CYPHER

The earliest team betrayal

It might have been too soon to declare the golems as not on a threat level because they could hear something approach .

A loud mechanical droning suddenly rolled around the house , the house shook as it took on the vibrations that came with the droning, it felt like an earthquake was centered directly on the house .

Dean jumped off the stool and turned around , he was looking through the windows and searching for the source of the whirring .

He stopped turning when his eyes reached the window he had come through and he saw something out the window .

A large mechanical face stared at him through the window , its gray eyes so human like as it stared at Dean , the jaws of the golem shifted into what Dean could have sworn was a grin .

The misplaced grin on the metal face along with the human eyes was just too much , it made Dean's skin crawl and want to put an end to th abomination that he was looking at .

Dean stumbled back as the creature stood erect , there was nothing for a moment and Dean could hear May and Blade coming down the stairs discreetly .

It was better if the golem thought there was just one of them here .

Again , it was too soon to assume because the next thing Dean knew was that pieces of wood were falling around him and the sun was suddenly shining down on him .

Dean looked up and exhaled harshly .

The golem had torn the roof right off the house , successfully and literally blowing off May and Blade's cover .

The golem peered down at all of them and did it again , his face moved in that way that Dean was sure would have been a smirk if the golem was human .

A familiar whirring began and this time Dean did not have to be told .

He slid down the table to the door where the bow had somehow ended up and grabbed it .

Someone , either the owner or May had left a spare arrow in the arrow hatch .

Dean had no time to get into it or properly pose .

He shot the arrow into the golems arm that was still whirring as it decided on what weapon it intended to pummel them with .

He had a bizarre plan that could buy them time to leave the house because continuing to be constricted within the house was practically them being served to the golem on a golden platter or wooden platter to be precise .

" Blade , now ! ", He screamed into the air , hoping that Blade was nearby or at least even understood .

The arrow did exactly what Dean had hoped , it flew right into the middle of the whirring and jammed it , bringing the whirring to an excruciatingly loud and squeaky stop .

Blade somehow understood what Dean meant just by yelling his name .

He spat out a pin and threw the grenade that thankfully landed in the golems open arm .

Dean turned around and pushed his body to the floor .

As soon as the explosion went off ,Dean was on his feet and running out of the house .

He had not made the mistake of taking off his backpack again .

" Let's go !! ", he yelled at them .

Dean ran into the coat closet and found what he was looking for immediately , he grabbed it and ran out with Blade by his side .

May ran behind them with her back to them , she was shooting at the golems feet as she ran .

The golem was not eliminated but most of his body had been destroyed , it watched them run with the s**t eating grin still on its face .

They had to put distance between themselves and the loud mess they had created fast.

" Do you hear that ?! ", Blade yelled .

May and Dean paused their running to listen to what it was that Blade had heard .

They heard it soon , a mechanical purring , the kind that you would hear from a car that was resting with its engine on .

There were other golems on the scene already .

Blade put his a finger on his lips and then began to make weird signals with his other fingers .

Dean knew the first one had meant to keep quiet , he was going to assume the rest meant for them to do as he did .

They followed Blade as be led them between the houses , putting distance between them and the golems .

When they were finally afar off , May burst into laughter .

" Dean , that was epic . Were you always interested in archery ? How did you think to do that and so fast ? Five minutes ago , you did not even know where you were ", She sounded impressed as she accessed Dean with new found interest .

Dean shook his head .

He had never even seen a bow or arrows before .

" That was my first time with a bow ", he told her.

Blade whistled and laughed too .

" But , did you see the look on the golem's face ? We make an awfully good team ", May commented with a loud whoop .

Something had been bothering Dean about the golems .

Earlier , there had been three of them .

One of them had left the scene even though it had seen that people were still alive and just now , that golem had looked like the AI incorporations of what a grudge would look like .

The golems were too logical .

He had to read his dad's journal to know everything he could about them .

They had reached a park that was deserted like the rest of the town .

It did not seem like such a great idea to be in somewhere so open , somewhere they could be easily spotted .

" Let us have lunch by the playground here , I am fuckin famished ", May yelled and ran ahead .

May skipped off , humming as she went , leaving Dean and his complaints with Blade .

" Don't you think it is too open ? We would be easily spotted from anywhere ", Dean stated as he looked around them .

Blade chuckled .

" It is perfect .The other players all stay hidden to avoid the golems and other rogue players . The golems know this , so they only search places they know people would be hiding , they would never come here though because they would not think anyone would be stupid enough to hide here".

Blade also skipped off while Dean pondered If he had been mistaken and he had not just heard Blade refer to himself as stupid .

Dean followed them into the park .

May had already settled down and was eating a protein bar , Blade sat next to her , rummaging through his bag .

Dean sat opposite them , thinking .

Blade eventually brought out something that was wrapped in a brown paper bag .

He opened it up , it was roast chicken that still had about three quarters to be eaten .

Dean watched them eat , none of them seemed interested in the other person's food .

May finished her protein bar , drank a little of her water and turned her attention to Dean .

She probably wanted to know why he wasn't eating but Dean didn't think he had to answer that .

" You know I have been thinking about it for a while now Dean ....."

May trailed off and Dean was sure she had just began to think of it and there had been no 'while'.

She pointed at Dean's boots and then his clothes and eventually his hair .

" You look different from us . Your boots are cleaner , your clothes are less wrinkled and have almost no grease or blood stains , your hair is still fresh and most of all, you don't seem to have met other people ".

Dean blinked , all she had said was true as he had also noticed that the other people he had met had made alternations to their clothes but what did that have to do with anything ?

" When did you start the game ? "

Blade interrupted here , putting down his roast chicken that he had practically been nibbling on instead of properly eating .

" Come on Kid , everyone started the game at the same time , I'm sure Dean too started yesterday ".

" Yesterday ? "

Dean looked between both of them .

" Uh oh ".

Blade sounded like a child when he said words like that .

" I knew it , I was right . You started playing today . But how ? ", May asked .

Dean blinked .

He had thought the game was a little too intense for something that had started a few hours ago .

It made sense now and how everyone seemed to have been acclimated to the game .

" I used to attend night classes and work during the day , so I did not have much of a sleep schedule , I must have slept the whole first day off ", Dean acknowledged .

Blade and May burst into more laughter , clapping loudly as they laughed together .

" Wait.....does this mean he could have slept for seven days and just won ?" , May asked loudly .

Blade answered with more raspy laughter .

Dean slung the bow across one shoulder and the satch of arrows he had snagged at the last minute on his other shoulder .

They were nice people but he had other priorities .

He stood up , they both stopped laughing and looked up at him .

Blade wiped his mouth with the under of his sleeve .

" Come on Friend , it was funny and we need to rest from our meal or at least take a short nap , of course not as long as yours ", Blade commented .

They both started to chuckle again .

" Thank you both for everything . I will leave now , there is really no need for us to team up", Dean said to them as he moved .

Blade swallowed while May looked at him like he had just committed the next big betrayal .

Dean turned around and walked away , they did not call out to him .

He walked into the cluster of trees behind the park and just kept walking , he had to admit the fact that he had slept a whole day off was embarrassing .

He stopped walking , someone was lurking behind him , hidden amongst the trees .

He turned around thinking it was probably May or Blade .

A boy of about his age stepped out holding a rifle that he held around his shoulders , he had also turned his clothes to nothing but rags , his auburn hair rested in a man bun above his neck.

Sad impersonation of Tarzan boy really.

People might think he had been living here all his life.

" What do you want ? "

Tarzan boy frowned .

" Come with us quietly ".

Us?

Dean tried to turn around but it was too late , someone slapped the back of his head with the blunt butt of a gun .

Pain erupted at the base of his head.

Hadn't the he just said quietly ?

Was this the new idea of quietly ?

Dean scoffed with indignation as his eyes closed painfully.