GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

CHAPTER 9

IT WAS a shock to Denton after the woman approached him all of a sudden. It is more a surprise to him to hear about the woman’s plea and he felt the urge to help her through giving his card to her. “Here,” he muttered while seeing the woman’s card being given to him. “Be safe. Make sure to survive to see your children once more.” The woman gave him a forced smile and nodded. At that exact moment, no one would ever feel like smiling since it was hell, not just in the battlefield but inside the whole arena.

“You gave her your card?” Paul asked Denton who just nodded in response. With Paul’s quick hands, he immediately grabbed the card and looked at it. “It’s the multiplication sign, and I do not think this would be helpful in the next rounds. I just think this is risky,” he said. Denton just looked at him talk. “Why did you give her your card? Didn’t you said you wanted to go home already, that you miss your children already? That is your only chance to escape this hell but you give the woman your opportunity.”

“She is desperate of leaving this place, Paul,” Denton muttered which was replied with Paul’s nod. “Also, there is still a chance for me to enter the escaping match next round. I just gave it to her since she is really desperate to escape this place. I gave her the favor.”

Paul shook his head. “You are too kind for this kind of games, Denton,” he muttered. That statement of him confused Denton. “This is a game for survival. We play this game for each of our lives and to live, to escape this hell and to survive. You must not be too kind on every people in this battlefield because they might overuse it and use it against you when it’s needed.” Denton took time to absorb what Paul was talking about. “You understand me? They might use it against you, Denton. In this place, we can only trust ourselves and that other person who knows us… or trusted us, ever for a fact that they are both strangers to each other… that is the case for us, Denton.”

“I just wanted to help her leave this place,” Denton answered. “If it’s her choice to ask me politely, then I would give it to her, and she did. It’s not helping her because helping her would be having her the opportunity to escape. She will still do the match, and I don’t think that is already the kind of help for me.”

“I understand your point,” Paul replied. “But, you must remember that we still have to complete the next round’s main match and be picked to be able to play in the escaping match. The probability is too tight and you had the chance.” Paul paused. “But it is your choice, Denton. We hopefully get a chance to play in the escaping match.”

The speaker suddenly muttered. “All the surviving players which are not called and has gave up the escaping match spot must come and follow the guards toward the new place,” he said. All of them looked so confused about what the speaker told them to do so. “Due to the excessive loss of players, the remaining players will be put inside a bigger room where all of them will fit. This is still due to the game head’s decision.”

“What?” Denton muttered, as he was shocked. Paul looked at him like he was asking what is wrong and what is the reason behind his shock remorse. “This is too big to explain,” Denton muttered while Paul just nodded asking him to continue his talk. “I once have been addicted to gamble and that, I have played with a lot of illegal players and the worst of them is here with us, together with his minions.”

“Who?” Paul asked. Denton turned his gaze to his left, only to see the big gang boss looking at him, giving him a creepy gaze. “He looks so big, yet he still have minions behind him? He looks humiliating, to be honest. What is there to be worried of?”

“I once won against that big guy and he accused me of cheating when I literally do not have anything on me. That was a pure luck that I won. When I was about to grab the prize money, he let his little cheetahs run after me… to kill me,” Denton answered. “While I was on the outside world, I took my time escaping from his area. Now, the destiny made me come across him like I am destined to just give up in this game.”

“You probably did not do anything wrong,” Paul muttered. “However, jerks like him are just inevitable in this world. The world needs jerk like him to be perfect.” Paul took a final look at the big gang boss. “Just behave and not let yourself be inside his nerve. If you ever need help, just call me, Denton. I will always be willing to help you.”

The guards started on walking towards the inside of the arena, which was the place where the players are being placed first. Unlike the usual path, they did not turn to the left and was rather made turn to the right. Just after few steps away from the gate of the battlefield, the guards opened another gate and opened a new paradise… of hell.

It was a bigger stadium than the older room consisting of people with the same first letter of their surnames. The stadium consists of a lot of beds and do have a bigger monitor on the southern part of it. The beds are also arranged alphabetically from left to right. There are also lines that separate each groups. The players got no choice but to enter the bigger stadium without anticipating what is there to happen.

“The escaping match has happened,” Paul whispered to Denton who focused his eyes on the monitor. “Basically, the aim is to shot the players dead with your turn. The shooter will be placed four meters away from the other players in line and will be given a chance to shoot while blindfolded. To make the game even thrilling, they also blindfolded all of them, with no regards to whomever turn it is.” Paul paused and looked at the monitor which was showing the live footage of the escaping match. “Oh, that one guy has the best posture among all of them. He must be from the army.”

“Yeah, his position is good,” Denton muttered. Everyone are immersed to seeing the escaping match live on the monitor. Time has passed and there are still five players who are standing still on the field. “There will be someone who will escape in this match. I think the woman is really doing good, not to discriminate her with her gender. She is the only woman in that lineup now, since the other two has been already shot. I think she has a great chance to win.”

“I don’t think so, Denton,” Paul’s remorse. “Though she is good among the woman, there are still better men than her,” he continued. “Did I sound misogynist? I just think that one of the guys will do better, not to prejudice the woman. Still rooting for the guy with good position and stand while aiming.”

The game continued on airing until there are only two players left: the woman Denton gave his opportunity to and the guy who has good position and stand while aiming, as for Paul. This time, they are not forced on a stick position and was given the opportunity to choose the place where they want to shoot from. However, they are required to shout something before the other one shoots, which is vicious and cunning. These two players really had great sense of hearing that lead them to fight head to head.

“Damn it,” Paul muttered after seeing how the woman aimed for the guy without seeing anything. It was just her pure ability and desperation that lead her to kill the guy without seeing a hint of him, just the sound the guy made before she shot her chance. “You really must not judge someone based on her gender and looks. She is vicious.”

“I already told you, Paul. That woman is one of a kind,” Denton muttered and looked at the woman who happily left the battlefield after winning the escaping match. “Yet another player has survived from the hell.”

Paul looked at Denton. “If you did not give up the spot, do you think you can do what she did too? She has escaped and you are still here because you gave her your spot.”

“Nah, I do not think I can do that,” Denton muttered. “Just because I gave her the spot, I will be jealous of the benefit it gave her. Perhaps, I am not that really good at holding guns and aiming, what more a blind test. I am just sincere happy that she will get to see her family again, which I want to do after.”

“You seem to always like being heroic as always, Denton,” a big, husky voice muttered on his back. Denton already knew where that voice came from and so, Denton refused to look at the person on his back. “Can’t you hear me?” the man from the back asked Denton who was acting like he cannot hear someone talking from his back. “Isn’t it so hard that you keep on acting like you do not know a friend like me?”

Paul looked at the back. “Or maybe Denton does not treat you as his friend,” he muttered as a response to the big guy who was looking at Denton like the latter was his prey. “Or maybe, you can just f**k off and not mind him doing his business here. You can just leave him alone here and mind your own businesses.”

“Oh, so my dear Denton just hired an attorney to defend him?” the big guy, named Hector asked, teasing Denton and Paul with his big physique. “You look awful while hiding your face against me and letting your attorney defend you.”