Refinement: A War of Europe

Chapter Four: West: Trepidation Quarters

 Eloise~ West (England)

My pupils widened. There must have been light somewhere for me to cling on to. But, there was none. I held Arielle’s hand tightly. I was not ready to die, but I couldn’t tell Arielle that I was thinking that way. I had to appear strong, because she was.

“How much longer?” She pleaded. My eyes drifted to where her voice originated, and I pressed my forehead against hers.

“When these lights come on, distract the gunners.” She nodded. I felt her shaking, or was that me?

“Ready?” She stammered. Before I could respond a flash of white light exploded from the ceiling.

“GET DOWN!” I yelled. I tackled Arielle to the ground before a bullet could lodge itself into her brain. The whole room is made to resemble a strange field. It seemed to be a large screen stretched along the walls and ceiling, and projeted onto the screen was a sky with moving clouds. Under our feet was fake grass. A gust of wind made my hair fly back.

“Distract them.” I hissed. Arielle’s eyes shone with adventure. She stood, and zigzagged through the grass. I took in my surroundings. A screen, like a television! A television has to be plugged into the wall. Kyle always had trouble figuring out how to work the TV. Kyle is married to Mother. Mother told me when we departed, “Eloise, it is just a game.” Games always have cheats. There was a loophole. If I turned off the screen, there would be no light.

“That’s it!” I shouted. A bullet grazed my shoulder, and another my leg.

“What is it?” Arielle puffed. “Getting kind of tired here.” I searched the ceiling for any flaw. There had to be one. Somewhere.

“ELOISE!” Arielle shouted frustratingly. On the wall closest to me, about three feet above the floor, there was a black square. I rolled to it, and pushed it in. The screens were turned off. All I heard were the confused mutters of the shooters. Apparently no one has ever figured that out. Stupid.

“Run!” I yelled. Arielle caught up to me and smiled.

“WE WERE AWESOME!” I grinned back.

“Yeah. We were pretty great.” I grabbed her hand. We collapsed in the break area. We were allowed sixty seconds to recuperate.  

“I was dodging those bullets like a pro.” Arielle snickered to herself. I laughed.

“Yes, yes you did!” We did a quick fist-bump, then stood up.

“Maybe we CAN do this, Eloise.” A gust of hope filled my lungs. Maybe she is right. Maybe I will make it though the Trepidation room alive. The door swung open, telling us that it is time to master the fiery pit.

“Let’s do this thing!” I grinned and we almost skipped out of the door. Immediately, we were greeted with intense heat. Smoke filled my lungs, and my eyes burned with tears. Arielle coughed beside me. I see a pit with flames licking the side. A wire about as thick as my hand stretches through the middle of the abyss.

“You want to go first?” Arielle teased. I coughed in response.

“EW! What is that smell!” Arielle exclaimed. I sniffed, my nose turned towards the ceiling.

“That’s gasoline. That must be how they feed the fire.” I stated.

“Wouldn’t it be great if we could STOP feeding the fire?” Arielle said through a pinched nose.

“That is actually a good idea, Arielle!” I strained my eyes to see any glimpse of light besides the fire, and there was none. It seemed like we were standing in a large space, but I couldn’t really tell how far the black walls went. I shuffled closer to the edge of the pit, careful not to let the flames lick my foot.