Companion

Chapter 23: Go Time

The first thing I notice besides the sticky and slippery mud on the Arena floor and the fact that it's stopped raining and the sun is coming out is a glass box that's actually a room. Edge is strapped to a chair with a gag keeping him silent. He looks at me, bright red, sweating, and shaking, with so much pain in his eyes, it breaks my heart and stomps on the pieces. I can tell it's taking every bit of energy he has in his body to keep it together. I waste no time. I can't dwell on stupid emotions. There's a puzzle projected on the glass wall separating us. I have to slide the blue squares around in order to get the red square through the opening on the other side.

I slide, then fix, then work, then step back, and fix again. I try my absolute hardest to tune everything out. The noisy, cheering crowd, the sunlight striking the glass and stinging my eyes, Maddy working away beside me, probably way ahead, the fact that my sweaty palms are leaving visible streaks and squeaking loudly as they pass over the smooth glass, and, most of all, the hyperventilating Edge strapped to the chair. I tell myself none of it is happening, and it halfway works as I move pieces back and forth, not exactly sure of what I'm doing. They never taught me how to do any of this in school. Except for maybe the tuning out part.

My eyes flit over the screen. My mind is going crazy. I tear off my jacket and throw it on the ground in frustration, earning loud cheers from the crowd. Thousands of strategies stream through my mind all at once, and I have to close my eyes and hold my head to calm down, and to protect myself momentarily from the elements.

Deep breaths, Hunter. Calm down. Stay strong.

Then, I figure it out.

I open my eyes, which begin to water from how tightly I was shutting them as well as the addition of the bright light of the sun hitting my eyeballs. I make the mistake of glancing over at Maddy, who looks to be almost done. I panic and look down, closing my eyes, trying to remember what I was about to do.

In my head, I can see myself solving the puzzle. I can see my hands moving each piece as vividly as if it was a memory. I look up and move the pieces back to how I remember them. I force myself to look only at the glass and not through it, and it occurs to me that this task isn't so much designed to test my problem-solving prowess as it is to test my ability to control my emotions. So I turn them off.

I have recently become an expert in numbness on command.

Quickly, I slide the projected pieces across the glass. As I get closer and closer, the cheers of the crowd grows louder and louder. I glance over and see Maddy watching me, trying to copy what I'm doing. I wish there was a way to angle myself to block her view, but there isn't.

Finally, the red block is free. I allow myself to watch Edge as I slide it across. The door slowly swings open. I back up so I don't get hit. Once the wall has about a Hunter-sized opening, I sprint right at it, and hurl myself over, falling on my knees next to the chair.

"Don't worry, Edge. I've got this," I mumble. It's mostly for myself.   

I start on the gag, but quickly stop. I know that if I take it off, Edge may say something to make me panic. So, despite the wordless protests from Edge, I start to unlock the strap around his right ankle.

Style-wise, it's a similar sliding puzzle to the one on the glass, only with more tangible metal. I slide piece after piece until I free the first one, then begin on the second one. It's beginning to become less and less difficult to block everything else. That is, until I get to the locks on Edge's wrists.

His hands are trembling so harshly, it's extremely difficult to move the pieces, and even harder to block him out like I have been doing. I look at his face, and I can see the feverish sweat dripping his forehead, and it looks like he's struggling to keep his eyes open, as if he's about to pass out any second. With my left hand, I firmly grip his clammy hand, and with my right, I solve the puzzle.

Quickly, I steal a glance at Edge's face. His eyes are now focused on my work. Reassured, I become less distracted, and the lock comes undone. I run to the other side, grab his hand, and begin working again.

"Stay with me, Edge," I say, "I'm right here. This will only take a second." And it does. This puzzle seemed infinitely easier and I just barely register that all of my nerves that had clouded my brain before are being pushed away by rising adrenaline. While I work, Edge begins single-handedly untying the gag.

Once he's free, Edge practically rips the gag from his face and gasps for air. He attempts to stand but falls over. His arms and legs are shaking. I don't know much about these spells of panic, but it's easy to at least guess that his are intense enough to inhibit his most basic abilities. If he's trembling too much to stand, there's no way he's going to be able to climb the rope wall that looms in front of us.

"Hunter, we have to hurry," he gasps. I don't even dare to glance at our competition. I get down, throw his arm around me, and pull him up to his feet.

"You need to get that gun," Edge says into my ear. I nod and pull him to the gun stand. Edge pulls himself away from me and grabs the gun, but the fact that he's holding something makes his trembling a whole lot more apparent. And, selfish as it may sound, we don't have time for this.

"Edge, you're not going to be able to aim that thing anywhere," I say. Edge shoves the gun into my hands.

"They never said anything about who needed to do this part. Go." Edge gestures for me to move. I look at him for a second before running off. There's no time for bewilderment at this point.

As I run to the rope wall, I hear a gunshot and immediately drop to the ground, getting up as quickly as I can. In my mind, I wrestle with whether I should focus on shooting or climbing. If I shoot, it will give me more time. But I may not need the extra time if I go quickly enough.

I move in a pretty inconsistent line in an effort to make it difficult for Matthew to aim. I hear two more shots and run as fast as my legs are able to carry me, attacking the wall, being careful as to not get myself tangled in the harsh ropes. I climb up to the middle of the wall and assess the situation.

Since I haven't shot yet, Matthew has switched to the quickness approach and is also making his way up the ladder, allowing me a short window of opportunity to make my move. I raise the butt of the gun and fit it into my shoulder socket. Leaning my cheek on the gun, I look down the barrel and fire. I miss, but I come close. Shocked, Matthew looks up and starts fumbling for his gun as Maddy screams at him to keep moving. But she's too late.

I adjust my gun and take a deep breath, pulling the trigger on my exhale. I know I've hit him before anyone even reacts, and turn back to the ladder, glancing only briefly over my shoulder after they announce that Matthew has been hit. Maddy scrambles to recover the momentum, trying to pull the gun away from Matthew, who had fallen off the rope wall.

"GO HUNTER! GO!" I hear Edge shouting at the top of his lungs. I begin climbing again, even quicker and more determined than before. I hear a gunshot and freeze, bracing for an impact that never comes. I quickly look to see Maddie, gun ready, on the ground. She doesn't know how to shoot a gun. This is my chance.

"EDGE!" I yell. He looks at me intently. I can tell adrenaline is beginning to kick in for both of us. I take the gun and toss it to him. He runs to catch it and I turn back around to focus on getting up this wall before my arms give out and my hand get cut in half or something. My boots are so heavy. The sun is so bright. But I force myself onward.

That is, until, with the sound of a gunshot and a curse, the Tournament ends.

++++++++++

A/N: Sorry for yet another week with no update. This was just a very difficult chapter to write with all the action and details and such. So I hope you enjoyed it!

And if you did, as always please vote!

Also comment!

And consider sharing with someone who might enjoy it as well!

Thanks, y'all! Until next chapter!