Game Of Survival

Chapter 6

JAMES

How the hell did I get here?!

The question kept lingering but it was hopeless. I couldn't find any reasonable answer.

My head wouldn't stop from raging with a headache. My senses were still dull and some part of my muscles hadn't recovered from numbness yet. There was also the occasional thumping in my chest. Mostly out of fear.

I tried to recall what happened again but everything went blank after I fell asleep on the bus. I wobbled to a stance, looking around in confusion. Before me was nothing but the waters gently waving towards the shore occasionally.

How was this possible? No matter how hard I tried to calm myself down, my fears only skyrocketed. And there was my brother too, I'd been calling his name but it was evident I was speaking to the breeze. Something had definitely gone wrong. I don't think something like this was part of the plan.

"Daniel!!" I yelled again but it was hopeless. I turned to my back. Few meters away was a forest. I heaved a sigh, another forest again. Perhaps I would be able to find Daniel. I began wobbling towards the forest.

"Daniel!" I called as I wandered in the forest. With every step I took came the birth of another fearful thought. What if I came across something dangerous, what if I wasn't going to find him? And the most frustrating question of all, how did I end up here alone?

"Da--" I paused as I stumbled across a tree. On its bark, it had a screen embedded in it. But the screen wasn't active. Although my vision had already become lucid, I wanted to be sure I wasn't seeing things. And Indeed, I wasn't. I ran my fingers across the small screen. Tapping it repeatedly but nothing happened. I sighed and I looked up to it's branches. I caught a glimpse of another thing. There was a camera fixed on one of the lower branches. It focused on me and I couldn't help but feel this creepy vibe. Whatever this was all about, I didn't care! Nor did it help me in any way.

"Daniel!" I called again, moving forward. Now that I looked closely, I saw those similar screens and cameras on several trees that I walked by. And this only doused me further in confusion. I was about to yell his name again when some movements occured beside me. I froze immediately, sweats began to crawl out of my skin as I slowly turned to my side covered in bushes. The sound became more obvious by the second but I couldn't tell whether it was a person or a wild beast. Yet my foolish legs took control, walking stealthily towards the bush. My heart was pounding non stop that I could barely hear anything. Even with every step I took forward, my entirety wouldn't stop trembling. I was barely inches away from the bush when something came out. I yelped and the next thing I knew, something grabbed me in a violent manner and I was thrown against the floor.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry." I heard a feminine voice but I groaned. My body ached like crazy and my vision went blurry again.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were some animal or something..." The lady pitched trying to pull me up.

"Geez...do I look like an animal to you." I grunted as I sat up but I was secretly happy it was a person.

"I've been wandering around this place for like twenty minutes now and I totally freaked out. I'm so sorry I hit you hard." She extended her hand and I grabbed it while she pulled me up. It gave me a chance to finally look her up. Her hair were long, dark and straight. Her eyes were blue and clear like a child's. She had a petite frame and an innocent expression. Yet this harmless looking woman was quick enough to knock me down. If I had met her in another totally different circumstance, I certainly would have made a move. But this wasn't the time for that.

"Are you hurt?" She asked whilst dusting the sands that glued to my body.

"My shoulder feels weird but it's fine." I mumbled. She flashed me a brief smile.

"I'm sorry once again. I've been so tense that I couldn't even tell friend or foe. I just took a protective stance." She explained and I could see it in those eyes. She was just as stressed and worried as I was.

"I understand. I've been wandering around this place for some time now and you're the first person I'm seeing here. I don't even know how I got here in the first place, we were in the bus together and I slept for a while..."

"Wait, what bus?" She cut me off with a sharp frown anchored on her face.

I frowned too. "The same bus that was taking us to the third and final stage." I said.

"No. I didn't get on a bus with you. There was never any bus." She replied.

I shot her a bemused expression. "What are you saying? Don't you remember? We attended the interview together, we all passed and Mr. O led us to Miss M." I explained but she kept staring at me like I was spilling nonsense.

"No. Something is definitely wrong somewhere." She replied. "I came for the interview and there were about a hundred. The receptionist told us to wait in the room for a few minutes and the next thing I know, I woke up in this forest."

My jaw dropped. "Wait hold on, you weren't part of the applicants that came to the omega building at Solace street?"

"No. Mine was on Imperial street. In fact, it was the only building in that area." She replied.

"So that means," I paused. "We both had different interviews." I stated and she nodded slowly.

"Oh my God, something has definitely gone wrong." I uttered, looking around in desperation.