THE LAST GAMES: PROJECT PANDORA

CHAPTER XI: T H E G A M E

I'm just finished realising Ethan is still here when the doors burst open. The guys walk in, bouncing a basketball; along with pretty much everyone in the camp.

"You're here." Dawn says matter-of-factly. It's obviously a big game if everyone knows about it.

"Yep." Jacob replies. Leo walks a few feet behind him.

"What teams are playing?" I ask, not even sure what the teams are. I'm not even sure what team I'm in.

"Serpents v Gods." Jacob answers.

"And who are those?" I ask.

"Cabins Seven and Eight are Serpents. Nine and Ten are Gods." He replies. I think ten people are too big for teams, but what do I know about basketball.

Of corse, I'm just a sub. I think it's funny that at the end of the world, a few sixteen year olds that are the last of the human race are just playing a game of basketball. The score is twelve to fourteen. To be honest, I haven't been paying much attention to the game. I think the Gods are winning, but I could be wrong.

Then Leo comes up to me, completely out of breath. "You're on."

I run onto the court of makeshift painted lines. Jacob has the ball and is cornered by Georgia and Ben.

Ethan is yelling Jacob's name for Jacob to pass to him. "Jacob! Jacob, over here!"

I decide to join in. It's fun shouting. "Yeah, Jacob! Pass to me! Jacob, over here!"

Ethan puts on a fake angry look. "Hey! That's my line!"

I start laughing. Then the ball hits me in the head. Jacob must have thrown to me. Ben runs towards me and grabs the ball before I have time to react. He dribbles down the court and throws. I hope it doesn't go in. My breathe catches in my throat as it rolls in a circle twice around the stone-carved ring. But to be honest, I'm not sure why, because I'm not really that sort of person. It looks like the ball is  about to roll in, so I tap it a bit with my telekinesis. Just enough for it to fall out instead of in the hoop. I look up at the stadium and see that everyone that's not on the field or waiting to go on is up there watching. The whole camp is here. This makes me nervous. The score is still twelve to fourteen.

"What are you doing!?" I hear Jacob shout at me while running for the rebound. At first I panic because I think he knows about me using telekinesis. Then I realise he's talking about me just standing here and "not helping".  Unfortunately Ben gets the ball first and shoots again. The score is level now - fourteen all. I get called out as a sub again. They say it's because everyone needs a turn, but I know it's because I'm horrible at basketball. I walk off and Kate runs in, looking determined. I start focusing more on my thumbs than the game. I'm not a fidgety person, but I'm also not a sporty girl either.

Twenty minutes pass before I look up at the game again. I don't know the score, so I ask Gab from cabin seven, who is subbed next to me. He gives me that how-can-you-not-know look before replying with twenty-four both teams. I turn my head just in time to see Sage shoot the ball into the hoop.

"Make that twenty-six to twenty-four." Gab says. I hear him shout out. "Go Gods! Only thirty seconds left!"

Jacob jumps and catches the ball before it hits the ground. He dribbles right down to the opposition's side and pass to Leo, who scores a goal.

Then everyone starts shouting the countdown together. "Ten! Nine! Eight!..." Kate grabs the ball again and passes to Leo. "Seven! Six!..." The whole opposing team charges at Leo as he aims. "Five! Four! Three!..." He shoot the ball. "Two!..." And the ball hits the board before bouncing into the hoop. It's a goal! "One!" Everyone cheers and the crowd goes ballistic. The Gods won! I run up and pat Leo on the back. I think it's good to have a little fun at the end of the world. I wonder if we misinterpreted basketball a bit. It doesn't seem completely fair that a team can just keep scoring goals in a row. I guess it makes no difference.