A spear in the ground, inches from my face, was not my ideal way to wake up. It freaked me out a little and a warning blared in my head, like a siren, informing me that I could have died. Whether my head was still in a daze from waking up or I was scared out of my mind, I started to wonder what that would have been like. Would it have hurt? Or would I have died before I had even noticed it? What happens when you die? No one really knows for sure, but in this situation, I would come back. Saris told me as much and while I wasn't one hundred percent sure I could believe that, I also couldn't discount it; not that I wanted to test it. It's not like the rest of this has been very normal. Coming back after dying might not even be the weirdest thing I had seen since the game started for me. But if I did die here, would I just wake up after it was over and there was only the one remaining? Or would I watch the rest play out, watching things unfold like in some online video game? Or maybe I would dream, then wake up as if I had just been asleep.

I then realized that I hadn't moved and that I was thinking stupid thoughts. None of them would help me defend Saris and we were both still in danger. I had to push them out and focus, otherwise Saris and I might die. Blinking away my stupor and remembering Saris' training and advice, I focused on what was going on around me.

Saris stood in front of me. The two girls with spears were in front of him. They looked identical. Twins? That's crazy! No, what am I thinking? What are the odds of something like that happening? It's got to be a power. She was very beautiful and I really wanted to hit on her, despite the fact that she was trying to kill us. She had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail that dipped into her cloak, bright blue eyes and... a scar on her neck. Why does that seem familiar? I'm sure that I hadn't seen this person before, she would be impossible to forget. But I'm sure I knew about her scar. Then it hit me; my neighbor knew her. He had known her when she was young and he knew that she had disappeared about a year ago. But I couldn't remember her name.

"Wait!" I shouted and everyone froze for a second, which freaked me out for some reason. What if I was right? What if she was the same girl Mr. Mycolf knew. Now if only I could remember her name. Usually, I was pretty good with names, but that was after being introduced to someone in person, not hearing about them in a short conversation. I stood up but she moved, trying to stab Saris from two angles. He swung to block the attack in front of him and I moved to block the other strike. My shield came to my hand with just a thought and a desire to have it, my sword appearing at the same time. I hadn't meant to summon my sword; it must be an all or nothing kind of deal. I blocked the spear. The attack had much more power in it than I was expecting, but my shield blocked it all the same and I kept my footing. If not for Saris' training, I might have fallen over. Before they could make another attack, I let my sword and shield fade away and said "Hold on! Let's talk!"

No one else got rid of their weapon and I wasn't sure if getting rid of mine was the right move but I had to be confident in my decision. I didn't want to seem wishy-washy, especially in front of a girl that I wanted to impress. Maybe she'd think I was manly for being so bold. I stood up tall, smiled, then frowned because all three of them were still scowling at each other. We came out here to find another ally and this girl could be exactly what we needed. Again, I tried to remember what her name was. I could feel my face scrunch up in thought. What was her name?

One of the girl copies looked at me and said "What's wrong with him?" She had a slightly southern accent but I suspect it had diminished with how long she had been in this game. She probably started to lose it just by talking with others from here and getting used to the way that they spoke. Her voice was clear and projected well, but the accent softened it in a beautiful and soothing way.

How long had I been thinking? I had said, 'let's talk' and then spent who knows how long being silent and making stupid faces. "I..I..I'm fine." I groaned. What was her name? Debbie? Dora? I know it started with a D. Or maybe it was a B. Bonnie? No, that's not right.

"Do you have anything to say?" She asked Saris, pointing her spear at him.

"Not particularly." He replied. "Xander, she's a scavenger." He said without looking at me. "She wouldn't join the team unless she wanted to kill us in our sleep. She works alone because she doesn't trust anyone; which makes her untrustworthy."

The girl let out a puff of air. "You act like you know everything about me."

"I've met enough scavengers to know the type and the mindset. Am I wrong?"

"Demi!" I shouted before she could answer.

"What?" All three said.

"Your name," I answered. "It's Demi, right?"

"Yeah." She said slowly. "How do you know me?"

"Well, uh." I started to wonder what my plan really was. "My neighbor actually knows you. I don't. Do you remember a Mr. Mycolf?"

Demi thought for a moment then nodded, "I think so. Balding? Round glasses?" I nodded in agreement and a glimmer of a smile crossed her features, quickly replaced by a frown. "You said you wanted to talk. What do you have to say?" She raised her spear as she asked, pointing its tip at my throat.

I gulped. I wasn't entirely sure what I had wanted to say. "I guess I was hoping to get you to join our team."

"And what? You thought that knowing my name would magically make me want to be your ally?"

My shoulders dropped. "Well, yeah, kind of." I wanted her on our side. I didn't want to see her die. The simple fact that my neighbor knew her made her feel more real to me somehow. Plus, she was really attractive and all of my hormones were telling me to keep her around. Win or lose, we'd be separated, but somehow, someway, I wanted to convince her. "Look," I pleaded, "I don't know why but you are a connection to my world for me. I know that may not mean much to you. You've been here for something like a year and I've been here for a little over a week. Is there any part of you that might want someone who you could call an ally? Maybe even a friend?"

"A friend?" Demi spat. "Even if you make it all the way to the end, there's still only one winner. It's hard to call people you're friends when you may be slitting their throat or getting stabbed in the back by the end of the week."

"That's true." Saris chimed in. "But you have to realize that being alone for this long is toxic to you. When you get back home-"

"If I get back home." Demi corrected.

"Fine." Saris conceded. "If you get back home, you'll need to go back to a life with other people. Living alone now, isolating yourself, will only create mistrust when you get back to your old life. If you've really been gone a whole year, that means you'll have to make new relationships. You can't do that if you keep going it alone. And a team can help you from getting depressed and letting this place get to you. They might be a risk, but they're also an anchor to your humanity."

Demi seemed to consider this. After a moment, tears started to well up in her eyes but she blinked them away, forcing them back. Then she spoke quietly, "Being alone does get old pretty fast. It's just hard to trust people. there are so many jerks in this game.." She trailed off and I saw her blinking back tears again. I felt that we were close to convincing her to join our team, not because she had been magically convinced that she could trust us or because she had been failing miserably at going it alone, but because she hated being alone. I could see it in her eyes and her hesitation to strike gave me hope. "How do I know you won't betray me the second my back is turned?" The words tumbled out quickly, her voice cracking near the end.

"You can never be sure," Saris said soberly.

"But that doesn't mean it's not worth taking the risk," I added quickly. I took a deep breath and walked towards her, hoping she wouldn't attack. She didn't try to stab me and I took that as a good sign. I put my hand on hers and the spear disappeared along with the copy of her.

She didn't break down. Instead, she breathed deeply and wiped her eyes. "Okay." She breathed out with a sniff. "What are you crybabies looking at?"

I smiled and we introduced ourselves. She gave a small smile back and I finally relaxed. It looked like she had too and I was ready to get moving again, but Saris didn't budge. He didn't look angry and I didn't think he'd attack her, but he kept his sword out as if he was waiting for Demi to change her mind about us.

"Demi?" Saris asked.

"Hmm?"

"Your body double; does it make others feel the chill?"

"I know what you're thinking," Demi said, "and it won't work the way you want it to. It still makes others get the willies when she's in range so you can't sneak up on enemies without them knowing. It's better if you attack from two points of view."

"Like how you rushed us from our front and back." Saris acknowledged.

"Right. Draw attention to an approaching threat and you create an opening from another angle."

Saris rested his sword on his shoulder. "It's smart but not really foolproof. I've seen a lot of different teams try to use different variations of this strategy. One person goes in alone while others sneak up when the opponents aren't looking. Some teams fall for it once, but anyone who's experienced it before will be looking for it."

Demi crossed her arms, appearing slightly offended, but when she spoke, her tone didn't sound angry, "It's not like we have to use that method. Now that there are four of us, there are a whole range of strategies that we can choose from. This one has worked for me in the past, but that doesn't mean I can't go with a different method." She shrugged and sighed, visibly releasing some of her defensive arguments. "You are right, though. It's not foolproof. There have been plenty of people who saw it coming."

"What do you do then?" I asked.

"Just try to brute force it."

Saris thought for a moment. "How many wins do you have?"

"Two."

"Both from using this tactic?" Saris asked.

Demi shook her head. "The first time that I won was a fluke. I'd rather not get into right now if that's okay, but that's when I started doing things alone and began practicing this two-sided strategy.."

"Hmm." Saris nodded, letting his sword vanish. "It's a useful ability regardless. Nice choice. I"ll be thinking about ways to put it to good use. In the meantime, we shouldn't linger here. The sun's almost up and we don't want to waste the daylight, let's get moving."

"Where to?" I asked, following Saris out of the enclosure of the bushes and into the open field.

"The graveyard might be a good choice," Saris said as we walked carefully towards the park's exit. "We'll take it slow. We should be able to get to it today."

"Why the graveyard?" I asked. The graveyard wasn't the first place I'd think to go. Just feels like a reminder of everything we're doing; killing and/or dying.

"Graveyards are safe zones," Saris explained. "If anyone is there, we can talk with them in peace. If anyone sees us there, they won't attack us. We'll be able to sleep there safely and be fresh in the morning. When we get there, we can come up with a plan for our next move."

"What do you mean they're 'safe zones'?" I asked.

"I just told you. You won't get attacked there." Saris walked past me and headed towards a row of buildings. "Come on, let's go."

"That's not what I meant," I muttered and followed Saris and Demi who were several steps ahead of me. Neither of them clarified why graveyards were safe zones and I didn't want to seem uncool in front of Demi by trying to force an answer. I looked at her and noticed something odd about her cloak. "Demi, is your robe ripped?"

She grabbed the back and examined it, then tossed the long robe that she wore away. "Bummer." She muttered. "Oh well, it's hot anyway. It's really only useful in trying to fool people that I'm not alone." Underneath, she wore a plain black shirt with capped sleeves, light blue jeans that hugged her form all the way down her legs and disappeared into black high-tops.

"Hurry up. We don't want to stay in the open too long." Saris urged, quickening his pace yet again.

"Do we need to go to the graveyard?" Demi asked after she caught up to him.

"Not necessarily," Saris admitted. "I was hoping to see a friend there but it's a long shot. Why? Do you have somewhere you want to go?"

"Not particularly. I guess I'm just slightly uncomfortable with the crowds around graveyards. I usually avoid those popular areas and just slink around looking for smaller teams to take out."

Saris considered this for a moment. "Sure. It doesn't really matter right now anyway. I just want to go somewhere with a bit more cover. We can roam around until we see a reason to change it up."

We rounded a corner and ended up between the back of the Science Museum and a row of random businesses. I felt good. I survived my first day out in the open and now, we had a new ally. Not only did she seem smart and strong, but she was more of a direct link to my normal life. I hoped I was for her too. And, on a personal note, she was super hot and I couldn't help but smile every time I looked at her.