“Not running, then?” he sounded disappointed. “Your funeral.”
He brought his gun back up, aiming at me, but I rolled along the ground, pushing myself up to my feet. WhenI turned my aim on him again, we were in a deadlock. Tension hung in the air, both of us with our index finger on the trigger, ready yet dragging the moment out, waiting for the other to break.
But neither of us did. Instead he started chuckling.
“A brave one, aren’t you?” Instead of circling around each other, he took one long step towards me, closing the distance between. “That kind doesn’t last long here.”
“Ethalyn, get out; I’ll cover you,” Lionel ordered, but I ignored him.
Why was the stranger acting like he knew something I didn’t? He was here for the very same reason, trying to escape starvation. I mimicked him, taking a step forward, and looking him dead in the eyes. “You would know, since you’re stuck here as well.”
His eyes seemed to darken, I saw how his hand shifted slowly. He was preparing to shoot me.
A siren went off, blasting our ears, but we both pulled the trigger and shot each other simultaneously.
The man lowered his gun first, flashing a cocky smile. “I’ll be damned. You’ve got some balls, shooting a Sergeant.”
I froze, shock filled me, as I slowly lowered my weapon. “What?”
“What better way to test recruits than being part of the game?” he looked amused at my reaction. “Name’s Rohan, welcome to the beginning of your end.”
The Sergeant brought us to the meet-up spot, walking through the fences of barbed wire and passing security guards. Not a word was uttered along the way, but Lionel and I kept exchanging glances of confusion.
The trials were held outside of Crowrun, leaving us in the middle of the forest. Or at least that was what we had thought. Walking out of the perimeter, we were soon met by buildings we had never seen around before. One looked like a large worn-out warehouse, some windows broken,others covered in dust and dirt. The building itself was dark grey, hard to miss if you knew where to look for it.
“Where are you taking us?” I broke the silence first.
Rohan didn’t even look back at us, as he waved his hands to the two soldiers standing in front of the door to the building, signaling them to open.
“Did we qualify?” Lionel pushed on, irritation lingering in his voice.
“Just get inside,” Rohan sighed, his brows furrowing in annoyance, as he waited for us to enter first.
I straightened myself and passed him. The light was dim inside, barely illuminating the space. Wooden boxes were piled to the sides, and in the middle was a wide, open space. People stood around, waiting and anxiety hung thick in the air. As we stepped in, heads snapped in our direction.
I heard an echoed snort, my eyes instinctively darted towards the sound and my shoulders sank in disappointment.
Eve was in here too, a part of her chin slightly burnt from our little bomb accident earlier. I guess she successfully removed it before it went off… Too bad. She eyed me up and down, her eyes filled with disgust. The feeling was mutual.
Had we failed then? Surely she wouldn’t have made the cut.
As if she heard me, she stalked a few steps closer to us as we continued towards them. “Look what the cat dragged in.”
“Yeah, I’m disappointed the cat didn’t eat you,” I muttered.
She crossed her arms, placing her weight on one of her feet. “They must be desperate for meat-shields, since they’re recruiting you.”
We hadn’t been crossed off the list? I glanced over at Rohan, who started lighting a cigarette, ignoring us completely.
“Wake up princess. This isn’t playing war anymore; as soon as we get out of here, nobody is going to care about you,” I scoffed, glaring at her.
“Excuse me? Why don’t you get back to your little cottage and eat a rat,” Eve barked, her arms dropping to her side, her hands balled into fists.
Something flared in me, my throat tightened as my skin felt like it was set aflame. My hands tightened and I wanted to snap.
But I couldn’t.
I had to hold back, Ihad to. My hands trembled, my nails cut into my palm.
