GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

CHAPTER 14

“HEY, SANDRA, right?” Denton asked the woman who was sitting on one of the corners of the arena. While everyone was busy talking to each other, the woman remained standing outside of the crown as she was just sitting in one of the corners, thinking about something deep. Denton might not know what is going on in her mind, he knew that the woman was thinking about something deep. Her face shows how worried she is about thinking about something that bothers her, which causes Denton to approach her and talk to her. “You remember me, right? Denton… I just want to talk to you. Can I do that?”

The woman was shocked but still nodded. “Sure, sure. About what? It just feels so sudden.”

“I see you thinking about something, about something that might have been worrying you.” Sandra looked at Denton who said. “You know, it is not that I am too nosy to know about what you’re thinking, but I want you to know that you can tell everything to me. They say the best way to lessen the burden is to have someone listening to your rants and everything else. You can have me listening to you, if you want.”

Sandra raised her eyebrows. “Be honest, Denton. Do you like me? Are you hitting on me?”

Denton raised his eyebrows and gaped his eyes open. “Me, I like you? No… I think you are not able to understand what I really meant about that,” he muttered, denying the allegations of him having a crush on Sandra. “I have a wife, though she is in heaven now, I would not want to replace her with someone else. You know, we have no definite time here, and we never know when we will get eliminated. I just want to talk to you before it gets late.”

“It’s better that we made it clear. Do you really want to hear my story? I mean, I am up to everything, and even telling a perfect stranger about what happened to my f****d-up life,” she muttered. Denton smiled as he nodded. “No, I mean, I really do not have a reason to join this game at all, if only I was not fired on my job,” she explained. “And their reason is so dumb. You know, I am a model for a company. My face is my investment in my career. Because of what they knew, I was fired and was left out with nothing.”

Denton shows worry on his face. “What exactly is their reason for firing you out of your job?”

“It might be a big revelation but I did undergo plastic surgery.” Denton was not discriminating but the shock on his face was relevant and could be seen. “You’re shocked too, am I right? I know everyone is shocked whenever they knew that I was a plastic surgery product. I understand that this thing is not that accepted inside society yet, but I did that because I was losing confidence and was really losing hope of becoming a model, which I eventually became after the surgery.”

“I understood that,” Denton muttered. “It was just a shock to me because it was the first time that I met someone who had undergone plastic surgery. I was not discriminating; I was just genuinely shocked. However, if it was really your way to feel confident, it is not wrong. The only problem is that, you should be real to your boss and whoever leads your job. It will really be a problem because you kept it a secret.”

Sandra heaved a deep sigh. “I was just worried whether they would not accept me after knowing that I was a product of plastic surgery. I kept it a secret as a reason to continue living my best life that time. I did not realize earlier that all secrets get revealed and will never remain as a secret all the time. Little did I know the time would come that they would know all the secrets that I had been keeping. I regret that I did not tell them earlier, to be honest. If only I had it. I realized it after losing my job. Even my family was affected by this. I lost job. We lost the only thing that I get our expenses from. That was a total downfall of my life. I never really knew that one day, something that I really love the most would be lost due to my own decisions in life… and I really regret it.”

Denton nodded. “I also lost a job, and I know the exact same feeling. And that is why you joined the game?” he asked. “You joined the game because you are hopeless and have recently lost a job, right? I can totally sympathize with that, Sandra. I know the feeling.”

“The news about my plastic surgery in the media and I was rejected by all of the modeling companies that I tried to apply to. They want a natural beauty, not a fake and inauthentic copy,” Sandra muttered. “I accepted the fact that I will never be back in my modeling career and I totally abandoned it. It is really hard to forget that, as it was a part of my life and it was the thing that I like doing the most… but they already forgot about me, and I accepted that.”

“Yeah, I was also blinded by the prize money and so I continued on playing this game. After the first game, I wanted to give up but giving up makes no sense. They might as well kill me if I say that I am going to give up playing this game, most especially because the game head is vicious and brutal in his own ways,” Denton replied. “The only thing we can do to survive here is to help each other escape this thing on the escaping match since there can only be one winner in the final cut. Are you interested in joining my team?”

Sandra raised her eyebrows. “What team are you talking about? Is there such a thing?”

“There isn’t really a necessary advice to make a team, but I am doing it for reassurance,” Denton replied, assuring Sandra's safety while making a team with them. “You know, it is an individual game in we have to, at least, make good friends in response of a help. There is no sense of winning the prize while seeing others die while fighting for their desires. I am doing this. If one of us needed help, we would be there to help them.”

Sandra looked at Denton with doubt. “So, who are the current members of your group?”

“You already know Paul, right? He is my good friend and is a very good helper to me. We help each other and is always there when one of us is in a crisis or something dangerous,” Denton muttered in a persuading tone. “I mean, yes, I just met him here but throughout the days that we are here, we have already proved our loyalty towards each other. I may sound like a recruiter or a networker, but I was just really pleased to ask you join our group. I am also talking to another girl who was really cold, but I am working on getting her yes to my proposal. As long as we count bigger and our cooperation is good, we are good. I still do not know whether to add more recruit. However, we cannot assure but we will do our best to make you escape this hell.”

“Oh, I see. You approached me here because you wanted to ask me join your group?” Sandra looks like a manager asking an applicant about something not really that hard but is difficult to answer. Denton just blinked his eyes and smiled, as he couldn’t deny what the reality is. “You know what, Denton. I have a really big greed on the prize money, so I don’t think I am up to teaming up with you and your group. I badly wanted to win that money.”

Denton smiled. “Then, we will escape and we’ll let you win the money. It’s that easy.”

Sandra scoffed. “It will not be that easy, Denton. Remember that it is not only us who are playing this game. To win the prize money, I have to defeat a lot of people. Making a team will surely make it hard for me to kill the others, but with your case and your proposed plan…” Denton was expecting a considerate answer from Sandra. “But I will consider your proposal. It’s not that bad, actually. I just have to weigh things out. I still need to survive for my family.”

“Sure, you should. We all must. I look forward for your considerate remarks,” Denton stood up. Perfect timing, as you say. The light suddenly changed and the timer was finally shown to the monitor. The ten seconds started ticking, symbolizing the implementation of the arena rule. Denton looked at Sandra and owed her a hand. “What are you doing? Stand up! We are running out of time.”

Sandra grabbed Denton’s hand as they started running. It’s as if they are vying for a position that was not theirs in the first place. Before the timer ended, Denton had reached his lane but Sandra was still running. Fortunately, before the timer lost time, Sandra managed to jump on her bed inside the lane she was in. To conclude, only two players were slain in that ambience swap. Everyone was breathy while taking a rest after a race-like running for their position in their lane. “Drink this,” Jannah muttered as she offered the bottle of water to Denton, who was still running after his breath. “Get this.”

Denton shook his head. “You don’t have to. You also needed that. You consume that, Jannah.”

Jannah did not shake as he threw the bottle of water to Denton, who was surprised but still managed to get the bottle of water. “It’s yours, old-aged man. You’re awful. You look like you are running out of your breath,” she muttered, rudely. Denton just smiled. “Next time, get your bottle of water before getting some girl’s arm. Know your priorities in this hell.”