"How is not wanting to hurt people a false sense of a conscience?" Van asked.
"Because, Van, if you want the five of us to survive, that means everyone else has to die. It doesn't matter who kills them, because they are already dead," Sang said. "We all signed out death warrants when we came in here, so unless you feel like letting some random person who's willing to murder so he can play a video game as a job kill one of your friends and endanger the world, please, please feel free to help kill them, like they'd kill you. I didn't make these rules, but I sure as hell am going to play by them."
Van didn't know how to respond. He felt a flash of anger rising up within him, but she was very right. It didn't matter what happened in here… there would only be five survivors. He felt a burning anger at her, at Draco, and even at the world around him. This wasn't fair. Why the hell was he facing this kind of dilemma? He'd never wanted to hurt anyone, and now he'd be forced to kill people who were so desperate that they'd commit murder in a game.
"Look," Van said, "maybe you take the lead on this. I don't think I have it in me to make the right decision."
"Van," Sang said as she shook her head, "we need you."
"No, Sang," Van said, trying not to get choked up, "we need you. I can't do it. I won't do it. So you do it. You tell us what to do."
"Fine by me," Kylian said. "No shame in admitting someone else is better than you in a given situation. A true leader empowers his people."
"Yeah, what he said," Sahara said.
"I'll do whatever, really," Fredlin echoed.
Sang's eyes were wide at the proposition, and Van could see the etchings of fear on her face, but she was quick to hide it from the rest of them.
"Fine, I'm running the show. We need more weapons, but this watering hole is perfect. I say we lie in wait above, in the trees. Kill anyone who comes and take their stuff. Prop their bodies up so it looks like they're an easy target from a distance."
"That is gruesome," Van said. "But… brilliant."
Sang sat in the tree, fiddling with the dagger. She only had the one, but fortunately her class gave her plenty of bonuses with thrown weapons. She had been waiting for nearly three hours, watching for signs of life but seeing nothing.
It had been a surprise when Van gave her control of the party, but it had been the right decision. Van was a strong leader, regardless of his personal hang-ups, and he proved it time and time again when he put Sang in charge. She would be able to lead them to victory, no matter how tough it was. For now, though, the rest of the team was out searching for weapons. If Sang noticed anyone coming from her vantage point, she would whistle sharply and hope the team was within range.
There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to where the weapons were located. She had found the daggers on a stump, but there'd been nothing special about the placement. There'd been no beacons, no treasure chests. Just two daggers laying on a tree stump.
Only Fredlin was with her now, sitting in the tree opposite of her, whittling down a stick with Van's dagger. He had volunteered to craft weapons and Van had been quick to hand the knife over since they weren't going to be engaging while scouting.
"You've seen war, right?" Sang asked quietly.
Fredlin glanced over at her. "Yeah," he said. His invisibility spell had worn off, but since he was so high up in the trees, he'd be perfectly fine for now.
"Is it weird to feel this calm when in a battlefield?" she asked.
"It's weird," Fredlin said. "But everyone's different. I knew a guy who would sing when under enemy fire. He would sing about how nice the sky was. After the fight? Puking for an hour straight. The stress and terror comes, my friend – it just comes at different times than we think."
"That makes me feel better," Sang said with a little chuckle. "I just think I've been so stressed out from all of this that maybe it's all become normal to me."
"Yeah, so be careful," Fredlin replied. "That's when you get complacent. And complacent people die."
"Alright, it looks clear," Van said as he crawled through the bushes. Kylian and Sahara were both lying on their stomachs, looking at the clearing where a large warhammer was resting.
"That is such a vulnerable position," Kylian said. "Just in the middle of a perfectly clear area – no cover. I mean, whoever runs to grab that thing might as well shout 'free target practice.'"
"I'm not going for it," Sahara said. "I think we should skip it."
"Two measly daggers and a longsword aren't enough," Van retorted. "We need something strong. I mean, we could use that hammer to break wood so we could make traps, too."
"Sounds like you have every reason in the world to grab it," Kylian said.
Van frowned. The rest of the team definitely seemed against going to grab it, but at the same time, it would be very useful for more than just combat. They hadn't seen any other players for quite some time.
"Well…" Van said. "Just cover me."
"Do you want this?" Sahara asked as she offered him her sword.
"Nah, keep it in case I end up in trouble. You can flank them on both sides," Van said as he slowly stood to his feet and took a deep breath. "Here I go!" he said as he ran at full speed toward the hammer.
He reached the hammer and grabbed a hold of it, pulling it off the ground.
"Haha!" Van said as he began to run back to his team. As he turned, though, he felt an arrow shoot into his right arm. The pain was intense – so much so that he dropped the weapon to clutch his wound. The words 20 damage floated above his head, dropping his health down to 80.
"Over there!" Sahara shouted, pointing to the right of Van. He glanced over to see that there was an archer standing by one of the trees. He was nocking another arrow.
"Crap, cover me!" Van yelled as he ducked down and grabbed the hammer, rushing toward the player trying to kill him. An arrow narrowly missed him as he rushed the man and swung his hammer as hard as he could.
The player tried to dodge out of the way, but didn't have a chance with how fast Van was going. Van's blow cracked him in the side of the head, dropping him instantly. The words Critical One Shot floated above Van.
"Over there!" Sahara said as she rushed in next to Van and brandished her sword. Two more players were coming towards them, both of them women armed with knives.
"How many do you have left?" Van asked, swinging his hammer in the air to try and scare them off. "Enough to kill the two of us?"
"Go to hell," one of them said, snarling a little at Van. She was redheaded and, in some odd way, reminded Van of O'Hara.
Van could feel the adrenaline surge through his body as the women broke off from one another and began to encircle them slowly.
"You get the one on the right," Van said as he faced the red-haired warrior.
They were all wearing the same basic rags – a tunic with no belt. No armor, no protection. If Van made one false move, he'd be killed.
A rock flew through the air and smacked the redhead in the back of her head. 10 damage floated above her. For a moment, she was distracted, and that was all it took, as Van gave a hard swing with his warhammer and cracked her in the head, dropping her to the ground.
"She's getting away!" Sahara yelled, pointing to the other woman who had made the wise choice to retreat after watching her ally get dropped.
"Should we chase?" Kylian asked.
"I'm not sure," Van said. "She could be going back to her team. If it was a full group, they'd still have three left. And these ones found weapons."
"You're bleeding pretty bad," Sahara said, pointing to Van's wound. Van glanced at the arrow sticking out of his arm and saw that the blood was pouring out profusely.