Game Of Survival

Chapter 37

JAMES

"What?! Are you nuts in the head?!" Eve and I exclaimed at the same time. He nodded with a proud smile anchored on his face.

"I may be nuts but this is the only logical way out."

"No, it's not! This is you being illogical!" I exclaimed.

"We're talking about Mr. E's right hand here, not some random person!" Eve muttered.

"Yup!" He asserted in a nonchalant manner.

"No this is wrong. This is so wrong on so many levels. The Third Arena is on lockdown, the security is as tight as ever. Going out there to make such a move is only going to get us caught!" I explained with a sharp frown but the look on his face showed he wasn't buying my words at all. He had already made up his mind and it wasn't up for discussion.

"Hugh for goodness sake, this is a bad idea!"

"If we don't kill her now it would only be to our detriment. You have no idea who this woman is. I've worked with her for five years now. I know what she's capable of. Once she gets hold of her prey there's no escaping it. Right now, she suspects me. She's as cunning as ever and I know right now she's currently keeping tabs on me. Sooner or later, she's going to find out and that means our plans will all go to s**t hole!" He explained. Even though I saw the reasoning in his words, I still couldn't bring myself to agree with him. Maybe because of the fact that I didn't want my hands stained with blood again or the fact that she held a very high position that could bring wrath upon us.

"Let's assume we agree with you, do you have any idea what's going to happen to us? Surely, Mr. E wouldn't sit idle and watch."

"Exactly!" He gestured in a grand manner. "That's why we're going to shut down the Arena completely hours from now."

Eve and I stared at each other with fearful gazes. We both knew there was no way out. His reasoning was definitely extreme but it was still worth considering.

"James remember what I told you the first time we talked about the plan." His voice jolted me away from my thoughts.

I exhaled deeply with my palms curled into a fist.

"That there were going to be some casualties." I mumbled with gritted teeth.

"And this is just one of them." He interjected. "Don't forget these people are the same ones that brought you here to die. They killed your friends just for entertainment, they're merciless and have no conscience or whatsoever." He paused as he arose, approaching us. "You shouldn't hesitate to get your hands dirty towards these people. They deserve death over and over again." This time I could feel anger blaring in his tone. His nonchalant look had faded into rage. It reminded me of the first time he talked about his experience when he was still a contestant. My grip grew even tighter, his words had sparked anger and resentment in me. He was right, I shouldn't be hesitating towards these people.

"You're right. Let's kill that b***h!" I muttered, he glanced at Eve and I did too. She wasn't any different either.

"Good." He commented. "Now we're on the same page."

"So how do we go about it? What's the plan?" She asked and he exhaled.

"The both of you shouldn't worry about that. After all, you're not going to be the ones to carry out that job."

"Who's going to do it then?" I asked.

"You're looking at the guy." He remarked and I frowned.

"You?" I mumbled and he nodded.

"How are you even going to pull it off? You say she's keeping tabs on you, which means extra scrutiny is going to be placed on you."

"I know that. But I have to do this myself. I have scores to settle with her." He replied and then walked past us towards one of the lockers. The one he went to was the one Eve and I couldn't access earlier. He slipped out a small black card from his pocket and then placed it on the scanner imprinted on the locker.

It pinged open and my eyes widened in awe. I wiped my eyes to ascertain my eyes weren't deceiving me and indeed they weren't. There were guard uniforms and weapons loaded in the locker and he simply pulled out a uniform.

"You're going to disguise yourself as a guard?" Eve asked.

"Indeed." He affirmed.

"Aren't they going to see through it? Besides, this doesn't look like a flawless plan." I said.

"I know. This isn't the plan alone." He said and then he pulled out two uniforms before tossing them to us. I gripped the warm material while my mind raced with several burning questions, he wasn't going to ask us to join him, was he?

"I'm going to cause a distraction. And when I say distraction, I'm saying a major one. I'm going to cause an explosion and a gas leak in the lower in the upper compartment of the Arena. It's basically going to affect almost every part except the contestants' hallways and room. They'll be safe. They'll want to stop it and at the same time, evacuate all personnel to a safe place. I estimate it's going to take at least three hours to evacuate all personnels alone.

Amidst all the troubles, I'll disguise myself as a guard and then pretend to evacuate Grace. It's at that moment I'm going to make my move." He finished. Eve and I went dumbstruck. I couldn't depict what was running in her mind but as for me, I was thinking about the whole thing. If it were really flawless as he claimed.

"Even if the contestants' rooms will be safe, that doesn't mean they'll neglect us. They might try to evacuate them too." I noted after a while.

"You're right James, that's where you guys come in. This is the part where we implement the operation to shut down the Third Arena."

I frowned and he exhaled for a brief moment.

"I presume with these uniforms you want us to disguise ourselves as guards too. But we barely know the in and out of the Arena." I replied.

"That's why once I'm done with my task, I'm going to return to this place and guide you guys using the short range communicator." He answered. "I know you guys might be having doubts and feeling anxious about the whole thing. The people I have in the security department are supposed to be the ones doing this but they're currently under investigation right now."

"So we're going to have to do this by ourselves." Eve said and he nodded yet again.

"And considering the distraction I set up, nobody would really be focused on the cameras and security. The moment I return, you guys will have to begin. Apart from guiding you guys," he said as he walked to the desk, opening his laptop. "I'm going to hack into the system again and make the Contestants hall inaccessible. Mind you," he paused as his gaze returned to us. "I can only keep that place locked for about thirty minutes."

"Which means we only have about thirty minute to carry out the entire plan." Eve commented.

"Exactly."

"But you told me the power supply area is always guarded and that only the top ranking personnel in this Arena have access to that place." I interjected.

"Yeah but now our situation has come to this, it means we'll have to improvise on our plan. I'll try my best to gain access to that place, although it's going to be strenuous as hell but I have to give it a try."

"Okay, and what about the guards?" I asked.

He gave me a nervous expression.

"You guys will have to handle that part yourselves."

"What?" Eve pitched. "You want us to fight them? The two of us only."

"Well it isn't the two of you alone." He wore a mischievous smile.

"You two are going to meet an old acquaintance." He quoted while Eve and I stared at each other in confusion.

"And who is this old acquaintance?" I asked.

"Dave." He grinned and my eyes exclaimed for a brief moment.

"You're kidding right?" Eve quoted.

"Have I ever cracked a joke?"

"Well no, that's why we're hoping you're joking Hugh." I interjected and he frowned.

"Why?"

"We're talking about Dave here. Dave of all people. Apart from the part he's still recuperating, that guy is hardly any reliable when it comes to things like this." I said.

"Yeah, he's a chicken. And without a doubt, he'll prefer to stick to his bed than agree to our plan."

"Then that means he's ready to die." He replied and I remembered those annoying moments when Dave whined about how he didn't want to die and all.

"Certainly No." Eve responded.

"Then you two should better find a way to convince that chicken of yours. Unless, you'll have to abduct him."

"How are we even going to reach him in the first place?" I asked.

"He's still at the clinic. The guards will try to evacuate them too, it's at that moment the both of you will act. I'm sure you understand what I mean right?"

Eve and I nodded as we stared at each other.

"And after that, we'll do things according to plan. Shut down the generator and activate the EMP. After that, you guys have to leave as soon as possible. You'll have to use the emergency exit in that room. Because," he paused for a while. "This Arena is going to burn to the ground."

We nodded again but a word didn't leave our mouths.

"What about you?" Eve asked.

"After the EMP is activated, wouldn't you be locked in this place?"

He heaved a deep sigh and I frowned slightly.

"I already have that figured out." He smiled but something about that smile was superficial.

"How?" I asked with a pressuring gaze but he refused to say anything.

"You're not planning on getting yourself trapped here, are you?" I queried.

"Of course not."

"Then how are you planning to escape?"

He went mute again and I knew it had a hidden meaning.

"Hugh what are you going to do?"

"I already told you, you shouldn't worry about that." He insisted and then he began wearing his uniform. I didn't know why but I had a strange feeling whatever he was hiding was up to no good.

"You guys should dress up too, we don't have all the time in the world." He quoted and I heaved a heavy sigh.

"You're not doubting this plan are you?" He asked me.

"Maybe a bit. I know some parts are flawless but I can't help but feel uneasy. What if some things don't go our way?" I said with another sigh following suit.

"James." He said while he paused midway. "This plan is completely foolproof."

"How are you so sure?" Eve asked.

He smiled and in a way it relieved me.

"Because this is the first time something like this is happening. Think about it, for ten years now this Arena has been standing. Never for once and nobody is expecting it to be shaken anytime soon.

A major incident like this is going to disorient them, they'll be clueless on how to go about things because this is the first time something disastrous is happening." He paused with a devilish smile lifting the corner of his lips. "It's time for them to suffer."

Another sigh escaped my breaths and a tiny smile graced my lips. I gasped the uniform tighter and I started with the trousers first. My heart was beating like crazy and I wouldn't deny that my body trembled occasionally. But it wasn't out of fear, it was excitement. Or maybe it wasn't that, perhaps it was the fact that I was finally going to escape from his hell hole. We were finally going to see the daylight or the moonlight.

There was hope, if we could escape this Arena, then there was certainly a way out of this Island!

After a while we were fully dressed but we hadn't worn our masks yet.

"Alright guys," Hugh said, flashing us a smile as he stood before us.

"Let the fun begin." He quoted while he stretched his hand for a fist bump.

"Let's raze this place down." Eve and I bumped fists too.