Game Of Survival

Chapter 39

HUGH

"So you've been planning to kill me all along."

"No." I wriggled my head. "You brought this upon yourself the moment you stepped into this Arena."

"You of all people should know Hugh!" She yelled with tears faintly hinting in her eyes. "We can't oppose the authorities. No matter how hard you try, it's fruitless. Killing me would do you no good."

"You think I don't know that, it's such a shame you wouldn't be alive to see the fall of this highly appraised Arena."

"No! Please." She begged while tears freely trickled down.

"Oh, so you can beg. The arrogant, cold b***h can beg!" I growled. "What happened to that devilish grin you used to have when you killed the contestants like animals?" I pressured the gun tighter and she trembled. Begging me like her life depended on it.

"Please Hugh! Please let me go!"

"I will." I flashed her a smile and she gasped, a new hope glistened in her eyes. "I will free you from this hateful reality. I hope you have a nice life in hell."

Her hope faded instantly and at that moment, I pressed the trigger.

****

MR E.

"Mr. E!" A Lady barged into my room and I frowned immediately. Closing my laptop and studying her horrified expression carefully.

"What is it?" I queried sharply.

"We have a big problem!" She acclaimed and my heart skyrocketed with crazy thumping. It was just as I expected, my fears were confirmed.

I kept staring at her, beckoning her to keep talking but she was hesitating. Her lips were twitching and her eyes were expressing nothing but fear. It only made things worse for me. This kind of suspense wasn't something I could keep up with tonight.

"For f***s sake let it out!" I almost banged my fist on the desk.

"There's a major fire outbreak and a gas explosion in the third Arena." She stuttered and my eyes went wide open. My breaths refused to come out and my jaw dropped.

"What did you just say?" I asked ven though I heard her clearly.

She stammered but no reasonable words could tour out.

"How the hell did something like this happen?!" I barked as I arose abruptly. She flinched.

"I can't really explain it Sir. No one can." She responded with her gaze directed to the floor.

"Are you shitting me right now?!" I yelled again, dashing to my coat rack.

"You all are just bunch of idiots! You never seem to get anything right. Damn it!" I grumbled while wearing my suit jacket hurriedly.

"That's not all, Mr. E." She said and I paused midway.

"What?!" I queried sharply with a slight tremble in my voice.

She was hesitating again and my palms curled into a fist.

"For goodness sake! Stop giving me this kind of suspense!"

"S-sir…" She stammered, occasionally stealing glances at me.

"I'm losing my patience!" I growled.

"Grace is dead."

At that moment, my heart stopped.

"W-what did you just say?" I stammered, dearly hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me.

"Grace is dead, Mr. E." She repeated.

"Shut up." I toned icily. "That's a lie." I said in disbelief.

"She was murdered."

My eyes widened, I felt numb in my legs that I almost collapsed. My body started shivering as if cold was storming my entirety. Grace's face flashed before my eyes, her smile. Suddenly it felt like I had entered a trance, I reminisced about the moments we shared together. It was all the more reason my conviction strengthened. It wasn't true. She couldn't just die like that!

"Get out." I said.

"Mr. E?"

"Get out!!" I roared and she stormed out of my room. My palms curled into a fist and my teeth gnashed against each other. My eyes glowered as it bored hole into the floor. I wriggled my head, trying to convince myself further. But there was no point staying here boiling in rage. Without thinking further, I stormed out of my room. I boarded a helicopter that flew to the Third Arena. This ruckus wasn't any small problem. It was one that required my presence. As soon as the helicopter landed, I briskly stepped out. The supervisor was already waiting for me and his countenance said it all. Just how terrified he was.

"Mr. E!" He pitched in a nervous manner as I briskly approached him.

"You fat bastard!" I growled, gripping his collar so his face came close to mine. "How could you let this happen?!" I barked. "What the hell is going on in the Arena?! Where's Grace?!"

"Mr. E… Please calm down. Right now we need to focus on how to get out of this dire situation!" He pleaded but his words only phased past my ears.

"I said what happened to Grace?!" I yelled.

And he went mute. It was really true. My fears were confirmed. She was gone just like that.

"Mr. E, we need you to calm down. The Third Arena is in danger as we speak, the situation is out of our control." Solomon, the head guard muttered as he joined us. I didn't even spare him a glance. My focus was clearly set on the supervisor.

"Who killed her?" I asked with gritted teeth.

He remained quiet regardless and my grip on his collar tightened.

"Who killed her?!" I barked.

"W-we…" The supervisor stammered but he wasn't giving a reasonable answer.

"Answer me!"

"We don't know." Solomon completed his sentence for him.

My frown deepened and I felt a heavy pang in my chest.

"What caused it? The explosion." I asked with gritted teeth.

"We don't know either Mr. E." Solomon answered and I dropped The supervisor. My chest heaved up and down and my head could barely think straight. But this wasn't the time to get emotional. More than ever, I needed to be on my best behavior. If not for anything but Chief Cyrus.

"Let's get inside." I said and we began marching inside. The moment I stepped inside, I was welcomed with nothing but the chaos happening. The guards were running Helter skelter, there was tension reeking from almost every personnel. I exhaled deeply, this was the terrible state the Arena had fallen to. And if it continued at this pace, things were going to get much worse.

We soon got to one of the offices in the safe space and I there they were. Different personnel from the IT department and others I really didn't pay attention. They were keeping keen attention on the status of the Arena. I stared at the large screen before us, displaying the current status of the Arena. The top compartment was completely engulfed in fire and the gas leak was slowly going out of control. The contestants compartment seemed to be safe. At least for now.

"My goodness..." I muttered. "Is this the best you guys can do?! If we let this continue an explosion is going to happen before the morning dawns. What about the fire fighters, the gas leak, aren't they doing anything about it?!"

"The firefighters are trying their possible best Mr. E. We're walking on the gas leak too but it just so happens that the leak is appearing in several places. It's going to take a while." The Supervisor answered.

"How is this even possible?" I lamented and they wriggled their head too. "It's very apparent this is something preordained. Something this magnanimous can not suddenly happen by coincidence." I said and they began nodding in assertion.

"You're right Mr. E but we don't think this is the work of the contestants that escaped." Solomon said and I squinted my eyes on the screen.

"We haven't even found them yet." He added.

"Where's Grace?" I asked and they went mute for a while.

"We've kept her body in the morgue." The Supervisor finally answered.

"How did she die?" I queried.

"We -" The supervisor stammered again and I was beginning to feel anger and pain overwhelm me again.

"We found her in an elevator. She was shot in the head. The footage was hacked so we don't know who did it." Solomon completed the statement for him and my palms curled into a fist.

I leaned against the desk before me, trying to hold my tears back. All these was happening because of me. If I didn't save James Hendrix during the second stage, none of these calamities would have happened. I closed my eyes, trying to think clearly. I suddenly remembered the last time I spoke with Grace. Her talks about the suspects, especially Hugh Ackerman.

I frowned and my eyes searched around the crowd.

"Where's Hugh Ackerman?" I asked and they looked around.

"Hugh Ackerman?" Solomon asked.

"Yes. He works in the IT department. Where the hell is the head of the IT department?!" I blared and a middle aged man briskly approached me.

"Here I am Sir." He said.

"Where's Hugh Ackerman?" I asked.

"Hugh Ackerman! Hugh Ackerman!" The guards in the room yelled but no one answered.

I banged my fist on the table! Her suspicions were right all along. Hugh Ackerman was the traitor.

"Listen up!" I announced. "Hugh Ackerman is the traitor amongst us! I want eyes on him, I want him captured alive immediately!" I ordered and Solomon nodded.

"You heard him, let's get to work guys!" Solomon yelled and some of the guards in the room left immediately.

Solomon came to my side.

"Mr. E how are you so sure this Hugh Ackerman is the traitor?" He asked.

"Yeah, he's like a nobody in the IT department." The supervisor said.

"I see you guys have forgotten that Hugh Ackerman was the winner of the show five years ago." I said and they gasped.

"And it shouldn't come as a surprise he's the one who cause this mess. I'm sure he knows the whereabouts of James and Eve." I said.

"But why would he..." The supervisor asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Solomon answered. "Revenge obviously. Why would the higher ups hire someone like that in the first place?!" He grumbled.

"That higher up who hired him was me." I answered and they all rewarded me with a look of awe.

"I hate to say this but I think you've made a terrible mistake Mr. E." He remarked, letting out a harsh breath.

"Well now is not the time to start blaming who. We should be thinking of keeping this trouble at bay." I retorted. "And knowing that guy, he's no small man. He might look weak and feeble but his head is better than you all combined."

Solomon scoffed.

"That's not an exaggeration." The supervisor scorned Solomon. "Now I remember him clearly. If you remember the show five years ago, you'll know Mr. E isn't lying. That guy is one of the smartest people I've met on this Island."

"Then if it is like that, he might be behind Grace's death. He might be planning to do something bigger than we expect." The IT head quoted in fear and I took in a deep breath as I stared at the screen.

"What are you planning to do Hugh?" I asked myself in a whisper. "If we're going to catch him tonight, then we must think out of the box." I said.

"Bring me the Arena's blueprint." I ordered.