Survival

Sacrifices

As Quinn and Emilio adjusted to the new hiding place, they heard a clock chime. Phase one was about to begin.

Emilio noticed the branches of the trees slowly disappearing. The two of them heard screams in the distance that stopped abruptly, making the both of them flinch. "Do you think they fell from the trees...?" Quinn whispered as quietly as she could. Emilio nodded hesitantly. "I guess that's what the forest master meant when it said hiding in the trees were useless.." Emilio replied, making Quinn breathe out a chuckle. "What?" Emilio had no clue what was funny. "It's ironic since we're actually inside a tree." Emilio let out an 'oh' and smiled a bit. After an eerie pause of silence coming from the outside, besides the subtle sounds of bugs, screams after screams kept being heard from all around them. The players were getting hunted down one by one. "Some of the screams were a bit close to us... Since the monsters have good hearing, we have to be quiet. From now on, only gestures, talk when absolutely necessary. Try not to hit anything when you move though." Emilio gave the orders and Quinn nodded silently, already following the plan.

In about an hour, the beasts were at their campsite. They weren't very quiet creatures. In a few seconds, they heard the beasts tearing something up. Quinn's jaw dropped. She pointed outside and then pulled her bra strap to signify that she forgot to hide the clothes. Emilio slouched and covered his face in disappointment. Quinn held her hand up on her face in a chopping motion to show that she was sorry but Emilio quickly shook his head letting her know it was ok. He tapped his wrist and held up and 'x' sign. He was right, they barely had time to hide their clothes, so it wasn't Quinn's fault.

After a while, the monsters stood their place. They were waiting for an unfortunate soul to stumble upon our camp. And as if on cue, there was a little girl near Quinn and Emilio's hideout... It seemed like she got separated from her group. She was headed towards the campsite where the monsters were! Quickly, Quinn sat up to grab the girl, but Emilio grabbed her wrist, shaking his head and pointing at the creatures. They were already closing in on the girl, though she hadn't noticed yet. Quinn kept pleading and pulling away from Emilio. The little girl was gonna die, that was certain. "... Emilio please..! We can still try to save her..!" Emilio suddenly pulls Quinn back to the floor and grabs her shoulders while whispering, "Don't you get it Quinn...! We aren't meant to fight those creatures..! We're supposed to hide from them, that's the key to winning this round! We.. We can't do anything.. Once someone gets noticed by one of those, it's all over.. I'm sorry..." Emilio had such a painful expression. He knew better than anyone that there are just some fights you can't win.

Quinn looked back at the girl which was the wrong decision. The little girl had noticed their hiding place and smiled, relieved to have found more players. But once she took a step towards the duo's direction, she got ripped to pieces. It was as if the world was in slow motion. Blood splattering everywhere. Quinn opened her mouth as if wanting to scream but Emilio covered it just in time. He pulled her into a tight hug, "I.. I know.. I know.." Emilio said in a shaky voice, reassuring Quinn that she wasn't the only one feeling despair.

The monsters left after eating the girl, leaving nothing behind except the splatters of blood that painted the forest. All the two could do, was stay with each-other in silence, holding on for dear life, as if they could get caught and ripped at any moment. The breathing of the two had calmed down and Emilio began talking. "In this world.. You'll have to make sacrifices like this to stay alive." Quinn looked up at him. "But.. isn't that.. selfish?" Emilio shook his head. "This is just the way of life. Even back in the real world, we would have to take sacrifices. Just know, when you sacrifice something to help others, it's not selfish. Whether you're evil or not. Right now, you sacrificed saving that girl... Even though what happened to her was horrible.. You saved the both of us by staying in the tree. Thank you Quinn." And with that, Quinn explodes into quiet tears, weeping into her hands as Emilio pat's her head. "You did what was best."

Quinn eventually fell asleep and Emilio helped her lay beside a more comfortable spot in the hideout. Thankfully there was some green moss growing on the tree. Quinn wouldn't have to wake up with back pain. Emilio smiled at her, thinking about how peaceful she looks. Once Emilio made sure she was asleep, he laid down himself. Just a little bit after, he started shaking. Tears fell down from his sapphire eyes, thinking about the girl they had to sacrifice. He knew there was no choice but he wished he could've noticed her sooner.

The next day came around. The pair woke up to the sound of a clock, this time signaling that phase one was over. "Congratulations to those who survived this round. Though, I would really like it if you'd listen to me more. I said hiding in the trees would be useless, correct? Anyways, I'm sure some of you had lost some things during the little night chase, so, as a reward, I am returning the items back to you. The items will be exactly the same as they were before, not new but not tattered. I'm dying from boredom staying in this tower all day so I would like it if someone finds me quickly. Goodbye."

Now with the announcements done, the two had time to greet each other for the day. "Good morning Quinn, did you sleep well?" Quinn faced Emilio and rubbed her back a little. "Morning Emilio. I slept good but my back hurts a little, though that's to be expected."

Once the two got out of the hideout, a pair of clothes generated right in front of them. "Whoa! The master wasn't lying, we really did get our stuff back!" Quinn exclaimed happily. Emilio bent down and started searching through the clothes. "What are you looking for?" Asked Quinn. When Emilio finished searching, he looked back at Quinn with a sad face. "Well.. The master stayed true to their words. We don't have underwear here since we didn't exactly loose them, plus our clothes are still dirty like before. But, don't worry, we can just clean them in the river." Quinn nodded and picked up her clothes carefully, trying not to dirty them even more with her hands smudged with dry mud. Emilio stood back up and headed towards their campsite but noticed Quinn wasn't coming along. "Quinn?" She was staring at the spot where the little girl died. "There's no blood anymore.." Emilio looked as well and noticed what Quinn was talking about. "Yeah.. Looks like it disappeared along with the monsters. Let's go Quinn.."

The two walked back to their camp with the clothes in hand, trying to put aside the death of the girl. In this world, there is no time to mourn.