by J Niessen
seeking to reclaim.
And that the other portion, gained from the train station, is with someone here as well.
I see how this new piece from the general could fit with the two other parts.
The device around my wrists allows me to reference what weapon the other men are using.
Live video of Benson appears on the display via a camera lens installed on each wrist device.
The view pans to his partner, who’s on the ground, beaten and tied to the base of a tree.
Benson uses a large, flat-black survival knife to slice open his partner’s throat.
Carved into the side of the blade is the word “F R E D.”
Benson takes his partner’s artifact. Then the video cuts out.
I’m anxious to get to the first two men’s bodies and retrieve their entrance fees.
As far as I know, Clippers and Sedaris are still out there working together.
If they’re aware the other team’s been eliminated they’ll be waiting for me to try and collect.
These guys know where I’m at from the debriefing, and eventually they’ll search for me.
I’ll wait however long it takes for them. In the meantime, I prepare for their arrival.
Even though I know they’re used up, I try on Stratton’s suit to see if I can use his Reset option.
The display remains blank even after the suit’s put on. It’s as Stratton described as we were in the jungle, “A locking feature keeps the gear from powering on for anyone else.”
Taking the general’s map used in the Huey, I study the blueprints to this building.
I creep to a small ammunitions room I noticed earlier during our initial challenge.
It is barred like a jail cell. I pull on the iron gate, but it’s securely locked.
My hopes lift as I realize Stratton gave me a key. But it doesn’t fit.
Scavenging through the lower level, I find items to pick the lock with.
I gain access to claymores, grenades, ammunition, and a rack of AK-47 assault rifles.
I begin by modifying the grenades and ammunition cartridges, then start setting traps.
Next I replace the magazine clip to each rifle, lying beside the soldiers we’ve dispatched.
Satisfied with my efforts, I find a perch in the corner of the compound’s dark hallway, and wait.
The wall and ceiling shake from a violent “Boom” upstairs as a claymore is tripped.
I have to assume it’s a ploy for me to come out of hiding so my pursuers can spot me.
Hours pass as I remain still, then I notice one of them crawling inch by inch downstairs.
If I fire my weapon, there’s a chance the other partner will locate where I’m at, and then deploy the same strategy I used with Stratton.
I drop from my perch so my stalker sees me, and roll into the side room to my left.
A standard fragmentation grenade has a 4 second delay.
Less lethal grenades, such as smoke grenades, are without a delay fuse.
Clipper’s at the doorway of the room when he tries preparing a cooked grenade.
To cook the grenade Clipper releases the safety lever to partially burn the assumed fuse.
Per my modifications the delay’s absent and the grenade explodes instantly in his hand.
Time passes, but Sedaris never shows. Clipper has since bled out.
I creep to a tunnel that leads to the opposite side of the camp.
Once outside I find a spot to set up bedding, to look like I’m sleeping, then slip into a crevice that cuts into a dirt embankment not too far from the setup area.
Despite being hungry, dehydrated, and exhausted, I keep vigilant.
Sedaris follows my planted tracks.
Creeping up to my nest he fires an AK-47 he salvaged from the office building.
The upper receiver blows apart, sending fatal metal shards of the gun into his head.
I switched out the smokeless powder of the AK-47 rounds with a high explosive, which generates roughly ten times the amount of designed pressure of a standard cartridge.
I remain still and, as with Clipper, avoid going to Sedaris’ still body to retrieve his trinkets.
It’s an uncomfortable feeling holding onto only one artifact, when I’ve earned four.
Excitement has me wondering what the parts will look like once they are all combined.
It is reassuring however, that I should have time to gather my rewards now.
I’m expecting the challenge to be over, with Benson and myself being the last survivors.
But the simulation doesn’t end.
“Garrison, this is a private frequency…It’s the copilot, Captian Adelle Collins here.”
With the dynamics realized, my stomach sinks from knowing…our pilots are in danger!
The video of Adelle on the display screen is of low quality. While running she explains…
“Charlie and I used up all our resets. And now it’s just me.
“I need a partner I can ally with to help get me out of here!
“I can see that--Ah!” there’s a melon-like clunk as she’s struck in the head. Staggering in place while tears swell, she gasps wearily, “Oh, No!” Her expression pales.
The artifact attached to a gold chain around her neck is tugged loose.
When her body falls clear, Benson is standing with the chain gripped in his hand.
FRED is held by his other tightly balled fist…
“I’ll tell you the reason why I entered into the tournament,” Benson, glaring into the camera, begins. “When I found out that the last few men that knew me by the name Benson were going to be here, I wanted in. I’m going to erase every last trace of my old name by wiping out each person who knows me by it. I’m gonna leave it behind and take on a new one.
“It goes with you and then your dear daddy. He’s the last one on my list. I need those pieces of metal you have to get to him. I’m gonna kill you and take them. Then I’m gonna hunt down your pops and squeeze his beating heart from inside his opened up chest with my fists.
“You should have killed me when you had the chance,” Benson smirks, then crushes the dimming camera lens with his muddy boot.
I want to fire a hail of bullets into his face, permanently erasing that grin.
My head’s numb from Benson’s story, and believe hope exists for me to find my birth father. The details are extreme, yet I cannot imagine why he would be lying about what he shared?
After going around and collecting each artifact, the soft feminine voice on the P.A. instructs,
“Garrison. You may proceed to the next area.”
Reflecting on my career, I consider my accomplishments and wonder. If I were to trade my life for someone else’s, would it drastically impact the course of history?
I don’t know Adelle personally, but I feel I should try and save her.
Referencing the map she sent to my wrist device, I pinpoint her last location.
Once I come back from Reset I hurry to the general whereabouts where she was killed.
There’s plenty of time till Benson shows up.
I wonder, how could I have overlooked the two pilots listed in the display log for this challenge?
I wasn’t aware of the situations when she or her counterpart Lt. Charles Staples did a reset.
Nor when Stratton used both of his. I noticed on the General’s display screen both resets were gone at the end of our last match together, so no one should know when or if I use my last one.
As I wait in hiding for Adelle to arrive, I ponder the first nightmare I can remember.
Sitting in the bush my body feverishly trembles.
Fear and excitement build while delirium swells in my mind. What happens next is unexpected.
The jungle all around me fades to a bleak city setting.
It’s chilly out at this time of night.
Unbeknown to me, I’ve hacked into the system’s settings.
I find myself wa
lking into a public restroom to get off the streets.
Closing the bathroom door, I lock it. Inside, the facilities are without lighting.
Above the exit is a slender window where the moon’s light beams through.
A middle stall is partially open. The rest are closed and locked.
I sense others are hiding in here, and outside there’s a menacing individual approaching.
The partially cracked window above the exit way is too high to reach, so I must hide.
An evil is in here. I can feel it. It desires to steal me away.
I’m afraid to push open the door to the middle stall. Only darkness is behind it.
It’s a trap! The stranger that’s come for me is here, hiding within that darkness.
I snap out of the scenario realizing the secret message in my dream from adolescent years.
The haunting evil is my personal demon. The chaplain was right! Even now it waits.
I hear a rustling from within the jungle ahead.
With my rifle raised and aimed in the direction of the sounds I wait for the source to appear.
A wild boar charges into the open and continues past me. My tensions briefly relax.
Then I hear the noise of something trailing.
I draw the rifle back up and prepare to pull the trigger on Benson.
But it’s not him…or Adelle. It’s the pilot…Charlie.
He glances over his shoulder, overcome with fear, and hobbles past my hiding spot.
I realize why he’s limping when I smell the blood he’s trailing.
Whoever’s tracking him will come within reaching distance of where I’m at.
“No!” I hear Charlie shout from a short distance away. Then all goes silent.
I focus on slowing my heart rate to decrease my breathing.
I can feel the presence of Charlie’s aggressor as they seek to destroy me next.
A sickening realization dawns on me.
Suppose the person I’ve gone out of my way to rescue intends to eliminate me?
I reflect on Stratton’s