It wasn't until the ending sentence of the Gamemaster's announcement that Emery felt the poison course through her like battery acid. She could feel the burning spread from the arteries in her neck to the veins throughout her chest and arms. She tensed with pain and recoiled within herself, involuntarily shaking as she did so. In between her squinted eyelids, she saw Rye collapse to the ground. As if his doing so gave her permission, she fell to her knees. Leaning over, her tears spilled out and were soaked up by the thirsty dirt. She could see that Eden was also on the ground, trembling and whimpering with a grimaced face.<span style="font-style: italic">They're killing us. All of us.</span><br/><br/>Clenching the earth between her fingers, Emery released deafening hate-filled scream like that of an Amazon woman. She ended it with gasping that sounded more like growls than breathing. She lifted her head to the sky and exclaimed, "They're playing dirty! They know that we won't kill each other, so they're gonna do it for us. Without Stark, they'll just be kept waiting around. You bastards..." She interrupted herself with a guffaw. "You bastards sure are impatient!" she shouted, still laughing. The laughter subsided into sighs as Emery's face turned grave. "I guess waiting for us to die out won't be too much fun for the viewers."<br/><br/>Eden raised his head to her and said, "The Gamemaster said that we were part of the last five. There's still two others out there." Emery nodded and murmured, "I'm guessing they're pretty civil, too." She turned to face Rye and, noticing how motionless he was, crawled over to him. She winced a little, feeling the burn intensify as she moved. She felt her heart drop once she saw the foam seep from his mouth. "Rye," she said, putting her hand on his chest. "Rye, can you hear me?" She clenched her teeth. "Please, Rye, talk to me," she pleaded, feeling her eyes well up again.<span style="font-style: italic">I don't understand</span>, she thought frantically,<span style="font-style: italic">why is this happening to him and not us?</span>She lifted his back a little and retrieved the dart that pierced it.<br/><br/>"What's wrong with him?" asked Eden, crawling over as well. She looked at him with the dart in her hand; his eyes were filled with worry. She bit her lip and looked down at Rye again, saying, "The dart went straight into his spinal cord. I... think it paralyzed him." She hated saying it, but it was the only explanation. "The poison... must be affecting him more so than us." While she knew what was going on, she felt herself not comprehending the state Rye was in. He was always the one who could overcome these things.<span style="font-style: italic">It only makes sense</span>, she thought to herself.<span style="font-style: italic">Eden has been rendered helpless; I've been rendered helpless. Now it's his turn.</span>