As we left our dorm, we saw Sabrina walking out of her own.

  “Hey, Sabrina!” Marin yelled while violently waving. Sabrina gave a hesitant wave back then walked over to us.

  “Good morning to you both,” she said. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Sure didn’t!” Marin said. “It was hard to get some shut eye knowing that I was going to have to run up and down the court for my very life the next day.”

  “I see,” Sabrina said. “You’re going to be riding the bench for the first part of the game, so just use that time to get some rest.” Marin nodded. “Well, how about you, Ryder?”

  “I feel like I got some of the best sleep of my life somehow,” I said. “It’s strange.”

  “Strange or not, that’s good news!” Sabrina said. “I hate to put pressure on you, but you and I are going to be the primary scorers for our team, so it’s good that you feel well-rested.”

  “It’s definitely nice to get some sleep for a change,” I said. “Is Cyrus with you?”

  “No. He went on ahead,” Sabrina said. “We tend not to travel together. That’s true for most pairings honestly. You two are outliers along with Keon and Carmen.”

  “Keon and Carmen spend a lot of time together?” Marin asked.

  “Yeah. Every night they check the contraband that we gathered when we first got here, they always leave their dorm together, and they always get food together when they aren’t split up. They seem to get along well.”

  “Are they even still allowed to check out the contraband now that Rayna is the housekeeper?” I asked.

  “Apparently Levi didn’t have much of a problem with it continuing, so yeah, they still check it every night,” Sabrina said. “I really don’t see the point though with the vast amount of similar and more dangerous items on the second floor that Levi demands are returned to their original spot every night.”

  “At least with that rule no one can bring baseball bats and stuff onto the first floor,” Marin said.

  “That is the silver lining,” Sabrina said. “Anyway, we’re getting off track. We should get some breakfast so we can be ready for the game.” We both agreed and we went towards the cafeteria.

  Entering the cafeteria, everyone seemed to be in good spirits even though we all knew the first sports tournament game was about to commence. They had traditional American breakfast ready for us, and there was plenty for everyone. Bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, pancakes, waffles, hash browns, milk, orange juice, and several pots of coffee with caramel, vanilla, and chocolate creamer. Everyone was laughing and eating their fill, and, after a few minutes, Miles stood up while hitting his glass of orange juice with a fork to get everyone’s attention.

  “I’d like to make a toast before we start the bloodbath,” he said. People giggled and nodded. “Now, while some of us have played basketball for years, others never held a basketball in their lives until a couple days ago. But that doesn’t take away just how hard everyone has been working for this! This is definitely the most important basketball game that has been played in human history, and I’m glad that I get to run out there with my friends both on my side and on the opposite side of the court. There is no doubt in my mind that no matter what happens, we will still all be friends, and not only that, but we will get out of this lunatic-guarded hellhole together! So, let’s use this game to get some exercise in, which will make us even stronger, so we can beat our captors’ asses harder than ever before!” Everyone cheered.

  “Hell yeah!” Conrad said.

  “Yeah! Fuck them bitches!” Maya yelled.

  Everyone then started clinking their glasses together. It’s great to see Miles try to fire everyone up. He had me pumping my fist too. We’re all friends now, and we will get out of this place.

  While the clinking was still going on, we heard a slow clap from the entrance of the cafeteria, and it was exactly who we expected it to be.

  “How heartwarming!” Levi said with Andrea and Rayna at his side. “This passion is exactly what I was hoping to see in this sports tournament! Minus the part about having my ‘ass beat’.”

  “You better all watch what you say!” Andrea yelled.

  “Chill out, Andrea,” Rayna said. “They’re just teenagers after all.”

  “I don’t care if they’re infants! I’ll still blow their heads off!”

  “Andrea. Calm yourself. I don’t want to keep having this conversation with you,” Levi said.

  “I-I’m sorry, master,” she said with an embarrassed look on her face.

  “Now, I’m sure you all know what I’m here for. Rather than make an announcement, I thought it would be more proper to gather you all myself for such a momentous occasion such as this! So, please finish up, and be on the second-floor basketball court within ten minutes. I can hardly contain my excitement, so please refrain from keeping me waiting!” They then left.

  “They truly know how to fuck up our good mood,” Miles said.

  “Nothing’s changed,” Keon said. “We’re going to give this game our all and then find a way out of this place somehow with the money we’re about to earn.”

  “There’s no sense in delaying,” Emma said. “Shall we make our way to the court? We still have to change after all.” Everyone agreed and we made our way to the second floor.

  Once we arrived at the supply closet where the shoes and uniforms were located, we saw Levi standing outside of the room with a striped referee t-shirt, black shorts, and his usual space helmet that made him look even sillier than usual. Andrea and Rayna were still wearing their regular attire.

  “Good to see you all be so prompt!” Levi said. “Sabrina’s team will be the ones in the red jerseys, and Miles' team will be in the blue ones, so please get dressed and meet us on the court.”

  We went into the supply closet, grabbed our shoes, put on our jerseys, and went straight to the court. Entering the court knowing that we were about to play an actual game rather than the practice we’d been getting the previous couple days was a strange feeling. I hadn’t played a competitive sport my entire life, and now that someone’s life is on the line, I felt the oppressive atmosphere of what was to come. I’m sure the others felt the same. Even though we were all planning on escaping before the tournament ends, we also have an understanding that we would play with maximum intensity and like our lives really were on the line, because if worse comes to worse, they will be. That understanding is exactly what will help us stay as friends even after this game finishes.

  “Alright everyone!” Levi announced. “Please go to your respective sides, and let’s get ready for the tip off. Which two from both teams are going to be on the bench to start the game?”

  “Carmen and Marin for us,” Sabrina said.

  They each took their places on the small bench that was placed outside of the court foul lines. The benches weren’t there before, but it seems like they were taken from the sitting area in the middle of the floor.

  “Maya and Mia for us,” Miles said.

  They both took their spots on the bench on the opposite side from our own.

  “Alright now. Who’s going to be doing the tip-off for each side?” Levi asked.

  “Me,” Atticus said.

  “And, me,” Keon said.

  Atticus had the height advantage, but I’d wager that Keon could probably jump higher. The outcome of the tip-off will decide who gets possession of the ball first, and if that team can score on that possession, then the momentum is theirs to start the game.

  “Good, good. Now before we start the game, I’ll let you all know the format of the game,” Levi said. “Just like in the NBA, we will have four twelve-minute quarters. There will be five-minute breaks between each quarter, and a ten-minute break once we get to half time. Each team will have four timeouts total. Players can be substituted for bench players during dead-time, or in other words, when there is no action. Any questions?”

  “Will there be overtime if we’re tied?” Sabrina asked.

  “Yes, but it will be a bit different than the traditional rules. If the teams are tied after four quarters, then it will come down to a walk-off score! Isn’t that exciting?!”

  “What does that mean?” Marin asked.

  “Basically, it means that the next team to score would win the game,” Sabrina said.

  “Exactly,” Levi agreed. “Now, any more questions?” No one had any. “Great! Then let’s see some fantastic, life or death, gritty sports action! Places, everyone!”

  We all got into position, while Atticus and Keon stood on the circle in the center of the court to get ready for the tip-off. Levi was in between them with the basketball in his hands.

  “Now, remember. You can only jump after the ball reaches its apex, and no grabbing the ball. Only ‘tipping’ it to your teammates is allowed. Alright…go!”

  Levi threw the ball upwards and once it reached its greatest height, we saw both Keon and Atticus jump for it trying to slap it to their side of the court. As I predicted, Keon jumped much higher than Atticus and was able to tap the ball to his side of the court where Miles caught it and then passed it to Emma. Emma took her place at the back of the group with all of her teammates advancing towards our territory. It seems that she will indeed be playing the same role that Cyrus is on our team as point guard, AKA the “floor general.” She will be the one facilitating the offense and carefully choosing who to pass to. She dribbled pretty clumsily, but Cyrus was not good enough of a defender to get her to give up the ball. She was looking up and down the court, then suddenly I saw a blur out of the corner of my eye run all the way up to the basket. It was Miles. Sabrina was in hot pursuit, but Emma threw a perfect lob to the basket and Miles easily put it in for the first two points of the game.

  “Too slow!” Miles yelled to Sabrina as he ran back to his own side of the court. It seems that his competitive spirit will be on full display in this game.

  It was our turn to have the ball and go on the offensive now. Cyrus was passed the ball from Robbie and did his best to match what Emma accomplished by viewing who on our team was the best candidate to score our first points. I took my place outside the three-point line and was guarded by Amber who was a bit taller than me. I saw Cyrus sneaking glances at me while staring mostly at the others and I knew that was his way of saying that he wanted to give me the ball. Nerves were starting to hit me like a truck, but my team needs me and I’m not going to let them down now. I managed to shake off Amber by faking that I was going to the left, and then Cyrus threw me the ball. I stepped back and shot the ball, Amber tried to adjust to my new position and jumped to block the ball, but it was over her reach and the ball swished into the hoop cleanly. We were now leading 3-2. Making that basket gave me a shot of confidence that I was going to try and hold on to for the rest of the game.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  The next possession had Conrad throwing in a dunk that was weakly contested by Atticus. Conrad ran right into Atticus though, and Levi called him for an offensive foul therefore, canceling out the points that he just scored through that dunk and giving possession back to us. Conrad argued, but Levi didn’t seem to care in the slightest. Sabrina managed to put up a layup during that possession that gave us a lead of 5-2. The next few possessions had Miles and the others gain some momentum through some free throws on some personal fouls by Atticus and Robbie, and a few layups made by Keon. Sabrina scored a few more field goals as well during this span, but we lost the lead and the score was now 9-10. As the game started to get closer to being halfway through the first quarter, I could see that some of the less fit members of each team were starting to feel some fatigue. This was especially true for Atticus, who was doing his best to catch both offensive and defensive rebounds. His hard work kept this game close, but I wasn’t sure how long he was going to be able to keep it up. A few more minutes passed and while I was able to make another three, and Robbie was able to get a couple steals, the other team was starting to pull away. The score was now 15-20 with only a couple minutes left in the first quarter. Sabrina made her first dunk of the game, Miles shot a three, Amber shot a three of her own, Atticus made some free throws, and that was the end of the first quarter. The score ended at 19-26 with us being down by seven. We went over to our bench where Marin and Carmen were sitting to spend our five minutes.

  “You guys are doing great so far!” Marin said.

  “Yeah, I really did expect this to be a lot worse,” Carmen added.

  Alex then came up to us and gave us each a cold water bottle which we all desperately needed. Atticus gulped his down in no time at all.

  “You’ve been doing a great job catching those rebounds, Atticus,” Sabrina said. “You’ve been making good decisions too, Cyrus. Keep it up.”

  “I’ve never gotten this much exercise…in my life…” Atticus said, breathing heavily.

  “I’m just glad you’re all making your shots,” Cyrus said. “You guys are making me look like a genius.”

  “Marin and Carmen, you’re both in for the second quarter,” Sabrina said. “We’re going to give Atticus and Cyrus a break for a bit. We’re now going to be at a major size disadvantage with Atticus taking a breather, so for this quarter, we’re going to shoot a lot of threes. Robbie, we’re counting on you for steals this quarter. We need as many chances as possible.”

  “Look who you’re talking to!” Robbie said. “If I’ve got free reign to show off a bit, then I only promise good things.”

  “Good to hear,” Sabrina said. She then turned to me. “Ryder, you’re probably going to get the ball a lot this quarter, and I’m sorry for all the pressure, but you’re two for two on threes so far, so I believe in you.”

  “I believe in you too,” Marin said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

  “It’s not the end of the world if you miss a couple, but please try not to,” Carmen said.

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “Carmen, I want you to take over as floor general for Cyrus. I’m going to play center with Atticus out. Marin, you’re small forward.”

  “Sure,” Carmen said.

  “Leave it to me!” Marin said.

  “Alright! That’s five minutes! Back to the court everyone,” Levi said.

  We all got back into our positions. Our team now had Carmen and Marin playing, and we saw that the other team had both Maya and Mia in for Emma and Amber. It looked like Maya was going to be the one to guard me now, and with me being taller than her and her being much less skilled than Amber, I feel a lot better about my responsibilities. Since we lost the tip-off during the first quarter, we got possession this quarter. Carmen, as the new floor general, had the ball in her grasp and was slowly dribbling while walking up the court. I knew that she was going to try to pass it to me or Sabrina any chance she could, so I got ready to receive. While Maya was guarding me, I was correct in thinking it would be much easier to shake her off, because no matter which way I went, she was always a couple steps behind.

  “Stay still, you bastard!” she yelled.

  She then tripped over nothing, and I was wide open. Carmen saw this immediately and then passed me the ball. Keon also saw, and tried to take Maya’s place to defend me, but it was too late. I got the shot off and it was another swish. I was now three for three on my attempts. The score was now 22-26, but we still trailed by four. With the severe lack of height on our team, it was very difficult to stop their offense whenever Robbie wasn’t able to get a steal. The other team definitely noticed that the ball should be kept away from where he was, so his chances to get the other team to turn over the ball were heavily diminished. Our shooting managed to keep pace with their scoring though, and basically it boiled down to each team scoring in each possession back and forth until about halfway through the quarter. The score now sat at 34-39, but I was just happy that the deficit stayed largely the same. Carmen was making good passing decisions, I was making my threes, Sabrina was scoring both in front of, and behind the three-point line. Marin even got a three of her own, after which, she cheered so hard that she forgot to play defense, giving Mia and easy basket.

  Sabrina’s plan to focus on three's worked to perfection. After the second quarter was finished, we managed to cut their lead and were only down two with a score of 46-48. We once again went to our bench to discuss our next moves.

  “My heart’s beating so fast,” Carmen said. “I really didn’t think we’d be able to keep up with them so well.”

  “This is exactly what we were training for,” Sabrina said. “Everything is going according to plan so far. We’re keeping the game close, and we’re all doing our part.”

  “We’re a well-oiled machine!” Marin said.

  “Just remember to keep playing defense, Marin,” Cyrus said.

  “I’m sorry…I was just so excited,” she said.

  “Regardless, no more mistakes. That goes to everyone,” Sabrina said. “The game is halfway over, and we’re still within striking distance. We get ten minutes to rest before we go back out for the third quarter, so drink your water, and get focused. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

  “Who’s going on the bench for the third quarter?” Atticus asked. Sabrina then looked over at Robbie who was laying on the floor on his back, breathing heavily. “...Other than him, obviously.”

  “I’ve…*gasp* still got SIX more games in m-me…” Robbie muttered from under our feet.

  “Carmen got a lot more stats than Marin this quarter, so Carmen and Robbie will ride the bench this quarter,” Sabrina said. “Atticus, we need your height, so you’re back in.”

  “Understood.”

  “The strategy for the third quarter is going to be a combination of our previous two strategies. Atticus and I will be going for layups, and the rest of you will be shooters. Cyrus, it’s up to you to decide which strategy is more viable given the defense of the other team.”

  “It won’t be a problem,” Cyrus said.

  “We’ll be switching between both strategies based on Cyrus’s orders, so please be ready.” Everyone nodded.

  “Alright! That’s ten minutes. Back to the court everyone!” Levi said. “Great work to you all so far! Who would’ve thought the game would be so competitive?!”

  “We’re definitely not going to take you lightly anymore,” Miles said to Sabrina as we took our places. “You’ve all been playing extremely well, but we know your weaknesses now, so get ready. The real game starts now.”

  “Ignore him, Sabrina!” Carmen yelled from the bench.

  “Are you cheering for me, Carmen!” Miles yelled while blowing her a kiss.

  “Drop dead! You know I wasn’t!” Carmen said. Keon had a slightly annoyed look on his face.

  “Enough chit chat. Let’s get to the game!” Levi said.

  Miles’s team now had Emma back on the court with Maya being put back on the bench. She was pouting with a very annoyed look on her face. We got to start with possession again since we lost the tip-off at the start of the game, but that meant that the other team would start with the ball in the fourth quarter, so it’s very important for us to keep the score close. Our first possession was a dud as Atticus went for a layup, missed, and we weren’t able to come up with the rebound. With us all at the basket, Keon–who caught the rebound–chucked it to the other side of the court where Conrad received it and slammed down a dunk. A few minutes in, we started to see that Miles and the others really turned it up a notch. Sabrina called a timeout to confer with us, and give us some words of encouragement, but our spirits were starting to get pretty low with the other team starting to pull away again. Mia was now guarding me, and she was even better than Amber, so I wasn’t getting passed the ball, and even when I did get it, my shots were getting blocked. Miles was playing great defense on Sabrina, and Sabrina was definitely getting frustrated because she was called for a flagrant foul for pushing Miles. After which, Miles was awarded two free throws which he easily made. Keon was catching many more rebounds than Atticus was, and Emma seemed to be making all the correct passing decisions while Cyrus was struggling to find anyone who was open. Marin managed to make another three, and Sabrina made a few layups during the quarter, but the rest of us struggled to find open shots. It seems like Miles wasn’t lying when he said the real game was starting now. More time was passing in the quarter, and their lead was getting larger and larger. At the end of the quarter the score was 64-80. They now had a sixteen-point lead. Feeling defeated, we went to the bench for our five-minute break before the fourth and final quarter was about to begin.

  “They just dominated us…” Cyrus said.

  “It really felt like we couldn’t do anything right,” Marin said, dejectedly.

  “Even so, there’s no way we’re going to give up,” Sabrina said. “They obviously know our plans and how to defend against them, so we need to switch things up. First of all, Marin and Cyrus, you’re on the bench for this quarter. Second of all, Ryder, Carmen, Atticus, and Robbie…play to your strengths. No holds barred. I want you all to go crazy. If there is no rhyme or reason to our offense and defense, then they won’t know how to defend us. It’s the only shot we’ve got.”

  “I can’t argue with that,” Carmen said.

  “About time you let me let loose!” Robbie said.

  “I’ll do what I can,” Atticus said.

  “It all comes down to this,” Sabrina said. “I didn’t expect us to even remotely have a chance to win when we started this, so I’m still proud of us all. No matter what happens…let’s give them hell.” We all nodded and went back to our positions for the fourth quarter.

  “It’s starting to look like ‘Team Miles’ will walk away with the victory, but crazier things have happened, so let’s see some good, clean basketball!” Levi said.

  Miles and Sabrina stared at each other from their respective spots on the court, and then the game started. They got to start with possession of the ball, so we all went our own way to try and defend their first advance. As expected, they kept the ball away from Robbie, but that ended up not working out as Carmen managed to steal the ball from Emma, whose dribbling skills were relatively weak. Carmen then ran to the open basket and put up a layup. This gave us all a little shot of adrenaline. We all started going crazy. We all went for rebounds, threes, steals, assists, we all charged the basket, and we all started switching off of the people we were defending to keep them on their toes. Miles called a timeout to try and disrupt our rhythm, but it didn’t stop our onslaught. We used the chaos to start a scoring run that put us a lot closer to them. Halfway through the quarter, the score was 76-86. They still had a ten-point lead, but we managed to cut the deficit by quite a bit.

  After a stoppage that was caused by Atticus slapping the ball out of bounds, Sabrina decided to use that time to sub out Carmen and put Marin back in. Marin was now playing point guard and having not been trained for the position of field general, made seemingly random passes that the other team could not seem to predict. These passes were working out though as we started to inch even closer to them with only a few minutes remaining. The score was now 86-90 thanks to some unbelievable dunks by Robbie, and even a three from Atticus. Everyone was contributing. Miles definitely looked like he was panicking as he started making mistakes by missing easy shots and accidentally passing the ball out of bounds. They called another time out, and all huddled together. We did the same and Sabrina told us to “keep it up.” We all nodded. The momentum was finally back on our side, and we knew it. Another couple minutes passed and both teams were starting to miss more shots than they made. The fatigue was getting to us all. The score was now 90-92, with us trailing by just two points now. There was just one minute left in the game. Emma had the ball and was trying to run out the clock by holding it and staying near half court, but Robbie saw an opportunity. He ran up to her and easily stole the ball. Sabrina saw the play develop and was already at the other team’s basket ready to receive the ball from Robbie. He followed her lead and threw the ball to her for an easy layup. The score was now tied 92-92 with only thirty seconds left. The other team got possession once again and were marching up the court more carefully than before as Miles held the ball himself. After about ten seconds, Miles suddenly rushed towards the basket, Sabrina was in pursuit, and they clashed at the basket. No foul was called as Miles put the ball in the basket before falling on his back. The other team was pumped up and threw their fists in the air before Conrad and Keon helped Miles up. We were now down by two again, this time with less than twenty seconds left on the clock. Sabrina subbed back in Carmen and had Robbie go to the bench. After we resumed play, Sabrina immediately called for a timeout. We huddled together.

  “Carmen, you need to get me the ball,” Sabrina said. “Everyone else, try to look open to confuse the other team.” We nodded and went back to our positions.

  Play resumed and Carmen had the ball and was jogging up the court knowing that time for us was limited. Miles and the others were guarding us harder than ever before, so it was difficult to get open like Sabrina asked. Time was running low though, so with just seconds remaining, Carmen chucked the ball at Sabrina who caught it and managed to get a contested shot off from behind the three-point line. It seemed like time was moving in slow motion. Everyone was just watching the ball sail. Either it went in, and we limped out with a 95-94 win, or it missed, and we walked off the court in defeat. No matter what, it was going to be the last shot of the game. The ball hit the rim and rolled around it, we all stopped and stared, not sure whose side gravity was going to be on. It rolled, and rolled, and rolled until suddenly…it fell off the side of the basket. We lost.