CHAPTER SEVEN

We watched as the podium they all stood on lowered slowly, taking them along until they were underneath the hall and covered.

The ground we all stood on shook and reverberated as something unimaginable happened before our eyes. 

The four walls of the huge hall unhinged from the edge and opened up slowly, like literally opened up and all four walls slowly fell back to the ground.

 We were in the centre of a forest, a huge forest. We were all on the floor of the hall and the hall itself was in the middle of a clearing with surrounding forest all around us.

Up on the sky literally just hanging was a digit counter, and it had the figure one thousand written in words. 

I bet you could see that from anywhere in the forest, I guess that was the whole point

"Here are the rules" it was forest eye's voice but on a loud speaker, we could all hear him loud and clear, it was just like another part of squid game

"There are no rules in this round. Get to the edge of the forest and get on the boat.

 Then move across the water to the other side and you win this round. 

That is of course after not getting killed by the deadly programmed beasts we have all over the place. Good luck everyone"

I stood for a second, then I saw as people started running and then vanishing into the forest.

"Oh, and I should probably tell everyone here that we only have a hundred boats waiting. It really is Survival of the fittest" I could hear the voice coming out with sarcasm.

It took me a second before I understood his meaning. First, there was a high chance we were all going to die, at the hands of the so-called beasts or at the hands of the other players, and if only a hundred boats were waiting, then that meant that the rest of the players would all die. 

Second, I needed a plan to avoid both, find the way to the edge of the forest that had a beach because I was sure we were not on an island where we were surrounded by water but just in a forest that had a beach, that held one of the boats I needed.

 Third, this place felt so real and looked it too, but I knew it wasn't. It was all programmed.

I felt calm as i sat on the ground, then pulled my backpack in front of me. 

I needed to calm down and think of this as one of the complex case solving scenerios and Mr Gregory had done. I pulled out a paper and immediately started folding.

 I looked up at the digit counter and was shocked to see already more than two hundred gone, where they dead? That was what it meant right? 

My hands immediately started shaking in fear, people were literally dying all around me.

There was no use running or joking around. time was against me and the boats would be gone in no time.

 That meant I just had to find the straight path to the beach and fight through as fast as I could to get there, I couldn't waste time going around searching like the others. 

Question was how was I going to find my way there? Especially with the fact that I couldn't be faster or agile than the other wolf players, I needed to use my brain along with my survival instincts.

I probably looked ridiculous walking around all alone in the now void space. held the folded paper in my hand, something I had quickly folded into a jet.

 I needed to climb the highest tree I could find and discover the direction the wind was blowing, then I would walk the opposite.

I suddenly looked towards my left, screams and snarling could be heard. A few birds rose from the direction and flew away, I hid my shivers. I was glad that wasn't me.

I began to hear distincts noises of screams and weapons clashing, first on one side then on the other. 

The counter was quickly counting down, which was about four hundred and counting.

 At the rate people were screaming and most dying, no one would have made it to the boat by now.

I was immediately glad that the competition had been in such a way that there had been no time to get to know anybody or something like that.

 I needed to focus and hurry.

I strained my eyes and tried looking far into the other side of the forest from where I stood, all the trees looked of equal height to me. 

It took me a while to find one and start climbing, since height didn't matter, sturdiness did.

I felt a little strain on my biceps as I pulled my whole weight up the tree, just a little strain though, I was glad that had done all those all round exercises and training.

I finally got to the top and held on tight to a branch, I didn't want to fall off and break my back, that would cancel out the purpose of doing this. 

My knees and knuckles had serious scrapings and they hurt so much, they were healing but it still hurt.

 I looked down at my palm for the folding, I held a completely crumpled paper in my hand.

Ahh what the fuck, I muttered

I looked way down and couldn't believe I had climbed up so high, my breathing had calmed down when i got to the top.

but it was getting erratic again from fear, I didn't like heights so much. I couldn't go all the way down to make another jet then get back up, there wasn't time. So I had to do it here.

It was hard shrugging one hand off the jumper while holding tightly to a tree with the other.

 Then had to take my hand off the other arm. I stood with my half bra and the arms to the jumper limp behind me.

 I quickly let go of the tree and held to arms of the jumper in my two arms then quickly hugged the tree, I didn't even know what was doing at this point in time. 

Then I immediately tied a knot with the edges of the jumper, keeping me plastered head to toe to the tree. 

I needed space to make the folding so I slowly turned around. The skin of my body that was exposed scraped against the bark and I screamed in pain. I now stood facing away from the tree.

It was easy from there, I quickly pulled a neat peace of paper from my bag and folded it, then threw it high.

 Piece of junk just went down with gravity, not giving me a clue of what I wanted. 

I took my first painful breath, standing on the branch of a tree and bleeding.

 I thought my plan was brilliant and I could make it work, but it wasn't good enough. 

I knew I didn't have time for a pity party and I had to quickly find another plan quick.

A growly reached my ears from beneath me and my body locked tight in fear, feared looking down lest I see something I shouldn't.

 It was a while before I heard the growl again, the same spot beneath me. 

My head did a slow descent and I looked underneath me, a huge creature filled with large sharp pointy extensions was looking up at me, and it was ugly as shit.

I screamed in fear, I could have sworn that thing looked very hungry looking at me.

 It growled again, trying to climb up the tree, but couldn't. I was immediately glad, thinking I was going to be okay, but I wasn't. 

I realised immediately that the thing wasn't trying to climb up the tree but trying to shake me off so I would fall.

 I would have if it wasn't for the knot holding me to the tree.

I looked around, trying to find any means of escape. I would either fall and get eaten, get down myself and get eaten or stay up here and still get eaten.

 I couldn't think outside all these options when the monster was literally shaking the whole tree with the force of hitting its huge body against it over and over.

It's growl turned menacing and loud, and very angry. It held the width of the whole tree in its embrace and I thought I was afraid before, I was sure I was going to die with what it did next.