Ryder adds another firewood to the fire, making it flare up; enough to warm both Drew and Ryder up through the night. Drew was sitting against a dark oak tree where its leaves gave shelter to the whole campsite, he sits with a banana leaf over his shoulders and backpack made with leaves; and his hands outwards facing the warm fire. After finishing adding more wood, Ryder sat on the opposite side; using the sharp wood he got to poke the fire.
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“… S-so, I guess y-you’re doing f-fine,” said Drew shivering coldly.
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“… Well, actually I’ve been doing quite horribly.” He gives the fire a few pokes before it flares up a few times.
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“N-not as much as me probably,” said Drew as he covers his mouth to blow into his hands, “I-I can’t even manage to make a camp like this.” Drew’s eye catches a sharp stick beside him, which he grabbed quickly before taking out his backpack. He opens the pack and takes out a fish — with a large hole in the middle of its body — before puncturing it with the sharp stick, then reaching it out above the fire. The fish gradually turned brown, making its grey scales disappear. After cooking above the fire, Drew retracts the stick before eating the cooked fish. Ryder however, tried so hard not to drool; trying not to make it obvious, but his stomach betrayed him. The grumble of Ryder’s stomach alerted Drew,” You want some?” asks Drew.
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With just a quick nod, Drew reaches inside his backpack to take out another dead fish; giving it a throw to Ryder, who quickly cooked it with the fire; munching the entire fish afterwards, “Ah! Thank you!” exclaimed Ryder for his stomach was now satisfied.
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“Don’t mentioned it, it’s the least I could do for the fire,” said Drew as he continued to eat his fish, “I guess you didn’t have time to catch food then?”
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“Um… I don’t really know how to catch fish without a pole or a line” Ryder sighed with his head bowed, “What about you? How did you manage to catch fish?”
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“Well, I got some lessons back when I was a scout; my parents signed me up for it.” He takes another bite of the cooked fish, “They paid for every single item and trips required for me to join, I guess it paid off; I enjoyed scouting for a time, until…” Drew’s words trail off.
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“Until what?” said Ryder with his left eyebrow arched.
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Drew averts away from the fish and looks at Ryder, “My father… lost his job; after that we couldn’t reach the mortgage pay for our house so we moved away.” Drew slowly moves his eyes towards the fire, staring at it blankly, “Then, my mother also lost her job, so we had to move away again; And even after they got part time jobs, all their money was put onto me; focus on your life they said and not ours they said… even though they gave me everything I needed, I wanted to help”
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“…Is that why you signed?” asked Ryder curiously, “…Is that why you stayed?”
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Silence came after from Drew as he stares at the bitten body of his fish, rubbing the fins before he lets out a deep sigh, “… I… had no choice, they need — no — they deserve everything they couldn’t get; because of me, I- “
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“It’s okay Drew,” said Ryder suddenly out of the blue, “…Y-you don’t need to continue,”
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“Its fine, its just — they… sacrificed everything to give me the life I wanted; now, it’s time for me to be the one who dives in for them… that is why I signed — that is why I stayed.” He finishes his meal before throwing the stick in the fire.
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Ryder gives him a smile, without Drew noticing, “If you ask me,” said Ryder looking at his eyes, “You are doing great at it.”
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As Drew turns his eye to Ryder, he repays the smile he’s given him, “Thank you Ryder, I mean it,” said Drew as he gives him a wide smile, “Now I feel bad for not telling you where I was going back at the boat; I’m really sorry, I think I was just so eager to finish this god forsaken game,”
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Ryder’s smile suddenly turned, something was wrong — or was he just imagining it, “… Wait… What boat?” he asks, his eyebrows arching down.
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Drew’s eyes widen, his eyebrows arching up to what seemed to be confusion, “What you do you mean what boat?” Drew shoots Ryder a stare, like he asked something bizarre, “The boat that we were in — like yesterday — one of those men with fancy suits were there and told us this forest is the next game, then we scattered; didn’t you remember?”
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Ryder quickly puts down his fish, then suddenly jumps up to pace frantically, “B-but that’s not possible!”
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“What do you mean that’s not possible?”
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“W-we were in a room with other contestants.” Ryder’s hands shook, “A p-pair of googles fell down from the ceiling, t-then the floor opened; we fell down — you’re telling me that you don’t remember all of that!?” His eyes open wide, staring at Drew with concern.
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Drew responded with another stare, looking at Ryder with eyes that said he was becoming a crazy man with his talk. But after a second, he shrugs off his expression; getting his hand made pack to find another piece of fish, “Ryder, I think you’ve been hunger for far too long; I think you’re hallucinating.” He takes out another fish, reaching it out towards Ryder.
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“Because it didn’t happen.” Those exact words rang inside Ryder’s ear for the rest of the night, he couldn’t sleep for hours because of it. The vivid memory, now being told that it never happened in the first place. But he felt every single wind that crashed against his body; the sound of the wind waving through his ear; and the sound of his heart racing against his adrenaline. It felt real — it was real. But why does Drew remember something different even though he was standing right beside him? How was it not real the things he saw and felt?
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“… What the hell is happening?”
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The next day came; darkened by the clouds of dawn, Drew wakes up from his leaf bed and stands up before stretching and yawning. He looks at Ryder, still sleeping soundly in his bed. To kill some time until Ryder wakes up, he begins to prepare their things for the journey ahead: tying up all their gear and food with big roots and vines from the trees around them; seeing that there was one long branch and another small one beside it that fell when they were asleep. Taking the opportunity, Drew quickly grabs two rocks from the ground then begins to crash them against another large rock; and when the sharp edges and a pointy tip like an arrowhead begin to emerge, Drew ties one of them onto the long branch, making a spear; the other he tied onto the smaller one, making a stone knife.
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After an hour, a part of the clouds subsided, making a small entrance for sunlight to come in; Ryder was the first to notice, for a patch of light annoyed his right eye enough to wake him up. He rubs both of his eyes to open, standing up from his leaf bed. After he got up completely and stretched his arms and neck, he turns around to see Drew crouched down while he tied up the last piece of vine onto their new tools.
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“What are you doing?” asks Ryder as he yawns.
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“Making a spear and a knife,” said Drew with a serious tone, “It’s something they taught us when I was still a scout; it may be rusty, but we need everything we can get in order to reach the mountain.” Drew stands up and turns to Ryder, reaching out his closed hand; only to reveal a stone knife laying on his palm, “This is yours; I hope you don’t have to use it; well, besides getting food of course.”
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Ryder turns his eye on the knife, before taking it onto his hands before examining it, “Well, thank you Drew,” said Ryder, following up with a question, “But, what are you talking about? A mountain?”
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Before Drew could turn around, he takes the question in mind, “You honestly don’t remember do you?” His expression similar to last night, “The goal was to survive up until we reach the mountain in the middle of the forest.” Drew walks pass Ryder’s shoulders, toward a gap in the leaves above, “That Mountain over there.” He points through the gap.
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Ryder walks towards the view of the gaps as well, with Drew passing by him again as he continues to pack their things. Staring at the tall Mountain with its visible rocky slopes and the clouds covering its tips. It seemed small from where he was standing, but the clouds above betrayed its illusion, “We need to move, it’s probably going to rain soon,” said Drew, placing a banana leaf over his pack.
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“I hope you know how to use a knife,” said Drew.
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“I do,” said Ryder with a competent tone.
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“Good.” Drew places his bag through his shoulders and over his back, “Because I sure don’t,” said Drew, trying to sound reassuring.
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After cleaning up their campsite, Ryder and Drew began their journey towards the mountain in the middle of the vast forest. Stopping by at rivers and lakes to catch fish, which they filled their packs into the brim; going through swamps as they try not to think that there was something underneath. They gone up to waterfalls and green clearings of the forests, seeing flowers slowly bloom as they pass, which they were distracted by its beauty rather than the flower’s convenience. After walking for hours, they were now close to the mountain, with just another part of the forest between them.
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“We’re almost there, finally!” exclaimed Drew as he continues to walk with excited but tired legs.
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Ryder looks up towards the sky, seeing the dark clouds hover over them; and thunder beginning to rumble — in fact, it started to drip rain. When they both reach the start of the forest, it began to rain heavily upon them; with Drew already feeling its shivering cold, “W-we need to go through the f-forest, it’s much more w-warm and there might be s-shelter,” chattered Drew shakingly.
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The two of them hurryingly went inside the forest, taking shelter under its leaves; but they weren’t enough. Unlike the others, this part of the forest carried wide and thick leaves, with no gaps available for any light to enter; and the rain instead increased. With their eyelids being covered with droplets of water, they needed to find a much more covered shelter, where little or no rain could enter. And they found it. A large fallen acacia tree entered their sight, seeing a gap below made from the rocks where the tree fell, enough for them to stand underneath; they quickly slide below the gap, shaking body in attempt to dry it out a little, “We should stay here; at least until the rain calms down,” said Ryder.
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“Sounds like a good idea!” said Drew, wiping his face dry.
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They stood there for over a minute, and the rain began to slowly ease up, but not enough for them to leave, “I guess we’re staying here for another minute,” said Drew.
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Ryder replied with a nod, then lowered his head to blown into his hands for warmth. But something caught his eye. While looking down, he noticed that the back of his shoe turned red; he slowly lifts it up to the side to see what’s underneath. A puddle laid beneath, filled with the same red on his shoe; but it wasn’t the puddle that made his heart skip. The puddle came from somewhere else; a visible pathway of its source was laid for his eyes to see. Trying not to overthink, his eyes carefully followed the path of red water, leading his eyes to look onto his right. Under the darkness made from the tree above them, lay the end of the red water; Ryder squinted his eyes to see through the curtain of darkness, but it was futile. He turns his body towards it, slowly walking into the curtain; lowering his hand to reach what laid on the ground. Then a flash of lightning quickly scattered the darkness.
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He stumbles back, his eyes so wide that it looked like it was about to fall out. His heart making his lungs gasps for air again. Without warning, Ryder runs out of the fallen tree; making Drew’s mouth gape at the sight of him pushing away mud as he runs away, “What’s wrong?!” shouted Drew, but Ryder’s ears only heard the sound of raindrops falling. Left behind, Drew wondered why he suddenly ran and was about to follow suit; but before he stepped out of the shelter of the acacia tree, he too notices the red water where Ryder stood. He too followed the pathway to the source.
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“AHHHHH!!” And he too, stumbled back
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For his eyes saw what made Ryder ran to the hills — the sight of a human body lying on the ground, bloody and dead; with its lifeless eyes open, staring at Drew. Just like Ryder, he wasted no breath. He quickly grips his pack and his spear, then runs out of the tree, following Ryder’s footsteps seen in the mud. Ryder however, kept running through the wet forest; without any thoughts in his mind except the bloody images of the body’s cold eyes, staring back at him during the flash. He wanted to do nothing but run — because he knew what a dead body meant: the creature he saw back at the lake… is nearby. He continued to tire his legs out until his feet tripped on a root beneath, making him fall face down on the mud. He tries to get up quickly, but his knee somehow made it difficult. After finally standing up, he hurriedly looks at his knee and saw that the part of his jeans that covered his knee was open; and out spilled blood.
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“Goddamn it!” he shouted at himself for being careless.
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Luckily, it was only a scrape, but the blood slowly kept pouring; and with him out of the shade of the leaves, he realizes that the rain has subsided. But he swore it was still raining heavily while he ran. He looks ahead of him and in his surprise, there laid a gate — made with medium sized rocks on top of each other as with the fence that towered higher than his height. He steps forward a bit, then suddenly remembers something: He left Drew.
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“Oh no!” he exclaimed, quickly turning around to go get Drew.
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But as he faces back, Drew came running out of the forest; placing his right hand against a tree while he recovers his breath, “You… should’ve.” He takes a few pauses to breath before saying a word, “Told… me…”
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Ryder replied with silence, about to reach out his hand to help, but he hesitates, “I’m… sorry.” He looks away.
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Drew’s chest kept pumping, his hands on his knees; he tries to look at Ryder in his tired state but only managed to see his knee, “Your… knee.” He continued to take pauses, “Its… Bleeding.”
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Ryder takes a quickly glance at his knee, then hides it by turning his body away from Drew, “Its fine… It’s just a scrape.”
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“If you… say so… just don’t… leave me… hanging… ever… again.” Drew suddenly takes out his spear then reaches it out to Ryder, “Hold this… for me… please.”
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After glancing at the spear, Ryder slowly takes it; then placed it over his shoulder and onto his back like his leaf bag. After an hour, the sun entered its set; Drew recovered from his tiresome run, and Ryder finished washing his face of mud and dirt with a puddle of rain water near him. After their quick rest, Ryder and Drew stood before the gate; looking at its sign above, engraved “The Second Rest Awaits You”.
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Drew being the first one to look away from the sign, he steps forward to push the gate a little bit, “It’s heavy,” Drew said assuring, “Help me with this.”
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With their combined hands, they pushed the gate together; making it open inwards to a grassy land with lots of rocks in a variety of sizes. After moving their hands away from the gate, they stand still; examining the land laid before them. It looked like any other clearing, with the exception of rocks; but there was another thing that was different. Ryder squints his eyes to look ahead of them, and sees a large hole attached to the wall of the mountain: A cave.
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“There.” He pointed forward for Drew to see.
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Both of them walked together towards the cave, stopping at the entrance; but continued after seeing something inside. Ryder took the lead, while Drew examined the cave’s walls, “It just seems like any other cave, not like I’ve been to many caves in my lifetime.”
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But Ryder found something at the end: a drawing of some sort, “Right here, Drew.”
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The drawing depicted a fish on the left, with a number one just below it, and to what seemed to be a hole just beneath the line of the one; on the right depicted an apple, with the same number one underneath and a hole below it, “Does… this mean we need one fish and one apple?” asked Drew.
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“Only one way to find out,” said Ryder confidently, “Get a fish from your bag and put it in the hole, let’s see what happens.”
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Drew takes of his bag off his back to open it, then sets it aside against the wall after grabbing a fish they recently caught down a river. Slowly as he breaths, he waves the fish just near the hole; but it suddenly flies away from his hands and into the hole, “Hey!” shouted Drew.
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Drew tried to get the fish back, but before he could, he was stopped by the number one suddenly glowing up; illuminating the cave for a minute before disappearing away. The number one no longer appeared in the stone wall, it laid blank, “It seems… that works?” said Drew, not sure about the whole event, “Place an apple in the other.”
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Ryder quickly takes out his pack from his pack then opens it, reaching his hand into the very bottom to feel for anything that has the shape and texture of an apple; then he takes it out. The apple was rotten however, with a bite mark where Ryder bit into back when he was still eating only fruits, “Maybe… it still works?” said Drew, unsure of himself.
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Ryder glared at Drew, then began to extend his hand towards the black hole underneath the apple drawing, carefully inching it close for it be sucked in. But he dropped it, for something grabbed his shoulder locking it so he couldn’t move; Drew quickly jumped to try to help, “Hey!” but he was tackled and pinned down on the ground. Someone began to speak behind Ryder’s ear — the one who was holding him, “Finally! Someone was kind enough to bring us what we need; now to take care of you.” The man grinned, “Now come along!” he turns Ryder around then let’s go of his shoulder, urging him to move forward with a knife behind his back.
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Drew tried to resist the attackers, but they would punch his stomach before he could even yell at them, “W-what are you guys doing?!” exclaimed Drew, going down on the ground after one of the men punched his chest.
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“Shut up!” scolded the man with a tattoo on his neck and a ripped shirt, “You’re coming with us outside!”
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The two men forced Ryder out of the cave, where they were met with another two: a woman and another man. The two men holding Ryder and Drew urged them to go down on their knees immediately, with Drew being hit in the head and Ryder’s knee getting kick.
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“W-why are you doing this?!” asked Ryder desperately, “A-aren’t you contestants just like us?!”
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The woman that met them quickly walked up towards Ryder then slapped his face, making his head lower down to the side, “We said shut up!” scolded the woman, yelling at Ryder’s ear.
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“Now, did you search them.” The woman turned around to face one of men, the one with the long hair and a goatee.
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“Yes, we have the final item to get through the door.”
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“Good, at least they managed to get a fruit; unlike the last guy.” The woman took a sigh of relief as she grins, “Now, get the rest of their stuff and bring them here; I want to see what they have made,” said the woman, facing towards the man that was previously with her.
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The man was bald, with no shirt and visible cuts on his body, “What about you get them!” yelled the man, “Just so you know, I am not your servant!”
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“What about you shut up and get their things already!” argued the woman, “We need to make ‘accident’ for them if others come here sniffing around; now just this once, stop being a dumbass and Go. Get. Their. Things!”
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“The faster we get this done — the faster we’ll get out of this damned place.”
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The man grunted in an annoyance, then reluctantly walked inside the cave to get Ryder and Drew’s bags, “Now that’s out of the way.” She turns towards the man with a goatee and long hair, “It is your turn to dispose of them, Jonathan.”
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“Do I need to go drag them to the dead tree with the others?” said the man — Jonathan – raising his eyebrow.
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As the three people kept talking to each other, Drew slowly inches beside Ryder to whisper, “W-what do they mean others?”
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“…They mean the one back at that fallen tree…” Ryder bowed his head, his eyes wide, “…There must be more than the one we saw.”
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“…It was not the beast that killed him…” Ryder thought as he lowered his head, “It was them — other contestants…”
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A few minutes passes by, the rustle of the leaves of trees around them deafened all others. Ryder and Drew still tied, their knees becoming sore; and their breath going faster every second. Another minute later, the bald man came out of the cave with Ryder and Drew’s belongings, placing them on a big rock beside the entrance, “Done, I got what we need; anything else your highness?” said the man sarcastically to the woman.
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The woman replied with a cold glare, “When I finish this game, I am going to leave you for the wolves in the next if you’re going to be like that!”
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“No, I will be leaving you for the wolves; not the other way around you wench!” argued the man.
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The two continued to bicker and fight over mere words while Ryder and Drew attempted to escape; their rope was almost untied, but if they run, they would only be caught again, “…We need something to —”
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A rustle of trees — but it was not all, only a few in a distance. Ryder’s chest began to pump a little harder than before, trying his all to calm down and whisper words to Drew, “W-when I give the signal, r-run as f-fast as you can towards the cave… and when we do, don’t look behind you...”
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“What are you pl—” Drew was cut off as Jonathan suddenly tugged his collar to make him move closer to him.
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“Now, let us deal with you shall we?” He smirked as he pulls out his stone knife and placed it against Drew’s neck. Walking towards Ryder, the bald man took out his knife then placed it on his neck; similar to Jonathan, “So that it we could end this quickly.” He smirked, inching the knife harder against Ryder’s neck, making it bleed.
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The woman walked in front and middle of Ryder and Drew, standing between them as she looks at both of them, “I’m sorry for how this will end boys, but thank you for giving us our way out.” The woman giggled as she stared with delight.
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Breathing heavily now — not knowing what would happen — Drew waited for Ryder’s signal, but running became tempting over the seconds. Ryder looked at the rustle of trees, seeing them stopped, “This is… a very bad idea,” said Ryder in his thoughts.
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“I am sorry for this — really, I am.” The woman bent down, lowering her head as she touches her knee, “Now… Kill th—” The woman stayed her lips, for there was a slight pain going over her feet below.
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She lowers her head more to see her feet; for a second, it made her eyebrows arched in confusion, but her eyes suddenly became wide, “AHHHHHH!!” as she realizes and attempted to run. But she was lifted up, hanging upside down with a black spiky tail holding her leg. In all of their dismay, A black figure appeared out of the forest —A dark animal, similar to a lion, but with its mane made of spikes and engraved in blood — it jumped out of the ground before biting the woman’s head off her shoulders; her body falling to the ground as it began to flail around like it was still alive.
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“Now!” Ryder and Drew punched the men holding them with their elbows as they immediately stood up and ran towards the cave entrance, grabbing their belongings as they pass by.
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Jonathan however, recovered from being hit in the leg, trying to see where their captives went, “Their getting away! Get th—” A scream behind him interrupted his order, for Jonathan was shouting at the top of his lungs as the dark animal took a half of his leg with its tail, making him one leg less as he dropped to the ground calling for the bald man for help and the other man with him, but his arm was sliced off with the beast’s tale before he could even run.
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Ryder and Drew ran as fast they can towards the end of the cave, with Drew frantically searching Ryder’s bag for the apple, “Hurry!” shouted Ryder, holding the spear Drew made in his hands.
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“We don’t have much time! We need to get o—” a pair of arms locked Ryder’s shoulders, making him immobile as he drops the spear, “You ain’t going nowhere!” The bald man shouted.
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“Now, give the app—” A sharp pain appeared in his stomach — he slowly let go of Ryder. He began to carefully looked down on his stomach; he wasn’t given the time to react, for In fact, it was not in his stomach; it was through it, spilling blood all over his clothes.
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With one final look at Ryder and Drew, his body gets pulled away quickly by the tail that was through him; his body flew towards the mouth of he beast, and into its belly. In his wide eyes, Ryder shakenly grabbed the spear on the ground, then held it up towards the beast, “Hurry up, Drew!”
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Drew finally found the apple, quickly taking it out of the bag to slide into the hole; the drawings on the walls shined simultaneously, dispersing into the light; and what appeared in their place, was a door — similar to the one back at the maze, “It’s open!” he shouted at Ryder.
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Ryder was however occupied with the beast, which was trying to slice Ryder with its sharp tail. Ryder attempted to hit it with the spear, but it broke in half after Ryder used it to block against the tail. Drew opened the door, but the beast slowly began to inch itself towards Ryder, making him stumble backwards on the ground. The beast started to ready itself to lunge at the defenseless Ryder; he frantically searched his pockets for something to throw at it, but he only found the stone knife that Drew made for him.
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He stands up from the ground, then ready’s the knife; planning to run after he hits it's eye, or if he hits it that is. As the beast lunged towards Ryder, he threw the knife towards the beast’s head, which landed deep in it’s eye. Ryder turned around to run while the beast was in pain, but he was cut short. The tail of the beast was frantically swinging around, with one swing hitting Ryder on the stomach so hard that it made him fly towards the cave door and through.
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Seeing Ryder enter the room, Drew quickly pushed the door closed; panting heavily as lay his two hands on the door, “What… the hell…”
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“Ryder, are you okay?” He turns his head behind him, seeing Ryder on the ground, knocked by the tail. Drew sighed in his relief, but he began to realize.
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A puddle of blood was circling under Ryder. It came from his stomach.
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