Wild Young Miss: Mister, Let's Kiss!

When the battle started, Carter had this mentality to stick to the plan. When he heard Owen's shouts, he immediately followed the source of the voice. Still, he remained vigilant in case he would meet Ryan on the way.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three consecutive shots were fired, nearly deafening him as it sounded just like real guns and bullets. Luckily, Carter's instincts were all heightened. Therefore, he heard the faint noise of a grunt as Owen managed to shoot Ryan, albeit, he guessed it was a mere graze.

He then heard Owen's body slumping to the floor, as if hiding somewhere. Since Carter detected the presence of the two by the sound wave of two figures, he didn't hesitate to come out from where he was hiding.

BANG!

Without a second's hesitation, Carter opened fire that seemed random but was actually a test shot to calculate where Ryan was. However, somehow, Owen had another plan. The latter decided to randomly shoot until his magazine was empty, as if purposely revealing his location to the two of them.

'If he continued, knowing Ryan, he would come out once Wen needed to reload. I see…' Quick-witted as he was, Carter waited for Owen to stop fooling around.

"Sh*t!" Once Carter heard Owen's cursing, he immediately came out and shot in the direction where he was certain Ryan was. "Ah!" This time, it wasn't a random shot, but a straight shot at Ryan's body.

Taking this chance, Carter, as promised, lowered his guard and moved forward while shooting in the same direction. He was well-aware that what he was doing was reckless, a move that wasn't him. 

Still, deep down, he understood that being overly-cautious wouldn't make a difference. There would only be one victor; it may be him or either of the two. Thus, in his mind, since they're only three, he might as well take one man down.

After all, although the game was called last man standing, taking one man is equivalent to the victor. Unless, one of them could take down the two of them which was impossible. So technically, it would be a tie as the victor and one of them would have taken down one person.

'I kind of get the gist of this game…' Strangely enough, Carter still found the time when he was talking to the person who proposed this game. It wasn't a last man standing, but a battle of survival where precision was not the only thing that was important.

It was designed to make the participant have a feel of a real-life situation. As if a training where they could polish their other skills, sharpening their other senses, and understanding that in real life situations, the game could change.

"Ughh…" In the middle of shooting in Ryan's direction, Carter stopped for a second as the pain in his leg forced him to. Yet, he endured the pain and continued to open fire. But, this time, he didn't want more bullets coming at him as he knew Ryan would guess his exact stand point.

As he did so, he heard loud footsteps fading away. He tried shooting a little more but to no avail, he couldn't shoot him having these visors in front of his eyes. "He got away." After a while, Carter muttered, sensing that Owen was revealing himself.

For some reason, his instincts told him to take caution. However, at the same time, Zoey's words rang inside his head.

"You should too." Owen's response was followed by a striking pain in his side.

"Argh!" He clenched his teeth, the pain was akin to those real bullets. Just that this one couldn't penetrate someone's skin no matter how delicate it was. "You!" He hollered, turning his head to where Owen was approaching.

The feeling of betrayal, although Carter already expected it, was overwhelming. It was just a game, but his heart raged inside his chest just with the thought of how Owen easily pulled the trigger to strike him down.

'Is this what you wanted me to see?!' For some reason, Zoey's image upon saying her last remarks hovered over his head. Was she trying to put a wedge between the three of them? By proposing this game, was she expecting that they would start hating and doubting each other?

Carter's mind was filled with rage, his thoughts tangled in a reckless knot as his usual clear-headedness instantly vanished. He knew he shouldn't take this personally, but he did. He felt betrayed, and he knew he would never see Owen again just like what he used to look at him.

Indeed, she was right. He would see his comrades differently after this. His sight was blocked by this visor, but ironically enough, it broadened his perspective to a new horizon. 

Soon, Carter felt a muzzle placed on his forehead. "It was nice working with you, my comrade." He heard Owen's cold voice tickle his ears. Out of habit, Carter expected a painful strike on his head that would surely leave a bump in it.

"Bang!" However, the pain didn't come. Instead, Owen just let out a soft 'bang' remark before the round, metallic muzzle left his forehead.

"Kidding, man." Owen chuckled, sighing heavily as he shook his head. "I can't kill you like that even if it's a game. Damn it!" He cursed, sounding frustrated that left Carter's muddled mind blank.

"Well, I don't think you can still do anything. Just bleed out to death." Waving his hand, Owen waved his hand and began walking away. He didn't say anything anymore until he left the kitchen to follow Ryan.

When Owen left, a heavy exhale left Carter's mouth. "See differently, huh?" He leaned his back against one of the table's legs. "So, that's what she meant by that…" Slowly, the side of his lips curled into a smile, chuckling at how silly his initial thoughts were.

"This is a nice game…" Under his breath, Carter whispered in between his short chuckles. He shook his head lightly. He couldn't believe how things turned out in a way he didn't expect. With his thoughts getting cleared, understanding the vagueness of Zoey's words, he began putting first aid so he wouldn't bleed out fast.

'Since, this happened…' After he bandaged himself, Carter assisted himself up. 'I should also give them the lesson I have learned..' The side of his lips curled into a smirk, trudging in the direction where the two had headed.