Rules of Survival | afi

day three

One of the hardest battles we fight is between what we know and what we feel.

•••

I wake up to the sounds of birds chirping, which gives me a brief false sense of security. I'm warm, my back up against Ashton's, laying down on my side with my face pressed into the old mattress.

I must have passed out.

Ashton is asleep too, though he begins to stir as I do. Thankfully, Michael and Wren are up, and I can only pray that they didn't notice our carelessness.

I vaguely remember dozing off and waking up again to take post at the window, shooting down one person but missing their partner. When I couldn't find them I assumed they crawled in a ditch to die and laid back down again. Guess I didn't get back up.

For the first time since I've arrived at this competition, I feel a little at peace. The warmth of Ashton's body is slowing my heart rate down, and I don't really want to move.

Nevertheless, I have to. As a force of habit, my hand goes to one of the knives on my belt, eyes making a quick sweep across the room before I get off the bed. Ashton wordlessly rises as well, stretching out before starting to gather his stuff. Michael pokes his head in the door.

"Oh good, you're up. Thought I would let you sleep. We're leaving in five." He says, keeping his voice low, quiet.

I give him a thumbs up, and he leaves. After throwing my gun over my shoulder and helping Ashton get our gear together, we follow him.

***

It only takes us about an hour to make our way to the new safe zone, which is even smaller than the one before. There's still 250 of us left, and the strategists just keep pushing us closer and closer.

Based on the map, the only major landmarks still available are the massive forest a good three miles north, the observatory building a few miles south, and a single abandoned power plant between the two. We decide as a group to find high ground just on the outside of one, set up a small shelter, and pick people off as they come and go. Both me and Ashton have guns now, and Michael's crossbow can reach a target well over a hundred yards off.

The power plant is the consensus, it seems.

We move slowly but carefully, keeping alongside buildings and crouching down through tall grass. So far, we haven't seen any other contestants. Everyone is keeping themselves fairly well hidden. For now.

We arrive at the power plant around mid afternoon, sweat pouring down our backs as we walk through the gates. It's huge, several large tanks rising a good four stories high. A maintenance building and a research center are the only closed structures on sight. Looks like our high ground is pretty self explanatory.

"I'll go up first." I say, adjusting the straps of my bag on my shoulders. The only way to the top of the cylindrical tank is by a single ladder going up the side. "You guys keep watch."

"Are you sure?" Michael whispers, staring up at  the top of the tank with apprehension all over his face. "What if there's somebody already up there? Or on the others? They'll see you."

"If somebody was up there, we'd be dead already." Ashton replies. "They would have seen us come in. This is our best option."

He's right.

I hope.

Swallowing hard, I give one last nod to the group before gripping onto the ladder rungs, starting to head up.

My muscles are still sore from the events of yesterday, so it takes me a good two minutes or so to even get halfway up. I grip on the rails with more force than necessary, my calloused hands taking them one by one.

I'm almost ten yards away from the top when I hear a high pitched whirring sound, and before I can even register what's happened pain is flaming up my back and my fingers are slipping off the rungs.

In the blinding flare of the moment, I barely recognize Ashton yelling my name. One second I'm secure on the ladder, the next I am falling. It's almost as if I'm going in slow motion, my torso on fire as I wildly throw my arms out, struggling to grab something, anything that could catch me.

My hands slap against rung after rung as I desperately try to stop myself, effecting slowing my fall but not stopping it. Nonetheless, I'm unable to grab one, and within mere seconds my body is slamming into the ground.

There's yelling all around me. My ears are ringing. Everything in my body feels like it's on a live wire, I can't move, my vision is warped with images of Ashton's yelling face, shouts to find cover, moving dark figures headed our way, and the point of an arrow sticking out almost cartoonishly from my torso.

Someone grabs my arms, dragging me away, away, until I'm suddenly over the threshold of a door and under a roof. I've started to gain control of my limbs again, and I rising to a kneeling position, spitting blood out on the ground. I struggle to get my now damaged gun into my slippery fingers.

"They're coming." Michael says lowly from across the room. "We have to-"

The window beside the door breaks in a sea of broken glass, something metal and hard rolling across the floor to the middle of the room. Before any of us can react, the smoke bomb goes off.

We did exactly what they wanted us to. Now we're trapped like mice.

My vision is immediately clouded over, and all I can hear is a high fuzz as the toxic gas fills my lungs. My gun drops from my hand as I start to cough uncontrollably, fresh blood slinging out from the wound in my stomach.

Chest burning, I struggle to see through the madness unfolding in front of me. Ashton is on the floor too, clutching his chest, Michael fetched up against the front wall. Wren is nowhere to be found.

In the midst of the smoke, the door slams open, a dark figure moving to stand in its wake. The smoke clears to outside just enough for me to get a glimpse of the person's face, and my throat goes dry.

"Well, well, well." Luke says, smirking. "Look what we have here."

•••

hehehehehehe

so excited for this next chapter but it's gonna be dark y'all prepare yourselves. also it might be early idk yet

anywhoooo ilyall i hope y'all have had a great week. see you soon and stay rad

Xoxo

~Camryn