by Max Jager
He began talking once everyone quieted down. "Everyone, calm down and relax. I do not know what is going on, nobody here does, but I'm sure we have all noticed that we can't figure out how to exit the game. This is a beta, games in beta are known to have problems all the time. So we need to do something to alert the staff running this test, because they are likely watching us, let them know that there's a problem so they pull us out." He began.
"But what can we do?" Someone interrupted.
"I'm getting there." The man answered. "My name is George, I will lead us to getting the attention of the devs. At least until someone else steps up to lead, because I honestly really don't want to. I'll need the names of everyone here, and give me some basic information about yourself. Information relevant to how you can help, keep it brief. You two first." He pointed at the siblings.
"I'm Brooke, and this is my brother Elliot. We grew up homeless on the streets, we work really well together and we know a lot about survival and scavenging in general."
"Good, you two stick together then and remind me of that if I ever try to separate you." George pointed at the next person.
The next woman was in her early twenties and stood at 5'6" with an athletic build and had long black hair that reached her waist. She was distant from everyone else. She wore a long and elegant black dress and also seemed to be having a rough time with the cold. "I'm not giving my real name out to a bunch of strangers online, so you can just call me Fate. I work in a casino, which won't help much here, but I'm physically in great shape. So I can do some of the more physically taxing jobs that others might not be able to handle."
George didn't have anything to add so he moved the focus to the next guy. He was a shorter guy who wore glasses and had short brown hair with soft blue eyes. He was wearing khaki pants and an expensive looking blue and black fleece sweater. "I uh, am Dexter, 21 years old, college student. I do game design. No I do not know anything about this game, and uh, I do not know if we are in a game or if this is some elaborate scam. I'd assume this is the game. I don't know how I can help, but I'm using my knowledge of game design to try and figure the system out. No luck so far. I'll do whatever needs to be done to help."
The next guy in line spoke up when Dexter was finished. He had been standing in a small group with Dexter. He was very tall with a strong and athletic build, with very short brown hair in a crew cut hairstyle, wearing baggy jeans and a baggy red t-shirt. He looked to be in his early twenties. "Ronnie, I'm a college student and I play basketball. That's about it really."
Next in line, and also hanging around the other two guys was a woman who appeared to be in her early thirties. She was tall, standing at 5'11" and looked pretty strong and fit. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes, and was wearing a simple pair of jeans with a green hoodie. "Chloe, been a firefighter for about eight years. If you know anything about firefighting work that sums up my skills pretty neatly."
"Matthew, I was a bartender. Guess I'm pretty strong if that helps any." A man who was off by himself spoke up. He was very tall and had a relatively strong and muscular build. He had short, spiky black hair and light blue eyes and was smoking a cigarette. He was probably one of the better dressed people here, wearing black dress pants, a white dress shirt, a tie, and an expensive looking jacket which he oddly enough kept unbuttoned despite the cold. Although, his clothes were messy, his tie was crooked and his shirt was untucked.
Going around the stump George sat on, the next woman up to introduce herself was talking to a blonde man next to her. She didn't seem to notice it was her turn. "Hey, lady, you're next." George called out.
"Oh! Sorry I'm Olivia. I'm a college student studying psychology. Not sure what I can do to help, but I'll do whatever I can." She explained. She was average height, with her shoulder-length black hair tied back in a ponytail and her soft blue eyes nervously watching the group.
The blonde she had been talking to spoke up once she was done. "And I'm Damion. I work in a church, I can give people emotional and spiritual support." He wore black pants that had a chain of dog tags hanging from a belt loop, and he wore a red hoodie that was multiple sizes too small for him. He fit his arms through the sleeves, but the hoodie was so small it only covered a portion of his upper back and it didn't wrap around to cover his chest at all. He also, did not wear a shirt, just the hoodie, which left his well toned body in clear view, he clearly worked out and was in very good shape. His blonde hair was messy and long for a guy and his blue eyes were piercing, as if staring into your soul. As soon as he introduced himself he returned to his conversation with Olivia. "So, you said you have lost a loved one? I can speak with the angels, I can try and contact them for you if you would like. I know the pain of losing a loved one, I find it always puts people at ease to hear back from those they lost. To hear that everything is okay now."
George turned the focus onto the next guy who shrugged. "Uh, I'm Jake. I'm just a regular dad with an office job there really isn't much to say." He was about average height, was wearing a cheap jacket with cheap black pants and had his hair kept short and not in any particular style.
"Sophia, college student. I've done a lot of camping and outdoors stuff, and I'd assume Jake has too since he's a dad and all. So maybe we can handle that?" She was average height and had short, wavy brown hair. She wore glasses, black leggings, and a baggy sweater with the logo of her favorite band on it.
The next guy in line was all too excited to speak up. As soon as she stopped talking he burst out with "And I am MLG-Pro-snipes-sixtynine, but you can call me snipes for short. I'm a gamer, and I'm a pro so once we find a sniper or a ranged weapon I get dibs. Since I'm gonna be better at using them." He looked to be in his early teens, and his young age made him the shortest person in the group. He wore a black hoodie with a gaming logo on it with jeans and a cap displaying a few characters from his favorite game.
As soon as he spoke George sighed and shook his head. "It's safe to say that we are all gamers here kid, otherwise we wouldn't be here for a closed beta of a video game. What skills do you have? And please come up with a better name."
"Nope, my name stays. And I'm not just a gamer, I'm a pro gamer." Snipes countered.
"No you're not. Next." George cut him off and tried to move things along to the last girl.
The next woman was wearing a fancy blue dress and she just shrugged. "I'm just an accountant at my local bank. I guess I'll just fill in wherever I can. Name's Evelyn."
George nodded "Good. And last but not least, you there hiding up in the tree. Get down here and introduce yourself. Most of the people seemed shocked and quickly looked up at the trees trying to find this person. George, Fate, and the siblings seemed to have been the only ones to notice the person in the tree before George called them out.
The person hesitated, but after a moment jumped down. They were the second shortest person in the group standing at 5' 2", and were keeping their distance from everyone else. Not only that but they were really skinny and frail looking. "I'm Carley, college student. Not much to really say." Carley had very long brown hair that stopped just below their hips, soft brown eyes, and a fearful expression on their face. They were wearing a baggy black hoodie and black pants which partially hid their frame.
"Well you're stealthy and agile enough to climb a tree, so go scout out the area and return here once you're done. Who wants to go with her?" George asked.
"Uh, I'd actually rather go alone. " Carley interjected.
"Alright then, can you handle that alone?" George asked. When Carley nodded he resumed speaking "Alright then, go do that. Who has an idea on how we get the attention of the people running this thing?"
"Well." Fate quietly spoke up. "We are surrounded by snow, and they are likely monitoring our progress and checking up on us. So let's write a message in the snow and just sit here and wait. If a group of their beta testers are not moving they should check in on us to find out why, since we are supposed to be testing the game not sitting around."
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"Good idea." George replied. "Brooke, Elliott, you two are our scavengers and survival experts. Or as close to experts as we have. I'm sending you two out to gather enough firewood to make a couple campfires. We need a way to keep warm. I assume you two should know how to find burnable wood in the snow. Jake and Sophia, you two are going with them. And the four of you are on babysitting duty, I'm sending Snipes with you too. Maybe he can carry a few sticks."
"Hey!" Snipes angrily shouted and crossed his arms. "I do not need a babysitter, I'm not going with them I'm going on my own."
George sighed. "Snipes, if you stop arguing with me and just do as I say I will pay you ten bucks when we get out of here. If not, then go off on your own. I don't care. But think about how you're going to find your way back if you go alone."
Snipes shook his head "If you're paying me to protect them it'll be twenty. And I want it now."
"Fine, twenty." George instinctively took out his wallet and handed Snipes a twenty. But froze as soon as he did. "Why do I have my wallet if this is a game?" He quickly went through his wallet. "Yeah... All my pictures, the exact amount of cash I had, even my ID and cards are all exactly accurate. Why do they have an exact replica of all my cards and ID in this game?"
For a moment everyone around him grew concerned and checked their own belongings. Everybody had all the items they had in their pockets before entering the game on them, and the details on the objects were exact, as if they had actually brought the real items in their pockets when they entered this world.
George sighed and put his wallet away. "That is something to discuss with the devs, anyways, you guys go work on campfires. Carley go scout, everyone else let's start writing our messages in the snow and getting this area set up as best as we can for a camp."
"And what will you be doing?" Matthew questioned.
"I, unfortunately, will be running this circus until someone else steps up to do so." George answered.
Brooke, Elliott, and the others in their small team wandered away from the main group in search of firewood. Idly talking as they picked up sticks from the top of the snow, and broke off small, older branches that could easily be snapped off. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Brooke asked.
"That this is some sort of scam? Or another one of life's hilarious jokes? Yep." Elliott sighed and shook his head, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"What do we do?" Brooke asked.
"What can we do? Other than go along with it for now." Elliott replied.
"If I may interject." Sophia spoke up. "There was a lot of people at the building for this beta test. Unless they have some sci-fi teleportation device it would be unreasonable to think they physically moved all of our bodies."
"That is a good point." Brooke turned to partially face Sophia as they walked. "So you think this really is a virtual world? A game? It sure doesn't feel like one."
Sophia shrugged "I have no idea, I'd assume it is a game, I guess? But I wouldn't take it as lightly as I would take any ordinary game, something is definitely wrong here."
"Sorry to interrupt, but is it just me or is it getting warmer?" Elliott asked.
"Yeah, I think it is getting a little warmer." Brooke answered before returning her attention to Sophia. "And I agree, I think we all do, something here is definitely wrong."
"Snipes? Where-" Jake started, then sighed "The kid is running off."
"What?" Brooke spun around to face forwards again to see Elliott and Jake running after the kid. "Hey wait for us!" Brooke and Sophia quickly ran after them. They finally caught up to the kid when he stopped to hide behind a tree, not too far from where they had been.
It was warmer here, and they noticed that they were nearby a lake. It was around noon so the sun was directly above them and that was helping to warm up the area, but this area was warmer than it should have been.
"Snipes, where are you going? You can't just run off like that you'll get hurt." Jake firmly reprimanded the boy.
"Look!" Snipes insisted as he pointed towards the lake. When the others looked over where he was pointing they spotted something lying on the ground beside the lake.
"Alright..." Brooke started. "I guess that confirms that this isn't the real world anymore."
Lying face-down on the edge of the water was a lizard creature. It had an almost humanoid body, but was covered in scales, had a lizard-like head, and a tail that had a couple short spikes on it. Not to mention the sharp claws on the thing. There was a sword and a bow and arrows on the ground beside it.
"How did you spot that from over there?" Elliott questioned.
"I'm a pro gamer, of course I can spot the smallest details nobody else would notice." Snipes countered. "Dibs on the bow."
"I don't think we should bother that thing." Elliott stated.
"Yeah I have to agree with Elliott. We shouldn't bother the strange creature. It could be dangerous." Sophia added.
"It's clearly dead, why else would it be lying face down? I'm getting its stuff." Snipes argued.
"Snipes it is a lizard, it might just be basking-" Jake started to explain, but Snipes had already took off running after the stuff.
Snipes ran right up to the creature and grabbed the bow in one hand, while grabbing the quiver of arrows in his other hand. In a flash the lizard creature opened its eyes, grabbed the sword, and lashed out at the boy. Snipes shouted and in an attempt to back up quickly fell onto his back, narrowly evading the blade. The lizard was on its two feet in a split second, it was incredibly fast.
The lizardman moved in on Snipes and before the boy could get back up it stabbed its sword down at his chest. But before it could hit him the creature was tackled to the ground by Jake. Jake landed on top of the lizard and was quick to pin the creature's arms to the ground. But the lizardman wasn't going to take that. Its spiked tail immediately whipped around and struck Jake's back, stabbing straight down into his spine. The spikes were small and didn't pierce him deeply, but as soon as they struck his back the lizard dragged its tail to the side, ripping the spikes across his back, tearing the wound open.
Jake shouted out in pain and as his body recoiled from the blow his grip loosened. As soon as his grip loosened the lizard slipped free just enough to sink its sharp teeth into the man's upper arm. Jake screamed out in pain and his grip loosened even more. In that instant the lizardman threw Jake off itself.
Elliott and Brooke were quick to rush to Jake's aid, with some of the firewood they had collected clutched tightly in their hands. Sophia had already grabbed Snipes and dragged him away from the creature.
"It hurts! What the hell it actually hurts!" Jake gasped out.
"What is going on here?!" Elliott tensed and readied his weapon.
The lizardman hissed and looked around at the humans surrounding it, its eyes locked on Snipes and it braced itself as it saw the boy drawing an arrow back on the bow and aiming at it. It was prepared to dodge, but the arrow never came. Snipes struggled to pull back the arrow as far as he could and let it go. The lizard watched the arrow not only fly far off to the side, but it only made it halfway to its target before hitting the ground.
"Snipes give me the bow!" Sophia demanded.
"No it's mine." Snipes argued as he tried pulling back another arrow, but again he couldn't even come close to hitting his target.
"Snipes he is actually hurt, this isn't a game we need to stop that thing before someone else gets hurt. I've used a bow before, give it to me." Sophia argued, but Snipes wasn't having it. He moved away from her and began trying to take another shot.
The lizard no longer saw Snipes as a threat, so it immediately started running after the boy no longer worrying about getting shot. But as soon as it started to run Elliott slammed a heavy branch into the side of the creature's head. The lizardman stumbled and spun around to face its attacker, hissing loudly at the young man. But as soon as it turned to look at Elliott, Brooke had slipped around to the other side of it and slammed her own branch into the other side of the
creature's head.
The lizardman quickly backed up, using its superior speed to gain a little distance from them. But the siblings kept their formation, keeping far enough apart on opposing sides of the creature that it couldn't look at both of them at the same time. It noticed Snipes fail at shooting another arrow but couldn't get to him with these two blocking the path. It thought about the situation for a moment, then suddenly blitzed Elliott. It had reached the man in the blink of an eye.
Elliott was quick to swing his branch at the lizard's head again, but the lizard sliced the branch in two with its sword in one quick swipe. As it prepared to swing again Elliott moved quickly to grab both of its wrists, trying to hold its sword back. The lizard hissed and whipped its tail around to strike Elliott, but Brooke had already moved in. She quickly grabbed the beast's tail and was trying to restrain it.
The lizard began growling and hissing as it violently struggled and fought to try and break out of their grip, while repeatedly trying to bite Elliott's throat. The man was dancing with death, he was carefully moving to evade the creature's bites while struggling to hold onto its wrists. The beast was slowly slipping from his grip, and then the lizardman kicked him square in the stomach. Elliott lost his grip and was knocked backwards onto the ground. As soon as its arms were free the lizard spun around and hastily slashed its sword at Brooke.