GAMBLE: Rule of Cards

CHAPTER 15

“WELCOME TO the fifth main match,” the speaker’s voice surrounded the whole battlefield as he announced the commencement of the fifth main match. The players gasped as they saw the battlefield as quiet and as spacious as they do not expect. The fifth main match has little to no equipment, as seen on it. Some are doubtful that maybe the guards will place the equipment after but the guards are not moving as it seems. “The fifth main match is called ‘Lucky Seven’. Follow the procedure given by the guards for faster and smoother procedure. The guards will now lead you to the first step.”

Paul hissed. “Why is there no equipment? Are they going to command us to kill each other?”

Denton shook his head. “It’s too early for that. I bet these selfless game head will put that at the end.”

Paul looked at Denton. “So, are they really going to have us killing each other.”

Denton nodded. “I have a gut so. I don’t think they will let us easy like this.”

The guards started on putting a collar-like, belt-like thing on their necks, which shook Denton and the rest of the players. “Do not try to remove this or your neck will explode,” said the guard who was putting the collar on Denton’s neck. “One must not try to remove this on purpose. The players can touch and hold the collar. Once the detector detected that a force is being exerted on the collar, it will activate its self-explosion.”

Denton just nodded. All the players went to the battlefield. Since it was that spacious, they scattered around the area. Some of them are looking at the collar of each other since they can’t see theirs. “What the hell is this thing?” Paul asked. He’s trying to look at the collar of his but he cannot. “They did not even give us an instruction or not.”

“Huh?” Denton reacted to what Paul said. “It’s weird. They did not give you precautions?”

Paul, Jannah and Sandra looked at him. “Why? Did someone tell you something?”

“One guard did,” Denton replied. “He told me that we must not force this collar out of our neck, or it will explode. Once the detector of the collar detected that one is exerting a force on the collar, it will activate its self-explosion. I was not telling you all since I thought you were also given that notice.”

Sandra twinkled her eyes. “It’s really weird that they only gave you that notice. Which guard was it?”

Denton looked back at the guards as he tried to recognize who was the one who talked to him. “They all look alike with their masks on, I just don’t recognize who was that person,” he remarked. “One thing is for sure, he told me those words. I wasn’t sure who was it actually, but he must have a purpose of doing so. Good thing was, I told you what was it about. Now, be careful about holding your collar. Favorably, do not let someone hold that collar of you and don’t let anyone exert a force on it, do you understand?”

Paul, Jannah and Sandra just nodded their heads on Denton. “Okay.” Denton, for sure, is a leader in nature. He led the whole human kind and now, he is leading his team towards the victory. “What do you think is the game today? I wasn’t really sure about the game. Lucky Seven sounds like a gamble, though. Do you think it will include the poker cards?”

Denton nodded. “I have a gut, since I play gamble and I know for a fact that Lucky Seven is a game that includes poker cards. Nevertheless, I don’t think they will let us play a cliché game, since a lot of here are adults, they probably know how to play poker. Also, the process of winning the Lucky Seven is hard, and requires time. They would not have us play that, since it will be time-consuming. The other thing is that, if it was the usual Lucky Seven, there should poker tables and bankers, which in our case, not. Plus, what is the sense of these collars if we are just going to sit down and play pokers.”

“I will now explain the mechanics of the fifth main match,” the speaker suddenly muttered. The monitor showed a visual representation of all what the speaker is telling. “Lucky Seven is a game of wit and strategy. It will be an individual game but will still include coordination with groups and some of the other players. The game will play for exact ten minutes. Once the game has commenced, the monitor on your collars is going to flash a number. You have to hug with the person with the same number as yours. However, if your number is seven, you must avoid physical contact with the other players. The number will change every minute. The players who are unable to group with their same exact number will be eliminated. Useful cards will be the block card, useful for only one usage. One must give the block card to the nearest guard before the minute has ended, or so the player will explode together with his or her collar. No other cards are useful in this game. The game will commence after the three minutes given to the players for planning.”

Paul looked at Denton who was deeply thinking. “What strategy must we use to survive this game?”

“I only have one idea inside my mind,” Denton muttered. He tried looking at his collar but he was unable to see what’s in there. “You see, I cannot see my collar but you three can. Since I can’t see what’s on my collar, I want you to see it for me and I must see it for you, as a change.” There was a deafening silence after he muttered those words. “I mean, for example, Sandra will see what’s on Paul’s collar, and she will be going to tell Paul what was his number using his hands. Of course, Paul will do the same for Sandra. To lessen the confusion, Sandra will do it first, and Paul will do the same after her. Jannah and I will do the same for each other. Jannah, you go signal me what my number is, while I do the same after you did.”

Sandra nodded. “I understand, but what are we going to do if we get seven?”

Denton heaved a sigh. “Actually, I have no concrete plan on that part of the game. The only thing I can see us doing is hiding our collar with all our might, but make it look natural. The more obviously you hide your collar, the more they are going to doubt your actions. Those who will get number seven will be the most vulnerable to danger. Once they see your number and they touch you or hold you or every physical contact you could imagine, you will be eliminated. We just have to have good cooperation with each other. I know it’s our first day as a team, but let’s trust each other, shall we?”

The monitor showed the timer on the screen. “The fifth main match will start within ten seconds.”

Denton looked at his members. “It’s not that I am doubting you but I want you to not fail each other, please. If you are thinking of surviving, at least, think that we are ready to help each other. Please, we are a team and let’s act like one. Let us, at least, survive this game, so we can help each other escape this hell. Together, let’s help each other, shall we?”

“The game is already starting,” Sandra muttered. She looked at Paul and aimed for what the number was on his collar. “Paul, you have number four.”

Paul looked at her collar and told her what her number was. “Sandra, you have number two on your collar.”

Jannah looked at Denton’s collar and muttered a very short remark. “Three.”

Denton looked at her collar and was surprised to see the unexpected number on her collar. “Jannah, you have to hide now. Be safe. Remember that you have number seven on your collar.”

Jannah nodded. “Sure.”

Denton looked at the crowd and started on finding the rest of the playets who have three on their collars. “Here,” he said as he raised his hand, only to notice by the other guy who have three on his collars. “You have three and I also have three. We must hug each other and find the other ones. Let us help each other.”

The guy looked at Denton. “Are you sure that I have three? Are you not lying?”

Denton sighed. “Why would I lie about this? I want to survive, so I want to find those people who have three. Let us just do this because we are running out of time.”

The guy started on approaching everyone who have three and so did Denton. “Come on, you have three,” he told the woman who was confused of what’s happening. The woman eventually went with Denton. They started on finding other people who have three on their collar but they can’t seem to find anyone. “We just have to hug and let the minute pass. Don’t worry and trust me, please. Let us all survive.”

They hugged as they waited for the minute to end, and as the minute ended, the collar made a ticking sound which signifies the change of number on their collar. He tried looking for Jannah and he found her hiding behind the big piece of wood. “It’s okay now,” he shouted at Jannah who eventually showed up from the wood. “Go out and tell me what’s my number.”

Jannah raised her hand with six fingers. “Six,” Jannah’s short remark.

Denton raised his hand, making a hand sign with how much the number was on Jannah’s collar is. “Eight!”

Just as what Denton did on the first minute, he started on running through the crowds, collecting all the people he has the same number with. Some of them doubt Denton and each other, but some of them trusts Denton all, after they saw how Denton led the human kind. “Trust me. I want to survive and so do you. If you want to survive, come and trust me.”

They left the minute running and running closer to its end. Some are doubtful of all Denton’s kind doings but some are just plain going on the flow, since they do not have any concrete plan about this game but Denton has. The minute ended and the collar made a ticking sound. Denton looked at them and nodded at them. “Now, let’s find our new teammates.”