Game Of Survival

Chapter 33

MIRA

"….for today's contest, our contestants are Contestant one hundred and sixty nine and Contestant two hundred!" Mr. E declared.

My eyes squinted at the TV, this was another abrupt change to the match fixtures. As at yesterday, it was supposed to be contestant one hundred and three versus contestant two hundred fifty nine. But this morning, the match fixtures suddenly changed. My eyes exclaimed for a brief moment at the picture of contestant two hundred displaying.

"Eve Finley." I muttered to myself. If I could recall correctly, I've seen this face before. I tapped my head lightly in hopes that I could remember. My eyes exclaimed and I gasped as the memory finally returned. She was in James' group, the same people Mr. E had ordered me to save from the hands of Gabriel.

"What are you up to? Mr. E." I asked myself as I kept staring at the screen. First it was James' brother and now, her. There was only one meaning I could give to these abrupt changes. Something had definitely happened. No matter how much my curiosity peaked, I couldn't inquire about anything now. I still needed to watch the order of things carefully before making a move.

My focus returned to the TV and there she was, climbing the stage with a fearful look anchored on her face. The camera briefly focused on her opponent and just one glance at him, I knew Eve was a goner. There was no way she was going to survive or even think of beating a monstrous guy like this. I heaved a heavy sigh, even though I didn't want to, I was bothered about her. Somehow, I wish I could save her or some kind of miracle happens.

The screen suddenly went blank, I stared in awe for a few moments. Was it my TV or the problem was from their side? I didn't think much about it, I stretched my hand across the king-size bed, picking up the short range communication device I was given.

"Theodore," I called. He was the personal guard assigned to me.

"Do you need anything Mira?" He answered.

"Yeah. I think my TV has an issue." I responded.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." He replied while I dropped the device back. I looked at the Screen again but it was still the same thing. Every second counts at this moment, I'm sure Eve's match had begun and I didn't want to miss any part of it.

My door slid open and a guard dressed in black with a mask on his face sauntered in.

"Can you at least drop that mask when you're with me." I stated with a tiny smile and he exhaled before pulling the mask off. There was a tiny smile on his face too. If we had met under a completely different circumstance, perhaps we might have fallen for each other.

"So what's wrong with my TV? And aren't you supposed to bring an engineer or something?"

He stared at the screen and his smile faded.

"Your TV is perfectly okay." He simply said.

"So what's the problem then? I need to watch that match badly, you know."

He went mute, unable to look me in the eye.

"You're hiding something."

"No I'm not." He said but his eyes flinched.

"Theodore." I called with an imposing look. "You don't need to hide anything from me, it's not like the information would be useful to me anyways."

With that, he finally looked me in the eyes.

"We have a major problem." He said with a sigh following suit.

I glanced at the screen which suddenly displayed a message.

"Due to some unknown errors in service, all matches have been postponed until after forty eight hours."

My gaze returned to Theodore.

"I'm sure you know what's happening here."

"Uhmm…" He stuttered as if he were trying to pick his words carefully.

"Theodore…"

"Fine." He sighed again. "Yesterday, James Hendrix, Contestant three hundred, escaped from his room. It was about the time when his brother was on the battleground."

My eyes widened instantly and my heart started racing like sports cars. I felt so much anxiousness brewing within me. I didn't know why I was feeling this way but I was certainly happy hearing that.

"But that's not possible." I said. "The security here is tight."

"I know. But he did. And it still amazes me up till now."

"How did he do it?"

"According to the report I got, he damaged the cameras and the TV in his room and then somehow, he pretended to be unconscious before beating the guard and engineer in his room. He then changed into one of the guards' uniforms and escaped."

"So have you found him?" I asked dearly hoping the answer was a no.

"No." He replied with a sigh. "We've tried every method, we even tried using the tracker in him but it was all to no avail. It's like he's not even in the Arena at all."

"Really?" I said with a sharp frown. But I found it baffling too. How was he able to escape their clutches easily?

"Surely, all these weren't by his own doing alone."

He nodded.

"We had that theory but we couldn't confirm it, so Mr. E gave the order. Since Eve Finley was among his group, he must definitely care about her. So we wanted to use her to lure him out but…" His voice trailed off. "Things went the other way instead."

"What do you mean?"

"The sudden loss in service you experienced just now wasn't your TV but because someone hacked the Arena."

My jaw dropped but deep inside I was experiencing another whole feeling on it's own. I was both excited and dazzled.

"You're kidding right?"

"I wish I was."

"How is it possible, I thought you told me the Third Arena was completely untouchable."

"That's what we all thought until a few minutes ago." He sighed again. "The moment Eve Finley climbed the stage, we lost control over the battle stage completely. The cameras, lights, everything, we were completely cut off."

"What about the guards? There are usually about two of them who are always present during the battle."

"Apparently, they went out of commission."

"I don't understand."

"I mean they were knocked unconscious just like the other contestant."

"Other contestant?" I queried. "So what happened to Eve?"

He glanced at me with a deeply worried expression. My heart started picking pace again.

"She didn't die, did she?" I dared to ask. He wriggled his head.

"She escaped and just like James, we're unable to find her too." He answered and I almost smiled.

"So what's going to happen now?"

"I heard the supervisor in charge of this Arena is putting the entire place on lockdown for forty eight hours." He answered. I frowned.

"Is that bad?"

"A bit. The security is going to be much tighter than usual. It might even affect the contestants. I'm not sure you'll even get to see me usually like you do. The moment they find those two, I pity their fate." He asserted and I heaved a heavy sigh.

"Anyways, I need to take my leave now. Things are only going to get heated now." He mumbled and I nodded. As he reached the door, he stopped and smiled at me.

"You shouldn't worry much Mira, everything is going to get back to order very soon." He assured me and then stepped out of the room. As the door closed behind him, a smile crept to my face. For the first time, things weren't going their way. Now I finally understood what Mr. E meant by James is a special contestant just like us. For someone to single handedly pull off his own escape and even save Eve Finley from danger, it seemed like there was still hope for all of us. There was also another thing, whoever was helping James, definitely harbours the same hatred for these people.

Either way, if there was any chance I was going to meet James again, I would definitely stick to him without thinking twice. But for now, let's see how long things play out. Would James and Eve survive the Forty eight hours lockdown? And what was Mr. E going to do if he failed?

My smile deepened. Things were definitely about to take an interesting turn.

**

JAMES

"Eve!" I yelled the moment the elevator opened.

"James?" She muttered with a confused expression.

I didn't think twice, I ran towards her, embracing her like my life depended on it.

"Thank goodness, you're safe. I thought I was going to lose you." I mumbled in our embrace and she hugged me tighter.

"It's really you. I'm glad you're okay too. I really am." She said, Hugh suddenly cleared his throat and only then did I realize there was someone else in the room with us. We separated from each other and I turned to the back, facing the man who masterminded Eve's safety.

"Who is he?" Eve asked in a whisper. She stuck closely with me and I could tell she was ready to attack.

"Hi!" Hugh smiled as he waved at her. "Now before you kill me with that frown of yours, I'm a friend not an enemy." He said. Eve looked at me and I nodded in assertion. Only then did she loosen up a bit.

"Eve meet Hugh, the man who saved you." I mumbled and she frowned. Hugh on the other hand smiled.

"Well I really didn't do much."

"Stop joking around. He saved you Eve." I mumbled.

"Why?" Eve asked. "Why would you help me? Are you the one who helped James escape?"

"Okay okay, hold your horses Eve before you start raining me with questions." He cut her off. He heaved a light sigh before his lips began moving again.

"Firstly, James escaped solely by himself and if I'm being honest, I'm truly impressed at the way he did it."

"So why are you helping him?"

"We met by chance." He answered. "And after that, we became partners. You could say we share the same goal, at least for now."

She looked at me and then back at him.

"I don't believe you. If I'm not wrong, you know the inside out of this building which is why I escaped easily. Which means that you're not a contestant like us but you work for them."

"Indeed." He nodded with an innocent smile and I wondered if he should be acting so nonchalant.

"I work in the IT department of this Arena."

Her body stiffened again.

"Why would someone who is working for those bastards want to help us?" She questioned in an angry tone.

"Just because I work for them doesn't mean I'm like them." He stated in a stern manner but I could pick faint traces of anger in his tone.

"Just like you guys, I want to punish these people so badly. I want to destroy them and that is why I'm helping you guys." He added while he slipped his hands into his pocket.

She went mute and then came silence, dawning on us. We did nothing but stare at each other.

"I should at least thank you for saving me but, I don't know why I can't." She said.

"You don't need to. You've gone through so much already and I understand if you don't trust me." He said. "Anyways," he pulled his hand out to check his watch.

"I need to take my leave now. Things are going to get hot from now and I don't want to drag any suspicions towards me."

He muttered while he walked past us towards the elevator.

He stopped as he clicked the elevator button, smiling at us.

"No matter what happens, the both of you should stay here. I'll be back. I don't know when but I will." He said and I nodded before he sauntered into the Elevator.

As the doors closed Eve turned to me again.

"I don't trust him." She said. "I think we should run."

I smiled.

"It's alright Eve. He's on our side and I trust him. To some extent at least."

She hugged me again.

"I'm just so relieved, so happy you're alive James. I was scared, so scared." She whispered.

I hugged her back.

"Don't worry, things are only going to get better for us henceforth."

"What do you mean?" She asked as she looked up to me.

I smiled again, not because of what I had in mind but because of the relief I felt. That she was safe and unharmed.

"We're going to shut down the third Arena."