The Eclipse Games: Survival Island

First test; Leap of faith.

The next time Parker was aware he was in the midst of a chamber of people, whileost were awake a lot of them still slept, he was wearing the same clothes as before, but beneath his hood was a t-shirt he had no memory of adding on, and looking at everyone else he realized it was the brown shirt that came with the survival games, looking at his surrounding more clearly he also noticed that the place was massive, full of beds, and each bed had a parachute as the pillow, he quickly grabbed his own and hugged it to himself, he didn't trust a soul there, and the setup itself just seemed far too weird, a hundred and one beds bolted to the inside of a massive plane.

Parker didn't get up right away, instead he remained silent and decided to observe everyone and everything that happened around him, from what he knew, their numbers were on the front of their shirts but he could actively see people hiding their numbers, that was stupid though, the number didn't matter, only the survivor did, that said he had already begun peeling his own number off, since nobody normally used their names, it was more efficient to remember a simple number from one to one hundred and one, he did hide his number, but it didn't matter, everyone already knew who he was; the luckiest and and unluckiest guy in the world, the first ever to get special treatment in a game designed to kill ninety nine percent of the contestants.

He silently hugged his saving grace and watched with observant eyes the conversations going on around him; how people seemed to already be teaming up and planning on working together, he knew though that every partnership would ultimately end in betrayal, survival in numbers was a fools dream.

"Hey you, 101," There was a young woman beside his bed, basically leaning from her own onto his and lying down. "What did you do?" She asked him, and he sighed and looked the opposite way, it wasn't a good idea to make friends, he was a natural observer, getting involved was a last resort and this woman of blonde hair and green eyes was bound to get attention from everyone, meaning being in the same space as her was a bad idea no matter what way one would think about it. "C'mon talk to me, how did you manage to get that never when the rest of us had to struggle for a spot?" She asked him, but he kept his gaze the other way and the chute close to his chest, rembering there were other seasons where shady people went as far as to punch and stab holes into others' parachutes disqualifying them before they even set out.

"101, talk to me man, everyone else wants to know." She pointed out and he looked around at her, realising then that he was already a target as he found a silent crowd where everyone was staring at him. "Say something Mr celebrity." She taunted him hoping to get a response, but Parker kept his gaze and expression stoic and rained silent, after all he didn't come here to make friends, he was desperate to win, to live, and he would keep that attitude regardless of what happened for as long as it was necessary.

"Can I have your attention all?" A man came creeping up the ladder, dressed in army ware and hosting what looked like Santa's beard on his broad southerner face. "We are a few miles out from our destination, most of you have yet to put on your parachutes and that is a good call, for those who have not please gather over this side and toss them to the ground, the rest of you remain beside your assigned bed and await forther instruction." He explained, and everyone slowly made their way over to the clearing and began dropping their chutes to the ground at his feet. "Good, good." He grunted and then did a head count of the others with the parachutes on their backs.

"For those of you who have already donned your bags, you did so after compromising the integrity of someone else's, and that is a disappointing thirty of you, mostly those who regained consciousness before the others, so to make things fair, those without a chute will be taking yours, and then the others will select the ones they believe are safe leaving you lot to pick from the remaining thirty, this should be common sense but since this competition is being held with a grand prize of a billion dollars you should have know that we would monitor you around the clock."

"Imagine that." Parker mumbled to himself looking at the blonde that was beside him, then swearing in his mind realising he'd just spoken to her, it was universal that most blones were stupid, and he didn't want her to take this as the initiative to cling to him after they landed... landed... "Landed." He whispered to himself rembering that his benefactor had said something to him regarding water... and what he got from that was...

"Stay away from beaches." He said out, not loud; but not loud enough that the whole room heard, again it was only just the woman at his side who seemed to have leaned in when he started mumbling to himself.

"Why the beaches?" She asked, and he began cursing himself.

"Proceed according to the smallest numbers." Santa-man announced and they immediately began checking their numbers and acting accordingly.

"I should point out that those who do not participate in this one coordinated event will be immediately disqualified, so those of you who think you can hold on to your chutes beware, you already have one strike against your number, and I am your warden until you jump."

"C'mon tell me," The blonde beside Parker broke his focus inrerripting him again. "Why do we stay away from the shore?" She asked him, and he let out a grunt of annoyance.

"Shut up and listen." Parker have her the glare he'd give a dog that bit him. "Just shut up and listen." He sneered and she went silent with a pout of her own. "Thank you."

The contestants one after the other went through the numbers on their given uniform, this is how he realize that the girl that was trying to make friends with him was actually supposed to be the last one, number 100.

Now that he looked at them though his bed was the only odd one out, taking an extra space while all the others lined the sides in even rows.

All the known good bags were already taken, and Parker was left to stare at the thirty-one bags on the floor, wondering if he could trust any, according to what the Santa-man had said, thirty of these parachutes had a high chance of tearing apart and killing whomever was landing with them, he had such a small chance of success that he hesitated for a while,but the girl standing with the others mouthed to him while he was staring at the crowd to take hers, luckily her parachute had a specific look to it, plus he remembered that there was a hairclip on it that she likely out there, he still didn't know whether it was a good idea to trust this woman, but against his better judgement he dug through the thirty one parachute bags and took hers using the clip as a marker.

"Good," Santa man nodded in approval, remembering that the bag that girl had taken she'd already swapped it with someone's behind their back after waking to find her own being stabbed by them, she was crafty, and skilled at stealth it seemed because not a soul had seen her do it. "Now the rest of you, pick whatever bag you want, anyone fighting over any bag will be immediately disqualified, and for those of you who manage so pick the torn up and worn down ones, may good luck ever be on your side, that or sharks will be taking you apart, but worry not, your families will be taken care of as promised." Something about what was happening didn't add up though, and Parker didn't stop thinking about it until that came to him.

"We didn't sign any contract did we, weren't there contracts in the last game and the ones before that, how can any of this be valid without a contract to legally bind us to WIP?" Parker asked as the man reached into a closet that was previously locked and took out a parachute for himself.

"Parker Carter was it?" Santa man asked giving him a chuckle. "Number 101, luckiest and unluckiest bastard I've ever seen in all my life, you're absolutely right." He admitted and everyone burst into murmurs.

"Are you kidding me with this s**t?" One of the taller men of the immediate group snapped in frustration pushing his way through the crowd and standing before Santa man with a grimace, looming over him; he was one of the thirty that had already tried killing off others and likely had a faulty parachute "I did not agree to this suicide game just so my daughter could watch me die for free, if you're gonna play with my life like this I'll crash this plane right now and kill every last one of you!" He reached out and grabbed the man's shirt draping him as if he wanted to lift him off his feet, and the man stayed completely stoic about the whole situation.

"I assure you," The man stayed as calm as he had been before causing a trickle of sweat to drop down the man's chin. "WIP has very high regard for human life, what we do is purely for entertainment of the sick and twisted masses but we do it legally, you have ten seconds to unhand me before you are disqualified from the Eclipse Games, Andrew Turner." He called the man by his name, and was immediately released. "Now then, as 101 has pointed out we did not approach you with any sheets to sign as the previous years, and that is simply because our systems have been upgraded to biometrics, at the ass of the plane there is a machine you will each pass through that will attach an unremovable smart watch to your right arms, these watches will be serving as GPS, they will serve as heart monitors, and most importantly they are your contract, you will keep them, and whomever dies, when they die, their watch will update the systems immediately, and further actions will be carried out from there, of your watch is broken while on the island, you will become a non player and be disqualified and withdrawn from the contest, and if somehow removed the result is the same. Understand though that not even bullets can break this technology, and the only way to take them off is to chop your own hand clean off and take it off then, they will also relay to you every twenty four hours the amunt of players that remain as well as any event about to take place, there are tasks that you can each complete that will get you special points, and once redeemed those points can be used to buy a special privilege." He explained, and then turned and made sure everyone was seeing him. "Back to the side of your beds now, there are a hundred and kneonitors in this area and each of them has a video five minutes long on how to use a parachute, I will check each chute personally before your jump, and the video itself will take up the remaining time, once again, may luck ever be in your favour. "Welcome to the first challenge of the Eclipse Games; Leap of Faith.