The Ultimate Deathmatch

Escape

Aiden froze in place.

How?

How did they know.

He didn't go out often, he kept social contact as less as possible, he didn't allow anyone in his house and most of all, no one even wanted to come inside his house?

So how did they know.

The same voice came again.

8 seconds

7 seconds

Aiden quickly snapped back to reality. He swiftly ran over to the back of the room, but this time opened a small vault which was previously beside the pod. He turned the dial on it 6 times to open it.

4 seconds

3 seconds more. You are running out of time Mr Lynn

Aiden opened the vault. Inside was a small red button enclosed with a glass lid. There was a sign below it saying DEFENCE. Without losing another second, Aiden smashed the button.

2 seconds

1 sec-

A loud blaring sound suddenly ensued from within the house which made Officer James lose count. Not that it mattered anyway since he was in the last second by then.

Breach it."

Agent James's voice cut through the tension like a scalpel. Two agents snapped into motion, nodding wordlessly as they rammed shoulders against the door — once, twice — but it didn't budge. The impact barely rattled the frame.
"Useless," one muttered under his breath.
A pry bar was produced and jammed into the edge. With a grunt of metal and splintered wood, the outer door groaned loose—
—only to reveal another door behind it. Sleek. Seamless. Titanium.

James exhaled slowly, lips tight.
"Jesus," one agent whispered.
But James didn't flinch. He'd seen this before — too many times. Paranoia always came plated in metal.

"Bring the cutting torch Jeremy" said Officer James to a man younger and shorter than him who was standing beside him. Jeremy, as it was seen, was not paying attention to whatever was going in front of him and was just playing slither.io.

"JEREMY BRING ME THE GODDAMN CUTTING TORCH" shouted Officer James in a much angrier tone.

Jeremy jumped up in fear as soon as he heard his name being called very loudly and angrily.

"Geez boss, you could've just asked me. No need to shout you know I am right here." Jeremy said

Officer James shot Jeremy a sharp look — part disbelief, part rage — then muttered under his breath, "Kids these days."

Jeremy, unfazed, jogged back toward the matte-black BearCat parked at the curb. The armored vehicle stood like a steel beast, bristling with gear mounts and tactical ports. He swung open the rear hatch, revealing racks of breaching tools, high-caliber weapons, and reinforced supply cases. His fingers fumbled through a heavy black duffel until he yanked free a large oxy-acetylene cutting torch, its tubing coiled like a venomous snake.

Cradling it like a trophy, Jeremy hustled back to the porch and handed the torch to Officer James. Without a word, he drifted to the side of the driveway, pulled out his phone, and reopened his game of Slither.io.

He frowned. In the time it took to grab the gear, his snake had plowed headfirst into another — exploded into glowing pellets now gobbled up by enemy snakes. Jeremy sighed and mumbled, "Rookie move," before tapping "Play Again."

At that time, inside the house, Aiden was having a full blown panic attack. He released Blubby from the pod and started pacing back and forth in his basement. He hadn't prepared a hiding spot for these types of scenarios and was feeling really foolish right now. He looked at Blubby as teared filled his eyes. He always saw Blubby as a replacement for his daughter. He thought that God had given him another chance at taking care of something valuable and he is going to lose it again. As he kept looking at Blubby, he started remembering other things. His daughter, her smile, and how she kept him company at times. As thought after thought went inside his head, he broke down. He had no heart to lose Blubby at all. He hated being lonely and he didn't want to feel lonely anymore.