Game Of Survival

Chapter 29

HUGH

"All personnel are to be on guard. All personnel are to be on guard." Was the directive the speaker in the hallway gave as the alarm blared. The lights were red, constantly switching on and off.

"On guard my ass!" I grumbled as I walked past the security guards in the hallway. All of them seemed to be moving Helter skelter. No doubt, they were trying their best to find the guy who ran away. Others were definitely bothered but I was happy. For the first time, someone had finally outsmarted these dumb people. And whoever this person was, I hoped I could meet this person sometime. He would only make my plan simpler.

I scoffed as the directive said again. I placed my ID card on the scanner imprinted on my door. And as I sauntered in, I almost yelped seeing one of the damned guards in my office. But something was definitely off! I briskly looked around and I saw the air vent in my office had been damaged. Without a doubt, this was the person that escaped. I felt a splinter of excitement light within me but I quickly shook that feeling off.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear the directive? We're checking every room for the escapee. I'm just here to inspect." He answered and I heaved a light sigh.

"Well, as you can see, he's not here. But why is that damaged?" I muttered whilst pointing at the damaged air vent.

He looked up there and then back at me.

"I think he travelled through that hole. We should be able to find out where it leads to." He answered.

"Okay. Please do your best." I said while I went to my swivel seat. I inspected the desk carefully to check for anything amiss but there wasn't.

"Thank you for your cooperation. Please be on guard and if you find anything suspicious, do tell us." He answered and then threaded towards the door.

I watched him carefully as he proceeded and my hypothesis was true. The fact that I had met him so early was exciting enough but that didn't mean I should lose focus. There was still much to do at hand.

"You know, I know you're contestant three hundred. James Hendrix." I said and he froze immediately.

"If you go out there right now, you'll only get caught. I can help you." I said and I saw his hands move towards one of the pouches by his waistline.

"And before you hit me with a stun gun, you should think carefully about the choice you make." I remarked and he turned sharply at me.

"You don't know that." He replied.

"Oh I'm a hundred percent sure." I smirked.

"Please don't joke at a time like this Sir." He replied and then headed for the door again.

"I'm not joking because the only person who has access to my office is me. Not even your ID card can open my door. So how did you magically enter?" I retorted and he pulled out his stun gun, aiming it at me without a second thought.

"Like I said earlier, I want to help you."

"Shut up!" He raised his voice against mine.

"You're wasting your time James. Any minute from now, the guards will start knocking on my door." I paused. "I can help you escape."

"Why should I trust you?" He asked, still aiming his gun at me.

"That's because you're not the only who wants to treat this damned people f**k up." I responded.

"And you think that's enough for me to believe you? What if you're trying to lead me to a trap?" He queried.

"Beneath this desk, there's an underground room for you to hide until the whole fiasco dies down." I said.

"That doesn't answer my question. Why are you helping me? Why should I trust you?!" He almost barked, I could see his hands trembling.

I heaved a light sigh.

"That's because I was--" I stopped midway as someone knocked on the door. He glanced between the door and I.

"So what do you say?" I asked with my brows arched upwards. This time, he didn't even think twice before accepting. And so I tapped a button underneath my desk. The desk moved forward slowly revealing the cold metal floor. The floor slid open revealing a small room designed like an elevator. Little did he know it was an elevator. He quickly sauntered in while the door's knock intensified.

"Mr. Hugh, are you in there?" The voice pronounced behind the door. Once I was sure everything was back in order, I went for my door, opening it only to see a guard before me.

"I'm here for an inspection. One of the contestants has escaped--"

"Yeah yeah. I know. I've received his details and I'll alert the security department in case I spot him. Now if you don't mind, i'd love to return to my work now." I muttered and he nodded.

"Alright Mr. Hugh." He said before parting away. As I closed the door behind me, I stared at my desk. Now then, it was time to set an operation to destroy the third Arena in motion.

**

JAMES

It's been an hour now I was stuck in this dimly lit underground room. And now that I was thinking clearly, I realized I was a fool. This could be a trap, yet I trusted him and ended up here. At that time I couldn't even think straight and thanks to the knock on his door, I just made a reckless decision. Time was going and I didn't even know if my brother had survived or not. The worst part was not even knowing how long I was going to stay here for. Or where this whole antic of his was going to lead me. Be it a trap or not, I wasn't going to get caught after getting this far. But then again, I couldn't help but think of his statement. What did he mean by helping me? Why was a worker for this show willing to go this far for me? I kept asking myself but I couldn't land a reasonable answer.

I was still deliberating when the room started moving. I tried to grab something but there was nothing in sight. The room was descending and My heart thumped like it was going to explode. Why was the room descending? Was my fears confirmed? That this was a trap. Even if it was, how was I going to escape?!

More and more questions sprung until the room suddenly stopped moving. The light became brighter and I could see clearly, there were twin doors tightly shut against each other. A pinging sound blared and the doors slid apart. Opening to reveal a larger room that was dimly lit in red lights. I could barely see anything clearly but I knew it was empty except for chairs and desks and I somewhat felt that feeling of safety. Nevertheless, I wasn't going to let my guard down. I took deep breaths before taking the bold step. As I sauntered into the larger room, the doors closed immediately and I watched it ascend. What the hell was going on?! My mind literally yelled.

I was still in the midst of confusion when another pinging sound occurred and an elevator descended to the other side of the room. I frowned and I took a protective stance. Aiming my stun gun at whoever was going to come out from the Elevator.

It opened eventually and it was him. The same man who helped me. He was smiling but I maintained my stance regardless.

"Please drop that gun." He asked courteously as the doors closed behind him.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" I queried sharply and he tucked his hands into his suit pockets.

"I'm Hugh Ackerman. I work in the IT department of the third Arena." He answered calmly.

"So why are you helping me? What is this place you've brought me to?" I asked.

"This is a safe place. It is an underground room enough to keep you from the guards searching for you." He answered.

"You haven't answered my other question."

He heaved a light sigh and then he walked to the desk by my right. I kept my aim on him. For all I knew, he could be planning a sneak attack on me.

"Why don't we sit?" He gestured to the metal chairs but my expression was enough to show just how willing I was to indulge him.

"Okay then." He moved away from the desk and slowly threaded towards me.

"Stay back or else I'll shoot." I quoted and he stopped with a tiny smile gracing his face.

"Answer me." I ordered and he sighed.

"Why am I doing this?" He asked himself. "Like I said before, I want to bring these people down. I want this f*****g show to end." He answered.

"So I'm supposed to believe that someone who works in a critical department of the third Arena wants to revolt against his company?"

"Yes."

"Are you f*****g kidding me right now?"

"After all you've experienced right now, do you think anyone is in the mood to c***k jokes?"

"All the more reason, I want you to stop messing with me and tell me why I'm here!"

"That's because I've participated in this show before." He answered and I gasped. I stared at him, the look he had on his face proved he wasn't lying. But then again, I couldn't believe him just by the look on his face.

"And I'll have you know that, I was the winner of the Omega Show five years ago." He added and my frown went even deeper.

"I don't believe you." The words came out in oblivion.

"For someone who participated in this deadly show, how come you're here? Working for these people?"

He heaved a light sigh.

"It's kind of complicated but let's just say they noticed my talent and they gave me the choice to join them."

"So you decided to join them. Do you realize how many lives have been lost?" I toned in an irritated manner and his sme faded.

"I know and trust me I've seen more lives taken than you've ever seen on this Island." He replied.

"So why then?!" I raised my voice slightly from the anger quelling in me. At this point, I wasn't going to mind if it acted on instincts and tased him.

"Revenge. Revenge James." He answered and I could see anger replacing that calm look once painted on his face.

This man only drowned me further in my sea of confusion.

"I was just as clueless as you were when I first joined the show. I thought it was a reality show like they called it but then we arrived at this Island out of the blue. And just like that, the blood war started." He paused as his breaths came out heavy.

"This show took the lives of my friends and my brother." He said and on impulse, I slowly dropped my gun from his face.

"Call me stupid or anything you want. I took this job up because I wanted revenge. I was going to be the agent of change and end this bloody show. Although that was five years ago." He paused. "I've been slowly building my way up, scheming a perfect plan and then, you suddenly escaped." He smiled for a brief moment.

"Do you know you're the first person to ever escape in the third Arena?" His words came out more as a statement than a question.

"And the fact that you escaped proves you might be that reckoning force that could turn this place upside down."

"As much as I want to destroy this place, I can't. All I want is for my friends, my brother and I to escape from this damned place." I replied.

"Unfortunately, that's not going to work. At least for now." He said and I frowned.

"You were able to escape but that doesn't mean it's possible for your friends and brother. If you want them to escape, you'll need to bring this third Arena down. And for that, you would need a plan. For a plan, you will need me." He explained.

"I saved you because I know you'll be useful. So I'm going to give you two choices now. First, I'll allow you to leave this place and then you can find your way out. That is if you survive. The second one, why don't you join me and take this place down once and for all. Think about it carefully."

I heaved a light sigh. Even though I barely knew anything about Hugh, I felt the need to trust him. And without taking any thoughts into consideration further, I made up my mind.

"What's your plan?"