we play games with guns (valorant)

chapter 1

They were in a car.

Where was this car going? A practice session, they said. But no guns. Put the Ghost back in your locker. No guns.

The car jolted after their chaperone made a sharp steer, sending the four agents forward where they were caught by their seatbelts. Neon caressed the stiff felt with her thumb, biting her lip as a feeling of anxiety welled up inside her. She was skeptical. She turned to the person beside her and caught her attention with a gentle prod. Jett started, leaping a little in her seat.

Jett looked nervous. Her jaw was clenched, making her cheekbones bulge and pale lips disappear underneath her philtrum. It seemed to be a pause of eternity before she uttered an off-guard, "What?"

Neon was going to answer Jett's absent-minded prompt but she froze. She reassessed Jett through low-lidded eyes. The girl wasn't in a good state and she was worried that she would pass out if they had a training.

They were intruded upon by men in black suits and ushered into the long black cars. Thirty minutes ago.

It was Yoru who had encouraged them first. He had gotten a text message. Hey, guys, come check this out! "What's that?" Brimstone had said. We have to get somewhere right now. Do the others know about this? No. Wait, let me send it in the group chat.

Only nine of them were going.

The others already got their weekly practice in, so Yoru yielded to their tired whines. Thus the other eleven stayed home.

Neon gathered her bearings and tried again, "Where are we going?"

Jett inspected her. "I don't know." The words rolled off her tongue smoothly but they were clouded like she was in a trance. The white-haired woman tugged on the hem of her loosely fitted jeans. They rested sloppily past her ankles, wrinkly and baggy. Neon vaguely noticed that her hair was matted and unruly.

There was someone beside Sunwoo. Neon peered over Sunwoo's shoulder at Raze and heard her state, "There's a course somewhere along this street, or something. It's a training. Er, where are we going, Yoru?"

Yoru caught her curious gaze and flashed a grin. "They said the countryside of Texas. A little off from Fort Stockton." He kept going. "You know, they say it snows there once every ten years. When it happens; chaos."

Neon shifted her eyes to the back of Yoru's head. They had passed GreenEx practice range. They were several blocks past it, in fact. A silence filled the air like a choking chemical mist and Neon couldn't help but feel disturbed.

It was dark. 2:19 AM was when the men showed up. Yoru was awake because 'binging Netflix movies'. Neon figured he was the first to know the guys were coming, but she was still uneasy.

Tala pinched her skeleton watch. 3:30 AM. She understood that sometimes they had to cram in a bunch of practices- even at ungodly hours- but what kind of trainnig was this far from Headquarters?

Killjoy was sitting in the middle row of the Civic, eyes guarded against the flashing gleams of passing streetlights. She was turned to the side, her right shoulder supporting her weight as she dozed off. Her chair was so reclined that Raze had to fold her legs in half where her knees rested on the back of the seat, ruffling her silky pajama pants.

Neon looked past Jett to see the Brazilian woman. She strained her eyes to make out the bunny images plastered all over her pants. Cool.

She felt so out of place that bringing attention to herself felt like a danger. It may have been because she was half-asleep and staggering like a cripple the whole way out of the house, but she knew better.