GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

TOO NICE TO PLAY

Denton looked back and faced Hector. “Paul is not my attorney to defend me,” he replied. The bigger guy just gave them a smirk, saying that he was not moved with Denton’s response. “I think the issue between us, I cannot say that it is already resolved, but please just forget about it. Do you want to see me kneel down in front of you here, so that you can forget about it?”

“I want you to kneel down in front of me… but not here,” Hector said and smirked once more. It left Denton and Paul confused of what he is trying to say. “If you want me to forget about it then meet me in the comfort room right now.” Denton was shocked to hear that statement from the big gang boss. He was slightly confused of what the guy was about to. “I am kidding. Of course, let us forget about that, Denton. Am I too childish to not forget a childish fight with my friend?”

The bigger guy left the scene. “I think the guy wants to f**k you for f**k’s sake,” Paul said in explaining why Hector wants to see Denton on the comfort room. “I can see that there is lust on his eyes while saying that. Maybe he wants to put his d**k inside your ass, man.”

“You can just say that he wants to f**k me so that he can forget about it. Man, you do not need to say it detailed like that.” Denton looked at the people around him, securing that no one heard about what Paul muttered. “Nevertheless, I would not let him do that to me only so he can forget about what happened to us. I have my wife, though she is dead already, I cannot do that.”

“I can’t believe he can do that with you as the way to make him forget about whatever that has happened between you two,” Paul muttered as he shook his head. “Well, he looks like he can really do that with a guy. I bet his minions already has sucked his d**k once.”

Denton just shook his head, trying to remove all the statements that Denton has uttered before the monitor once again showed the speaker. “Good evening, players. This is the new venue where you all will stay for the rest of the games. Since there is an abrupt decrease of players only during the first and second game, the game head decided to put the players in one room.” The speaker stopped on talking after the players took the time to murmur with each other. “The rule will be added by not talking with non-group members while the alarm lights, with orange sign on it. Non-group members are the players who do not share the same surname capital with thee. While the alarm lights are on, players must stay on their lane. Players who will disobey with this rule will be executed. The dinner will be served after the announcement. The alarm will be signaled ten minutes after the allotted dinner time.”

The guards entered with the wheeled table filled with foods on top of it. There are lunchboxes and a lot of drinks placed on the table. “Fall in proper line to get the foods,” one of the guards muttered which every players inside the arena. “After getting the food, go to the lane of your group members. This is a command from the game head.”

After Denton and Paul got their own foods, they parted ways and went to their group lanes. Denton grabbed the bed on the left side and ate on it. All the other players also went to their group lanes after grabbing their own foods and started on munching it. Both Paul and Denton are just taking gazes on each other. They cannot pass through lanes because that will be a violation to the rule that was just announced. “Why have to make such a rule? What is with this rule?”

“I know right,” one of Denton’s group member replied. Denton just looked at the woman who spoke to him. The woman never dared to give him a gaze and instead, she was munching and savoring her own food. “I actually think it is a stereotyping s**t but is a different one. Which sane people would stereotype his players using their surname’s capital letter?”

Denton was about to talk when a gunshot surrounded the whole arena. It was then followed by screams of women, as they tried to cry on their position. One player just got shot while being inside the arena. “Player N-19 just violated the rule of stepping onto the other group’s lane.” The guard was the one who talked, in static and direct voice. “Remember to follow the game’s rules in order to survive. The arena is filled with cameras. The game head knows all the things the players are doing. In one click, we are coming to punish the violators.”

The other guards just started on pulling the dead player’s body towards the outside of the arena like it was just a piece of meat they are trying to carry. The whole arena became even more silent when the guards started on leaving the area. Other players were not bothered by the fact that someone just got killed inside the area and continued on eating their own foods, the other half were scared and shocked resulting them to not to anything, afraid of doing one thing wrong. Many were either baffled to even move a little movement, scared of stepping onto other group’s lane and be assassinated at the same exact moment.

“The game head must be brutal,” the woman who once talked to Denton muttered with foods stuffed inside her mouth. Denton was unmoved after seeing the dead woman’s corpse being dragged outside. “I would not choose to meet that piece of bullshit. I’d rather die.” Denton just took his time looking at the woman who was talking yet he never replied. “I am trying to talk to you but you are never responding. We are on the same team; can’t you even see me trying to talk to you?”

“I am sorry, I was still busy absorbing everything that has happened a while ago,” Denton replied, and he was telling the real thing. For a span of five minutes, indeed a lot of things happened and they just changed place before all these things happened. “What are you talking about again? I was spacing out…”

“Nothing really necessary,” the woman muttered before throwing the lunchbox she used to eat on the floor inside their lane. She looked back at Denton and laid down on the bed she was occupying at that time. “Anyway, I am Maris Michaelson. As you know, we are on the same group,” she muttered. “I am not telling you this because it’s a much of a too much information but I am a predictor on the outside world.” Denton was carefully listening at her. “The first time I saw you, I predicted that you have an even bigger power than anyone else here, even me. That power is invisible but… only I can see that. You have great chance to win the game.” The woman turned her gaze to Denton. “You have one person you dislike inside this game, beware of that person. He is dangerous. Be careful of betrayals too. You are naïve to experience that.”

Denton was speechless. “Must I thank you for saying that, for predicting that? That was just baseless assumptions,” he muttered. Take note, he was not mad upon saying that. “If you really are a true fortuneteller or predictor, as you call yourself, how is your fate inside this game?”

“This is all not baseless, groupmate. I predicted all of this using my observations and all the guides that were surrounding me. I cannot blame you for thinking that all these are baseless and that, I have no grounds of saying this because you can’t see what I can see,” the woman muttered but Denton was not moved. “To answer your question, the reason why I am acting like I am of no more inspiration to live because I can also see my own power, and it is slowly losing more as the round gets higher and higher. That is the disadvantage of this. I can also see my own unfortunate things. The fact is I already saw that I am already going to die on the third round, no matter how well I do.” Denton was not that worried that time. He only thinks that the woman is insane for thinking that way. “I am not crazy. Whenever I die, just grab my card and it’s all yours. I root for your success.”

“Wait,” Denton muttered, stopping the woman to turn back but the woman was not moved and did an entire spin over the bed. Denton called many times more. The woman did not even look back to reply. Denton assumed that the woman was already sleeping and that, he did not bother the woman already. He sat by himself on his bed. “Must I be inspired to do things more after hearing what the woman has told me?”