GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

TO TAKE VENGEANCE

While the other player snatched her own card, Jannah was left dumbfounded in front of the table. Denton never moved as soon as he saw Jannah’s opponent snatch the card that was already grabbed by the Jannah. It was like the whole time of her life flashed back before getting the card that was left on the table. Jannah told herself not to hope a lot since her survival or escape is not yet assured. She was ruined by the fact that she expected to escape... which will not happen now, since her opponent has already happened to place the card on the platform. The card was facing the players aback, and so, Denton knows that it was Jannah’s last moment to live and that, anytime later, she will be eliminated, and that was sure. “I lost the game,” Jannah muttered and that, that was the moment she accepted her defeat and accepted her fate that will be given to her.

She grabbed the card and carefully placed it on the platform before she stepped back and waited for the verdict. She looked at her teammate, saw Sandra who was looking at her with teary eyes. She knew that it was her fate to get the higher card, and die instead of surviving and escaping the hell. “Jannah,” she muttered with pain and worry in her voice. “This can’t be...”

“I am okay,” Jannah talked back, as if she can hear what Sandra has been talking about. Since she was hundred of meters away from her, she gave her a warm smile. It was her most genuine yet most painful smile that the three have ever seen. Jannah was a stubborn but an impreesively smart girl, and that caught her own teammate’s attention. Sandra did not want to believe that, that scenario was happening, not until she saw the guards positioning their guns from behind the two opposing candidates to escape. Jannah again looked at all her three teammates before mouthing the following words. “Thank you. Live for me.”

As the speaker announced the code name of the winner, Jannah closed her eyes as she waited for the moment a bullet would come inside her body and she was wrong. Minutes later, Denton, Sandra and Paul all closed their eyes as they heard the gunshot sound which surrounded the whole battlefield. Jannah opened her eyes as her first tear dropped, she was already shot by that time. Her body lost all the strength and started on fainting until she dropped her body on the ground. Her vision slowly faded and that was the moment when she closed her eyes and promised to never open it again.

Sandra teared up as she was seeing the same scenario. “Jannah...” she muttered but she never really had any choice but to sit still and wait for the speaker’s announcement about their fates. If only she was given the chance to make something about saving Jannah, she should have done it already. However, they were just mere players and that, they do not hold any privilege nor benefits to help one another since they are players and they are supposed to be opponents. “This can’t be...”

After the guards started on placing Jannah’s body in a bag, they started on placing the players that were left on to play for the seventh main match inside the arena in which there are minimal numbers of bed inside with code names on the lower side of the bed. “I still cannot believe what happened,” Paul muttered before he rubbed his palms around his face. “In just that, we lost our teammate. I really thought she could escape this place peacefully but now, she is rather resting in peace...”

Sandra looked at Paul who just shrugged his shoulders. “That was sabotaged,” Denton said with all the anger in his voice. “Jannah knows what she was doing and that, she knows how to identify the uniqueness of the cards because as what we saw, she observes a lot on the cards. The other player knows Jannah can identify card and that resulted to him snatching the card from Jannah which he knows that was the right card to escape. That was a cunning move but it costed a life, so I cannot accept it.”

“Denton was right. It was totally Jannah’s victory and not that guy’s. He snatched her chance to leave this game. He snatched her chance to live peacefully outside the game,” Sandra muttered as she calmed down. She wiped the traces of tears that flowed down through her cheeks before she started on taking more courage to talk. Minutes after hearing Jannah being shot was really hard for her. It might be because Jannah grew to care for Jannah and losing her really affected her a lot. “Jannah knows what she was doing but because she did it obviously, the people realized about how they can assure their escape and by the instruction, stealing the card was not a violation. However, if it comes from the human decency, it could have been avoided. Does the guy not have a heart to steal a chance of escape and survival?”

“It is not against the rule, but it is against the human decency. How can he just snatch that card from Jannah who made her best just to know whether what card can make her escape? That is not cool at all,” Denton said. He was calm, before the incident happened. Jannah was a special person inside his heart and that, that really made him very mad at the person who did that. “I will make sure to survive and escape this hell. I will literally take vengeance for Jannah because of what he did to her. I will never get tired of finding fot him once I have left this hell already.” Denton was really serious about him planning to take revenge to the person who basically killed Jannah and snatched her chance of escaping the game. “Do not follow me first. I would want to go somewhere by my own.”

Paul was about to talk more but Denton has already left the place where he was with Paul and Sandra. The last thing Paul remembered about Denton was his image before leaving the arena. Since it was the end of the sixth main and escaping match, players are already free to wander around the whole game area. Denton left the other two in the arena hanging. Paul and Sandra never had any more choice but to stay in the arena and protect each other from possible attacks. “Denton sees Jannah as his own daughter, and that, I think it is reasonable that he was acting this way. Denton is a strong guy and I know whatever he faces while on his way, he can do that. Let us give him more time to adjust. Even though we are staying this for six days or more, Denton and Jannah’s bond has tighten stronger...” Sandra replied in a calm manner. She was really selfless to never place her own name in her own statements. “Denton has been in a lot of things from when the game started. He will be back, stonger and ready to face that asshole. He said he will still going to make that asshole suffer. Let us just try to understand about what he is feeling.”

While Sandra and Paul were busy talking to each other, Denton was wandering around the area and stopped in front of the infirmary. He placed his ear on the door and heard some weird, little noises from inside the door. He slowly turned the doorknob and saw someone in there, trying to cover the hole that Denton and the team has wrecked. As he is a guard, he should have been more surprised but he was not. Nonetheless, Denton just stared at him who stared back but went back on the job that he was starting. “You seem not surprised, though,” Dentob mumbled as he locked the door from the inside. After painting the cover for the hole, the guard acted like it was nothing and passed by Denton who was trying to get answer for his questions. Denton tried his best strength to pull the guy and pin him on the wall. “Tell me, are you the lost guard?”

The guard took five minutes before he responded with a little nod. “I am, for sure,” he muttered and removed Denton’s hand off of him. While he was wearing a mask, Denton can really see that the guard was looking at him without actually seeing that the guard was doing the same. “And for you, M-22, is why I am doing all of these. Be thankful enough and never let the other guard inside the game that you know it was me. I entered this place to help you.”

Denton grabbed the guard’s collar and pushed him more on the wall. “I am not asking for your help, neither do I actually need your help. I am just asking that you are the lost guard...” Denton paused for a minute before he started having a lot of thoughts inside his mind. The only thing that runs inside his mind was Jannah and the picture of her death. “You are still a guard. You are a lost guard but you are still a guard. Now, tell me what the hell do you know about the one who escaped today. I have to know a lot about him. I have to take vengeance to him to give justice to Jannah’s death...”