Game Of Survival

Chapter 25

DANIEL

"The two of you are my world, and I don't want to exist without the both of you!" My sister cried, holding James and I back. My heart tightened in my chest, seeing my little sister in this state. She was right, my brother and I were her world. And she was ours too, she was the only person James and I cherished. Not our drug addicts parents seated at the couch there not bothered in the slightest. We turned eighteen today and we had decided to move out of their place. Surprisingly, Our little sister came running to us. She didn't want us to leave. It wasn't like we had a choice either. Living with our parents was already dreadful enough.

"Hey…" James lowered towards her, gently patting her blonde hair with a smile imprinted on his face. "We're not leaving you, we're just…" He looked at me and then back at her. "We're just moving out mainly because of work. That doesn't mean we wouldn't check on you from time to time." He said but the twelve year old was smart enough to know we were lying.

"You're lying." She cried. "I know you're moving because of our parents!"

I sighed. I was about to say something but she began talking again.

"I don't care if you guys are moving out, I just want to be with the both of you. I can't live in this place without you two here." She insisted while tears freely toured down her cheeks.

It broke me seeing her in this state and I knew she wasn't lying either. Without us, I wonder how she would fare with our parents. They barely cared about their children in the first place.

"Fine," I inched towards her, gently wiping the tears off her cheeks. "I guess you can come with us then." I said and James frowned at me.

"Really?!" Her countenance brightened.

"Yes. If it's okay with Mr. And Mrs. Hendrix there." I stared at our parents as those words toured out with a heavy dose of sarcasm.

"Oh please, it saves us from the trouble." My Father replied as he waved us off and my mother didn't seem to oppose either.

"Daniel…" My brother rewarded me with a knowing glance and I understood perfectly. We barely had a stable job let alone enough money yet we were planning to take a twelve year old in custody. Indeed it was a big responsibility but it was worth taking more than letting her stay with our parents. He sighed as if he had read my mind perfectly.

"Okay then, you're coming with us, little one." My brother smiled warmly at her.

"Yaaay!!!" She pitched in excitement and I chuckled. And so, she was coming with us. The three of us were going to leave our parents for good and deep in my heart, I vowed to protect my siblings. They were my world. Three years had passed and now it looked like my world was going to collapse. My sister had been diagnosed with cancer and my brother and I were stuck in a show hellbent on taking our lives!

My eyes jolted awake to the bright lights of my room and my breaths came out heavy. This was day five in the third Arena and I've had nothing but nightmares ever since I arrived here. I didn't even know how I got here in the first place but thinking about it was only going to lead me to a dead end. And so, I could only hope that my brother, Eve and Dave were alright. Luckily they haven't been called yet to the battlegrounds. If not, something terrible might have happened to them. Dave was heavily injured, fighting in that condition is only going to mean he was heading to his death. Eve didn't look much like a fighter, she was certainly good at medicine but that wasn't going to help her much here. James on the other hand was the brains of our group. Right now, I'm certain he was currently thinking of a way out of this s**t hole but he too had his own shortcomings. He might be smart but he certainly lacked in the area of strength.

A heavy sigh escaped my breaths and my stomach growled. I alighted from the bed and I looked at the door. Before it, was a tray of food and water. It was something they did in the morning and evening. The door will slide upwards slightly making it possible for them to pass the food. Although they usually tasted much better than I expected, how could anyone be happy eating it? When you know that at any moment, you might be called upon to your death.

Another heavy sigh escaped my breaths as I took the tray. I stared at the food with hatred and sadness intertwined. If only there could be a miraculous way to escape this place, if only everything we've been facing now was all a dream. I sighed again and then I took the first bite. Hours had passed and all I kept doing was staring at the lights coming from the ceilings. My head was completely devoid of ideas. I couldn't think of a reasonable way to save myself let alone the others. My eyes were about to close and suddenly, the screen lit up. My heart skipped a beat and I immediately sat up. Hoping today's battle wasn't going to involve me or anybody in my group.

"….for today's contest, our contestants are Contestant one hundred and sixty three and Contestant two hundred and ninety nine!" Mr. E declared and my heart ripped into pieces. My entirety trembled and my eyes kept twitching as tears graced them. My stomach was boiling, not in anger but in anxiety and disappointment. My ears weren't playing tricks on me, I was contestant two hundred and ninety nine and I heard that loud and clear. Even if they were, my eyes weren't hallucinating. It was my picture and my details I was clearly seeing on the screen. As if my luck had run out, my opponent had killed ten people so far and me, I had none!

"No…" I whispered. "No! It can't be me, it can't be me!!" I yelled, hitting myself hoping this was a dream but it wasn't. This was reality, my harsh reality.

"Please No!" I pleaded to the cameras, tears easily trickling down but no response came forth except the loud cheer from the TV.

I was completely disoriented, I wasn't even sure if I could handle this opponent of mine! I was still scrambling around when the green LED indicator glowed. I froze as the door opened completely for the first time. There were three men dressed in black and heavily kitted with guns, knives and others that I didn't recognize. They had black masks on their faces with a white omega symbol imprinted on the mask forehead. They had the same logo on their vest but that wasn't what shook me. The fact that these people came to get me was enough to pass the message that there was no way I could escape from their grip unless I wanted to die. Although I couldn't see their faces, the way they stared at me beneath those masks scared the shits out of me.

One of them marched in and I went backwards till I was backed against the wall. The next thing on my mind was an attack but before I could implement that, he had handled my right arm with an iron grip. I groaned whilst struggling against him. I only made things worse for myself, his grip tightened and I almost screamed. He was just this close to crushing my bone. Before anyone called Jack Robinson, I was already handcuffed behind my back. He led me out of my room without a single word and I kept looking at my room hopelessly. I didn't know why but I was strangely feeling this was going to be the last time I would be in this room. As much as I hated this room, I realized that in the face of death, I preferred the room over the battleground I always saw on the screen every day.

The door closed and only then did I choose to be aware of my surroundings. I was in a large hallway. It was almost dark thanks to the dimly lit bulbs hanging down from the ceilings. As I walked in silence, I realized there were rooms at each sides with the contestants number imprinted on the doors. But I've been banging my walls ever since I was in the room, the others should have heard me. Unless, each room was soundproof. No matter how much you scream like crazy or bang the walls, you were deceiving yourself. I exhaled deeply, my body wouldn't stop trembling. My eyes darted to the left, looking at the numbers we threaded past. And then I caught a glimpse of Contestant three hundred's door. My eyes exclaimed and my lips parted. This was my brother's room!

"James! James!!" I yelled whilst struggling against the three guards but no response came forth. I knew it was hopeless but maybe I could just call it a final struggle to reach out to my brother. The hallway got thinner and there were no doors around either. But at the end of the road, it was astonishingly bright. No doubt that was where the doors of death were awaiting me. We finally arrived at the battle grounds and my opponent was already standing at the center. The room was ridiculously large and circular. The lights hanging from the ceilings were too bright for me to even steal a glimpse at. There was a large cheer but it was obvious they were automated voices. There was no way in hell our viewers came to this Island just to watch us kill each other like animals. The center of the stage grounds was much higher than the rest of the floors and the air around felt chilly. I could feel the tension from it haunting me and the only thing my instincts told me was to run. Unfortunately, I was robbed of that choice too. My only choice, the only way out for me was to fight my opponent. The only way to save my world was killing my opponent.

One of the guards uncuffed me and then I mounted the stairs leading to the stage. Just one look at the guy and I knew this match was going to be a tough one. His muscles were built just perfect like mine, his eyes looked like they weren't hesitating. If I were being honest, I could survive a fight with him but the problem was killing him. I couldn't bring myself to take his life but If I didn't, I was going to die.

"Welcome to the stage!" Mr. E muttered in a grand manner. "Today's episode is going to be special. Rather than fight each other with your bare hands, the two of you will be allowed to use weapons against each other." He said and we both frowned. As if this man hated me! Of all the fights that have been happening, no weapons were allowed. Why should my turn be different?!

Suddenly the walls by our left slide upwards revealing an array of weapons. There were bat sticks, chains, swords, knives, axes but thankfully there weren't any guns. I exhaled deeply, it wasn't like the weapons here were friendly either. I was still deliberating when my opponent headed towards the weapons. He didn't even waste time, he picked an axe and then he glared at me. I looked at the array again, I was attached to the katana. Maybe too many sword fights movies were affecting my choice but I still chose it either way.

In a normal circumstance, I would have gawked in admiration that I was holding a Katana in my hands. But this time, I had to use this weapon to kill.

Whether I didn't have it in me or not. I had to kill this man if I wanted to save my world.