As a mix of dark purple and light blue washed over the sky, the morning fog was released, as expected. We put on our gas masks and secured our jumpsuits to ensure we weren’t instantly slaughtered and burnt by the chemicals.
“Do you think there will ever be a day when we can escape? Just the two of us,” I asked, packing our stuff.
“Probably not. With how tight security has become in recent months, I wouldn’t want to put our families on the line,” he said, putting on his gloves.
Going back through the alley, I started up a usual conversation. Then, I heard it: a voice instantly recognizable and could instantly instil fear into anyone he talked to. The head police chief. I jumped around, Will looking too.
“So, uh, you from around here,” he asked, in a thick southern accent. “Yes. We were just going to enjoy the morning breeze,” I said softly, trying to defuse the situation. Suddenly, I blacked out.
I wake up in an unfamiliar room, tied to a chair with metal bars. I look around. Six other people I don’t know and Will, sitting directly across from me. Then, a voice came over the intercom: the police chief, I thought.
“Welcome, one and all. Every one of you has committed a crime, from arson to not keeping your mouth shut. But whatever you did to end up here, that does not matter. Once again, welcome to The Oppression Complex, where only one of you will come out alive! Here is a basic run-down on how the games work. You will play a game of Russian Roulette but with a diverse set of rules. If you want, you can point it at someone and get them killed instead if the bullet was there. If the person they were aiming at gets killed, then they become a Hunted. The rest of the people become Hunters. The Hunted will be given a fifteen-minute head start into an arena surrounded by tall concrete walls. You will have no way to distinguish between Hunter and Hunted. Once all Hunted are killed, you will head back into these rooms and repeat the process until only one stands left. With all this said, let’s begin this edition of the Complex!”
A gun fell from an opening in the ceiling and went in my direction. I looked at Will before he stared back. Even though I couldn’t make out what he was trying to say, I put it under my throat. Taking a deep breath, I pulled the trigger. Silence. Nothing came out. Relieved, I passed it over to the next person. By the time it reached Will, he pointed it at another girl, one right next to me. Pulling the trigger, a loud roar came out of it as her body fell to the floor. Blood was spewing in every direction, people were screaming, and I could hear a faint laughter.
“The last Hunted has been selected. The doors we open for them, close, and then in fifteen minutes, open again. Good luck to you all, and may the dice be in your hands.”
Will looked at me, both of us sick with worry. I got up and hugged him one last time.
“May the dice be in your hands.”
The doors opened and closed as a TV came down, revealing a fifteen-minute timer. The minutes slowly passed, and the thought of having to end Will almost made me vomit. Only one of us can leave this arena alive, and it’s going to be him. I thought, trying to hold onto hope. The door opened and revealed a massive dome, which would be encapsulating us for the last days of our lives. The force field was broken and each of us rushed forward before dispersing among the forest.
Within the first hour, I saw over twelve faces illuminated overhead, filling up the empty hexagons of the dome. I grabbed a knife and a gun before climbing a tree to get some sort of safety.
As the sun over the first night began to set, I began to question the entire system. Why I was here. How I simply accepted my fate instead of fighting against them. A full moon hit the middle of the sky as I dosed off, ready for a second day.
Blood instantly started gushing out of my arms. A woman who looked to be about age twenty-seven had strapped me to and was cutting bits of my arm before completely stabbing it with my own knife. This is it. This is how I’m gonna die. Suddenly, her body fell out of the tree, motionless. As I moved to look down, I saw an arrow in the perfect centre of her back. By the time I looked back up, a kid named Noah was untying the ropes and healing my wounds.
“Why… Why would you save me? We’re all going to die one way or another,” I said, getting a perfect glimpse of him.
“Well, this is my second time in this arena, and I feel it would be selfish to get out of death another time. It was just meant to be. Last time I got through being a Hunter for most of the games until I disappeared into the forest until they all gave up and died. But this time, I became a Hunted straight from the start. And I want you to get out,” he said before I suddenly blacked out for the first (out of many) time.
I woke up once again near a stream with Noah gone a small piece of paper beside me. Before opening it, I examined the area around me: it was a small section of secluded clearing with a river flowing through it, surrounded by a thick underbrush of forest. I finally worked up the courage to open the note, not knowing what to expect.
Listen, this is the way to go. Once all the others have died a storm of fireworks will go off and you can leave this spot, carefully. I’ve already killed over twenty people. Even though I’m wounded, I’ll hope from the afterlife that you can find peace a prosperity once you leave. Goodbye. - Noah
Why would he abandon me just as quickly as he found me? As I took the bandage off my leg, I suddenly heard a massive explosion come from the Centre Ring. Increasingly came with beautiful explosions exploding in the night sky. I got my stuff together and cut through the thick forest using my sword, being careful not to make a sound. The sun was heading down, with what felt like thousands of dead faces glowing in the night sky. They were unrecognisable. Heads blown off, organs removed, and there was even one kid who had all his blood drained in the middle of the night. As I approached the ring, I got in a crouching position as I examined the terrain. Twelve others stood outside as a trophy was floating midair in the centre.
I rushed forward and killed three people by slicing through organs. By the time I had gotten to the ring, four people were already fighting over the trophy while the one with it was sprinting towards the rooms. I joined in, throwing daggers to take down some of the others. Once all of them were killed, I tackled the leader and positioned my knife. As we were on the floor together, he didn’t resist once he saw my face and I slowly put down my weapon. Will.
“You… You survived the initial bloodbath…?” I asked, in pure shock.
“I did. And since only one of us can leave this place, we’ll have to decide who’s gonna go,” he said, in a tone with despair increasing. I looked up at the sky and quickly counted all of them as I softly hummed a tune.
“I’ll go. You have too much worth living for,” I said before getting off him.
It was hard, but I sliced my arms up and down as pain erupted, blood spewing everywhere like mini volcanoes. By the time Will had tried to stop me, I had already cut my legs and fallen to the ground. I stared him in the eye as he tried to pick me up.
“Survive this world. Escape. Kill as much as you need to. I love you,” I said before I blacked out one last time.