Surviving the S.T.R.I.P. (ON HOLD)

Chapter Three

Brynn

I almost forgot to move. It wasn't until the screams of people dying filled the air that I could shake myself out of my stupor and forced myself to move. I would die if I didn't. My heart pounded nearly out of my chest, and breath was becoming more and more difficult to come by.

Slowly I stepped out onto the field where I would probably die. Already, screams of death invaded my head. I knew I needed to stop worrying about death and start focusing on trying to live. I jogged around the Strip, examining the land for anything it could offer me to help me live. I made sure to keep well away from the other people fighting by staying close to the wall surrounding the area. Since everyone already left their rooms, the walls had lifted again and formed one solid border around the Strip.

Two people flew past me. The first ran for her life, her long blonde hair flowing behind her. She whipped her head back to see how far behind the boy chasing her was. He was tall and muscular, with messy brown hair. He roared and shoved me backwards and out of his way. The blonde girl ran faster, but the boy was sure to catch up with her at any second. I forced myself to sprint away before I saw the poor girl face death. 

Once I was in the forest, I checked the area carefully. I found no sources of water. No source of water meant death, and soon. I stopped running to conserve my energy. Without water, I would burn out in only two or three days. There was no way I’d let myself die because of dehydration.

I climbed a tree and took a good look around the Strip. Out in the distance, the scattered trees condensed into a dense forest. Farther back, rolling hills grew into large mountains. I knew my best shot at getting food and water was by the mountains. I knew there would have to be some sort of mountain stream in the area, and where there is water, food is sure to be close.

I took a deep breath and began my journey towards the mountains. They didn’t seem too far- only a couple hours of walking. Other people fought around me. It surprised me that I could go unnoticed for so long. I kept close to the wall, still hiding in the shadows.

In only ten minutes, I found myself fully immersed into the forest. I kept my eyes open for any kind of animal life. Food was a necessity. I spotted a blue jay not twenty feet away. It sat on a branch, its back to me. I approached cautiously, but the guilt of killing a helpless animal made me lose focus. A twig snapped loudly underfoot, sending my only hope of eating flying away. Though I just lost possibly my only source of food, I was more concerned that the snapped twig was not from me.

I froze in my spot, somehow believing that if I didn’t move, whoever stood behind me wouldn’t see me. Soft footsteps neared me. I swallowed and turned to find myself face-to-face—or rather face-to-chest—with a boy who was clearly over six feet tall. I backed up quickly into the trunk of the tree that the bird sat in only seconds before.

The boy lunged towards me with a nasty smirk on his face. He trapped me against the tree with his hands on either side of my head and leaned in close. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, I screamed as loud as I could. I knew that screaming wouldn’t be of any help to me, but I did anyways. Though I knew no one would come to help me, I had a feeling it would buy me a second of time, especially with his ear so close.

Sure enough, his head snapped back, but one hand flew to my mouth to muffle my scream. Still, I won a second to save myself. I used my time to lift my leg up to where I could pull out my dagger. My fingers fumbled around my leg, but he caught on not a moment later. I nearly screamed again as his large fist struck the side of my head, knocking me over with ease.

My vision faded for a second as I lay helplessly on the ground. I quickly figured out that lying vulnerably in a puddle of mud right next to a Mass Killer was a very dangerous position to be in.