72 Hours: A Ticking Time Bomb

{-CHAPTER EIGHT-}

"Has it occured to anyone how these letters are getting sent to us?" Netta asked. They were on their way to the location of the next challenge. They've been walking for about a half hour.

"Duh, Mahmood wrote them before he died." Sergey said with a tone.

"True, but how would he know who got eliminated? He did say that team two had lost. He knew exactly what happened..... That doesn't sound like something a dead person could do." Netta said.

"What are you saying?" Michael asked.

"I'm saying I think he's still alive you nimrods!" Netta sassed back.

"That's impossible! The blood on the first note... That can't be a cover up!" Victor said.

"I'm not saying it's a cover up! I'm saying maybe he was somehow healed!" Netta said.

"Uh, last time I checked, death doesn't work like that. You can't just heal after getting shot in the head!" Damiano sighed.

"Who knows." John shrugged. "I mean, these people did manage to kidnap someone as famous as Duncan Laurence, they must have something along those lines."

"Yeah, it's totally logical for Mahmood to have the ability to cheat death like that!" Nevena said sarcastically.

"I just think it's rather weird that someone who is so called 'dead' would have the ability to write us letters, predict, or know who was eliminated, or create this crazy game!" Netta stated.

"We'll see." Michael said. "For now, we need to find the location of the next challenge."

They walked for about another forty five minutes before finally finding the location of the next challenge. The door to the room of the challenge was wooden, and it had clouds painted on the outside. The sign on next to the door of the room read "nursery"

"Oh God! Please don't make me have to take care of a child." John sighed. Sergey seemed excited

"If we do, I'm gonna nail this! I have kids of my own you know!" He taunted.

"We know." Victor said with a tone.

"Let's just go inside." Nevena said. They entered the room to see seven massive ball pits.

"I'm... So confused." Netta said.

"Let's just find the note." Michael said. They searched the place for the note. They found it hanging on a canvas with a red hand print on it.

"Okay, Damiano. Do your magic!" John handed the note to Damiano.

"Challenge #3

You all have been assigned a color and a pit of balls along with a color. John, you're red. Victor is orange, Sergey is yellow, Damiano is green, Michael is blue, Nevena is purple, and Netta is pink.

Each ball pit has its own set of colors. However, the pit you are assigned will only have one of your color. The last person to find their color will be eliminated.

Good luck to all of you.

-Alessandro Mahmoud, Mahmood."

"You know, these challenges would be fun if our lives weren't on the line!" Victor said with a little bit of a chuckle.

"Facts." Michael agreed.

Everyone ran to their assigned ball pits and got ready to dig. They decided to keep it fair by starting the digging at the same time.

"Go!" Damiano gave the queue and all started digging.

........

Sergey had been going full throttle to find the yellow color he was told to search for. Mixed with reds, greens, oranges, blues, purples, pinks, he couldn't see yellow anywhere.

That is, until he pulled out a random ball. It didn't take him long to realize that he had found his yellow ball.

He ran over to the slot where he had to put it. Sergey was the first to find his ball.

Victor and Nevena weren't too far behind him, or each other.

"Finally, I don't have to face death." Victor chuckled.

There were still four people left to find their balls. John, Netta, Michael, and Damiano.

Soon, John had found his red ball. He ran to the others to place it. Netta wasn't too far behind him with her pink ball.

It was Damiano and Michael left. Both were shaking. Neither wanted to die. They both knew what was at steak.

That's when Damiano found his ball.... Milliseconds later, Michael found his. It was a race to who could place their ball on the holder first.

Both ran as fast as they could. As they neared the end, they placed their balls.... At the exact same time!

"A tie?" Sergey asked. "Haven't seen one of those since 1969."

Everyone looked at him blankly

"Oh come on! It was funny!" Sergey chuckled at his own joke. No one else was laughing.

"I hate to be that guy... But who's getting eliminated?" Netta asked hesitantly.

A note appeared.

"As you know. This game ended in a tie. Due to the tie, I have decided that... no one gets eliminated. Since the next challenge is a team challenge, however, the first person that completed this challenge will not have to play in the next challenge and be safe from elimination.

Good luck on the next challenge.

-Alessandro Mahmoud, Mahmood."

"LETS GOOOOO!!!" I AM SAFE FROM DEATH FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE!!! IN YOUR FACE!!!" Sergey cried as he performed his victory dance.

"Yeah, yeah. Rub it in." Victor sighed.

"I will!" Sergey teased. Victor was slightly annoyed by Sergey's mini celebration. Netta put her hands on her hips

"What did I tell you. He knew about our tie! He's still alive!" She said.

"Maybe, there's still a chance that he isn't." Nevena said.

"How much time do we have left?" Damiano asked.

Michael looked at the watch.

"We got 32 hours left! We need to hurry if wanna save Duncan!" He cried. Damiano grabbed the note and they all ran.