“So? What’s going on? Anything new?”
Mesa launches herself onto the counter and sighs. “No, not really. It’s so hard to find people. I mean, at first everyone was just running to find shelter, but now that they have it, everyone is hiding. I haven’t seen David since the fire, so I have no idea what he’s doing. He might even be dead. Three people have died since then, and I haven’t figured out who two of them were. The one last night was Nicole. I found Jared up on the roof of BOB this morning and he told me she fell trying to climb the wall. He’s completely harmless, though. I can’t reach him, but it doesn’t look like he has any weapons. Plus he seems really upset about Nicole… He said Paige was there too, but she’s long gone. She probably went back to Nora… Someone is in the Humanities building, though. Or they were, anyway. The door is wide open. It won’t shut, either. Something’s wrong with the automatic button for wheelchairs or something.”
Madeline takes a sip from her water bottle and places it back into the room temperature fridge. “Mesa, I really appreciate you filling me in on everything, but you really shouldn’t be wandering out in the open like that. Eventually, you’re going to step into a sticky situation and get yourself killed.”
“I know,” Mesa sighs, “but I can’t just stay cooped up in here all day. I’d drive myself crazy! Besides. We have to know what’s going on; otherwise, we’ll never have a chance at winning this thing.”
“Yeah…” Madeline wanders across the room, staring at the blinds on the window. “You know, I’ve been thinking about that. Only one of us can win, right?” Her arms are tightly crossed.
“Well, yeah, but… we talked about this, remember? We’ll keep this up for as long as we can, then if it gets down to just the two of us, we’ll… play it by ear.”
“But what if I don’t want to play it by ear?” Madeline whines. “I could win this! The competition isn’t that bad, and a third of them are dead already. I know where they all are. I can just hunt them down, one by one…”
“Madeline… you don’t even have any weapons. I mean, there’s still two matches left, but you can’t kill all of them--”
Madeline turns around and points gun at Mesa’s head.
“Made-- w-where did you get that?”
“A sponsor gave it to me. You know what else they gave me? My mother’s finger! Her entire finger! They thought I needed some extra motivation to win, so they’re holding her captive. They said I could come and get her if I win, but if I lose, they’ll kill her!” Her face turns red and tears stream down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Mesa, but I’ve got worse competition than you that I need to get rid of.” She unlatches the safety and aims…
“Wait! Do you know how many bullets that thing has?”
“Fifteen.”
“Well, there’s eighteen people left in the games. Minus you, seventeen. You’ll have to kill two people without the gun. Let me help you! I can take the matches and kill two people while you go around with the gun. That way, if it comes down to it, you can still shoot me. I’ll let you. Just give me a fighting chance, please. I’ve helped you so much already.”
Madeline sighs and lowers the gun. “Leave it to the math major to be logical… Fine. Take the matches. Start with Jared. If he’s still on the roof, it’ll be hard for me to aim without looking into the sun. But Mesa -- If I run into you again, and you give me the opportunity, I will shoot you. Don’t get in my way.”
“You got it.” Mesa slides the matches off the counter and inches backwards towards the door.
“GO!”
Mesa opens the door, shoves the matches in her pocket, and runs.
YOU ARE READING
The Kairos Games
FanfictionIn this thrilling spin-off of the Hunger Games, twenty-six lonely college freshmen face up against their worst nightmare: death, at the hands of each other and cafeteria food. Who will win the dreaded Kairos Games? Will it be Becca, with her yellow...
