Into the Game

I got back to the cherry tree in half an hour.

Actually, it was the place where I had stopped and went to look for the cherry tree. My legs burned, but I was determined to get back as fast as I could. It helped to tell myself that the pain I was feeling was really hurting, it was just like a dream. My body was safe back in the real world.

I wouldn’t have stopped if I hadn’t seen Michael. He was running up the path as fast as he could. For a tracker, he wasn’t paying much attention. I stepped into the woods and watched him run by. I thought about letting him just keep running, but I was mad that he had deserted me. I stepped out from behind the tree.

“Hey!” I yelled. "Where are you going?”

Michael skidded to a stop and turned around. He put his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. “I found you.” He wheezed between gasps

“Found me?” I demanded. "You left me!”

“No I didn’t.” He dropped his backpack in between us. He knelt down and opened it up. "I was getting supplies.”

He pulled out a leather outfit like the one he was wearing and tossed it to me. He opened a flask of water and took a long drink. He was still breathing heavy, but at least he had stopped wheezing.

I looked at the leather outfit. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it would offer a lot more protection than the bikini top and skirt I was currently wearing.

“You got this for me?” I asked

“No.” He sat down. "I got it so we wouldn’t have to stop every few hours to bandage you up.”

“Hey! I’ve been on my own for almost three hours and I haven’t needed anyone to bandage me up yet.”

“But you didn’t get past the border.” He shuffled around in his pack.

“No,” I admitted. "The guards said that I didn’t have the proper credentials.”

“You don’t.” He pulled out a small knife and put it on his belt

“How do I get these proper credentials?” I made quotation marks with my fingers

“You have to kill a wild boar.” He pointed at the clothes. "You need to get changed.”

“A wild boar?” I juggled the clothes. "Why?”

Michael began stuffing stuff back into his backpack. "Each zone is more dangerous. For example, a bear is the worst thing that you’ll run into in this zone. That is something that is easily avoidable. A wild boar is a common target and one that is fairly easy to take out.”

“Really? They’re ‘easy’ to take out.”

Michael strung his bow. "They don’t hunt in packs in this zone. Compared to the big cats that we’ll face in the next zone, a wild boar will be easy.”

“Cats?” I thought about Mister Fuzzy, my calico cat back home. He was the perfect cuddle buddy after work. "What kind of cats?”

“Mainly cougars, but I’ve heard that there are lions, tigers, even some Sabertooth too.”

I took the clothes and headed for the trees. "Is that all?”

“Bandits are always a problem in any zone, but they are programed to leave a player alone if they drop their weapons.” Michael’s voice was too close to be back on the road

I turned around; he was leaning against a tree. "What are doing?”

He grinned and turned back to the road. "You can’t blame me for trying to sneak a peek.”

I watched him leave. Once I was sure he was out of sight, I quickly changed. It was a good reminder that he might be helping me, but he was not a knight.