The Odds | NCT DREAM

Chapter 16

Renjun let go of the girl as Jade took in the scene around her. Jade couldn't believe her eyes. There, sitting in the cave was Haechan, cooking some meat for them. Jeno was lying on the floor with his hands behind his head. The color had returned to his face, his eyes wide opened as he propped his wounded leg up on Jaemin's lap. Jaemin was sitting in the corner of the cave, sharpening a spearhead that was already attached to a long stick. Chenle had all these wired contraptions around him, Jisung staring at him as he fiddled with each of them.

Jade noticed that each of the boys had their jackets off, their gold bracelets casually sitting on each of their wrists as they sat in their olive green t-shirts. They also had their right arms bandaged in the same place Mark had cut her.

"Renjun, I think you're going to need to hold her as we explain." Mark said. Renjun nodded, helping Jade out of her jacket and windbreaker.

"Who bandaged this?" Renjun asked, holding onto her arm.

"Me." Jade responded, glaring at Mark. Renjun let out a small chuckle.

"You should have let him wrap it. Not going to lie, you did a pretty crappy job." Renjun said as he sat down, grabbing bandages from his bag.

"He's the one that cut it." Jade mumbled as she sat down beside him. Mark cleared his throat, gaining her attention.

"I cut it for a reason." Mark said, taking a seat as well. He looked at Jaemin who simply shrugged his shoulders. Mark sighed before deciding to explain.

"I cut the tracker out of your arm. It had to be believable so I led you to the wolf-mutt den, knowing that they'll attack you since they're already familiar with my scent." Mark said. Jade's eyes widened upon hearing his words. She tried to lunge at him but Renjun held her back.

"There's more, listen." Renjun told her as she glared at him. Jade let out a sigh, giving in.

"There's no cameras or microphones in here. Chenle disabled all of them, that's why we're in here and that's why its okay for us to show this." Mark said, sticking his arm up. Sure enough, he had the gold bracelet as well.

"It's a symbol of alliance. We all have them, each given to us from our mentors. What it means exactly, I'm not sure. I was just told by Yuta to wear the bracelet, find anyone else that has it and escape the arena." Mark told her.

"Then why did you cut my tracker out then?" Jade asked. Mark looked towards Chenle, who had his hand raised.

"That would be on me. When the arena breaks, the Capitol will find us easily if the trackers are still in. We also didn't want them to know we were all in here so I told Mark we had to remove them in some believeable manner before you got here. Why he took you to the wolf-den and added an extra day to your travel is a question you can ask him." Chenle said, a smile on his face. Mark rolled his eyes.

"Let's see you come up with some better idea." Mark said to him, making him laugh. Jade watched as everyone but Jisung wince at the sound of his laughter. She didn't blame them though, the male has a loud and high-pitched dolphin laugh that echoed in their enclosed space.

"Geez, give us a warning next time." Haechan said, turning the meat on the fire.

"Moral of the story is, none of us like the idea of the Hunger Games. It's a sick killing game and the eight of us are going to try to escape together. Are you in or not?" Mark asked her.

"I really hope you're in because we're going to have to kill you if you're not." Jisung muttered.

Jade turned to look at Renjun who gave her hand a firm squeeze. It was obvious that he had already agreed and now they were only waiting for her. The next person she eyed was Jeno. It was clear that these boys had nursed him back to health. Without them, Jeno probably wouldn't have been able to make it through the night.