Game Of Survival

Chapter 35

JAMES

"What?!" Eve exclaimed and I simply nodded. I expected her reaction to him to be no different than this.

"You're not serious are you?"

"I'm damn serious." I asserted. "We're bringing the Third Arena down."

"H-how?" She stuttered with her eyes twitching.

I heaved a light sigh before spilling the beans. Repeating the plan the same way, Hugh had told me. And after explaining the whole thing, I could still sense a bit of hesitation within her.

"This doesn't look like it's going to be easy James." She commented after a while.

"I know." I replied, staring at the screen that displayed the entire Arena was on a lockdown. Things were going hot like Hugh predicted. For the third Arena to be in such a state meant they were hellbent on finding us.

"But I have to do it regardless, this is the only way to save ourselves and the others."

"Not I." She wriggled her head. "It's we."

I gave her a skeptical look.

"Although I don't trust Hugh much but I want to help. This isn't about us alone, It's about the entire contestants trapped in here. So you don't have to carry the burden alone." She said and I heaved a sigh of relief.

She smiled and I smiled too. We then stared at the TV in silence for a while.

"I still can't believe it, that I was able to escape from that shitty room. Everyday I had to bear with the dreadful match they played." She mumbled with her gaze still fixated at the screen.

"I couldn't even bring myself to watch it." I responded. She then stared at me.

"How did you escape in the first place?" She asked and at that moment, it felt like I had relieved the whole experience again. My lips began moving on their own and I didn't know when I started talking about everything. At the end, her jaw dropped as she stared in awe.

"You did all that by yourself?" She said more as a statement than a question and I just flashed her a tiny smile.

Her countenance fell as if she were suddenly bothered by something.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I was just--" her voice trailed off. "I mean, basically all of us lost hope in our rooms. I couldn't even think of a way out considering how tight the security was. I simply gave up and waited for death." She paused as she licked gazes with me again. "But you, you didn't give up. You struggled to find a way when there wasn't. I feel so disappointed in myself."

I stood close to her, refusing to keep my gaze off her.

"Don't blame yourself Eve because this isn't what you bargained for. None of us bargained for this." I said almost in a whisper.

"Truth be told, I didn't think I would have been able to muster enough courage to escape if not for my brother. And whether it was you or Dave, I was going to do the same." I mumbled.

"Let's just hope they're safe till the plan kicks in." She replied and I nodded.

"Yeah." I said and then stared at the screen again. "From the looks of it the Arena is going to be on high alert for until the time elapses."

"You think they'll find us?"

"No. I doubt that. Hugh was confident this place is completely out of their reach."

She sighed and then sat on one of the seats. Hours had passed and nothing had changed, except for the fact that we found a foldable bed in the only bunker that opened. Under a different circumstance, I could consider this place an apartment. I stared at Eve who was sleeping peacefully and my gaze returned to the Elevator. One of us had to keep watch. Even though this place was a safe place, that didn't mean I could let my guards down. No matter how tired I was. I said that to convince myself but a few minutes later, I was slowly drifting off. Drifting off until Eve screamed as she jolted awoke. My body jerked to life and I immediately left the Elevator side to her position.

"What happened?" I asked and she stared at me as if she had seen a ghost. Her breaths were coming out heavy and unsteady. Her body was faintly trembling and in a way, I was beginning to get scared.

"I- i--" she stammered, pulling her gaze off me and staring aimlessly across the floor.

"Take deep breaths." I said, placing my hand on her chest. "Deep breaths…." I muttered. "Deep breaths…" I said again until she was following my rhythm. Her breaths finally calmed and the look of horror in those eyes had slowly faded.

"I- I had a nightmare." She finally spoke and a heavy sigh escaped my breaths. I slowly pulled my hand off her chest.

"It's alright. You're safe." I said in a soft voice. "I'm with you." I assured her with a tiny smile. She grabbed my hand in a firm but gentle manner.

"Can you stay with me for a while?" Her voice trailed a whispery path.

"Sure." I nodded and I sat beside her on the bed. She leaned her head against my chest still grasping onto my hand. I wondered just how terrible her nightmare was to have shook her to this level. But it was bound to happen either way. The fact that we were on this Island with our lives hanging on a thin line was enough to give one nightmares. I couldn't even begin to count how many nightmares I've had.

"You know," she started. "Ever since I've been in this Arena, my nightmares keep getting worse. It's getting to the point that it is unbearable." She said and I heaved an inaudible sigh.

"I know that feeling." I whispered.

She exhaled deeply.

"When I had nightmares while I was young, I would usually cling to my parents like this. They would pat my hair and tell me it's alright, that I'm safe." She paused. "And maybe because I was their only child, But I refused to leave their shadow. Even when I was eighteen, I still treated myself like their little baby. But then nineteen came…" She heaved another heavy sigh. "And that's when I finally opened myself to reality. Their clinic was running out of business, there were so many responsibilities to take care of. I realized I was no longer a baby to pet. I was an adult and I needed to face the harsh reality of things." She paused again.

"And so, I decided to step out of their shadow. I decided I didn't want to be a liability but to help them. I didn't want their long running clinic to just have it's legacy ended like that. I was ready to face my own nightmares. And so, I took jobs that I could find. It wasn't big but it was at least something and then I was unfortunate to find this show's flyer. I mean who wouldn't jump at the idea of having a hundred million dollars." She sighed and I sighed too.

"And see where it ended me. I finally decided to step out of my parents' shadow and I ended up right in a living nightmare.

I'm sure they must be worried sick by now. They must miss me so much but little do they know that their little baby is trapped in hell. The nightmares they tried so hard to protect me from finally caught up with me. And this time, I wonder if I'll be safe. If I'll be able to survive this by myself." She sighed again and I gulped down my saliva.

"Sometimes I wonder if we'll be able to make it out of here alive. Sometimes I want to lose hope but then I remember you. No matter the adversity that you face, your hope never wavers. You give me strength and hope." She stopped while my heart picked a gradual pace.

"And I wonder James, what keeps you going? What keeps you driving?"

"My world." I answered. "You once asked why my brother and I joined this show. It wasn't the fact that I had interest in a reality show but because I'm just like you.

Just like you want to save your family's business, I want to save my family." I paused. "My little sister was diagnosed with cancer. It hasn't even been up to four years that we deserted our parents, we were barely living yet life had dealt such a fate to her. My brother and sister are my world and I didn't want that to be taken from me. So I took up the jobs that I could find and like you, I was unfortunate to find the flyer. Even though things have turned out like this, I'm not going to give up. If I die here, it means my sister dies. I won't be able to forgive myself even in death. And that's why, no matter what it takes, I have to live. I have to live to save those that I care about." My lips finally stopped moving and her grip on me wasn't that hard anymore.

"To all of us who came here, we had dreams. I'm not going to allow some bunch of psychos to let our dreams fade." I muttered with a sudden courage growing within me.

"James."

"Yes?"

"It's a promise, we're going to survive this together."

I nodded with a tiny smile gracing my lips.

"Yes. It is." I ascertained.

The Elevator suddenly pinged. Eve and I briskly arose, staring at Hugh who stepped in hurriedly.

"Oh, did I interrupt something?" He asked but I frowned. There was something off about him.

"No. You didn't." Eve answered and he stared at both of us with skeptical looks.

My frown went even deeper and only then did he come off it.

"How's the lockdown going?" I asked and he went to his desk. Sitting down in a tired manner.

"Good." He answered. Eve and I stared at each other with confused expressions.

"Good?" I queried, approaching his desk.

He shot me a nervous smile.

"I think we might have a slight problem."

"The last time you told me SLIGHT, it was actually much bigger." I retorted and he sighed.

"I'm serious, there's nothing much to worry about." He gestured but his lie was obvious.

"Hugh, I can tell just by the look on your face something big has happened." I said while Eve nodded in affirmation.

He sighed again and then his eyes stared around the floor aimlessly as if he were searching for the right words.

"Okay, the thing is," he started, glancing between Eve and I.

"Grace is here." He said in a deep baritone causing Eve and I to stare at each other like dumbfounded beings.

"Who is Grace?" Eve and I asked at the same time.

"Well, she's the right hand person of Mr. E and let me just say this," he paused. "She's bad news." He muttered in that tone again and this time, his voice grounded fear in my heart.

"Why is she here?" Eve asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Two contestants has escaped right under them. Their security has been compromised and anything could happen." He answered and I gulped down my saliva.

"So what's happening now?" I dared to ask and he sighed again. I wouldn't lie, the way he was behaving was beginning to make me restless and scared at the same time.

"Well," he gave that nervous expression.

"Hugh!"

"She's caught a whiff of us." He said.

"What do you mean?" Eve asked almost immediately.

"She suspects me and once Grace locks her target on someone, oh boy, it never ends well. At this point, it's only a matter of time before she finds out everything."

"What?! And you call this a slight problem?!" I yelled and he scratched the back of his head.

"How could you be so relaxed in this state? Who knows what she's going to do to us once they find us? What if they do something horrible to my brother or Dave because of us?!" I exclaimed exasperatedly and he sighed. This time, I found it annoying. My heart was literally beating like crazy and here he was, acting like it didn't bother him much.

"If you're acting this way then it means you have a counter plan." Eve calmly stated and he smiled.

"Yup!" He chirped. "Two plans actually." He went mute, staring at us as his suspense went on.

"Firstly, we're going to shut down the Third Arena tomorrow and today," he paused.

"We're going to kill Grace."