➹ LEFT TO LOSE ➷ chishiya s.

➸ CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

NOW PLAYING ...
Leaving Tonight • The Neighbourhood

! AUTHORS NOTE !
...my calculations miiiight've been off, i said i'd post right after chapter thirty-one butttt it took a little longer than i thought. apologies!

! AUTHORS WARNING !
angst vacation over, let's start it up again; talks of blood, dismemberment, descriptive deaths, and weapons.

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➸ "Yes, I made it!" A feminine voice cheered with joy, her loud voice carried across to the field where you stood. Seven, you counted in your head, that was the seventh voice, the seventh person to make it across the minefield. There were only nine of you alive, you being one of the two still tip-toeing around death. Only two had died from stepping on a bomb, a duo that refused to spread apart and died less than half way through the course.

You had been using only your ears to gather this information though, as you refuse to take your eyes off the ground. If you looked up to see the finish line, chances are you'd miss a bomb in front of you and step directly on it. You don't know if you're almost there or not even close, you don't know if the timer is at five minutes or five seconds, you don't know anything but how to tell the difference between flat ground and a bump underneath.

Though, it wasn't that simple. Sometimes, the strands of grass would be uneven, the ones taller makes it look like a bump. Then again, bumps would have short grass while around it was longer, disguising the deadly trap. Everyone made it seem so simple, going so quickly across the thin line between life and after just to make it before the timer chose for them. You had to be close, right?

You feel like you've been walking forever, your calves aching from squatting down so much. You feel like you're going blind from squinting so much. You feel like your brain is going to explode from thinking so much—

"Why is he not moving?" A voice ahead of you echoed, though they were not referring to you. "Does he not know how much time there is?"

Remembering that you're not the only person here, you decided to take your chances and look at the digital timer. It was about to past three minutes, meaning you've been walking for seven. Now that you had the opportunity to, you looked ahead at how far you were, and were pleasantly surprised. You were only a few feet away, and it definitely won't take you more than a minute to finish. Before you could finally relax and take your final steps, another voice interrupted your thinking. "Wait!" This time, it came from behind you. "Don't leave!"

You turned around to see the other participant, he being not as close to the finish line as you were. In fact, it was one of the three volunteers at the very beginning, running across the field before they knew what laid underneath. He hadn't moved since his friend simply a few feet away blew up, close enough to splash some blood on his face. This was the first time he'd said anything since, he didn't even scream when the bomb exploded. The man is in shock, and he just realized what's at stake when he saw you so far ahead of him.

"Please," His teeth jittered, "Help me."

"Help you?" You tilt your head in confusion, "Just move your feet."

The man didn't respond, just stared at his feet. You did the same, realizing his weird stance. He had his right foot forward, planted on the grass in front of him while his left stayed behind. It looked like he was frozen in a running stance, although he could move his mouth perfectly fine.