_ Tick,tick,tick._ The clock ticks loudly on the wall. I lean my head against the wall and nonchalantly study the other occupants. Across from me, a stunning girl with long braids and green eyes watches me. Her eyes narrow as they meet mine and I quickly look away, not wanting to get into any trouble. To my left, a tall, stocky guy has his eyes closed and his lips are moving as if he is talking to himself. To my right, a curly haired guy taps his foot rhythmically on the floor. The door swings open and all four of us jump up and follow the uniformed guard down the hall. There are about 20 or so doors in this hallway: some are open and some are still closed. We pass a group that is falling in line to follow their own uniform. A redhead looks at me with pure hate as she listens to the uniform’s directions. I quickly turn my head, breaking eye contact. Pushing through a final set of double doors, the uniform leads us outside. “Line up here,” he says in a gruff voice. We stand on the line with many of the other groups and wait until everyone from the rooms is outside with us. At some kind of signal I missed, the uniforms turn and stride over to surround a small stage. I hear the quiet clicking of high heels and dread slowly creeps over me.

The doctor mounts the stage and looks down at us, smiling benignly. “Welcome, welcome dear volunteers. I know you must all be anxious to know what you’re doing here. Well, let me explain.” She gestured behind her at the abandoned landscape behind her. “This is a test of survival. As you know, survival of the fittest has long been a part of evolution. My goal is to see which of you will succeed in surviving…and who will fail.” I couldn’t shake the feeling that failure wasn’t going to be the same as failing a test in school. The doctor launched into her instructions and everyone, including me, leaned closer to hear as if missing one word could cost us everything. “You will be left here for a week on your own. Once you cross this line,” she gestured to the line we were standing on, causing some people to take a step back, “the gates will close and you must find a way to survive. Plus, to ensure that you all don’t just hide right next to the gate, you must retrieve a specially made flag hidden on the far side of the arena.” Nothing good ever happens in an arena, especially not when it comes to this psychotic doctor. “Retrieve your flag and return here with it safely within the week. You may use whatever means nessasary to stay alive.” Stay alive? I carefully looked at some of the other participants. Had they known what they were volunteering for? Did they care? On her platform, the doctor smiled widely again. “I wish you all the best of luck! Remember, do whatever you can to survive.” Two uniforms lifted a huge gong next to her and she took the mallet. “Get ready…” she hefted the mallet and I dropped into a running position. “Get set…” I took a deep breath and scanned the small forested area to my right, spotting a small gap between two gnarled trees that I could fit in. “Your time is up. Better run!” someone hissed next to me and I turned my head the smallest bit to see the girl from my room looking at me. Before I could even ask what she meant, the doctor slammed the mallet into the gong with an almighty crash and people took off in every direction.

I beelined for the trees, not looking to see where anyone else was. If I did, I knew I would never make it. I ducked beneath the trees and wove through the thick underbrush, swatting small branches out of my way. When I was far enough away from the start line, I slowed to a stop, panting. I carefully listen for any sounds of pursiut, but could hear none. Carefully, I walked deeper into the woods staying alert. A bush rustled loudly and I raised my fists, ready to stop anyone who might attack me. A squirrel exploded through the leaves and scampered away as I cursed my jumpy nerves. I couldn’t stop myself from replaying what the girl from my room had said. _Your time is up. Better run!_ Run? Run where? Why? A million questions swirled through my head and I shook it to clear some of the fog. Survival of the fittest and her experiment be damned. I just needed a place to hunker down and hide for the week. A small part of me wanted to go find the flag, but a larger part of me, probably my self-preservation instincts, told me to find a safe place for now. After all, I had plenty of time to look for it later. Why not wait until most people had theirs and then go get my flag? I sat down, deciding to hide for now. After all, someone wouldn’t take my flag and force me to come find them…would they? I thought of the redhead and the way she glared at me. “Aw damn,” I muttered, standing. I wouldn’t put it past her to take my flag and make me chase her down. Sighing, I studied the woods around me. There were trees, trees and, oh yeah, more trees! I had no idea which way I had fled in my desperate run away from the start line. Not even an hour in and already, I was lost. Fantastic.

After staring into the trees for another five minutes trying to get my bearings, I decided to just pick a direction and start hiking. I’d hit a wall or an open space or find somebody else eventually. Plus, I felt more productive moving around, even if I was going backwards. Oh well. I had ignored everything before while I was fleeing, but now I could appreciate the woods I was trapped in….and they were horrible! Mosquitoes and all kinds of bugs bit me and flew around my head. Squirrels and other small critters darted through the brush, making me jump and tense every time. Branches swung at my face and caught my clothes. As I was wrestling with a particularly tenacious branch, my sleeve tore and I tumbled into a thorn bush! Fan-freaking-tastic. Growling and swearing, I ripped myself out of the bush and was about to beat it with a huge branch I saw when I heard voices. I ducked behind the thorn bush, as close as I dared without being in it again, and listened carefully.

“I told you, she ran this way,” a deep voice said slowly. A heard a _thwack_ as someone swung a branch through a bush nearby. There was a loud sigh and a girl spoke. “Are you stupid, Caston? She obviously didn’t go this way and even if she did, you beating every single green thing in this damn forest isn’t helping! You’re about as stealty as a buffalo.” The two of them began to argue loudly when a third voice spoke sharply. “ENOUGH! I’ve had it with both of you. You’re useless. All of you!” The voice was high pitched and breathy with anger. Peeking out from around the bush I spotted the group that was talking and almost swore aloud. The redhead was stomping away from her three companions, who watched her with fear. A girl with dirty blond hair and pale blue eyes glared at the bigger of the two guys and ran to follow the redhead. The guys looked at each other, shrugged and followed. Once they disappeared, I slowly emerged from my hiding place. I couldn’t be sure that they were hunting me, but I also couldn’t be sure that they weren’t. Either way, I would have to be seriously careful from now on.