Nine Lives

Chapter 3: Battle Royale

I didn't try to make a fortnite reference but whatever. Have a great time reading!

My eyes slowly open. I coughed a bit but after that nothing happened but darkness. I hear others waking up. "Where...are...we?" is what I hear people saying all around me. Eventually, a light appeared. It was so bright, it hurt my eyes. Then, Ms.Winston, the old Vice President appeared. "Welcome." she said but everybody was yelling at the screen trying to make her let them out...whatever it is. "You thought you were going to the Carousel tour weren't you?" People looked surprised. "Well, it was quite an opportunity for us; the government. As you might know, many of our residents have been suffering from the lack of anything to do around here. We know ALL of you have a grudge on us." Everyone looked at each other. "But what you don't know is that ALL of you had their parents dragged into a car." My eyes enlarged probably double the size it had before. EVERYONE had to suffer. What and why?! Now, EVERYONE was angry. She laughed "If you didn't know, we were planning this for years! And if you also didn't know why we're here, you are all now in an arena. An arena for DEATH. Yes, death. I'm not actually cruel but it is what it is." People looked at each other. "So, why would you do that you ask? Well, why don't you take a look." There were tons of people from ladies to men, elders to adults. This was insane! Then, I saw my mom. My heart ached, it didn't know what to feel. Should I be angry or crying? Then, I remembered my heart transplant. Maybe with it, I knew what to choose. I look around, people were crying and mad and people wiping their tears. But MY mom...is Alive! Then, Ms.Winston talked again with a grin. "But...if you want to see them again...you will have to KILL. Let's open the doors shall we?" Light rushed into the room. People looked around, scared to fidgety. They will have to kill.

  We walked outside the bright sky. It was quite the opposite of what we faced in there. Then, Ms. Winston appeared again. "Now, please let me explain the rules. You right now are only on top of a hill. There will be rivers, forests, cities, towns, you name it. We are in the largest man made eco habitat in the world. Now you may go on with your daily lives but always stuck in this large eco habitat. Now, you earn points when you kill someone. 10 points for murder with a weapon, 20 with fire or through drowning or poison. If you kill someone with points, you earn their points. Points will be counted by us and updated everyday on this list on this hill. So, whoever had the most points by the end of a month gets to live with your parents. But if everybody else is dead besides you, you win and get your parents. But that's not all. If you can win before the span of a month, you will get financial, medical and whatever support you need forever with your parents. Now, food, shelter, water, hygiene and more will have to be made by you. So, who's up to the task? On your mark, ready set KILL!"

   Everybody looked at each other, knowing that now, no one can be trusted. Everybody ran and jolted but I stayed; looking around. But, I stopped and looked around. I then backed up and bam. I turned around. It was Samantha. "Oww...oh, it's you...Jason. Guess, you're the only person I can really trust or maybe not..." I thought about it. It would be nice to have a person I can trust. "Of course...but I never thought it would be for a battle to the death..." "Me too...but I guess I never really introduced myself properly. I'm a....naturalist...let's say that. "Well, there's not much you need to know about me but we should get building a shelter right?" "Yeah...i'll try to do what I can but see you at sundown? At that building, second to the right and 5 from the bottom?" she said carefully so no one can hear. "Yeah..." I said.

  I ran toward the building. Maybe, there were other things going on. I entered the building. An empty room...dust, more dust...and a table? I slowly moved the table. A trapdoor? I opened it. It was way cleaner than I thought. I looked around. It was a shelter...no a bomb shelter. It had cans of corn to soup, tables and chairs, candles, books, ropes to guns and of course beds. Then, I hear a knock. I got up and out the room, closed the trapdoor and pushed the table back; just in case. I opened the door and....a knife was just a centimeter to my neck. She laughed. "You are quite stupid aren't you? Why would you just open a door like that? Oh, I know. You've had no experience have you?" I struggled but she tied em' up. "You think you're smart do ya? Well...how about this. Tell me about you and i'll let you go." "Wh...Why are you doing this...I mean you're innocent right?" I said. "Ha...you think i'm innocent? I've killed at least 10 people and i've got away with it...before I was even here. So, tell me about you or should you be like then too?"

  "Fine...I'm Jason Miller, 19 years old." I said unnervingly. "Have any jobs?" "Not right now..." I said. "Fine, i'll let you go." She untied me and took the knife next to my neck away. But before she left she said "Call me Sassafras." I stayed still. Who was she anyways?! Then, I hear something drop. I opened the door. At first I got scared but It was just Samantha and a bundle of things. "I'm not a builder so I couldn't do much about that but I did bring some medical supplies like bandaids and alcohol pads and stuff.

"Seems like this place needs a bit of tidying work though..." she said looking around. "Maybe not..." I said pointing at the table. "What do you mean? It's obviously dirty here and I mean the table is dusty too." I pushed the table and opened the trapdoor to the shelter. "Wait...what?" We went downstairs. "Huh...this is...Great! I mean we don't even have to do....wait..." She checks the cans of food. "Expired...of course..." A sudden sigh came out of my mouth. "Guess we still have to find food somehow." I said. "Guess so...but we'll need to rest so...I call top bunk!" "Darnit...well you're closing the trapdoor!" Then I realize that we're in the largest manmade ecohabitat and we're here to kill each other. "And I mean it." is what I said; glaring it her. Looking at her face; she sighs. "Alright but after that we sleep." she said. But I realize what if  someone finds where we are? So I say "We should guard the trapdoor though." She sighs again. "Alright but you guard in 2 hours." I nod my head. I get up to the bed. *yawns* "Well, wake me up in 2 hours..." "Yeah...whatever." My eyes close.

  There was a shadow. To the left. Then, to the right. Behind me and directly in front. I felt something...
Then, I started to cough and cough. My skin turned black. There was laughter and more shadows; to the point that I my body shattered into pieces. My hands are on the floor and I get pressured down to a pose, like a baby on the floor. Tears start falling from my eyes and it PAINS. It was harder to breath as I kept coughing. Me crying only made it worse. Then, I think of my mom. But it still made it worse. If my mother was here...maybe I wouldn't be crying like this.

Wake up...Jason...
JASON! WAKE UP!

My eyes open. Was...that all a dream? "2 hours are up buddy! Your turn." Oh, I forgot...were here to MURDER. I sigh. "I know. See ya in 2...2 hours that is." "I know." Samantha went to sleep. But all that's left to wonder is...Why did it feel so REAL?

Hey again! Anyways, I'm just gonna say that my stories are LONG. So, I'm really sorry and if they are quite boring...I'm definitely sorry. Also, thank you for actually managing through chapter 1. That part practically got everybody. (Not that I meant to of course.) Anyways,
Partyboy...OUT!