The White Games

24) Chapter Twenty-Four

#8 Clarice Barron – Day Six - 6:02 AM

The island is still bathed in darkness when I wake up. There is no natural light. The sun has not yet risen, but the moon has disappeared. The only light at all comes from the lighthouse on the cliff above me, the lighthouse that serves as beacon for all.

I need to find someone to become my ally. I don't really have anything else that needs to be done. I need an ally. And perhaps I can take someone else's ally away at the same time. The tracker goes live at noon. Noon is still a long way off. But I can still get an ally before. I need to get an ally before then.

I freeze as a bright red light flares up into the sky over the forest. An airdrop. Well, that's probably my best bet to find someone. Possibly multiple someone's. I'll go check that out, but I have something else that needs doing first.

I slip my night-vision goggles over my head, the darkness instantly evaporating as everything takes on a sickly green glow. I can see. I doubt anyone else can. That's my advantage.

The forest is dead silent as I head into it, searching for the path that will take me up the cliff. Twigs crackle under my feet as I walk. My breath fills my ears. So silent. Are there any animals on this island? I can't recall if I ever saw any before. I think I did. But thoughts can be deceiving.

I remember what Mr. White spoke about last night. Or more of what he showed me. That white mist had effected many of the other Challengers, but not me. I was never hit with the blast. That was an advantage I had yesterday, but I hope it's an advantage that carries over for today.

It takes some time, but I do manage to find the old, dirt path that runs up the side of the cliff along the winding path. Instead of taking the path itself, I stick to the shadows just off the side of it. No one will see me approaching unless they're really searching.

A little more than an hour passes by the time I actually reach the lighthouse. By then the sun has finally risen, the first tendrils of light reaching through the cloudy sky and basking the island in an orange glow.

My vision begins to fragment and I take off my goggles with a soft curse. Stupid sun should have stayed down longer. No matter. The lighthouse is right here.

I run my fingers along the side of my trident, wondering if I should sneak in or wait for someone to come out. I know that someone is inside. That's obvious. Well, guess I should take the obvious route.

I approach the doors, taking very little effort to hide myself as I do so. My hand reaches for the door, testing the knob.

It's locked.

"Damn." I mutter under my breath, sizing up the large door. Could I break it down? Possibly. But it would not only alert whoever is inside, but it would take me a lot of time. Time I don't have.

"Wh-who's out there?" A voice calls out from behind the door. It's deep and masculine, so there's only person left on this island who it could belong to. Chris. "What do you want?"

"An alliance!" I react quickly. Thoughts race in my head a mile a minute. How to spin this to my advantage? "Everyone needs one to live." I wait, running my hands nervously over my trident. I wait for an answer.

Silence.

Then a response.

"Maybe...Put your weapon down. Then you can enter." There's an uneasy tremor in his voice, as if he's not certain about anything that he's actually doing. I suppose he must have been effected by that mist from yesterday.

"Okay. I'm doing as you asked."

I don't know if he can see me, but I don't want to take the chance that he can. I spin the trident around in my hands and slam the pointed end into the dirt. Chris can't hurt me, can he? I had dropped to #8 in yesterdays rankings, but there had been twelve people left at that point. Four people had died since and now the rankings are down. So who can kill  who? How does this work? I really have no idea.