Shades of Wolves

Chapter 9: Angel with broken wings

November 11th, 2100.

The pandemic has left a very, very deep wound behind. My father and mother were not vaccinated in time, because they were poor and had no social status, because we were immigrants and had to live in scorn. They had to wait desperately for vaccine distribution.

I took out a loan to open a fast-food restaurant, but then it went bankrupt. Debt makes me tired and miserable. Every day is like a prison to me.

Each and everyone who comes here all wants to change their life. And I am not an exception. I have to win against them, at all costs. I want the power to be able to change this sad reality.

                                                                                                                           Maggie

"Hey, you're freaking kidding us, aren't you?" Mahoney lost her temper. She jumped up and shouted at Sammul. Her actions drew the attention of everyone around.

“I guess so. Believe it or not, it’s your problem, not mine.” He left a sentence and then bent his head down to continuing consuming food.

"Go eat your food. There’s nothing gonna happen" Hoa reassured Mahoney as well as herself, but her mouth was bitter after this damned grim reaper's vague prediction.

In the midst of tension, a sound came from a nearby table. Hoa tilted her head to have a better look. It seemed that the big guy Ander was teasing Russel or so.

"Give me back the paper!" Russel reached for Ander's hand.

However, the big guy had no intention of giving it back. After struggling for a while, Ander angrily pushed Russel down, then shouted.

"I just borrow to copy for a bit! Why can’t you lend me?!"

"But my questions are not the same as yours. So those answers are wrong." Russel replied in anger. The first twenty sentences were like a free gift, and yet this i***t could not answer any. Russel could not believe it. What Ander had been doing all this time for decades in the world?

“Then I will take yours! No name has been filled yet, anyway.” Ander laughed.

"Are freaking out of your mind? We’re both gonna die if you do so!" Russell panicked. These first 20 sentences were as easy as a piece of cake. Who the hell in this world could have the wrong answers? Moreover, the order of question must be remembered by the players, how on Earth would he know which answers correspond to which questions on Ander’s questionnaire?

“But I like it!” Ander took Russel's answer sheet and slammed it on the table. Unexpectedly, due to using too much force, the coffee cup was poured on it.

“Damn it! My answers! My answer sheet!” Russel gaped. His eyes were widening in fear.

"No need to worry. We can always ask them for another. It’s really easy to print." Ander picked up the wet paper, which he found annoying. That’s why he crumpled it up and threw it in the trash can without a second thought.

Russel rushed there to take the piece of paper out. Unfortunately, those square boxes in the answer section were no longer in its original form. He panicked, ran his hand through his ruffled hair, trying in vain to put the pieces back together.

“Player 016 was eliminated!”

The sound of the death sentence came from a large speaker in the dining room. Immediately, a team of Malvis arrived and carried Russel away in his screams of struggle. So that's how Russell's path ended?

As soon as Russel was taken away, many people seemed to realize something. They ran all the way to the audio-visual room in fear. The speaker continuously emitted shrill sounds.

“Player 009 was eliminated!”

“Player 026 was eliminated!”

“Player 060 was eliminated!”

“….”

Someone in the audiovisual room was destroying the answer sheets of those careless players. Hoa glanced over at the rest of the room. Most remained vigilant and kept the paper by their side. Sammul seemed extremely calm. From the Russel incident until now, he did not care, even a bit. All he did was focusing on scooping and eating his favorite soup.

Mahoney was as frozen as a statue. Her hands were cold and her mouth was trembling.

“Thank God. Thank God. It’s fortunate that you kept the answer sheet for me”

The girl burst into tears and hugged Hoa. Mahoney also wanted to leave the paper for tomorrow's exam. If she hadn't listened to her best friend's advice, she would have lost her memories by now.

"Alright! It’s okay. It's okay." Hoa hugged her friend and patted her shoulder. Mahoney was not suitable for this whole game, for starter. But if she had to live in her current situation, she would also commit suicide.

"But you're going to die. You're going to die!" Mahoney was still in tears.

"How can I die?" Hoa smiled comfortingly.

“Because he said so. Sammul said the next one to die is you.” Mahoney pointed in the opposite direction.

Hoa looked at the man in front of her, he used a paper to wipe his mouth very elegantly. His mouth curled up a little as if he was listening to a joke.

"Then let’s wait and see. If there’s anyone that would die before her, consider that I'm wrong"

Sammul spilled that out and left.

Hoa and Mahoney walked out of the dining room together. They heard that about ten people had been eliminated in that event. That guy named Hwang Hee had stayed and ripped open the answer sheet by the time the others had arrived. He had said that those who had despised Tajina should have been buried her with her.

…………………..

Hoa and Mahoney returned to the room. They were passing by the road, on it there’s the roof top of the building, where Hoa and Sammul had met before.

"We just need to be more careful. Everything is gonna be just alright." Hoa rubbed her best friend's shoulder to comfort her.

“I'm okay now. Hold on!" Mahoney bent down to tie his shoelaces.

All of a sudden, a black shadow passed by them like a flick of light. The crackling sound of something crumbling as it landed was truly terrifying. Immediately, countless lines of red blood spurted onto Mahoney's face, causing her to stiffen and collapse. Blood was poured into the poor girl's eyes. Her mouth, hair, and cream shirt were all covered by that damn red of liquid. Without a second to protest or let her mind to proceed, Mahoney was speechless. Dead silent.

Russel's face was disfigured. His eyes were widening. Perhaps, before dying, he had been in great pain. Countless pictures flew up in the air, hovering and landing in a pool of blood. They were pictures of cats and dogs, animals that had been abandoned or treated cruelly in animal shelters. Russell in those photos had a bright and friendly smile. His life was over. Maybe before he jumped down, he tried to remember who they were, but he couldn't, he couldn't. That despair had no other solution than suicide.

Hoa knelt down. She was also trembling, but still had her mind together. She hugged Mahoney, who was numb. Russel's death was just like her brother's death. He jumped from the second floor, dying in front of Mahoney.

People gathered more and more around the body. Everyone covered their eyes and did have the guts not look. Only Bruno went up to him. Bruno put on Russel's crushed face a paper that was shaped as an angel. The man folded his hands in prayer as if to let Russel's soul be freed.

"An angel with broken wings is still an angel, after all."

Goodbye, Russell. May you rest in the sky. Your friends were waiting for you there!