Rules of Survival | afi

day one

If they stand behind you, protect them.
If they stand beside you, respect them.
If they stand against you, defeat them.

•••

We're only in the air for about twenty minutes before the island comes into view, and the second we cover land the sides of the hovercraft open and our wristbands wurr to life.

Immediately, people start jumping off. A good thirty just in the first five minutes. I stare down at the map on my wristband, watching as the little dot that represents me glides over the abandoned cruise ship, the dark forest. Just when we start to get to the middle, where all the buildings are, Ashton gives me a nudge.

"It's dead center of the map. Michael and Wren might have jumped. Let's go."

I don't argue with him. We shove our way through other contestants to get to the edge, where the rapidly passing island stretches out down below. My heart is racing.

"On three." Ashton mutters, looking over at me. I nod. In a last minute freak decision, I grab his hand. He gives me a look, but doesn't protest.

"One." He starts.

"Two."

"Three."

I step off the hovercraft, and the floor is gone.

Ashton comes off with me, and immediately my stomach comes up to my throat and the sense of falling consumes my entire being. I've let go of his hand, but we're staying within ten feet of each other, the air biting at our faces as we plummet to the ground. There's a good dozen other contestants that jumped off with us. It's not until Ashton's parachute releases that I realize I actually have to do the same, and my shaking hands scramble to find the handle on my back before grabbing it and yanking the parachute free.

I shoot upwards, slowing to a manageable pace. I'm can hardly breath through the mixture of terror and adrenaline running through my veins. Ashton looks over to check on me, and I give him a thumbs up, before pointing to the house below us on the ground. He nods, and I slowly slip into battle mode as the ground rapidly approaches our bodies. I have lost most of the control of the parachute, and it veers me off to the side at the last minute.

My knees hit the ground first, my whole body rolling forward in the dusty ground. I scramble to my feet as Ashton lands next to me, my ears ringing and my eyes darting around the immediate area for anything I can use as a weapon. I hear more contestants touch down around us. At least six, give or take a few.

The house is too far away. I'll get tackled before I make it. There's a board in the grass, a rock next to my hand.. and a machete. A machete, not even three feet away on a bench near the fence.

I think Ashton's calling my name, but I don't pay attention. There's someone else going for the blade. Everything is a high fuzz as I lurch forward, scrambling up onto the wood and wrapping my fingers around it's hilt just as the person reaches the bench.

It's a boy, his strong grip jarring as he catches my wrist. I use my free elbow to slam it down on his arm, breaking it, before bringing the blade up and slicing through his throat in one clean cut. His blood splatters my face, and my wristband buzzes. First kill.

The screaming has already started. My kill's partner has already collapsed in convulsions on the ground, while the others face off around him. I wield the now bloodied machete beside me and look for Ashton, finding him slamming the blunt end of a 2x4 into a blonde girl's skull.

"Look out!" He yells, and I whip around just in time to dodge the huge rock sailing straight at my face. It's thrower is already getting too close for comfort, but before the girl can snatch up another rock an arrow impales her through the neck, sending her crumbling to the ground.