The Last Man Standing

Chapter 7

The guards took the ten of them to the most weird and stressful place connected to the dungeon, the sandstone-made room where they were first contained— where Clio woke up with so much regret and fear for accepting the invitation from WIC.

The new place was a large and spacious white room.

"Welcome to Heaven!" Mercy shouted enthusiastically. The three of them, Alice and Summer, walked around the room as if it was nothing new—and then ran towards the center like children.

Clio was in awe of the place, on the other hand. She stood still in her place, while the rest of the players followed Mercy, Alice and Summer to the center. The room was filled with a vast amount of fairy lights on the ceiling and walls; and large speakers were hanging in every corner of the room. There’s nothing in the room aside from the lights and speakers.

While the dungeon was old and ragged, the white room was really like heaven.

But more than the compelling fairy lights all over the place, what Clio didn’t expect to see were people. The ten of them were not the only people here. There were others.

Maybe it's over fifteen aside from Clio’s group but because of the size of the area, they still seemed to be few.

After a while, Clio walked to the center of the room where the others were. She stood behind Reneger and uttered a simple, “Wow,” when she looked around the place for the second time around, finally appreciating how the blinding lights made the empty white room to be extra and grand. Reneger quietly agreed to her appreciation. Mercy mediated between Clio and Reneger. She held the two women in her arms before pointing out to them the strange object on the floor of the room. On the white floor, there were different colors of tape glued; blue, green, red and gold.

“So, this is really Heaven,” Reneger whispered, realizing the essence of those tape markers on the floor.

Mercy nodded knowingly before she looked amused at Clio. “This is the Heaven that Mrs. Berna told us. This is usually the beginning of Evolution—the first round of the game.”

Just like what Mercy expected, Clio’s face slightly frowned because of confusion. But unlike the first time, Mercy noticed how she was trying to hide that confusion by nodding and not asking questions; even though her eyes were showing her confused self to Mercy.

“Are you really a daughter of a Godsend, Knave?” Mercy asked which took Clio in a halt. The latter did not know what to say.

“Mercy,” Renege stopped Mercy.

The skinny woman laughed loudly before she gently caressed the top of Clio’s head. “Your eyes are making you too transparent and honest, Knave. That can kill you early in the game,” Mercy warned.

Reneger sighed before she pulled Mercy away. Clio was left, looking at everyone in the room. “Why do they keep talking about death?” she murmured to herself, noticing Artemis and Apollo laughing at each other as the two sat, facing each other, on the blue marker tape. “Evolution is just a game. No one should die,” Clio added, feeling envious of how the twins and the rest of the people were able to laugh while she was still heavily confused about everything.

The white door of the room opened again and two guards, wearing the same white suits and masks, entered— along with another set of ten players. That confirmed Clio’s assumption that there were really other people. They were put in a group of ten— in a separate dungeon to stay.

Clio roamed her gaze all around the place to find the nine people she was with in the dungeon when she woke up. They were with her on one team and may also be her allies once the games of Evolution started. One thing that she learned in surviving her miserable life was to always stick with the people who could help you without a doubt. Therefore, she could not be separated from them.

She did not have a hard time finding Mercy and Reneger. The two girls were with the other females in their team, Alice and Artemis. The four men of their team were not too far away from them. As Clio made her way towards them, the door of the white room opened again, two guards entered with another set of players. Clio frowned when there were only seven people for this group.

Clio was on her way to the place of her other teammates when she noticed a familiar man in the far corner of the room. She immediately recognized his thick and black glasses, his very straight stance and his slumped shoulders. She could not be wrong. That was the man she had sat next to at the party and was also with her in the same dungeon.

Clio's direction suddenly changed. For some incomprehensible reason, she really could trust the young man more than anyone with her in this game.

"Hey!" she called him but he did not turn at her. She walked faster towards the young man. “Hey,” she greeted him again upon arriving.

The man immediately turned his back to her and was about to walk away. But Clio did not let him. She grabbed the hem of the similar black hoodie that he was wearing, “Why are we here?” she asked without hesitation.

The man stopped on his tracks. He looked back at her with emotionless eyes. “Ask that to yourself. Why are you here?”

Clio slowly released her grip on the hem of the man's hoodie.

“For money,” she murmured, answering her own question.

For the first time, a small smirk etched on the man’s lips. “Money is not a good motivation to survive,” he took a step backward, “but it is effective.”

She was stunned by the young man’s comment about her reason for joining the WIC’s Evolution. The way he was looking at her with those cold eyes and a small smirk on his lips made her feel so small of herself.

“You don’t know me,” she spat, more like defending her pride.

“But you joined this game for money,” he answered as a matter of fact.

She was about to answer when she heard someone calling for Knave. When she looked at the voice’s direction, it was Mercy, waving at her. She smiled at her before averting her gaze back to the young man.

“Is there more you want to say?”

Clio’s jaw clenched and her hands formed into fists. It took her a few seconds before words were said, “You're scared.”

His head c****d to the right. “And you?”

“What happened to you today is not normal… It's the same for me. I'm scared too,” she admitted, not exactly knowing why she was letting her defenses fall in front of him.

The young man heaved a deep sigh before he shrugged again. “I’m afraid to tell you this but,” he took a step forward. He looked at Clio with unwavering determination. “I am not scared. Unlike you, I joined Evolution for something greater than money. This is more than being a winner for me, Knave.”

For the first time since Clio was called by her codename, she felt strange. She was not Knave; it was supposed to be Lilith and not her. Suddenly, she felt like she did not know herself anymore. Why was she doing this?

"What's your name?" Clio asked the man.

He stared at her. Wariness crept into his face as he answered, “Eli.” Then, he turned his back on Clio and walked away.

She sighed, watching Eli’s back going away. She wanted to follow him but… the door of the white room opened again and the two guards entered. But this time, they’re not with anyone. They stood on both sides of the room’s door, guarding it.

“Are we complete now?” Clio asked herself, looking around the room. That’s when Clio noticed how the room significantly became crowded in a manner of minutes passed. Noise was becoming louder as people in groups kept talking, laughing and playing. She scouted the whole room— based on her estimation, the people were now more than twenty— but not more than fifty. “Thirty-seven,” she uttered, summing up the three groups with ten members and the last group with seven members that entered the room.

“Knave!”

She shook her head to stop overthinking and marched towards Reneger and Mercy. Alice and Summer gave Clio a small nod while the guys did not even pay attention to her.

Reneger wrapped her arm around Clio’s shoulders and gave her a teasing grin. “Do you know him?” pertaining to Eli.

Mercy, who was standing beside Alice, giggled, “Boyfriend?”

Summer, who was sitting on the floor, looked up at Clio, interested in her answer.

But to their dismay, Clio was not able to answer the question because of a woman’s voice that filled the whole room from the speakers. Everyone stopped on whatever they were doing and discussing.

“I'm giving my warmest welcome to you, Brothers and Sisters! On behalf of our Compact and the great WIC, we are happy to have competitive and strong young bloods for this year’s Evolution.” The woman’s sweet voice spoke with a natural and smooth English accent. “From this moment and the coming days, we will make another history as you, fortunate young bloods, have the chance to join the boat of salvation before the world comes to an end! Series of chances, tests, and challenges will be given in the proceeding days to determine who must be the most worthy to be saved.”

Everyone was attentively listening to every word the woman on the speaker said. Clio was the most attentive of them all. Finally, there would be answers.

“However, as we always say, God never despises you — He never can. Instead, it's you who is doing God the favor. For surrendering and playing this Evolution, you are helping Him to make His beloved Earth a better place for us to live. This is your service, Children. And you must never feel any wrath but gratitude. You must be grateful to live, and to die— only for Him.”

A loud clap was heard.

Everyone turned around to see who it was. It was from a female—- notable for her tanned skin tone and narrow sharp pair of black eyes. She was crying as she kept on clapping; rejoicing— with tears and faith all over her face.

It was like a domino effect.

From one woman, it became two and then three, until the majority now were clapping, screaming their beliefs to the Lord, and crying their hearts out— mirroring their faiths and willingness to serve God through participating in Evolution. It was like the words from the woman on the speaker penetrated their souls. That could only be done by religion.

Clio was aghast from the majority’s reaction. She never saw the kind of faith in her eighteen years of existence in this world. Her gaze averted to the people around her. Males and females were crying and shouting. Everyone was moved, even the people from her team. It was only her, Reneger, Mercy and Eli from their team who kept a straight face and refrained themselves from laughing.Her attention was also caught by the two men beside Eli— like him, they were not clapping or cheering too.

When the applause subsided, the woman’s voice was heard again. “The first way to prove your loyalty and worth should be done here— in Heaven.” The lights started blinking— following a certain pattern of switching, from red to gold to blue to green. “To surpass and win this game, please follow everything that I say, good children.”

In an instant, the unstable emotions were replaced by unwavering determination from everyone in the room. It was dead silent.

“For the first game of Evolution, you will be playing a game called, ‘Within the Line’. A game of hunch, luck, and choices. A game that will test how you convert your fate into luck that will favor your survival.” There was a pause from the speaker— and the lights stopped blinking and returned to its initial steady white color. “The lights will switch and blink— blue, red, gold or green. The color of light that will cover the room is fate's choice; and the people who will be standing on the same colored marker on the floor will survive. There are three rounds. There are thirty-seven players. Those who picked the wrong color will be automatically eliminated. Stay within your chosen line. I repeat, ”

It began to roar. Rumors and inferences soared from the players— a total of thirty-seven players will be competing.

"It's easy," Reneger said with a smile. Now that the woman was standing straight, Clio had to look up because of her tall height. She noticed how Reneger repeatedly curled the end of her hair and fanned herself with her hand.

"Tie it up," Clio suggested.

Reneger laughed at her. She was looking at her as if what she said was an absurd thing to do. “You know that will violate the hairstyle requirement of our dress code. You are already lucky to have your hair short.” Reneger grinned at Clio before caressing her short hair, reaching just her jaw. “It's really different when you are a daughter of Godsend.” It was a half-meant joke from Reneger— but it already explained the unfair ruling of WIC’s hierarchy of power.

Clio just nodded. She was not sure why having short hair was against the so-called dress code requirement of the game. It’s absurd.

“Stay within your chosen line. The one who picked the wrong color will be eliminated and the one who picked the right color will advance to the next round. There are three rounds for this game,” the woman said the important rule of the game for one last time. “Thirty-seven players are now locked in.” Silence filled the venue. “If you are ready to play and prove yourself, we will start the game in—- three…”

You just have to pick a color— will it be blue? Red? Gold? Or Green?

“...two…”

Stay within the chosen color of yours.

“...one.”

A lively EDM music played in the speakers as the lights all over the room started blinking and dancing. Gold or red or green or blue?

“What is fate's color? Thirty-seven young bloods shall throw their bets!”