A minute hadn't passed yet when we both heard a panic rustling nearby, with footsteps rushing forward in our direction. There were two, one was heavy while the other one seemed like it was dragging through the ground. My instincts quickly shot up as I look at Damian. My first thought was that he might have sold us out like how I first perceived him, but my gut was telling me otherwise.
He didn't look like he was expecting more company too. I tug on the hem of his shirt and mouthed "What should we do" to him. Miisa and Iavan were still sleeping and I really couldn't blame them since they haven't slept peacefully since our first day here, well, none of us had slept peacefully, to be honest.
Damian put a finger near his mouth as he instructed me to stay silent first. He then stood up and silently like a hunter he went to what would look like a stash of our weapons. He took a javelin which was something I only saw for the first time. He must have taken it from Winston and William or he must have had it with him since the very beginning.
"Simon hurry up"
A female voice resonated not far from where we were and judging from it, I'd say it was from Claire. Claire was the representative for our class, she was the pretty and smart lady of our class and every guy from our year wanted to be with her.
It didn't even take minutes before they came face to face with Damian's javelin tip. Claire's eyes widened and it was evident how shock and afraid she was of getting killed off right on the bat.
"D…Damian wait"
"Cl…Claire, we should run"
"What's happening?"
It was right about that time that Miisa and Iavan woke up from the slight commotion. Claire and Simon were still standing stiff afraid to back away and move forward.
"Wait we're being chased, please help us. An alliance, we can be allies"
I raised an eyebrow and slowly stood up only to lean by the tree for support as my head was still fuzzy.
"We don't need any more allies"
Which was true enough, the four of us are troublesome enough and to make matters worse I was the reason why Simon was limping like that right now.
"A truce, please Damian help me. We were friends weren't we?"
Damian glanced back at me like he was debating whether he'd agree or not. If I remember correctly, Claire was one who'd always stick around Damian. She was the only one he conversed with throughout the school year that there was even a rumor that they were dating.
I didn't get the chance to say no when we heard another set of footsteps rushing to get where we were. The sound didn't come from far away, the kids must be having a rough time running through the forest and these large roots.
"That's bad"
Damian looked at me and as if he was thinking that I'd never agreed to the alliance, lowered his javelin, and walked towards me.
"You three run, I'd intercept them along with Claire and Simon. I promised I'd meet up with you three after. It doesn't matter where I'll find you myself"
For him to go all through this trouble didn't seem realistic and oddly trustworthy for me. It looked as if he was trying to team up with Claire and Simon rather than us. That's fine if I may say but I certainly wouldn't him to be my enemy seeing how he could instantly kill without batting an eye. I nodded and walked towards Iavan and Miisa, instructing them that we're gonna run ahead. It took us no more than minutes to get all set up and run far from the other three.
"Maia, you sure this is okay?"
"It was his idea and I'm really not against it, remember that it was originally supposed to be only us"
"Yea but…"
I fixed my things up and assisted Iavan and Miisa while we run farther away. When I deemed that we were far enough from them, I scanned my surroundings only to find that we have no choice but to climb up to hide.
I felt myself shiver at the mere thought of climbing up but I guess we really don't have a choice if we want to get through this. I looked at Iavan and Miisa and they seemed to have thought of my plan as well as they were looking up the trees.
"Maia, you could handle heights?"
No. My phobia was something out of the ordinary and it was a bad thing to have it. I can't even remember how I got it in the first place.
"I think I'll be fine as long as I don't look down"
Iavan looked at me with worry in her eyes and I really couldn't blame her. Of all the things to be afraid of it had to heights.
"This one looks better Maia, its trunks are long, thick, and sturdy. One branch could carry two of us."
I looked at the tree that Miisa was pointing to and decided to go with it. I took out the crossbow that I took earlier from the weapon stash and tied the rope at its other end. Since Iavan was the lightest among us three, she was the first one to climb up. And when she finally did, she helped Miisa, and then it was my freaking turn.
I inhaled deeply before blowing out a collective amount of air. I clenched my fist tighter when I felt myself shivering. That was when we heard gunshots. Something that was so out of the ordinary for the Herculean Tournament. The gunshots echoed throughout the trees making those hologramic birds fly away.
"No way the games didn't allow guns so why?"
"Maia hurry up!"
Iavan's shout woke me up and I quickly start to climb up the tree. My senses were on high alert and so was my anxiety. Sweat dripped from my forehead to my eyes. I wiped the sweat with my other hand causing me to lose hold of the rope and fall. As stupid as I could get, I had forgotten how hard it was to climb with an injured shoulder.
Iavan and Miisa's horrified face registered throughout my fall and I was expecting some bone-breaking fall but instead, someone caught me, and all I felt was a warm body and sweaty arms. I looked up and saw his hair dripping from all the sweat, with worry etched on those hazel brown eyes and a face flushed red.
He stares at me before smiling lightly. A smile that was so familiar that it made me question where I saw it.
"Found you, Maia"