GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

HERE WE GO

Denton was slightly moved with Jannah’s last words. He never expected that to come out of Jannah’s mouth and that, it was totally an unexpected turn of events. He never really bothered for anyone who does not want to be on his team, but Jannah was an exception. For Jannah caught his eyes at the moment he saw her, he really told himself to pull Jannah inside his circle, and now that he succeeded on doing it, he never wanted to lose someone who is actually near his heart. “Be safe,” he mumbled to himself, careful not to let the other two hear what he is talking about. “And stay alive, Jannah. I root for your escape.”

For Denton, Jannah was not someone he likes, romantically. Instead, Jannah was the perfect representation of Denton’s daughters that were left on the outside world. Since he is missing his daughters, he saw one inside in the game, and that was Jannah. “I don’t want to enter your team, old guy,” the voice of Jannah, rejecting his proposal, started on ringing his mind. He is really rooting for the success of the only person who calls him by the name of ‘old guy’. “Thank you...”

Jannah entered the battlefield without looking for the possible outcome. She just want to end all the things that burdens her. Whether she succeed on doing the escape or not, she just wants to end these things. “Players, be ready for the escaping match,” the speaker muttered, which prepared the players for the game. Jannah, who was just looking at her teammates, never really heard what the speaker has told the players to do. She was busy thinking about how her own teammates are thinking about this. “We will now commence the sixth escaping match.” The speaker then announced the instructions of the escaping match, basically repeating the instructions for the escaping match that has already been explained on the last last escaping match.

Since the game has already been explained, Jannah never bothered listening to the said instructions. Denton, on the other hand, intertwines both his hands’ fingers and started on looking at the players. Paul showed up in the scene. “Anyway,” Paul muttered as he grabs the attention of the other two who was watching. “Why are we still here? I mean, I am not complaining. The only reason why is that, it is already the escaping match, but why are we still here? Shouldn’t we be there at the arena, watching the live telecast of the escaping match?”

Sandra’s spirit arouse by listening to Paul’s remarks. “I just realized that,” Sandra said which Paul agreed to. “I was so distracted by the fact that Jannah will enter the escaping match, and that, I forgot everything in reality,” Sandra mumbled. She looked back at the guards who are guarding them. “They look not-so-surprised, though. I do think that they planned it, to make us, the left players, see whatever is happening inside the game. This is the first time, however, that I am watching the escaping match live.”

Minutes later after that talk between Denton’s teammates, the guards immediately entered the battlefield as they place the props that will be used in the next escaping match. The cards were slowly and delicately placed on the table. The escaping players, however, cannot review the cards as they were a lot meters away from them. Jannah was placed on the fifth on the line, looking anxious as she is always. Denton fixed his gaze on Jannah who was showing a really poker face, which is the face she showed Denton the first time they met.

“This escaping match is different, not just because of the criteria and mechanics, but also because on how it was played,” the speaker announced. The speaker has already explained that whoever gets the biggest number on each round will be nominated. That difference was made, due to some adjustments. The only criteria is to properly grab a card that contains the lower numbers that the biggest number present in each round. For example, in the first round, whoever gets the number ten will be eliminated, since it is the number of the players that are still alive by that moment. Same scenario will be reflected to the second and following rounds. “The last eight players to play the seventh round will be the audience of this match. Unlike the escaping match in first to fifth round, the left players will be present in the game, live, to watch and monitor our escaping player’s motion and strategies...” and he explained more.

“I doubt that it is because they want us to monitor these players’ motion and strategy,” Denton muttered. Both Sandra and Paul turned their gaze on Denton who talked all of a sudden. They raised their brows, asking why, in a silent manner. “If you will look at the past scenarios, Paul and I discovered about the lost guard. I think that applies in this day either. They made us monitor these player live so they could also monitor the whole place and where the hell the lost guard is hiding. It is not for our benefit, it is for their own benefits. I would not want to trust a company which risks lives in exchange of money. That is something I would not trust the most. That is something not trustworthy either.”

Paul and Sandra agreed on what Denton has told them both. The speaker immediately rang the bell, which signifies the start of the escaping match. The escaping players’ faces immediately turned beastly unlike their real faces. Some of them desires to escape the place, some of them desires to give up. However, most of them, wants to win the money, but gave up on the thought, then proceeded to thinking of a perfect escape. “The round one will start on the beat of the whistle. We prefer the players to walk and keep calm as the match goes. Whoever gets aggressive will be eliminated.” The whistle blowed suddenly. “You can now choose your card and place it on the platform.”

Jannah and the rest of the players entered the line and walked to the table of where the cards are. After seeing the cards and monitoring these, they immediately chose their own cards. Jannah who was on the middle, chose the card on the middle without second thoughts. Denton wad worried, for sure, since he does not know whether Jannah is taking it seriously or not. “The possibility of choosing the biggest number is ten percent and it might be low, still can make me the loser of this round,” Jannah muttered on her own. Some players can hear her remarks but chose not to meddle and focus on their own match. “The possibility is low...” she said. Jannah thought that since this is the first round, she would take it lightly then create the momentum afterwards. She knows that there is still a possibility of her getting the ten, but it doesn’t matter to her, who was neither wanting to escape nor die. “But, I just have to create the momentum. The moment I place the card, lower than ten, on the platform, I will take it since then.”

The first round ended with Jannah surviving for getting the four in one to ten. The guy who got the ten was immediately shot on his back for getting the ten. The guy was shot dead as he slowly lied on the ground, lifeless. “Now that I have started the momentum, I just have to maintain the pace,” Jannah told herself. The new batch of cards were placed on the table and let the players chose from one to nine cards. “If I get nine here, my game would end here. I will die. If I get eight or lower, I will for sure survive until the next round.” She looked at the table with bunch of placed backward cards and looked at the pattern of the back of the cards. “I just have to see some loose in this game, immediately. I just have to see things that players cannot see.”

She focused on the back of the cards that are visible in their naked eyes. “The crown and the shines surrounding the whole crown...” she mumbled to herself, as she compares two cards from one another. “There are visible difference between these cards that are not visible to non-observant eyes.” Since the speaker paused and gave them time to monitor the back of the cards, Jannah took the time to observe about the cards in front of her. She believes that whenever something is served in front of her, she must observe and monitor how other people try it first, before she even tries it. “The sparkles surrounding the crown on the back of the card... I am not sure but I have the guts to say that the number of the sparkles around the crown symbolizes the number of the cards behind.”