A Collection of my Writer's Games Entries

Carnival Games: Task 5 (Maxine Carlos)

** Task - Opposition **

 I can't remember what happened. One moment, I was walking into Sayuri's office. And now. Well, I don't know. I open my eyes and sit up slowly. My head spins. All my body aches. Damn Gamemakers. I look around, everyone else lay on the ground in front of the microphone booth. What happened? I turn to a movement beside me. Cleo.
"Hey, you alright?" I ask, but I know it's a stupid question.
"Not really," she mumbles, sitting up, "What the hell happened?"
"Wouldn't have the slightest idea," I shrug,
"Some people are missing," she tells me. I immediately notice the difference. The old lady is gone, along with a few others. Our numbers are deteriorating dramatically. Not good. Sayuri walks out to the microphone. She clicks it on and it screeches. I block my ears, groaning. It practically woke everyone up. Most of the remaining sit up to see what we will face next.
"Remaining losers,"  she starts. I wouldn't call us losers, if she knows what's good for her, "We're going to assign you a fun little challenge," Like finding her boring items.. "Yes, a challenge that you won't like the slightest," This can't be good. She didn't say that last time, "It's simple you and your opponent will be placed in a small area of the carnival," she pauses. I wait for what will make it worse. We wait. Maybe it won't get worse. "And you have to kill your opponent." she grins. I spoke too soon.
"And if we don't?" I call out, challenging her,
"Well, you can die yourself. Though it may be a little," she tilts her head, "Worse,"
I look into her eyes until she breaks away. There is no way I'll be weak in front of her. Conversation breaks the silence. I turn to my friends. Though I'm sure we wouldn't be friends we were set to kill one another. I know that I, though I'd rather them than me,  would not know what to do. I have grown to like these people. I watch Morgan search his pockets of his jacket.
"Crap!" he mutters
"What?" I ask curiously,
"My journal, it's gone,"
"We'll find it later," I wave off the problem
"What should we do in the mean time then?" Morgan asks grumpily,  now rubbing his back. He probably hit it when Atilius got him, and he's most likely cranky at me for not caring about his journal. I mean, I losing my entire life, so is he. Why care about a journal?
"Escape," I say. My thoughts drift back to what Sayuri said. I don't want to be put against them to kill.
"How? They are always watching us," Arwen says,
"Guys?" Cleo interrupts but I ignore her, so does Arwen,
"There has to be a way out, otherwise they'd be stuck in here forever too,"
"I doubt we can get through," Arwen mumbles,
"We can,"
"Well I'm not going to die trying," she crosses her arms,
"We're going to die anyway!" I shout,
"Guys! Enough!" Cleo shouts, putting herself between us. The carnival goes deadly quiet. Everyone is staring at us, "What are you looking at?" she yells at them, then turns back to us, the chatter starts again.
"Max, we're not going to die," she looks at me, then to Arwen, "Don't be so negative. Maxine's plan might work," Arwen turns away from my gaze. I want to say sorry but it won't do me any good. Tensions are running high, this is how we react to it. The Gamemakers goal was to break us. I think they just succeeded. They told us we have to kill someone, that broke us. We might have to kill one another.
"Arwen," I hold out my hand in a gesture of peace, "I just..I don't want to hurt any of you," I say quietly. Wait, what am I doing? I move my head so that my fringe covers my face from Arwen's view. Don't be soft Max! I mentally slap myself and stand up before they realise that I'm acting like wimp. Morgan gives me a weird look.
"Let's go while they're distracted" I say and begin walking in the opposite direction of the stage. I don't know if they'll follow or not.
"Don't you think we should be running?" Morgan catches up, giving me a smile. Probably trying to cheer me up.
"Probably," I nod, and pick up the pace. We weave through the attractions, then come to the boundary fence.
"I knew this was a stupid idea," Arwen mutters
"We can get over," I insist,
"Yeah, let me just get my wings ready," she replies sarcastically,
"Stop it!" Morgan and Cleo hiss in unison,
"Now that the princesses have stopped arguing, we can stack some things up to get over," Morgan says calmly.
"Or we could build an obstacle course to get out," Cleo beams. Her and the crazy ideas. 
"I think Morgan's on the right track," I say politely, not wanting to hurt her feelings. I start to search for something tall that we could climb up, I go into a food van because I don't really want anyone's help right now. Boxes would be helpful. I block my ears as a scream echoes. Who the hell was that? I run out and see Arwen and Morgan together. What were they doing? They look suspicious. Wait, Cleo! I run into the toilet block I saw her go into earlier. A red flash of hair makes me stop. Callisto. Surely his partner in crime won't be too far behind.
"Gotcha!" I let out a scream as someone grabs me from behind, I thrash around trying to get free from his hold. He drags me out of the toilet block and to, who knows where? I kick and throw my hands around. What is wrong with this dude. I put more force behind my fists and feet. I kick backwards, hard. We tumble to the ground. I roll out of his reach and run. I see Cleo in front of me struggling with Callisto but if I help her, Atlilus will get me for sure. I run past her, if I can get across this alleyway, I should be able to hide in the funhouse. It's not too far from here. Hopefully it won't be a dead end but I don't know if this dude is going to kill me or not. I think I'll take my chances. I force my legs to go faster. Taking the turn into the alleyway I see a small boy crying beside the dumpster. This is why kids shouldn't be left alone. I run past him, but suddenly a fence appears from the walls, blocking my exit. I'm dead now. I turn around but Atilius is on the other side of the fence, which also slid out of the walls. I remember Sayuri's words.
"It's simple you and your opponent will be placed in a small area of the carnival, and you have to kill your opponent,"
I'm meant to kill the boy. Surely they had this planned. Why wouldn't they, how could I be so stupid?
"Only one rule," Atilius gives me a pitiless smile, "Kill, or be killed,". I can't help but notice that I've heard that phrase before. I can't quite put my finger on it. Perhaps I read it somewhere-- I feel a pain on my leg. The little kid is biting me.
"Little twerp," I hiss and kick him to the ground. What a cannibal? Well, we have been stuck in here for a while. He runs towards me again. I side step him easily. Am I really going to make myself kill this boy? He runs again and I side step. I turn, ready for another run but he lay on the ground moaning. I see the blood on the wall. I guess he hit his head.
"May I remind the words that you have to kill him," Atillius smirks, aiming a gun at me. How can I kill someone? I don't want to choke him to death. My gaze falls onto the dumpster. Something is bound to be in there. I open it and gag at the smell and sight. Ants and bugs are crawling over lollies but the smell is worse. Rotting food and who knows what else. I turn back to a movement. The kid is running at me again. I grab random stuff and throw it at him in an attempt to stop him. I was right, he stopped. But what he is doing is disgusting. He grabs a handful of the lollies I threw and shoves them in his mouth. I swallow the vomit back down. The boy drops to the ground, giggling crazily. He is still picking lollies - with the ants on them - and eating them. I curse as something bites me. I squash the ant with my thumb and grab more stuff from the dumpster to throw at the kid. I don't know what I threw at him but he shoves random objects into his mouth. I stop when I hear him moaning. Clutching his stomach, the boy rolls around on the ground. Ants cover his body. I notice blood oozing from his stomach. There is a wide hole in it with ants crawling out. I scream. These ants could eat me next. The boy rolls around to face me. His eyes, well where his eyes are meant to be, are just dark holes.
"Please," he moans, "Help me,"
I open my mouth to reply but nothing comes out. How can he still be alive?The only way I can help him is to kill him. I search in the dumpster for something that will end his pain. I curse as another ant bites me. My hand, from the previous ant bite, has swollen to the size of a grape. A piece of metal catches my eye. That will help. I rub my ant bite and turn to the boy. His entire body is moving - with ants. I walk towards him but jump away quickly. The ants are getting too close for my liking. I can see them carrying small bits of flesh around. The ants are red. I'm not sure if it because of the blood on the ground or not. I throw the metal with all the force I have. The boy screams. I cover my ears. He rolls one way but then suddenly stops. I uncover my ears. No more screaming. But the ants are there. I turn around to see the fences that were blocking my exits are gone. A munching sound makes me turn around. The boy. He's gone. A wave of moving ground comes closer to me. The ants! I sprint away from them. I smack into something hard. Without noticing, I feel the ants come onto me. I have my eyes shit to stop them from getting in my eyes. I brush my arms and legs frantically. But then give up. There are too many of them. Why not just give up now?