Chapter 55

All of us huddled together near the extinguished campfire the very next day. After we agreed upon a plan, we set out to look for a suitable battleground for the three groups that we were going to lure in. We ran across the grassy portion at the foot of the mountain and began to ascend it. The air was getting thinner and thinner until we all had to take a breath. "How long do you think it would take us to get acclimatized?" I asked. I looked up the very long path ahead of us; if this took a while, then we wouldn't have any chance. Not like we had one right now.

With a small voice, Bill responded, "I don't think so. We do have nanobots in our bloodstream that will force the absorption of oxygen in a minute. We'll be good by then."

"How do you know that?" George questioned.

"The shot that each of us was given, well, at least I think that's where the nanobots come from."

I piped in, "I thought those were for the tracking devices."

Bill said, "They are. But, the cuts and bruises that we had coming out of the jungle and our little incident have all faded- healed. So, there has to be something behind the scene." George and I nodded our head in agreement. George kept touching his face; when asked why, he said he was trying to feel for the bots. Bill pounced on him, "You idiot, you can't feel them. There called NANObots for a reason."

George held up his hands, surrendering before this little kerfuffle becomes something a bit bigger. "Chill, my dear brother, chill."

Bill go up from his spot on the lengthier green grass and said, "Let's go, I think we're all set for now." He started to move up the mountain while we played catchup.

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Flin POV:

"Flin, come on! We're going to be late!" she cried while she was standing near the door. She was wearing her only neutral clothes: a solid grey t-shirt, solid black, loose-fitted leggings, and a small purple watch which was strapped onto her left wrist. Her hair was tied neatly into a ponytail that danced every time she flicked her head.

I was spraying the last bit of cologne that I had under my armpits and on the chest. I called back to her, "What is this about, again?"

She leaned against the beautifully crafted door and elucidated, "It's like a talent competition, but for fun. Shouldn't you know this? Your daughter went to the same school right?"

My fake daughter. Shit. "Umm...I haven't been to that school in over three decades. It's not easy remembering old stuff, darling." I tied my tie and looked at myself in the mirror. A neat suit, black and white, with a solid maroon tie. A gold watch was attached to my wrist for extra style. "Aren't you going to get in a better dress than...whatever your wearing?"

"I have mine reserved at the school; it should be there when we arrive."

"Should?" If there's one word that I hated over the past few decades, it would be 'should' or 'could' or 'would'. Why can't people say 'yes, it will be there, Granpa!'? Well, minus the 'grandpa' part. But, the point has been made.

"Yeah, it will be there." She crossed her arms and added, "So, are you coming or not?" I surrendered my hands and walked through the door with her. We took the elevator down to the ground floor, walking past the crowds of bustling people and hundreds of distinct and tasty smells.

I had an idea. "Let's go shopping after your...performance? today. We can also get something nice for dinner," I glanced at her, "I'm sick of eating the same diner food every day."

"OK!" She exclaimed.

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Vincent POV:

Bill led us up the mountain. Each step we took sunk into the moist, overgrown ground. The water soaked into my feet, making them uncomfortable. The smell of fresh greens and delicate flowers evaporated as we reached the second layer of the mountain. Although the forest biome on the mountain provided many great things such as food, game, and water, the real players would be resting on the greyish, rocky earth above all of this. I looked up at the steep roads that we still had to climb. The reason was that the foresty biome was closer to the ground and water, but also since the rocky terrain made it easier to set up camp and scout for enemies. We discussed that the best way to get the three groups to meet was to make them enter the forest. Otherwise, they would for sure know that we were near them. I spoke up, "Bill, George, remember the only thing we need to do is find the groups and lead to a certain spot. After, we launch a landslide that forces them back to the forest. When that happens, we just sit back and watch."

George asked, "How big will the landslide need to be?"

"You don't really need to worry about that. I'll take care of it," I answered.

George looked up at the mountain and said, "You sure this'll work?"

Bill took over, "No. We don't. But, we've got nothing to lose, do we?" We all nodded our heads to this.

I said one final thing before we split, "Again, remember, in exactly thirty hours we have to meet at this point." I gesture to the flat rock in front of us. "Well, at least somewhere near here. If you didn't find anybody, then come anyway." We all nodded again and split into various directions. I headed east, George headed north, and Bill headed to the west. Let's see what would happen.

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Micheal Grey POV:

This interesting. I stroked my chin while I watched Vincent and his gang split off in different directions. I could have easily spied on them, but I let them have their own way because it's more fun like that. I wanted to see what people could do when they have nothing to lose. *RING* *RING* My phone rang as I swiped to see who was calling. It was Angela. My heart fluttered a little as I answered, "Hey, Angela! What's up?"

Her voice sounded a little worrisome as she said, "Micheal, my family wants to meet you, but they don't seem too thrilled about it."

"Well, I'll be right over. Wait for, like, five minutes. You still at your aunt's house?"

"Yeah, but be careful with the words you use," she said.

I chuckled, "Sure."