The Illusion of Choice

[DerArknight]

((Fabiano Vecoli continued from Welcome to the Outside World))

It was when Fabiano reached the entrance to the cave that was named The Underground Caves on the map that he finally came to a stop.

Still wary of snipers, he had held a brisk speed while crossing the open field, even after being sure that Jen was not pursuing him. Now he stepped a few meters into the cave to be less easy to spot and sat down on a rock of convenient size and shape to sit on. He even laid down his backpack.

Of course, he didn't enter the cave further than necessary. Sure, he had a flashlight, but so did everyone else. Now was not the time to explore dark places.

While he was far from out of breath - the maybe fifteen minutes of almost running were not enough to make him trouble - he was still bumped about how terrible his first attempt at action had ended. For now he had escaped, but there was no doubt Jen would open fire the moment they met again. At least Soraya had disappeared before witnessing anything and he hadn't used his real name. Also he was unhurt and still had his entire daypack, so it could have gone worse.

However, another problem had cropped up: his T-shirt was not really warming enough for his new environment. On top of that, the clouds prophesied rain, wich would raise the danger of catching a cold. If he had knew he would end up in this place, he would have worn something long-sleeved to school.

Or even better, I could have skipped school entirely for one time in my life. He thought. Maybe then I wouldn't be in this mess.

While Jack had said something about them being handpicked, Fabiano doubted it. Outsiders like Jack were prone to lie, after all. Especially outsiders who abducted people to force them to kill each other.

In an effort to give his hands some work, he produced a package of crackers out of the daypack and ate a few before flushing them down with some water. It was a short meal, consumed with mechanical, joyless movements. He barely noticed the taste. But it allowed him to focus on something mundane, which was a blessing in this strange situation.

Having finished half of the crackers, Fabiano reutrned everything back into the daypack.

With how the weather was, he had two options: Either he could look for better clothing to survive outside, or he could look for shelter. The former would probably requiere to steal from other participants of this game, which he would rather avoid to try right now. After all, he still had no real weapon. But the latter was not much better, since everyone would probably seek shelter from the rain. So the better the shelter, the more likely to run into others. And again, still no weapon.

The idea of trying to start a campfire was instantly tossed away. While it would be easy with his lighter, a fire would attract way too much attention to his position. Without a weapon, he would be easy prey.

In the end, it came all back to him not having a weapon. With one, his array of possible actions would increase tremendously.

But a gun wouldn't randomly drop from the sky. So he had to work with what he got. Or rather, what the location offered.

Twenty minutes of searching later, he examined his find: a thick and sturdy tree branch, about as long as his arms. The wood seemed hard and heavy enough to not break on the first strike while still making some damage when swung with sufficient force.

Surely nothing even close to what Fabiano would have called "a good weapon", but preferable to fighting with his bare fists. If he could get manage to strike first, he might knock the weapon out of his opponent's hands. Or just whack them over the head. For example, if he had had this branch back in the kitchen, he could have attacked Jen earlier and maybe would have gotten the assault rifle. In his situation, every improvement counted, no matter how small.

Now that he had something like a weapon, he could decide on where to go next. His choice quickly fell on The Abandoned Camp: because of its uninviting name and appearance on the map, he figured this was the least likely place to run into people. At the same time, the camp might offer some shelter from the rain that, judging by the air and clouds, could start within minutes.

Seeing how the open field was still unnerving him, he decided to go through the rainforest to reach the camp. It would mean a little detour since he would need to go around the lake, but it was better than being a sitting duck until he reached the nearest bridge.

With this in mind, Fabiano set off once again.

((Fabiano Vecoli continued in (Un)Happy Camping))