Only Ones Who Know

viii.

A/N: unedited, so sorry for spelling and grammar mistakes. Enjoy reading!

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THE PILOT.

"It wasn't the elephant," Mike says as he points to object in Will's grasp, "it was me." 

Dustin is the first to reply, "great! So, what do we do now?"

Lucas looks at him weirdly, as does everyone else, "we almost got killed. It turns out we went there for nothing. I died because of that cake." Lucas says in an exasperated manner, and [Name] stands from the hammock, leaving El to rest.

"Maybe the game level broke or something, because we had complete characters the moment we started the game." She says as she sits beside Will and in front of the kitchen area. Will sighs.

"Yeah, I guess that explains it. But let's all just rest for now alright? It's been a long day." He settles back on where he sat, and everyone agrees silently. Mike robotically headed to the kitchen to make something, and Dustin watches him before piping up.

"Whatcha making, Mike?"

The boy smirks with a mischievous glint in his eyes, "margaritas."

[Name] stands up almost immediately, "woah, woah! We're minors!" Lucas shuffles to Mike despite her protests, curious as well. El just blew a raspberry as she plays with something in her hand. Seems like El is too tired to tell the boys off, so [Name] decided to try one more time, "we can't do these levels if we're drunk."

"Who says we'll be drinking until we're drunk?" Dustin retaliates, "plus, its not like there are adults here." He snickers with Lucas and Mike.

"I don't think this is a good idea..." Will mumbles to the girl beside him, who replies with a 'ya think?' look. He laughs awkwardly in reply. Deciding it won't be worth it, she decided to snoop around, finding trinkets and other household items like pans, a radio, and a small stove. She starts to wonder how long the Alan Parrish guy lived in the game under such dangerous conditions. Along with this, she realizes there's a chance Alan Parrish might still be alive somewhere or six feet under. She hums in thought. Did he play the game with other people too? Or, was he alone?

With all these questions, her head start to hurt, so she settles again beside El who welcomed her. They laid parallel to each other, silent for a moment before El speaks, "how long do you think we'll be here for?"

Their conversation is cut off for a moment when all four boys spat the alcoholic beverage, releasing disgusted noises as Dustin screams about it burning his throat. Even Will who's supposed to keep them in line is coughing at the taste. The two girls just just rolls their eyes.

"I don't know, until we finish the game?" [Name] sighs, "my parents are going to be so worried...my dad is literally a whole ball of anxiety..." thinking back on her poor father, she wonders how he's taking the news. Out of her parents, her mom has always been the most calm headed and composed. 

El huffs, "tell me about it. My dad's gonna kill me!" She covers her face with her hands, groaning. [Name] rubs a comforting hand on her shoulder, smiling reassuringly. Before she could say anything more, Mike shouts to gather everyone's attention.

"Guys! I see a trail!" 

El is the first to stand, helping the other girl up as they walks over to where the boys are. They did see a trail, but upon closer inspection, it leads somewhere down and deeper into the jungle. Lucas is the first to speak up, "well, the sooner we finish the game, the sooner we go home."