The Gargan Trials - Davey Weight Gain Story (Patreon)

The Gargan Trials

Chapter 1:

    “Huff…huff…shit…” Davey panted as she limped through the wooded forest surrounding her, slightly bouncing off the trees on either side as she kept moving as quickly as she could. Quickly brushing a strand of dirty blonde hair out of her eyes, she continued pressing onward just as the sound of lightning signaling another contestant’s passing commenced overhead. Pausing as the crackling finished above, she looked up to the sky after glancing to make sure that nobody was still directly behind her, shivering at the thought of what could happen to her in the worst case scenario. Tugging down at where her uniform’s shirt had begun to slightly ride up on her, she scowled to herself before beginning to press back on through the forest as the beads of sweat continued pouring off of her.

       “Dammit…” Davey grumbled to herself as she let out a deep huff, folding her arms as she kicked a rock out of her way. “Ugh…it’s not fair…everyone else in the Gargan Trials is so fit…shit…I could’ve been too if I was raised my whole life for this…this…garbage. Damn, I didn’t even want to be a competitor. I…I thought for sure someone else was gonna volunteer for my place…I can’t believe it.” Pausing again, she scowled to herself as she stopped to catch her breath, looking down at herself as she placed a hand to her rapidly beating heart. “Ugh…it’s not like I’ve even been out of shape my whole life either…dammit, just the open buffet…”

      Flashing back to moments before the siren had gone off and all one hundred contestants were released from their pedestal, a shiver ran through her spine as she recalled how much slower she had been than everyone else she’d immediately seen dashing to the nearby loot crates and backpacks when they’d all been dropped within the enormous square battlefield expanding miles upon miles in width. However, they’d all been warned that the border around them would be rapidly shrinking, and that they should use their ten minute grace period to the best of their abilities to move inward as to not be caught in the border and instantly killed. That’s right, killed.

      The word alone made her quiver with fear, especially since she’d never been raised to live in such a way. Since her random selection to be one of the hundred contestants, she’d done her best to toughen herself up for the reality she was now enduring, but, no matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t do it. Sure, she’d occasionally badmouth someone behind their back or giggle at them from afar, but overall she knew she was just too fluffy, too sweet, too bubbly in nature. She’d been raised too well her entire life, and now, as she pantingly trudged through the forest, she was ultimately paying the price. That being said though, the few weeks she and the other competitors had been given to prepare themselves for the day at hand hadn’t been all negative, with her even making a few so-called friends along the way. Hopefully they hadn’t already been slaughtered by someone else.

      Gulping at her mental recollection of the bell ringing out signaling the grace period of the games had ended, she knew she was now by no means safe, as were everyone else she’d met and begun to consider a friend. The one curly-haired, redhead girl she’d met—Chelsea—had said that if both she and their other friends—Taylor and JR—all made it past the grace period, they should collectively meet up at the tallest point in the portion of the enormous map that was covered in ice. Thankfully, right before they’d all been dropped in through the elevator, they were given a massive glass window to stare down at the map below from.

     As she dashed over another set of bushes, wincing as thorns got caught in her left leg that she quickly shook free, she recalled how the ride down to her spawn-point on the massive square of land had given her the perfect chance to get a good view at the five different quadrants, leading to the middle of the map which was covered in the thick forest she was now swamping her way through as fast as she could. Huffing and wheezing as she gripped her side, she shook her head in dismay at how exhausted she was already as she stumbled over a large root in her path, nearly getting struck in the face by numerous branches in the process. Thankfully, when she’d been dropped off at her spawn point during the grace period, she was at least lucky enough to be no more than five-hundred feet from the nearest backpack to her, giving her plenty of time to scoop it up and on top of her shoulders before anyone else could get to it. However, since she’d been spawned inside of the enormous field section of the map, she’d had a more than clear view of at least five other players getting their start near her as well, and she could tell off rip how prepared all of them had been for the games, with them getting to nearby crates and backpacks in the same amount of time as her that were undoubtably twice the distance away.

      Thankfully, none of them had chosen to be petty enough as to direct stalk her down while waiting for grace period to end, but that was definitely a fear lingering in her mind for Chelsea and the others. After all, there was no guarantee that any of them had even gotten to a loot crate or backpack themselves, and they could currently be left completely helpless, wandering around praying they’d find something already snatched up like her. She was still hoping that she’d run across another one tucked away somewhere, but so far she’d been completely out of luck aside from the one she’d managed to grab during their spawning. A few loot crates had been left behind that she’d checked, but each one of them had been left completely barebones. Hopefully, Chelsea was one of the contestants to have cleared them out.

      Chelsea was a skinny, curly-haired redhead, nimble, yet muscular enough, so she knew she’d have no problem taking off and competing with the rest of the real threats. That said, if she was defenseless then so she was, since she knew all too well how real the weapons inside of the game were. Thankfully, her backpack she’d initially struck gold with had contained a small battle-axe, easily sharp enough to cleave away at something—or someone—with if swung with very little velocity, as well as various other materials like rope, cloth, an empty water bottle, a piece of flint for starting a fire, a compass, a few small Tupperware’s of frozen meat, and various other materials related to survival in the wild that she figured she’d have a use for later. If not, she definitely would’ve tossed them awhile ago, since the distance she’d covered was already more than enough to have left her winded. Panting heavily as she stepped over another large tree that’d fallen in her path, she continued to grumble to herself as she felt her stomach growl from beneath her, completely at disregards for the struggles she was going through.

      “Not right now…dammit…” Davey muttered to herself as she kept her head held high despite another churning growl echoed out. “…I’ve…gotta get…to…Chelsea…and the…others…first…” In contrast to Chelsea, Davey knew more than well that she was nowhere near in as good a shape as her. Although she was nowhere near the worst off contestant in arena as far as health went, the effects of living in a bakery had been more than evident despite her best efforts to still workout here and there, especially leading up to the deployment date when the competition known as the Gargan Trials began. The open buffet they’d been provided also certainly hadn’t helped either, as evident by her puffy cheeks, double chin, growing love handles, and how much her arms wobbled with each movement she made, as evident by the layer of cake developing over took of the once slender limbs. In addition, her legs were constantly pressed together no matter how she moved, and her thighs had begun to bump into doorways when she didn’t slow down fast enough ahead of time. Covered in a thick layer of cellulite, she also couldn’t help but wobble from behind with each tedious step she took, forcing her to constantly have to tug her uniform’s pants back up over her from behind. However, it didn’t escape her that the part of her that’d taken on the addition weight the fastest was undoubtedly her stomach, as it wobbled and swayed about with each movement she made and came bursting forth at her uniform’s seams to pop free, occasionally slipping out at the bottom as she was forced to tug it back down over the exposed slab of blubber. Even her breasts, bloated and enormous in their own right, failed to jut out far enough as to hang over the massive crescentic of her wobbling belly.

      Although she’d been struggling with her weight going so extremely up and down since she was a teenager, it also didn’t escape her that she was undoubtably at her heaviest point yet despite the wicked, horrific circumstances surrounding her. Sure, she had been nearly to the point of touching 200 before a couple of times, but she’d always managed to get herself back down rather quickly with a wake up call to herself, whether or not that call from herself or her strict parents or judgements friends. Either way, she’d always managed to rocket back down, but this time, ever since she entered the arena and fully grasped her mind around the reality of the situation, was different. Whether it’d been the stress of the competition or simply the unlimited access to the buffet, it hadn’t done anything to keep her from spiraling from the 160 lbs or so that she’d been when heading into the arena to the bloated and jiggling 210 lbs she was at now at only 21 years old.

      Groaning quietly as another rumble rang out from her belly, she placed a hand to it as the backpack continued bouncing around on her back as long strands of her blonde hair began to get stuck to the streaks of sweat running down her face. Pausing again to catch her breathe, she leaned back against a tree as another thunderous lightning bolt crackled through the sky above her, followed by a rolling boom of thunder signaling another player’s downfall as she quickly used one of the rubber bands inside of the backpack to tie her hair back into a messy ponytail. Shaking her head about, she took off once again as she tugged the uniform back down over her exposed blubber, wincing as her hot and sweaty hand came in contact with the cold flesh of her belly, slightly sinking into its mad momentarily before she refocused herself and finished pulling the shirt all the way down. Making her way over another set of fallen trees, her eyes suddenly perked up at the sight of the white bliss covering the ground only a couple thousand of yards away, signaling the end of the forest and the beginning of the snow lands.

      “Ahh—!” Davey exclaimed, her eyes instantly lighting up as the searingly sharp cramp in her side was suddenly absolved at the mere view of the snow. “That’s it—?!”Although snow didn’t seem to be directly falling that moment, it was still undeniable that it was the location she’d been looking for, signaling that she was getting all the more closer to Chelsea and the others. Hurrying her pace up as she felt her heart start to race, she softly wheezed to herself with each panting step as she wobbled about and bounced through the foliage. Getting closer and closer as she pumped her arms furiously, she was no more than a few hundred yards from the border to the snowy biome when her foot came crashing down upon a thick branch, sending it snapping in two as the sound rang out through the entire forest around her.

      “Yo?!” A furious man’s voice roared out. “Yall hear that?!”

      “Yeah, no chance…” Another voice, this time belonging to an older woman who sounded like she had taken a few puffs of a vape too many, replied to him. “Someone’s nearby.”

      “Thought so!” The man shouted back. “It came from over there!”

      “No way…” Davey gasped silently, eyes growing wide as she stopped dead in her tracks and turned in their direction. Glancing around, she looked for anywhere she could hide, momentarily considering diving into the small, swampy lake covered in vines only a short distance away, before instead deciding on a long, fallen log that had crashed a short distance from her before inevitably being eaten alive by the surrounding bushes, moss, and foliage. However, despite how large it was, there was still a fear in her mind if she’d physically be able to fit in it, but the nearby rustling footsteps and yelling didn’t give her enough time to think twice about it.

      Diving down to the ground as fast as she could, she tossed the backpack off her shoulders before scooting down into the partially-empty log behind her, wedging herself together as tightly as possible before beginning to inch herself in backwards. Immediately, she found no resistance as she scooted back into it with her head low to the ground, even going as far as to crack a smile at her genius hiding spot as she brushed her long ponytail back out of her face as it bumped into the top of the log. However, just as she felt success in her grasp, she was abruptly met with a roadblock.

      Trying to push herself further down into the log, Davey realized she was completely out of room to move, with her wide hips and belly pushed up as far as they would go against the walls of the log’s interior. Face growing red with stunned shock and a shame, she didn’t have time to focus too much on how wide she’d become to the point that she couldn’t even slip down into a plenty large hiding spot. Snatching the backpack up to make sure it was tucked out of sight with her as well, she pulled it in close to her in the small, makeshift tunnel, pressing it up against her sweat-drenched breasts as she quickly fumbled away through the interior. Tossing away various items to the side as the sound of the footsteps and shouting got closer and closer, a cold sweat washed over her, somehow leaving her clothes even more stuck to her skin than before as she swiftly removed the little battle-axe. Dropping the rest of the sack to the floor, she clutched it with both trembling hands as she heard the rusting outside get even closer, no doubt less than a hundred feet from her.

     “I swore I heard them over here…” The man grumbled to his partner.

      “Mm,” The girl replied with her head high to the sky. “The wind never lies.”

      “Yeah,” The man murmured. “There’s no chance they weren’t here a moment ago. Keep scouring the area. We need to rack up as many kills as we can before—“

      “Before what?”

Chapter 2:

     “Ahh—?” The man gasped in pure, shocked surprise as his blood ran cold.

      “I said before what?” A third voice rang out, repeating himself as he left a cold shiver running down Davey’s back as the other two voices fell silent. “I thought you two were going to be the ones killing everyone?”

      “You—?!” The woman began to exclaim in a mixture of shock and fury.

      “…Devyn…?!” The man finally stammered back. “…Wha…what are you doing here…?!”

     “Don’t play stupid, Ray,” Devyn suavely replied. “We’re all here for the prize.”

     “But…?!” Ray gasped back. “What happened to our agreement we made in the bathroom…?! Does…does that all mean nothing to you now…?!”

     “C’mon, why would I need you…” Devyn snickered back. “…When I have Corvetta and the squad we’ve assembled?”

     “You…?” Ray stammered. “You backstabbing—!”

      “Oh, hush,” A fourth voice stated firmly, soft, young, and feminine in nature, though clearly sharp as a knife as the sound of rustling bushes flooded Davey’s ears. “Now…”

      “Stop!” Ray roared out as Davey’s blood ran cold. “Cori, no—!” The sound of blood splattering, ripping flesh, and bones being snapped rang out into the air as their morbid screams flooded up into the atmosphere, only being droned out by the all too familiar sound of two strikes of thunderous lightning rattling the arena. Eyes wide as she stared ahead in raw horror, Davey did everything in her power not to move a muscle, trembling hands gripped tightly around the hilt of the small axe as she prepared for the worst as the last of their death throes rang out in the haunting air around them.

     “Ah…” Corvetta sighed with a soft chuckle. “That was almost too easy, eh?”

     “Mm,” Devyn replied. “You’re sure it was just the two of them?”

     “Shit,” Corvetta said with a shake of her head, brushing her blonde hair out of her eyes. “As loud as they were being, I’m sure of it. Damn fools wouldn’t know to keep their fucking voices down if their lives were on the line…oh wait.”

      “C’mon, Corvetta,” Devyn said with a resistant laugh. “Don’t taunt the dead.”

      “And don’t call me that shit,” Corvetta shot back. “I told you before to just say Cori.”

     “Whatever,” Devyn replied. “It’s your name, isn’t it? Either way, I just need to communicate with you. How you feel about me is really indifferent to me.”

     “Oh, shut up,” Corvetta said. “You know what I said. Respect it.”

     “Okay, okay, just hurry up and grab their shit…” Devyn sighed as their shadows fell across the log Davey was tremblingly tucked inside of, where she was doing her absolute best to not let even the slightest bit of a breathe escape her mouth until she knew they were well out of earshot. “…Cori.”

     “That’s better,” Corvetta said triumphantly. “Now, hurry your ass up, y’know Malachi and the others are waiting for us back at the base.”

     “Hmph,” Devyn grunted back as they began to disappear into the distance, giving Davey just enough confidence to poke her head out far enough to see them disappearing into the forest’s shrubbery a good hundred yards away from her. “Clean off your knives before we get back. They don’t need to know it was us that got two more.”

      “I hate you,” Cori shot back with a chuckle. “Acting as if I wouldn’t have on my own.”

     “Well, not everyone’s gonna think of it,” Devyn replied. “Gotta keep everyone on their toes, especially out here. If not, you’re gonna end up like them…quick.”

     “Oh, blah blah blah, you condescending bastard,” Corvetta muttered as Davey watched them finally disappear from her sight completely, their words nearly indistinguishable.

     “Ho…ly…shit…” Davey silently mouthed as she remained quivering within the log, completely frozen with fear. She didn’t want to get out of the log. Getting out meant she had to compete. Get up. Get ready. To do exactly what they had done: get slaughtered. She just wanted to stay put until infinity arrives. However, as much as the idea tugged at her mind, reality still pulled her in the other direction, with the memory of Chelsea floating through her mind as they all agreed on meeting upon the tallest icy mountain’s highest point. Slowly, she began to inch her way forward, ears turned towards the sky as she remained poised for even the slightest bit of noise.

      When none came after a matter of minutes, all of which she spent nudging forward about an inch at a time, she finally popped her head out of the log, letting the sunlight from above wash over her face as she was freed from the shadows. However, just because her head finally was didn’t mean the rest of her was too, as she more than evidently felt as she continued trying to pull herself out, grunting and groaning as she felt her belly and love handles pressing up against the sides of the log, her excess fat flooding up so much of the space that she physically couldn’t pull herself out of the tiny space. She’d heard the saying that if something was hard to fit into going in, it’d be twice as hard getting out, and she’d even experienced it for herself as a child when her parents got her a Chinese finger trap, but she’d never experienced anything like this before.

      Panting and wheezing as she tried her best to scoot out as her blubber held her firmly locked in place within the log, she couldn’t help but think back to her childhood when she was but a twig of a little girl, barely large enough to say she was  anything above being malnourished. She didn’t know what that little girl would think if she saw her now. Bloated, enormous, so fat that she couldn’t get out of a log to save her life. A hog who’d stuff herself to the point of passing out. Only a few dials away from morbidly-obese, if she hadn’t struck that level already. Especially since she got access to the buffet. Ugh, she knew the insults could go on in her head if she let them continue, and instead, blinking away her own tears, she resumed focus on squeezing her way out of the tight-fitting log.

      Just as she was about to give up hope once again, she felt another lurch forward, a majority of her belly bursting forth and out of the tight fit as she suddenly was able to gasp for a breathe of fresh air like never before. As her globe of belly fat spilled over the rim of the log, she finally was able to pull herself nearly free, wincing as she felt her belly button get pressed up in between the bark of the log and her space outside of it. However, with one final shove, she finally managed to pop herself completely free of her imprisonment, gasping and coughing as she tumbled forward through the greenery. Rubbing her head in confusion as she grumbled softly to herself, she managed to finally sit herself upright before leaning back against another tree, panting as she placed a hand to her chest as her heart rapidly beat out of her chest.

      “No…” Davey gasped. “…Way…” Looking down at where her hand was crossing her chest, she felt a rumble echo through her body as she took in the all-too-familiar sight before her, scowling at how far in front of her breasts her belly had begun to jut. In fact, it’d gotten to the point that, even while leaning back, she could barely even see her feet far underneath her, with only the tips of her toes being visible from the point she was at. It wasn’t unsurprising to her that she’d gotten herself stuck inside of the log, since it wasn’t like she was just unaware of how much weight she’d been gaining recently. It just wasn’t fair. She’d never liked the Gargan Trials. She didn’t want to be selected. She never wanted to be a contestant. Shit, this wasn’t how her life was supposed to be. She was supposed to be enjoying mimosas and shrimp by a beach in the Palms, not stress-stuffing herself at the buffet to the point that she’d pass out in order to cope with the reality of the situation. However, no matter how much coping she wanted to do, she also knew she had much bigger fish to fry than being worried about her weight. 210 wasn’t the end of the world, anyway. Sure, it was a slippery slope, but she knew she was still far from too far gone. After all, if she survived she’d be able to hire the best weight loss trainers money could buy. She certainly had to get there first though, which sent another rumble of unease shooting through her nervous system.

      Clearly, so did everyone else, as evident by the two bodies laying only a short distance in front of her as blood continued pouring out of them. Tugging her uniform’s scratched up shirt back down over the bottom of her exposed blubber, she softly gulped to herself as she made her way towards them, doing her best to hold down the meal she’d had before they were dropped into the arena as the sight was almost too much for her to handle. While she hadn’t been able to get a good look at them before from her hiding spot, she was now able to see them much more up close and graphically, with the enormous wounds gashing out of them and soaked in both dried-up and still freshly flowing blood, sending a deep rumble through her stomach.

      “God, I think I’m gonna be sick…” Davey silently groaned to herself as she felt her face begin to turn green, reflexively looking away as she got a little too close to the corpses and the coppery smell of blood flooded her nose. Thankfully, nearby were the two discarded backpacks that Corvetta had evidently disregarded after purging them of everything useful, though that still didn’t stop her from checking. And, as she did so, she immediately felt her heart light up at the sight of what they’d clearly missed in their hasty run through of the backpack’s contents.

      While Ray’s had undeniably scraped about as clean as can be, she was still able to find a few various items, like a liter, gauze, tangled up fishing line and a hook, and a few other things, the real treasure was tucked within the woman’s backpack. Clearly in a rush, Davey pulled out, among a flurry of other miscellaneous items, a flashlight, blanket, flare gun, Tupperwares filled with frozen meat and vegetables, an extra, clean uniform, and even a sheathed short-sword that was nearly the length of her arm. Staring at everything in awe for a moment, it only took her a moment to snap out of it and begin to rapidly stuff everything into her own backpack, wiping away the sweat rushing down her face as she tossed everything inside, only leaving the tiny short-sword out in the open.

     Lifting it up to the sky as the Sun beamed over her, she slowly removed it from its hilt as the light high above danced between the leaves of the trees overhead as they shimmered off of its impeccable blade. Realizing her jaw had fallen agape in awe at its majesty, she quickly recollected herself, and, after glancing around to make sure nobody was around still, she quickly zipped her backpack back up and tossed it back over her shoulders, turning away from the corpses as she tucked the small blade into the waistband of her uniform, letting her belly fat flop over the top of the knife’s handle and butt. Glancing back once more in the direction Corvetta and Devyn had gone in, she let out a final exhale before turning in the opposite direction and taking off, the snowy mountains not far in the distance.

Chapter 3:

      Frozen wind viciously ripped through the thin air, sharp enough to feel like icicles digging into the skin. Trudging through the several feet of snow that’d naturally piled up and begun to freeze over, Davey couldn’t help but shiver and rub her hands together constantly as she did her best to keep warm while marching through the frozen tundra. The uniform’s they were provided were already short-sleeved, so it wasn’t like that was doing much to help, and she knew that the liter wouldn’t be strong enough to really keep her warm. Ultimately, that meant she was left with two choices: turn around and risk never meeting up with the others, or to commit to the plunge and risk freezing to death. She didn’t like either one of them.

      Finally managing to make her way to the foot of where the mountain range began, she squinted up at all of them, scanning the horizon for which one appeared to stick the furthest up towards the sky. As thankful as she was that it wasn’t snowing on top of being already freezing, she still couldn’t help but gripe and complain to herself about  how cold it was as she looked up at the view. Although her eyes vigilantly scanned each and every one of the mountains, inspecting them thoroughly just in case her eyes deceived her, there was absolutely no confusing which one in particular was her target.

     “Bingo,” Davey grunted to herself as she took a deep breathe, pausing before taking another step forward as she began to trek towards the foot of the mountain. Rubbing her blubbery arms to the point that they began to turn red, she marched through the several feet of snow without hesitation, bursting through the fluffy whiteness with a poised determination as she finally began the upwards ascension. Glancing around, she spotted a few animals local to the section of the enormous map she was in, spotting out several reindeer and snow-white rabbits bounding about in the distance, instantly making her stomach rumble at the thought of how delicious they’d be cooked up and covered in a flurry of spices. Huffing and wheezing desperately as the direction began to be more slanted than flat, she almost quit as her legs began to burn, despite how cold they were with the snow melting through her uniform’s leggings and shoes. Still, despite her ambition to quit, she refused, gritting her teeth and biting her tongue as she continued her journey up the mountain, pausing repeatedly to catch her strained breathe or tug her uniform back down after it’d naturally begin to ride up on her.

      With every step she took, Davey felt her stomach angrily growl in an even more volatile manner, signaling she was running near the end of her energy supply as she trudged along at a speed that’d make a snail feel confident in themselves. Pausing again as she leaned back against a pine tree, huffing and blowing into her hands for any remnants of warmth, she looked back up to where the highest point on the mountain was, grimacing at how far she still had to go as she attempted to wipe away the frozen sweat drenching her face. As she watched the beads fall to the white floor below, she couldn’t help but look back over at herself once again, recalling how pathetically she’d gotten herself stuck in a log only mere moments ago because of how much she’d let herself go. Damn, she was in the fight of her life and she couldn’t do anything but obsess over how obese she’d let herself become? Why, because it made her weaker? Less of a competitor? Less able to compete to keep herself alive? The haunting words rolled through her mind as she huffed and grimaced at herself, shaking her head in dismay.

      “Oh, Davey, Davey, Davey…” Davey softly gasped to herself as she continued trying to catch her breathe. “What…have you…gotten…yourself…into? Shit…girl. If you…hadn’t let yourself go…so much…this…this whole climb wouldn’t…wouldn’t even be an issue…” Groaning softly to herself, she pushed off from the pine tree again, readjusting her backpack as she leaned backward to offset the amount of weight hanging from her front as it came sloshing out of the front of her uniform with the gesture. With a scowl, she tapped a single finger against the exposed blubber, realizing just how frozen her skin had become in the unforgiving environment around her as it refused to even budge in the slightest at her frigid’s fingers touch. She also knew that it meant that the fat inside of her had begun to solidify more, signaling that it was clearly not just water weight or bloating from the feast earlier that’d disappear with a good night’s sleep. Rolling her eyes, she quickly tucked her excess fat back into her shirt before grabbing the straps of her backpack, and with an annoyed crimson hue plastered across her face, she began to pantingly set off for the top of the mountain once again. However, before she could even go more than a couple of feet…

     “Heyyyy…!” A sly voice cried out from behind her. “Davis, isn’t itttt…?” Instantly, her spine stood straight up on edge, and her entire bloodstream somehow managed to run even colder than it already was as the sound of her name being said out loud violently shook her to the very core of her being. Slowly, she turned her head around as her eyes nearly popped out of her skull to the sight of another contestant slowly making his way towards her with a wide grin scrawled across his face. However, the smile in itself was nothing in comparison to the enormous, all-black long blade clutched within the man’s hand, which was immediately more than enough to freeze her in her tracks, despite how her natural reflexes were all screaming and demanding that she ran away.

     “Ahh…?” Davey gasped, her cold breathe flooding the air in front of her like smoke as she stared at the glimmering blade in fearful awe. “H-Hedwynn…?!”

      “Aha…so…you do remember me, eh…?” Hedwynn replied with a vicious smile, running his tongue across his lips as he intently stared at her. “Well…I won’t waste your time. I was just hoping that Malachi would be here when I found my first one of you little, insolent pests, but…I suppose bringing your head back myself will do just as well. It’s not like it really matters, anyway. You clearly don’t care about your own survival anyway.” A snarky, twisted smile slithered across his face as he narrowed his eyes, squinting directly at her as she cowered back in fear under the protection of the pine tree she’d been calmly leaning against moments prior.

     “P…please…” Davey softly mouthed, her entire body quivering and shaking with fear as the man took another step towards her, the grin splitting out even further on either side of his face as he took another one, now less than a hundred feet from her. “…D…d…don’t…”

     “Oh?” Hedwynn chortled back. “And why shouldn’t I? You clearly didn’t feel the need to care for yourself in the first place, so why should I give you the same respect you wouldn’t even give yourself? You…you may not have been paying attention while we were all in prep, getting ready for this very day when our fate in this world is decided, but I was. We all were. Everyone that really wanted to win, that is. Myself, my older brother Malachi, the others, we were all watching. Waiting. Getting prepared. But you…I watched you, Davis, do nothing but freak out and panic since we first touched down inside of prep. We all spent everyday grinding our hardest, putting in countless hours in the gym, eating only the healthiest and most vibrant foods, and hyper-focusing our minds to grow our ability to demolish and conquer, but you…you did none of the above. Instead, once we touched down you curled up into yourself, giving into your own fear of the reality that is the Gargan Trials, and did nothing the entire time. You tried to separate your mind as far from the forthcoming war as possible, doing nothing but flounder and sleep over what’s to come while stuffing your face with as many empty calories and bottomless rewards as your body could handle at a time, and now…now you’re going to pay the ultimate price. One could argue it’s not really your fault, since I’m sure you never dreamt you’d be selected for the Trials, but, one could also argue, that you refused to take fate into your own hands and fight back against the reality that’d been thrust upon you. Just because my brother and our team have spent our entire lives preparing for this day, going as far as us both volunteering to make sure we made it in during the same round of games as each other, doesn’t mean that your fate had to be sealed within the thick wraps of a fluffy, delectable Twinkie. I remember seeing you on the first day all hundred of us entered. You weren’t exactly fit then, but you were also a fall car from yourself now, eh? You didn’t have to gorge yourself during prep, but you chose to, because it was easier than dealing with the cruel reality of the situation. The cruel reality…that only one of us is going to be leaving this arena alive. The cruel reality…that now your time has come. Davis…goodby—“

Chapter 4:

      A loud crack rang out through the snowy mountains, echoing off the enormous slabs of the neighboring masses as it roared up into the atmosphere above. And then, a complete silence fell over the unending fields of white, deafening in nature regardless of the only sound being the vicious whipping of the wind.

     “Hmph,” A young woman slyly grunted as she took another step forward in the knee-deep snow, placing a hand on her hip. “Enough outta him, already.”

     “Ahh…?” Davey stammered, finally managing to open her eyes as she wondrously stared up at the unmistakable curly bob in front of her. “Chelsea…?” Undeniably belonging to none other than the one and only Chelsea, who was clutching an enormous hammer while standing over the frozen figure of Hedwynn as he blankly stared forward, knife still in hand though there was nothing behind his expression, she gave Davey a slight, soft grin. And then, as she watched in horror, Hedwynn’s entire body slumped forward, falling face-first into the snow as the enormous, gaping gash in the back of his skull finally came into view, just as the unmistakable roar of thunder came crackling in overhead.

     “About time!” Chelsea exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across her face as she tucked the enormous hammer into a large sheath on her back before reaching a frozen hand out towards Davey. “I almost thought you weren’t gonna show!”

      “Chel…sea…” Davey slowly replied, the adrenaline rushing through her veins settling down enough that the effects of the cold terrain around her began to finally set back in again, reminding her of just how frozen to her core she was.

      “Oh, but—you…?!” Chelsea gasped, taking a step over the fallen corpse of Hedwynn as she finally got a closer look at Davey now that the immediate danger was out of the way, realizing that her entire body was turning blue and she was completely shivering all over as she attempted to rub the sides of her arms for warmth. “What the hell are you doing out here without even a jacket on?! You’re gonna get hypothermia if not freeze to death first! Here, here!” Quickly, she pulled off the thick black coat with a mane of thick faux fur around the collar wrapped across her body, wincing momentarily as the frozen wind whipped across her exposed skin. Before another second passed though, she quickly tossed it across Davey’s body, wrapping it as tightly as it would go before beginning to try to zip it up. However, the distinctions in their body were more than obvious, and, as the rising zipper repeatedly bumped into the bottom of Davey’s protrusive gut, it became more than obvious that just because Chelsea was able to fit a medium-fit, didn’t mean that she would as well.

      “Ahh…well…” Chelsea awkwardly stammered as she finally gave up, instead choosing to just let the zipper stay connected beneath the bottom of her blubber instead of trying to force something that clearly wasn’t going to work.

     “Mm, thanks…” Davey softly replied, lowering her eyes down to the ground as Chelsea, beginning to shiver as more time spent in the exposed elements added on, quickly made the best of Hedwynn, quickly yanking the blood-stained backpack off his back, wincing as she was forced to pick away a couple of pieces of brain residue stuck to it. Before even rummaging through it’s contents though, she made quick work of removing the thick, black bubble jacket wrapped around his body, attempting to brush away the couple of stains splattered across the top of it before throwing it over herself. Luckily, the backpack had done a good job in catching a majority of the excess particles that flew out from her swing, but there were still several splashes dripping and running down it’s soft, nylon surface that Chelsea was doing her best to wipe away as her frigid body-temperature slowly began to rise back up to normal.

     “Alright,” Chelsea said with a satisfied grin as she lifted her head back up to the sky, giving Davey a wide, confident smile before extending a hand out towards her. “You ready to go meet with the others now?”

     “Ah…?” Davey gasped, her mind snapping out of the trauma stemming from seeing a man’s brains explode out of his skull in front of her. “You mean…they’re…?”

      “Mhm,” Chelsea replied with a nod. “Right at the top of the mountain like we agreed. I think all the other contestants got out of this area as fast as they could, so we should have this entire quadrant of the map damn near to ourselves. In fact, I don’t think I saw a single other soul out here besides the others and you. Well, except for…”

     “Mm…” Davey mouthed back as she briefly glanced back down at the twisted remains in front of her, feeling her stomach begin to rumble and turn at the sight as she quickly looked away.

     “Alright, now—“ Chelsea began as she hoisted the discarded backpack up and across the enormous hammer slung across her back, beginning to swiftly turn around when a voice spoke up behind her.

      “He…” Davey softly said, her voice pitching up as the words flowed out of her mouth. “…He…had a brother.”

     “Ahh…?” Chelsea asked, turning around to face her as Davey stared blankly at her from behind.

     “Hedwynn…” Davey continued. “He…he had a brother. Malachi. Malachi was his brother.”

     “Feh…” Chelsea murmured with a shake of her head. “That dumbass walking bag of muscles? Of course, huh…the two of them even entered the Trials together, figures they shared more than a basic-ass haircut.”

     “I…” Davey replied. “…I…also saw Devyn earlier…with Corvetta…they…they killed two more contestants in front of me…while…while I was hiding out…they…they also spoke about meeting up with…with Malachi…”

     “Shit, I guess there’s no surprise there…” Chelsea huffed as she pushed her curly, red hair out of her face. “Suppose it was naive to think that our little group of four was going to be enough to compete against the other alliances being formed. The way they were all hanging around each other in the gym during prep, honestly, I should’ve seen it coming that they’d all be together in one enormous team. Well, at least we got one of them out of the way while they weren’t all together…”

     “But…” Davey gasped with wide eyes. “What if…what if they come after us for revenge…?! For…for…doing that to Hedwynn?! They’ll…they’ll torture us alive!”

     “Hey, hey, Davey…” Chelsea sympathetically said as she placed her thin hands atop her broad, thick shoulders, staring directly into her pupils. “Look…I don’t know how to tell you this…but the games have began. We’re officially in the Gargan Trials. All of that nice, sweet, kindness you have inside of you…you have to push all of that back into yourself for now. Never, ever, forget it within you, but for now, you’ve got to turn into exactly what you fear the most. If not…there’s no way you’re going to survive. We aren’t here to be friends with each other, Davey, we’re here to have a sole victor.”

      “Ahh…?” Davey gasped, the weight of her words nearly being enough to push her backwards and to the ground.

      “Now…c’mon…” Chelsea replied, extending a hand out towards her for her to take. “We’ve still got a bit of a hike ahead of us.” Staring at her with wide, shaking eyes, Davey felt the entire world stand still around her as the blood continued pouring out of the cracked skull on the ground in front of her. Finally, after what felt like an eternity had passed, she reluctantly stuck her hand out to meet her halfway, feeling her cheeks grow a deep, scarlet hue as Chelsea’s nimble fingers wrapped themselves around her plump, frozen digits and began pulling her forward and over the haunting corpse beneath her.

     “Al…alright…”

Chapter 5:

      “Th…th…thanks…” Davey managed to utter through her shivering as she took the small cup from Chelsea, the blazing fire roaring in front of her face softly melting away the frigidity that encapsulated her entire body from head to toe.

     “Of course,” Chelsea replied with a grunt as she collapsed down to the ground with her as well, slightly blowing up the thick blanket wrapped around her. “I can’t even imagine how cold you must be, having to be out there in nothing but a t-shirt!”

      “Oh…don’t…wo…worry ab…about…it…” Davey slowly said shaking her head slightly as she thought back to just how frozen she really had been. Relaxing a little bit as she sipped away at the small cup Chelsea had given her, she let out a deep exhale as the morbid images of the other fallen contestants came flashing back through her mind. Doing her best to push the memories away to the side, she quickly took another gulp, gazing up at the rocky ceiling above them that was protecting them from the frozen tundra’s raw elements outside. While it had been a clear sky except for some clouds when she’d first entered the region, since her meeting up with Chelsea it had begun to furiously come down, the flurry of frigid snowflakes leaving them even more frozen than they already would’ve been regardless.

      “Here you go,” The other girl in the small cave softly said as she sat down beside her.

      “Oh, thanks, Taylor,” Davey replied as Taylor passed her a small makeshift plate covered in a thick slab of freshly-cooked meat fresh off the small fire warming them all, immediately making Davey’s mouth water at the sheer sight. Thankfully, the cave that the others had been lodged up in was coincidentally not too far off from where Davey had been when the confrontation with Hedwynn took place, which was what even allowed for Chelsea to spot her in the first place while she was out hunting for the local wildlife.

     “My pleasure,” Taylor gently said as she passed a small fork and knife over to her, the light from the fire dancing off her face as Davey eagerly took the small utensils. “I’m just thankful Chelsea was able to get to you when she did…”

     “Mm,” Chelsea grunted. “If I’d been a few minutes later…”

     “Stop it,” Taylor replied. “All that matters is that you’re alright.”

     “Yeah, you’re right,” Davey murmured as her eyes remained locked on the steak, beginning to dig the fork and knife into its body despite her hands still trembling from the cold as she felt saliva begin to grow within her mouth. “At least you guys were able to find the perfect spot to hideout in…”

      “Tell me about it!” Chelsea exclaimed as her voice echoed off the walls around them. “This bitch’s perfect, ain’t it?! Especially with the snow coming down! Nobody would even know we’re in here, and we can let the fire go under its protection! We can cook away all night and still be away from everyone since who else is even gonna come out in this terrain besides that moron?! This way, we don’t have to worry about the smoke attracting unwanted guests while we’re asleep, or, well, just in general!”

      “Mm, pherfect,” Davey replied with the first forkful of steak stuffed last her lips, slowly removing the utensil as she slowly chewed in joy. Although it’d only been a few hours since she last ate, it felt like an eternity had passed since then, and, as far as her life went, she could honestly say that it had. She’d came a minute away from facing death herself, and been witness to a total of three murders already, and it was still only the first day of the Trials. Slowly gulping as she swallowed it down, she felt her stomach growl out to her as it begged her to hurry up the pace, feeling the effects of the days antics all too clearly. Hurrying up her pace, she continued slicing the slab of meat apart, digging the fork in over and over as she did away with it as fast as she could, barely even realizing just how fast she was devouring it. Although the taste itself was only decent, in all of her hastiness, she never even stopped to consider what she was actually eating, instead choosing to simply focus on recharging her empty gullet as she did away with the entire first half of the enormous slab of meat before either Taylor or Chelsea were able to get a word in.

     “Hey, uhh, Davey…?” Taylor softly said as she lifted a hand up. “That, um, steak was kinda for all of us…”

     “Ah—?” Davey exclaimed as her eyes popped wide open, halting her in her frenzy as she looked up to see the two other girls staring directly at her. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry…!”

     “Oh, you’re alright, you’re alright,” Taylor chuckled back as Davey sheepishly handed the plate over to her. “I just figured I should say something before you really got going…”

     “Aha…” Davey self-consciously chuckled as she felt her stomach churn, prompting her to place a hand to it as she realized that, in the haste of her stuffings, she’d managed to let her belly bloat up to the point that, even with her uniform’s shirt tugged all the way down, a slight sliver of creamy skin was forcibly exposed. Scowling, she took another quick yank at it as she folded herself over more so that she could hide just how much larger she’d gotten in only a matter of moments. She knew the bloating would wear off quickly, especially if she took a nap, but she was also more than aware that she was still in the middle of the Gargan Trials, and she was, by no means, in the safe zone yet. In fact, she truly wouldn’t be until she was the last one standing, if that were possible to happen by some miracle. Sighing to herself, she scooted down further where she sat as Taylor and Chelsea exchanged the plate between each other, taking a couple of small bites each as they quickly did away with what little bit of the steak Davey had left behind.

      “Mm…” Taylor murmured to herself as Davey watched her intensely eat, gobbling it down at nearly twice the rate at which Chelsea was going. While Chelsea may have been doing good to keep up, her body in general was nowhere near as fit as Taylor’s was, as she’d never in her life gone over 120 lbs. While she had been naturally skinny since birth, no matter how much she ate or lazed around, the same couldn’t be said for Taylor by any means.

     Although she was by no means obese, Taylor’s body-type much more closely rivaled Davey’s than Chelsea’s, with her only being significantly smaller than her due to her lack of a protrusive belly and rear. While Davey’s fat settled in there enough to bloat over the edges, Taylor’s excess weight settled about her body much differently, leaving her with a much thicker composition packed with wide a body, arms, legs, but not necessarily an excessive amount of fat sagging off any place in particular. Even her slight double-chin protected by her long, perfectly straight brown-black hair gave off the impression that she wasn’t nearly as heavy as she was, especially since her weight had mostly gathered around her hips and ass instead of directly flooding to her belly. At just barely over 200 lbs, she knew that she wasn’t in much better shape than Davey, but she also knew not having to slog along an enormous gut hanging too far down over her waist definitely gave her a slight advantage when it came to their physical fitness.

     Still, it didn’t escape her that the both of them fell within the unhealthiest one percent of the one hundred contestants selected, seeing as how everyone else seemed to be in perfect, tip-top shape. That alone had been a large part in what had drawn them into each other during prep, when neither of them really knew what was coming or what they were even going to do to survive. In fact, Taylor recalled, as she chewed away at the forkful of steak, her and Davey’s mutual fear of what was in store for them during the games had been a large factor in what had brought them together, since both had been feeling so incredibly helpless the first few days that they would both end up spending nearly all of their free time in prep just locked away by the buffet.

      It hadn’t even been until the fourth day when either had said a word to each other, and that was only because Taylor had clumsily dropped a spicy BBQ chicken wing on the floor, and, while bending down to get it, accidentally bumped her ass directly into Davey’s belly, nearly sending her tumbling backwards and into the trash can. Thankfully, she managed to regain her footing just in time, and she caught herself before the impending disaster unfolded before her very eyes. After deeply apologizing, the two of them had been nearly inseparable within the dining hall, and had no doubt been the two doing the most damage to the buffet during the entire two week span given to them that was reserved for prep.

     Still, neither of them could shake the uneasy feeling of what was to come once the time was up, leading to them commonly not even saying anything to one another and simply being company while stuffing their faces absurd. That feeling of unease was so strong amongst them that a lot of the times they wouldn’t even smile at one another while eating anything in sight, but it was so bad that it was even to the point where their few conversations often would end up revolving around dark, morbid topics like death, dying, killing, and any other topic they could think of that’d surely be more than relevant once the Trials began. It was even an entire week before the slightest bit of hope was brought to that table between them, and that was only because, one day, Taylor showed up with none other than Chelsea’s bright, beaming smile beside her.

     As they quickly found out that, just because she was so skinny in her build, didn’t mean that she couldn’t do just as much to keep up with them at the buffet line, and it wasn’t long before Chelsea was a member of the unspoken alliance as well. It was certainly a good thing too, since both Taylor and Davey knew neither of them had much of a real game plan for how to survive the Trials, but Chelsea at least came in somewhat prepared, immediately recommending the idea of having a HeadQuarters they could all retreat to and meet up at once the games began. And with that, the three of them had made a pact that they would all go to the final three together, until…

     “Ahhh…!”

Chapter 6:

     A deep, scraggly voice suddenly roared out from the outside of the cave as the furious blizzard continued pouring down outside, immediately snatching all of their attentions up as they looked over to the source. And then, before their eyes, the white figure burst forth through the front of the cave, bounding forward as they came to a skidding stop as the layer of snow coating their entire body began to melt off the black bubble jacket wrapped tightly around their body.

    “JR…” Taylor gasped as Davey stared at him with wide eyes in disbelief as the crackling fire quickly melted away the remnants of the icy terrain outside. “Who’s tha—?”

     “Quick,” JR replied as he swiftly looked up at her, squinting from her to the overflowing loot crate tucked in the back of the cave. “It’s JoAnne. Hurry.”

     “Ahh…?” Davey gasped as her eyes grew wide, staring directly at the frozen remnants of the elderly woman wrapped in his arms. Quickly setting her down in front of the fire, JR hurried to the back of the cave alongside Taylor, quickly flipping over the entire crate as he dug through all of its contents for any type of medical care available. “H-here, I-I have gauze…does…does that help…?”

    “Ah?!” JR exclaimed as he turned away from emptied out crate, eyes glowing as he stared directly at Davey before sprinting right up to her as she finished fumbling through her backpack. Dropping it into his eager hands, she watched him dash off again as he got to work wrapping the gauze around the side of the elderly woman as the last of the snow covering her body finished melting off. The day after the three of them had made the pact, Chelsea had shown up to the table with a fourth contender for their alliance, unsurprisingly none other than JR himself. At first, both Taylor and Davey were a little uneasy about the idea just because of how much they’d liked it being their own little thing and not wanting it to get too big, but, after beginning to get to know him, they’d both gone back on their original stance and agreed to expand their alliance to fit in one more slot.

     Being completely honest though, Davey knew both her and Taylor definitely had ulterior motives in their decision making, both agreeing that they definitely needed somebody a lot more fit and in-shape among their alliance if possible since both of them knew neither of them fit the description. Still, since they’d gone back on their decision and allowed for his inclusion, they’d both found for him to be growing on them, especially Davey.

     She would never admit it to anyone, especially not Taylor or Chelsea, but, since her first meeting him and getting to know him a little better, she had begun to develop the slightest bit of feelings for him, with her heart even beginning to throb more rapidly whenever he was around. When she’d first gotten to the cave, she’d honestly been a little bit worried when she didn’t see him anywhere around, and she almost spoke up about the lingering question before resuming her focus on the fact that she was still inside of the Gargan Trials. Alas, therefore she knew in her heart that there could only be one victor, and she certainly knew she wasn’t ready to die yet. Whether or not she could actually kill though…that was another question entirely.

      Everyone else had seemed to be able to do it with such ease, but, even after seeing all of the bloodshed earlier, she still couldn’t physically bring herself to even think of it, much less actually do the deed itself. Sure, she’d clutch a knife or axe and hold it up in self-defense, but she knew that she wasn’t really prepared to use it to kill. To take another life. Just the thought alone made her nauseous. She was undeniably in the Trials though, so she knew all too well that she’d either have to accept the realities of the circumstances, or perish amongst them. As the thoughts swimming amongst her head almost became too much, she felt a deep gurgle in her stomach ring out as she was snapped back to the real world, looking up in awe as JR knelt down beside the frigid figure of JoAnne.

     “JR…” Chelsea softly said from beside him as she stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder.

     “Stop it,” JR grunted back. “Stop. Don’t say it.”

     “You…you already know…” Chelsea replied, squeezing a little bit tighter as the unmistakable crackle of thunder boomed overhead as he squeezed his fingers into his palms, knuckles beginning to turn white as he lowered his head towards the ground. “You…you did all you could…”

     “I said…stop,” JR growled. “I…I didn’t…I couldn’t…that’s why…that’s why…”

     “Please…” Chelsea stammered as she felt tears beginning to well up within her eyes as Davey helplessly stared from behind. “It’s…it’s not your fault…”

     “You don’t…” JR attempted to reply, his words being cut off by his own quivering voice. “You…you don’t…know what…what happened out there…” Wiping away the blood splatter stained across his cheek, he lowered his head all the way to the ground in front of the raging fire, gulping deeply as his entire body began to quiver. “They…I…I ran…”

     “At least you got her too…” Chelsea gently said. “That counts for something…?”

     “Mm,” JR grunted, staring directly down at the old lady as the light danced off her pale, frozen skin. “I was too late. I’m…I’m so, so sorry, JoAnne…”

     “JR…” Chelsea softly said. “She’s gone…”

     A cold silence fell over the entire cave, leaving everyone silent as all eyes, except JR’s, landed upon the body of the frigid woman laying upon the ground. Where JR had wrapped a thick set of gauze around her waist, an enormous bloodstain had already spread over a majority of the bandages, spilling out onto the ground beneath her. When Davey first saw her being carried in within JR’s arms, she wasn’t even sure if JoAnne was really hurt or not, and she couldn’t even see any blood coming out of her. Now, she could see all too well just how severe her situation was, sending s menacing shiver rushing down her back as she thought back to just how easily that could’ve been her in her confrontation with Hedwynn.

      Staring at the poor, deceased woman, memories began to flood in through her mind from the few times she’d had interactions with JoAnne in the time leading up to the beginning of the Trials. She’d never met the poor woman until the day that Chelsea brought JR to their table, which he’d followed that up with bringing her for lunch the next day. Although she’d never formally been admitted into the alliance, all of them deeply liked and respected her, especially because of the age at which she was being forced to compete in the Trials at. That was such the luck of the draw, but the situation itself was still one that she couldn’t help but let it tug at her heartstrings.

     Although the small, 72-year old woman couldn’t have been more than 90 lbs, she would still be a joy to be around, with her even showing up to Davey’s table by the buffet when she was alone for nothing more than to tell her stories from when she lived across the seas. It was truly tragic, since she’d been snatched up with a husband, grandchildren, and an entire rest of the family back home, but she also knew there were plenty of other people inside of the arena with much more tragic backstories, and she couldn’t get too focused on what was happening in people’s lives behind the scenes when they wouldn’t take the time to care about hers before robbing her of her life.

      JoAnne was certainly different though, and the cruel sight of her passing away was almost too much to the point where Davey began to feel tears start to well up in her eyes. Although she’d already seen plenty of bodies that day alone, they were all belonging to people that wanted her dead, whereas this was a woman that’d wanted nothing but for her to prosper and survive. She recalled JoAnne hadn’t even predicted that she would win herself, and had instead accepted her fate, only wishing that one of them would survive in her place. The words had somewhat stuck with Davey when she’d first said them, but her face had been so deep within an XL quarter-decker that they’d barely resonated with her at the time. Now, as she was staring at the poor, old woman’s corpse sprawled out across the cave’s stony floor in front of her, the words wouldn’t stop echoing through her ears, with her only being snapped out of her mind by the voice of JR.

     “Damn…” JR grumbled softly. “She’s…she’s really gone…”

     “Wha…what happened…?” Taylor softly asked as she gently placed her hands on his shoulders

      “Shit…” JR sighed with a shake of his head. “The Allegiance. Devyn. Malachi. Corvetta. Kane. Brianna. They…they have a huge base established in the middle of the map. Right in the middle of the field…once you leave the forest surrounding the central 1x1 mile of flatland. I…I was barely lucky to make it out with my life. Damn, JoAnne should’ve too, but they hit her from afar with a spear. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes…dammit. If…if only I was fast enough. If only—“

     “Hey, hey…” Chelsea said as she wrapped her hands around his. “You did everything you could. JoAnne was likely to, I’m sorry to say, end up like this. She knew how old she was when she came in here. You can’t beat yourself up over it…!”

     “Don’t try to comfort me,” JR sighed. “I just need some time to be alone…”

      “Okay, well, we’re still in the Trials, don’t forget,” Chelsea replied. “I know you’re hurt right now, but we don’t have much expendability to just start lulling around and relaxing.”

     “We don’t have a lot of options anyway,” JR said with a growl. “You didn’t see the type of fort they have set up there. We…we’re out geared about ten to one, and that’s not even talking about the actual defenses they have on their base.”

      “Well, we can’t just give up,” Chelsea shouted back. “C’mon, JR, you’ve been through this before! You told me about it back in prep! So why’re you shutting down on us now?!”

      “I didn’t say that,” JR glumly murmured. “I just need some time to myself. To recharge. I…I just need some time to come to terms with JoAnne. I’m sorry.”

     “JR—!” Chelsea began to exclaim as he turned away from her, slowly walking to the back of the cave where the space inside thinned out, and, in the skinniest section of rock possible, he laid down as best that he could and, without saying another word, shut his eyes and began to nod off.

     “Che—?” Taylor began to ask.

     “Oh, great,” Chelsea huffed as she turned back towards them, folding her arms with a scowl plastered across her face. “Just what we need! More deadweight! Shit, can you guys believe him?!”

     “I mean, he did just lose…” Taylor again began to reply.

      “I know right!” Chelsea exclaimed, ignoring her words completely. “I can’t believe him either! Like I get it, but fuck! All of our lives are on the line here, not just his! If they come now while he’s passed out because they followed him by some miracle, then we’re all fucking dead meat! Shit, we’ve gotta—!”

     “Hey, um, Chels?” Davey asked, interrupting her as she glanced over to her. “Are you, uh, gonna finish that?”

Chapter 7:

      “I’m…I’m afraid it’s true…” Cori softly said. “Your brother…is dead.”

      “Mmmm…” The enormous figure sitting at the center of the base perched right at the middle of the lap grumbled as he scratched his chin, squinting furiously past her. “Hedwynn…”

     “I still can’t believe it…” Devyn growled. “We…we would’ve got two more kills easy, if they didn’t run for the tundra immediately after seeing us, but, when I saw Heddy just laying right there…just…just covered in snow…I…I let them go…I’m sorry…”

     “It’s horrible…” Another man replied. “I…I don’t know know how you’re still able to keep your head up so high, Malachi, I know I’d be—“

      “Hush,” Malachi grunted as he readjusted himself in the throne he’d built, the enormous two broadswords slung across his back rearranging with the movement. “If I needed reassurance, then I’d damn sure ask for it myself, Kane.”

     “Mm…” Kane softly murmured back.

     “No, it’s nothing that shedding tears for my brother will solve,” Malachi snarled. “It is a learning experience for us all though. There’s no way my brother would have been killed by himself out here…we’ve spent far too long training ourselves to reach our maximum capacity for the Trials, so that, when we win, our family will never have to struggle through the strife that is poverty within the government’s oppressive walls again. Now, Devyn, rally the rest of the troops. We’ve got to make a change about how we play this damn game. I refuse to let a single one of you all go out the same way, so, can you guess what we’re all going to do to avoid that…?”

     “Uhhh…” Corvetta stammered as Devyn rushed off to rise the other few members of their allegiance.

     “Times up,” Malachi purred. “The solution…is that, from now on, everyone’s going only be moving with another member of the alliance. There’s only 61 left, and this will increase our rate of success even more. So, to be clear, at no point—ever—will you be out of sight of another one of you all. Just think of it like the buddy system. Now, everyone go partner up with someone else, and make sure that you have their back like they have yours, and I expect no exceptions. Any disloyalty to my orders…well, you all know what happened to Peyton.”

     “Mm…” Kane softly murmured as his eyes fell to the ground.

     “Now, everyone get some rest,” Malachi boomed over the small crowd. “Brianna. Kane. You two have first watch. At the crack of dawn, we head for the tundra.”

-

     Snoring loudly, Davey didn’t even realize when the Sun began to come up in the horizon as the brilliant Sun came bursting through the entranceway to the small cave. Thankfully, the furious snowfall had ended sometime during the night, but it had still done more than enough damage and had left them nearly entirely snowed into the tiny space. Wrapped up in the very back, JR still remained balled up, head just slightly beneath the slab of stone creasing into the ground not more than a foot away from him. On the opposite side of the small cave, the three women had all passed out around the fire, with only Taylor having the sense to get off of their small seats first and curling up on her own accord before passing out. Everyone had undoubtedly just experienced the most stressful day of their entire lives, and none were too eager to wake back up to the living hell they were experiencing. However, just as Davey was about to reflexively roll over in her sleep to keep the trail of saliva running from her mouth from choking her, a distinct, faint shouting began to ring out in the far off distance.

     “Mm…huh…?” Chelsea grumbled as she confusedly lifted her head up, blinking about rapidly through still squinted eyed as she looked around for the source of the noise. As she was doing so, more and more voices seemed to begin to pile-on, sending her heart rate into a flurry as she quickly got up, snapping herself out of her sleepy mindset as she dashed to the front of the cave just as Taylor and JR began to stir with just as much confusion behind her.

     “Chels…?” Taylor muttered with a scratch of her head as she brushed her tangled hair out of the way of her crusty eyes.

     “Oh…my…Go—“ Chelsea could barely stammer as her jaw fell open and the other two slowly made it to the front of the cave’s entrance with her too, all looking outside as their eyes grew wide at the sight of none other than the small army marching directly up the enormous snowy mountain.

Chapter 8:

     “It’s them!” JR roared, eyes nearly bursting out of his skull, the scream more than loud enough to jolt Davey completely awake as she bounced up behind them. “I swear they didn’t follow me yesterday! How the hell did they figure out we were here?!”

     “Ah—?” Davey confusedly stammered as she pulled the hairs popping out of her loose ponytail out of her eyes. “Wha…what’s going on…?!”

     “Look, keep your voice down,” Chelsea said in a hushed tone. “Both of you. We don’t know that they know we’re here yet, they’re just on the mountain. And towards the bottom of it, at that. There’s no reason we should start acting rash just because they’re in the same quadrant as us…”

     “Shit, that’s how you end up dead, wishing you could look back on what you could’ve done better,” JR snarled. “Everyone, grab your weapons. We need to be prepared for them to know exactly where the fuck we are on this goddamn mountain. There’s a pretty good chance those bastards already do, but, shit, we’ve gotta still hold onto a little hope!”

     “You heard him!” Chelsea repeated in a hushed-shout, grabbing her own set of small knives as well as the enormous hammer she tucked onto her back once again. On the other side, Taylor hurried to the back of the cave, digging into the enormous crate of miscellaneous treasures they’d collected from backpacks and loot crates as she swum around in it for for anything. Finally, at the last second, she popped back out of the contents with a small, wooden crossbow and arrows. looking at it confusedly but also with the acceptance that she didn’t have the time to think too long about it.

     Hurrying back to the front of the cave where Chelsea and JR, who was clutching an extensive serrated long sword, were both standing prepared and war-ready, Taylor barely even noticed Davey curled down in her own corner of the cave as she tremblingly dug through her own backpack, grabbing hold of the axe’s hilt as she cautiously stared at her reflection in the wide blade. Barely able to keep herself still, let alone emotion-free in the face of adversity, she knew she had to join the rest of her allies on the frontline with the utmost bravery, but, at the same time, the gurgles and rumbles of insecurity wouldn’t stop ravishing her stomach, keeping her forcefully bound down to the floor of the cave.

     “C’mon, Davey…” Davey softly murmured to herself, clutching her fists as tight as she could as her knuckles began to slowly turn white. “You can…you can do this…you’re…you’re in the Gargan Trials now…there’s…there’s literally no reason you shouldn’t be ready to—“

     “Look,” JR gruffly stated as his voice echoed through the small cave, snapping her out of his mind as he pointed out into the distance.

     “Yeah, I see it too…!” Chelsea exclaimed as she squintingly placed a hand over her eyes as the morning Sun continued streaming down overhead. “Who…who is that…?!”

     “Like hell I know…” JR muttered as he stared right at the small shadow tucked down behind one of the enormous slabs of ice jutting off the mountains. “My initial instinct is to ignore them and let their little allegiance rip them apart…but…we can honestly use as much help as we can get against them as we can get…!”

     “You’re saying we should go help them?” Taylor asked with an exasperated expression.

     “Not until we’re sure that they see ‘em too, but…in that event…we should be prepared…” JR replied. “If I count their figures right, it’s six of them in total. If we save the other one and they fight with us, that makes it a five on six. It’s still not the best odds, especially with them having Malachi’s Godzilla-looking ass, but it’s a hell of a lot better than our chances otherwise.”

     “Ahh—!” Chelsea stammered as she glanced back to Davey. “Malachi! That’s right! Davey, they must’ve found Hedwynn’s body, and that’s why they’re back here! They’re not moving around like they’ve seen us yet, so they must just know we’re in these general whereabouts!”

     “Oh, great…” Davey groaned as she felt her belly let another dangerous growl, signaling that the steak from yesterday had already quickly digested away.

     “Yeah, well, they probably know a little more than that,” JR replied. “Like I said yesterday, when I was getting away with JoAnne, the couple that were most closely after us definitely saw me disappear into this terrain, so it makes sense they’d have a pretty good idea that we’re around here.”

      “Mm,” Taylor murmured. “We could try just making a break for it out of the back…if we’re low to the ground, they might not see us…”

     “We also lose a potential ‘nother ally though,” JR said. “I don’t know if that’s an opportunity we want to give up, especially as the number of players left dwindle. If we can take them out and become the new dominant alliance…our chances of making it to the end’ll have increased more than we could ever imagine…”

     “This is why I brought him onto our team,”  Chelsea exclaimed with a beaming smile as Davey awkwardly looked away, letting out a deep sigh as she glanced back over at them and then back down at herself. She knew that much more pressing issues were at hand, but she still couldn’t help but feel her stomach twisting itself in knots, and it wasn’t entirely because of the enemies outside.

      Although Chelsea was undoubtedly her best friend in the entire arena, she still couldn’t help but feel some type of way whenever the redhead got into her overly-complementary bag, especially when it came to JR. Although it may have been the first time since the games began, it certainly wasn’t the first ever, as she recalled Chelsea prancing him around their booth while they were all still in prep. In fact, she recalled the first night Chelsea ever did it so well, because it was also the same night that JR invited her to come hang out with him alone, despite her best friend’s awkward little objections. She’d honestly thought that he was going to take her away to be alone to have drinks and conquer the bases, but she unfortunately couldn’t have been more wrong. While he’d certainly admitted to seeing something special in her, he’d spent so much of the night grilling her on her weight and the potential he saw in her and how important it was that she was in tip-top shape for the Gargan Trials that she hadn’t even really felt like putting in the energy to make it more.

     She still thought that he was nice and he hadn’t been cruel about it, and his talk had honesty even inspired her to try out the gym for a day or two, but it also wasn’t just as quickly after that that it all went out the window and she was back to meeting Taylor by the buffet. She couldn’t help but feel a little bad, since she knew his heart had clearly been in the right place, but she’d also been so quick to dive back into her standard coping mechanisms that she had added on another two inches to her waistline before his words even swum back through her mind. By that point though, she was so deep into a double-stuffed eclair that she paid the memory no mind, barely even noticing when the button on her jeans from back home burst that day.

     “I don’t think they saw them…” Jr murmured. “With any luck, they’ll give up soon and just wander away…but…we need to be prepared just in case…”

     “Right…!” Chelsea shouted from behind him. “What were you thinking?!”

     “Keep it down,” JR replied. “I just know…if it comes to it and they start coming this way…we’re all gonna have to do whatever the fuck we can to survive…I think…I think our best bet is to always try and stay with a partner, especially in combat. Have each others six. Always. If you don’t, then everything’s over.”

     “Right!” Chelsea exclaimed as Davey, who’d managed to crawl to the back of their small group, glanced over to Taylor with an uneasy expression. “You wanna be mine?!”

     “Huh?” JR asked as the question snapped him out of his militaristic focus. “Oh, uh, yeah, sure, Chels. I mean, I didn’t mean we really needed to choose partners, just to always stick with someone else…”

     “Okayyyy, so basically yes!” Chelsea beamed with a wide smile as JR, glancing back at the other two, turned his focus back towards the approaching group, immediately freezing as his eyes burst open.

     “Ah…?” Davey asked as she saw his expression abruptly turn to one of pure horror, leaning forward to get a better view.

      “No…” JR frantically stammered as his face turned white as a ghost. “…Way…” As the words hollowly floated out of his mouth, Davey’s gazed out into the snowy horizon, squinting as she did her best to see them from so far away. Getting closer and closer though, she could only see their tiny outlines in the far off distance at the bottom of the mountain. Just as she was about to ask Jr what he’d said that for though, she froze in her tracks, feeling her blood immediately run cold as she realized that, at the very front of the small group, was none other than Malachi himself pointing straight up at them.

Chapter 9:

     “They see us—?!” Davey squealed as she felt her knees buckle and her eyes nearly burst out of their sockets at the mere sight of them.

      “Shit, we’ve gotta get out of here!” JR roared at the top of his lungs. “We’re gonna get demolished if we try to stay and fight! We’ve just gotta all get outta here!”

     “Oh my God!” Taylor squealed as Chelsea and JR immediately began sprinting outside of the cave, dashing around to the backside and out of the invaders direct line of view, pausing as they looked down at the treacherous, rocky cliff side waiting below for them.

     “Taylor, are we gonna die?!” Davey cried as she did her best to dash out after the other girl as they both chased after where JR and Chelsea had already began their frigid descent down the mountainside, doing their best to avoid a simple misstep that’d lead to an untimely demise.

     “I don’t know right now!” Taylor shouted back as they began the arduous process of scaling the jagged tips and edges as the other two easily flourished below, bounding down across the rocks as the two bigger girls did their best to accommodate themselves. Huffing and puffing, they both hurried as best that they could as the others disappeared further and further with every second, bounding down the face of the cliff like mountain goats without an issue in the world. Gulping deeply as Taylor continued to take the lead on her, Davey attempted to up her own pace, wincing as she nearly missed her step and sent a flurry of pebbles tumbling down, the thought of how easily that could’ve been her racking her mind as she tried to shake the intrusive thoughts away.

      Bouncing between rocks as carefully as she could while keeping up her pace, a slight sense of relief finally came about Davey as she saw the bottom of the mountain finally coming into sight, signaling that their treacherous descent was over. Looking ahead to where Chelsea and JR had already taken off since they’d touched down, she grit her teeth as she attempted to raise her own pace once again, doing her best to ignore the throbbing cramp in her side and how annoying it was to constantly have to move her gluttonous belly out of the way every so often. Just as Taylor hit the snowy flatland below, the feeling of hope began to flutter in her chest as she realized she was just a few yards from getting to the bottom as well, when…

     “Ahh…” An excited voice purringly growled from behind her, halting her dead in her tracks. “That was close, wasn’t it…?”

    “Wha—?!” Davey began to exclaim as she turned around just in enough time to see the first of the alliance members bounding out of the air above her straight on for a full-speed pounce, blades raised high in the air as they gleamed brightly against the frozen ground.

     “Aha!” The man exclaimed as he came crashing down into the snow in front of her, somehow not bouncing off of the stones and boulders as she threw her hands up to protect herself from the snow being thrown in her face.

     “K-Kane—?!” Davey cried with a cough as she ended up still catching a mouthful of snow, barely being able to see the man’s outline through the flurry.

     “Ahh…I didn’t think you’d remember me…” Kane muttered with a chuckle as he glanced back up behind him to where the other four had reached the top of the mountain and were now beginning to descend down it after him. “After all…you were always so, let’s say, hyper-focused during prep. I didn’t even think you had a clue what was going on half the time. Well…it’s a good thi—“

     “Mmphh!” Davey exclaimed with a mouthful of snow as she took off once again, his eyes growing as she effortlessly used her weight to push him down and out of the way, smacking his head straight into the ground with her belly as she continued charging down the mountain past him. Stammering in a daze of confusion as he slowly lifted his head back up, for once in his life he felt completely at a loss for words as he watched her bounce and jiggle down the snowy rocks in the distance.

     “Yo!” A gruff voice roared from behind him as he suddenly looked up, getting snapped back out of his daze as he looked up at Malachi’s intimidating form bounding down the mountain before leaping down right in front of him, shaking the Earth around them with his mere landing. “The fuck was that pathetic bullshit, Kane?!”

     “Malachi!” Kane shrieked as he burst back up to his feet, saluting him as the enormous figure towered over him as he placed his hands upon his hips. “I’m…I’m…so sorry…I just…I…um…I…!”

    “Save the shit,” Devyn snarled from behind as he and Cori came bounding up behind Malachi.

      “Mm,” Malachi grunted. “You expect us to just carry your ass to the finish line, you pathetic weasel? Feh. If you wanna keep getting your share like you’ve been getting, this is your chance to put in some actual muscle for us. Now quit the whining, and bring us their heads.”

     “Yes, si—!” Kane began to obediently exclaim back when he was abruptly lifted up off his feet, eyes growing wide as he suddenly realized what was going on. “Oh no, no, Malachi, please…anything…anything but thaaaa—!”

     Before he could finish though, Kane was being thrown straight up into the atmosphere above like he was no heavier than a baseball, shrieking at the top of his lungs as he flew over the entire world beneath him, watching it fly by like nothing more than a blur. Just as he began the gradual descent after rising all the way up, his petrified eyes suddenly burst open with surprise, realizing that he was, unsuspectingly, flying right over top of the girl that’d just ran him over. Doing his best to prepare for impact, a twisted smile crossed his face as he realized that she didn’t even see him, instead being so focused on making the next step as she exhaustedly trudged forward through the snow after the other three.

      “Ohhhhh Davisssssss!” Kane roared while soaring through the air as, at the last second, she looked up in shocked horror to see him once again rocketing down upon her, though this time with much more force.

     “Whaaaaa—?!” Davey began to shriek as she stammered backwards, nearly tripping over herself as she threw her hands up over her face for protection. “No, waiiiiii—!”

     “Hereeeeee…!” Kane continued squealing excitedly as his chances at social redemption grew tenfold before his glory-struck eyes. “…IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII….coooooooomeeeee—!”

     “Ah?” An all too familiar gruff voice asked as everything suddenly stood still around them.

Chapter 10:

     “Wha—?” Kane stammered, his eyes growing wide with shock as five fingers wrapped around his face, snatching him directly out of the plummet.

     “JR?!” Davey exclaimed with a clench in her throat as he took another step forward, tightening the grip he had on the skull of the smaller man.

    “Davey…” JR growled as he glanced back at her, making sure not to relinquish his grasp in the slightest. “The others are just ahead…get outta here.”

     “But—!” Davey began to exclaim as he narrowed his glare, barely noticing the outlines of Malachi and the rest of their alliance stepping over the shadow of the snowy mountain.

     “This isn’t the time,” JR replied, jutting his head backwards as they continued forward, Malachi taking a clear head over the rest of them.

     “R-Right…!” Davey stammered back, gulping deeply as she turned herself around and began carrying herself as fast as she could in the opposite direction, grumbling to herself as her own size continued to diminish how fast she could carry herself in such a life-or-death situation. Glancing back, she felt her heart nearly burst out of her chest as she saw the small band approaching JR nearly upon him as he continued holding Kane high in the air above him.

     “Well, well…” Malachi chuckled, folding his arms as he suddenly stopped, the rest behind him immediately doing the same. “Seems someone in your little group has some spunk after all, huh…?”

    “Malachi…” JR snarled back, tightening his grasp around Kane’s head. “You—“

     “Oh, and…” Malachi said, interrupting him as he turned to look at Kane. “Some help you are, huh? Fuckin’ worthless little goony, can’t stand for himself worth a damn. I really should just let you die here, y’know that?”

     “Ahh…” Kane stammered, feeling his heart nearly fall out of his chest.

    “That might just be your only option,” JR replied. “Or, what say you, I make a little proposal…”

     “Mm?” Malachi murmured, raising an eyebrow slightly as he glanced back at the others behind him.

     “I…I let your little friend here go unharmed…” JR slowly said, intensifying his glare with every word. “…And…and in return…you all leave our little pack alone until we’re the final contestants…I’m not stupid…I know there can only be one winner…but…until then…what do you say…?”

     “Ah?” Malachi asked with a smirk. “You say that I’m not stupid…but…you still expect me to make a trade with the man who killed my brother? Or did you think I didn’t know that little tidbit of information…?”

     “Huh?” JR gasped, eyes growing wide in surprise, as, for the first time, he slightly relinquished his grip around Kane’s cranium, staring directly at the smiling brute.

    “Ahh…clearly you didn’t…” Malachi replied with a smug grin. “Now…men…!”

     “W-Wait…!” JR stammered as they all began to take a step forward in tandem. “I…I’m not the one who killed Hedwynn!”

     “Oh?” Malachi asked, tilting his eyebrow to the sky as everyone behind him paused again, awaiting his command. “Well…I know it was one of you little mountain-camping shits who’re all cliqued up, so, frankly, I don’t really care…now…!”

    “Ah—?!” JR exclaimed as all of the forces waiting like a pack of rabid wolves behind Malachi suddenly came exploding forward, rushing towards him as fast as they could.

      “Go!” Corvetta roared like a ferocious feral wolf.

    “You’re mine!” Devyn, at the front of the pack, roared at the top of his lungs.

     “Shit—!” JR growled, gritting his teeth as his instincts began to take over, immediately whirling around towards the pine tree behind him.

     “Wait, whaaaa—?!” Kane squealed as loud as he could muster as his face was suddenly slammed forward into the tree trunk in front of him, immediately sending his body crumpling down as he was swiftly discarded as JR took off through the snow again, bounding through it as fast as he could as a cold sweat began to run off his face. Doing his best to shake off the fresh blood from his hand, he quickly glanced back to see the three figures immediately behind him quickly gaining ground as Malachi and one other stayed back by where he’d dumped Kane’s crippled form. Finally landing at the bottom of the mountain, he took a deep sigh of relief as he hurried away from them, making his way towards the thick forest of snow-covered pine trees only a short distance ahead.

     “Shit…” JR wheezed to himself as he kept his arms pumping as fast as they could. “If I can…get some cover…in those trees…the desert…terrain…isn’t much…further…ahead…the…the others…probably…probably already…made it…made it there…!” Dashing into the leafy cover, he ducked down and under the series of branches as he did his best to stay down and out of the way, gradually beginning to gain distance on them, when, suddenly, a hand jolted out from a bush beside him, grabbing his jacket as they stopped him dead in his tracks.

     “Shhh…!” The unmistakable voice of Davey whispered as JR was viciously pulled into the enormous snowy bush behind him, sending a flurry of white down from above on both of them as he ducked down with her too, just as the three pursing contestants stormed past them.

     “Davey…” JR softly whispered back as he looked over to her, making sure to still keep his head down low as she glanced over to him with her twinkling blue eyes.

     “Guess we’re even now,” Davey quietly chuckled, a smile briefly crossing her lips before returning to the serious expression as the sound of footsteps came stomping towards them.

     “Man, there’s no fuckin’ way…!” Brianna loudly grumbled to the others. “We…we just saw that mother fucker…how the fuck could he just disappear like that?!”

     “Mm…” Corvetta annoyedly sighed. “Especially after they just did that to Kane…who the hell knows how he’s doing…”

     “Thank God Malachi stuck behind for him,” Brianna replied. “I don’t know what I’d do if—“

     “Hey, shut up, both of you,” Devyn snarled. “The fact of the matter is he got away. We’ll find him, sooner or later though. Just…shut up with all of that shit, or I swear to God…”

     “Hmph!” Corvetta huffed back with a laugh. “What the hell are you gonna do, huh?! Your ass is getting carried through this bitch by me and Malachi, don’t think you’re impressing anybody, slim.”

     “Hey…” Devyn growled as JR and Davey continued watching them disappear into the distance from the large bush. “Watch what you’re saying…”

     “Yeah, yeah, yeah…” Corvetta jokingly replied as they finally left their peripheral, finally giving them both a chance to relax and take a deep exhale. “At least they only got Kane…”

    “Damn…” JR sighed as he pulled himself and Davey up out of the brush, shaking themselves off as the discarded snow came soaring down around them.

     “I’ll say,” Davey muttered as she tugged her shirt back down over her frozen belly. frowning at how wet it’d become to the point that it had physically begun to shrink up around her. “That was too damn close.”

     “We can’t stick around here either,” JR replied with a shake of his head as she continued to struggle away behind him. “There’s…there’s no chance they don’t come back here when it’s where they last saw us…where are Chelsea and Taylor?”

    “Ah—?” Davey stammered as her eyes grew wide. “I…I haven’t seen either of them since we were split up…!”

    “Shit…you mean…?” JR asked as he raised a hand to his frigid face. “Damn…damn…damn…this is bad, for real…we…we didn’t have a spot agreed on to meet at besides here…and…we’d be a fool to go back there now…no chance in Hell they won’t be swarmed it with their numbers…”

    “You’re right…” Davey gasped. “I…I don’t know either…”

     “At least…at least we saw all three of them go back that way,” JR continued with a scratch of his chin. “That means we know they’re at least not waiting ahead of us, assuming they don’t have more forces waiting for us that we don’t know about. Therefore, I’d say our best bet is to get to the dessert section of the map where they’re most likely to be, and we’ve gotta do it befo—“

     A vicious crackle of lighting followed by a rolling boom of thunder erupted within the setting sky, directly cutting him off as they both stared up above. Hearts standing still as they gazed through the thick, snowy foliage coating the sky above them as the bolt subsided and disappeared, the only remnants of it ever having been there being the tremendous echo rumbling through the entire arena. Slowly looking back down at each other, they immediately met each others gaze as the realization set in.

     “Do you…do you think that was—?” Davey stammered.

     “Kane?” JR growled. “I…I would hope not…but…more than likely…”

     “Look…” Davey replied as she reached forward and wrapped her plump hands around his muscular, veiny ones. “Chelsea…she…she already took out one of them for me…thank you…now…we…we need to get out of here…we need to—“

      “Hedwynn,” JR replied with a sigh. “She already told me…I’m glad she was able to save you.”

    “Yeah, I was worried I was gonna be the only one getting saved this entire game…!” Davey exclaimed with a hearty belly-laugh. “Glad I was able to save your ass back there to finally get even!”

    “Mm…I could never be unappreciative…especially of something like that…” JR said with a shake of his head as he placed his hands on his hips. “We can’t waste any more time though. Now, Davey…we head for the dessert!”

Chapter 11:

     The soft fire danced brightly in the center of the campsite as Davey laid around, sprawled out on her blanket covered in the numerous grains of sand. Since they’d arrived in the dessert earlier that day, she’d done her best to keep the unending sand out of her various personal items, but it was becoming harder and harder the more time she spent out there. It wasn’t like she had any immediate plans to leave though, especially since she was the only one there at the moment.

     “Where could he be…?” Davey muttered to herself as she stretched herself out, taking a deep yawn as sparks bounced off the bright flames in front of her, nearly singeing her skin as they burned several small holes in the blanket. “Damn…I don’t like being out here all by myself…this definitely isn’t the move…” She paused, being cut off by the rumble of her own gut. “…Though ugh…it’s not like we have anything to eat anyway…”

     Scowling, she thought back to the surplus of supplies that they had at their old campsite, sighing at how all she’d had to eat that entire time was half of a steak. Shaking her head as another deep rumble echoed through her, she rolled up in bed as she looked down at herself. While her shirt had already been forcibly ridden up since she’d collapsed down onto her blanket, especially because of how wet it still was from the snow, she couldn’t help but think that, despite the optical illusion, she was looking even skinnier than normal. It made sense though, considering everything she’d been forced to put her body through in the last 12 hours. They hadn’t even had time to properly enjoy each others company in their first camp, and that was assuming that Chelsea and Taylor were even still out there.

      Several more strikes of lightning had gone off since the one they assumed was Kane’s, so there really was nothing promising that they weren’t the victims, but Davey was still hopeful that it wasn’t them. The others had been given a large lead on them, and, as far as she knew, there wasn’t any other large alliances dominating the game that they’d be in immediate fear of their lives against. Taylor had Chelsea anyway, who she knew was more than capable. Now that she was completely submerged in the arena, she thought back to all of the times that Chelsea had volunteered to take both her and Taylor to the training arenas, and how she’d almost always turned it down.

     “Well…” Davey sighed as she grabbed one of her overflowing love-handles. “…I guess I can’t be surprised at all this then…” Still, as she softly shook the right one in her hand, she felt a flutter in her heart as she felt positive that it was lighter than when she first entered the arena, or at least before the feast right before. Letting them go, she laid back as she moved over to pinching her belly’s excess flab, stretching it out as far as it would go. Since it’d been so long since she ate, it had virtually all become hardened, but there was definitely at least a good inch or so she was still able to pinch into the air. Still, although she knew there was no way she had lost that much weight since the Trials began, she was almost positive that her bloated gut had shrunk down to a size or two smaller than it had before, even if it still couldn’t quite fit inside of her uniform. Releasing her belly blubber, she laid back out on the blanket, letting it all slob out and slosh over her waistband as she tucked her hands behind her head while letting out a deep exhale, staring up at the tent roof above her.

     “Yep…that’s all me, alright…” Davey grumbled gently to herself as she glanced down at the crescentic tip of her belly barely making it into her peripheral, reminding her that, even if she was feeling better about herself for the little bit she’d shed so far, it was still a long, twisted winding road ahead of her before she was anywhere back within a healthy weight. I mean, being honest with herself, she knew she was still far from too far gone, since it was just a little food baby bursting out over her waist, but it was also a steep slope to climb off of, especially when her priorities around her were so much more real. Glancing out the side of the tent as she brushed her silvery blonde hair out of her eyes, she let out a deep exhale as she gazed over the ledge of the sandy mountain she was perched upon. A short distance away, she could see where another group had set up camp, with two tents being tucked away just past the boundary between their section of the map and the next one over, just next to where the land led into the swampy ocean that occupied the biome. Like her, they had a bright fire blazing in the sky, sending up a tall tower of smoke into the atmosphere that made it almost impossible to miss, but that was far from her problem. Rearranging her wobbling belly as she rolled over, she let out a loud yawn, glancing back over at the fire as another growl emitted from within her, reminding her that, no matter how many illusions about her weight she may have been having, all she really wanted was a double quarter-pounder with cheese.

      “Hey!” A voice suddenly shouted, snapping her out of her stupor as reality came calling her name, twisting her around as her eyes beamed with excitement.

      “Finally!” Davey exclaimed as JR came bounding over the sandy mountain’s crest, sliding down in a huge dust storm before stopping just short of where their campsite was. While he’d left empty-handed besides being equipped with the hatchet and a small sword, he now was dashing towards her with a large, brown backpack seemingly stuffed to its brim.

     “C’mon, relax on me, would you?” JR chuckled as he finally came to a halt in front of her, dropping the backpack to the ground where the top immediately burst open and the contents began to leak out to her stunned surprise. “Just wait ‘til you see everything I’ve got for us…!”

     “JR, wha—?!” Davey exclaimed, hushing herself as she was sure they weren’t the only people in the desert biome of the map.

     “Only the best,” JR replied with a grin as Davey looked down in awe at the rich bounty of food spilling out of the large, leather backpack. Red apples, plump oranges, clumps of grapes, fresh pears, ripe mangos, and virtually any other fruit she could think of was of the immediate items to come tumbling out, revealing the outline of the variety of Tupperware containers stuffed tight with numerous types of frozen meat and other cookable items like beans, soup, and even a rustic box of macaroni and cheese inside. It was certainly nowhere near good living, but for the conditions of the Gargan Trials, it was as if they’d been blessed with a cornucopia straight from the Lord above.

      “Whe…where did you get this from?!” Davey squeakily cried as she turned to him. “Is it…is it from the Alliance?! Are they about to be coming after us again?!”

     “Pft, calm down, worrywart,” JR sighed with a laugh. “You were almost there though, not gonna lie. It certainly was from a alliance, though not the alliance, if y’know what I’m saying?”

     “Ahh…?” Davey stammered, eyes growing wide. “You mean…there’s other alliances out here…?”

     “I mean, of course,” JR replied with a raised eyebrow. “It’s not like we were geniuses for coming up with the idea to team up. Besides, we’re down to the final 20 at this point, so it makes sense that even some people that weren’t originally alliance with one another would make the executive decision to team up in order to stand even the slightest bit of a chance…especially against that behemoth of an alliance. Shit, at least we got Hedwynn and that dumbass bastard Kane out of the picture already. It’s not like they added much to their forces, but them having less numbers will work in our favor…as long as they don’t bring in any recruits to replace ‘em.”

     “Ah…?” Davey stammered.

     “I doubt it though,” JR murmured. “Given how they seem to be playing, I’d assume their egos are too damn inflated to put aside their pride and bring in any other strong competitors into their little group. In fact, I’d even bet that they’ve already begun to implode within themselves, given that they’re all more than aware that there can only be one winner in the end…”

      “Mm…” Davey grumbled as her eyes fell to the ground, then instantly bounced back up as a light went off in her head. “Hey, wait what abo—?”

     “The others?” JR asked, raising his head up as a sly smile crept across his lips. “Well…why don’t you ask them yourself?”

     “Huh?!” Davey exclaimed as JR pointed to the other side of the sandy mountain, barely able to see the tip of a large wooden crate poking over the top of the crescent.

     “Davey!” The unforgettable voice of Chelsea exclaimed as her curly red hair came popping out over the top of the crate.

     “You guys, wha—?!” Davey stammered as Taylor subsequently came into view as well, beaming down on her as they kept pushing the crate further and further up the tip of the dunes.

     “Hey, hey,” Taylor softly said with a wave as she wiped off the thick layer of sweat covering her brow.

     “Oh my Godddddd, Davey, you’ll never believe the shit that we’ve been through!” Chelsea shrieked as she came bounding down the sandy hill, kicking up a furious sandstorm in her wake as she left Davey alone in her dust with the massive crate. Immediately springing as fast as she could, she leapt the last few feet before springing forward into a massive bearhug around Davey, nearly toppling her over as she did her best to keep her balance under the chaotic addition of the smaller woman’s weight.

      “Sooo I guess I’ll just take care of this…” Taylor mumbled as she glanced back and forth with an exasperated sigh.

      “Wha…what happened…?” Davey stammered as Chelsea gradually removed herself from her, letting her skinny fingers lingeringly run off her smooth skin with a soft grin.

     “Fuck, it’s…it’s the Alliance…” Chelsea growled. “They have their fortress set up in the direct center of the map, free for anyone to see but not so free for anyone to touch. Well, Taylor and I had been scouting it out from a distance for awhile, as well as another little guy we saw sneaking around across from us in the field biome, when he suddenly made his move, right in front of Malachi and all of his goons! It was stupendous, he was like a little rat going in to take the cheese out of the mousetrap before the clasp ultimately falls upon his neck and robs him of his life!”

     “Oh my God…!” Davey exclaimed as she threw her hands up to her mouth.

     “But wait, that’s not all!” Chelsea cried with her arms out wide. “The little bastard got away! I wouldn’t have believed it in a thousand years if I didn’t see it with my own eyes! He was in and out in a flash, and you could see just how furious it made Malachi that he’d been duped right in his face! Obviously they didn’t even need what he took, they have so much shit stored up in there, but their egos were so damaged that they couldn’t help but all chase right after his ass, leaving the rest of their supplies virtually unguarded except for Devyn’s dumbass! Seriously, Malachi, Brianna, and Corvetta were all splitsville, so y’know we had to take our chance! I ran in so fast that Devyn wasn’t even turning around until I was halfway back through the clearing, four fatass backpacks in hand! He was so fucking slow that Taylor was even able to make off with an entire crate of their finest delicacies they’d collected!”

     “Mmm, speaking of which…” Taylor panted as she continued waiting at the top of the mountain for Chelsea’s assistance.

     “Okay, okay, I’m coming, just gimme a sec, alright?!” Chelsea shouted back, rolling her eyes as she turned back towards Davey. “Anyways, we were outta there so fast, disappearing into the jungle biome before Devyn even had a chance of following after us! Honestly, when she grabbed the entire crate, I was absolutely sure there was no way we were getting away, but carpe diem she proved me wrong!” She paused, the beaming smile on her face faltering momentarily as her eyes fell to the ground. “Unfortunately though…just as we began to get deep into the jungle and away from the center of the map, we heard another crackle of thunder. While there’s certainly no confirming it…just considering how few contestants are left at this point, we both came to the conclusion that it was probably him…”

      “Ahh…?” Davey gasped. “You think they got the original thief…?”

     “Yeah,” Chelsea sighed with a scowl. “…He was the reason we were able to even get away with that…and I…I never even knew his name…”

     “Well, we can’t focus on that now,” JR stated firmly, grabbing their attention as they realized he was now atop the mountain and single-handedly bringing the large crate down the sandy face as Taylor watched in awe from behind. “Especially with this fire blazing, it won’t be long until they realize we…or just anyone, really…are right here like sitting ducks…”

     “Mmm, duck…” Davey murmured, feeling the slightest trickle of saliva begin to run from the corner of her lip despite how she was almost positive her mouth was so dry that she couldn’t even produce spit currently.

     “I’ll second that one…!” Chelsea exclaimed as her mood lightened back up, glancing over to the backpack on the ground already busted open, and then back over the large crate JR was gradually bringing down the mountain. “Honestly, with how much we got away with, we really outta let loose just for the night! With how few contestants there are left, there’s no way we’re gonna run outta all this before we’re all in the final four!”

     “Ah…?” JR asked just as he reached the foot of the hill with the large crate. “Hold on now…are you sure that’s such a good idea…? We need to stay in top shape, and too much could make us drowsy and lessen the sharp, animalistic instincts we’ve been forced to hone since we got in here…”

     “Mmmm, I see your point…” Chelsea murmured as Taylor finished up her descent as well, walking up behind them as she did her best to dust the sand off her bare legs. “Now…counter-point: I’m hungry as fuck, you’re hungry as fuck, shut the fuck up, let’s have a goddamn feast! Can I get an amen?!”

     “Woohoo!” Davey exclaimed as she slightly leapt into the air, wheezing as she realized just how much energy that took as a deep blush flushed over Taylor’s face across from her.

     “Boom, you’re vetoed,” Chelsea said with a bright grin.

      “I think you mean outvoted…” JR replied with a sigh as Chelsea confidently strutted past him, digging into the enormous wooden crate behind him as she began to toss nearly any type of cookable food contents out into the sand outside. Immediately getting to work on the fire, she began cooking up anything she could get her hands on with the makeshift pan she was able to make from the various supplies in the wooden crate, giving everyone else an opportunity to finally lay back and relax for a little bit as the delicious scent of cooking meat wafted up through the air around them.