The Grothlins

Chapter XLV - The Bloody Train (Day 1)

Rem broke out and ran to Marybeth. He gave her a tight hug, which was returned immediately.

"Stay alive, you promise," said Rem holding her face. "I'll look for you. I promise!"

Holding her tears and trying to be strong, Marybeth nodded but removed Rem's hands. She lay down in the capsule. The capsule closed. Two members of the army entered the scene and asked Rem to enter his capsule. He obliged.

After laying down, the capsule closed its glass pane. Rem saw Vincent giving him a thumb up before the metal panel completely covered the view. What he can see was a dim orange light coming from his foot area. The things he can hear were his breath and strong pumps of his heart. Despite he can feel the cold air inside the capsule, he was sweating.

Rem closed his eyes and thought everything he wanted to achieve after the game – his desire to be reunited with his parents, to get married to Marybeth, to help his newly found friends such as the room boys and girls as well as the beggars and a lot more. Then, he was more motivated. But still, he had some butterflies in his stomach. Claustrophobia was still an issue.

Rem was trying to measure how long he's been laying inside when a voice was heard that was followed by mild-colored LCD screen that appeared on his face that transcript the words.

"Wildcats, the game begins in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1," the voice of a man said.

Then, the capsule opened.

Still with blurred eyesight, Rem stood and out of the classy coffin. A few seconds after, he knew he was inside a room of a building. The place was obviously abandoned because of the paint were already peeling off. The walls were also blemished by brown lines, probably water marks. From the looks, he thought, it was an office building.

Rem saw a door. He put his hand inside his belt bag while walking towards it. He was ready for any attacks. He held the knob and carefully twisted it. No one was inside the room.

More relaxed, Rem walked into the room to check what's inside the other parts. While walking, he was alerted because someone was twitching the door knob. Because he was in an empty room, he had no choice, but to show himself.

"Thank goodness it's you," Rem said after seeing Matilda, who just stared at him. Unlike him, she was never careful.

"We now stood a chance, it's better than fighting alone," Rem added.

Rem got a little assurance after Matilda relaxed her hand that was holding the mace. However, she didn't bother to talk to him and just continued walking towards to where he came. A few more rooms they passed, he noticed that she was just letting him lead. He became suspicious. He remembered his mentors' advice of staying alerted. While walking, he used to feel her and her moves.

Rem immediately dived away after seeing the shadow of Matilda swinging. He was never wrong. She tried to hit him with her mace. As soon as her weapon touched the ground, the concrete was like dried soil that was smashed by a hammer.

"I thought, we are allies," Rem asked in shock.

"I know nothing about allies, I can manage myself; I don't need mediocre people like you," said Matilda while swinging for another blow.

Rem ran, dived and rolled. Right after facing Matilda, he threw a dagger that punctured through her left bicep. A big lady, her eyes just widened. She then just pulled the knife on her arm and threw it through the window. It looked like nothing happened.

"You are now messing with me. I am angry now..." said Matilda.

Rem knew he will stand no chances and must immediately stay away from her. He ran into the other room and locked the door. He repeated it until they are four rooms apart. He found a huge locker and immediately pulled it to cover the door.

Rem looked around to formulate a plan.

Meanwhile, the Grothlins members rejoiced that at the start of the competition, two wildcats spar. The face of Matilda and Rem immediately appeared on the screen of their computers so they can bet.

About 90% of the Grothlins bet on Matilda, which also included Jimmy, who simply tapped on Matilda's avatar betting for $1 million dollars. A total of $43 billion bet on Matilda while Rem only got $80 million.

Vincent, Anya, as well as the other mentors, bet on Rem because they had faith in him. They were also closely monitoring the scenes.

Rem looked around and saw the removable ceiling. He then threw two daggers on the upper part just in between the ceiling windows. He ran, jumped reaching for the telephone wire that his knives cut, pulled and rolled it. He ran to check the lockers and smiled after finding a glass jar that was half-filled with dirty water. During those times, Matilda started to hammer the door.

Rem stood in front of the locker and dropped the jar near his foot. He stepped on the wet area and ran straight into another room leaving footprints. He came back and this time, he was not wearing shoes. He jumped to reach a part of the ceiling and pulled himself up. He was then hidden.

Rem looked closely from the ceiling holes and waited for Matilda while he made some knots from the wire. He also tied the other part around his body.

"Where are you coward, running again?" said Matilda. "I know you just ran, I can see your footsteps," she added while slowly walking.

After Matilda was a few inches away from him, Rem appeared from the ceiling using his legs to cling on borders and threw the huge loop of wire to Matilda's neck. He immediately went back up, punched the ceiling to destroy it and just let his body fall using the borders to pulley down. Then, Matilda was getting hanged.

Rem threw a dagger as he reached the floor and it was to paralyze the right hand of Matilda losing her grip to the mace. He pulled harder and when he reached the door, he grabbed the side completely hanging his enemy.

Matilda, on the other hand, was just trying to remove the wire around her neck. But, she can't do anything about it. Minutes later, her hands fell. Rem waited for a few more minutes and when an alarm went off. He cut the wire.

Rem walked near Matilda, squatted and stared at her. He knew he won, but he was not happy. He lay on the floor beside the dead as he continued to gasp for air. He stood and moved on.

In the Grothlins are, most of the people were disappointed because they lost millions. Jimmy frowned but can't show because he betted not on his ally. Vincent, Anya, and the others shouted. Lowell Heitzberg bobbed his head. He was quite impressed.