The Price of Life - A Novella

Chapter Five :: Playing with Morality

Simone steps through the stalks, attempting to separate them softly. The dew settling on her arms makes her skin tingle. Footsteps trample in from her left and she stops, ducking from visibility. A mixture of laughter echo from different directions as the rapid strides exit on her right. Picking up her pace as her skin numbs, she comes to a minor clearing with a rusty, brick-colored hatch hidden beneath dry fallen stalks. 

Kicking them aside, she bends to pull at the handle.

"Thanks for finding my exit." His voice is dark and raspy.

She looks over her shoulder at an average-looking man with messy blond hair mopped around his gas mask. Her eyes drop to the crossbow beside the 12 on his white t-shirt. She puts her hands up and steps away from the hatch. "There are others."

"This is the first I've found, so I'm taking it. Alone." He steps towards the exit. "Makes no sense for everyone to live if there can only be one winner at the end, anyway. Why not let you die now before things get too hard?" He stops beside the hatch. "No hard feelings right?"

Simone's heart races. Pounding through her ribcage. The rush of anxiety in her chest builds, becoming a heavy stone. "It's yours." Her voice as miniature as she feels.  

He opens the hatch and descends, closing it behind him. A hum followed by a click locks the hatch. 

Simone lowers her hands, releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Turning to look around her as footsteps come and go in all directions.

There's no way to track in here. Every sound echos off walls she can't see and her team has turned on one another, causing stampede like trampling in multiple directions. She rubs at her arms; her skin is numb except now, under its deadened surface, it prickles and crawls. 

"You're not going to survive like that."

She spins around, coming face to face with strong green eyes. His bow hangs in his hand at his side, dripping blood from the used arrow's point.

"So I should be more like you?" She spoke without thinking, regretting her choice immediately. She thinks back to the deadly arrow shot between that contestant's eyes. 

"Fifteen minutes remaining." Helen's voice rings. 

Surprisingly, he chuckles, looking behind him before he disappears, only to reappear with - a dazed - Obbie in hand. She wears a mask, but her knees wobble like an infant. He gives her a light push into the clearing. Simone catches her.

"Oh my god, Obbie are you okay?" She hangs loosely over Simone and gives a weary thumbs up.

"If you gonna take responsibility for someone, you should be a better babysitter." His tone is similar to the one he had given to his sister when they met. 

Simone hesitates before answering. "Thank you for finding her."

"She found me." His answer is empty of visible emotion as he disappears again. 

Simone pulls Obbie through the stalks on the opposite side, leaving her thoughts of Emmerson in the clearing. Her arm wraps tightly around Obbie's waist as they move, causing them both to fall when she loses her footing. 

Instead of standing, Obbies settles into the ground. "Thanks," she whispers muffled through her mask. 

Simone gives her a modest, reassuring smile. "I feel like you would have done the same for me. It didn't feel right not trying."

Obbie musters a chuckle that ends in a harsh cough. They sit beside each other, Obbie rests her head in her hands, curling up beside Simone. Silence resonates between them - and around them.