Game Of Survival

Chapter 9

JAMES

"I'm Jason by the way." The guy beamed a smile at us.

"And I'm Linda." Said the lady beside him.

"I'm James." I said in the same mannerism.

"I think I remember you guys." Linda mumbled, pointing at Daniel and I.

"You do?" Daniel sported a quizzical look.

"Yeah, we were at the same interview together. You two were the last to arrive for the interview if I'm not wrong." She said and I actually felt a bit of relief inside me.

"Really?" I grinned. "You're the first person we've met who attended the same interview with us."

"Is that so, there are few of us here too." She pointed at some of the other applicants separated from us. "But I'm sure the others will soon arrive."

I nodded.

"No doubt we're gonna have plenty."

"Yeah!" Jason nodded in assertion. "Although I didn't share the same interview with you three but I certainly did with Eve." He paused while he glanced at her.

"And from our side alone, I think we were a hundred or so."

"Yeah, we were around that figure." Eve confirmed. "How about you Dave?" She asked and our attention all fell on the guy.

"Well my side should be close to that or so I think."

He responded.

"So we're estimating about three hundred." Daniel quoted.

"The competition is gonna be very high." Linda mumbled but my focus diverted back to the bags. Looking closely, I could estimate they weren't close to three hundred. In the coming hours things were going to be tough.

And after several hours, the evening had finally dawned. The number of participants was exactly three hundred as we anticipated but none of us dared to make a move to the center. At the same time, It only made my burning desire increase beyond control. More than ever I wanted to see what was in those bags.

"How long are we going to keep staying here? It's getting dark already." Dave lamented.

"Maybe there are still applicants that are yet to arrive." Eve answered.

"Well they should better speed things up because once night falls, things might not be so peaceful." I grumbled.

"Relax, there's no need to be worried. They brought us here in the first place so naturally they'll want to ensure our safety." Jason replied with a tiny smile. Judging from his countenance, he seemed more relaxed than the rest of us.

"Still, they should speed things up. I'm starving!" Dave interjected.

"Let's just give it an hour or so." Jason replied.

"In another hour I might have already lost every sense or reasoning." He grumbled.

"Then bite your ear or eat your finger or something." Eve teased and we chuckled. I arose immediately and began sauntering towards the bags.

"James, what are you doing?" She asked.

"To check the contents in the bag of course. Who knows, there might be food in there." I answered and continued marching forward. My brother and Dave joined me too.

"That may not be such a good idea guys!" Jason pitched but we ignored.

"What's the worst that can happen?" Dave clapped back.

"When people say that, that's when the worst actually happens!" Eve pitched but we kept pressing forward.

"You should go back Daniel." I said but he wriggled his head.

"Actually, you think you're the only one dying to know the contents of the bag?"

"It better be food." Dave interjected.

"What if we get disqualified? I don't want the two of us to be affected. One of us has to say." I insisted but he shrugged me off casually.

"Come on, it's not like they gave a laid down rule not to touch the bag. I've already made up my mind anyway. You stop." He said but I didn't want to stop. I also didn't want to regret this decision we made.

"If anything goes wrong then just know I warned you." I mumbled and he shrugged me off again. We continued pace forward and with every step that I took, my fears were reaching new heights until we finally arrived.

"Please be food, please be food, please be food..." Dave whined as he took a bag, hurriedly opening its contents. I did the same too.

"Oh thank Goodness!" He heaved a heavy sigh of relief as he took a burger out. It was the same for me too but there was more. I quickly removed the burger and my eyes widened in horror. My jaw dropped and my breaths ceased. I glanced at my brother, his expression was no different to mine. My gaze returned to the bag again.

"What?...." Dave blurted while chewing. "Why are you two looking like you saw a ghost?"

My lips twitched but I couldn't find any reasonable answer. I just kept staring at the bag in horrific awe. There were three different knives and a pistol.

"I don't think this is a reality show." Daniel mumbled as he brought out the pistol from his bag. His hands were trembling as he held them.

"Holy s**t!" Dave yelled, throwing his burger away in the process.

"What the f**k?!"

He was right, this wasn't any reality TV show. This was something. Something bigger than we imagined. Something very sinister.

"I think we're in trouble." Daniel mumbled again.

"What trouble?" Eve pitched behind us and I almost yelped.

"Oh my God!" She gasped, noticing the gun in Daniel's hands.

"Where did you find that?"

"I-inside the bag." He stammered.

"M--maybe it's just prop, you know." Dave stammered but at the same time, one could see him trembling.

"This isn't any prop Dave. This is real." I said, whilst glancing at each other.

Suddenly, the screen came on. It's background color was Black with a white omega sign at its center. The vast majority of us quickly stood, fixing our eyes on the screen as if it were our salvation.

"Congratulations to the three hundred participants who qualified successfully. You all are now officially contestants of the show." A deep voice emanated from the screen.

"My name is Mr. E and welcome to the Omega Show." He paused. And some of the contestants began clapping for themselves but I was baffled. How was it possible to have three hundred contestants in a reality TV show? I might not be a fan of those shows but I do know their numbers weren't this huge. Which led me to another puzzle. Why? Why did they decide to have so many?

"The main goal for each contestant here is to battle their way through and make it to the top. For only the one who rises above all shall get the prize money of a hundred million dollars." He explained. "Hundreds of viewers are currently watching this show live. And they hope you all give it your best." He paused again and the crowd cheered. But rather than smile, the look of horror was imprinted on every person beside me. This wasn't the time to be cheering, this was the time to run from whatever this was.