What Game Will You Play

Chapter 35

(Edited)

It feels like we have been walking for hours.

My feet hurt. My head hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts.

I do not mention this to anyone since I know I am probably not the only one hurting. Aiden and Theon keep saying that the Jumper camp is just a few more miles ahead, but it feels like we have walked halfway across the world.

Most of what we have walked through has been woods. Sometimes, we come across a stream or a road, but most of the time, all I see are trees, branches, bugs, and dirt.

I walk with Devin only a few feet behind Theon and Aiden. The rest of the group walks a few feet behind us, and I can't help but feel sorry for them. Every time I look back to see how they are doing, their lifeless eyes look back at me, and I can't help but be reminded of the eyes of the dead people behind the show tent.

"Are you ready to tell me what happened in there?" Theon asks.

"No. I want to wait until we are farther from Treegrass. I don't want any of the shooters to go searching for us and find us sitting on a tree trunk telling stories," Aiden says. "I want to put as much distance between us and them as possible."

We keep walking, and the thick forest of tall trees eventually starts disappearing until all that is left are tree stumps—a whole lot of tree stumps. For what looks like miles, there is a clearing completely devoid of trees. Just the bottoms of cut-down trees and tall grass are seen.

Aiden and Theon lead us across it, and I can't help but wonder what went on here. Who cut all these trees down, and why?

"What is all of this?" Devin asks.

Aiden answers, "I don't really know for sure, but someone at some point in time cut all the trees down at some point in time. From what I can tell, this used to be a whole forest until the trees were taken away. The stumps don't look that rotted, so they were probably cut down only ten years or so ago. My guess is that The New World did it, but honestly, who knows."

I can't stop staring at it. All these stumps everywhere make me want to cry. It feels like someone tried destroying my own home. I can't imagine all the trees in Treegrass ever getting cut down, they show our history, and they are part of who we are.

I almost trip several times because I am too busy looking around the open area rather than looking at where I am stepping. I can see more trees in the distance to the left, but they are far, and only a few of them exist.

It takes us about forty-five more minutes of walking before I can see trees up close again. The tall trees look like a wall bordering all the cut-down trees. It is as if the people who cut them down decided to draw a line, and all the trees on one side got cut down while the others got to remain.

When we walk into the woods, I quickly realize that the terrain is different here than in Treegrass. The woods here are denser and more challenging to walk through.

"Watch your step!" Theon yells to the group.

Aiden looks back at the group calmly and says, "There is a road up ahead, so the walk will get easier. Our camp is not much further now, maybe about an hour or so."

"It would have been nice if they had brought the ATVs back after they dropped the injured off," I hear Theon mumble.

I try not to think about the pain in my feet, and instead, I try to focus on where we are heading. I do not look back or around at our surroundings. I just focus on what is ahead of me and where my feet are going.

About another half an hour passes when Theon speaks again. "So, do you think we are far enough that you are ready to talk about what happened to you guys in the carnival?" He asks while glancing at Aiden and me.