• The Game




    Long ago in an ancient world, far away from our own, was a volatile civilization. Although accomplished in incredible technologies, sciences, and mathematics, they found themselves in a fixed state of a war-torn world. The streets were lined with rebellious youngsters, each with their own hopes and dreams fixed on the one sport that held the world from total anarchy, and the citizens overthrowing their own corrupt government: The Games. A massive, brutalized, carnage tournament that took place once a year in a huge coliseum that both mesmerized the audiences and fulfilled the hopes and dreams of one man. However, these games are deadly, and people are seen slaughtered by their fellow men. The secret to the game, however, is that no one actually die. They are instead transported to the Loser's Pit, where they are caged up for the remainder of their lives. Only three people outside of the government know of this, however: Creus, Brutus, and Ferocis. Brutus, the one man to escape the Pit, trained the newbie Creus and Ferocis for their first tournament, and possibly their last. Even knowing the cost if they die, they wish to join the brutalized battleground. They want their turn upon the Pedestal of the Victor, and live their life upon Hero Hill. This is their story.

    Ferocis checked his green Samurai armor. Everything was good, all lights green. He examined his weapon closely, ensuring his sword had no chance of malfunction, checking the power supply to the energy and the wiring, checking for loose wires or faulty wires. Seeing as everything was well, as he already knew, he examined his gun, Bend. He checked the telewire, and seeing as it was perfect, checked the bolt chamber. Fully loaded, and the barrel was clear of any energy blemishes. All of his equipment checked out, this much he knew. The anxiety of the next days tournament was etching at his cool personality. He heard a knock on his door. “Come in.” He roughly said, hiding the anticipation in his voice. Creus entered, showing off his red Sharpshooter armor. “Hey, check it out! It's my armor!” He chuckled good with a good nature surrounding it. Ferocis did not return the pleasant voice, and focused on his equipment. Creus removed his helmet, revealing his shaggy blond hair and bright blue eyes. “Ferocis, it's perfect. You've been going over your armor for the past five days. Its all going to work.” Ferocis turned away from the armor and weapons, walking out into the kitchen. “I know. Its just that we're almost there. We've wanted this all out lives, and now even if we do know the likely outcome and what happens if we die, we still go in.” Ferocis scoffed. “We're brand new, we've never been in one of the pre-tournament Games, were we can't be killed. What are the chances of us dying?” Creus nodded, grin still plastered over his face. “High. But we won't die, we can't. Thats all the wisdom I have for you, I will see you, my friend, tomorrow, and we will walk through the gate together, hand in hand!” Ferocis turned to Creus, aghast at what he said. “Hand in hand? What are you talking about?” Creus laughed and hit him on the shoulder, “I'm playing with you. I need to go, I've got a date tonight, and I still need to get this armor off. Goodbye.” Creus took off running down the empty corridor. Ferocis whispered to him, although he was long gone, “Good luck.”

    Ferocis' eyes snapped open. It was bright out. He looked at his clock, and sighed in relief as he saw he still had two hours until he had to be there. He got up out of bed and ate a meager breakfast. He suited up in Samurai, and attached his weapons to himself. Creus was already out of bed, and was waiting for Ferocis at the aircar. “I drive.” Creus said, and entire new air about him, one opposite of the one he wore the previous day.

    Ferocis and Creus walked through the mighty iron gates to the coliseum, a proud step upon entering the massive place. They contained their gasps as they looked upon the field they were to fight on. It was just about fifty times larger than they ever thought it was. It had buildings, small forests and mountains, tunnel entrances dotted the landscape, and a huge dome in the middle of the arena. “Welcome, our gladiators!” A voice boomed out across the coliseum. It appeared as though they were the last ones to enter, and the beginning speech had begun. They ran over the large crowd they had missed. The speech was long, as it always was, and that years Games began.
    Each gladiator had their own entrance into the arena, fifty entrances, one for each fighter. They were spaced far apart from each other, as so none would die too soon. The buzzer had yet to sound, and Ferocis walked slowly up the dark tunnel towards the gate that would open to the Games. Fear, anxiety, and hope paraded through his mind, making it hard to concentrate. Each footstep felt like the thunderfall of a giant, and his legs were like blocks of metal. His breathing was heavy and quick, and seemed to stop when he made it to the gate. Air and time seemed to freeze, and the world fell silent. His heart sounded, a loud eruption with each beat, blocking any outside sound from gaining passage through him. The wait seemed forever, and each second an eternity. Then the gong sounded.

    The loud and deep boom of the gong was heard throughout the coliseum, and the iron gates released themselves. Creus ran out into the barren desert he was set in. It was dry here, barely any plant life, but plenty of rocks. Creus scrambled onto the biggest one, about twice the size of an aircar, and gazed out over the landscape. He saw movement already. One of the contestants was not being very discreet, giving him away. It was too difficult to kill him from the rock, so Creus gave chase after him. Dodging rock after rock, he looked for his shadowy enemy. He was almost a ghost in how he moved, making it difficult for Creus to spy him. Alas, it was the dry sand that gave him away, each of the footfalls causing a disturbance amongst the waterless land. Creus was drawing close now, he grabbed his hook. The gauntlet was tight on his wrist, perfect as to it could not fall off. The hook was edged with a red energy, and a perfect spot where he could grab it at the base so he would not injure himself or damage his armor. He was drawing close, after running after him for ten minutes. Creus was taking heavier breaths, and he could feel fatigue in his legs. By now his target was in sight, and saw an opening. Creus threw his hook through the air, the hook attached to a red energy chain that slid out from Creus' gauntlet. The hook found its target perfectly, tearing his leg tendon. The man gave out a grunt of pain and fell to the ground, rolling for some feet from the momentum of his run. Creus retracted his hook and ran over to the man, crawling for his life. The helmet turned, and he pulled his gun out, firing at Creus. He dodged behind a rock, rolled over it to appear on the other side, and punctured the mans skull with his hook as he leaped from the rock onto his foe. A shudder, and the man died. Curious, Creus reached down towards the man, and saw something out of place. A tiny chip. Creus removed the helmet, and there lying on the ground was a dummy. “So thats what happens.” Creus whispered to himself. Creus put the helmet back down on the fallen foe, and took off for the dome found in the center of the arena.

    Ferocis ran through the trees, dodging left and right. Currently, he was being chased after a man with a gun that shot disc like bolts. He had yet to see his melee weapon. Panting, Ferocis looked for a way out, to lose his hunter. His eyes glanced to the left, and he saw a large maze. Cries of anger and frustration could be heard throughout it, meaning opponents were already inside... and lost. “I have to take the chance.” He said to himself. He turned sharply into the entrance, and began to run throughout the winding corridors. He could hear the heavy footsteps of his pursuer, but he was losing ground, slowing down. Ferocis knew he was too, and had to end the chase soon. He turned around a sharp corner and stopped, pulling out his sword. The footsteps let Ferocis know how close the enemy was, and at the right time, perfectly as he was coming around the corner, he swung.

    Ferocis' sword cut through the enemy's gun, and off two of his fingers. He let out a cry of pain, and a roar of anger as he pulled out two purple daggers. He stabbed at Ferocis, who deflected it to the side and dodged the second that cam at him. Ferocis backed away, and the enemy charged at him, stabbing with one at his face and the other at a lower extremity. Ferocis blocked the dagger at his face with his blade, and grabbed the wrist of the other hand. He twisted with his hand, and snapped he wrist, letting out another cry of pain. Taking the opening, Ferocis spun on his heel, and swung at the neck of the enemy. Unfortunately, he was already in retreat, making Ferocis look like a fool as he stumbled, finding no placement for his weight. The enemy turned around the corner, and Ferocis pulled out his gun. He pointed it and fired, the bolt bending perfectly around the corner. Ferocis saw the shadow of his enemy fall to the ground, and Ferocis stood alone panting. He knew he had to get out of the maze, but he had forgotten the way to the second entrance. He forgot which direction it was. Ferocis closed his eyes and spun in a circle with his arm extended with his index finger pointing out. He stopped after five seconds and opened his eyes, his finger pointing south as it said on his helmet. He took off running down that part of the maze, unsure of what was going to happen.

    Creus walked quietly through the bog, a harsh stench plaguing the air. At the start, he had not had the air filter on, and the smell was near overwhelming. Time passed, and the sound of spoiled water pervaded each step. The dead or dying trees lined the invisible path. Creus stopped himself at the snap of a twig. It was a mellow crack, but just loud enough for Creus to pick up. Pulling out his scoped handgun, and crouched down and proceeded through the dank misty area even slower than before. A second snap, louder, drier and closer, pierced the air and Creus turned around, barely leaping out of the way before an energy net whizzed through the air, scraping a millimeter of metal of his boot. He attempted a roll through the still water, but it failed miserably. The water slowed his roll to stop quickly, and Creus struggled to stand. He was shoved to the ground and a energy chord wrapped around his neck. He struggled for air, but it was cut off as the chord pulled tighter and tighter. Spots appeared in his eyes, and the edges lost their clarity, falling into a black shadow. He was running out of time. Thinking with what brainpower he had left, he threw his head back and felt the glorious crack of the enemies helmet. He groaned and released, struggling to cover his nose against the pervading scent of rank water. Creus struggled up and took off, not thinking well enough to kill his enemy. He ran with a stumble at first, but it fixed up back to a full out run. He heard the almost echo of the spraying water after steps, meaning his opponent was after him. He heard the sound of an object passing through the air rapidly, and he turned into a tiny, valley-like gorge, and another net whizzed past him. He clambered silently up the wall, using the shadows to hide himself. Just as he made it to the summit his hunter turned into the slim gorge. He pulled a long purple chord out and crouched as he walked through the gorge cautiously. Knowing he had him, Creus pulled his gun from its holster and took aim. The special property of his armor saw the vulnerable points, and pointed out the most effective targets. Creus took aim at the best choice and fired a single bolt. It landed with a satisfying “thoop”, and the enemy let out a groan before falling face down into the stinking bog waters. Creus let out a sigh and took off, glad to be on his way out of the bog. He saw a tunnel entrance, and went for it.

    Ferocis ran through the leafy hedge maze, lost within its encompassing walls. Corner after corner he turned, and each leading either into a dead end or another confusing route to take. Ferocis was beginning to run out of breath and patience. He turned another corner, identical to the past ones, and collided head on with another gladiator. A loud metallic crack and two groans as the two fighters fell to the ground. Ferocis reacted first, standing up and unsheathing his sword. Before he was able to attack, the other held out his hand and said, “Whoa, hold it. I don't want to fight. Just give me a second, I believe we can help each other.” Ferocis stopped his charge, and stepped back, sword still at the ready. “What do you want?” He asked, trying to sound as gruff as he could. The white gladiator stood up, stretching and said, “New, huh? All the new ones try to sound like you. My name is Jumper. I have been lost in this maze for a while, and I might have a way out, but I need two people. Will you hear me out?” Ferocis held his blade at the ready nonetheless, but the point wavered. “How do I know this isn't some trick? To let my guard down?” Jumper chuckled and replied to him, “Trust me, I would be fighting you by now if I was going to kill you.” Ferocis could not deny the logic, and he slowly lowered the point of his sword. “Samurai. What is this plan of your to escape this cursed maze?”

    “My armor allows me to jump great heights. I have made several attempts to make it to the top of the wall. However, it is just beyond my reach, literally centimeters away. If you get on my shoulders, then when I jump you will be able to make the leap.” Ferocis nodded and asked, “And what makes you think that you'll be able to jump high enough with two?” Jumper let out a chuckle and said, “It does not matter the weight I carry, when I leap, I go the same leap, but perhaps off by a few inches. It should be no problem.” Ferocis was a little impressed by his armor's ability. “Okay, I will go along with this plan of yours. But if you cross me, I will not hesitate to kill you.” Jumper laughed and crossed over next to the leafy wall. Crouching down, he motioned over Ferocis over onto his shoulders. Ferocis did so, balancing carefully. Jumper straightened up and said, “On my mark. 3. 2. 1. Leap.” Jumper leaped, and it was much more difficult to hang on than Ferocis thought. He hung precariously onto Jumper with his thighs, reaching forward at the edge of the wall, approaching frighteningly fast. As the approached the apex, Ferocis leaped weakly from Jumper's shoulders, grasping through the air. After what seemed like ages flying through empty gripless space, he grabbed the edge and held on. Hanging on the precipice of the wall, he dangled far up above the ground. He groaned and pulled up, struggling onto the top of the wall. Panting, he heard Jumper's voice call up to him from the ground. “Samurai, I'm going to leap up, Lean down so you can grab my arm.” Ferocis went prone on the hedgewall, and extended his arm down. He saw Jumper bend his legs and leap up towards him. Ferocis grabbed his arm at the perfect time, pulling him up with surprising ease. He landed on his feet and stood with a puff of air. “Perfect. In fact, I believe that I can see the exit, my friend. Lets go.” Jumper took off across the new obstacle course, clambering over the very easily trip-able branches extending out of thee wall. Ferocis shook his head and followed, staying close behind him.

    The tunnel was far darker than Creus had anticipated. “Pity these armors don't come with flashlights.” Creus groaned lightly. There was barely enough light to see the next rock, making his journey go by very slowly. Every now and then he tripped over a stray rock, creating another nuance already added to the lack of sight and the feeling of being lost. He could not make out any intelligible path, each turn leading him deeper into the darkness of the tunnel.

    Creus had been walking for a while, growing steadily tired. His lack of concentration was broken by a sudden powerful push from behind, propelling him through the air. He rolled into a ready position, turning rapidly to face his foe. The darkness made it impossible for him to see, and he squinted pointlessly through the cave's murky black. He was barely able to dodge the exotic weapon that appeared mere milliseconds into his sight. The hidden enemy's weapon carved a gash in Creus' arm, scratching his flesh barely. Creus spun and swung out with his leg, but stumbled after finding no body to connect with. He bent his back low to the ground to dodge a second swipe, and leaped away from his enemy. “Difficult to fight in the dark,” a voice came from the inky dark, “Isn't it? You are skilled, most people would be dead by now, so I will give you my name. I am Mole, master of the underground. To answer your question, my armor is equipped full with heat sensors and night vision, allowing me to find you easily. I give you applause for dodging my previous attacks, but your victory will be short-lived. However, since you are my best kill as of yet, may I ask your name?” Creus pulled his gun out of his holster, and the armor's pin-point system found Mole. “Sharpshooter.” Creus said before firing a singly bolt. A cry rang through the tunnels and a chuckle followed. “You shot my leg. You are skilled, my worthy opponent. It seems you have a way of seeing me. Goodbye.” Creus could not understand why he missed, but had no time to think about it as he was busy dodging the jabs with the exotic weapon.

    His armor was slashed many times, and Creus was beginning to take deeper cuts beyond his precious superficial ones. Blood ran down his red armor, staining it with a different shade. Groans were made from both opponents, their injuries beginning to bother them. Creus knew his reflexes were slowing, and he had to make a move fast before things got out of hand. He grasped his hook and threw it in the general direction of his opponent, knowing it was easy to dodge due to the darkness and Mole having night vision. However, he took into account the last jab, which came at a left angle, but with the right arm. His reflexes did not fail him. Creus pulled to his hard left, and the hook met with a harsher cry of pain. Creus pulled his enemy in as he ran towards him. He got close enough and leaped, missing Mole, but managing to catch him with his arm. He brought him hard to the ground and kneeled on top of him. He pulled out his handgun and pressed it to Mole's helmet. He heard a slight whimper escaping from his mouth before the trigger was pulled, silencing Mole. Creus panted, wounds beginning to burn from the mixture of sweat and dirt. Knowing he had to move on, something caught his eye as he got up from Mole's dummy. A map. Creus picked it up, glad that its markings were glowing. It was a map of the tunnels, which would prove useful to Mole in the event of being lost. His ground were the caves, it made sense he should know how to navigate them. Creus chuckled and smiled to himself, astounded by his luck in finding this. He folded it up and stuffed it into one of his thin metal packs and continued down the tunnel, pace increased with the help of directions.

    Jumper skidded to an awkward stop, and Ferocis ran past him. “Samurai, stop!” Jumper called out. Ferocis was doing more of a gallop in the attempt to slow down, and stopped eventually inches away from falling off the wall. He turned around and jogged back to Jumper. “We made it.” Jumper said as he pointed to the exit. Ferocis sighed in relief, glad he was out of the maze. Jumper turned towards Ferocis and said to him, “I have a proposition for you, friend. How would you like to join us?” Ferocis cocked his head at him, curious as to what he had to say. Ferocis had never heard of a “group” at the Games, it has and always was a one man for himself sport. “We are new, and technically not allowed, but I have a feeling you won't tell anyone if you decline. See, a group of us veterans who have been playing at these tournaments for years have decided we should not waste the others talents by killing them. So we decided to make an unofficial group called, “The Carriers.” Since we have made such a strong bond, I wanted to ask if you wanted to join us.” Samurai was intrigued by his offer to say the least, interested in the idea of such a group. He thought over the idea, and found himself wanting to join. But them thought to himself if he wanted to mark himself as a team player in a rule-less game. But then again there was no rule saying there couldn't be a team. “Very well, I will join “The Carriers.” Jumper nodded and held out his hand. “Welcome to The Carriers, Samurai. In fact, I believe we should have a group meeting now to introduce you. This is such an unprecedented introduction into the group, but I'm sure the others will understand.” Jumper pulled out a small button and pressed it. “Signal sent. Come, follow me, friend.” Jumper walked over to the edge and grabbed onto a pole extending to the ground, and slid easily to the bottom. Ferocis walked cautiously over to the pole, and found it extremely slippery. He slid down to the bottom with no friction. “To keep the walls steady. They slick them so the gladiators can't climb up them.” Jumper explained. “Lets go meet your new team mates, shall we?” Jumper took off out of the maze and into a new terrain, another forest, but with far less trees.

    Jumper motioned Samurai to stop. He checked around and said, “Clear, no cameras. Lets go.” He bent down to the ground and grabbed a tuft of grass and pulled up, revealing a tunnel, hidden under a trap door. He waved his hand and went down. Ferocis felt uneasy about this, but followed perhaps foolishly nonetheless. He passed by Jumper, who closed the door behind him before continuing on. “This is our emergency meeting room, in the case something happened that makes up group together doing a tournament.” Jumper said as the continued down the crude, torch-lit tunnel deeper into the dank earth. Eventually, they cam into a large bright cavern, which already had several gladiators there. They stood up when Ferocis entered the room. “What is the meaning of this? You bring a non-Carrier to our meeting? What is wrong with you?” A light brown gladiator said with anger tinting his voice. “Calm yourself, Verun, he is a Carrier. Brand new just got him, I figured he should meet the rest of you. Lets huddle.” The 6 other Carriers came around into a circle. “Remove your helmets. We must do so for our new member.” Said the black colored one. Each Carrier grabbed their helmets simultaneously and pulled them off, revealing their faces. Ferocis was startled by this, first that they would show their faces during the tournament, and second that they all wore hair nets, except the one in the brown suit. He was bald. He glanced around the circle, and his eyes stopped on the pink gladiator, who turned out to be a woman. She smiled at him and said, “Never seen a woman gladiator? Thats because I am the pioneer of the female gladiator genre. I got in because they figured I was just a gay man, and didn't want to remove my helmet for fear of being recognized or something like that. That was my favorite part.” She giggled. “Thats enough talk, Maren.” The black suited gladiator said. “You have yet to remove your helmet, gladiator.” He addressed Ferocis. Ferocis had forgotten, still uneasy about revealing is face. However the rest had, so it only made sense that he did. He grabbed his helmet and took it off, revealing his youthful features.

    “Oh, a newbie! I should have known.” Maren said aloud. “We thank you for revealing your face, I know you were taught not to do so. But now we must know your name before we introduce ourselves.” The black suited gladiator said, giving Maren a silencing glance. Ferocis had gone this far, he might as well go all the way. “Ferocis. And yours?” “I am Kiro, a.k.a Runner, leader of The Carriers. You already know Maren, a.k.a Shatter, and Jumper a.k.a Tertes.” Kiro said to him. “Now for the ones you don't know. The one in the light brown is Verun, a.k.a Cry. The one in the light blue is Hirgon, a.k.a Stealth. Next to him in the gray is Dorun, a.k.a Seeker. And the final person is Gera, a.k.a Mist. We welcome you to the Carriers, Ferocis, a.k.a Samurai.”

    The light of day beat warmly down on Creus, and he feel to his knees, thankful to be out of the wretched caves. He kneeled there, face pointed at the sun like a sunflower for a forgotten amount of time. He knew he had to move, and he unwillingly forced his sore body up. He looked at the sun, and even though it was still in the sky, it was going down. It would be dark soon, this much Creus knew, so he had to find shelter somewhere. He looked east, and saw a town. “Of course, this is a mega coliseum, with every kind of terrain, why not suburban?” He said quietly to himself as he walked towards the comfortable looking town. He knew better than that it would be unprotected, the chances of there being no traps were impossible.

    Entering the town cautiously, he looked around at the buildings. He figured there were already gladiators taking up shop there, so he kept to the shadows. He came across a building, obviously empty due to the fact it was locked and the door showed no signs of break-in. He kicked the door in with his gun ready. He flicked the light switch on, and saw nothing disturbed. He turned it off quickly. He looked at the sky, seeing as the sun was beginning to set. He set the door back up and repaired the easily fixable lock. He took out of one of the metal packs he carried on him and alarm, arming it to the door in the case of an enemy breaking in. It was a one story house, with already stocked refrigerator and med kits for wounds. A stocking house, thats what this was for. As he walked to the kitchen to get something to eat, when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. A several tiny holes dotted the entryway to the kitchen. He picked up a pillow of the couch and tossed it through the threshold. Nothing. He walked to the bathroom and made a warm cup of water, and threw it through the doorway. Several bolts flashed across, throwing the water around. “Heat sensor. I see, clever trap. Clever, clever, clever.” Creus said quietly to himself. He then repeated the experiment, but with two cups of water, one closely fallowing the other. The bolts shot out at the first one, but the other passed through untouched. Creus chuckled at the simplicity of the trap. He threw one more cup of water, waited for the bolts to cross, then leaped through. He sighed as he passed through untouched. He straightened up and went over to the fridge to get some food to fill his empty stomach. He filled his stomach, and grabbed the med kits hanging on the wall, and redid the water trick to get back to the living room. He nursed his wounds on the couch, thinking back on the frightening day. He sighed and laid down, not taking off his armor, after his wounds were nursed and bandaged, not daring to go upstairs for fear of other traps. He threw caution to the wind and closed his eyes to exhaustion, falling into a dark, dreamless sleep.

    “We rest here tonight. Its better than out in the elements.” Kiro said quietly as he took off his armor. “Suit out. Sleeping in armor is very uncomfortable.” Kiro took from a closet up against the wall a sleeping bag, throwing it out over the ground for himself. Everyone else groaned, showing obvious dislike for sleeping on the hard ground of the cave. Ferocis walked over for his, but was roughly pushed away by Verun, who turned and looked down on him. “Sorry. Not enough bags.” He said roughly. He grabbed a bag for himself and walked across to the center of the room, throwing the sleeping bag out and climbing inside. “Don't mind him, he's always that gruff.” Maren said softly, quietly sneaking up behind Ferocis. “If you want, you can share a sleeping bag with me?” Ferocis respectfully declined the flirtatious offer, telling her that he'll just sleep on the ground. “I'm new, its what I expected.” He said with a shrug. “Well, if you change your mind, I'll be in the dark back corner.” Maren said with a wink before strutting away. Ferocis watched her walk away before shrugging. He could tell she did that to everyone, she was an expert. “I see you've met Maren.” Came a quiet voice. The man in the light blue armor passed, the one known as Hirgon. “She's sly, don't let her charms to get to you. Ferocis heeded his wise advice and walked away. “Another thing, in case you didn't know this,” Hirgon called out just loud enough so he could hear, “When we are in the outside world, refer to us by our armor names.” Ferocis nodded, seeing the sensibility in this. He stepped over to a suitable piece of ground and laid down, resting his armor beside him. The torches blew out, one by one, and the darkness of the cave took over, allowing Ferocis' eyes to close.

    A sudden shove woke Ferocis, and Gera stood over him. He waved him up and walked back over to his armor, suiting back into it. Ferocis rubbed his eyes and sat up, groaning from sleeping on the hard ground. All the others were already getting into their armor, most half-way finished already. Ferocis stood up and began to suit up as well, slightly flustered from sleeping in. The room was an early silence, no one really having the urge to speak at the moment. “We're moving out in five.” Kiro called out before putting on his helmet. The armor was rather easy for anyone to put on, it took Ferocis much less than five minutes to get ready. He was busy checking his guns barrel for any residual energy, and made sure his blade pure when Kiro motioned them to leave. Ferocis sheathed his sword and holstered his gun quickly and walked after the already moving group. As they walked up the tunnel, Kiro gave out the pairs to travel in. “Shatter, you're with Mist, Seeker with Stealth, Cry with me, and Samurai with Jumper. Does everyone have that?” Each Carrier nodded in unison, Ferocis knowing he will ask Jumper later. Runner stopped at the door, and turned to the Carriers. “We all know what to do. Samurai, ask Jumper about it later. Ready? Move out!” He pushed the door open and ran out in a seemingly random direction, followed by Cry. The others did the same, all in different directions, and ended with Jumper closing the trap door. He walked away casually, whistling inside his helmet. “Out objective is to find a suitable resting place as close as we possibly can get it to the dome. If we're very lucky, we can find a stocking town, rest up and get supplies. If we see any enemy, make sure you whistle a tune before attacking, and if they reply with a tune, they're one of ours. Theres a lot of matching armor in this arena.” Jumper explained as he continued walking. Ferocis walked alongside him, and asked him, “Then why are we walking, shouldn't we be moving fast?” Jumper shook his head. “No, if we wear ourselves out now, we might come across hazardous terrain and e unprepared or run into an enemy and be tired. Rookie mistake.” Ferocis understood. He looked up at the slowly rising sun, and wondered how Creus was doing at the moment.

    Creus' eyes opened. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon, and he found himself hungry. He walked into the kitchen, throwing water ahead of him of course, and ate a meager breakfast. He grabbed and filled several water bottles, grabbed as much canned food as he could carry, and took a couple med kits. He threw the water ahead of him and went to the door, disarming his trap and putting it back into this pack. He threw open the door to a large fight in the street, about fifteen gladiators going all out on each other. Creus slammed the door and locked it. These houses were soundproofed, giving Creus a disadvantage. He could not hear what was happening outside. There was pounding on the door. They had seen him. Creus took his water bottles and poured them out over the floor to the kitchen, then leaped through. The pounding on the door increased until the door busted wide open, revealing three gladiators. Why they weren't fighting each other, Creus had no idea, but he had to drag them over to him. He made several rude gestures at them, then ducked behind the wall. He heard pounding footsteps running towards the kitchen, and the trap went off, hearing the dying scream of one and the wounded yell of another. The two survivors slipped on the water thrown across the floor, and Creus killed the one who came into his view with his hook. The other remained in the doorway too long, and was shot again with the bolts. Creus dragged the gladiator he had kill over. He refilled his water bottles with cold water and threw the dead through the doorway, setting off the trap. Creus ran for the broken in door, leaping out of the house. The sound of gunfire and clashing weapons was heard through the streets. Creus held no wish to join the quarrel and bolted for the edge of town.

    He made it out, leaving the rough sound of war behind him. He saw a large rocky terrain leading up to another large office building. Why the strange placement, he would never know, but he ran for the crag nonetheless. Clambering over rock after rock, the building grew in size. The rocks were slippery, hard to run on, resulting in lots of slips an such. After much pain of running amongst the rocks, he made it to the office building. He sighed and looked up at the ten story structure. “Might as well check it out.”

    Ferocis and Jumper walked casually through the sparse forest, going over drills and rules of being a Carrier. Ferocis had no idea there could be so many rules for what seemed a simple group. There were exactly 65 as Jumper had told him, and they were only half way through. While telling Ferocis an amusing story regarding to one of the questions, he stopped himself and held up his hand. He pulled out his gun and walked forward. The end of the forest was just ahead of them, and he was checking what terrain was next. He motioned Ferocis over, seeing as the area was clear. The terrain was rocky, and a huge office building in the middle. “Lets go check it out.” Ferocis suggested. “I agree.” Jumper said quietly. “Be on your guard, thats the perfect place for an ambush”