In The Backrooms

Chapter 8: The Finish Line

The cold muzzle of the gun pushes against my temple.

"Don't pull any tricks. If you do, we won't be hesitant to shoot," said a calm masculine voice. I follow his directions and put my hands in the air. The person holding the gun aims it at the back of my head and orders me to walk forward.

The room Matt and I entered is colossal. There are two large screens on the wall showing the room where we just left. There are ten booths with our names on them. One for Kerck, one for Stacey, etc. I scan the booths and I find mine, written in bold, black letters: Kacey. There is another screen, this time it's small. Our faces took up the left side of the screen, beside our pictures, it showed our names. Most are written in red. Except for two, Matt and Kacey.

"What's going on?" Matt questioned.

"I'll tell you what's going on," a man snarled. "We don't know who won!" The man looked to be thirty years old. His fair skin matches his blonde hair and blue eyes.

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

The man calmed down and continued, "You guys are a part of a game!" He claps his hands together.

"We picked ten people and threw them into our little game. Kind of like The Hunger Games, but instead by random choice. We observed you for weeks. We had to be careful about who we chose. We didn't want smart people!" He chuckles.

"One of you was supposed to die in that room! So, now one has to kill the other." The man sang, taking a gun out of his pocket and aimed it at us. "Do you guys want to pick, or shall I?" the man probes.

I was about to speak up, until I was rudely interrupted.

"You do it," Matt speaks up. "I've lived my life, you haven't. Take the gun." He nods towards the gun.

"Wow! Isn't that thoughtful," the man mocks and forces the gun into my chest. The man orders the guards aiming the guns to our heads, to move away from us.

"Before she shoots me, I must ask. Why?" Matt gestures to the room. "Why all of this?"

"For the money," the man rubs his index finger and thumb together. "We all betted on who will survive this fun lil' game of ours. Since neither one of you died in the other room, one has to live consciously of being a murderer," he says this as if we wanted to be here. Like we knew the outcome.

"Now SHOOT!" The man loses his temper.

"Wait! One more question," I try to change the subject. "What were those things chasing us?"

The man lightened up and had a huge smile plastered on his face. "Did you like 'em? I made them myself. I just injected a serum into your family and it created them. My children."

I bite down on my jaw, anger boiling in my blood. I would shoot him, but if I did, I'd be ambushed by his security team. So, I slowly aim the gun at Matt. Matt gives me a look of sympathy and closes his eyes.

I look away, not wanting to witness the murder I'm about to commit and pull the trigger.

A loud bang fills the room.

I look back at Matt and see him still standing, with a smirk plastered on his face. I look down at my chest and see blood soaking through my sweater. I fall down and bang my head on the cold ground. I look back at Matt and see him holding the gun that shot me.

"Nice one boss," the blonde man says, patting Matt on the shoulder.

I struggle to speak one word.

"Why?"

"It's called business, sweetheart."

Then I see them.

Kerck.

Stacey.

Both giving me a hand as I happily take it.