THE ULTIMATE STANDER

Chapter Six

I was standing among the twenty-two fighters from different countries. Individual given an ash colored tank top, a pair of black female sport shorts and sneakers. We were assembled outside the building, the very first place we arrived. Cameron was standing at the same spot he stood yesterday with a handful of ninjas.

"Good morning, fighters." Sam was back. "I hope you all had a wonderful night?" He bothered not to receive an answer as he proceeded. "Yesterday being your first arrival, I decided not to explain the rules and what The Ultimate Stander is all about. But now that you all are settled, and in your uniforms, I shall now lay down the explanations."

There was a momentary silence before he spoke again.

"The Ultimate Stander, to your knowledge, is about combat games. You become the last one standing, you win the sum of two million dollars."

I heard a sharp whistle from the girl with the mohawk haircut standing a few feets away from me. No one paid attention to her as the voice continued.

"But what you all are not aware of, is that The Ultimate Stander is not just about combat games. It is way more than that. You all are expected to fight yourselves to death until one last person is standing."

"Say what now?" the mohawk girl uttered.

As I looked around me, I heard murmurs and whispers. Disapproving whispers. This revelation was shocking to every one of us. None of us expected this. Of course. We did know that we were meant and expected to battle one another, but not to death. This was a little detail Cameron forgot to tell me. No. A little detail he chose not to tell me.

"This must be a joke, right?" a girl behind me asked. She sounded deranged.

"No. This is exactly what The Ultimate Stander is all about," Sam answered.

"This is bullshit, man!" another girl behind me ranted. "I was told we were only going to fight ourselves in some game. Like boxing and shit. Not killing ourselves over two million grand!"

"Yeah!" another chimed in. "I thought losers are sent home, stuffs like that. Do we really need to murder ourselves? This is a death match man, not a fucking game!"

"I do not know why you all had the idea of a boxing match," he stated. "It is clearly not what The Ultimate Stander is all about."

"Well fancy-suit dude over here," the familiar voice pointed toward Cameron who did not seemed to be bothered, "told me this was just about combat games. I'm guessing that was what he told everyone else too!"

"So you expect us to kill ourselves in a fight and whoever wins gets to take home the money?!" another girl hissed.

"I understand that this came as a surprise to you all," Sam mentioned. "But if you really want to get two million dollars, you gonna have to fight for it. And do not worry, if you eventually die, you die knowing that your people, your loved ones are perfectly doing fine. They will be taken care of. It will be like sacrificing yourselves for them. You die for glory ladies."

"Bullshit! I'm out, man. I don't need this shit," one fumed.

"All right, then. If you're not willing to do this, then you're free to leave."

Leave? Just like that? Might be a trap. I knew we were not in the movies, but telling us we were free to leave after all of this, just didn't feel right. I looked around me. How come no one was leaving? They were probably thinking what I was thinking. But I was wrong. I saw two girls moving away from the line heading for the building. Where were they going? To pack up their stuffs?

I heard two gunshots from nowhere, and my eyes went wide as I saw those two girls' heads blown off.

"Holy shit!"

"Oh my fucking god!"

Everyone screamed. Including I myself. No one expected that. As I saw blood coating the ground, and two ninjas moved to drag the dead bodies away, I knew right there that I had gotten myself into a major situation. Now I understood the reason why there were cameras and lighthouses. To keep a close watch on us. If anyone tried to escape, she would be gunned down.

"Are there anyone else who would like to leave?" he asked. None of us spoke. "Very good. We can now proceed to the next phase of action. But first, I would like to call out the names of you fighters. So that each and every one of you would be able to identify yourselves. Once I call out your name, please do signify yourself. I shall begin."

Names Of Fighters
Livy Franklin
Roxanne Ross
Hannah Forester
Stella Smith
Rochelle Fred
Akira Takahashi
Merida González
Nancy Walter
Carmel Glasson
Joyce Miller
Gloriana Tavano
Sofia Huxley
McKayla Jones
Sabrina Rossi
Nadia Carlson
Saanvi Roy
Mariya Petrov
Mia Zhang
Erika Li Jing
Phoebe Knowles

I was the last person to be called out. Was it me, or was my name somewhat pronounced in a special dramatic way? I ain't Harry Potter. I felt four eyes on me the moment my name came through those intercoms. I met their gazes. Turned out the girl with the purple hair, Mia Zhang, was smiling at me. I smiled back. Didn't know why I did, but something in me forced me to. And I didn't know why I didn't realize until now how beautiful she was. I felt my heart skipped a beat as she smiled and winked at me. Funny. I hadn't felt this way about a girl in a very long time.

I discovered I was a lesbian back when I was in high school. Tenth grade. Simone Bennett, was my first and last girlfriend. She died in a terrible car accident right after our high school graduation. Ever since then, I had never really found any girl as cute and funny as my Simone.

My second gazer was Erika Li Jing, unfortunately, she was the creepy bitch I encountered in the bathroom yesterday. She was staring with the same blank stare. Expression unable to read. Are all Chinese this creepy? No one had ever heard her voice or her say a word. She was always watching in silence, keeping her thoughts and opinions to herself. Maybe I might be a little bit judgy here since it was only yesterday I had met her, but she did seem to be kind of creepy. Once I held the gaze and raised an eyebrow at her questioningly, she slowly turned her head away. Creepoid.