Beta || Iancorn (NaNoWriMo 2018)

Chapter Twelve

Wes rushed to Mari's side and frantically checked her pulse, even though everyone knew she was alive anyway. 

"Matthew!" he called. "You're the doctor! Look at her!"

"I'm not a doctor," Matthew mumbled, but he did as the taller man asked anyway. He felt the back of Mari's head before standing up. "There's no bump or swelling, so she'll be fine. She should be up by nightfall."

Wes breathed a sigh of relief and kissed her hand, before picking her up bridal-style. "Let's get out of this damn cellar."

"And leave that behind?" Joven asked, pointing at the immobilized sandman that everyone had momentarily forgotten about.

It was a good question. They couldn't just leave it here; who knows how long it would take to dry. David had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't just let them freeze it without getting revenge. And he had no doubt that that thing would find a way to escape. The only reason it had probably stayed down here in the first place was because the gamemakers wanted them to find it. Now that they had, who knew what could happen.

Without saying a word, Damien unscrewed David's water bottle and walked over to the creature. He started taking handfuls of wet sand and shovelling it in. Once it was full, he grabbed his own, poured out its contents, and crammed more in. Eventually, every last piece of the creature was encased in plastic.

"It'll be able to escape that," Matthew pointed out.

"Not if we pour it down the well," Damien replied, pursing his lips as he shoved the bottles in his bag. "Won't get dry if its always encompassed by water."

"But then people would drink it," David pointed out. "It would find a way out."

"We don't need to worry about that," Matthew argued. "Whatever happens to these people after we leave isn't a problem. As long as they think we saved them, we're good."

"You are so lucky Mari isn't here to hear that," Joven replied.

"Speaking of Mari," Wes huffed. "Let's get her out of here. The last place she'd want to wake up in is this fucking cellar."

"Lead the way," Matthew taunted, stepping aside to let Wes shove past him. There were no stairs leading up to the trapdoor, or even a rope, and it was too tall for anyone to pull themselves up. They'd have to get out the way they got in; by jumping.

Wes went first. Seeing as he was a huge mountain of muscle, he easily managed to jump up and grab onto the ledge with Mari slung over his shoulder. Once he was up, Joven took a running start. It took him two tries, and Damien one. After three attempts, Matthew got up, and after David failed five times, he took pity on him and pulled him to the ground.

"You get more fit the longer you're here," Matthew assured him. It didn't make the embarrassment any less biting.

Mari had been carefully laid on the sand, with Wes kneeling above her. Araba had come over to check if she was alive, and seemed unsatisfied with the answer to that question. Everyone else stood awkwardly.

"So, what's our plan?" Joven asked after Damien had effectively shooed Araba away. "We need to have one by nightfall. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not planning on being here for the carnage without being prepared."

"Well, we already know how to take them down," Matthew stated. "That's step one."

There was a long silence as the four of them thought. Joven was right. From the way the sandman had reacted in the cellar, players were automatic targets. And David didn't want to face a horde of them empty-handed.

It seemed that you didn't need to cover them in water to immobilize them. An easiness only the first few levels would have, David assumed. It had only taken one water bottle to take one down, and it might be possible to use even less water. That made their weapon easily transported and usable.