Rewind

Chapter Two

...We finished off the huge monster and the small group that saved me cheered as the body glittered away.

"You're welcome," said a kid wearing a white sweater.

"Uh yeah, thanks." I put my claymore away and start down the path.

"Off on your own again? Why can't you just stay with the group and try not to get yourself killed?" He jogged slightly to catch up with me.

"Because I don't like working with groups."

"Do you know how stupid of a reason that is?" he scoffs.

"Do you think I care?"

"It won't make a difference if you aren't with a group since if you're behind the group, the group does all the hard work, and if you're ahead, you take the bulk of the problems and end up letting the group catch up."

I sigh. "Listen, I'm not joining a group because someone always gets super sappy when someone else dies and I don't have time to deal with that."

"Seriously? What do you expect their reactions to be? You're ridiculous." he turns away. "Okay, we don't have much time left so let's continue!" his group gathers together and they start down the same direction I was planning to head. Well, guess he was right.

I stay several feet behind them and continue down the same paths they take through the maze, though I make sure to check that the way they are heading is as correct as I can check it to be. At one point I come across a tripwire and felt a sense of deja vu, but I didn't activate the trap and continued.

Finally, just as the Sun started to touch the horizon, I heard cheers from the group up ahead. I killed a monster that was about to pounce on me and started walking faster, wanting to get out of the stupid maze as quickly as possible. I soon reached their voices and saw the exit, making me feel giddy, so I ran the rest of the distance.

"How was slacking off working for ya?" said the kid from before.

"I killed some mobs as well, you missed a few." I avoid eye-contact.

He scoffs. "Whatever, you're welcome, again." he turns to the group. "Alright, let's head to the bonfire!" everyone sets off.

The bonfire is just a meeting place for every group number. We all get to the bonfire at relatively the same time since everyone completes the same task-which wasn't super bad this time-just in groups to make sure no one goes haywire on each other. Everyone has a filling meal next to the fire, which usually consists of some type of meat with vegetables, but everyone seems to enjoy it. I't probably the best part of their day.

I hear several people chatting, laughing, having a good time. The stress of completing the task is gone, and no one seems to be thinking about what's gonna happen tomorrow. I guess it's a good distraction.

I grab a plate full of food and sit down a few feet away from the fire, hoping it doesn't catch the grass on fire. A slight breeze passes by as I start to chow down, and someone approaches me. The same kid from before.

He sits down next to me and starts eating as well. "You know, you're different from the rest." he says through a mouthful of food.

I roll my eyes. "Oh great, thanks."

He swallows. "Everyone here prefers to work in a group, yet you seem to do things alone. Why?"

"You barely know me. Why do you care?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Neither did you."

He puts his plate down, sighs, and stares at the fire. "Because I'm trying to help. Aren't you terrified of dying? You don't come back. It's not like you get a second chance."

"Everyone's terrified of dying! There's just... something else that I'm scared of as well." there's silence between us.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with groups, huh?" he glances at me.

"It doesn't matter." I stand up and walk to a trashcan and throw away the plate full of half-eaten food.

"Good job, contestants!" the voice from this morning calls through the megaphone from the tower behind the bonfire. "You've survived! Now that you've had your meal, it's time to head to your cabins and rest up for tomorrow! Don't forget, the challenges get harder as you go!" The megaphone cuts off and people start cleaning up, chatting loudly as the fire starts to fade.

Pretty soon, everyone heads to their designated cabins and you see the lights click off from the windows. I try closing my eyes, but I feel wide awake. It seemed like that guy cared. He was acting like a leader, which is honorable. I don't recognize him from my past challenges, so he must be new, though I don't really know how that works. It depends on our tattoo, so I wonder if his number was changed because he did something with a different group or some other reason. It's happened a few other times, where I'm with new people, but it doesn't really make sense to me. My rolling thoughts lull me to sleep and I finally get some rest, soon to wake up and start the next challenge.

"Hope you survive!" the voice through the megaphone finishes speaking and people head to their archways.

I go through mine and walk past the group who stood around the guy with the white sweater, and he called after me, but I just kept going. I already told him that I don't like groups, so he should understand by now. I even hear one of the kids tell him to just let me be, I was being a nuisance. What do you know, I thought.

There were only a few mobs on the path, and the ones that were there seemed slow and weak. I slayed them easily and continued down, but could feel my body get more rigid. Something's not right here. The I saw it: a horde of monsters. They stood in a massive clump, seeming to wait for people to come their way so they can eat them. There's no way I can fight them alone. It's almost as if they know I don't like to work with others and decided to tick me off and taunt me. Well, I guess I might as well try to fight back. The white sweater's group isn't far behind me so they'll come soon, and I can rely on them to help me take down the monsters, though I don't want to.

However, before they appeared over the slight bend in the path, the monsters spotted me, roared, and started charging. Crap.