Last Life, The Third Life Game Sequel

Chapter Two

Bdubs leaned lazily against the cave wall, as Etho swung his pickaxe against the stone. They had met at the cave entrance, and decided to work together. Although Bdubs let Etho go ahead most of the time, at his own insistence.

"Explain it to me one more time," Bdubs said loudly over the deafening crack of stone. "The boogeyman?"

Etho paused, then leaned against his pickaxe. "I told you. The boogeyman gets chosen randomly. There could be more than one. And they always have three days to kill one person, or they go instantly to red the next day."

"And when do they get chosen?"

Etho shrugged. "But you'll know if you're it. And if you were, you'd tell me, right?"

Bdubs nodded brightly. "Of course!"

Etho smiled. Or, at least, Bdubs assumed he smiled. The bottom half of etho's face was covered by a mask that made it hard to distinguish his emotions. Etho was at least a foot taller too, and had spiky white hair over a blue ribbon tied around his forehead.

Bdubs was a shorter man, with crazy brown hair and bright eyes. He wore a white shirt with torn sleeves, and he had a black eye and missing tooth. He could only guess what had happened to him before he came to this place.

10 minutes later, they had made considerable progress. After heartily mining together for a little while, they had found a bunch of coal, and even a few bits of gold. Their pickaxes were worn down, and now they sat together on the ground, next to a small trickle of water that ran from some of the cracked stone and down another hole.

Etho was in the process of sharpening his makeshift stone sword, while Bdubs continually checked that he was out of reach of the weapon.

"Why exactly do you wear a mask?" Bdubs asked, hoping to spark conversation again.

Etho shrugged, not looking up. "I assume there's a reason, I just can't remember. I assume you can't explain to me why there's a wedding ring on your finger?"

Bdubs looked down, momentarily surprised. He hadn't noticed this small detail. Did he have a family that he had unwillingly abandoned? Who were they, and were they alright?

Etho must've seen the sadness on Bdubs' face, because he put down his sword and scooted closer to him. "Sorry, didn't mean to say it like that. But none of us remember who we are, do we?"

Bdubs nodded, then smiled slightly. As much as he was frightened and scared by his arrival here, he was at least glad that he had a friend already. Everything about these scenarios and the events occuring seemed familiar, but he couldn't quite figure out why.

Although they were probably pretty deep in a cave, suddenly they heard a voice overhead, shouting through the cracks in the earth.

"Hello? Is there anyone down there?"

Bdubs looked up, startled. Were they really not so deep underground that someone on the surface could hear them? The voice was still muffled and slightly faint, but they could clearly understand what they were saying. The voice also sounded familiar.

"Grian?" Bdubs called.

"Yeah, is that Bdubs?"

"You two know each other?" Etho asked, looking at Bdubs quizzically.

Bdubs pondered for a moment. "Uh... no, I don't think so."

"Are you guys mining? You're not very deep underground," Grian's voice said.

"Who wants to know?" Etho asked, looking up at the cave roof. "Are you friendly?"

"I don't have any weapons, and anyway I have no idea where your tunnel begins," Grian answered.