Survival

VII: Let's Play a Game

Chapter Eight

I was pushed forward falling onto my hands and knees into the mud,
"Keep up!" Mikah yelled shoving me again as I tried to stand. I glared at him as I pushed myself back up onto my feet,
"Oh don't go so hard on him Mikah, it might crush his little hear," Viper stated making a baby face a voice, her hands were bellow her eyes indicating tears. I growled forcing myself not to tackle her; it had been two days since they left the farm (They were on the third) and every second of it that wich had been a pain in the ass, always making snarky remarks and insulting anyone and everyone every chance she got. Except for Nicole of course who just watched her games in amusement. I wiped my hands off on my pants my eyes stabbing daggers into Viper's back the whole time. We continued to trudge through the mud towards god knows where, the only thing they'd given me to eat since the farm was a piece of jerky and leftover soup, as for water? I just drank what could from the puddles and streams we came across. After about another ten minutes of this torture, Nicole slowed his pace to match mine, finished with his conversation with Walker,
"You know we aren't the bad guys right?" He asked nudging my shoulder, I just scowled looking at the ground, "Well we aren't, all we're trying to do is survive just like everyone else on this world,"
"Doesn't mean you have to kill people who haven't done you know wrong," I grumbled hating the thought of Sylvia, though she was basically the only person on my mind,
"You make sure to get this through your thick skull, you two stood in our way, we gave you the chance to go about it peacefully, you just chose the wrong choice," He said simply raising his hands to empathize that it was a stupid choice,
"That's because it was her things, the things she'd worked for to get, and you guys just came by expecting her to give it all away willingly?" I asked in an astonished voice,
"Jason... You need to realize I am not a good man, I have killed many and so has everyone else here. But guess what? We're still alive, and that is because we were willing to kill for what we needed to survive. And your friend had some things that would help us survive, I'm just doing what's best for my family," He motioned to everyone around them, "Now you need to decide what you're willing to do to survive," With that, he walked back up to the front of the group, Walker glanced back at me and only found glares. He was the one who stabbed Sylvia, he was the reason she was dead. I looked down at my hands which were twirling the half necklace from side to side, just like it, I didn't feel whole without the other side. I let out a heavy sigh but made sure nobody heard it (Especially Viper) and continued to make my way to wherever we were going.
For the next couple of hours until it was close to evening we started to enter a city,
"We're close to home now," Jasmin informed aloud looking at the building forming around them. Plants were overgrowing everywhere, and the buildings looked like they would collapse on their flimsy frames. Birds fluttered from building to building while cats waited for one to come close enough for it to be their next meal. Nicole abruptly lifted his hand causing them all to stop. Just ahead climbing down from a building with a strong but lean build man, he had two long daggers at his side and a mask covering his face,
"What is it, Bach?" Nicole asked stepping forward as the man pulled down his black mask revealing light skin and blue eyes. He glanced at us before whispering,
"We've come across a conundrum while you were gone," The guy looked concerned and worried, which caused Nicole's face to be one of great thought. I tried leaning closer, intrigued but Nicole glanced back at me and then started moving away with the guy calling over his shoulder,
"Head into the main building, just put Jason in one of the sells for now!" Then he disappeared behind some bushes beside a building,
"You heard him, let's go!" Walker shouted grabbing everyone's attention and I was shoved forward once more, I shook it off just continuing to walk forward. It would do me no good to get into a fight with these people. We rounded a street before going down an ally where Walker knocked on the door saying something that I couldn't quite make out, and then the door swung open. Walker motioned for us to follow so I slowly walked inside the building. Standing beside the door was a burly man who looked like he could rip off your arm with a simple motion of one of his arms, he nodded as Walker walked by then stood still as he waited for all of us to pass before closing the door once more. We went threw some hallways before Viper, Mikah, and Jasmin walked away, Walker pushed me down some stairs with Liam close behind. We went down at least two or three flights of stairs before it leveled out into another hallway that led into a more open room. Metal pols were hung in lines too small for people to squeeze through and there was only one light at the very back of the room, no windows as I figured we were underground now. As far as I could tell there were at least 4 two people cells, but I was sure you could fit three or four into each if you weren't claustrophobic. I saw two other people in separate cells before Walker opened an empty one and Liam shoved me in, I almost fell again but regained my balance in time. Walker closed the door behind me and locked it before walking away back towards the stairs,
"No don't you start any trouble, just because we've kept you alive this long doesn't mean we won't kill you," Liam spat at me giving me a hard glare before stalking off after Walker. I let out a heavy sigh falling to the ground with my back against the wall, I looked up to see spider webs in the places where two bars joined each other and there were some even across the bars that were going straight up and down. I followed one to the bottom but saw that it was securely placed in the concrete floor. I figured they hadn't made this because not many had the skill to build with things like concrete anymore, in front of me on the other side of the room slept one of the other people who I discovered was actually a lady, I was in the corner cell at the end of the room. I glanced to my right to see a man lazily looking at me threw my bars,
"How long have you been here?" I asked scooting a little closer, he sighed laying against the wall behind him like me,
"Probably about two months, they still think I'll eventually join them even though I keep telling them it's not going to happen." I looked him over carefully, he had a solum look, his eyes were a light shade of brown and his skin was tanned, he was wearing ripped jeans and a black sweater with some holes in it revealing a light blue shirt under that, he had some running shoes with holes in the side as well.
"Why won't you join them?" I asked curiosity getting the better of me,
"Will them?" He asked raising an eyebrow, I shook my head stiffly, "Then you already have the answer," I looked down at my hands realizing that they had probably killed someone or multiple someones before he came here,
"Do you know who she is?" I asked pointing to the other girl,
"Her? No one knows, she hasn't talked once since they killed her little brother and dad, her mom was already dead when they found them. I only know this because one of the Tiapan's named Jasmin told me," He explained,
"Yeah, I know her she was on the group that got me," He nodded in understanding before continuing, "She said that it was an accident killing the kid, that they only wanted to get rid of the father because he didn't want to join or give them his supplies.
"But she's been here for... I think Jasmin said five years and she said she hasn't spoken a word sense," I was utterly shocked, my mouth opened in agape, not talking at all for five years! That was insane! I walked over to the bars trying to look at her, she laid on her side breathing evenly,
"Why haven't they just killed her?" I asked thinking of it logically, if she was down here then that means she wouldn't join them, and if she couldn't talk what use would they really have of keeping her?
"I don't really know the answer to that, I think it's because Walker got a soft spot for her,"
"Wait, Walker! Why would he have a soft spot for her?" I felt another impulse of rage as I remember the look on her face as she fell to the ground bleeding out,
"Yeah Walker... Supposedly he lost a little brother before he came here, so he just keeps telling everyone that she only needs more time... I think Nicole's starting to get tired of it though, but he keeps her here for the sake of keeping Walker happy. He doesn't give them much but when he can he tries to." I sat back down trying to think all of this over, I had learned a lot of new information, information that could be useful in the future,
"How old is she?" I asked running my hands through my hair,
"Hm... Fifteen I do believe, I think I recall Jasmin telling me she was ten when she first arrived here," I nodded thinking of another question,
"Do you know of her name?" He looked up over at me then sighed again,
"No... As I said she hasn't talk sense she lost her family, I think her little brother was only five when it happened, but since they both died and she won't talk nobody knows her name,"
"Hu..." I leaned my head against the wall trying to comprehend how someone couldn't talk for five years,
"How do you she can't talk at all? Like she's got that one problem where her voice box doesn't work or something?" I asked remembering a guy I'd met once who was like that,
"Nay, she can talk, she talked when they were talking to her father, but just not after, and she wasn't injured during it either so I know she didn't lose her voice by getting hurt. She just chooses not to talk." He said simply looking up at the ceiling,
"How about your name?" I asked him, I'd forgotten to ask before,
"My name? It's not important," He said with a chuckle, "But if you must know it's Adalius, yours?"
"Jason," I said simply looking up at the ceiling as well,
"Nice name,"
As well as yours," I said in reply, it was true though he had an interesting name, I hadn't heard many like it before,
"Well... God knows what those guys will have us do so I'd suggest you get some sleep," I nodded suddenly feeling overwhelmed with exhaustion. I hadn't realized how tired and sore I was before now. I laid on a blanket that was set on the floor, even though it was still hard and uncomfortable I fell asleep within seconds.
My dreams were all over the place and I ended up not sleeping very well, and of course, what felt like only ten minutes since I closed my eyes cold water was splashing over my face. I jolted upright shaking my head and spitting out water, I wiped my eyes and face off with the sleeve of my jacket to look up and see Mikah, Viper was standing outside of the cell smiling widely,
"Wakey wakey sleepy head, it's for some fun!" She did a little jump showing how excited she was, though her evil smirk made a shiver run down my back, I couldn't help but wonder what "fun" she meant. I looked over and saw Mikah opening Adalius's cell, he was already awake and standing up. I stood up trying to get the water out of y hair and dry anything else that was wet,
"Come on, Nicole wants to you two," I sighed standing up, as I walked towards the stairs I saw the girl in the cell standing up and watching us, she didn't look sad nor happy, she just looked completely stone-faced, I couldn't depict any emotion on her face, she just watched us go. I kept my eyes on her as long as I could, but as soon as we entered the hall she was out of sight and I had to turn my eyes up as we went up the stairs. Once we were at the top Mikah like us through some halls before we were going upstairs again. I looked around on the second floor, we paced a room or two that were mostly empty other than some mattresses and shelves laying here and there. In a couple, I saw shelves with books, and we came across two people who followed us, one was Jasmin, the other was a guy I didn't know. Not long after Jasmin and the other guy joined us Adalius and I were seated in a chair facing each other with a table in the middle. The others just stood around the empty room waiting for what felt like an endless silence, until finally, Nicole entered the room followed by some more people, which were the people I'd already met some that I hadn't.
"So... Bach has informed me that while we were away looking for supplies and new recruits some other raiders came with dogs. They took a decent amount of our stock and the dogs got into a lot of it as well. But Bach told me they have already been taken care of. But there's still the problem with the supplies..." He said turning his attention towards me and Adalius,
"You see, we have enough food for everyone here but one, if I send out search parties to look for food what have should sustain us. But the problem you see is that one of us would die a very slow and painful death of starvation. Now I don't want anyone to have to go through that... So, I figured we might as well make that death a little less painful and even turn it into a game." I watched him closely wondering what kind of game he meant,
"We only have one gun and a few bullets... But I suppose we can spare one for this. Viper, would you like to explain the rules?" Nicole asked placing a pistol and one bullet on the table between me and Adalius, Adalius was trying to keep his cool but by the looks of it he already knew this game,
"You see ladies..." My jaw instantly tightened as she began to explain, "It's not that hard of a game, all you have to do is take and put this bullet" She said pointing to the one in front of me, I noticed Adalius's hands tighten together on the table, "In the pistol," She then moved her finger to the pistole, "You put it in one chamber and then spin it shut, next step is simple... All you have to do is put the gun to your head, and pull the tiger," My breath caught in my throat as I tried to comprehend what she was actually meant, did she mean we have to shoot each ourselves?
"Then you each take a turn and go until somebody's brains end up on the floor!" She said with a big smile, "As for us... We get to bet on which one of you lives. Oh and," She added starting towards a wall, "If one of you chooses not to do it... Then ya both die," She winked at us before leaning against a wall. I was pretty sure my hands were shaking as Nicole stepped up to us again placing a pair of cubes on the table, on each side was a dot, though a different amount of dots on each one,
"Now, we've already placed our bets, so now all you two have to do is roll these cubes, and whoever gets the highest number goes first," He said smiling at each of us in turn. Adalius gulped as he grabbed the cubes with a sweaty hand, he blew on them before shaking them in his hand and then rolling them out onto the table. They spun for while and both of us held our breath knowing this would inevitably choose who was going to die... They stopped- One was a four, and the other was a six...
"Looks like you got ten Adalius... Let's see how lucky Jason is," He held the cubes over my hands which I opened tentatively, he dropped them in, I did what Adalius did but whispered under my breath so quiet that nobody could here
"Pls give me luck Sylvia... Wherever you are," Then I rolled them onto the table as Adalius did. I saw him lift his head up groaning as the cubes stopped. One was a six... But the other was a one,
"Looks like you got seven Jason. Adalius goes first!" He announced before grabbing the gun and placing the bullet in a chamber, all the other were empty, then he spun the revolver shut and handed it to Adalius. He took it in shaking hands and placed it to his head, he took big shuttering breaths before he cocked it, I held my breath as his finger slowly pulled on the trigger. 'Click', that was all... Just a 'click', no bang, nothing, and Adalius was still sitting upright. He sighed before placing the gun back no the table and pushed it towards me,
"Come on Jason... Your turn," Viper sneered from the side, I glared at her picking up the gun. I gulped taking a shuddering breath, the gun was decently light but cold. I placed the gun up to my head feeling the cold muzzle against my hair, I heard the click as I cocked it back. Then I closed my eyes, my world slowed down as I placed my finger on the trigger, my mind was completely clear of all thought as I pulled it- A simple light squeeze of the finger... Followed by a soft click. I panted placing the gun back on the table, my palms were sweating and I felt sweat dripping down my back,
"See? Not so hard now was it, just a simple friendly game of Russian Roulette" Mikah stated with a smug smile on his lips, Adalius and I met eyes and we both nodded before he took the gun placing it back on his head. He took another deep breath cocking it back with his finger, I watched tensely as he pulled back the trigger. No gunfire. He placed it back on the table sweat pooling down his face. Each time that trigger was pulled the higher chance you had of getting a bullet in your head. I remember that there were six chambers in this revolver, which meant in three more shots- Someone would die... There were only three more which meant after I went again if I didn't die then there'd only been two which would mean I'd die knowing that the bullet was in that shot if Adalius didn't get it. I started to panic as I realized how close I was. no am to dying,
"Come on now Jason no wussing out..." Nicole said pushing the gun closer to me, I fidgeted for a moment,
"Fuck it!" I hissed grabbing the gun and placing it against my head cocking it back. I hesitated for a moment before pulling the trigger,
"Bang!" I almost shit myself as a guy I didn't know yelled 'bang' I was breathing heavily and my heart was probably racing over a hundred beats per minute. I slid the gun back to Adalius putting my face in my hands trying to calm my breathing and racing heart, though it was useless. I looked up at Adalius, he was shaking from head to toe, he looked as pale as a ghost and tears were close to falling. I thought the gun was going to fall out of his hands because of how bad they were shaking,
"Just think Adalius, if you die you'll get to join your wife, if you live- Well then you get to live yet another day... Either way, though you're going to have to pull that trigger." Nicole said sternly placing his hands on the table, "Or else I'll do it for you," Adalius nodded shakily raising the gun up to his head and cocking it back slowly, I couldn't hold my breath, or else I'd probably suffocate, and it seemed like that's how Adalius felt as well, tears streamed down his face as he whispered something then took a deep breath holding it has he pulled the trigger. A loud bang echoed off of the walls- I jumped at the sound, tears streaming down my face, I slowly opened my eyes to see Adalius's body leaning against the wall beside us, blood and chunks of- Of what I believed to be brains were splattered all across the wall. People yelled in excitement, but the only thing I felt was shock- I was shocked at what had just occurred, I didn't know what to think, what to do, or what to feel. I was just shocked and still scared for dear life,
"Lighten up Jason! You get to live another day!" Jasmin said patting him on the back before walking away. I heard Nicole's breath close to my ear,
"Remember this Jason... This is what we have to do to survive, so you might want to figure out how you plan on surviving, and figure it out quickly," He stood up raising his voice, "Alright! Let's clean this mess up! Donald, you take Jason back to his cell," A fit and well build man lifted me up onto my feet, and I walked back to the cell on numbed feet. The girl in the cell looked sad as they came in and placed me in my cell and Adalius didn't follow... For the next hours to come, I just laid there staring off into space.

(Sooo, how did you guys like that chapter? So very sorry for the late update... I've gotten myself caught up in stuff and making myself busy but I plan on writing more now. But no promises ;) But just so you know I have no plans of quitting this book at all I really enjoy writing it, so just keep in tuned for new updates and hope that I get the time to write! I am working on Blood Moon my other book with my brother, that one doesn't have as many chapters as I'm redoing it but I'm working on that one as well if you wanted to check it out! Also happy late new 2021!!! Hope y'all have a good day or night! <3