Rewind

Chapter Three

My only thought as the horde of monsters is about to trample me is: run. Run because my life depends on it.

I spin around and start booking it, praying for the life of me that the group isn't far behind. The mobs are already gaining ground and I can hear the dozens of feet stomping loudly on the ground as they let out battle cries.

Then, as one of the monsters jumps on me, the group comes in my line of sight.

"Help, you slowpokes!" I practically scream at them. I'm pinned to the ground, and I struggle to pull out the g*n on my side as the monster on top of me shrieks and starts to dig its yellowed claws into my back.

"Arm your weapons and attack! Remember, we can't get through the stage without killing them all!" they all brandish the few different weapons they have, and start shooting.

"Finally, thank you," I grunt to the white sweatered kid as he helps me. My back burns as I stand, thanks to the stupid monster.

"Focus on taking down the other mobs!" he replies.

Unfortunately, I had to work with them. A few people died and I could hear the angered screams of agony coming from someone else, who probably knew whoever died. Something I wanted to avoid, since it just ended in more casualties. But, it got the job done. The horde was soon nothing but a bunch of glittering away bodies, and of course everyone cheered. At least I'm alive.

"Will you let me patch up your back?" the white sweatered kid comes up to me, holding a backpack probably containing medical supplies.

"I can do it myself, thanks," I reply, wanting to get away from them as quickly as possible.

"You know, it's stupid, the way you act," he continues, putting down the back and starts pulling out a bunch of items from the pack. He got what he wanted-a roll of bandages-and stood up again, obviously not taking no for an answer. "I'm trying to help you because you're human and people should work together if they want to survive."

"I'm fine, don't concern yourself with me."

"What the heck is wrong with you? Your luck's gonna run out one day, and you'll regret not accepting help!" He looks away, and he says something I can barely hear. "I don't want to be the cause of another death."

Now I get it. This guy worries himself over everyone's well-being, and he's adding me to his list. I bet he feels it's his fault that a few people from his group died because of the monsters. Something stupid to blame yourself on, and it's burdening.

"Let me make sure you don't get an infection, and I'll let you wander over to inevitable death."

"Ugh, whatever. Fine." I roll my eyes and plop down, and he follows suit behind me.

I soon have bandages wrapped on my back and the stinging has dulled to a throb. To be honest, I probably wouldn't be able to patch myself up alone, and I really would've gotten an infection, so I guess it was a good thing he helped.

"Okay, you got what you wanted, now I'm gonna continue on my way."

He sighs and stands up with me. "Okay, fine. It's pointless, but whatever."

I start my way down the gravel path, but he runs up to me.

"Wait a minute!" he stops me in my tracks. "There was no way you could've taken down all those monsters yourself, right? That means everyone had to work together to kill them. What if the other challenges require that?"

"Well, either I'm gonna end up dying or I'll just have to wait for you guys to catch up."

"W-what?" he stuttered. "That's really stupid! It's simpler to just stay with us! Why are you so defiant of that?"

"It's none of your business!" I snapped. He was driving me off a cliff. "I don't care if I end up needing your help! I'd rather wait and possibly die waiting tham be with everyone!" I quickly walked away but I got a glimpse of his face. Shock, anger, sadness, and most of all, guilt.

I hear him sigh and turn away and walk back to his group, who were all watching silently. "Pack up and let's head out! Break's over!"

Twenty minutes later, I'm at another roadblock. Great. This time it's some sort of puzzle. There are walls surrounding the whole thing, even taller than the maze's walls from yesterday. There was a large blue button on each side that probably makes something come out from the rest of the wall, and since it's a button, it'll probably be timed. A walkway, maybe? There's a pit a few feet away from the buttons, and I can see a soft orange glow emitting from it. Lava. Now that I think about it, where does this stuff even come from?

I lean against the edge of where the huge wall begins and wait for everyone else. The last person I want to see is the kid with the white sweater, but like he said, I don't have much of a choice.

"A puzzle?" I hear a few people say when they arrived. A lot of them shot glares at me as they studied the structure and others ignored me, like the white sweatered kid.

"Hey, Noah! Who should stay behind and hold the buttons so the others can cross first?" calls someone to the white sweatered kid. So that's his name.

"Let's see what they do first. And don't worry, it's not a sacrifice-type thing. There's buttons on the other side." Noah walks up to one of the buttons and he looks at me. I'm next to the other one. I get out of my leaning position and we press the buttons at the same time.

Everyone goes quiet as we hear mechanisms buzz inside the massive walls and platforms that are all different and are spread out variously pop out.

"Okay... looks like we're gonna have to do a bit of parkour." Noah stares at the platforms with spite.

"I'll go!" calls a kid, and she jumps onto the first platform on Noah's side. She seemed pretty nimble on her feet, and she quickly made it across.

"Alright, everyone start going across, one at a time!" people start jumping on the platform son both sides, and unfortunately, a few didn't make a jump and fell. I looked away as their screams were cut off abruptly.

Finally, everyone except Noah and I were across, and two kids on the other side were holding the buttons. Noah nods to me and jumps to the first platform, and I follow suit. Both sides are different, but they look equally hard and I'm already struggling while Noah makes it look like a piece of cake.

Thankfully, we both make it across with me only slipping and almost falling off twice. Of course I let out an embarrassing yelp both times, and I don't feel much anger when the others where were waiting snickered.

Everyone continued down the path afterwards, and I walked several feet ahead of them and killed most of the monsters for them, but left a few behind so it won't be too easy for them. To be honest, the mobs weren't anything life-threatening. Only when there are large packs of mobs. Everyone after the parkour challenge survived to see the next day.

When I got in bed that night, I kept thinking about everything. I've been having this daily dose of challenges for as long as I can remember, but what's the reason? Did someone create this? What's the point? Is everyone's purpose to living here just to survive the somewhat difficult challenges we face each day?

I fell asleep to these discomforting thoughts and had a dream.