Taking a breather.

[The Honeless Beard]

((Eventually, you come across an outcropping.))

You've gained some distance, but it usually helps with these matters for you to stop and think, reflect, do a little digging into self. That's what Dad always taught you - count quickly, with big breaths in between each number, nice and measured so you're getting more air in than letting out. Dad also blocked Mr. Jensen's boat in a dry dock for half a day to get a head-start on early morning fishing, so you figure his advice works on a few levels.

Your name is Tarren - let's start there, before we get too crazy. You're in a twisted nightmare of a death game. The way to get through this - the only way you can see through - is to compartmentalize, shut it down, keep it slow. It helps to put things in a specific box in a tidy, organized way - keep them separated so you can see them all at once.

The man named Jack told them all that if nobody dies in a day, they were all dead. Could be real, could be a bluff. You figure that it's worth a shot at testing the theory - at the very worst, nobody would be able to commit any more murders.

The rocky shore met grassland in a steep incline, and you spend some time collecting rocks along the edge. You settle for three different shapes and sizes, line them up on the incline, walk a few paces back. You rip off the strings of your hoodie, dip them in wet sand, and press them into your ear canal because you've heard guns can be loud.

After three wildly inaccurate shots, the three rocks remain motionless and your ears are full of damp and grit. You wipe them out as best as you can.

Your name is Tarren, and you're in a twisted nightmare of a death game. But you have a gun, and you have a yellow football. This tells you some people will get good weapons, others will get useless ones. You have two bags - O24 and O18 - which could be another competitive advantage, in case they're used as an identifier.

You learn how to reload the gun by reading the helpful literature these people - Jack and crew - left for you. You learn how to slip nine millimeter bullets into a magazine and how to reload, cock, and flip the safety on the weapon. You stuff the weapon into the front pouch of your pink hoodie, tugging your ballcap - Welcome Down - over your eyebrows. In the distance, over a small expanse of green, you see some trees.

((You begin heading towards them.))