The Hollow Game.

Chapter Sixteen

Boom! Heads turned towards the sound, eyes straining to look past the trees. Silence, not even crickets chirp or birds fluttering. Nothing. Eyes dart around, wildly categorizing everything before hesitantly continuing on. They had reached an area where the water hadn’t reach; the ground firm and barren by feet and time.

Slowly the noises resumed. She turned to Sally, noticing her ever present scowl was deeper, her eyes blank. JD seemed just as worried, his brows furrowed and the wrinkles around his eyes prominent. Leaves fluttered loose, spinning and twirling around her like a wildfire. Boom!

Everyone paused, breath held and limbs frozen as they searched for the source of the noise. Boom, boom, crunch! She gagged as acidic smoke filled the air. Her brain screamed to move, to fight, but her legs were frozen in place as the smoke thickened. “Move,” someone screamed, voice muffled. “Get away, the smoke has to thin out somewhere!” It felt like there were manicals around her wrists and ankles, holding her in place. Gathering her strength, she jerked and ran toward the left, vaguely hoping others were following her. She had never been alone much and didn’t really want to start right now.

More screams broke through the haze, muffled and difficult to determine who was who.

She had a fairly good guess, though, and her throat tightened as the trees ahead of her blurred. Sally, Lottie, Derek. Ace had been the first one but she was confident that Jackson had been the last one she had heard. Neither had sounded injured but she wasn’t placing any bets that they weren’t-- she wasn’t lucky enough to win.

Panting heavily, the gray fog shifted, the images no longer black shadows but actual objects. She took a deep breath the second the smoke cleared around her. Leaning against a tree, she stared at the farther fading smoke, hoping the others were alright. Crunch, snap! Her breath stuttered to a stop as she whipped around, wincing as the bark dug into her skin. Nothing. She turned back towards the cloud, carefully not to scrape herself farther. A quick glance showed thin, raised lines, some unbroken and others budding with dots of blood. Her dress was dirty enough that she didn’t trust it to use as a makeshift bandage. No water, either, which meant no ability to clean the wounds. She scowled, eyes narrowed as she swiped her hands roughly over her dress, getting as much of the dirt off as possible. She then wiped at the scratches, smearing blood. She grimaced, her fingers tacky and brown, dirt and blood mixing uncomfortably. Snap, snap, crunch!

Voices, familiar laughter. She spun around, ready to tell Sally and JD all about her brief time alone, but stopped in her tracks. Her mouth opened and closed, her mind blank and eyes glazed over. A beat of silence and then a voice, amused and angry, chuckling quietly. She took a deep breath, throat tight and chest heavy, and let loose a short, muffled shriek. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the man whispered. She blinked rapidly, feeling tears running down her cheeks and a hand, rough and calloused, clasped casually over her mouth. He had moved quickly and quietly, she hadn’t even realized he had moved to begin with. “If I let you go then you have to be quiet,” he warned. She nodded rapidly, a memory of her father’s favorite bobble head coming to mind as he released her. She quickly stepped back, trying to gain some distance from him. “Good,” he took a step back also and the crushing weight in her chest lightened just a bit. “Now then, where were we?”

Her arm hurt, her throat burned, and she was fairly confident that she was going the wrong way somehow. Coughing, she tread cautiously across the ground, wincing as rocks dug into her feet. She paused, ears straining for any sign of movement.

Nothing. Swallowing, she continued on, stopping every few steps to judge whether there was anyone close by. Tree root, sharper rocks, a slight hill.

The air still smelt terrible, harsh and burning and just plain heavy; the ground a dry, gritty mess of sharp, almost glass-like pebbles and rocks. It was disorientating to navigate, leading her in circles and jagged, criss-cross lines. She wanted JD beside her, his voice calm and soothing her worries. She wanted Kitty bouncing ahead, her optimism shining like a beacon. She wanted to talk with Lily about books and Lottie about holographic advancements; Jackson about the best food and Derek about robotics.

Milo’s constant but not smothering concern, Ace’s creepy cackle, Binks’ ever present silence. Hell, she would even take Tara and she wasn’t overly fond of the girl.

Anyone, she would take anyone, just to find someplace that wasn’t drenched in smoke or rocks.

To help alleviate the blooming nausea and piercing heat simmering just below her skin. Her hands were clammy enough that when she swiped them repeatedly over her dress they left damp spots and they shook terribly at her sides.

Breath coming out in shallow pants, she stumbled forward, feeling tree roots and dry leaves crackling under her feet. Spinning around, she planted herself on the ground. Screw walking around, it was clearer her, she knew that much. The air was lighter, the scent of burnt popcorn and grass and sweat fainter. She could wait for someone to find her, it was safer than going off in a random direction and then completing multiple circles. She shifted, hands out in front of her until she felt cool bark under her fingers. She used one hand to brush rocks out of the way then inched forward enough for her palm to rest on the tree.

Someone would find her and she wasn’t going to make it harder than it needed to be.

With that she turned around carefully and leaned her back against the tree. Closing her eyes, she focused her attention on her surroundings. If anyone came around the outer circle of trees then she would call out. They would find her, they would.

The smoke stretched out farther than he had expected it would. Trees looked like thin, looming people and bushes appeared as squat guardians, each one ready to attack at a moments notice.

He turned around, eyes skimming the dense fog for moving, blurred figures but spotting none. He wasn’t too worried, though. Everyone had scattered in different directions, yes, but he had full confidence that they would find each other. Crack, snap!

He jerked his head around, nostrils flared and eyes narrowed into slits as he slowly reached for his knife only to stop at the last second when he remembered that it was still missing the hilt. Reaching down, he patted the ground until his fingers bumped against a decent sized rock. Snap, snap, crack!

Swallowing, he crouched down and edged forward, the rock snug in his hand. Eyes never leaving the smoke, he shifted his weight and waited until the sound came again before lunging. A scream pierced the air, sounding much closer than it probably was. Eyes wide, he blinked as a muffled thump sounded. Numbness spread from his hand to his shoulder and he absently realized that he had let go off the rock in his lunge.

Another scream pierced through the haze and he jerked back as sharp pain replaced the numbness. A quick glance around, eyes landing on the thinner areas of smoke before he sprinted back into the thicker part. No time to waste, a smirk spread across his face. Challenge accepted.

Everyone had ran-- which was good-- but now she was alone, which was not. Who would she talk to and joke with? What if she found something cool or interesting? At least nobody was hurt, of that she was sure. Blood was a fairly easy thing to smell, especially in a place it shouldn’t be. In the middle of the woods isn’t as out of place as in an abrupt smoke attack.

And that’s what it was-- an attack. Whether it was done as a part of the second phase or not, she didn’t know. It could’ve simply been a trap from previous Games that had just never been triggered before. It had to have happened before. The smoke thinned until she could once more see something other than shadows. She paused, brown eyes narrowed as a branch broke behind her.

“Hello? Binks! Lottie? Anyone there?” No answer. Chewing on her lip, she squared her shoulders and marched back into the fog, eyes trained to the ground.

There, laying innocently under one of the shadowed trees, was the broken branch. She blinked, a small chuckle escaping as she bent to examine it.

Stepped on? No, deliberately snapped. “Hello, anybody there?” Ears strained, she closed her eyes and focused on the branches hanging above her. Nothing, just a slight rustling as the wind picked up, ready to help dispel the rest of the smoke.

Pursing her lips, she stood up and retraced her steps until she was once more out of the fog. The wind rattled the leaves and bushes, making her silently curse. It would be harder to find out if someone was following her. The leaves masked footsteps quite well, especially if they were already being extremely quiet to begin with. She grinned, eyeing the forest like one would a particularly hard puzzle or riddle.

The smile slipped as a scream echoed around her. Oh no. Not paying any attention to her possible stalker, she darted to the left, trying to locate where the screamer was. She thought it might have been Lottie but didn’t want to place bets. All that she knew was one of her friends was hurt, possibly dying, and she wasn’t right there trying to make it better.

You shouldn’t have told everyone to run. Look what you did, hurting an innocent person. What kind of friend are you to leave them alone? She scowled and shoved the doubts swirling around to the back of her mind. Now wasn’t the time for them.

Another scream and she changed directions, careful to jump over any stray branches to make as little noise as possible. She didn’t want to lead a would be stalker to her possibly injured friend. She ducked underneath low hanging branches and jumped over exposed roots and bushes, her grin returning slightly at the exorcise. Nothing like running either towards or from danger to get your blood pumping, she thought. Silently hoping for another noise, she slowed down long enough to glance both behind and above her, making sure she hadn’t been followed. No new noises, nothing out of the ordinary. She turned back, eyes closed and grin bigger. Nothing would be wrong, everyone would be fine and they would find each other. Suddenly her body came to an abrupt halt. Pain slammed into her and she was pretty sure that the liquid on her lips wasn’t spit. Blinking past the dark spots, she stared blearily at the sky and leaves above of her. She blinked again, hoping to clear up the last of the haze and dizziness.

She swiped the back of her hand under her nose, absently wondering how she could have ran into a tree. They were fairly far apart in this area and even if her eyes had been closed she knew that there should have been exposed roots, at least.

Shrugging, she sniffed and stood up, again swiping her hand under her nose. She didn’t think she had broken it, thankfully. Then she walked into the sky. She stared at the smear of red across the trees and open sky. Hesitantly, she placed her hands against the area, hardly believing it as they stayed in place.

Another scream broke the tense silence but she didn’t move.

We didn’t escape, she thought numbly, staring at her hands braced against the carefully painted wall. We never escaped at all.