The keys

The Decision

We continue walking, talking, and laughing. I fear what will happen next, because you can never know. My stomach starts to grumble and I start to realize how hungry I am. I haven't eaten in days.

"Oh my god. Dude, i'm dying." I complain.

"What is it?" He asks.

" I'm sooooo hungry!!!"

"Ok, lets try to find something. Oh and by the way, i'm vegetarian."

"You did not just say that" I groan really loud. "How are we supposed to find food for you if you don't eat meat!"

"There is plants." He suggested.

"Ok but that's not going to give you nutrition and stuff." I said, "You're going to have to eat meat."

I saw the small tear in his eye. "Fine, but you owe me if we get out of here." He said.

I don't know what he meant by if we get out of here, there's only one winner. But I let it go with a sigh.

"This is going to be hard," I said, "we only have a small knife."

"We can find water and get stuff from there. It's a lot easier with a knife then without one."

I just nod.

He starts walking and I follow him, watching my feet as I walk. I hear the animals around me, chirping, whistling, crunching from their feet. I hear a slight crunch of a foot, not an animal crunch, a human crunch. I also heard a plane buzzing. What is going on?

Josh looks at me, he hears it too.

I motion to climb up the tree right besides us. I walk over to the tree and take a deep breath. I start climbing it, with Josh just below me, the keys dangling at my side.

When I reach the top, I sit in a position between two branches. Josh comes and sits next to me and reaches for my hand. I grab it and rest my head on his shoulder. The plane sound comes closer, I hear it. It gets so loud I have to cover my ears. I see Josh's eyes open wide with fear. I slowly look up, scared what I will witness. I see a hint of black behind the green trees. Propellers spinning.

"Why is there a plane? No one died?"

He grabs my hand and pulls me under a really thick cluster of branches. For one moment I think that they don't see us, but a speaker comes on.

"Emily Lander, stay calm, but we need to come get you from below."

WHAT??? No one is supposed to leave after the game starts.

The plane comes below and lands on the ground. I squeeze Josh's hand, but I stay in the tree line. Some men with guns walk out of the plane and point their guns a me. I whimper. Josh moves in front of me.

"Why are you here? She didn't do anything." He yells.

"Well," The woman in the front says, "She might not be aware but she is very important to this society, and we can't afford for her to get hurt." She nods toward me.

"Well then I need to go with her." Josh says as he wraps an arm around my waist.

She snickers, "Well i'm sorry Josh but as well as I am aware, you are still part of the game."

Oh no. I think. I can't lose him.

"No," I say. "I won't go with you, unless he comes too."

I wrap my arm around his shoulder.

"Fine." She sighs.

I know she's lying.

"Tell me," I speak through my teeth, "That you promise that you will let him go." She looks into my eyes.

"With him or not, you are going with us." She says calmly.

"NO." I say boldly.

I tighten my grip on him.

"Well, you can get down and take a risk of him going with us, or i can shoot you right fucking now."

"You wouldn't shoot me." I stare straight into her eyes.

She just laughs. "Wanna test me? I'll shoot you right in the head."

A officer speaks up, "We need her alive."

"Not with a gun you idiot."

She hold up a dart. Sleeping gas.

"Or," She know she won with this one,

"I can kill him." She nods toward Josh.

I kiss Josh and walk to the trunk of the tree.

"No." Josh says.

I climb down the tree and stand in front of her.

"I can't let him get hurt."

She nods, but then I hear a gunshot, and the world becomes pitch black.