Zodiac Squid Game

5

There was something truly romantic, thought Gemini, in death, something she would never fully understand. The way Virgo and Capricorn had died together, hands entwined, souls interlocked, hearts beating as one, had just about made Gemini feel something. Of course, their deaths had not been overly surprising, considering how Virgo had struggled in the first challenge along with Capricorn. No, the surprise had been their overwhelming trust for each other, their faith in a life together in peace far from this hellscape. Their feelings for one another had taken Gemini by surprise, because they were real.

In Gemini's eyes, romance was a facade. Romance, loosely translated, meant pleasure, and pleasure equated to power. And power equated to a life of incomparable happiness. So, in the end, romance did have a role in one's happiness, but not in the way Virgo and Capricorn had gained the latter. 

"Hey, d'you... want some of this?"

Aries walked up to Gemini, holding out some bread. "You just- you finished yours really fast."

Aries, Gemini decided, seemed like the kind of guy she would go for on the outside, with his past and the roughness in his features. But she couldn't deny how soft he was on the inside, almost like he wanted to escape his past of being the 'tough one'. She didn't know how she felt about that. It made her feel strange inside. 

It made her feel like her insides were flipping over with nerves.

Gemini accepted the bread gratefully. "Thanks."

"What? No witty remark?" Aries mused, smirking. 

"I knew you were dying for it," she replied. Gemini still wanted to keep the boy on her toes, the way he kept her on hers. 

Aries just chuckled, which was a strange sound to hear in the canopy of quiet that surrounded all the others Gemini had acquainted herself with. 

"Lights out in five minutes."

As everyone hurried toward their beds, Leo and Taurus hung behind, the look in the businessman's baby blue eyes deadly serious. 

"Now," he said to Taurus, who nodded. The two returned to their beds, Taurus behind Libra and Leo behind Scorpio. The grey-haired girl blinked back tears, thinking of what she was going to do, regretting it almost immediately.

Leo smirked. He was excited. The anticipation had been killing him. The gun was safely hidden behind his back and the crowbar in his jacket. It couldn't be too hard, he thought, to kill the man walking in front of him and escape in the chaos, considering he had a backup magazine. 

"Lights out."

Leo and Taurus were concealed under Libra and Scorpio's beds, listening to the two talk, Leo waiting for his chance...

"NOW!" 

He pulled himself up, aiming his gun at Scorpio's chest and firing before he could react. Scorpio did not move. He simply braced himself for the impact, eyes closing, when the bed shook with the impact of a human push from underneath, knocking Scorpio to one side. Taurus, Leo realised, had just screwed him over. 

The bullet tore through the wall, raising alarm. "Damn it," Leo grumbled. This time, he aimed for Libra, but the latter was prepared. He ducked and a second bullet pierced through the wall. "Damn it!" he cursed again, louder still. Guards burst in and the lights flickered on. The crowbar fell. 

A hand appeared underneath the bed, a long, bony hand, reaching for the crowbar as Leo was shot through the head by the Manager himself. Taurus escaped from under Libra's bed, making a mad dash for the door, using the crowbar to loosen the lock.