She avoided the other Legends as much as she could for the next few weeks. She didn't go drinking, she didn't go to the training grounds, she shut herself in house nine. She especially avoided anywhere Bloodhound would be and fortunately hadn't been teamed with him for the games so far. Rye needed to focus on her escape and she didn't need any liabilities. She was laser focused on victory, which she'd come close to a couple times. It meant more money and her best chance at freedom.
It was the morning of her twenty-second game. She reported to the hangar as usual, suited up, and looked down at her comm device. Caustic and Bloodhound. She grimaced, she wasn't sure which was going to be worse. Rye looked around, she didn't see either of them in the hangar so she quickly boarded the dropship. Their team was poised to be the last to drop.
It wasn't until a minute before take off that her teammates took their seats. Bloodhound purposely sat to the left of Rye in the middle seat and Caustic to the left of him. The ship took off, and the trio was a stark contrast of silence compared to the teams around them cavalierly jesting and chatting. Rye noticed Mirage glance at them and then turn and whisper something into Wraith's ear. Rye just tried to look straight ahead until it was time to jump.
Bloodhound landed them squarely in the middle of the swamps. It didn't look like any other team landed here. Boots hit the ground and they simultaneously sprinted towards three different buildings. Rye was able to snag a gun she was proficient with, armor, plenty of syringes, and some passable attachments. It was thirty seconds until the ring began to close and without any communication, the three reconvened and started running.
They got within the next circle at the edge of bridges. There was intense gunfire ahead that echoed around the canyon. Rye caught a glimpse of a person and blinked.
"Team to the West has one down, they're going to try to run North," she said, breaking her team's silence. Bloodhound nodded and crouched down with his sniper rifle. Bam. One dropped to the ground. The last member standing made a split second decision to try and get them up. The other team in the area swooped in and finished them off and Rye quickly glanced them over; they were in good shape right now. She gasped when she saw a grenade impact Bloodhound.
As they launched that grenade, Rye threw herself in that direction, snatched it out of the air, and pitched it back towards them as hard as she could. She slammed into the ground, but that was okay when she heard the ping in her comm of someone downed.
"Thank you," Bloodhound said, a little astonished.
"So this is how you keep making it so far," Caustic said towards her with a growl.
Rye peeked back at the team below.
"Move!" she yelled, leaping behind a rock. Bloodhound and Caustic just made it to cover when artillery started to rain down where they were just standing. When the deafening explosions stopped, they waited until the splashes of boots through the water grew quieter before emerging. Rye took a deep breath.
"It looks like there's no one left down there," Bloodhound said. Caustic started stomping forward and the three of them slid down the banks and started scrounging. Rye was in a building picking up some ammo when she heard the front door slam shut. She reflexively jerked her gun upward at the noise and her finger just barely stopped depressing the trigger when she saw it was Caustic. She made a split-second prediction and then trained her aim directly between his eyes.
"Don't even think about it," she said, firmly standing her ground. "I'm here to win, and I'll do that with you or without you."
"Do it, then. Shoot me." He took a menacing step forward.
