Okay, I was hesitant to post this up, given that I cannot be sure of my consistency in posting, but I bit the bullet and went for it. The chapters will likely be shorter than usual, to attempt to make posting more frequently possible.
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You wake up on a cold, stone floor. Your limbs feel a bit stiff, indicating that you've been there a while. Yet you have no recollection of how you came to be there or why.
You slowly rise into a sitting position, wincing a little as your unused muscles are set into motion. You look around at your surroundings. There is just enough light in the room to make out the bare walls and boarded up windows. The minimal lighting is entering through narrow gaps between he boards, so at least you know it's currently daylight outside.
You get to your feet and walk over to peek through one of the gaps. There is glass beneath the boards and beyond that you can see a desert-like landscape dotted with the odd skeletal tree or bush. The sun is beating down from a sky as dusty as the land beneath it. Besides that there is very little to see, least of all any signs of life.
After tugging at the boards and finding them to be solidly held in place you turn your attention to the room you're in, taking a keener interest in your more immediate surroundings.
You notice for the first time a small door set into the wall on the opposite side of the room. No more than two feet square (and probably less), it's situated at about chest height. You try to open it, but it's locked.
To your left is a table, laden with an array of items. As you approach you notice a piece of paper in the middle of it all, and written upon it are instructions of a sort -
'Your challenge begins.
You must choose three items from group A, two items from group B, and just one item from group C. No more, no less. When you've chosen, place the items inside the pack on the floor by the table. Should you disregard these rules a price will be paid.'
You look around the room again, checking for any hidden cameras, but you can see no tell tale signs. You turn your attention back to the table. The groups are distinctly marked.
Group A is made up of:
A notebook, a length of fishing line with a hook, a disposable razor, an empty plastic bottle, a double ended pen/pencil, a metal nail file, a tube of green face paint, a can of hairspray, a piece of flint, and a bag of marbles.
In Group B there is the following:
A tube of superglue, a tin opener, a miniature screwdriver, a pair of tweezers, a watch (which is in working order), a packet of anonymous seeds, and a small pair of scissors.
The final selection, Group C, is definitely the most intriguing, but you keep in mind that of these you can only pick one. They consist of:
A hatchet, a pair of daggers with six inch blades, a katana, a slingshot, and a metal baseball bat.
You eye each of the items individually, trying to decide their possible merit against whatever you might have to face outside of your dark, mysterious prison. It's difficult, but you must choose.