Postby HunterX » Thu Jul 18, 2013 6:09 am
Sorry about that, Jason - I'll see what I can do for ya!
**
Dan walked down the path, flanked on either side by tall rows of corn. Up ahead he picked up the sound of footsteps, and ducked a few rows back. He crouched down to keep himself out of sight, and could still see someone if they came up the road. Within a few seconds, he caught flashes of movement and braced himself.
All he could see was legs; male from what he could see. Dan waited until his target was on the road nearly in front of him; he was moving carefully, and would be able to see down the neatly arranged rows of corn stalks once he drew even. Dan rose to a crouch and sprinted through the loose soil toward his target.
**
Mike heard the footsteps and caught a flash of movement. He barely had time to turn and register the threat though, before the larger man burst from the fields to his right. Mike had been hoping to familiarize himself with the terrain and boundaries of their little arena, and had figured that most players would gravitate toward the town.
Instinctively he backed away, but only made it two steps before his assailant tackled him. The air rushed from Mike’s lungs as the man landed atop him. His attacker was larger and stronger; Mike had no doubt that if he could get away he could stay ahead and escape, but that was a moot point in this position. Still, he tried to writhe away, twisting one way then the other. He made little progress however, and was expending a lot more energy trying to get free than the other man was keeping him immobile.
“Ok,” he said, letting himself fall back into the soft loam of the cornfield, “you got me. Name’s Mike, by the way. No point in being uncivil.”
“Dan,” the other man replied, “Roll over.” With a sigh Mike complied, and the larger man pulled his hands behind his back. Mike was bound with a coarse rope that bit painfully into his skin, and he winced as the cord was cinched tight. One of the strips of cloth that he’d been carrying was used to bind his ankles and thighs together, then the larger man rose from him and stepped away.
“Really,” Mike asked, “tying me with my own equipment? That’s just wrong.” Dan grinned down at him and stepped back into the road to look both ways, probably to ensure that they weren’t going to be interrupted.
“Gotta make due with what I have,” Dan replied with a shrug, “I appreciate it though. Thanks.” Mike rolled and worked his arms within the cord, cringing when each movement seemed to cause the fibers to dig painfully into his wrists.
“What the hell did you use?”
“Bailing twine,” Dan said, “Found it in a barn.” He didn’t mention that it was old and mostly rotted. As long as Mike tried to work his wrists free rather than just try to muscle his way out, it should work fine.
“Well it sucks,” Mike said with a scowl, “my arms will be raw!”
“Then just relax,” Dan said, glancing at his watch, “timer’s down to four minutes anyway.” Mike continued to struggle however, even though he was making little to no progress. Sure enough, the timer sounded and Dan moved over to remove one of the tokens from Mike’s neck.
“Don’t suppose you’d consider working together,” Mike asked, as Dan began to work at the knots in the twine. Dan grunted a curse as he struggled with the bonds.
“I think I’m doing ok,” Dan said, “Besides, I wouldn’t blame you for being a bit vindictive. I won’t come after you again though, if that means anything.” He retrieved the twine, but it had been so mangled by the struggle that he discarded with a sigh. Dan bent over to pick up a pair of the cloth strips, and left mike with his legs bound. As Mike began to work at the knots there, Dan moved off toward the town.
“Thanks again,” he said, waving the purloined binding strips over his shoulder as he left. Mike muttered a low curse as his legs were finally freed.
“Yeah, don’t mention it.”
**
Shanya straddled the younger girl, pinning her arms to her body. After a moment’s thought, the dark haired girl reached down to rip a long strip of cloth from the bottom of her shirt. She set that aside and forcibly rolled Jamie to her stomach. The smaller girl put up a token effort to struggle, but she knew that she wasn’t in a position where escape was likely.
“Look, you can ju-mmph,” Jamie’s protest was cut short as Shayna pulled the cloth between her lips and tied it tight behind her head. Next she pulled Jamie’s arms back and lashed them together with the rope that had previously been around her own wrist. She took her time, ensuring that the bonds were tight and cinched before she moved to the younger girl’s legs.
These she bound with the other length of rope, but only looped it around her ankles twice. The remained of the rope she ran up and wrapped around the cord securing her captive’s wrists, forcing her into a hogtie. Jamie groaned through her gag and tried to straighten her legs, only succeeding in pulling on her arms.
“There you go,” Shayna said as she sat back, satisfied. She pushed the button on her watch to start the timer, and moved to the front of the store to peek out. The warehouse across the street still showed no sign of activity – no movement, no sound. The dark haired girl considered this for a moment before creeping back to check on her victim.
**
Jamie grunted as she tugged on the ropes that held her fast. She didn’t hold much hope of getting free, but she had been paying attention when the older girl tied her. Jamie was sure she would do a much better job herself, should the opportunity present itself once more.
She stretched down with her fingers, groping for the knots on her ankles, but found only loop after loop of rope. With a grunt of frustration, she realized that the ends of the rope must be lashed and knotted somewhere within the ropes that encircled her wrists. Her arms were small though, and she struggled to tug on the ropes enough to buy herself some slack. The other girl returned and settled in a seated position near Jamie’s head, visually examining the ropes. She remained silent though.
Never one to surrender unless it was necessary, she continued to struggle. Her muffled grunts were the only sound in the room, until the ten minute chime sounded and her captor leaned forward to loosen the knots.
“You were close,” she said, and Jamie realized that’s why the other girl hadn’t said anything – Jamie might have taken it as encouragement that she was almost free, and redoubled her efforts. As the ropes fell away, Jamie lifted herself to a sitting position and took one of the tokens off her neck to hand to the other girl.
“Thanks,” Shayna said, accepting the reward and rising to her feet, “Good luck.”
**
The man known as Phantom knelt in his position and surveyed the grounds. Upon entering the game zone, he had followed the boundary clockwise until he came across the corn field. There, he found what seemed to be the high point – a tall tree on the edge of the game zone. It took him a few minutes to climb it and find a position where he could survey much of the area that they were limited to.
In the last hour, he’d familiarized himself with much of the terrain and landmarks. He’d also seen a brief encounter on a path through the corn field. Nightfall was still a few hours away; the sky was clear, but that didn’t mean the weather would hold. Shelter and food might be secondary to the binding aspect of this week, but that didn’t mean it was irrelevant.
Plus, with the “bargain” aspect of the contest, any commodity that you have that no one else does is one that can be used to your advantage. He dropped easily from the tree and made his way to a building in the middle of the cornfield – one with no path leading to it. Curiosity nagged at him, and there was an entire week to earn medals.