Nut Up Or Shut Up

[DerArknight]

((Chris Tyrell continued from Tinnitus))

As a young boy, Chris had sometimes dreamed about flying.

Not about flying in an airplane, although that too had always been impossible as well. Chris had dreamed about flying as in flying on his own, like a bird.

He had never dreamed of flying like an idiot who got caught in the explosion he caused. Like an idiot who fatally underestimated the shockwave that a jetpack created when blowing up. Like an idiot who had shot at a jetpack without any cover between himself and the-

Chris didn't have much time to contemplate on his mistakes as he crashed right through the window behind him.

An unholy number of the fresh glass shards found their ways into his nearly unprotected limbs as his journey continued. Two dozen of hot pains weren't washed aside when he hit the water of the open-air pool.

His only saving grace was that he didn't scream. In fact, he had taken a deep breath before firing and somehow held onto it. This meant he didn't instantly swallow water once he was in it.

Confused from the sudden change in scenery, he forced his eyes open. What greeted him was a submerged corpse, already too bloated to recognize the face. However, the important detail about the corpse was that it was tied to a cart standing on the ceiling, which could only mean that Chris was currently on his head.

With hasty movements, he started to rotate in the water into an upright position. The daypack on his back and his clothes were dragging him down, but he gave his best to reach the surface. His arms screamed with pain, but he bit down. He-

BEEP

For the first time ever, Chris' collar made a sound that wasn't Jewel's voice. With it came a nasty realization: he was in a freaking Danger Zone, and the showrunners were not going to let him off the hook because he had entered the place unwillingly.

BEEP

His left hand grabbed a ladder.

BEEP

His right hand followed.

BEEP

Chris pulled himself up, and his head broke the surface, quickly followed by the rest of his upper body.

BEEP

And with that, he was out of the nameless boy's wet grave. Heavily panting, he took a moment just sitting by the pool.

And now that he had time to think, he did just that.

What in the world had just happened?

Had the explosion offed everyone else? Was he free to go home and see his father again?

BEEP

No. The Danger Zone was still in effect, which meant this game was still running.

He had to keep moving.

It was then that he took a good look at himself and saw how fucked he was.

The glass had done good work. While his back had been protected by the daypack and his short-sleeved clothes had helped a bit, his arms and legs were blotched with cuts, small holes and glass shards sticking into the skin. And blood. A lot of blood.

With his adrenalin sinking, the pain became harder to ignore.

BEEP

BEEPBEEP

He had to get out of here.

Chris forced his body to move once more. Before completely rosing to his feet, he spotted his submachine gun. By a small miracle, the weapon had survived and landed not too far from his position. He picked it up.

BEEPBEEP

His direction was clear. The area that was the pool couldn't be that big. Within a minute or so, he should be able to run through it. Chris doubted anyone would dare to cross an entire Danger Zone just to pursue him. Then he would once more run away like a coward and find a cabin or a toilet or anything halfway-save and tend to his injuries while the second ally he made in this hell was probably dead or dying so he was good to run away some more. Maybe he would contact Jewel again to ask for advice and say sorry for leaving Mary behind without even trying to help, just like he had done with Stokes, so if Jewel forgave him she could give him a prep-talk for the upcoming endgame where it would finally be his time to shine. As if.

BEEPBEEP

BEEPBEEP

Chris just stood there his view wandering from one possible route to the other.

BEEPBEEPBEEP

"Fuck."

With this declaration, he turned around and ran right back into the banquet hall.

((Chris Tyrell continued in But The Wellerman Never Came))