Death Game: Isolated

Chapter 2

There are only 51 people inside the restaurant but it feels like there are hundreds, they are only looking at each other and none of them tried to initiate a conversation. But it was different for Tomy who approached Jason whose friend was killed earlier.

"I'm Tomy, by the way."

"..."

"You should try talking to other people here, we all have the same circumstances after all." He patted Jason's shoulder and walked towards the table where 5 people are seated around it.

***

"May I share a space with you?" Tomy asked.

"Go ahead."

"Do all of you know each other? You seem pretty close."

"What's that got to do with you?" It was Jiel, he pulled Darell's seat closer to him and glared at Tomy.

"Sorry, I was just trying to familiarize myself with everyone here. It's lucky for you, you have your friends with you here." Tomy smiled after his words.

Ace didn't reply and only nodded his head.

"There's no need to introduce yourselves, I already know you. Ace Santos, Angel Dela Cruz, Sofia Martinez, Jiel Santiago and your girlfriend Darell Alcantara."

"We shall get along then." Ace offered a handshake and Tomy accepted it with a smile. Since he personally came here to talk with them, it's rude to just let him be.

After seeing the actions of Tomy, the other players began talking with those they are not familiar with. Most of them spoke to Jason who is seating alone in the corner. Although they are not familiar with each other, they can feel sympathy for Jason who just lost his friend.

The atmosphere suddenly changed just because of the simple actions of Tomy, they have forgotten the situation where they are for now and indulged themselves in their own conversations.

***

"Your mealtime is already finished." The man wearing a white tuxedo entered the restaurant and his subordinates drove the players outside the place.

Since there are 51 people, most of them gathered in a kid's playground but Ace told his friends that they should go back to their rooms.

While they were walking, Angel was spacing out but Darell noticed it and invited her with them.

"Why are you spacing out? We're already friends so you should come with us."

Ace lead the group with the three girls in the middle and Jiel at the back. His eyes were tirelessly looking around the place when he noticed the digital clock on top of the building's doorway which he didn't see before.

"What's that?"

10:53:01, it looks like a countdown for something.

The metal door of the building was pushed open and the group went upstairs.

"Uhmm I have something to say to Ace so I will go to his room." Sofia informed them and went to the 7th floor with Ace.

When they arrived there, Ace glanced at the room behind his before entering his room with Sofia.

"So, what do you want to say?"

"Wait for me here..." Sofia then left the room and while waiting for her to come back, Ace laid on his bed. His eyes fixated on the white ceiling.

Few minutes later, the door was pushed open again and Sofia entered hurriedly. Shes holding a towel which was folded and placed it on the bed.

She unfolded the towel and revealed a gun without a mag, 2 magazines, and a knife.

"What the-"

"What are these!? Why do you have these things!?" Ace subconsciously yelled at Sofia and covered the weapons with the towel. She just stood there and didn't answer immediately.

"The Game Master gave it to us. They said, as a hunter, we should have a weapon to make the game more exciting." She answered while looking at Ace's eyes.

"What's your card?" He asked.

Sofia showed him the card she picked which was inside her pocket, it was the Jack of Clubs.

'They are really serious yet they still call it a game?' Ace thought to himself. It was his first time hearing a game where players literally kill each other.

"Ace, what should I do?" Sofia's voice is a little shaky because she's nervous. She understood the magnitude of their situation more because she personally came in contact with the game master who gave her the gun and the knife.

"Can you tell me what they told you? Are all hunters have these?"

"Yes, there are 12 of us. Each of us picked a weapon of our choice..."

Jack, Queen, King: Spade, heart, diamond, and club.

"The Game Master told us to eliminate players on midnight if they did not make their move, and if someone moved but failed to lose his card or get the card of his opponent, we will eliminate the two."

"What if you will not do your job as a hunter?" Ace asked. Although they are hunters, he didn't believe that they are willing to kill their fellow students just for this game, the trauma it will give them cannot be dissolved by a mere 5 billion pesos. It's just a money, although it's a big amount, it's just a money. It can't be used to erase the memory of someone about what happened here.

"T-they said the other hunters will kill us, if we want to survive we should do our job as a hunter. We can either move alone or in groups. But..."

"I think the Game Master have different jobs for the other hunters because after getting our cards, she personally called 4 hunters one by one to talk with them."

"..."

"Ace, what should I do now? I don't want to die, I'm afraid."

"Let's exchange card." Ace offered and attempted to bring out his card but Sofia stopped him, her eyes were a little teary.

"Please, no. If they discovered that I exchanged card, they will kill you. Both of us will be in danger."

"Do you know the other hunters?" Ace asked her.

"No, but the game master gave us a hint for something..."

-The surface is deceiving, flip it and you will know the truth.-

"That's what she said. If we understood what it meant, everyone here will be safe and the game will end."

Ace thought that this hint is impossible to understand, it's more like of a riddle, it just made the situation more confusing.

"Ace, don't show to anyone your card. If you have a powerful card, your situation will be more dangerous."

"What about the two? Do they know about it?" Ace asked. He's pertaining to Jiel and Darell.

"No, but they probably know what they should do. After seeing what happened to Mike, everyone already realized what kind of situation we have. They will hide their cards as better as possible."

Ace knew that there's still the King of Diamonds card, it was either Darell or Jiel who picked it but will they tell him if he asked them? He thought he should refrain from doing it. As long one none of them do anything suspicious and might harm their friendship or each other, he will let them be. This is not just a simple game after all, their lives are at stake.

"Please refrain from asking them their cards. If you discovered accidentally the card they hold, the Game Master will let it slide but if you deliberately asked for it or the holder deliberately showed his card, both of you will receive punishment."

"Ho! You know many things..."

"That's because they informed us. What I told you are the things I only know so when the countdown you saw earlier turned to 0, get away from here as far as possible and hide. I don't know what the other hunters will do but I can't kill someone... Maybe I can hurt them but I can't bring myself to end one's life." Sofia's hand trembled.

Ace held her hand and didn't ask any further. According to her words, this place will remain close for a certain amount of time starting from 12:00 midnight.

"Let's go outside, okay?" Ace carried the folded towel as the two of them walked outside.

***

The countdown, 9:00:00. Only 9 hours left, most players don't know what will happen if the countdown turned to 0 but Ace knew it and he didn't tell Jiel and the two girls about it. He kept it a secret. If Sofia didn't tell them, what right does he have?

Sofia and Ace were sitting on a swing. Ace is moving the swing back and forth while Sofia stayed still, her eyes were staring at the sky until someone approached them.

"Hi?" A man wearing glasses approached.

"I'm Cleo, by the way. I was watching both of you earlier and I kinda want to know your names." Cleo introduced himslef, he seems to have a problem with his eyes.

Sofia shook hands with him and introduced herself.

"Sofia Martinez, he's Ace Santos."

"Martinez and Santos? If I'm not mistaken, you're from University of Abra, right?"

"You're right but don't call it a university yet, it just became a university recently and is still under revamping." Ace replied and stood beside Sofia. He pushed her swing gently and let her hair dance in the air.

"Haha! I didn't know your names but your surnames are familiar, especially Sofia Martinez when the Math Club in our school is having a practice."

"Ah... Then are you also familiar with Darell Alcantara?" Sofia asked.

"Of course! How can I not know the one who swept all the rewards in last year's Quizz Bee?" Cleo pushed his glasses using his two fingers before continuing.

"I've talked to Tomy earlier, seems like all of us here have an experience participating in Summer Camp. Oh! Right, do you know Jason?"

"What about Jason?" Ace asked.

"He's my classmate and a varsity player. Baseball and Volleyball. We're only classmates, if you remove the word classmate we will become a complete stranger with each other."

"Don't you sympathize about his friend's death?" Sofia asked because of the bright smiles on Cleo's face while talking about Jason. This time, they didn't see him around.

"You mean Mike? I wonder if they're really friends but in a standpoint of a student, I sympathize with him."

"Then I should go first..." He pushed the bridge of his eyeglass and left.

Cleo left the two and went back to his group. When his group saw where he went, they just waved their hands to Sofia and Ace.

"Let's rest first." Ace patted Sofia's shoulder and decided to go back to their rooms.

Sofia's room was located in the 3rd floor along with Darell, Angel, and Jiel. Ace was the only one who was cast away from the group.

Ace entered his room and locked the door and went to the restroom to wash his face.

*Splash

The faucet was left open as Ace stared at his reflection in the mirror for an unknown amount of time.

He placed his palm on his chest and felt his heart beating so fast. The death of their fellow player gave a huge shock to him. Everyone here are not dumb to not notice something after Mike was killed, they are all forced to abide with every words of the masked men, especially the one wearing a white tuxedo.

"If we didn't do what they told us, they will surely kill anyone to set example but that is impossible to happen because of the hunters."

Ace thought that it is not necessary for the hunters to just kill anyone to start the game, they just needed to create a commotion which will be enough to cause a rift between other players.

He brought out his card from his pocket which is the Ace of Spades and put it inside his right shoe.

When he opened the cabinet located on the corner of the room, he froze in place. His trembling hands opened the black box which was not there yesterday, only the clothes were inside the wardrobe.

When he opened the box, there were two knives inside along with a letter.

-This is your authority as someone who holds the spade.-

Ace of Spades, then it means that Ace of Spades until the 10 of Spades were also given a weapon. It is their authority but compared to the hunters, it is really funny.

'It does not matter if we have authorities if we can't even fight for ourselves.'

Having a weapon doesn't always ensure his safety if he's reluctant on using it. He can't even hurt a dog, how can he do it to a human?

'Well, there's no rule stating we should kill our opponent.'

He only needed to make his opponent unable to fight, take his card, and get away. Well, the situation depends if his opponent is a crazy person who will fight him to death.

He put the knife below the pillow and closed his eyes to sleep.

***

*RING!

A ringing sound reverberated to every part of the building and woke Ace from his deep sleep.

He was still laying down on the bed when the door suddenly opened which was locked when he slept. A masked man entered and told him to get out.

Ace didn't forget the knife below the pillow. When he placed the knife inside his pocket, the masked man's mask moved a little, Ace thought he is smiling.

When Ace was finally outside, everyone was gathered in front of the building. The streetlights were the only source of light. Without giving any word, the man wearing white tuxedo clicked on the remote control in his hand and the metal door of the building slowly closed.

"Wait!"

Cleo yelled but he stopped his approach when the man wearing white tuxedo pointed him the gun.

"We will not hear any of your words." He said and left the place.

The players stared at each other, looking for an answer on what should they do.

Ace found Sofia with Angel but the couple is not here.

"Where's Jiel and Darell?" He asked, Sofia only looked at his eyes and didn't answer.

"Here!" Jiel called them out, Darell is following closely behind him but her hand was tightly held by Jiel.

"They just left us here..."

"Are we going to camp outside? Haha!"

"Man, stop joking."

Everyone looked at the countdown where only 15 seconds remaining, the atmosphere quieted.

"Hey, what do you think will happen if that turned to 0?" Someone asked but no one answered, no one knew.

5...

4...

3...

2...

1...

0

The place suddenly turned dark, all the lights were turned off.

Ace looked around him but he can't see a thing. He was about to stretch his hand beside him where Jiel was standing but someone pushed him and punched his face.

"Ugh!"

"Who was it!?"

"AAAAARRGH!"

The players started groaning as if they are in pain but Ace cannot even let out a sound, no, he is so nervous that he can't even move.

's**t! What's happening!?' He thought to himself.

"Sofia! Darell! Shit...Dammit! Angel!" He didn't call out Jiel's name because his concern for now was the girls. Compared to Ace and Jiel, the girls are more sensitive to panick especially Sofia. Jiel is not a girl and can take care of himself.

"We're here, we are okay..." Angel's voice was heard and the groans coming from the other players were gone. At this moment, the streetlights began to turn back on, illuminating the whole place once again.

Ace's eyes widened after seeing someone laying on the floor, behind him is the eyewear which is completely fine.

Another person is pressing his bleeding arm and Ace on the other hand, his face still hurts. Someone approached Cleo and woke him up, luckily, he just fainted after receiving a heavy blow behind his head.

"Ace! Jiel... Jiel is not here and Sofia!" Darell yelled and Ace immediately looked around him. His eyes swept the players one by one but he can't find even the shadow of Sofia.

"W-what...?"

He looked at the faces of everyone here but he can't find his friends.

"45, we are only 45. It means 6 people disappeared when the lights are off." Angel informed them.

"We should find them, they are in dang-"

Ace didn't finish his words because he saw someone walk out from the darkness far ahead of them, they can't see the face because the figure is wearing a mask but they can say she is a girl because of her long hair. Then another one appeared, standing behind the girl wearing a mask. They stoos in the middle of the road, the streetlights on both sides gave them the feeling of someone in the spotlight.

The girl is holding a baseball bat while the man standing beside her has a gun and aimed it at Ace, they were probably the hunters.

*Bang!

Maybe it was because of the distance or he just have a bad aim but the bullet only hit the ground in front of Ace, he is lucky. If Ace stepped twice forward, the bullet should have hit his foot.

*Bang Bang!

"What the hell is going on!?"

"He's shooting us, be caref!"

When the hunter started shooting, everyone ran to different directions. Some went alone, leaving their group behind while others pulled someone with them away.

"Run!" Ace pushed the two girls as the three of them ran to the area where there are more houses. He didn't forget to check the knife inside his pocket if it is still there.

"They probably went to hide, we should worry about ourselves first." Ace whispered to them.

After 5 minutes of running, they arrived in an area where there are houses aligned with each other.

They hid behind a small house where the light didn't reach.

"Isn't it better to go inside?" Angel asked because she's just standing in front of the door. She was wondering if the lights of the buildings other than the tower are still working because the only sources of light are the streetlights.

"No. They will find us easier if we are inside, that is the most common idea that everyone had. It is better outside because we can freely move and scout our surroundings." He replied in a whisper.

From their hiding place, they can only see the figures of 4 masked hunters because they are too far, it is also impossible for them to hear their conversation except if they shouted.

Among the 4 hunters, 3 of them were boys while the other one is a girl.Two boys are leading the group and one of them shouted.

"FOOLS! HAHAHA! HIDE AS LONG AS YOU WANT!"

After his words, he entered the house beside them and Ace stepped backwards, refraining the two girls to see what they shouldn't see.

*Silence

*Bang!

A man came running from the house, his right foot is bleeding because it was shot. Probably because of fear after seeing the other 3 hunters outside, he froze in place and fell on his butt.

The man started shaking his head and crawled away from them only to stop because the one who entered the house and shot him pointed a gun at his head.

The man is talking and talking but Ace cannot hear it, what he knew is that the man is already begging for his life.

Ace's eyes are trembling while watching the scene.

The man sat on the ground but he is facing the direction where Ace and the two girls are hiding, the hunter stood in front of him and kneeled with one foot with his back facing the other hunters.

Then he removed his mask, Ace cannot see his face because the hunter had his back facing them and the other hunters.

"YOU!" The man roared in anger after seeing the face of the hunter and attempted to grab his neck but failed because the hunter kicked him on his chest.

His body fell to the ground and started coughing...

*Bang!

Another shot was heard.

Ace subconsciously stepped back with wide eyes and looked at the monitor on top of the tallest building, 50, the number changed from 51 to 50.

The hunter who killed the first victim was about to search the victim's body to find his card when the other hunter who is leading the group earlier pointed his gun to him.

The hunter who killed the player stood up while raising his hands and slowly stepped aside.

The other hunter immediately found the card and put it inside his pocket before looking at the direction where Ace and the two girls are hiding.

's**t! Did he notice us!?' Ace can't believe it, did this man have an eagle eye? But it was impossible, the area is so dark plus they are too far.

Ace then turned his back.

"Let's leave from here..." He said but it seems like Darell became a stone statue, Angel is sitting on the ground and covering his mouth.

"Darrell..."

He pulled Darrel and sat on the ground as he watched the leaving hunters.

"D-did you know there's someone hiding there?" Darell asked Ace. Based on his reaction earlier when the hunter entered the house, it was like he knew there was someone hiding there.

"Yes... I saw it earlier when he left his group and entered that house." He answered and looked at Angel.

"What's going to happen to us?" She asked with her trembling voice.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen. As long as we can keep ourselves hidden, they will not find us."

"This town is too wide for them to search each corners completely."