For The Win (Gamer Girls, #6) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,120

under them. The fences and other obstacles were all the same. And, only a few feet ahead of her, she could see the dark line of yet another trench. Rhaven headed right for it, aiming for the far end so she'd only have to watch in front of her.

Make or break time. The entire world was quiet, proving that no one else had been brave enough to crawl from their hole yet, and that made her nervous. So did the idea of losing. Still, pulling in a deep breath, Rhaven slipped her character over the edge. Kill or be killed. That was the goal, and she was tired of running.

Chapter 40

Ahead of her was a trench almost identical to the one she'd just left. Rhaven rushed forward, following the turns and curves of it with her gun at the ready. The trick was to be ready. Always ready. She had this. She was a stupid badass, and this was going to be the epitome of that.

Then she saw him. Some random guy with a silly name was hanging on the ledge, trying to snipe anyone who left their own trench. Rhaven scoped in, double tapped his head, and watched the character drop. Then she moved again.

The goal was to keep moving forward. She had a feeling that all of these trenches were angled to make a short path between them. Some safe route that she could follow. Knowing Braden had designed them gave her a little advantage. The man was brilliant when it came to how shooters worked. For every action, there would be a safe and a risky option. She was seeking out the safe one.

At the end of the trench, she hopped up and landed prone again. That moment of jumping was the most risky, but no one shot at her, which meant this was working. She had this. At least until she was almost at the next trench and heard weapons start rattling in the distance. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to look. Rhaven needed cover, and she needed to make it through this round!

The next trench wasn't empty when she slipped in. Thankfully, the guy hiding inside it didn't expect to have company. He turned and paused just long enough for her to unload a clip into his body, killing him. Like before, she ran, but this time, the guy wasn't alone. Two turns later, she ran straight into another player. Habit had her hitting the quick knife and then a heal. The enemy got a single shot into her body, but Rhaven shot him in the head as repayment. Three down, who knew how many to go.

But every time she made a kill, someone else got brave. The kill spam at the bottom of the screen no longer had only her name in it. QQ's scrolled past, along with Void's. Then she saw Cynister cleaning house. Five names in a row flew up the list, all killed by him. Clearly, the pros were now in play. Unable to help herself, Rhaven hit the chat.

[Rhaven] Think like it's WWII and this map is a lot of fun.

[Cynister] I know, right? Pissed you figured it out before me.

[Rhaven] Get used to disappointment. Overthinking is my thing.

[QQ] then overthink this. We got some boys hiding in the southeast corner, hoping to sneak their way into the finals.

[Rhaven] the goal is to win, boys. Not hide because you're scared of the girls.

[PSYCHOCUT] Knew I liked you for some reason!

[Rhaven] and here I thought it was the tits.

[MURDER] Nope, I'm the tit man. Psyc's more into legs, right bro?

[PSYCHOCUT] Lips. I'm all about the lips.

[VOID] We flirting or we fighting?

[PSYCHOCUT] Flirting!

[MURDER] Fighting

[KNOCK] Flirting

[QQ] Flirting!

[Rhaven] The people have spoken. You have pretty eyes, Q.

[QQ] Loving the lipstick, Rhaven.

[KNOCK] Um, guys? Is it weird that I think that's hot?

[VOID] Yes. She's your sister!

[KNOCK] I'm all about the kink.

And while they talked, the others grew brave. Some left their trenches, getting gunned down in the open world above. Others tried crouching and running. That worked to a point. Enough to let the fights start centralizing at least. The whole time, the clock at the top was slowly ticking down, making it clear that there was still a cutoff, but Rhaven knew that this round wouldn't log them out when it was over.

They were now playing for rankings, and she wanted to win. She needed to. That urge was almost universal, though. The pros had to look good to keep their contracts. The hopefuls