The village was quite small. With just a few dozen stone cottages scattered along winding dirt roads, the village exudes an old rustic sort of renaissance charm. The buildings weren't plain and old, nor were they new and high tech. Instead, they were colorful, symmetric, and beautiful.
I ride into town, but despite my vivid surroundings and the smoke churning up from the chimneys, the roads were empty. It was a ghost town.
I don't know what I really expected. I mean, not many prisoners were placed in this simulation, but still. I expected a bit more... life. I don't know how many of us are left on this island. Maybe 100? Probably less.
Im a bit disappointed with my lack of progress, yet I'm put in a difficult situation. We've got to get off this island, but how? It's not like I can just build a boat or raft and sail away. If I stray too far away, I might run into the boarder. There's got to be something around here, maybe a way to request extract or something?
Sighing, I tie my horse up to a small fence post at the edge of the village. Dismounting, I open my bag. From inside, I grab my special compass.
Taking a moment to glance at it, it seems to point north. Someone is in range.
A small smile creeps it's way onto my face.
As I expected. There are people here.
It seems like looting the place would be harder than I expected.
I leave my bow slung on my shoulder and my quiver wrapped around my waist. Putting my backpack back on, I cant help but feel the strain. My back was in pain, but I couldn't help it.
Lurking through the alleys, I hold my compass in my left hand, and my revolver in the right. I try my best to stay in the shadows as I move north, making my way ever closer to my victims. I don't plan on killing them. I just want their items.
As I round a corner, a larger building looms ahead, no doubt the town hall. I glance at the compass again.
They're inside.
Crouching low, I cross the dirt road, sticking to cover. I silently scale the short stone steps, pressing my head against the heavy wooden door.
Ear to the wall, I listen.
Muffled voices filter through. They are quiet, distorted and overlapping. I can't make out the words. The walls are too thick.
Annoyed, I grab the door handle, intending to open it just a little to hear inside.
Creakkk
I freeze.
"What was that?" A familiar feminine voice questions.
Shit.
I hear several footsteps and a variety of hushed voices moving toward the door.
Realizing that I've been caught, I back away from the door.
Bang bang
Bullets fly through the door, startling me.
Panicking, I trip, falling backwards onto the hard stone floor.
Bang bang bang
The window next to me shatters, the glass falling on me like a painful waterful.
Taking my revolver, I jump back up to my feet.
Aiming it through the broken window, I pull the trigger.
Bang bang
I shoot 2 shots, not even looking to see if they land.
I attempt to flee the scene, jumping down the stairs and running across the dirt road.
Bang.
The shot tears into my arm like lightning, just missing my vest. My revolver falls from my hand as I stumble, nearly collapsing from the shock and weight of my own panic.
I don't have time to check the wound.
Grimacing through the pain, I find myself darting into an alleyway, slipping off my bow and backpack as I run. Sure they were useful, but right now they'd only way me down.
Behind me, the doors to the town hall slam open. Shouting and boots pounding on the ground behind me. More than one pair.
I cut inbetween two cottages, my new boots almost slipping on the mud and gravel.
The world around me seems to blur with motion and adrenaline. My breathe is ragged, my chest heavy, and every time my right arm moves, it explodes in pain, sending waves of agony across my whole body.
Turning back onto the street I rode in on, my shoulder crashes into the corner causing me to hiss in pain. Yet I keep running.
Something whistles past my head.
Their still shooting. Running onto the street, I turn to the left where I spot my horse sitting just where I tethered it.
I grit my teeth and push myself harder.
I am so close.
"Stop! Stop him!"
I don't stop. I can't. But my legs are faltering. I can feel myself slowing down.
Suddenly, as I'm passing an alleyway, I catch a shadow in the corner of my eye.
Something fast crashes into me, knocking me down. It was not a bullet nor an item, but a body.
I groan in pain, holding my right arm as I roll on the dirt road.
Someone grabs me, attempting to pin me down. My wounded arm screams. I thrash, trying to throw the person off but I am just given a kick to my wounded arm causing me to scream out in pain.
Another figure appears above me, silhouetted by the beaming light.
A woman, ones whose face could not be seen due to the sunlight.
She presses her boot onto my chest lowering the barrel of a shotgun to my head.
"I know you." She mutters, my vision still blocked by the sun above.
"Huh?"
"You're lucky," She says "we take prisoners."
She lifts her weapon, striking me on the temple with the butt of her gun.
With that, everything disappears.