Yet, before the next hour was up the three had already started their walk through the trees, all be it at a slow pace. Even with his attempts at scanning the forest floor, there was no way to completely avoid the pain of an unexpected rock or thorn and the cuts and scuffs on his feet were a testament to his inexperience. There was no helping it, forests just had an abundant supply of them.

He had read a million different books with forests in them, it seemed what people didn’t tell you was that it was impossible to tell what was in front of you more than a couple of hundred yards. He couldn’t tell exactly where they were and exactly where they had to go in all the overgrowth, but Tommy seemed to lead the way just fine for them.

Jason had asked twice in the past four hours how the man knew where they were going, but Tommy stopped talking to him after the first thirty minutes of their trip. Apparently, he wasn’t appreciative of his constant questions, nobody ever was. His mom always joked to her friends that she started a game of fifty questions with him when he was little, and the game never stopped.

Truthfully, he had wished he had asked that question first, because the menacing look on Alan’s face made him think the stick his friend had been carving this trip was being made for the specific purpose of beating Tommy to death. Alan had worn the look many times before in the past, but it seemed to intensify with a knife in hand.

He was thirsty, and the canteens that Tommy and Alan had gotten with their starting shoulder pack hadn’t lasted long between three people. There hadn’t been any streams to refill at through their hike.

They heard the first howl an hour before the sun was about to go down. His two companions seemed to unconsciously pick up their pace. A pace which his battered feet didn’t allow him to match.

“I think that may be a wolf.” He said, having to raise his voice a little louder than he wanted to make sure they heard him, which brought about another howl from the wolves. He knew they both understood what the howl meant, but he wanted to remind them that he was still their lagging behind.

Alan thankfully realized how much distance they were separated by and slowed down so he could catch-up, which forced Tommy to follow his example.

“We can’t slow down here, we need to move fast.” Tommy whispered

“Trust me, I’m moving as fast as I can”

“Then suck it up and move faster, we can’t lose this distance”

“I’d like to see you move this far through these woods without any shoes” Alan defended his friend

“Ya, well when we get killed by these wolfs we’ll see how he feels when he has to do it again” Tommy said storming ahead, yet the man kept a slower pace than before.

“Do you have any idea where were going?”

“No, not a clue, I don’t even think I could find our way back if I wanted to.”

“Neither do I. I really wish we didn’t need this guy.”

“How are you holding up” Alan asked

“I’ll be fine. I’m just trying to wrap my head around all of this.”

“I know right now it seem so spectacular, but once you start working on them in real life, you start to realize these things are all just machines with code in them like all the rest.”

“See that’s the problem, because I don’t think anyone really understands how they work.”

“I’m sure the person who made it does. Anyway, I know right now it doesn’t look like much, but at least it’s something.” Alan said, handing him the stick he had been carving throughout the day. Now that he could actually take a good look at it he noticed it seemed like a half-finished quarter staff.

“I wanted to have it done before I gave it to you. All things considered I think it might be better to finish it once this is all over.” Another howl pierced the air. This time closer than before.

“Actually, I think that’s an amazing idea, thank you”

The level plain started to slope upwards onto a small hill. When they had started he had thought they would be the worst part about the day’s walk, but strangely they turned out to be the easiest. For the first time in what felt like forever he could see the trees start to lessen. The trunks became fewer and further apart, little patches of overgrown grass took their place covering the dirt he had become so used to. Tommy seemed to have already crested the top of the hill. The man had stopped moving, as if he was enjoying the view of the hills edge. He was probably waiting impatiently for them to catch up, well at least he was waiting. The last thing they needed was for their guide to unexpectedly die because he didn’t know the first rule of every scary movie.

However, the closer they got the more they noticed Tommy’s rigid stance, his knife was out of its side sheath. The day’s last light shined on the blades steel edge. Both he and Alan quickened their pace. He ignored the stabbing pain the speed brought. Reaching the top of the hill brought into view two new figures, namely two oversized wolves that had been just below its curve.

It’s funny how your mind works when adrenaline is pumping through your veins. It was as if everything disappeared except the things that mattered most. The pain in his feet faded and the frustration of the day went with it. Only the wolves mattered now. Only their sharp white teeth registered in his mind and how deadly they looked.

In an instant Alan pulled out his knife and moved nearer to Tommy. The lanky man hadn’t moved a muscle, the wolves were a different story. They seemed to be inching closer slowly. Jason knew there must be more, he had watched enough TV shows to know that wolves always came in packs and two wasn’t a pack. He also knew that they went after the weakest link, which at the time just so happened to be him.

He looked behind expecting and finding the third wolf. The beast was larger than the other two. He chalked that up to the admin’s special treatment. He could now see that the three wolves were trying to make a triangle around them, slowly boxing them in. They must have been hoping someone would scare and bolt. After all, one of them would be more than enough meat for the pack.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jason backed-up, trying to join his teammates until he bumped into the two of them behind. It seemed like they had the same idea.

“Just so we are all clear there is another wolf behind us.” He said, not willing to take his eyes off the big beast. For all he knew the thing might take it as a sign that it was time to attack. He holstered his make-shift staff like a club preparing himself to experience the games version of death.

“is yours also moving closer” Jason said

“Ya, he’s about five feet away” Tommy replied

“Mine is about the same”

The battle raged screamed shocked him and instinctively he looked behind. Alan had charged his wolf, knife at the ready and by the looks of it the man had already stabbed it once. That was about all he could take in before the forgotten hulking mass in front tried to leap on top of him. The strike had missed, but it still succeeded in throwing him to the ground, his staff flying from his hands. He could feel himself slam into Tommy from behind him and he thought he heard the man fall.

He couldn’t focus on that right now; the large angry wolf was once again trying to rip his face off. He kicked the wolf with his shredded feet, but the beast didn’t seem to care. It almost seemed like a game to it as it tried to catch and bite his foot from out of the air.

His hands searched frantically for the staff, his eyes never leaving the wolf. As his hand finally found the stick, the beasts mouth found his foot. He had broken his leg before, but the pain of the wolf’s teeth entering his skin topped it all. It felt so real, this was a game how could the pain feel so intense. Even as his mind writhed in pain, his body moved on instinct as he slammed the club on the top of the wolf’s head.

At first the wolf’s bite tightened, and with concussive force he struck it harder and harder until the beast finally relented and backed up. The pain somehow pushed itself to the back of his mind as he focused on getting to his knees. The beast seemed confused on what to do next, it’s muzzle still set in a snarl. The hesitation didn’t last long, as the wolf jumped for his throat. Jason shoved the wooden staff into its mouth, holding the beast in place. The wolf’s teeth gnawed into the make-shift device. He could see the stick start to bend under the pressure. He tried pushing the staff as hard as he could at the wolf, yet his mind was focusing on other things like the wolfs claws raking into the tops of his thighs. He knew he would have screamed if the beast hadn’t already taken his breath away with its constant assaults.

Jason heard a scream behind him and for the briefest of moments he looked at Alan. One wolf was dead at his feet. Yet somehow Tommy’s wolf had taken a bite out of Alan’s right arm forcing him to drop his knife. Jason could see him flailing around trying to get the wolf off to no avail. Where was Tommy, did he book it in the struggle. He knew he couldn’t trust him and now that was going to get them killed.

The weight in front of him suddenly lifted. He looked at the wolf that had only moments ago been about to finish him off. A knife was now lodged in its back and its focus was now on a completely different person all together. To his left stood Tommy weaponless who now looked thoroughly ready to run, yet the man stood his ground.

“Can you stand” Tommy asked, his voice sounding shaky as if he was fighting to get the words out

“Ya, I think so, probably”

“Then can you do it already” Jason tried to stand, and he probably could of. However, the wolf took that moment to charge. He changed his momentum and slammed his shredded staff into the wolf’s front leg. The wood let out a satisfying creaking sound with the impact. The monster sprawled face first into the ground giving Tommy ample time to grab the knife out of its back and finish it off.

As fast as he could he staggered to his feet to help Alan finish the last wolf, the pain almost throwing him back on the ground. Instead he stood in shock. Alan had been able to somehow detach the beast from his arm. Yet, somehow the last wolf had almost doubled in size which made no sense to him. It was almost the size of a man. He tried taking the change in stride and prepared to attack the wolf. Which proved to be unnecessary as the gargantuan beast turned on its heels and bounded out of the clearing. As the beast turned Alan dropped to the ground.

He tried to limp over to the man, but Tommy stopped him. “We need to work fast. Can you walk?”

“Probably”

“That will have to do. In a mile from here you’re going to find a spring” Tommy said while fishing through both his and Alans bags

“Fill these canteens both up and bring them back. We need the water to clear out these wounds before the infections set in. If the wound gets infected, he’s going to poof back to the start.” Tommy Said kneeling over Alan’s unconscious form. “Help me get this shirt off of him.”

“I don’t think water cleans out rabies” Jason said propping Alan up so Tommy could pull the shirt off. The wound was spurting out blood quickly through the puncture marks.

“Water cleans out everything in this game, just, just go do what I say. We don’t have time for your stupid questions. And clean this shirt off so we have some fresh bandages” Tommy was putting pressure on the small deep marks on Alan’s arms. He didn’t bother arguing, he did what he was told. He took the shirt, his staff and the canteens, limping in the direction Tommy had pointed.

He tried examining the staff as he walked, ignoring everything else. Nothing would make the pain in his foot worse than focusing on it and he was worried it was now broken. Nor did he want to think about the big wolf that went just this way not five minutes ago. The staff felt odd in his hands, a new large bump was now in the middle of the wood and as he turned the stick to inspect it he noticed a small tooth embedded in the wood. He tried pulling it out, but he couldn’t grasp it, his hands too shaky as the adrenaline left his body. And it seemed the more he tried the further the tooth sank in.

It took him a total of 10 minutes to reach the river and he almost collapsed once he touched its muddy shore. The two-people standing across from him forced him back to attention. The couple looked familiar. Then again that maybe because they were in the line that Jason had skipped. they were dressed in the same clothes. The man’s long hair made him look like he had just come out of an 80’s hair band concert. Jason decided now was the opportune time to take a risk

“Can you guys lend me a hand my friends and I got into a fight with some wolves back there. My buddy isn’t looking so good.” The man seemed conflicted, the woman was anything but. She was already backing away from the river ahead beckoning the man to follow. In less than a minute they were gone. In his frustration Jason dismissed them.

He decided to fill up the canteen and wash the shirt before washing his legs and feet. To his surprise once the water hit the fabric it instantly became clean, the blood that used to drench the clothing was now completely gone. The water wasn’t so magical that it healed his wounds, yet he was still happy with the results.

By the time Jason had walked back to the group night had fallen. A small fire blazed in the camp. Tommy had unrolled his and Alan’s sleeping pack, a luxury the admin had taken from him. It was just one more reason why this whole thing was a bad idea.

It seemed as though Alan’s bleeding had stopped leaving a wound that looked red and inflamed, but not infected which was always good.

“Took you long enough, a moment more and we might have lost him.” Tommy snatched the canteens out of Jason’s hands pouring one full bottle onto Alans wounds which instantly decreased the swelling. Tommy drunk the other one and handed the rest back. “pour it on your feet.”

“Just drink it, I’ll go get more water”

“No, the forest gets worse at night in. We can do that tomorrow.”

He sighed, poured the water on his feet and settled down to sleep. They might as well kill him now, there was no way he was going to be able to walk six days like this