Vicky stared at the team, as another announcement was made.
"Tournament starts in three… two… one… Let the tournament begin," the announcement said.
Vicky looked out of the cave, as other players ran across the entrance, shooting anyone they saw. Vicky stood at the entrance of the cave, they could only see a few metres away, as the arena was a large landscape.
A team of players saw Vicky at the entrance of the cave. Vicky stared at them, as they shot at the entrance of the cave. There was a force field protecting Vicky. The bullets were deflected.
"Penalty for shooting players inside caves equals, minus two players!" the announcer said. Two of the players of the team just dropped to the ground. The announcer continued, "Please check your gauntlets for the rules of the tournament!"
"There's penalties now?" Kane asked, staring at the other team outside the cave.
Vicky opened her gauntlet. Her eyes widened as she read the rules.
"The maximum time a team can spend inside their cave is twenty four hours. The penalty for teams that stay here after, is death, for the whole team," Vicky read, turning to the rest of the team.
"Turns out your plan's not going to work after all," Kane said, looking at Vicky.
"We need a new plan," Connor said, turning to the captain.
"I saw we hold out in here as long as we can, and then head out," the captain replied, and continued "Stick together at all times, we'll need eyes watching all around us."
The team waited out as long as they could in the cave, and headed out. There was no night and day in the arena. It looked exactly the same throughout the whole twenty four hours.
"Time for us to head out," Connor said, waking Vicky up.
Vicky sluggishly got up, and followed the team. A few steps out of the cave, and an explosion occurred in front of them. The whole team fell to the ground.
"Everyone alright?" the captain asked, getting up immediately after impact.
Vicky nodded her head. She couldn't hear anything except for a loud ringing in her ears. She sat up, barely able to see what was going on. The rest of the team on the other hand was already on their feet.
The captain had his eyes on Vicky, knowing she wasn't used to what was happening. Vicky turned around, wondering what the captain was looking at.
She had an assault rifle in her hand, which she got from her inventory. Vicky saw a player come out from behind a rock. She shot the player within a split second, despite being partially dazed.
The team turned to Vicky, to see what she shot at, even the captain was slower than Vicky.
"How'd you do that?" Colton asked, staring at Vicky.
"WHAT?" Vicky shouted. She shook her ear with her hand, but still couldn't hear clearly.
The captain ordered the team to keep moving. They were not moving around very fast but they were cautious.
Vicky was finally able to hear clearly again she stopped dead in her tracks, stopping the rest of the team too.
"What's wrong?" Connor asked.
"Shshsh!!!" Vicky replied, and whispered quietly "I suggest we take another route. This looks like a good place to be sniped out."
The team was about to enter a valley, with mountains surrounding them.
"What's that?" Miles asked, as the ground started vibrating.
"An earthquake?" Sarah asked.
"RUN!" another player shouted, running towards the team. The player ran past the team, and burst into tiny pieces.
A young, teenage girl came floating, over a mountain, towards the team. Vicky used her scope to get a better look at the girl, who was still a distance away from them.
Vicky turned to the team and kept her finger on her mouth, asking them to be silent.
The girl was still floating towards the team, she passed them. A loud thud came, another player threw a bottle near the team. The girl hurried next to the bottle.
The captain looked at the team, and signaled to them, saying the girl couldn't see.
"Anyone there?" the girl asked. She floated next to Vicky, and continued "Icicle! I can hear your heartbeat."
"What are you doing here?" Vicky asked.
"The same as you. I was brought here by the judges… except this isn't my first time," the girl replied.
"I thought I told you to stop playing the game," Vicky replied.
"I did. But then the judges found me. You didn't even come looking for me," the girl replied, and continued "I thought we were friends."
"We are friends. I kept looking for you everywhere. I tried calling you, but you wouldn't answer. I thought you didn't want to talk," Vicky replied.
"Someone's watching us," the girl said, as she clenched her fist and in the distance a player exploded.
"You're much more powerful than I remember," Vicky said.
"And so are you," the girl replied, and continued "How's Leo doing?"
"He's dead!" Vicky replied.
"What? How?" the girl asked. She moved much closer to Vicky.
"His friends killed him," Vicky replied.
"Where are these 'friends' now?" the girl asked.
"Some dead, some arrested," Vicky replied.
"I see you found new friends," the girl said, looking at the rest of the team.
"Why didn't you reach out to me?" Vicky asked.
"I tried to… but if I did, they'd kill you," the girl replied, she looked at Vicky and continued "Your hearts racing. Are you scared of me?"
"Should I be?" Vicky asked.
"No. Why would I hurt you? You are the closest thing I have to a family," the girl replied.
"Where's the rest of your team?" Vicky asked.
"I don't have a team. I don't need one," the girl replied, and continued "Why are you all so still? I won't hurt you."
"Finally!" Colton sighed, moving around.
"Who are your friends?" the girl asked.
"Uh… there's the captain, my dad Connor, and then Colton, Sarah, Miles and Kane," Vicky replied.
"Hi! My name is Destina!" the girl replied.