime relaxed a little. Maybe they'd been worried that Kylena would be too distracted to eat. Huh. Jaime was probably more worried about her right now than her own sister was. That was a strange thought.
"Thanks," Kylena mumbled, and took another bite. It wasn't a particularly comforting thought, but at least she still had someone in the Games who cared about whether she was doing all right or not. Someone who cared about her. That was probably more than some of the contestants had right now.
Maybe she'd gotten lucky after all.
Elio Haines, 16
Maybe this was a blessing after all.
Elio finally got a good look around as Lea stopped to rest. The bouncing up and down earlier had been making him dizzy, so he'd closed his eyes for a while. Maybe he'd even fallen asleep; he wasn't sure. But she'd been making good time, from the look of things. Of course, they were going downhill, and that was easier, but she'd done an excellent job of keeping her balance.
Of course she had. That was her power, after all. And now she finally had the opportunity to use it. He'd been making use of his gifts since the Games had begun, but this was the first chance she'd had to really do something with hers. If the result of his injury was that she would get a chance to see her potential, then maybe this was a good thing, after all.
Of course it was a good thing, Elio chided himself. It was part of God's plan, after all. It was a punishment, yes, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. When done correctly, a punishment could help someone realize how wrong they had been, and help them make a better choice next time. He had been wrong to doubt that what they were doing was worthwhile. And he wouldn't do it again.
Besides, he was still alive. The lightning could have killed him. Would have killed him – and possibly Lea as well – if he hadn't shielded them in time. The warning had saved their lives. God was merciful, after all, even in His punishments. He was giving Elio a chance to do better.
So he would do better.
Right now, of course, he wasn't doing much of anything. But that would change once they made it to the bottom of the mountain. They would be able to stay there for a while, and he would still be able to use his barriers to catch fish, even if he couldn't walk. At least, he was pretty sure it would still work. He had been wading into the water and using the barriers to push the fish ashore, but he could find a way to make it work. They just had to make it to the bottom of the mountain safely.
And they would. He was certain of it. They would stay there for a while, until Lea was ready to leave on her own. She wasn't ready yet; that much was clear. She still felt … what? Frustrated? Angry? Elio smiled as Lea set him down gently on the ground. "Thank you."
Lea shook her head, catching her breath. "Are we almost there?"
"Yes. Once we reach the lake, we can stop."
"Oh, can we?"
"Yes."
"Because God said so."
"Yes."
"After he struck you with lightning."
"After He allowed me to be struck by lightning, yes."
"Because you doubted."
"Yes."
Lea sighed and took a seat next to him. "I don't get it."
"What?"
"Any of this. I don't get how you're okay with this. I mean, yeah, you were doubting that we were accomplishing anything, but so was I. And I didn't get struck by lightning."
Elio nodded. It had taken him a little while to work that one out himself. "To whom much is given, much will be required. You know that verse?"
"Yeah, but—"
"I can talk to God, Lea. And He talks to me. That comes with an expectation – that I'll trust Him without question. Most people have to wonder whether they're doing what God wants them to do. I don't. And I still doubted. That's a greater sin, and it comes with a greater consequence."
"Greater than … what? Mine?"
"Yes."
"So what's my consequence?"
Elio chuckled. "Well, at the moment, it seems like it's having to carry me down a mountain."
Lea raised an eyebrow, but then smiled a little. "Could be worse, I suppose."
"Yes, it could. We could be dead. That lightning could have killed us, but we've been given a second chance. It's important that we don't waste it."
Lea nodded, stretching her arms. "All right. I suppose that makes sense, but…"
"But what?"
"But … well, I mean, compared to the others, we're still doing what we're supposed to be doing. They're out there killing each other, and that's just … okay? But you doubt what you're doing for a few seconds, and you get paralyzed? How is that fair?"
Elio cocked his head. "Who said what the others were doing was okay?"
"Well, I don't see them getting struck by lightning."
"How do you know?"
"I—" She shook her head. "I mean, they can't all have gotten struck by lightning, or they'd be dead, and we'd be out of here. So some of them are still alive."
"So are we."
"But—"
Elio smiled. "It's all right, Lea. We don't have to understand all of it. That's not how faith works. We don't get to know every part of God's plan – not even me. He tells me what I need to know, and right now, it's enough to know that even the others who are still alive … they're not happy with what they've done. They feel guilty. They feel regret. That's their consequence. And just because it isn't as … tangible as mine doesn't make it any less real."
Lea hesitated. "I guess you're right. We don't have much to feel guilty about, do we."
"Not as much as some," Elio agreed. "A clear conscience – that's enough of a reward for now." For now. He was still hoping for something a bit more … well, measurable. Some sign that they were having an effect on the MAAB, or on the other people who were watching. But he would just have to trust that they were making a difference, even if he couldn't see it from here.
That would have to be enough.
Kiara Moore, 15
"That's probably far enough for now."
Kiara nodded her agreement and gave Iola's arm a squeeze, then gestured to the area around them. There was a small lake and even a patch of trees – about as much shelter as they were likely to find anywhere. Iola nodded, and the three of them settled down on the ground and opened their packs. They each took a pudding cup and a bagel. As far as Kiara could tell, they were doing a pretty good job of rationing their food, but it would only last so long. Between the storms and the rather sparse surroundings, they hadn't done a very good job of finding anything else to eat.
Still, they couldn't be the only group that was having the same problem. Someone who could turn into a wolf, of course, probably wouldn't have a hard time sniffing out food, but what about the rest of them? Even if the other groups had managed to grab more supplies at the start of the Games, it had been … what? Six days now? Seven? After almost a week, some of the groups had to be running out of food.
Kiara broke off a piece of the bagel to scoop some of the pudding. What would the other groups do if they ran out of supplies? Would they head back towards the circle where they had started, hoping that there would still be some bags there? Would there? If someone else had gone back by now, there might not be much left. Then again, there had been quite a few bags at the start of the Games.
But heading back towards the circle meant heading back towards the other contestants. Well, probably. The others could be anywhere by now, but if anyone else had the same idea, there could be quite a few groups near the center. Maybe heading back south hadn't been such a good idea after all.
Still, they were nowhere near the circle. They hadn't been moving that fast, hadn't covered that much ground. But that didn't seem to have mattered so far. Moving quickly might feel more productive, but it wasn't as if they had anywhere to be. If anything, moving slower probably meant they weren't using as much energy, and energy was something they certainly didn't want to waste.
Kiara drummed her fingers on her leg. After spending so much time huddling under their sleeping bag, waiting for the storm to die down, maybe it was natural to be a little … restless. But now that the weather was nice again, this was almost worse. It was sunny. It was even getting humid. It was still a bit chilly, yes, but the weather was … well, almost nice. It didn't seem fair – weather like this while something so awful was happening. The rain, the hail, the clouds – they had certainly been frustrating, but at least they had seemed … appropriate.
Kiara chuckled a little. "What?" Fae asked.
Kiara shook her head. "Nothing. Just … this weather. I was just thinking how … cheery it seemed, and how it shouldn't be during a fight to the death, and I was just thinking … well, that's human nature in a nutshell, isn't it. We can always find something to complain about."
Fae shrugged. "Well, we are trapped in a fight to the death. I think we have plenty of reason to be a bit upset."
"That's fair," Kiara agreed. And it was. They had every reason to be upset. But at the same time, the three of them were alive. They still had supplies. They'd had shelter from the storm, even if it hadn't been much. They were probably better off than a good number of the other contestants, even the ones who were still alive. And they were certainly better off than the ones who were dead. They had plenty of reasons to be thankful, too.
No. No, thankful wasn't the right word. Because being thankful implied that there was someone to thank. And there wasn't. She certainly wasn't about to thank the MAAB for providing supplies while telling them to fight to the death, or thank whoever had been causing the horrible weather for the fact that it had finally let up. She could be satisfied, maybe, that they weren't in such a terrible position, but not thankful.
Not to anyone except Iola and Fae. She could be thankful that they were still with her, that they'd managed to protect each other. Yes, that was better. Kiara managed a smile as she finished the last of her bagel. They were still together, despite the fact that they were nearly a week into the Games. She certainly hadn't expected that.
Despite everything, things were going better than she'd expected.
Savannah Kingston, 19
This wasn't what she had expected.
Savannah pulled her jacket a little tighter as she kept walking, not really paying much attention to her surroundings. When she'd kept shooting off lightning the night before, she'd expected … something. Anything. She'd expected someone to find her, attack her, maybe even kill her. Instead, there had been nothing. No one.
She wasn't sure if that was better or worse.
At least she was moving again – and that meant that she was farther from Coburn's body. That had helped a little. But if her mind began to wander for too long, she could still picture it – the way her lightning had burned through his clothes, his skin, his flesh. She was trying her best to think of something else – anything else – but there was only so much to think about, now that she had no one to talk to.
And whose fault was it that she had no one to talk to?
Savannah shook her head, trying to shake away the thought. But no matter how hard she tried, it kept coming back. It was her. It was her fault. Yes, the MAAB was the reason they were all here, but she was the reason that her friends were dead. They could have made it out alive. Maybe they would have made it out alive, if it hadn't been for her. She would never know, and that … well, that was worse than being certain one way or another.
And she was still alive. They were dead, and she was still here. Part of her didn't want to be – the part that had hoped that maybe the lightning would draw in some of the other contestants, that maybe they would finish her off. It had all seemed so clear last night. She would draw them in. They would fight. Maybe she would even let them win. Maybe they would simply be stronger or smarter or have a power that could work against hers. Then it would all be over.
But none of that had happened, and now … now she was beginning to wonder if she wanted it to. She had wanted it last night. She had wanted everything to be over, one way or another. Now … Now it was more complicated. What would her dad say if she just gave up? What would Coburn and Lilith have thought? Neither of them, she was certain, would have blamed her for their deaths. Neither of them would want her to add her own death to the list.
But they weren't here. She was alone. And she would be alone for the rest of the Games, however long that lasted. Even if she found someone else, she couldn't risk teaming up with anyone again. She couldn't risk getting close to anyone – not here, not with her powers so out of control. No one was safe around her.
If only there was some way of knowing how many contestants were left – how long she would have to hold out. If it was a day or two … maybe she could do that. But could she really hold out another week – or even longer – on her own?
But what if it was only a few more days?
What if it was only a few more hours?
Savannah brushed away the tears from her eyes. She'd always wondered that about her mother – what might have happened with the treatments if she'd just been able to hang on a little longer. Would it have made a difference? Could she have fought harder? Towards the end, she had seemed to just … just give up and let the cancer win. Savannah had always wondered if she'd really fought as hard as she could.
She couldn't let people wonder the same thing about her.
She couldn't let her father wonder the same thing about her.
Savannah clenched her fists. Okay, then. She would keep fighting. She would keep going, just a little longer – and then a little more. That way, she would know that she had tried her hardest. Her father would know she had tried her hardest. And that way, even if she died, he wouldn't have to wonder if she could have lived, if only she'd held on a little longer.
Whatever happened now, she would have done her best.
Caihong Lee, 25
Whatever happened now, they'd made their choice.
Lee glanced back towards the mountains in the distance as the three of them headed north. It was too late to turn around now – too late to hope they might still be able to catch up with the group they'd been tailing the other day. They would just have to hope that whoever was back in this direction, they would be easier to handle.
Right. Like someone who could control lightning would really be easier to handle. Then again, if they had the same amount of control over their storms that Liv did, maybe they would be, if the three of them could get close enough. There were three of them, after all, and how many people would really want to stay with someone who could be deadly if they lost control like that? One stray lightning bolt, and anyone they were working with was in just as much danger as someone they were fighting.
That was one thing he didn't have to worry about, at least. Maybe his power wasn't the most useful or exciting, but by the same token, it didn't put Elena and Liv in any danger. No one had ever died because something around them had changed color. And while Elena's power had certainly been good for protecting them, the chances of her losing control and accidentally killing one of them were slim.
As for Liv … well, it hadn't really been her storms that had been getting out of control. Or at least, as far as he could tell. She'd been just as annoyed as he and Elena had that the weather didn't seem to be cooperating. She hadn't showed any signs of losing control to the point of letting a dangerous storm off its leash.
But if she did…
Lee shook the thought from his head. If she lost control, she was just as likely to hurt herself with her storms as she was any of them. After all, it wasn't as if her power made her immune to the weather she caused. She had been just as likely to get wet or get pelted by hail or struck by lightning as the rest of them. They were all in the same boat.
For now. The thought was creeping back again, now that they were headed back towards the other contestants. They were in the same boat, working together, until … well, until they weren't. Only two of them could survive this; those were the rules. Two survivors.
But what would the MAAB do if it was just the three of them left?
In the back of his mind, of course, he knew the chances of that were slim at best. Once it came down to a fight, there was a good chance that at least one of them would die. But what if they didn't? What if most of the other contestants managed to kill each other off, and the three of them somehow managed to take out whoever was left? What would the MAAB do then?
What would they do then?
Lee adjusted his backpack, trying not to think about it. He couldn't imagine killing either Liv or Elena, and the thought of one of them killing him was just as uncomfortable. He remembered enough of the previous year's Games to know that Penelope had killed one of her allies, but even when he remembered that none of last year's contestants had known there could be two survivors, it still seemed so … so cruel. There had still been so many contestants left.
But Penelope hadn't known that. Just as the three of them had no way of knowing how many of the others were left. If it weren't for the lightning, they couldn't even be sure that there were any of the others left. They would have no way of knowing if it did come down to the three of them. They would just be stuck here, trying to survive in the wilderness, until…
Until what? Until something happened? An accident? A freak snowstorm? Some wild animal attacked? Or until one of them broke down and tried to kill one of the others? It wouldn't be hard, really – not when they'd grown comfortable taking shifts at night, trusting each other to keep watch while the other two slept.
Lee shook his head. He was being paranoid. But he also knew that if the thought had occurred to him, it had probably occurred to Liv and Elena, as well. They had to be thinking the same thing – wondering whether he would try to kill one of them, if it came down to it. If he was being honest with himself, he wasn't sure.
And that scared him more than the lightning had.
Kenji Rose, 12
He wasn't sure which scared him more.
Kenji took another bite of a beef stick. Florence was still twirling hers, twisting it back and forth, staring off into the distance. Earlier, she had been so determined – so certain that they would be able to find and kill whoever was responsible for killing Emery. That had scared him, but this … this was worse. The silence, the sullenness, the tension in the air.
Maybe it was blame. Did she blame him? Did she think he blamed her? He didn't, of course. He was the one who hadn't been there, after all. He was the one who had arrived too late to help. At least she had done something to try to save Emery. By the time he got there, it had been too late. If only he had come back from the circle faster…
Florence shook her head, breaking the beef stick in half. Kenji caught her eye and signed, Something else? He gestured towards the rest of the food, but Florence shook her head.
"It's not the same," she muttered.
Oh. He hadn't even thought about that. She'd drunk the dog's blood, after all. Maybe that had given her an appetite for more. Kenji took another bite of his beef stick. Maybe…
Kenji hesitated. The thought made his stomach churn. But if it would help Florence…
Slowly, he stood up. Florence raised an eyebrow. Kenji pointed back towards the circle. We should go back that way, he signed.
"Why?"
Kenji explained – about the boy he had seen on his way back from the circle, about how he hadn't stopped because he'd wanted to get back to the others, but maybe the boy was still there. He'd looked like he was alone, after all. Florence watched his hands, and Kenji wasn't sure how much she'd caught, but finally, she nodded and shifted back to bat form. He lifted her gently onto his shoulder and packed up the food.
Kenji set down his backpack – they could always come back for it again later – took a deep breath and took off running. Florence hadn't asked if he had a plan – a plan for what to do if they found the other boy. The truth was, he didn't. He was just sort of assuming that Florence would. If he got her close enough to someone, she could just jump off and … well, go vampire on them, couldn't she? Suck their blood until they died? That was how it worked, wasn't it? Was it? He'd never actually asked.
Kenji shook his head. Stop overthinking it. Florence knew what she was doing, after all. She'd been doing this for what? A hundred years? He hadn't asked that, either. If she'd been drinking people's blood all that time, how many people had she already killed? What would be one more? Especially when the other contestants had to die, anyway.
Suddenly, Florence's grip on his shoulder tightened. He slowed, and looked where she was pointing. There were shapes – not quite in the same direction as the circle, but close enough. And it was more than one shape. Kenji hesitated. He'd only been expecting one person. If there was more than one…
But Florence was grinning – as much as a bat could grin – and nodded. Kenji nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and ran towards the shapes in the distance. There were two of them, about the same size, one of them holding a knife. But what good was a knife going to be against a vampire? Kenji took his own knife out of his pocket as he ran. Just a little closer. He was close enough now to see that one of the figures had stepped in front of the other.
So he charged that one first.
Vi Voclain, 18
The boy charged him first.
Vi braced himself as the boy raced towards him. It made sense. He was the one with a weapon. That was why he'd stepped in front of Rick, after all. He stood a better chance of landing a blow before—
But the boy simply rushed past him, then circled back towards Rick. Vi barely had time to wonder why before he realized that something had landed on his neck. Something that was growing, something with wings and fangs, something almost like—
Well, shit.
The vampire's teeth sank deep into his neck. He could feel the pain, the blood, the fear coursing through him. He struck out blindly with the knife in his hand. He was pretty sure he hit something, but then something else – something impossibly fast – knocked the knife from his grip. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Rick, trying to make his way forward, but stopped by something darting back and forth in front of him, forcing him back the other way, knocking him down every time he tried to get back up and make a move towards Vi.
But not killing him. That was odd. Whatever was attacking Rick hadn't properly attacked. Vi struck out with his fist, and teeth sank into his arm, leaving his neck spurting blood.
Blood. Of course. That made sense. The vampire wanted blood. That was why the other one hadn't tried to kill Rick. They were leaving him alive for the vampire…
Vi grit his teeth. No. No, he was as good as dead now, but he was damned if he was going to let them have Rick, too. The sky was growing darker overhead – or maybe he was just blacking out. It didn't matter. No storm was going to help them now. Unless–
"Turn it off!" he screamed as loudly as he could, his voice muffled by the blood. "Turn it off, you bastards! Turn it—"
Click.
Rick Clifton, 19
"Just kill me already!"
Rick lunged forward again, only to be knocked down on his back once more. His backpack had already slid off, and was lying on the ground a short distance away. But not having the extra weight didn't really seem to matter. The boy in front of him was too strong. No, he corrected himself, the boy was too fast. Physics. With that much speed, he would be able to knock Rick over no matter how small he was. And he was small, but that didn't matter one damn bit if he wasn't in the same spot long enough for Rick to take a swing at him.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the storm clouds gathering overhead. Rain was falling. Whatever. That didn't matter now. All that mattered was that he couldn't get to Vi, and Vi—
Vi was going to die.
Rick clenched his fists and forced himself to his feet. He took a step forward, but was promptly knocked over again. Before he did, though, he was certain that Vi had seen him. That mattered somehow. It mattered that Vi knew that he was trying to save him.
Trying and failing.
"Turn it off!" Vi's voice cut through the ringing in Rick's ears. "Turn it off, you bastards!"
Rick froze. What was he doing?
The sky was growing darker.
The rain was growing stronger.
Overhead, something was spinning.
Kenji Rose, 12
Overhead, something was spinning.
Kenji looked up. Only for a moment, but that was a moment when he wasn't looking at the other boy. Something smacked into him. Ran past him. In an instant, Kenji was between the boy and the other two, but they were much closer now. "Florence!" Kenji screamed. "We have to get out of here!"
Except—
Except she couldn't hear him. And she hadn't heard the other boy shouting, either. She had no idea what was going on.
"Get out of here, Rick!" the other boy shouted. "If you get far away enough—"
Vi Voclain, 18
"If you get far away enough–"
Vi's words turned into a scream as the vampire tore into his throat. Maybe that was just as well, he thought fuzzily. He wasn't entirely sure how that sentence was going to end. He could see Rick's horrified expression. He saw his friend turn to look at the sky – at the way the clouds were taking shape overhead. He saw realization dawn on Rick's face.
Then Rick ran.
Good.
That was all he'd wanted.
The other boy was running, too – towards Vi and the vampire on top of him, trying to tear her away. Vi gritted his teeth and reached out, wrapping his arms and legs around the vampire's body, holding her here. If he was going to die – if he was finally going to die – then she was coming with him.
Florence Roos, 114
None of it mattered.
Florence sank her teeth deeper into the boy's neck. Something had wrapped around her waist. Something else was tugging at her shirt. But none of that mattered. It had been so long since she'd tasted blood – real, human blood. The dog's blood had been a poor substitute, but this … this was more like it.
Something tugged at her shoulder. Florence whirled around, snarling. She had just enough time to wonder why Kenji had been trying to get her attention before he took off, his face white with panic. Something struck her in the side. The boy had somehow managed to reach for his knife. Florence shrieked, sinking her teeth deeper and deeper into his neck until finally, he went still.
Vi Voclain, 18
It was over.
It was finally over.
As everything grew black, he could see the shape of the funnel coming down.
He smiled.
Florence Roos, 114
She hadn't even heard it coming.
Florence had time to register the irony as she turned to see where the wind was coming from. Of course she hadn't heard it coming. But Kenji must have, and that was why he had been trying to get her attention. Florence braced herself as the tornado swept her off her feet. The body of the other boy – definitely just a body by now – flew up alongside her. Florence shut her eyes, trying to decide which form would have the better chance of surviving a tornado.
Probably neither.
Something struck her from behind, then something else from the side. At least a bat would make a smaller target. She shifted to bat shape, folding herself as small as she could, but she could already feel the wind whipping at her wings, pushing her higher and higher. Maybe human form would have been better, Florence thought as she blacked out.
But it probably wouldn't have mattered.
Rick Clifton, 19
It didn't seem to matter now.
Rick glanced back, tears streaming down his face as he kept running, back towards the circle. Back towards the tunnels. He couldn't outrun a tornado, of course, but it didn't seem to be headed in his direction.
It didn't matter.
Rick clenched his fists. Vi was dead. Vi was dead, and it was so … so senseless. They'd done everything the MAAB had wanted them to do. They'd just been walking along, heading north, and then suddenly…
Suddenly everything had gone wrong.
And Vi had stepped in front of him.
Rick clenched his fists. Why had he done that? Sure, he'd had a weapon, but it wasn't as if it had done him any good. He must have known that. Must have known that a knife wouldn't be any help against someone who could move that fast. But he had stepped in front of Rick anyway.
He had wanted to protect him.
The sky was nearly pitch black now, between the clouds and the rain. Rick could see the circle in the distance. The tunnels. The tunnels might not protect him, but at least they would turn his collar on, keep the storm from getting worse.
Did he want that?
Rick dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Part of him didn't. Part of him just wanted to stay here, wait for the tornado to suck him up, let nature take its course. Maybe he should have just stayed where he was. Maybe he shouldn't have run.
But Vi had told him to run. It was the last thing he had said. The last thing he had wanted.
He had wanted to keep Rick safe.
Rick clenched his fists, forced himself to his feet, and staggered to the nearest tunnel. He slid down as far as he could, and heard the soft click of his collar turning on.
But the damage was already done.
Lea Cervantes, 18
Something had already done a lot of damage.
Lea stared, perplexed, at the small object that had landed beside her. It looked like a bat. From the look of it, a very dead bat, with a small collar around its neck. Lea blinked as she put the pieces together. It was wearing a collar. There had been a girl during the talent show who had turned into a bat.
Elio reached out and picked up the bat. There was blood – quite a lot of blood. He held the bat up to his ear. "No heartbeat. Can you do CPR on a bat?"
Lea blinked, unsure. Could they? And more importantly, did they really want to? Even if they could get it breathing again, the bat was in pretty bad shape. If it was probably going to die anyway—
But Elio was already pressing his fingers rhythmically against the bat's tiny chest. Lea, meanwhile, was looking around. What could do that to a vampire? What kind of–
Oh.
"Elio, we have to go."
"We have to try to—"
"No, we have to go," she insisted, pointing at the clouds in the distance. "Now."
She scooped him up and took off.
Colonel Judah Burgess, 52
"Why did you turn his collar off?"
Judah shrugged as he turned to face Nicholas. "Why not? The only reason it was on in the first place was because he asked us to keep it that way. Why not turn it off when he asked?"
Nicholas raised an eyebrow. "I would think the answer to that is fairly obvious." He nodded towards the screens, where the tornado was already plowing its way south.
Judah waved a hand. "Oh, he didn't cause the tornado. But the chances of one forming in exactly the right spot above him and the vampire … I'd say that was probably his power at work one last time."
Nicholas nodded. "And now?"
"What do you mean?"
"What do we do about the tornado?"
"Not much we can do," Judah reasoned. "We knew this was a possibility when we chose Rick. Hell, this was one of the few things we knew for sure he could do. He's influenced tornadoes before. That's one of the reasons we're underground here." He chuckled. "Still pretty lucky, huh?"
Nicholas cocked his head. "You were the one who suggested they work together during training, weren't you – Rick and Vi?"
Judah shrugged. "They both came to me at the same time. I just suggested they might be better off together."
"Did you know that…" Nicholas gestured towards the screens.
Judah shook his head. "That Vi's bad luck might be able to amplify Rick's power by nudging the conditions in the right direction? No. No way anyone could have known that. Hell, we weren't even planning on turning Vi's collar off. We weren't even planning on Vi being here. He was never part of the plan, but…" He gestured towards the screen. "Well, you can't argue with results."
Results. These were certainly results. Mack would be thrilled with this footage, and the public … the public would be terrified. Tornadoes were frightening enough without the idea that someone might be able to control them, to direct their paths. Judah took a seat and leaned back.
There was nothing to do now but watch the show.
"You can only compel someone to act against their nature for so long."