Survival Games

The Training rooms

              It quickly became evident the day after that whatever the were training for, they should be prepared. The "training room" was a massive 20x20 open space with grassy expanses and the first sunlight I had seen for days. There were rooms off the main courtyard, filled to the brim with weapons, dummies, and ammunition. All the "contestants" were free to roam, but most of them just stood dazedly in the courtyard. The voice, who I now call Jon, only gave the simple message: TRAIN, and hadn't spoken to us yet. Of the few who were exploring the rooms, I and Jane were two of them. We had already decided earlier that we were going to team up, so we could expend all of our energy looking around and talking.

         "So", I said, "What do we do now?"

         "Well", she replied, hefting a sword, "Let's try some sparring. It's obvious we're going to be fighting in some way"

         I lifted an ax and swung it towards a dummy. The ax glanced off and didn't even leave a mark on the thick leather. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Think fast!" The club I swung at her was caught clumsily on her sword. And so we started sparring until we could somewhat wield our weapons. The other contestants lingered around the edges at first, but then one stepped forward and asked us if he could join.

        "Sure, pick a weapon", Jane said.

        "I'll take a bow"

         Jane tossed him a re-curve and a stack of arrows. He caught the bow but missed the arrows, which spilled off into the grass. He cursed and picked them up. Jane and I jumped forward and helped, Jane blushing and apologizing. Finally he got all the arrows and shot one at a target near the end of the courtyard. It missed, but just barely.

        "Wow, how'd you get so good?"

        "I'm not really sure. My name's David. I hope"

        "I'm Jacob, she's Jane. We're a team"

        "Oh. I haven't got a team yet."

        A small voice called out from the crowd. "I'll be your teammate"

        An equally small girl came through. She was holding two knives, both of which were about 16in long.

         David had time only to smile before Jon came back.

         ALL CONTESTANTS RETURN TO THEIR CELLS