Game Of Survival

Chapter 17

JAMES

Jason immediately grabbed Daniel by the collar, glaring at him with predatory eyes.

"That's enough guys!" I yelled and their attention fell on me.

"We've had enough for one night. We shouldn't be fighting. We should be thinking of a way out."

And on that note, Jason left my brother.

"I'm so sorry…" Kate whispered enough for us to hear.

"Because of me, you guys…"

"Oh please cut the crap." Jason blurted and then he returned to the mouth of the cave.

"Well this is what happens when we make divided decisions…" Dave interjected.

"Oh shut up!" Eve pitched infuriatingly.

"What now? You're going to transfer your aggression on me now."

"Dave!" I called and he went mute. Just like that, an awkward silence reigned amongst us. Each of us engulfed in our own world of thoughts. But one thing I could learn from their argument was that not all of us here could be trusted. Jason was a prime example. Dave on the other hand was someone who would ditch everyone just to save himself in times of danger.

Amidst all these, we still hadn't found a plan to save ourselves. A heavy sigh escaped my breaths and after a while, I felt dizzy. I looked around again, Jason was on guard, Eve was busy with her patient, Daniel was having a conversation with Kate, Dave was Dave. They were awake, which at least gave me a few minutes or an hour of sleep.

***

"James wake up!"

"James!…"

My eyes jolted awake immediately as I heard a scream. My eyes squinted, trying to get my vision to be clearer.

"Jason what the hell are you doing?!" Eve screeched.

"Doing what is right!" He blurted in a devilish manner.

"You just killed Kate! How is that right man?" Dave remarked. I frowned and I immediately stood up.

"What the hell is happening?!" I yelled and Jason let out a devilish laugh. He had a knife coated in blood in his hand. Behind him was Kate lying lifelessly on the ground.

Was this a nightmare?! No it wasn't. This s**t was real! Jason had become a maniac.

"Jason, things don't have to come to this point." Eve pleaded.

"Oh it has." He growled.

"Jason why are you doing this?! What came over you?" I asked in a stutter.

He laughed again.

"I have to do this. I don't want to die. Kill and don't be killed, isn't that what the rule says?" He toned like one who was possessed. He took a step towards us and we took a step backwards.

"Jason we agreed not to kill!" Daniel blared.

"I changed my mind, I've thought about it carefully, if I stick with you guys I'll only end up dead like Linda!" He retorted.

"We can talk this through Jason…" Eve pleaded.

"Hey man, this is not you. Spare us. Just let us go and we promise not. To ever cross paths with you." Dave interjected.

"I've thought about it over and over, even if we find a way out, they can still blow out heads to f*****g pieces!" He barked and I almost yelped.

"Jason please…you don't have to do this." I pleaded and then my back hit the wall, there was nowhere for us to run. It was either kill or be killed.

"I don't want to do this but I have to!" He replied, eyeing us in a hungry manner. "First I'll start with you." He pointed his knife to my brother. My eyes widened and it felt like my heart lost track of how to beat. He didn't even give us a chance to react, he launched at Daniel like a hungry Dave took to his heels while Eve, Daniel and I tried to stop him. But his strength was surprisingly overwhelming. With one fling of his arm, he knocked Eve to the ground.

"Stay away from my brother!" I yelled, attacking him without thinking. He punched me hard in the guts.

"James!" My brother yelled as I thudded to the ground, wincing in pain. Daniel tried to hit him but Jason overpowered him easily. Choking him on the ground.

"Daniel!" I yelled, trying to find a stance. My head was still spinning from my fall, I felt pain spread out throughout my body but at the same time, my brother was losing his life by the second. My eyes darted to the knife across, it was one Jason had used. I didn't even think twice, I grabbed it immediately.

"Leave my brother alone!!" I roared as I struck the knife deep in his back. I pulled it out and struck him, I repeated it over and over till he dropped dead.

"J-james…" Daniel gasped, trying to catch his breaths.

Only then did realization strike me. I just murdered someone.

****

MR E.

"Mr. E, welcome!" The young lady greeted me as I sauntered into the control room. It was large enough to contain close to a hundred of our employees. Most of them were busy with their systems, keeping a keen inspection on the ongoing event while the others were busy handling damage control and other necessary work.

"How is the show turning up?" I asked and she smiled while she led me to the front of the room. The wall had a large screen inscribed on it and there were about several hundreds of footages playing alongside statistics results.

"Very well Mr. E." She answered as we stopped before the screen. "About half of the contestants are already dead. I think we're ready for stage two." She said and I smiled at the screen.

"Very good." I said. "Although this first stage took a long time before reaching its end, I'm sure our customers enjoyed the show."

"Indeed Sir. This year contestants are somewhat unique in a way. And the majority of our customers are betting on these three." She pointed to one side of the screen displaying two men and a lady.

"Really?"