GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

CHAPTER 5

THE GAME has really begun. “What is happening?” Denton asked himself while running to the side of the area. The killers are in the middle of the area, trying to kill people who haven’t even tried hiding yet after the hiding time has finished. He is feeling a lot of emotions in himself; worry, shock, despair and fear of dying. “A-Are they really dead?” he asked himself while hiding behind the big tree. He looked at the people who were on the frontline of the players, motionless and having no sense of breath at all. This is no joke. The players that are found by the killers really died.

It is very different to what Denton has in mind. He least expected that the killers are real killers who would kill players that are unable to hide in that span of time. Denton thought that the players that will be found by the killers will just be eliminated. It is really out of the imaginations of the players. For them, it is just an unbelievable sight—seeing real killers in the field, out there killing people because of… a game.

“What should we do…” worrying, a woman beside Denton asked him. Unlike Denton who was just cowardly hiding behind the tree, the woman was in panic. Moving from one place to another, the woman did not stop on changing places until she saw Denton hiding. The woman was trembling in fear and is being eaten by the desperation of living. “I am super scared. What are we doing in this place? Why are people being killed for this reason…?”

Denton was about to open his mouth when a bullet struck the woman’s head in one aim. The blood spurted out as it reached Denton’s face whose eyes are totally gaping open at that time. He was shocked and scared. He never thought of a time where he can see someone being killed in front of him.

Though Denton was scared and was on the verge of screaming, he tried his best not to make any noise. After noticing that the killer who killed the woman was slowly approaching his place, he has no choice but to hide behind the tree and cover his mouth with his two hands while silently crying and praying for his life. “Please…” he silently muttered in his mind. “I still wanted to live…”

After a whole minute of Denton’s silence, he was thankful that he was alive. The killer was distracted by a player who he then followed. At that moment, Denton should be happy that the killer was distracted but he was rather panicking, thinking that the game hasn’t even gotten into the halfway of it. His knees have gotten weak that made him sit while leaning his back on the tree, trying his best not to burst his emotions out, that might get the attention of the killers.

“Hey,” a man’s voice stood out which caught Denton’s attention. Denton’s eyes were filled with tears while trying to see where the voice is coming from. He turned his gaze to his right and saw a man, wearing the same vest as he, hiding behind the tree as well. “Aren’t you that guy that I went to the meeting with; the one on the elevator with me? Can’t you remember me?”

Denton stood up to meet the guy who was already standing. “You… the guy on the same table with me.” He was about to dash through the guy who called him and talk but was stopped by the guy, sending a signal that a killer was walking around the area. “I am too scared of this game. Is there any way we can get out of here?”

“Can’t you remember that it was you who wanted to pursue this game, stating that it was rather a coward move to give up without trying? Now, it’s you who has been crying all along now.” Denton wanted to be embarrassed after hearing that guy talk about but his fear has been colonizing his system in the first place. “Anyway, what we needed to do about this is to not let the killers see us or else, they will kill us in an instant. We needed to come up with a better plan to execute the killers before they see us.”

The guy wore his goggles which urged Denton to do also. “What is the purpose of this?” he asked himself before turning his gaze from left to right, looking at the whole area with his eyes while wearing the goggles the guards gave him. “What are these green…?”

“Lasers,” the guy responded to cut Denton’s question. The whole area has been more silent than what it is while the game was just starting. Denton looked at the whole area and saw that there are a lot of lasers covering each side of the area, which if a player trespasses, they will die another way the other died. “It is a suicidal attempt to just die using those lasers than dying on the killer’s hand. However, that is not the point. Normal people die when they touch the lasers, and so do the killers. They are normal human too, not any sort of robot that the company can manipulate. If only we could lure the killers to touch the lasers so they’ll die before us, then it is better.”

“You want us to kill the killers before they kill us?” Denton asked the guy on his right. Denton likes to do illegal things but not to kill. He might be an asshole but he cannot even kill a group of termites trying to eat his house whole.

“We will not kill them. We will lure them to the place where they will kill themselves. Killing them and luring them to their death is a different thing,” the guy replied. Denton looked at the guy’s vest and saw the player’s code: J-03. “Are you even listening? You know, if you are scared of teaming up with me, then I will just find another one to do this with.”

“No, no. It is not that I do not want; I just took time to think. I was in a dilemma while thinking about it but since I wanted to live and survive, I will do it with you.” The other guy responded to him with a smile. “Anyhow, I just noticed that even though the killer does not have any sort of glass like what we have, they can still see the lasers because I can notice that they can avoid the boundaries already.” Denton has already calmed down despite of what is happening. Denton has the capability of keeping himself calm around people, familiar ones or even strangers.

“Let’s plot it. Let’s plot how we will lure them to touch the lasers without them knowing,” the other guy told Denton. The killers were all doing their job on the other side of the battlefield. Since there are a lot of people panicking on the other side of the field, the three killers focused their attention to them without knowing that there are still people, trying their best to hide behind the killers. “We should plot it silently and without getting the killers’ attention. First off, can I see your card?”

Denton was taken aback. He was thinking whether to show the card or not, since he now knew that the card has something to do with the game. “Promise me that you will not snatch this from me.” He grabbed his card and showed it to the other. The other just nodded as a response to Denton showing his card to him. “This game is really something. What kind of game does killing as its consequence of failing? And there is no rule but ‘to survive’? This is really sending me in circles.”

The other guy showed his card. “It’s an invisible card. It can be helpful once we already plotted the whole plan. We still have a total of 7 minutes to do what we needed to do. Time is ticking and just hiding behind these trees will give us no assurance. We need to do something that might be helpful to us. We also need to help those people dying on the hands of the three killers.” The other guy sat on the ground as if there is nothing going on behind his back. The whole area is noisy; from the sound of gunshots to the people screaming as if it will help them survive. “Before doing this, let’s be formal. Just call me Paul, that is my first name. I can notice how uncomfortable you are not calling my name. How should I address you?”

“Denton,” he replied. Usually, when introducing, Denton ought to shake hands with the other side but it is different this time. As they are hiding from the killers, they should be more aware and even little gestures could make them see the heaven in split second. “So, what should we do?”

“I have the invisible card and as the speaker told us, we should use this in the right timing. Though I do not know what games there will be in the next rounds, since there are eight rounds, I think it will be useful for me to use this card now.” Paul peeked on the killers who were just walking around, trying to seek for players who are already getting the hang of the game. “Since the start of the round, I was already observing the killers. They only kill those players that are totally unhidden. As long as the player is trying his or her hard to hide, they will not care. Also, I think there is a catch with their masks. Once they see an unhidden player, they will first move near the player before killing them. This is just an assumption but I think their mask makes them unable to see the players that are far from them. To conclude, the mask makes them near-sighted and it is an advantage for players hiding far from them.”

“The best way to hide from them is to hide behind their back and far from them.” Denton was carefully listening to Paul who was talking about his thoughts, and that made him to conclude the greatest way in hiding from the killers. “I was just thinking… to lure them to the lasers, we need to grab their attention. That means… we should make ourselves visible to the killers’ eyes. That would be so much risk for us. I don’t think I can do that for I am a real coward…”