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Worth

Ian Viera, 23
March 26, 08:43 MST

He couldn't help wondering if this was really worth it.

Ian drummed his fingers on the table as the three groups of contestants made their way back towards the circle. Well, two groups of contestants – Liv, Lee, and Elena, and Kylena and Jaime – and Savannah, who was still on her own. He was certainly glad that Kiara and Fae had decided not to follow the instructions on the card. Well, instructions or a warning, depending on how the contestants decided to interpret the numbers. Depending on whether they decided to go towards the other contestants or away.

Part of him was surprised that three of the groups had, in fact, decided to follow the directions the coaches had sent. Maybe it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise. The Games had lasted a week already; they had to be ready for it to be over with, one way or another. And the contestants had no way of knowing how many of them were left. No way of knowing that there were, in fact, almost half of them left – either thirteen or fourteen, depending on whether or not Seb counted.

Probably not anymore. They had no way of even knowing where Seb was. The last they'd heard from him was the microphones in Kenji and Frederick's collars picking up their conversation in the caves. They knew – as did the MAAB – where the three of them had been, but had no way of knowing where Seb was now. That was the plan, after all: keep the MAAB's attention squarely on the contestants who were still a part of the Games, and hope they decided to let Seb go.

Hope. That was what was bothering him, in the end. He'd tried to tell himself that this was pretty much the same deal they'd made last year – the one that had meant that two of the contestants would survive rather than one. This year, it would be three – as long as the MAAB held up their end of the bargain. Except there hadn't been a bargain. There was no guarantee. They had only Anita's prediction that the MAAB might value their cooperation enough to let Seb go.

Cooperation. They'd been cooperating all along, of course – from the moment the three of them had agreed to serve as coaches for the Games. But this … it felt different, somehow. It felt like giving in. But they had given in last year, as well. They had given up on a rescue attempt because they had realized it wouldn't be successful. Couldn't be successful. They'd cooperated, and there had been two survivors. Two was better than one.

And three was better than two.

Three. That was the other part that was bothering him. Three people might survive – but only this year. Last year's bargain had secured an extra survivor for every Games going forward. How many lives that would work out to in the end, they didn't know. However long the Games lasted, one extra person would survive every year. This year … maybe Seb would survive. That was it. Just him.

Ian shook his head. That was worth it, wasn't it? Saving one extra life? Of course it was worth it. All they'd done, after all, was steer some of the contestants towards each other. But they were going to have to fight each other eventually. The fact that it was happening a little sooner rather than later didn't really change anything.

Except it might. Oh, it wouldn't change how many of them survived, but it might change who those people were. Maybe some of them would stand a better chance with a little more time to rest and recover. They would never know how things might have turned out otherwise.

As far as his own contestants were concerned, of course, this was probably about as good a turn of events as they could ask for. Kiara was headed away from the other groups, along with Fae. And Frederick was nowhere near them. And that was it – just the two of them. The only two contestants he had left.

Of course, only two of them could survive in the end. And they all had at least two left. Vincent had five. Maria had four. And Penelope had two, as long as they were still counting Seb.

Ian sighed and leaned back in his chair. Of course Seb counted. And if their plan ended up saving his life, of course it was worth a little extra cooperation. He would just have to hope that Seb would somehow make it out of the caves alive.

Then it would be worth it.

Elena Burleigh, 21

She hoped heading back towards the circle would be worth it.

Elena clenched her fists, trying to hide a grimace as the three of them sped up a little. Every part of her body, it seemed, was still stiff and aching, but it would be worth it, wouldn't it, if there was a reason the coaches wanted them to head towards the circle? That meant there was something there that they needed, or someone there that they needed to fight. Someone who would bring them closer to the end of the Games. Maybe even bring them to the end of the Games. That was good, wasn't it?

Except…

Except the end of the Games meant that either Lee or Liv was going to have to die. Or that she would have to die, of course. That had always been a possibility – and certainly a possibility that was going through the others' minds. Neither of them wanted to be the one to die, either. But one of them would have to.

But not yet.

But maybe soon.

The fact that the coaches were sending them somewhere meant that there were other contestants left. That was it. They had no way of knowing how many. Maybe they weren't close to the end of the Games at all, but that thought made her shudder. Her whole body ached. Liv's leg was hurt. If they weren't actually close to the end of the Games, maybe they were in worse shape than they'd thought.

So maybe heading back towards the circle wasn't actually about finding the other contestants at all. Maybe there was something in the bags that could help them. Maybe there were some better first aid supplies. They'd taken care of Liv's leg as well as they could with the supplies they had – the extra cloth from the spare clothes, the roll of athletic tape, the rubbing alcohol – but maybe there was something better in the other bags. They hadn't exactly had time to look through them at the start, after all. They'd just taken what they could grab and run. They'd just assumed they wouldn't need much, that the Games would be over before they would need to come back and get more supplies.

They'd been wrong.

And if they'd been wrong about that, what else had they been wrong about?

What else were they wrong about now?

Elena glanced at Liv and Lee, still moving along as quickly as they could. Liv's face had a determined look, as if she'd been waiting for exactly this – for a chance to be part of the action, to do something productive. It had been so long since they'd had any sort of clear goal that she'd leapt at the idea of some outside guidance, some actual coaching from their coaches.

Maybe that was why the envelope had been sent to her. Lee, on the other hand, gave Elena a raised eyebrow when she finally managed to catch his gaze. Maybe he wasn't as convinced that Vincent's instruction had been meant to help them. After all, Liv wasn't his only contestant, just as Lee and Elena weren't Maria's only contestants. At least, they probably weren't the only contestants Maria had left. Maybe they were. Who knew how many of the others were left, after all.

Who knew? The coaches knew. The MAAB knew. That was it. The three of them had no way of knowing. They could make a guess, but at the end of the day, that was all it was – a guess. Lee gave Elena a little nod. At least they weren't going in blind, simply assuming that they would win whatever fight was up ahead. They would have to be careful. They would have to play their cards right.

They would have to kill. When it came down to it, maybe that was what was really bothering her. Fighting meant they would have to kill, and that was something that none of them had actually done yet. They'd made it this far into the Games without actually having to kill anyone, and barely even fighting at the start. They were still alive. There were still three of them. And they hadn't killed.

Maybe that was what the coaches wanted – or the MAAB, or whoever had sent them the message. Maybe they just wanted the three of them to show that they were still willing to fight, willing to kill, willing to play the Game. Maybe that was why she felt so uneasy. Maybe part of her was beginning to wonder if she was.

Oh, she'd done her best to protect the others, of course. To keep them safe. But that had mostly involved changing form and shielding them from danger. That was one thing. Actually killing another contestant – even to protect her friends – that was different, wasn't it?

And was it really worth it?

Jaime Sanchez, 20

"Looks like someone didn't think it was worth listening to them."

Jaime nodded and turned the yellow envelope over in their hands. Kylena had found it in one of the tunnels, and that seemed to be the only sign that anyone had been there. There were still plenty of supplies, but no people. No one lurking around waiting to ambush anyone who came along. Just a yellow envelope with an index card inside – a yellow index card with an I on one side and 10° on the other. They shook their head and handed it to Kylena, who studied it with the same puzzled expression.

Ten degrees. That was pretty much north. They and Kylena had been heading pretty much south. If the other group had followed Ian's instructions, that would have led them right towards each other. Maybe that was the idea. And if that had been Ian's plan – and by extension, Maria's plan – then maybe there wasn't actually anyone in this direction at all. Maybe there had been, and it was too late, because the other group had decided not to play along.

"They could still be somewhere nearby," Kylena offered hopefully, clearly eager for the trip back to the circle not to have been for nothing.

Jaime shook their head. "Where? There isn't exactly anywhere to hide – nowhere except the tunnels, at least. And we checked all of those."

"We looked in all of those," Kylena corrected. "We didn't go too far down. If they're hiding farther down…"

"But why?" Jaime asked. "Why would they be hiding down there? If they were waiting to try to ambush us, they'd want to stay near the surface so they could spring out and fight. That's what I'd do." The words tasted strange, but it was true. That was what they would do, if they thought someone was coming to the circle.

"Maybe that's a mistake," Kylena said quietly.

"What?"

"Assuming everyone else would think like we would. We'd be planning to ambush someone, but what if someone else just wanted to … well, hide? Rest? Maybe even sleep? Maybe they figured no one would check too far down the tunnels, that they'd see there was no one at the surface waiting for them and just … leave."

Jaime nodded. "So you want to check farther down the tunnels."

Kylena shrugged. "I think we should, just to be safe. And if this was the other group that we were supposed to find here," she added, giving the envelope a wave, "then we probably have time."

Probably. It was a risk. But maybe it was worth it, if they found someone down there. Jaime nodded and drew the pistol out of their pocket. "All right. You start over here, and I'll take the ones over there?"

Kylena shook her head. "I think we should stay together."

"It'll take longer."

"I know, but…" She hesitated. "What if there is someone down there?"

"Then we shoot them."

"What if there's more than one someone? Or what if someone comes along while we're down there? If we both come back up at the same time, in the same place, I can get a bubble around us pretty quickly. If we're on opposite sides of the circle…"

Jaime hesitated, but only for a moment. It would take longer, but maybe they didn't really need to hurry. Besides, Kylena was right. Even with their pistols, going into the tunnels would leave them without their powers. If they did find someone, they would have a better chance together.

Staying together was worth taking a little longer.

Rick Clifton, 19

Getting a little extra rest had been worth the risk.

Rick rolled over a little, his eyes still shut. Even through his eyelids, though, he could tell there was light. Daylight. That meant he had slept through the night. He wasn't sure exactly when he had fallen asleep, but apparently he'd managed it at some point. Maybe it was just as well, then, that the flashlights hadn't had any batteries, and that he hadn't kept going. Now he was rested.

Or at least, as rested as he was likely to get. He'd been sleeping on the ground, after all, so now he could add a sore back to the burning pain in his shoulder. He really needed to find some painkillers. But there hadn't been any at the circle, and it was probably too optimistic to hope that the MAAB had added to the supplies overnight. No, if he wanted them to help him, he would have to prove that he deserved it.

Was that how it worked? Maybe. Vi had seemed to think it was – that if he played the Game the way they wanted, they would do what he had asked and keep his collar turned on. And they had – right up until the moment when he had asked them to turn it off. They had, and then…

And then he had died. But he would have died, anyway. The tornado had saved Rick's life. Vi had been right. He had been playing the Games right. He had just gotten unlucky.

Unlucky. But the vampire showing up then – that had been just regular old bad luck, hadn't it? Hadn't it? They'd been bound to run into someone stronger than them eventually. It had only been a matter of time.

And it was only a matter of time before it happened again – before Rick ran into someone stronger than him. When that happened…

Except…

Except the boy they who had found them back at the circle – the one Vi had killed – he had been one of the boys who could move quickly. That was certainly a stronger power. And the kids that he and Vi had killed at the start – what had their powers been? It hadn't even mattered, because one of them hadn't made it out of the tunnels, and the other hadn't had much time to do anything before…

Before Rick had killed him. Rick shuddered. Now that the memory had come back, he could practically feel the boy squirming beneath him. Struggling. Wriggling. Tugging.

Tugging. Rick's eyes shot open. Something was tugging – something that wasn't a memory. Something was tugging at his pack, still tucked under his head as a pillow. Something was pulling at it. There was a zipping noise – or rather, an unzipping noise, and something was wrenched free.

Rick sat up, expecting to see someone standing over him. But that was wrong. If someone was going to kill him and take his supplies, wouldn't they do it in that order? Why was he still alive?

There was no one. No one standing there. Rick looked down at the pack and saw some sort of … creature. It was maybe three or four inches tall, human-shaped but stick-thin, and it was tugging a water bottle across the ground. A water bottle it had taken from the backpack.

Rick stared. He almost shouted, "Come back here with that!" But what good would that do? It wasn't as if the little creature was likely to listen to him. In fact, it didn't seem to care much about him at all. It had just taken the water bottle, and now…

Now it was leaving. Rick scrambled to his feet, zipping up the backpack and swinging it over his good shoulder, ready to follow. But then he stopped. Was that really a good idea? There had been a kid during the talent show who had made some of these little creatures. Who had they been working with? There had been quite a group of them, if Rick remembered right. The little girl who could sing. One or two others, as well, he was pretty sure. They'd been training with Vincent right after him and Vi. He was pretty sure there were four of them.

Or at least, there had been four of them. Who knew how many of them were left now. Maybe just one or two. Could he get that lucky? Was that why they were so desperate to find water? Desperate enough to send out a little creature that someone could follow.

But that … no, that wasn't right. There was water everywhere. He and Vi had never had any trouble finding a small lake or river to fill their water bottles. And it had rained not that long ago. They wouldn't be that desperate for water, would they? Not desperate enough to reveal themselves like this.

And the other option, of course, was that it was a trap. That they'd sent out the creature to steal from the other contestants in the hope that one of them would be stupid enough to follow it back and walk right into a fight. A fight they weren't ready for.

A fight he would never be ready for.

But he would have to fight eventually. Eventually he would have to figure out how to fight contestants who were stronger than him. Rick watched as the little creature tottered off to the north, dragging its loot. Vi would have wanted to follow it. Hell, Vi had wanted to follow someone who could shoot lightning. That had nearly gotten them killed.

But he had been right. He had been playing the Game. He had been playing it well. And that was what Rick was going to have to keep doing, if he wanted to make it out of here. If he was going to die … well, maybe now was as good a time as any. And if he didn't die … maybe the MAAB would make it worth his while. That was what he had been hoping for, after all – a chance to prove that he was still in the game, that they should restock the circle and help him out. They'd been helping Vi out – or at least, not actively harming his chances.

Maybe he just had to prove that he was still worth it now that Vi was gone.

Kenji Rose, 12

Staying together was still worth it for a while.

Kenji glanced up at Frederick as the pair of them made their way out of the cave. "I hope he'll be all right," Frederick said quietly, glancing back at the opening.

Kenji nodded. That was all they could do, really – hope that Seb would make it. They had no way of knowing where he was. If he made it out and managed to escape the MAAB's grasp, they'd probably never know, even if they survived the Games. But he had a chance now, which was more than he would have had if he'd stayed with them. Without any powers, he wouldn't have lasted long in a fight. He and Frederick, on the other hand…

Kenji fought back the thought. He couldn't afford to start thinking of Frederick as a teammate – as a friend. Not after what had happened to Emery and Florence. They were dead. And as long as the MAAB could keep him from going back in time while he slept, they were dead for good. And even if he could go back…

If he could go back now, and kept one of them from dying, what else would change? Would he still find Seb and be able to help him? Would Florence or Emery want to help him? If there hadn't been any tornadoes, would any of them have gone back to the caves in the first place? Or would the tornadoes have happened anyway, even if Florence and Kenji hadn't found the other boys? Would someone else have found them eventually, and caused the same thing?

Kenji shook his head. Maybe. Maybe not. It was too much to think about – and too much that he couldn't control. That was how things had gone wrong the last time, after all. When he went back in time, he could control what he did, for as long as he was back there. That was it. He could talk to the others, but he couldn't force them to do anything. And Florence and Emery would be the only ones who really had any reason to listen to him.

"Kenji?" Frederick's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you wanted some breakfast."

"Oh." Right, food. When was the last time he'd eaten? He'd dropped his supplies when he'd run from the tornado. All he really had was the knife in his pocket. What did Frederick have? "Sure." He eyed Frederick's bag, trying not to look too curious.

Frederick sat down and pulled out some dried apple slices, a bag of granola, and two bottles of water. He handed one of the bottles to Kenji, who drank gratefully. He'd stopped at a couple underground pools while he'd been exploring the caves, but that had been a while ago. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Running that fast probably takes it out of you a bit, huh?"

Kenji shrugged and sat down next to Frederick. "A bit. I mean, it's not so much that I'm running fast as that everything else is slowing down, but … yeah, running that far would get tiring no matter how fast you're doing it, I guess."

Frederick nodded and passed him the bag of granola. "Makes sense."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Does it tire you out more if you're melting something bigger, or thicker, or something?"

Frederick shook his head. "Not that I've noticed, but I've never really tried to melt anything too big before."

"Just the floor during the talent show," Kenji pointed out.

Frederick chuckled. "Fair enough. But even then, it was just the floor – not the whole building. I'm not sure what would happen if I tried to melt, say, a whole tree or something." He shook his head. "Probably just melt the bark, come to think of it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because it was only the floor that melted during the talent show, not the walls or the rest of the building. And at the start of the Games, I … I was in a fight, and I touched the other girl's hair. None of the rest of her melted – just her hair. So it'd probably just be the bark, or the leaf, or whatever I touched." He cocked his head. "Why do you ask?"

Kenji shrugged. "I just thought … Well, if we're working together, we should know what the other person can do, right?"

"I guess so."

Kenji fell silent as the pair of them ate. It was pretty obvious what he could do – or at least, part of what he could do. He wasn't about to tell Frederick about the other part – not now that the MAAB was keeping him from doing it anyway. Besides, what would Frederick think? If he went back in time and saved Emery or Florence, that would mean he wasn't working with Frederick anymore. And that would mean he might have to kill Frederick.

But that wasn't an option. Not now. Still, the MAAB couldn't keep turning his collar on and off forever, could they? Could they? Eventually, they would slip. They would make a mistake. They would let their guard down.

And then he would have to decide whether changing things was worth it.

Caihong Lee, 25

They were running out of time to decide whether this was really worth it.

Lee glanced over at Elena, who had been slowing down a little, then back at Liv, who definitely wasn't. "Liv, wait a moment," he called, slowing down to join Elena.

Liv kept going for a moment, but then glanced back at the pair of them and shook her head, stopping to let them catch up. "What?"

"We must be getting close to the circle now."

Liv nodded. "Wasn't that the plan?"

Lee shook his head. "That isn't a plan. That's a direction. We don't even have any weapons."

Liv gripped the mallet in her hand. It was as close to a weapon as they had. Lee had picked up a few larger rocks along the way, and if Elena was in metal form, her punch was probably as good as a club. Still, that didn't seem like much if the other contestants – assuming there were other contestants – had something more effective than clubs and rocks. "We're not going to find any by waiting longer, either," Liv countered.

Lee nodded. "Fair enough." He took the bag off his back and pulled out the rope. "How about this?"

Elena eyed the rope doubtfully. "We'd have to get pretty close to use it."

"Could say the same thing about this," Liv pointed out, waving the mallet. "You could throw the rocks."

"And essentially hand them a weapon to throw back if we miss," Lee reasoned. "We need something … something more. If they see us coming and have something they can use from farther away."

Liv cocked her head. "What if they don't see us coming?"

Lee shook his head. "You're talking about camouflage."

"Isn't that supposed to be your speciality?"

"I can move color from one place to another, or myself, but not to other people. It has to be an object."

"Shirts are objects," Elena offered. "So are pants."

Lee nodded. "Sure, but I need physical contact. So unless you want me to keep holding onto your shirt and pants – both of you – that's not going to be much help."

Liv opened her mouth to say something, then shut it again. After a moment, her eyes lit up. "I have an idea."

Lee listened. Then he nodded. "It could work. It's still not a weapon, but it might give us an edge."

Maybe an edge was all they needed.

Kiara Moore, 15

All they needed to do now was avoid whatever was going on.

Kiara forced a smile as the sun continued to rise higher in the sky. She and Fae had stopped to eat a little while ago, but quickly agreed that they should keep moving. Whatever was going on back in the other direction, they wanted no part of it. Their best hope right now was to stay far away from whatever the coaches had been trying to steer them towards.

If she was being honest with herself, that still felt a bit strange. After all, their coaches were supposed to be helping them. That had been the whole point of training with them in the first place. But if they were trying to steer more than one group of contestants together, then they couldn't be helping all of them. Some of the contestants would survive, but the rest…

The rest would end up caught in the crossfire. Just like Iola. Whatever had caused the tornadoes, the three of them hadn't had anything to do with it. But that hadn't stopped the storm from killing Iola. They would just have to hope that the same thing wouldn't happen again, that whoever had caused the storm was already dead, or wouldn't be able to do the same thing again.

Because if something like that happened again, then it wouldn't really matter that they were headed in the other direction. The tornadoes hadn't seemed to follow any particular pattern or route. And they certainly hadn't kept to the area where they had started. So maybe trying to get away was pointless after all. Still…

Still, it was better than doing nothing. And it was better than blindly following directions and just hoping that they were the ones the coaches were trying to help. After all, if they were trying to give some of the contestants a helping hand, did she and Fae really have any reason to think it would be them? Fae was the one who had made Vincent deaf, after all, and Kiara was the one who had been unable to help him. Neither of them had known it at the time, of course, but…

But the coaches had. And they hadn't said anything. They hadn't helped. And if they hadn't helped then, why would they help now? No, they were on their own. But maybe it was better that way. If they weren't expecting any help from the outside, at least they wouldn't be let down. They wouldn't be disappointed when it didn't come.

Kiara glanced over at Fae as the younger girl gave a small rock a kick. "You all right?" Kiara asked.

Fae didn't look up. "Do you think they were trying to get us killed?"

Kiara raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"If they were trying to lead us towards another group…"

Kiara shook her head. "Doesn't necessarily mean they wanted to get us killed. Who knows? We might've killed whoever they wanted to lead us towards."

"You think so?"

"I don't know. And I don't think they know, either. They don't have any more idea who's going to live or die than we do. They don't know who would win a fight. They're not all-powerful. They just have a bit more information. They can't see the future."

"That we know of," Fae muttered.

"If they could, they would've known—" Kiara started, but then stopped herself. They would have known that she couldn't heal Vincent. They would have known what Fae's scream would do to him. And if they had known that…

"Yeah," Fae agreed. "You're right. It's just…"

"I know. It's a bit more comforting to think that they know what they're doing. But they don't. Not really. None of them do. Not even the MAAB. You really think they would have picked someone who could create tornadoes if they'd really thought it through? They're winging it just as much as the rest of us."

Fae nodded and turned her attention back to the rocks on the ground. Kiara sighed. Knowing the MAAB was almost as powerless as they were – it should have been satisfying. It should have helped to say it out loud. But in the end, it didn't really make one bit of difference whether the MAAB knew what they were doing or not – not when the two of them were caught in the middle of their ignorance. Whether they'd intended for those tornadoes to happen didn't really matter. They had happened. Iola was dead. Whether Ian had intended for them to follow the direction on the card, or do the opposite, or ignore it entirely – none of it really made a difference. Not in the long run. They may have avoided this particular fight, but they couldn't avoid fighting forever.

She just hoped avoiding the fight today was worth it.

Kylena Albright, 16

Maybe investigating the tunnels hadn't been worth it after all.

Kylena gave Jaime an apologetic shrug as the pair of them emerged from the last of the tunnels. Nothing. There had been nothing. Or at least, there hadn't been any of the other contestants. There had been plenty of supplies, and lots of water. But at least now … well, at least now they could be certain they hadn't missed an opportunity.

An opportunity. The thought of the word made her stomach turn a little. An opportunity to kill people – that was what they had been hoping to find. An opportunity to make the Games end a little faster, she tried to tell herself. By killing people. That was what had to happen. That was how the Games had to end. The only way they could end.

"Guess we'd better get going, then," Kylena offered, but Jaime was staring off into the distance, off to the south. "What is it?"

"I think there's someone coming," Jaime said softly.

Kylena squinted. "I don't see anything."

"Neither do I, but…"

"But?"

"I feel pain."

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, not my pain. Someone else, in pain, over in that direction."

"I thought you had to be able to see someone to tell they were in pain."

"They have to be close enough for me to see them. It still works if I close my eyes, or if it's too dark to see, as long as they're close enough that I could see them if…"

"If they weren't hiding somehow," Kylena finished. "So there's someone over in that direction, using something to hide. Some sort of … trick?"

"Maybe they're really small," Jaime offered. "Or maybe they're projecting some sort of illusion. I don't know. But there's definitely someone there, and they're definitely getting closer."

Kylena took a deep breath. "Do you think we should run?"

Jaime hesitated, but then shook their head. "No. This is what we were hoping to find, isn't it? We came here looking for other contestants."

Kylena shook her head. "We were hoping to have the element of surprise."

"We still do."

"What do you mean?"

"They don't know that we know that they're there," Jaime said quietly. "As long as we stop looking at them. Look at me."

Kylena turned away from the … whatever was off to the south. "If they're using some sort of camouflage, that means they're trying to get close," Jaime pointed out. "That means they probably don't have any weapons they can use from a distance. We do."

"Not if we don't know what we're aiming at."

"Exactly. Keep your pistol in your pocket. Be ready to pull it out once they show themselves. Until then, just keep looking at me."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No."

Kylena gripped her pistol tightly. "Maybe we should just run."

"No. It's too late for that. They have to be able to see us by now. If we run, they'll follow, and eventually we'll have to fight. Might as well fight here."

Kylena took a deep breath. Jaime was right. This was probably about as fair a fight as they could ask for. If whoever was coming was relying on the element of surprise, their powers probably weren't much more useful in a fight than hers or Jaime's. And Jaime was right – this was what they had been looking for when they'd come back to the circle. They had been expecting a fight.

They just hadn't been expecting it to happen like this.

Liv Holle, 18

They wouldn't be expecting this.

Liv gripped the edge of the sleeping bag as tight as she could, holding one side up. Elena held the other side, stretching it out as far as it would reach, while Lee peered over the middle, careful to keep physical contact with the bag. He'd colored it a dull grey, hopefully the same shade as the sky – or near enough to not be noticed. Not from a distance, at least. But up close…

Up close, it wouldn't matter. Their disguise didn't need to hold up for long – just long enough to give them an edge. Just the element of surprise – that was all they needed. Maybe. Hopefully. They had no idea who they were facing. Lee had said a little while ago that he could see two figures in the distance, but since then, they'd tried to keep quiet. Still, that was something. Two against three. That was probably as good as it was going to get. It was probably too much to hope for that the coaches would have led them towards one contestant. That wouldn't be a fair fight.

And that was probably what the coaches were hoping for – a fair fight. Anything else would mean they were picking favorites. Two against three – that wasn't bad. Of course, a lot depended on what the other two contestants could do, or what sort of weapons they had. Liv gripped her mallet in her other hand. Elena and Lee each held an end of the coil of rope. Maybe it wasn't much, but it was something.

It was what they had.

It was all they had.

Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all.

Liv shook the thought from her head. Nerves. That was all it was. Nerves. Even if the other group stood the same chance as they did, this was better than the alternative. Better than wandering around and having to fend off tornadoes and hail and whatever else came their way without ever being able to strike back.

Now they could strike back.

Lee glanced over at her and mouthed the word "close," but there was something … something off about his expression, as if he couldn't quite believe how close they'd been able to get with their disguise. Sure, his camouflage was good, but could it really pass for the sky and the ground close up? Could he be certain to have the horizon right from every distance? No, this was too much of a coincidence.

Unless the other group simply wasn't looking. Maybe they were facing the other way. But if the coaches had sent them a message, as well, then they knew which direction they were supposed to be going. Which direction they were supposed to be facing. That left one possibility: the other group had seen them, and were pretending not to.

Liv shook her head. There wasn't a choice. Not really. Or rather, there were no good choices. They could keep moving forward, knowing they didn't really have the element of surprise, or they could turn around and run. But what good would that do? The other group knew they were there. They would probably give chase. And there was no telling how that would turn out. No, it was better to fight here. There were three of them, after all.

Maybe that would be enough to give them the edge.

Caihong Lee, 25

Maybe they would still have a bit of an edge.

Lee peered over the top of the sleeping bag. The two shapes were closer now. Much closer. One glance at Liv told him that she had figured out what he had – the other two had to know that they were there. The element of surprise was gone. But it was too late to turn around. All they could do now was hope that the other contestants couldn't overpower them. There were three of them, after all. Strength in numbers and all that.

Bang. Lee froze. Something wasn't right. That sound wasn't right. "That was a gun," he hissed, and saw Liv's face freeze in terror. None of them had been counting on that. "We have to get out of here."

"They didn't hit us," Liv hissed back.

"That time."

"How many shots can they have?"

"Enough."

Bang. A second shot ran out, and something whizzed above their heads. They certainly didn't seem to be very good shots. Or maybe they just didn't have a clear enough target yet. They were still a ways away. Close enough to see, but maybe not close enough to hit, for someone without enough practice.

Ping.

Sweat dripped down Lee's neck. That had been close. Too close. He could see another dent in Elena's metal, but he could feel—

Lee blinked. For a moment – just the briefest of seconds – there had been a flash of pain. But then it was gone. Beside him, Liv gave a shout and sank to her knees. But Elena was staring at him. At his neck.

So it wasn't sweat.

Lee brought a hand to his neck. There wasn't any pain. But there was blood. So much blood.

Why wasn't there any pain?

But there was something else. Dizziness. He felt faint. He felt…

He felt cold.

Lee could feel his grip on the sleeping bag loosen. He didn't remember falling, but suddenly he was on his back. Liv was at his side, her face contorted with pain, pressing the sleeping bag against his neck, trying desperately to staunch the bleeding. And Elena—

Where was Elena?

Jaime Sanchez, 20

One of them was made of metal.

Jaime lowered their gun as Kylena fired again. And again. The bullets bounced off the girl, who was charging towards them. "That's not going to work!" Jaime shouted over the wind, trying to keep their focus on directing the pain from the contestant Kylena had hit to the other one. If one was bleeding too badly too fight and the other was absorbing that pain, that left one of them for Kylena and them to deal with.

But that one was made of metal, and closing on them fast. Kylena let out a yelp and quickly created a bubble around the pair of them as the last of her bullets ricocheted back in their direction. "Got a plan B?" she called over the wind.

The wind.

Where had the wind come from all of a sudden?

Shit.

If one of these three had been causing the tornadoes, they were in way over their heads. But it was too late to back out of a fight now. How fast could they run in a bubble? How far? Kylena could make them float, if the person inside was small enough. It had worked with Evelyn. But it was probably too much to hope for that it would work with the pair of them. Jaime glanced at Kylena as the metal girl threw herself against the bubble. It wobbled a little, but held. They were at a standstill.

For now.

But not for long.

Eventually, something would change. The wind could get worse. Or the contestant who had been hit with a bullet would die. No more pain meant the other one could join the fight. And there was no telling what she would be able to do. If she was the one controlling the weather…

That meant the best time to do something was now.

Jaime clenched their fists. They did have a plan B. They just wished it was a better one. They took a deep breath, slid off their jacket, and handed their pistol to Kylena. "Wait for it," they whispered.

"For what?"

"You'll know. Trust me?"

"Of course I trust you."

"Then drop the bubble. Right … now."

Elena Burleigh, 21

"Right … now."

Elena tried to slow down, but she was already in mid-charge when the bubble burst, sending her sprawling forward and onto the ground. Before she could get up again, something was on top of her. Arms wrapped around her neck, and something was thrown over her eyes. A shirt or jacket of some sort. Elena struggled to her feet, but the other contestant clung to her back. Fine, then.

As hard as she could, Elena threw herself to the ground, backwards, on top of the other contestant. There was a terrible crack. In fact, there were several cracks, each one sending a jolt of pain through her body. But that shouldn't have hurt her. But it did hurt. It felt as if her skin was breaking apart.

But it wasn't. The jacket fell from around her eyes as she rolled over, revealing the other contestant beneath her – badly crushed, but still alive. Elena raised her fist. The pain was coming from the other contestant. She had to stop the pain. She had to stop—

Had to stop the pain.

Had to stop.

Bang.

Kylena Albright, 16

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Kylena gripped the gun tightly and squeezed the trigger again. Click. She was out of bullets. Shit. But the robot – the girl who looked like a robot – was swaying. Kylena froze, hoping this was what Jaime had meant by "Wait for it." She'd waited until she'd seen … something. Some sort of dent, or crease in the metal, at the back of the girl's neck. Maybe she'd been hurt before. Maybe the metal bending like that meant she wasn't metal all the way through.

Maybe…

The girl sank to her knees, and then to the ground beside Jaime. But the other girl – the one Jaime had been focusing on, directing the other contestant's pain towards – was on her feet now, running towards them. And she was out of bullets.

The robot girl was still now, her body shifting back to a more human form. Blood. There was blood now, seeping out of the wounds. Dead. But if she was dead, then—

For a moment, Kylena caught a look of pain on Jaime's face, before it was gone again.

Jaime Sanchez, 20

Pain.

For an instant, there was nothing but pain. Deep, crushing pain, all across their body. They couldn't feel the pain from the boy anymore, but whether that was because he was dead or because that pain was completely drowned out by this one, they weren't entirely sure. But it didn't matter. It wasn't important. They had to focus. Just one more time.

One more plan.

Liv Holle, 18

She didn't have a plan.

Liv raced towards the other contestants, mallet in hand, the wind whipping through her hair. Suddenly, something hit her. Or at least, it certainly felt like something hit her. The pain from Lee's wound had been sharp, but isolated. This … this felt like she'd just been hit by a bus or a train or … something. Something crushing her.

Except it wasn't. Not physically. It was just pain.

Just overwhelming pain.

Liv sank to her knees, but even as she did, she could feel something else. The wind was picking up. Stronger. Stronger. Pushing all around her. Pushing away from her.

Pushing the other contestant away from her.

Kylena Albright, 16

Something was pushing her away.

Kylena clenched her fists, fighting against the wind. Or trying to fight against it, at least. It wasn't doing much good, and her footing … Her footing was becoming slippery. Rain. When had it started raining? She took a few steps backwards. It wasn't raining there. It was almost as if the area around the other girl had its own weather.

But that area was growing.

Kylena charged again, and was blown backwards again. Back towards Jaime, who shook their head. "It won't work. Just run."

"And leave you?"

Jaime shook their head. "I can't…" They didn't finish the sentence, but they didn't have to. Maybe they couldn't feel any pain because they were projecting it onto the other contestant, but that didn't mean they could move. They lay flat on the ground, pressed into the ground. A bone stuck out of one of their legs. Blood was everywhere. It was a wonder they were still alive. Still conscious.

The pain. They were still conscious because they were projecting the pain. But how long could they keep it up?

Jaime swallowed hard. Then, as if they'd heard the question, they answered, "Long enough for you to get away."

Kylena turned and ran.

Liv Holle, 18

The girl was running.

Liv clenched her fists, rain pouring down around her, the wind whipping her hair this way and that. It didn't matter. The girl didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was the pain.

She had to stop the pain.

There was a way to stop the pain.

Slowly, unsteadily, she made her way towards the other contestant – the one lying on their back beside Elena's body. She didn't have a weapon. She'd dropped her mallet. Not much of a weapon, anyway. But she didn't need a weapon. She just needed the pain to stop.

She sank to the ground beside the other contestant and wrapped her hands around their neck. The wind swirled. The rain poured down.

And the other contestant's body went still.

But the wind didn't.

Liv stood up, a little unsteadily. The pain was gone. The other contestant was dead. But the wind still whipped around her like her own personal little whirlwind. Not as strong as it had been a few moments ago, maybe, but there was still a … a power there. Something she hadn't felt before. Something that had been untapped.

Liv shook her head and turned her attention to Elena. Lee was dead. Had been as good as dead the moment the bullet had struck his neck. He'd bled out right in front of her, and there hadn't been a damn thing she could do about it. And now Elena…

She was dead, too. Liv could tell that before she even felt for a pulse, but she did so anyway, out of desperation. They couldn't both be dead. The couldn't both be gone.

That just left her.

But it wasn't over.

There were still other contestants out there. There had to be. If they were the only ones left – her and the girl who had run away – then someone would have come to collect them by now. That meant there were others. Maybe more than a few others. Maybe they hadn't been close to the end of the Games at all.

Maybe they had been wrong about everything.

Liv looked up, scowling at the sky, as if that was where the MAAB was. That was where the envelope had come from, after all – from the sky. But it hadn't just come from the MAAB. It had come from their coaches. It had come from Vincent. It had all been a trap.

Except…

Except now there was a small group of dark clouds over her head. Only over her head. And the rain that was pouring – it was only around her. Whatever had happened when that pain had shot through her, it had done something. Triggered something. She held out an arm and waved it experimentally. Wind rushed along her arm, off into the distance. Something was happening. Maybe something that would keep her alive. Maybe something that would kill her. She wasn't sure. But it didn't matter. Liv's gaze drifted once more to Elena's body, then Lee's.

Whatever it was, it hadn't been worth this.

Savannah Kingston, 19

Whatever that was, it was worth investigating.

Savannah stared at the clouds in the distance – a few dark clouds in the midst of otherwise calm weather. Well, not perfectly calm, maybe, but certainly nicer weather than they'd had since the start of the Games. It wasn't raining or snowing. There was no hail, no wind, no tornadoes. But there was something … but only over there.

Savannah could feel her fingers tingling. It had been a while since she'd let off some lightning. And if something was going on over there, then maybe that would have people's attention. Maybe they wouldn't notice a little lightning.

Or maybe they would. Maybe she wanted them to. If someone was over there – maybe the person who had been controlling the weather – maybe it would be better if she found them. Or if they found her. Maybe…

Savannah clenched her fists. Not yet. She could get a little closer first. That was the direction she had been heading anyway, more or less. The direction the coaches had wanted her to go. Maybe this was why. Maybe this was what they had been leading her towards.

There was only one way to find out.

Lea Cervantes, 18

There was only one way to go now.

Lea took a few more bites of her beef sticks and slung the pack over her back again. She hadn't found any more supplies, but maybe she wouldn't need to. Maybe this would be enough to last until she got back to the circle. At the very least, she had a way to carry water now, and there hadn't exactly been a shortage of small lakes along their way south. All she had to do now was retrace their steps.

Lea shook her head. Their steps. Hers and Elio's. But she was the only one going back. Elio wouldn't have gone back. He would have kept going south until it killed them. If it hadn't been the tornado, it would have been something. His beliefs had gotten him paralyzed. His beliefs had gotten him killed. And he would have kept going until they'd killed her, too.

Of course, she wasn't kidding herself. There was still a chance she would die if she went back and fought. But it was just that – a chance, not a certainty. There had never been any chance – any real chance – of their plan succeeding. That was why the MAAB had been content to let them do their own thing, let them keep going until they got themselves killed. If she died now, she would be nothing but an example to next year's contestants – an example of what happened to people who weren't willing to play along with their Game.

Was she willing now?

Lea pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders. Maybe. Maybe she was. And maybe that wasn't the horrible choice that Elio had made it out to be. Maybe there was nothing so wrong – nothing so sinful – about wanting to survive. That was all she wanted, after all. She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to kill.

She just wanted to live.

Just like anyone else.

In the end, she wasn't so different after all. Elio had been different. But it had gotten him killed. That was where refusing to play the Game had gotten him.

It wasn't worth it.

Henry Helstom, 14

Maybe it was worth trying to make a few more golems.

Henry shifted a little, and immediately regretted it. Every time they managed to find a position where their arm didn't hurt, their back began to ache instead. If it wasn't the pain, it was the dizziness. If it wasn't that, it was the thirst. They'd hoped the golems would have come back by now. It couldn't be that hard to find water, could it?

Maybe. Maybe it could. Or maybe it could be that hard to find some way to bring the water back. They hadn't thought of that until after they'd sent the little golems out. Maybe if they could make a slightly larger one, with slightly larger hands, it might be able to cup them together and hold onto a little water.

Henry took a deep breath, but even that was painful. They could wait a little longer. They could wait until the last golem came back. Two of them had dissolved somewhere out there among the rocks. They didn't have much control over the golems this far away, but they could tell the third one was still there – and getting closer again. Maybe that meant it had found water.

They would just have to wait and see.

Seb

He could see daylight.

Seb pulled the backpack a little tighter as he trudged on through the tunnel. He had no idea how long it had been, but long enough that there was daylight outside. It had been nighttime when he and Frederick had found Kenji. Now there was light – although he couldn't tell how much. Not from this distance. The light was dim, but it was there.

Kenji had been right.

There had been part of him that had silently wondered about that – about whether Kenji might be sending him off into the middle of the cave because it was easier or more palatable than killing him outright. But it looked like he'd been telling the truth, after all. Now he just had to hope that the exit was big enough to be just that – an exit. Well, and that the MAAB wouldn't be waiting for him on the other side.

Of course, there wasn't anything he could really do about either of those things. Nothing but keep moving as quickly as he could and hope he got there before the MAAB figured out where he was going. He just had to get out, and then..

And then what? Run like hell? There wasn't much else to do. He was in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming. What was he really hoping to find?

Anything. Anything was better than being in the Games. Even if he died out there in the wilderness, he would die free. He wouldn't die as part of their Games, killed by someone who was just trying to survive. His death wouldn't be on anyone else's conscience.

Well, except the girl who probably thought she had killed him back at the house. She would probably never know any better. Maybe she was already dead. He had no way of knowing.

Seb shook his head. One thing at a time. If he made it out, and if he found some way back to … somewhere safe … then maybe he would eventually find out what had happened in the Games. They had aired last year's Games, after all. They would probably do the same this year. He wondered how the MAAB would try to make that look – the fact that he had escaped.

Except he hadn't escaped yet. He was getting ahead of himself. But he was so close now. He could see the light – literally the light at the end of the tunnel. Or at least at the end of the cave. A few more steps. Then a few more. The hole was big enough to crawl out of. He could tell that now. And on the other side … daylight. Daylight and rocks. That was all he could see. Seb took a deep breath and hoisted himself up and through the opening.

"About damn time."

Seb whirled around to see two … two people, but not the people he had been expecting, if he had been expecting anyone. Not the MAAB. They didn't look as … official. They looked tired, and a bit worried, and much younger than anyone he'd thought might be coming after him. "Who are you?"

"Olivia Spencer," answered one.

"Cecily Evans," said the other.

Seb shook his head, realizing he'd asked the wrong question. Knowing their names wasn't helpful at all. "I mean … what are you doing here?"

The one who had introduced herself as Cecily couldn't contain a smirk. "Rescuing you, genius. Do you want to keep asking questions, or do you want to follow us?"

Seb opened his mouth to ask, "Follow you where?" but thought better of it. "Both?" he offered sheepishly.

Olivia clapped him on the back. "Right answer. You can ask whatever you want once we get back to the pickup." Seb raised an eyebrow but didn't ask the question out loud.

The pickup?

Olivia Spencer, 23

The pickup was right where they'd left it.

Olivia quickly ducked down and took a peek under the truck, then swept all around the vehicle. "Now can I ask questions?" Seb asked.

Olivia smirked. "I'm checking for bugs."

Cecily raised an eyebrow. "You think they planted something?"

"No, but it can't hurt to check. There's always a chance they spotted the truck and decided tracking us would be more useful than immediately capturing us. Might lead them back to the home base, or something like that."

Cecily shook her head. "We don't have a home base."

"They don't know that. For all they know, we could have a whole network of people working to sabotage the Games. They don't know it's just us."

She shot Seb a quick glance. If that had dashed his hopes of an elaborate scheme to rescue the rest of the contestants, it didn't show. She climbed in the driver's seat, and Cecily and Seb quickly piled in. "Okay, then," she prompted as she turned the key in the ignition. "Ask away."

"How did you know about the Games?"

"They're being broadcast live this year," Cecily answered, opening her laptop. "At first, just a few leaked videos here and there, but the MAAB has been broadcasting large sections live, trying to get ahead of the story before the people leaking it can spin it their way, that sort of thing."

"How did you find me?"

Cecily hesitated, but only for a moment. "I can find other mutants. I had to get pretty close in order to pinpoint you, but once I knew where to look, it didn't take us long to find the entrance to the cave. After that, we just had to wait. Seemed a better idea than going in the caves ourselves and scaring the life out of you in there."

"Why … why rescue me?"

When Cecily didn't answer, Olivia shrugged. "Because we can. Because it's something we can do. There isn't anything we can do for our friends in there. The MAAB can track them and use their collars to shock them if they go outside the border. This … this is something we can do. Maybe it won't ruin their plans, but it might annoy them a bit. Just a little wrench in their machine. It's not much, but…"

But it was something. And it was more than most people were doing. But she didn't want to tell him that. Didn't want to explain that everyone knew about the Games now, and they just … weren't doing anything. None of them. Or not enough of them. It certainly seemed like she and Cecily were the only ones doing something.

"Your friends?" Seb asked.

But he was cut off by Cecily, who was staring at her laptop. "Olivia…"

Damn. "It's Lee, isn't it."

"How did you…?"

Olivia shook her head. How had she known? Was she already that used to the tones in Cecily's voice? They'd only met a few days ago, but she felt like she could read the younger girl like a book. "Just a guess," she lied. "Was I right?"

"He's dead. I'm sorry."

Olivia nodded weakly. It had been too much to hope for, really – that he might survive this. Trapped in a fight with people who could shoot lightning and control the weather and outrun the truck she was driving … Well, it was probably pretty impressive that he'd made it this far. "And your friend?"

"Still following the little golem that stole his water bottle."

Olivia winced at her tone of voice. The last time someone had tried to sneak up on Henry, it hadn't gone very well. Then again, the last time, Henry hadn't been injured, and they'd had full control of a golem that wasn't wrapped around them. Still, what was Rick hoping to do against a giant rock creature? That was why Fae and Kiara had left, after all, instead of finishing Henry off after deafening them.

Of course, Rick had no way of knowing about Henry's golem armor. So many of them didn't really know the extent of each other's powers. Hell, so many of them didn't know the extent of their own powers. Seb hadn't seemed to know what would happen if he wrote his own name. He'd been desperate, and that desperation had saved his life. And now she and Cecily had saved his life, too.

She just hoped it was worth it.

"They hold each other's lives completely without worth."