Game Of Survival

Chapter 44

JAMES

Although Dave didn't hear anything, telling him would definitely be a bad idea. It took him several minutes to convince him to be here. Who knows what might happen if he heard what Hugh said.

"Guys, what are you waiting for?!" Hugh's voice blared and I gulped down my saliva hoping my fears would be swallowed alongside. But it didn't, rather it overwhelmed me.

"Guys!" Hugh yelled again.

"Damn it, let's just do this s**t already!" I grunted whilst checking the analog watch on my wrist.

"Let's do what? I'm lost here." Dave queried.

"So we're doing it?" Eve asked with a concerned expression.

I nodded and she heaved a sigh.

"Okay Dave we're getting to the main part." She said.

"What is the main part?"

"We're going to shut down the generators and activate the EMP. We only have twenty minutes to do this or else we're gonna get caught." I said while I focused on the generators.

"And how are we going to do this?" He asked.

"You see those blue levers?" I pointed.

"Yeah?" He nodded.

"We're going to pull them down after a two minutes interval. We'll start from the top to the bottom." I explained.

"Okay okay okay, so what's going to happen next?" He asked.

"We'll switch that red lever over there." I pointed to the EMP. But before we do that Hugh is going to unlock this emergency exit door." I pointed to the door by my far left.

"And that's it?"

I gave Eve a brief glance. There was no way I was going to tell him there was a risk of getting electrocuted.

"Yeah, that's it. Every contestant will be released too." I nodded.

"Really?!" He smiled, rubbing his palms together.

"Then let's get to it." He said.

"I'll take the first generator, you'll take the second and Eve will take the last. I'll activate the EMP when Hugh gives me the signal." I explained and they both nodded. "Remember, be careful." I added.

"You guys can cut the chatter and skip to it. We don't have all the time in the world." Hugh said.

"Alright. Let's do this." I chirped with a light sigh following suit. Only then did we take steps towards the huge machines. I took the first one and the others took to their respective sides.

"Two minutes." I said and they nodded. My heart started thumping like crazy, my right hand trembled as I touched the first lever. It felt cold to my hand and I almost imagined myself getting electrocuted. But this wasn't the time to cower in fear and so, without further Ado, I pulled the first one down.

I immediately kept my gaze on my watch, waiting for the two minutes countdown to elapse. Once it did, I gripped the second one and I closed my eyes before pulling it down. The sound of the generator changed and it startled me. I quickly moved away but when nothing happened, I kept my gaze on my watch again. Waiting for another two minutes.

Once the time elapsed, I glanced at Dave and Eve for a brief moment before returning my gaze to the final lever. My hand trembling increased like never before. I gulped down my saliva and as I gripped it, I quickly pulled it down. I moved away sharply just to be safe but nothing happened. Except for the fact that all the led indicators on the generator went off and no sound was heard from it anymore.

"Looks like you did it." Dave chirped with a tiny smile gracing his face.

I nodded, feeling a bit of relief.

"It's your turn now, Dave. I'll check the time for you. Don't mess it up." I said. He didn't even wait for me to finish, he pulled the first one down.

Eve and I exchanged gazes. If only he knew the risks behind it, he wouldn't be so eager. An inaudible sigh escaped my breaths and I checked my watch, waiting for another two minutes.

And four minutes had passed, he had successfully turned off the second generator. And so far so good, no electric shocks have happened.

"I guess it's my turn now." Eve wore a tiny smile and I nodded. She moved to the lever and had her hand reached it, the guards were banging the door from outside.

"Hugh! I thought you said we had twenty minutes?!" I exclaimed.

"That's what I thought too. I didn't think I'd be losing control so soon."

"We haven't turned the third generator off yet!"

"I can see that, just focus on it. I'm sure the door can hold up for some minutes." He said but this wasn't the time to argue. I signalled to Eve to continue while Dave frowned.

"s**t are we going to get busted?!" He yelled in a shaky voice and I turned to the metallic door that was constantly vibrating from the mighty push it received outside.

"We better hope it holds out long enough." I said, unable to keep my entirety from trembling.

"Break the door for f**k sake!" We heard someone yell outside in a thunderous voice and their struggle intensified.

"James…" Dave called. I aimed my gun at the door immediately. My breaths were barely coming out steady, I couldn't even aim properly.

They started raining bullets at the door but the door didn't bulge regardless. There was one obvious thing, any moment from now, that door was going to collapse.

"I did it!" Eve suddenly pitched but nothing changed. The lights were still there and then I remembered the back up generator Hugh talked about. He said it would kick in when two generators were down.

"Great!" I chirped. "You take my position, I'll activate the EMP." I told her and she quickly moved away from the generator. I went to the red one, staring at the red lever.

"Hugh, are you ready?!" I asked but no answer came forth.

"Hugh?! Hugh!!" I yelled but it was still nothing.

"What's wrong?" Eve asked.

"Hugh's not answering." I responded.

"What?! At a crucial time like this!" Dave yelled.

"Hugh I'm about to activate the EMP, are you ready?!" I said again but I still got no answer. Fear began to overwhelm me again. My body started shivering as if cold was taunting it. I looked at the scared expressions imprinted on their faces and at the door that was going to fall any moment from now. This was definitely not the time for Hugh to disappear. Everything we risked hard for was going to end up a total failure!

"Hugh!!"