Allies

Survival Hunt - Part Six

               Slowly walking without any sense of direction, Casey started muttering to herself.

Her boots were grey with custards of dried substances. They shuffled across the ground, creating both noise and a trail without leaves. Her boots were also picking up a lot of extra dirt and grass.

“It’s begun… It’s started…”

In her mind, the roar sounded again.

Casey let out a small cry and covered her ears. No matter what, she wanted to get out of the arena. She wanted to be brought home. She hoped with all her heart that she was still in bed, tossing and turning, and finally waking up from an awful nightmare.

Sweat continued rolling down her face. Her nose started running. Everything seemed to be going out of hand. Panicking only made things worse.

Several loud screams were heard. The noises kept up.

Casey fell to her knees again and rested her head on a thick tree trunk. Her legs would not stop quavering. Every emotion she once had all mixed and mashed together into one: fear.

“Casey!”

She raised her head and looked around.

Again the low hiss sounded, calling, “Casey!”

Casey stood up, grabbing onto the tree. She looked up and felt herself begin to settle down at last. She inhaled and exhaled evenly.

“Casey, come here!” Acacia hissed again.

She was with Lenny behind another tree a little less than fifty metres away. Acacia’s hands were frantically motioning Casey to hurry up and join them.

As quickly as her legs would carry her, Casey met up with the others again.

“I thought you were gone!” Acacia exclaimed. She brushed grass off of Casey’s back. “I only met up with Lenny just now. He said there was a safe house a little south from here. Do you have a compass?”

“I thought I almost died,” Casey said. She pulled a compass out of her pocket. It was attached to a chain, which was tied tightly to her pants. “South is that way…” She pointed into the direction she had once felt a wall.

Lenny nodded. “Have you seen anyone around?”

Acacia shook her head. “Except for you and Casey, no. When I heard a roar, I almost jumped out of my skin. This place is really real. I have no words to describe how freaked out I am right now…”

“I saw a girl earlier. But that was before the bell chimed.” Casey put the compass back into her pocket. “I felt a wall earlier.”

“A what?”

“I felt a wall. It must have been the arena’s wall,” Casey repeated. “But that was also before the bell chimed. After that, it just disappeared.”

Acacia immediately glanced at Lenny. “You were right! What do we do now?”

“I seriously don’t know what to do now,” Lenny said. “It’s best we try not to run into any monsters—but that’s inevitable. It’s still bright right now. Tomorrow will be winter… and it’ll be much colder and much darker.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Casey asked. She peered behind the tree. “Should we climb a tree?”

Lenny sighed. “It’s best if we don’t. Some winged dinosaurs perch on tall, thick trees. We might want to start by creating as many safe possibilities. Like, suggesting where it is safe to rest, besides the safe houses.”

“Why not the safe houses? I bet there are a million people in those by now,” Acacia said.

Lenny fumbled with something in his pocket. He pushed his blond hair out of his eyes and said, “People always go for the safe houses first but once they’re in there, they’re kinda trapped. It’s like the safe houses are portals themselves. You go in there to rest and become healed but when you go out, you’re not in the same place you thought you were. You’ve transported. So it’s not that safe.”

“Could you be transported into a dinosaur’s nest…?” Casey shivered.

“You might, but that’s not so likely, since these dinosaurs… don’t lay eggs at this time of year…” Lenny said.

Casey pulled out a shovel. “I took this just in case. I feel like digging a hole and just hiding in there. Does that count as a safe spot?”

Lenny laughed. “That’s one if you can get in and out without dinosaurs keeping their eyes on you.”

Acacia looked around at the quiet surrounding. She turned back to the others and poked Lenny’s arm. “How did you survive?”

The wind started howling. A noisy crowd of leaves swayed to the ground. After just landing, some were carried away by the wind again.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“What?”

“But that was before. With seven days this time… Chances of surviving are very slim. It’s more than double the previous times.” Lenny kicked a rock. “We’ll need food too. In previous years, it was possible to not eat for three days. But for seven days, there are only a few people who can manage. They go hungry soon enough and won’t be able to move as far or quickly. And attacks… There are more chances of those… and being eaten.”

Acacia squealed in horror. “It feels as if this is a one-sided war. It’s so unfair. Dinosaurs are huge and ferocious and they don’t care a thing about little people like us, that just looking like ants they can step on, or gobble up as a snack!”

A second later, a roar sounded again. This time it was much louder and the length of it was longer as well. A thumping started. Even and slow paced thumping was heard. Although it was some distance away, they knew it was slowly heading their direction.

Casey stared at the ground. The pebbles under the leaves were rumbling. She looked up at Acacia and Lenny with horror in her eyes. They returned the same glances.

“Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

The three of them dashed the other direction. They stumbled over awkwardly grown tree roots and dodged low hung branches.

“Slow down, Len!” Casey shouted, trying hard to keep up.

“Keep up, I’m not running that fast.”

Lenny was the tallest of them and he sure knew how to run. And if he said he was not running that fast, his sprint must be fast enough to escape a lion in a hungry fest.

Behind, Casey heard a short yelp. She turned around expecting to encounter something horrific or frightening. She stopped running so quickly when she saw Acacia slowing down.

“What are you doing?”

“My shoe! I just lost it,” Acacia replied, feeling slightly embarrassed. She turned around, only to crash into someone. They both fell into the mud.

Casey walked to the mess and held out her arms to pull them both up. Up ahead, Lenny had already started turning back to see what was holding them up.

“Hey, it’s you, the friend,” Casey said, staring at the boy who ran into Acacia.

He stared at her with a blank expression.

Another boy appeared from behind. He held up a shoe with a confused expression. Then he looked towards the others and shook his head.

“Elias!” Acacia shouted. She quickly brushed away the dirt and tried scraping the mud off her pants and jacket but it did not come off.

“Here,” he said, handing her the shoe. He looked at her browned socks. Then he looked at Casey and Lenny and started laughing. “What are you guys doing?”

Acacia tightened the laces of her shoe and stared up at everyone.

“We heard a dinosaur coming our way so we ran,” Casey explained. She fixed her ponytail and looked at the other boy. “How about you guys?”

Elias shrugged. “Matthew and I were just wandering around, looking for any specific tracks. We’re sorta finding a safe place to spend the night but I doubt things are going to work out well. I mean, we’re probably not able to sleep.”

Casey looked at Matthew. His hair was darker than the last time she saw him. His clothes were dirty from the fall and so was his face. She watched him hold out his hand to Acacia, who unknowingly pulled herself up.

“We were doing the same,” Lenny said, “As in trying to find a safe place to stay.”

Matthew looked at Lenny. “Who are you?” Then he looked at Casey. “You’re that girl from earlier but… who are you?”

Acacia rolled her eyes and pushed Matthew’s shoulder. “You’re so rude. Here, let’s just be quick.” She went around in the circle. “This is Casey, Len, and well you know Elias. Done.”

“What’s the plan now?” Matthew asked.

Elias looked at his watch. “My watch has both the time and timer. It counted up since last midnight so it’s kind of like the time we’ve been in here. But the clock doesn’t really mean anything since we’ve been transported.”

“Basically this time period and the one back in the building are different,” Acacia said. She looked up at the sky. “Can you see what time it is by reading the sun?”

“Who cares about all that,” Matthew said with a shake of his head. His short, spiky hair did not even move thanks to the hardened mud on his head. “We can find that out after one day, knowing when the moon comes up. Oh and when we pass by a safe house we can ask for the time.”

“What do you think?” Casey asked and looked at Lenny. He stared off somewhere else. Suddenly he felt as if someone was watching him. His blue eyes glanced at her and then he looked at the others.

 He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter.”

“Well,” Acacia said, raising her eyebrow at Lenny. “You said we should have some sort of plan.” She looked at Elias again, then at Casey. “What plan should we have?

“I honestly don’t think we’ll be able to come up with anything,” Elias said. “That’s what I think because things here happen unexpectedly.”

Lenny nodded. “Yep. I didn’t even have a plan in the first place. I just wanted to think I did.”

“What?” Casey shouted. “Now what?”

“Should we split up?” Matthew questioned.

“It doesn’t matter,” Elias said. He zipped his jacket higher and put his hands in his pocket. “I wonder how big this arena is.”

“It’s not exactly impossible to find each other again,” Acacia said. She grabbed Casey’s hand. “I mean, Len and I found her after the bell chimed.”

Matthew snorted. “Well that was right after the bell chimed, right? After we split up now, we will never find each other again.”

“Hey, you always know how to ruin the mood!”

Suddenly a huge gust of wind came running wildly towards them. The trees started swaying and causing the wind to move out of balance. All the leaves from the ground were raised up, higher than a human could ever reach, and they disappeared. A new layer of dead leaves replaced the old ones.

“Whenever the wind blows, I feel that something bad happened,” Casey whispered.

“Agreed,” Acacia said. “Let’s go somewhere now.”

After a while of silently shuffling through the forest, Matthew stopped and shouted, “Whoa!” He pointed up at the sky. “See that?”

The other four stopped walking and looked up as well.

Casey’s eyes grew wide. She reached her hands up and stood on her tip toes. “It’s the sky! I can see the sky!”

“It’s not that blue but at least we can tell there’s still light. It’s probably evening,” Acacia said.

“I’d say it’s around six o’clock,” Elias said.

“No, not that,” Matthew shook his head. He lowered his arm and said, “I mean, did you see that huge thing?”

Lenny’s eyes narrowed. “Stop and listen. Matthew’s right. Something’s up there.”

The mellow mood took a down turn.

A thump sounded. Casey’s hand grabbed the front of her jacket. Her eyes quivered as she continued staring up. She stole glances at the others, who were silent, not even daring to take a breath. Casey held her breath and listened.

“Pterodactyl," Elias hissed.
Acacia gulped. "Do they eat people?"
Without any movement, Elias whispered. "They're usually not that big. They eat fish and some animals. Never heard of them eat people."

"Don't be too relieved," Lenny said. "There are some mutated ones."
"Don't scare us," Casey said.
"I'm just warning you. Stay still for now."
The five of them stood in place staring up at the sky. One or two more of them flew by. There was a long pause after that.
Casey turned away. "Do you think a dinosaur could creep up behind us while we're not paying attenion?"
Matthew jerked his head away from staring up. He looked at the darkened distance. "It's possible isn't it, Len?"
He shrugged and looked back up. "We should keep going. Maybe find some water source if there are any."

"If we follow a dinosaur, maybe it will lead us to the water?" Casey suggested. "Not that I want that to happen though."

Lenny sighed and took a step. "Usually dinosaurs walking on two legs with short arms are carnivorous. But all types of dinosaurs we should avoid. Herb or carn, they can kill you quickly."

"Aw, you're a better mood-killer than Matt," Acacia groaned and followed him.

* * *

The small group walked a long way but did not find any water or even see any other people that came into the dinosaur era with them.

The sunlight was fading behind the trees. Strong rays blinded them as they continued down the non-existent path of the forest. The sunlight only peered through tree trunks for a while. After a few more minutes and looking and walking, the strong light disappeared.

“It’s so dark. We can’t use flashlights either,” Casey said. She turned and tried to make out the others’ faces. “Should we stop?”

Lenny looked around and sighed. “We can’t stop in the middle of nowhere. It’s best to make sure the surroundings are better known.”

“Shh,” Elias suddenly hissed. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Casey asked. She stopped moving and tried to listen.

Everything grew silent—or as silent as a dinosaur territory could be. They listened to the buzzing of insects, quiet chirps of birds, secluded roars and moans of dinosaurs. Then they heard something twinkling.

“Is that water?” Matthew asked.

“It is!” Acacia jumped. “Are we anywhere close to it?”

Elias pointed to his right. “It’s coming from that way.”

“It’s not safe to spend too long there,” Lenny said. “Water is also a dinosaur’s source. We’ll quickly get some and go.”

Again, they headed into the direction they assumed was the best for the time being. It was obvious that nothing in the location would be determined.

Finally they came to an opening. The trees had grown further apart until there were no more. A vast piece of grassy land filled the rest of the way until a rushing river was in sight. Across the water was another grassy land and trees behind. Further, behind the trees were mountains, barely made out.

“It’s so glittery,” Acacia said. She poked her finger in the water and licked it. “Wow, I’ve never liked water so much before.”

“Stop talking,” Matthew said. He quietly lowered his bottle and filled it up.

Acacia stuck her tongue out at Matthew and quickly stood up. “Don’t tell me what to do.” She spun around but her footing was lost. She slipped in the cold mud and was about to shout for help.

A hand pulled her up and covered her mouth. Acacia looked up, wide-eyed at Matthew. She gasped and pushed away from him.

Matthew snorted and stood up. “Be careful. Are you going to tell me not to tell you what to do now? You’re welcome, by the way.”

Acacia scrunched her nose at Matthew and bit her lower lip. She took out her spare bottle and filled it with water and joined the others.

Casey stared at Acacia and then looked at Matthew. She bit the inside of her mouth and dropped her shoulders. She quickly looked away when Matthew glanced up. When he turned away, she felt her eyes focus on them again.

What is this? I feel like I know nothing. Acacia, you want Elias to notice you, but it seems like something else is going on at the same time…

She sighed and screwed the lid back on her bottle and tucked it into her backpack.

“Do you think back where we started would be the safest place to stay?” Lenny asked.

“You mean all the way back to where the bell chimed, that place?” Casey asked. She looked at the others. “Were there fewer dinosaurs there? We didn’t see any.”

“We can do that,” Elias agreed. He brushed his sandy hair aside. “We can sleep separate, even have someone on guard.”

Casey shook her head to try to stay alert. She swallowed hard. She zipped her backpack and swung it over her shoulders. A huge sigh was let out and she looked behind, back into the forest. “Is this like… try or die?”

Acacia patted Casey’s shoulder. “Don’t think of it that way even if it is.” She looked at the boys and nodded.

“Don’t worry so much,” Lenny said. “The forest is tight. Smaller dinosaurs may be seen. The big ones… well I’m sure you’ll hear them when they approach. They can be silent but they might have to knock over trees to get by.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

Eventually they reached the point where Matthew and Acacia had slipped in the mud. The wet puddle was still there, slightly seen in the dim moonlight.

Lenny pointed at a large trunk tree. “That’s a yew tree.”

The trunk looked old and rough. The bark was peeling and a part of it was bumpier than the other. Partway up the trunk was a huge split. Multiple branches sprang out from the center trunk. Dark green needles covered the figure like a mop-head hair style.

“There’s another one over there,” Casey said. “We can sleep in the trunk, right?”

“That’s so cool,” Acacia said. “The branches are like the canopy covers. We’ll be safe inside, right? Come on, Casey.”

Casey was about to take a step forward when Lenny spoke.

“This might sound weird but will it be all right just the two of you girls in there? Not to be mean but honestly you don’t seem to be ready for anything to happen.”

Acacia stopped and blinked without saying a word.

“Are you going to come with us?” Casey asked, gripping tightly to her backpack. “Or should one of us be in each tree?”

Lenny opened his mouth but did not say anything. He looked at Matthew and Elias, who were standing nearby, watching for an answer as well.

Casey looked at Acacia, then at Elias and nodded. “In that case, Acacia can go with Elias…” She looked at Matthew and added, “…and Matthew.”

“What are you saying, Casey?” Acacia exclaimed. “We’re perfectly strong enough to handle anything.” She looked at Lenny and sighed.

“Just the first time,” Casey said. “I’m sure we’ll be much better tomorrow.” She pumped her fist in the air and nodded. “I won’t lose!”

She watched Lenny go into the other tree and followed closely behind without turning back. She bit her lip and held her hands into fists, trying not to shake or feel nervous about anything.

Sorry Acacia, but I want to do this for you. I promised that I’d help you. I’d help you survive and I’d help you so Elias will notice you… somehow. But… it’s not as easy as I thought it would be…

* * *

Inside the yew tree, Casey and Lenny sat next to each other with at least two feet space in between. They put their bags in front of them.

Casey sighed. She put her hood up and leaned back.

Lenny looked at her and looked back up at the insides of the tree. Branches were swinging here and there, making a huge crowd.

“Did you plan something?”

She shook her head and pulled her hood lower, covering her face. “No.”

“You tried to plan something, right?” Lenny asked.

Casey pushed her hood up and looked at him. She shook her head again. “I didn’t plan anything. It just happened because… I talk too much for some reason.”

Lenny shook his head too, but not to disagree. “They’re outsiders, aren’t they?”

“How do you know that?”

“Just the way they seem to know each other well makes me think that.” He put his backpack on his lap and stretched his legs out. “I thought you were an outsider when Acacia showed up but something made me think you weren’t.”

“What was that?”

He shrugged. “You don’t act like she does. You seemed to be confused.”

Casey pulled her hood back down and sighed. “That’s true. I don’t know a lot of things. I’ve never gone out of my house until now. I feel like a newborn that was educated before being born.”

Lenny laughed. “I felt like that too at one time. It went away really fast after that. People can’t hide themselves forever and are automatically able to open up to things around. So when you suggested that to Acacia… you might have rushed it. You shouldn’t interfere with their… relationships when you don’t know anything.”

Casey did not give a reply. She had her eyes open, peering at the outside world through a sliver of her hood. She tucked her knees in and turned her head the other way.

I might have rushed it…? I shouldn’t interfere…? True, I don’t know a thing about life. I don’t even talk to my dad normally. I would never understand the feeling Acacia has when thinking about Elias. In fact, what exactly is ‘like him’? Admiration? Romance? Hero? I’m confused. But that’s natural since I’m an ‘insider’.

Her eyelids slowly grew heavier and heavier. She tried keeping them open by sticking her fingers to pry them but her arm grew heavy as well. She felt the back of her hand hit the rough bark and nothing else. Everything went black.

* * *

Something extremely bright pierced into sight.

Casey’s eyes opened slowly but her eyelids dropped again. She rolled uncomfortable around and ended up hitting her head on another bumpy piece of bark. Her hand shot up to rub the pain off her cheek. She smacked something in the process.

“Ow!”

“What?” Casey exclaimed suddenly and now wide awake.

She looked beside her and saw Lenny. She let out a huge sigh in relief and leaned backwards again. “Sorry, you scared me.”

He slowly sat up and stretched. He looked around and stood up, avoiding a weirdly grown branch right overhead. He looked out from behind some branches and pushed some needles aside to see clearly.

“What’s out there?” Casey whispered.

Lenny got back down. “The others seemed to have made it through the night.”

“These trees are really convenient,” Casey said with a grin. “I’m going to go out and see how Acacia’s doing.” She pulled her backpack on.

“Yeah, sure,” Lenny pulled his hood on and leaned back again.

Casey covered her head as she pushed herself out of a branch’s way. She snapped a few needles accidentally. Quietly she poked her head out of the branches.

Just when she was about to climb out, she saw a face. As an instantaneous reaction, she tumbled backwards and screamed at the top of her lungs for a long time, hoping someone would save her from something frightening. “A dinosaur!”

Her scream was echoed and much higher pitched. Casey stopped screaming.

Lenny pulled her up and shook her shoulder. “Hey, are you still alive?”

Casey coughed and rolled up. “I’m fine but…”

With a shake of his head, Lenny crawled over Casey and pulled the yew branches aside. He jumped out of the branch and landed on his feet. He stood up straight and raised his eyebrow at the figure.

“That’s your dinosaur, Casey.”

Casey climbed out of the tree and opened her mouth in surprise.

It was a girl, slightly taller than her. She was a quite beautiful girl too. She had long elegant yet messy wavy dark brown hair. Her hair looked like it had been tied up at one point but pulled apart due to some natural environment. She was dressed in the similar dark green jacket and black pants. Her face was pale and smooth, unusually unscratched.

Acacia, Elias, and Matthew had come out of the other tree to see what had happened.

Elias looked away, uninterested.

“I thought you died!” Acacia shouted, running over to Casey. She stared at the girl. “Who’s this?”

“No idea…” Casey said. Then she looked at the girl and tilted her head, thinking.

A scene flashed in her head. A girl in a sleeping bag nearby… She held some keychain in her hands and had shiny rings on her finger…

Casey looked at the girl’s hand and saw a familiar ring. Then a light bulb clicked in her head. She jumped and exclaimed, “You’re that girl!”

The girl frowned and crossed her arms. “What are you talking about? First I’m your dinosaur and now I’m that girl?”

“No, you were that girl from the preparation back at that building. And I saw you in the arena too. Your hair… Wasn’t it blond?”

“I had to dye my hair because I had too much of it, and it was gold. I didn’t want to be a dinosaur’s light bulb,” the girl said. She looked around and raised her eyebrows. “Wait, all yesterday I didn’t see a single soul. But today, why exactly are there so many people all of a sudden?”

Lenny and Casey stood nearby the yew tree they were in. Acacia stood close by Casey. Elias and Matthew were standing behind the girl, still confused what was going on.

“What’s your name?” Lenny asked.

The girl looked at him. “I’m Chouchou Belle.”

“Cho—?” Casey started.

“Who are all of you?” Chouchou turned around and stared at Matthew. Then her eyes darted to Elias. “You look oddly familiar. You were… something Eli.”

Elias looked at her and shrugged. “Yeah, but I don’t recognize you.”

“Hey, how do you know him?” Acacia asked suddenly.

“Did you meet him at preparation too?” Casey solicited. She put her finger to her chin, thinking or remembering the time back at the building.

Chouchou turned around. “I actually don’t know. I remember something because my guardian said once… Never mind.”

Casey stared at Elias. “Wow, you know a lot of people.”

Then Chouchou made a noise as if she just remembered something. She clapped her hands together, “I can’t go another day by myself. I’m going to follow you guys.”

“The more the merrier,” Casey said quietly.

“Fine,” Lenny nodded. “But we don’t exactly have anything figured out.”

Chouchou shook her head. “I don’t care about that. I can’t go another day by myself. If I die, no one will even know. My bones would probably have been eaten already… No, no one will even recognize me if I was only bones!” She adjusted her backpack. “Do you have anything to eat?”

Casey laughed.

Acacia rolled her eyes. “Seven days are going to feel longer than they already do…”

Countdown

Survival Hunt - Part Five

            The blocky numbers on the black watch around Casey’s wrist silently counted down. There were about six minutes left.  

Casey’s hand was shaking aggressively, in fact, her whole body was shivering. She held her hands tightly together, trying her best to stop the uncontrollable and embarrassing movement. When she could no longer keep her teeth from chattering either, her knees popped and she tumbled to the dirt floor.

Both Acacia and Lenny turned to her. Acacia pulled Casey up and sighed.

“There’s no use standing around here,” Acacia finally said. She looked around the surroundings. “Other people have already started moving. They might be trying to explore, or find any means of survival.”

Lenny nodded in agreement. “Speaking of means of survival, there should be some safe houses evenly spread out in here. It would be a good thing to locate a few of them so you know exactly where you can count on staying alive.”

“Ah,” Acacia beamed. “We should go search around for some right?” She grabbed Casey’s wrist and watched the numbers change from thirty at five minutes. “Five and a half, Len, Case, what do you think?”

Casey nodded. “We should do that. It’ll be best, right? Where should we meet up again?” She glanced at Lenny automatically.

* * * * *

Every single time Casey looked at the watch, she felt time was doubling decrease speed. Time was very important but with every tick, Casey’s heart sped twice as fast. Her heart beat so loud and speedily, the nearby people could almost hear her.

She slowed to a stopped to catch her breath. For a few seconds she wondered exactly why she was running so quickly.

Her legs wobbled and she fell to a crouch. Her fingers were wet with sweat, and hands red from clenching into fists once in a while.

She breathed heavily and struggled to her feet again to continue her way.

As of now, nothing but immense, thick and thin, leafed and bare trees stood around her. The spaces between the trees were irregular. Some grew side by side, almost as if their roots were entwined. Other trees stood so far and looked so indifferent; it was like they were aliens to each other.

Casey’s hand went across her forehead. The heat and pressure build up was creating a volcano in her brain. Any moment now it was going to explode and generate a huge eruption, destroying a chunk of area around her.

The words from Lenny earlier caused a stir in her heart. The image of his exhausted and heartbroken facial expression glued to Casey’s mind. His voice sounded loud and clearly, repeating constantly.

“We might not meet up again.”

Something hot and prickly touched Casey’s cheek. It glided like a slug strolling across a tree stump, leaving its sticky and grubby goo behind. Her finger wiped it away and came off wet. She realized it was a tear.

Finally Casey breathed loudly again and fell down to her knees. Her hands went into tight fists again as her head faced downwards. The variety of brown and green leaves moved at every tear that fell from her eyes.

Casey brought herself together again. She sat up cross-legged and stared up at as far as her vision carried her. The trees grew so tall it was quite hard to see anything around. She shut her eyes and used her ears.

Humming was heard. It was not any hum from birds or insects lurking around. The sound was familiar. Without sight, Casey felt like she was at home surrounded by nature and the gift of Mother Nature. Then it became clear to her. The sound was like the light bulbs fizzing during the silent night.

Her eyes shot open again. It was an instant transportation. The feeling of being home, being safe was gone. She felt more tears fall down. The image of her smiling father disappeared. The warmth of his hand was gone.

“Why…?” Casey heard herself whisper. “Why is the first time I’m out of my house the day I may never see the world again…? Why…?”

She stretched out her legs and pulled her backpack off and pushed it beside her waist. With a sigh, she fell backwards onto the ground. The leaves shuffled loudly next to her ears. She shut her eyes again, wishing she were back home bored, yet safe.

She rolled to her side and heard a hollow noise. Confused, she quickly stood up again. This time she moved so quickly, she toppled forwards and slammed into something hard.

Her voice was loud in a squeal of pain but no one heard her since no one was around. Her hands grabbed her head, trying to relieve the pain. Her eyes opened and she found herself ten centimeters away from a brown board.

Losing her balance again, she fell sideways. But rapidly she sat up and stared at the board. Her fingers touched it. It felt slippery and dry. Then with her palm, she hit the board. It made a bam noise that did not echo.

Casey brushed the board. There was no end to it.

Her mouth opened wide. In an instant she grabbed her backpack, put it on and started running with her arms open, fingers gliding on the board.

“It’s a wall!” Casey sang loudly with a smile.

It’s a wall. This wall must be the one surrounding the arena. If I run along here, maybe I’ll find a door, or something along the way that might start something. I’m curious to know… Len may have been correct about the first few years but this time… Dinosaurs may be released from behind this wall…

She kept up her pace and dodged branches, roots, or even strange trees that lowered their branches all the way to the ground.

Then she saw someone in front, in the distance. The person had long dark and wavy hair.

Casey felt like shouting out but had nothing to say. She was too far away to catch up now. The person walked around some trees and disappeared into the darkness. Casey’s running slowed down.

For a moment, for a long while actually, she felt like time had slowed down for her. She glanced at the watch around her wrist. It slid, as it was a bit big for her. She leaned against the wall and watched the last twenty seconds go down.

All the hairs on her arms stood up. She felt goose bumps even under all the layers of clothing she wore. She looked down at her pants. They were muddy and had grass and leaves stuck to them like they were sewed there on purpose.

Casey held her arms in front of her and stared into the distance.

There were trees and trees only.

Finally, she brought her arms back in. She held up her left.

Five.

Her shoulders dropped.

Four.

Her slight smile faded away.

Three.

Her heart was beating hysterically hasty without a single hesitation.

Two.

Casey’s breathing grew louder and faster with every remaining millisecond.

One.

A loud bell echoed throughout the entire arena. It chimed five times, all equally strident and stinging with rage.

In Casey’s ears, a scream was heard. She looked up from the watch but saw everything begin to swirl.

She began falling backwards. Her legs bent and her arms supported her weight. Her eyes grew enormous, still staring in front of her. The same strange trees stood in front, unmoving. But something was different.

The wall that was behind her had vanished just like that.

Casey whirled around. The shock was bigger than any previous. Her nose plugged up from sniffing and huffing too much. Her eyes enlarged until they could no longer open.

A huge gust of wind rushed forward. Casey’s eyes narrowed. Her brown hair flew into her mouth and tickled her nose.

A new scene filled sight. A new sound filled the air. A new feeling was in existence.

There was a new never ending line of trees.

Shrubs and various strange berries grew on bushes nearby. The ground stretch on for miles with the same tiles of hard dirt, soft bunkers, prickly needles, rolling pines and acorns, and half dying grass.

A bee buzzed by. Casey looked up and squinted. There was a blazing light up above. Fluffy and blurry grey bundles taped to the sky. A flock of silhouettes arced over the tall trees.

Casey jumped up, filled with shivers once again. Her hands squeezed her jacket arms. Her eyes were shut tight, not wanting to see anything. But she knew she had to keep her eyes peeled and her ears opened.

Just then, a distant roar sounded.

Automatically her eyes popped open. Her heart skipped a beat as quickly as a startled kitten. Her wet hands touched her dry and red cheeks. They were held into fists again.

She felt the other chain around her neck. Her long fingers shakily followed the smooth white gold chain and touched a round pendant. Tears began rolling down her cheeks again.

“You have to man up…”

Casey coughed when she heard the voice at the back of her head. She nodded once and used her sleeve to wipe the tears away. She wiped her soaked bangs off her sticky forehead and breathed in and out, repetitively.

“It’s begun…”

Arena

Survival Hunt - Part Four

Casey and Acacia had caught up with the other teenagers that had already made it up the escalator. The people were probably waiting in line, in single file, ready for a random pairing up and riding a long and slow dragging gondola up.

Finally now Casey had calmed down. It was not as if she did not know the survival hunt would be violent. It was more like being silly, naïve, and careless: not realizing that the word ‘Dinosaur’ in the Survival Hunt meant a huge part of the actual activity. It was more like not really thinking deeply about what the meaning of the title was; as if the activity was just given a title. But titles were not existed just for the look, it was for the meaning.

“You’re okay now, right?” Acacia whispered.

Casey nodded, “I’m sorry I was a little… wonked out of it.”

“You weren’t wonked. You were just surprised… Very surprised,” Acacia said. “Anyway, you can sit with me on the gondola, right? Maybe we can find some people to talk to about this hunt. I’m new to this.”

“I’m new too. Thirteen year olds to fifteen year olds don’t know a thing about this activity. You do know about the delay, right?” Casey looked at her hands and then looped the hair behind her ears.

Acacia walked close to Casey. Her head was not turning but her voice was loud to hear. “I just found out about the delay when the counselor told us. I’m even more clueless than you are. You were born here, weren’t you?”

“Yes. Yes but that doesn’t mean anything.”

There were adults gathering around in clumps of certain areas of the upper balcony. By now, the glass balcony was closed and no one stood there anymore. The parents and other observing adults had left already. This was the last time they were going to see their child in some time. There were no recordings of anyone inside the arena. No one was going to be on watch. Those who were actually there to witness the events happening inside the arena were the only ones who would believe the things said by those inside.

Then, the gondolas became clear into view. They were seats made of steel or metal with a hard seat. There were indents in the seats, visibly announcing the gondola was for two people only. A few, maybe fifteen gondolas were operating at the same time. They were all hung with support on a thick wire. The wires were connected to a machine that would pull up the gondolas to a stop at the peak. The peak had a stage where another machine was placed. The wire there was to bring the gondolas downwards. The down ride was not as long as the up ride.

“You know, I’m a little curious why the hunt would take place near the end of the year—November—and have us be grouped in age,” Acacia said. She had her hand on the railing and sliding her black jacket against the fingerprinted glass walls.

“I heard the hunt was supposed to be really cold.”

The survival hunt had the teenagers grouped into ages. Some of the same aged teens would be a year younger or a year older than each other. Anyhow, the teens were not born in the same year. It all depended on the month you were born in. A thirteen year old January baby all the way to a thirteen year old November baby would most likely be grouped with a thirteen year old December baby. All the teens born in December were teens supposedly older than the rest.

The two of them were near the front of the line to ride the gondolas now. They stayed silent until the gondola they sat in was ready to start up.

Wind was blowing in their faces. It was soft and warm wind. The air that circulated in the building was heat and still going. Soon enough there would be no more warm air or heavy jackets that soaked the sweat off a nervous face. Soon enough there would only be coldness and ice crystals sparkling on noses and eyelashes.

Acacia sniffed and looked at her feet dangling in mid-air. “These types of gondolas are used in ski resorts.”

“What?”

“When we want to go skiing—you know what that is, right?” Acacia saw Casey nod. “Well when we want to go skiing on the tall mountain, like the top of the mountain where there’s more snow and more hills to slide down, we would ride these gondolas. You know, gondolas are to take people high up.”

“Yeah, well I know that,” Casey nodded. “I know those box-type gondolas that you don’t need to sit down.” She clenched her hands into fists and huffed into them. “It’s probably going to snow. Winter is coming so soon but we won’t feel it coming quickly.”

Acacia looked down. The ground below was hardly in sight. Everyone was to go so far up that it was difficult to see certain things. Sometimes it felt dizzy to look around while the gondola worked. She sighed heavily.

“I’m turning fifteen on the eighth.”

Casey looked at her. “What?”

“My birthday is on December eight. I’m born the same year as you. I’m going to be fifteen after the survival hunt. When’s your birthday?”

No one really looked forward to things. This place, as said, is extremely different from any country in the world. People knew there was no control over their lives. But the thing was people did not know how to use the time they had either. There could be some way to compare the lives but nobody really thought it was strange.

Why would people look forward to things? People knew that there was no point in looking forward to anything in the future that was not reachable. No one made plans for the future. No one wished to be like anyone, or be anyone. Celebration could only happen there and then. Birthdays were only thought of on the day. This was the life of a child.

The hair behind Casey’s ears slid down and tickled her cheeks. Her shoulders hunched forward and her hands were under her thighs, trying to keep her hands warm. “I don’t know. I don’t really think about it.”

Acacia frowned. “Everyone at least knows their birthday. Did your dad tell you?”

“I don’t remember. It’s in the summer though,” Casey grinned. She was proud that she at least knew something about herself besides appearance.

“Let’s learn a few things about each other. I’ll ask you a question and you answer it, okay? I’m sure you can answer them… But knowing your kind of people, you might need some time,” Acacia said. “There’s still a long way until we get to the arena. Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Casey smiled excitedly.

“What’s your favourite colour?”

“My favourite colour…?” Casey looked down and around herself. “I like… I like the colour of the dark sky. I’ve always wanted to go outside at nighttime but my dad said it was better if I didn’t. Not yet was what he said. What about you?”

“I like coral. It’s a pinkish-orange colour.”

* * * * *

At last, a few minutes later they landed. The two of them got off the gondola without speaking and followed the instructions and signs to get into the actual arena.

“Ah, Casey, hold on one moment. I need to tie my shoelaces again,” Acacia said as she bent down to tug on the strings of her shoes.

“Oh… Okay.”

But with curiosity taking full advantage of her body, Casey ran ahead and stepped her boots onto the half mushy and half solid dry dirt. There were a lot of dark and dreary pieces of grass growing in huge patches everywhere. Tall and thin trees were seen in every direction. Casey spun around, feeling her jacket drawstrings flow the opposite track. Everywhere was trees. Everywhere was people. People were spread out and just standing around, confused, or walking around, looking.

This is… This is such a sad place… No one can survive in wilderness with nothing.

She clutched her backpack straps and started wandering around. She stood by a tree and put her bare palm on it. The trunk was dark, rough, and intensely wrinkled. The dents in the tree were so deep; they could be older than the grandfather’s grandfather or even much older. Her fingers slid down the bark and she looked at her hand. Her whole hand came off dark and dusty.

We’re on our own now. The people hosting the survival hunt have told us everything we should need to know to survive. They don’t tell us the details but that’s because… They don’t think we need to know.

Casey shook her head and jumped up with a smile on her face. She was facing away from the other people so she was spared the awkward gawks. A second later she smacked her palm against the bark of the tree. The sudden clap stung but Casey knew a little pain was nothing in comparison to dinosaurs.

Moments later the gondolas shut, meaning all the people were in the cold, dark arena. They all heard a noise, a voice to be exact. The voice was that of Mr. Bocans. He spoke clearly, “Dear participants, there are fifteen minutes for you all to prepare and do what you need to do. A bell will ring and the sand will fall. I—the hosts and hostesses would like to wish you all one last phrase of good luck and bid you farewell until the seven days are over. You should know what you are to do. The time begins now.”

With a split second of a click, all was quiet. The wind was blowing, louder and stronger. The leaves began to flutter and the branches began to sway. The mud of the ground began climbing up the shoes and pants of all teenagers. Curiosity, courage, and fear started up. Murmuring was heard.

Casey turned around, her brown eyes darted left and right. She watched as the groups of people began separating and wandering around further and further from each other. Something different that was noticed was the fact that people began to walk together and speak with each other. Hosts knew that the house arrest for children would not last—the ability to connect with others was in the hearts of people from the beginning.

Slowly she began walking—backwards. She breathed hard and her head began to spin. The pressure was on. Her hands reached to her chest. She felt her heart pounding. Her fingers shivered. Her steps were becoming quicker, quicker until she bumped into something—or someone. Her knees wobbled and she fell to the ground, face covered in dirt.

“I’m so sorry, are you all right?” A boy’s voice shouted.

Casey looked up, her eyes wide and tearing up. She coughed and nodded as soon as she realized what she was looking at.

The boy reached his hand down and grabbed Casey by the arm, bringing her back to her feet. She wiped the water out of her eyes; smearing the dirt into her face and scratching her cheek with harden sand bits.

The boy had wispy, uneven blond hair that reached the bottom of his neck. His blue eyes were as bright and cold as ice. His face was already covered in dust and mud, his pants brown with fresh soil.

Casey began patting the dirt off her jacket. When the boy held out his hand again, her head jolted and she took half a step backwards. Her eyes blinked when she saw what he was holding. The watch Elias had given to her earlier.

“You dropped this.”

She nodded her head and took it from him. She mumbled, “Thank you.”

There was a soft sound through the nasal voice of his. He blinked his glossy eyes and one side of his thin lips curved upwards. “By the way, you can call me Lenny Sachi. What’s your name?”

This guy wants to know my name? This is like a new feeling. Like… like I’m someone completely new! I’d never imagine myself getting to know so many people in a day—no in my lifetime!

“My name?” Casey inquired with a squeak. “Uh… I’m Cassan—!”

“Casey!”

She whirled around and saw Acacia running towards them. Her arms were waving. When she finally reached them, she sighed and shook her head. She grabbed onto Casey’s shoulders and began shaking her back and forth. “Where’d you go? I was only tying my shoelaces when suddenly you disappeared.” Then she looked up at the boy Casey was talking to. Her head tilted sideways and she asked, “Uh? Who’s this?”

“He’s Len—! Ah!” Casey said with a smile on her face. “We should introduce ourselves!” She clapped her hands together and looked at Acacia.

“I’m Acacia Lann,” Acacia said. She pushed the hair off her sweaty cheek. “Oh, I’m the same age as her.”

Lenny nodded his head and shrugged. Then after half a minute of hearing the sounds of wind and voices in the distance, he asked, “What are you planning to do here?”

“What?” Acacia asked. “What do you mean planning?”

“You know, when you’re in the arena people plan to do certain things to stay alive or find means of collecting certain information from the dinosaurs.”

Casey tightened her ponytail and looked at Lenny with confusion. “Huh? People actually think about those things? Hm, you seem to know a lot about this survival thing. Have you participated before?”

Lenny blinked slowly and looked away for a second. He looked back at the two and sighed. “Yeah, I was here once when I was thirteen.”

“Whoa!” Casey breathed. “Tell us about it!”

Casey thought for a moment that no one she met had ever joined the survival hunt, except her father, who never really spoke of it. She always imagined certain roles the people had to play, because obviously they were older and must have known much about the rules and regulations. And on top of that, the experience… That was important to know about. Exactly what and who and how the participants work their way through three days were always a mystery. People just did not speak of it.

Acacia had her eyes narrowed. She shifted her weight and pulled her backpack straps up. She looped loose strands of hair behind her ears and waited eagerly for a response. When he did not speak for a few seconds, she blurted, “The dinosaurs are real aren’t they?”

“What?” Lenny asked. He brushed the hair out of his eyes and leaned against an old tree. He looked down at the muddy puddle his booted feet were standing in. Drips fell from the leaves. “Well… Previous survival hunts are different from this year. That’s because of the delay. Everyone’s heard of it but they don’t know a thing about it. From all the calculations and observations I’ve made, the delay was the time needed in order to change up some of the processes in the survival hunt. It’s definitely brutal and I only see a slim chance of survival—especially when there are so few of us. Even a single carnivorous dinosaur would be able to gobble us all down. They’re enormous.”

“Yeah,” Acacia cut in. She had her fingers fumbling with her jacket the whole time he spoke. “Yes I know, but was those dinosaurs real? Like in the previous years, before this delay thing, were those dinosaurs real? I only want to know that.”

Lenny sighed and nodded. “I’m pretty sure they were real. But two years ago those dinosaurs; they’ve been used for many years for the same purposes. I think those ones were somehow manageable. Two years after, the dinosaurs, I heard, was a new batch and not controlled. Let’s face it; life isn’t a big deal, is it?”

“No!” Acacia shouted.

Casey’s eyes grew large. She looked at her friend and blinked a couple of times. Her mouth slowly began forming words. “No.” She looked back at Lenny, who had his eyes looking up at the grey sky. “No, life isn’t a big deal. It has never been. A life, a body is only something a spirit occupies and takes over in order to show certain things. In some’s eyes, we’re alive no matter what.” She put her hand to her neck and felt her pulse. “But my eyes have been open thanks to the new people I’ve met. I understand that in this land, the lives of anyone—they’re not protected or nourished or thought of to be necessary enough to be kept. The minds of ours are so small that I think so many of us do not and will not understand.” She stopped and looked at Lenny and Acacia, who were both intently listening.

“So, fair enough,” Lenny responded. “I think you’re right. And life is not fair.”

Casey showed a big smile. “Len, can you tell us more about what you think of the survival hunt?”

“What time is it?” he asked.

Casey had a strong feeling he was speaking to her. She quickly pulled the watch out of her pocket and studied it. “The time is only counting down! Why?” She shook the watch and stuck her face to it. “There’s seven minutes left on this thing.”

Lenny laughed a bit. “You set the timer didn’t you? So there’s seven minutes until the real hunt begins. I don’t want to waste your time.”

“No, take as long as you want. You’re sixteen years old,” Acacia said. “You’re more experienced. You need to tell us, or you’ll take responsibility.”

“What?” he laughed again and shook his head in slight disbelief. “I only know… that when the bell chimes, that is the end of our fifteen minutes head start. Although it feels like dinosaurs suddenly swarm out, that’s not true. It wouldn’t make sense to keep dinosaurs in the upstairs of a building. So what I believe is that this arena is like a time machine and transports us to the dinosaur era. I think the hosts are wimpy and cruel losers because they want teenagers to enter an arena and collect information on silly dinosaurs. If they were serious about this, they would find a way to do it themselves.”

“Believable,” Casey said. “So this is a time machine. That must be how dinosaurs are found. Maybe they were nice dinosaurs before but as time passed, they changed. They do have personalities and characteristics do they?”

Her question was responded with a weak smile.

The time of her watch slowly drowned to seven minutes. The seconds were moving quicker than expected. Hearts were beginning to fall and unable to be picked up again. Those that survived the drop would eventually fall. The fear, the pressure, the anger; all emotions were beginning to mix together.

The fact all life was in the hands of scaredy-cats was a truth where tough, unfamiliar feelings cramped together was inevitable.

Yes, time and life were all in those hands. And no one knew that the hands belonged to those close and friendly; those who were emotionally and physically weak; those who were completely oblivious to the fact they had something so strong in their arms.