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

Chapter Five

Micah

                I took in a deep breath of the fresh air that flooded my room now that the wall finished lowering. It hit the bottom of its descent with a loud thud that resounded off the remaining three stone walls. My heart pounded with anticipation. I was ready. Yes. I am ready.

                With that, I jogged out onto the Strip. I found that my room opened onto the top of a mountain. Vantage point! I thought excitedly. The air was thick and sticky, and the ground was a mud puddle bigger than one could imagine. I groaned. Running is not going to be fun. I looked up through the branches of the trees around me. Gray clouds still floated in the sky above the Strip. Not even a speck of blue showed through the clouds.

I huffed and continued through the dense forest that covered the mountains around me, searching for anything I could use for a weapon. In school, they taught us that weapons were hidden everywhere around the Strip—you only need to look very hard. I kept up the search as I began to focus more on finding other people. The kids from the rooms on either side of me must have run off before I had the chance to get them.

I picked up a thick branch from the ground and broke off the twigs growing off it. When I finished my work, I had a small weapon, but still one good enough to use. I walked with my stick through the forest, putting some of my weight on it to keep from slipping.

In the distance, I heard a scream. My ears perked up like a cat’s and I listened again for the scream. It came from behind me, so I turned around and ran towards the sound. The senseless outcries continued for no more than ten seconds before a final scream of death. I cursed to myself for not getting there in time to do it myself.

Then it hit me. Someone had to have killed the girl, which means they must still be nearby. Even though the girl died already, I still had a chance to get one of the first kills. I ran off in the direction, trying to keep from slipping every few steps. The mud was definitely going to be a problem. In a minute, I found myself at the person's dead body. Despite the sounds of the screams, a boy layed there in the dirt. He was covered from head to toe in mud, and his features being covered like that made identifying him too hard to be worth trying. Blood still spilled from his neck, which appeared to be slit. I checked over the boy’s body quickly to see if he had any weapons, but with no luck.

Even without any weapons from the girl, I did know where to get one now. If her neck was slit, that meant the person who killed her wielded something to cut with. Now just to find the person who did this to her.

I stood up from my crouch next to the girl and checked the mud for the footprints of her killer. They led off in the direction I had already been running. I took a deep breath and resumed pursuing the killer. From the length between the footprints in the mud, I could tell he wasn’t running. That meant I would catch up easily. Even with the time wasted checking the girl for anything helpful wouldn’t have an effect.

I snapped my head to the right, where the squishing of feet in mud could be heard. I quieted my own footsteps and turned towards the sound. I slinked around trees, branch in hand, and finally spotted the kid. He kept moving away from the girl, and rather quietly too. I almost lost him more than once, but found him just before it became too late. I never saw his whole body at once. Here I spotted an arm, there a leg, but never anything whole.

Finally I caught a glimpse of the boy’s whole body. Wait a second.  The girl’s long, blonde hair cascaded down her back. She had stopped and looked around, deciding where to go next. She looked directly towards me, where I hid behind a thick tree. I kept perfectly still until she looked away. When she faced away, I charged.