The Adaptive Game

"HELL ON EARTH"

- Conner

Limping away from the battle, I feel the strike didn't just cause a bump on my leg. I could have critically injured myself but I'm not sure.

It's getting dark out and I suspect things don't get better in the dark.

But without any help I won't be going anywhere. My leg could be broken for all I know.

The timer in the sky says 12 hours have passed. A few people have died already - Shaun, Emilia, Tim, Gavin, and Jean are still alive.

I hear a loud sound behind me. It doesn't sound like it's from a human.

It's the storm.

Simulated snow storms, I assume. But snow isn't usually green.

I need to move, now!

While I'm limp running, I feel something caught up in my leg - the healthy one.

"Huh?"

It's a barbed wire snare trap.

When I try to tug it off my leg, it tightens even more and starts to slow me down about twice as much as before.

"Ah, shit!"

I can't just run with this attached to my leg - I would probably die on the way home.

The storm gets closer and I have to do something quick. So, I take my cursed dagger and cut the snare trap off me. But before I realize it, I get caught up in the blizzard.

It seems like a normal, icy snowstorm at first, but it tastes extremely toxic.

No wonder you shouldn't be out at night. The snow tastes awful.

All jokes aside, I start feeling really sick. The stomach-wants-to-kill-itself sick.

Before I even know it, my body goes with natural instinct and takes vomit out the chute.

Okay. This is bad.

The toxins obviously get worse than this. If I keep breathing it in, I could throw up an entire organ.

So, I place my hand over my mouth and keep walking. But not long after it starts making my eyes burn.

The eyes-are-hit-by-a-molotov burn.

I can't live like this. I need to do something!

"Unnnh..."

What was that?

Someone is here!

Getting close to the sound, it's Jean. He's been shot in the chest and it looks like he's lost more blood than he can handle.

Opening my mouth for a moment, I yell to him.

"Jean, are you okay?!"

I can barely hear him under his emergency respirator.

Wait. Emergency Respirator?

I reach out to take it off his face, but he squirms and shakes his head no.

What is he gonna do with it?

Live?

What does it make me if I take it from him?

"Sorry."

I grab his head and release the respirator from his head. Then, I put it on.Only after a few seconds of exposure he starts yelling. But, the relief in my stomach and lungs is unreal.

"PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T LET ME DIE HERE!"

The thing is, I can't do anything for him unless I give my own mask up.

I can't do that.

"I... Rest in peace, Jean."

With a quick motion I sink my cursed dagger deep into Jean's neck, and pull it out. I can listen to him choke and bleed out from his neck. And I don't want to hear any more. So I limp as fast as I can back home.

I never thought it was physically possible to make it to hell on earth.