No Longer A Game - Sidemen FF

Chapter 8

CraftBattleDuty
Today we're doing Minecraft HTM.

Vikk's doing 7 Days To Die by himself so the lagoon is uncharacteristically quiet.

"Hey Lachlan!"

I look up at the shout from where I was doing some fishing. Mitch sprints up to me in his iron armor, and comes to a stop beside me.

I reel the line back in. "What's up?"

"It's Vikk," Mitch says, a serious note in his voice that I am unused to.

We head back into my house and sit down. I leave my fishing rod in a chest.

"What about him?" I ask cautiously.

"I'm worried about him," Mitch admits. "He's not himself."

I sigh. That's what I've been stressing about all week. "I'm worried about him too."

"Do you remember the first night they all stayed here?" Mitch asks nervously. "Well, Vikk-"

"Wait," I say. "Maybe we should get the Pack down here first. See if they've noticed anything and share what we have."

"Good idea." Mitch nods.

Mitch holds up his arm slightly and types quickly on the miniature keyboard strapped around his lower arm. My watch grows hot and I check it to read Mitch's message.

Bajancanadian: Pack members, please report to Lachlan's house.

I scoff at the message and write my own.

CraftBattleDuty: This is serious. Please hurry.

We wait a few minutes as Jerome, Preston and Rob trickle in.

"What's this about?" Rob asks.

"It's Vikk," I say.

"Have you noticed anything different about him?" Mitch asks cautiously.

Rob frowns. "Yeah. Is it just me, or is he not getting enough sleep? He's had nearly a complete week to rest, taking it easy, and he has giant bags under his eyes and acts really tired."

I scowl at my lap. I'd noticed that too. I thought I was being paranoid. "He's having nightmares," I admit, biting my lip. "Every night. He wakes me up a few times each night unintentionally with one. I sometimes have to wake him up to get him out of it."

"Do you know what about?" Preston asks, completely serious for once.

"He keeps saying one name in his sleep," I reply. "Gudjondaniel."

Scowls form on the members of the Pack's faces.

"We don't really know what happened still." Jerome sighs.

"Let's talk to the Sidemen about this," Rob suggests.

"Yeah," I agree gratefully.

"One more thing," Mitch requests.

I nod at him to go on.

"The first night they came to us," Mitch starts. "Vikk slipped to the bathroom at night, when he thought everyone was asleep. When he came back, he was really pale and he looked sick. I asked him if he was okay, and he said he was fine."

Mitch pauses. "His voice broke. When he said that. He looked so lost."

"Also," Rob starts, hesitating. "He lets me bandage his wounds. Most days I do them because I'm better than him at it."

Rob hesitates again. "There's a bandage around his wrist. He never brings attention to it, but blood seeps through it, and I know it's an injury. He got it that night. I've asked him multiple times to let me change the bandage when I'm doing his other bandages, but he refuses to let me."