Betrayal at Salty Springs Page 3

  “There have been three bug reports registered for investigation,” the Admin continued. “Thank you for your observations. We will review these overnight and inform you of any changes made in the morning before the day’s battles. The practice area has now been updated with the patch’s altered equipment. You have the customary three hours to take advantage of that resource. This concludes Day Thirty of Battles.”

  When the Admin disappeared, people rushed for the practice zone. Up until now, they had been using the old weapons and only preparing in theory. But now everyone was eager to see just how the changes impacted their play.

  Grey dragged his feet.

  Kiri stuck by him, not speaking, but he still felt exposed. It felt like everyone was looking at him, and not out of admiration but out of pity. He didn’t know what he’d do if Ben or Tristan tried to talk to him. He still didn’t want to hear their excuses.

  “We’ll take you, Kiri, if you’re looking!” Sandhya called as she passed. “Or Grey! Are you guys staying together?”

  Grey could hardly believe Hazel’s old squad was so eager when they had spent half the season trolling them. He could see them stealing his strategies and dumping him just like his supposed “friends.”

  “We’d like to stick together,” Kiri said. “Thanks, though.”

  Sandhya shrugged. “Let us know if you change your mind.”

  “Sure,” Kiri said.

  It wasn’t more than five seconds before Robert, the older man who had been sucked into the game at the same time as Grey and Kiri, came up to them. “I’d love to be in your squad, if you’d take a player like me. I know I’m not great, but you kids could teach me a thing or two. I know it.”

  Grey felt a twinge of sympathy for the guy. At least he was new like them, even if he wanted to use them in the end.

  “Sorry, we’re not looking to fill the squad right away. We’re trying to think things through,” Kiri said. “We’ll let you know.”

  “Fair enough.” The guy looked sad but not surprised. “Sorry about your split. This game isn’t very nice, is it?”

  “Yeah . . .” Kiri said as they slowly walked out of the battle warehouse.

  “Hard lessons for all of us new people,” Robert said with a sigh. “Never felt so out of place in my life, and I’ve lived longer than all of you. I’m sure of it.”

  Grey felt a pang of guilt, but he still kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. And he didn’t want to be swayed by his emotions. He had heard Hazel lying just last night in her attempts to persuade Tae Min. Ben and Tristan had pretended to be his friends only to leave him behind. He wasn’t about to trust anyone new today. Or maybe ever again.

  “Well, good luck, kids,” Robert said as he walked toward the practice area.

  Now it was just Kiri and Grey. They stood by the cabins, but Grey could already tell that several people were waiting for them in the practice area. While he wanted to use the patched weapons to practice, that would mean more talks like this. And who would they practice with now? Clearly everyone they had been working with was in on this betrayal.

  “We can’t avoid everyone forever,” Kiri said.

  “I know.” Grey shoved his hands in his pockets. “I just . . . ugh, I don’t want to see them or talk to them. If I could practice without that, I could do it.”

  “Okay, I can work with that,” Kiri said. “I’ll grab the new stuff. We can go farther out in the practice area like we used to. Somewhere no one will bother us, ay?”

  Grey nodded. “Thanks. Sorry I suck.”

  “You don’t suck.” Kiri punched his shoulder. “All of this sucks. Meet at the outhouse?”

  “Sure.”

  While Kiri ran off to the practice warehouse, Grey went around. He was still able to enter the practice area, but he steered clear of the warehouse and the field where most people practiced their building. Instead, he headed for their old favorite place just outside of the ghost town. He didn’t like being there, since it brought up memories of when he first got recruited by Ben, but it was quiet at least.

  After a few minutes of waiting, Grey heard footsteps and turned to greet Kiri. But instead he was met with a person he never expected to face: Hazel.

  “Hey, Pip-squeak,” she said.

  But it didn’t have the same bite as usual. He couldn’t quite believe it, but Hazel didn’t stand in her super-confident way. She had her arms folded over her chest, and she hardly looked him in the eye.

  He already had a feeling he knew what she was about to ask, and he couldn’t believe it. “What do you want, Hazel?”

  She shrugged. “You have a squad. I need a squad. Thought we could work out a deal.”

  Grey just stood there, unable to process how she could have the gall to ask after how mean she’d been. All the anger he’d held inside throughout the day threatened to break through, and because it was Hazel, he let it.

  CHAPTER 6

  Seriously? After all the things you’ve said about me and Kiri?” Grey scoffed at Hazel. “You want to be in our squad? I can’t believe you would even think I’d say yes. You’re a total troll, and you didn’t even change when your own squad kicked you out.”

  Hazel let out an angry grunt. “Why do I have to be nice? What has being nice gotten you? Has it gotten you into a top-ten squad? No! It got you played by Ben and Tristan. I’m not here to pretend I’m nice—I’m a good player. I’ve mostly kept my rank up even solo. You can’t deny I can offer you something.”

  Grey narrowed his eyes. She wasn’t necessarily wrong, and at this point part of him appreciated her harsh honesty. “You’re really convincing me.”

  “Stop being so sentimental,” Hazel said with an eye roll. “You want to get home. I want to get home. The veteran players are obviously shutting us out whether we’re good players or not. We should team up and teach them all a lesson. Why waste your time sulking when you can get revenge?”

  Revenge. Did Grey even want revenge?

  He was mad. Hurt. But he wasn’t sure revenge would make him feel better. He didn’t want to stop Ben and Tristan from getting home because of what they did . . . but he didn’t want to stay here because of them, either.

  “Hazel?” Kiri’s voice cut through the quiet. Understanding crossed her face, and she let out a short laugh. “You have got to be kidding me. You are not asking to join us.”

  “She is,” Grey said.

  “Why is that so hard to comprehend?” Hazel asked. “Is it ’cause you’re both little kids?”

  Kiri glared at her. “So charming.”

  “I don’t need to be charming to eliminate people in-game!” Hazel yelled. “Why does everyone want me to be nice? I am only saying what everyone else wants to say but won’t. Aren’t you tired of these stupid games?”

  Grey was tired. But that didn’t mean he wanted to deal with Hazel. “Fine, how about you try out, then? We reserve the right to decide.”

  Hazel raised an eyebrow. “You want me to audition for you? Like I haven’t already proven myself?”

  “If you can’t even do that,” Grey said, “you won’t listen to me in battles. How am I supposed to be the leader if you won’t listen?”

  Hazel scrunched up her face. Grey was sure she’d stomp off and that would be the end of it, but then she said, “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

  “Let’s check out your aim first,” Grey said.

  “Wait,” Kiri said with horror. “Are you serious? I don’t want to play with her.”

  “It’s just an audition,” Grey said. “We don’t have to accept her.”

  Kiri glared at Hazel. “I don’t know about this, mate.”

  “I won’t squad anyone you don’t agree with,” Grey asserted. “But she wants a chance, so we may as well so she’ll stop bothering us. We can do this with others too, ay?”

  “‘Ay?’ I’m rubbing off on you,” Kiri said. “All right, audition away.”

  Grey didn’t know exactly how to make Hazel try out, but since he wasn’t taking it seriously, he made stuff up. He honestly didn’t have any intention of putting her in his squad.

  And it was an opportunity to mess with her.

  First, he tested her sniper range by building several towers for them to stand in. He then tasked Hazel with having to hit them within two, five, and ten seconds. She wasn’t very good at it, and he enjoyed watching her get frustrated. Then he had her try to hit them as they were rushing the towers. Hazel was slightly better at that but not nearly as good as Kiri.

  After that, he tested her at closer range by moving into the ghost town and playing hide-and-seek. Hazel was much better at this, able to dodge and take accurate shots while jumping or moving behind walls to protect herself. Her fearlessness worked well for her in these situations.

  Grey hated to admit this was a skill Ben and Tristan had brought—and Hazel would make a decent replacement. Maybe a better one, if she’d take a few tips.

  Next it was time to test her building. He already knew she had the speed, so he decided they would duel. “Let’s do a build battle. You versus me.”

  “Bring it on,” Hazel replied.

  “Only wood. No bouncers or traps,” Grey said, since he hadn’t grabbed any at the practice warehouse. They now stood on a hill far from the main practice area. “First to five hits wins.”

  “Tell me when,” Hazel said as she backed up about twenty yards.

  Kiri moved so that she stood right between them, holding up her hand. “Three . . . two . . . one . . . go!”

  Hazel used a ramp first, which Grey had expected. He used a floor tile to build on to her ramp and ran underneath it. Quickly, he edited the floor to open a hole and shot up. Hazel’s body blinked red.

  “One!” Grey called as he closed the floor with editing. Hazel jumped down, probably determined not to fall for that again. Grey had fully boxed himself into the structure.

  As she shot to break one wall, Grey edited another and built two ramps to get the high ground. He turned and switched to his shotgun, taking two more shots on her.

  “Ugh!” Hazel cried. She shot back, but he had already put up a wall to block it.

  Grey smiled, not realizing he’d gotten this much better at building than Hazel. She had clearly been relying on her old squad for their building skill, though she never would admit that to anyone. He built up just one more ramp to peek over his wall and got Hazel two more times without even getting hit. “And five. I win.”

  Hazel shook her head, looking as sore of a loser as ever. “How’d you do that, Pip-squeak?”

  Grey shrugged. “Practice.”

  “Lots of people practice and don’t figure out how to build like that,” Hazel said as she looked over the SMG she held.

  Grey had a feeling she meant herself, not that he’d point it out. “Well, that’s the end of your audition.”

  “And?” Hazel asked.

  Grey and Kiri glanced at each other, and then Kiri said, “We’ll let you know. We both agreed we weren’t rushing to fill the squad.”

  “It’s not like you have all season,” Hazel pointed out. “But okay.”

  “One more question,” Grey said. He couldn’t help but mention it now that he had the upper hand. “I heard you talking to Tae Min last night. You lied about wanting to go home because your dad was dying. What’s the real reason?”

  Hazel raised an eyebrow. “Eavesdropping, huh? Here I thought you were squeaky clean.”

  “You’d lie about that?” Kiri put her hands on her hips. “How can we trust you if we don’t even know why you want to get home? You seem to like this game a lot—why not just stay?”

  Some of the fight left Hazel as she let out a sigh. She wouldn’t look at either of them as she spoke. “I would stay, totally, but I don’t think I have that kind of time, you know?”

  Grey wasn’t quite following, and he hated to admit it. “I don’t get it.”

  “People don’t like me, okay? Not just in this game, but in real life, too. I . . . I don’t have anyone out there worried I’m in a coma.” Hazel glared at the ground. “I ran away from home in high school. All I have is me, my crappy job, and a cat. If I’m in a coma out there in the real world . . . I don’t know how long I’ve got until the doctors pull the plug because there’s no one to pay the bill. So, yeah, I’d love to stay in this game, but I also don’t want to die for real.”

  Hazel walked away after that, leaving Grey and Kiri to watch and wonder. “Do you think that was the truth, Kiri?”

  “I have no idea . . .” Kiri had fear in her eyes as she looked at Grey. “Would the doctors do that? The Admin said no one had died in real life while playing.”

  “That doesn’t mean it can’t happen, though.” Grey felt a chill of fear run through him. While he wasn’t immediately afraid that his parents would give up on him being stuck in a coma, how long would it take? Some people were already giving up for the season, deciding to stay instead. Were they from families they knew would keep them alive in the real world? How many in the top twenty were fighting because they were afraid they only had so long in the real world before people gave up on them?

  For a brief moment, he wasn’t so mad at Ben and Tristan anymore. They’d never said what Hazel just had, but it must have crossed their minds in the eleven months they’d been stuck in the game.

  If Grey had been stuck there for a year, maybe he wouldn’t care so much about friends as he would about making it out of this game alive. Was that why the veterans began to stick together? They knew that fear. They had less time to gamble than Grey or Kiri did.

  “What’s wrong, Grey?” Kiri asked.

  He shook his head. “Nothing. Just not so mad at Ben and Tristan suddenly.”

  Kiri nodded. “Yeah, seriously. They must be thinking the same thing as Hazel.”

  “Just wish they’d told us that.” Grey began walking back toward the practice warehouse, suddenly not in the mood to keep doing drills. “I never really thought about dying for real.”

  Kiri walked beside him. “Yeah, me either. My parents wouldn’t give up on me. I know that for sure.”

  “Me too.” The more Grey thought about it, the less angry he became. He was still sad that Ben and Tristan didn’t warn him, but he could say at that moment he wanted them to make it home more than he wanted to go home. They had lived with that fear for who knew how long, and that wasn’t fair for anyone to face.

  CHAPTER 7

  The next morning, Grey could tell Ben wanted to say something to him. Grey waited because he wasn’t sure what to say either. He wasn’t nearly as mad as before, but he wasn’t about to forgive them either. Grey had to move on because he still wanted to make it home this season, even if other people thought he was too new to deserve it.

  “You know we couldn’t pass up Zach’s squad, right?” Ben finally said.

  “I know,” Grey replied without looking at him. He wished he had something to do, but there were no clothes to change into. No food to eat or showers to take before the day’s battles. No excuses to escape a conversation he didn’t want to have.

  “We couldn’t tell you,” Tristan continued. “It’s a compliment. You’re too good and we needed an advantage to distance our ranks.”

  Grey tried to remain as stoic as Tae Min, though he wanted to scoff at Tristan’s attempt at making this sound like a flattering move. “Good luck. I hope you get home.”

  “Dang, is he made of steel now?” Lorenzo asked as Grey walked out of the cabin without even a glance backward.

  Grey was on the lookout for Kiri. They had been so preoccupied thinking about Ben and Tristan last night that they never discussed whether or not to consider Hazel’s petition to be on their squad. Of the people who had asked to join them—many more than Grey could have guessed—she had been the best. Everyone else was much lower ranked.

  But there was still an issue with her attitude.

  And the fact that they both didn’t like her.

  Kiri was outside her cabin, and there were several lower-ranked players talking to her. Probably trying to sell themselves as candidates for their squad. When she spotted Grey, she ran over. “There you are! Let’s talk strategy before the day starts.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Grey said as she pulled him away from all the people.

  “They are going to drive me mad,” Kiri whispered. “We need to fill the squad just so people will stop asking.”

  “We never talked about Hazel,” Grey said. “I wanted to ask what you think.”

  Kiri cringed. “I still don’t know. She has a good rank even solo, and her skills are similar to the ones we lost, but . . .”

  “It’s still Hazel?”

  “Exactly.”

  They had walked to the battle warehouse, and though they still had time before battles started, there were other groups huddled around talking strategy as well. No one spoke above a whisper, and it reminded Grey of a library.

  “If she would agree to listen . . .” Grey continued. “I don’t know. I can’t deny she’s got potential. Her building is weak, but not impossible to fix.”

  “And she’s new like us,” Kiri pointed out. “Which seems important all of a sudden.”

  “Yeah, the veterans might ditch us.” Grey sighed. “You okay trying another day as duo? I still don’t think I’m ready to squad up with anyone.”

  Kiri nodded. “Yeah. We can figure it out. No worries.”

  But Grey was worried. Each day as a duo felt like a day they would lose more rank. And if they wanted to make it home this season, dropping in rank was not the way to go. Though what else could they do? The veterans were determined to stop them. “We just gotta stay in the top thirties, even if we have to hide like cowards to do it.”

  “I’m good with that.”

  “Cool.” Grey knew everyone looked down on turtling and hiding—even he had at times—but this was all they could do until they made a decision on squad members or figured out how to be overpowering as a duo.