The moment I finished explaining Alyssa the bare bones of my plan the door of the room swung open and Tara jumped out. “Alright time’s up, what are you two kissing in there?”

We did, but I didn’t want to tell to her. Not yet.

Marco and the Asian chick came behind Tara, and even Marco’s smile faded out a bit. “We are running out of time Alex.”

“And I have an idea,” I said. “You said you previously spotted where Maria is. Can you still do it?”

“You broke the laptop genius,” the Asian girl snapped. “That was what we used to track the location.”

“Calm down Hana,” Marco brushed her off. “We still kept a close eye on where she was heading. According to her last known location and the route she’s taken she’s heading to the abandoned building.”

That was a smart move. It was a good vantage point, a good place to hide, and even the creature cannot walk inside. Didn’t expect anything else from Maria.

“And there are rules too, and that’s what’s been keeping the Dycom brothers from ripping any of us into shreds,” Alyssa explained. “In the game, Elites are refused to kill each other because that will reduce the number of killings that happen, and then destroy the point of keeping this game in the first place. We can use that for our own advantage.”

“How?” Tara asked, her eyes moving between me and Alyssa with newfound curiosity. And that curiosity wasn’t related to the problem we were solving. She knew something happened between us. Somehow girls seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to matters like that.

“If we stay near one of the Elites, then that gives us more protection,” I said. “But that also doesn’t give them a chance to summon the beasts, since that will kill us. The beasts are programmed only to kill non-Elite players, so if Alyssa summons her one while we are near then that Rampage will surely kill us too.”

Marco tapped his foot. “I guess I’m speaking for everyone here when I say we need solutions, not more problems.”

“Tara and I will leave off with Alyssa,” I said. “For Unet mods out there, it will look like we’re holding her hostage. And even if they know it’s fake they can do nothing about it, since we didn’t break any rules. Marco and Hana, find a good vantage spot for a sniper then fix on our position. We’ll be moving to the abandoned building, and that’s where we’ll settle everything.”

Marco nodded. “Then I suggest you get moving fast. There is a rough hill a few steps ahead of the forest. It’s difficult to climb but I’ll be able to get there by the time you reach the building. I’ll keep Hana for a look around in case a few other players decide to probe their heads.”

“Thanks,” I gave the gun back to Tara. “And I’m going to need all the guns you have with you.”

*

A few mins later, Tara, Alyssa, and I were on the jeep racing toward the abandoned building. I took the wheel because none of the two girls were willing to give it a try. And that was a good thing. Driving helped me focus on the job rather than letting my mind drift onto other things.

“I have a question,” I eyed Alyssa, who was sitting back while loading her gun. “Were you in the abandoned building before we were dumped on this island?”

She gave me a curious look. “How did you know?”

“Three cold cans on the building floor. Was easy to figure someone was there.”

“Huh, should have cleaned those up,” she edged close and ruffled my hair. “I can see why Maria took a liking to you.”

Tara looked at the hand that was ruffling my hair. She didn’t look happy. “I still cannot believe it. You and the client we were working with were BFFs?”

“The Elites aren’t BFFs. I didn’t even know Maria until a few weeks before. But then they announced the plans for the game, and I was one of the special members selected for the mission along with Maria and others. One evening Maria told me about her latest mission. A mission that involved two teenagers taking down one of her rivals. Imagine my surprise when I saw who the two teenagers were.”

So that’s how she figured out I was in Unet. Not the rankings.

“There’s still a lot of questions I need answers for,” I said.

“Oh don’t worry Alex, that can wait after that lovemaking session you described.”

Tara jumped like something sting her. “What?”

I hit the brakes and all three of us lurched forwards, Alyssa almost ending on top of me. I took my leg off the pedal and looked up to see a shadow lurking through the forest. It walked straight at us. There were two things that stopped me from pulling the shotgun. One, she was naked and was holding no weapon. Two, I recognized that silhouette really well.

“Amy?” I pondered.

The girl stepped out of the shadows…or swayed out could be the right word. Her eyes looked drugged, her hair was ruffled, and she shuddered with each step. There was something drooling from her lips, and her entire body was covered in mud and grime. She was fucked up when Maria took her, but now it looked like she was dragged across the entire forest and beaten to death.

“Naked girl spotted,” Tara loaded her pistol. “Don’t care what she is I’m killing her.”

“For once, I agree,” Alyssa said, gripping her own pistol.

“Wait,” I held them both back. The girl was defenseless, there was nothing she could do. But if Maria captured her and she somehow managed to escape we could know her location.

But before we could do a goddamn thing, she fell to her knees. “Save me.”

And then we heard the first roars in the distance.