The Game

It's All in Your Head

Chapter 6- It's All in Your Head

  It had been twenty-four hours. Twenty-four hours of hearing those blasted wolves behind us, and fearing for our lives. We would run, or walk, as we had discovered they would not catch up, for two hours, and when the footfalls of the wolves had diminished and we believed they had fallen back we would rest for as long as we could. The most time we had for sleep and eating was forty-five minutes before the wolves howls would appear behind us once more, ever closing in, and we would be running again.

 We had only barely managed to keep going north, but we had not found trace of a trail or a way out. And any minute now one of us would collapse from exhaustion, dehydration, or just plain fear. I was more liable for the third option.

 “I can’t do this anymore.” Jessie said to me conspiringly, as though she was afraid someone might over hear. “When my heart isn’t pumping from running, it’s beating out of shock.” She dropped down beside me and leaned back against a tree. Sweat ran down her forehead.

 “Same here.” I agreed. “But there isn’t anything we can do.”

 “This has to be a nightmare.” she said almost to herself. “This can’t be happening. It only happens in movies, you know?”

 I angled my head back, staring at the places in the branches overhead where little beams of sunlight leaked through. “We’re going to survive.” I whispered, but then said louder. “We’re going to survive. You just have to stay smart, okay?”

 She scoffed and I was sure she was about to spit out some sarcastic comment when an argument caught our attention.

 “I’m just saying that this is nuts!” Allison exclaimed. “We can’t keep running forever.”

 “I am in agreement with her,“ Anthony said. “We must come up with an alternative.”

 Claire rose, her brother following suit, and said, “But at least they haven’t caught us.”

 “Yet,” Mikey grumbled.

 “Eventually, they’ll give up.” Samuel said, but he didn’t seem confident. “They’ll start chasing something else after a while.”

 “When we’re all passed out dead from running for three straight days?” Allison barked. “Not happening.”

 “We’ll die if we don’t stop soon!” Jessie said as she, too, joined the discussion.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Samuel asked, frustrated.

Everyone was at a loss for words, as it appeared they had not thought that far ahead. What was visually evident to me, however, was the fear in their eyes. They truly were terrified of the outcome if the wolves caught us, and if we could never stop running long enough to try and find our way out. As I noticed this, never once did it cross my mind why I was not as panicked as they were.

 Nate, who had been watching the conversation for a while, stepped up. “It’s simple.” He said, “We have to let them catch us.”

 Everyone seemed to hold their breath as one, staring at Nate’s calm, collected features. Even Greg, his loyal companion, was a bit skeptical. “Dude, are you crazy?”

 Nate looked down at Greg, puzzled. “Do you think we have another choice?”

 Greg’s eyes widened as though it were obvious. “Anything is better than letting them get a hold of us.”

Anthony, always eager to insert his opinion and extensive knowledge on useless facts, said. “Wolves are usually very peaceful creatures, and only attack humans when antagonized. But the behavior of these wolves is completely out of character, and they will most likely kill us when they find us. We would have no chance against a pack of wolves.”