"Welcome!" A huge voice echoed. It was the same voice as before. The host's voice. The weirdly familiar one.
I flinched. Why are we here? What is happening? Questions battered my brain, making it even harder for me to concentrate.
"You might all be wondering what is happening and why you all are in the middle of the arena!" The host said again. People around me jeered and shouted in confusion.
"Let me say one thing. You all signed up for this. Three days ago." I ran through my memories. Three days ago... Could it be..?
"YES EVERYONE! WELCOME TO THE TWELFTH SURIVE GAME!" Oh no... It can't be... It's the game where only 5 people survived in the end... I panicked, putting my head in my hands. It was just a joke Jake made that day. He asked if we wanted to join so I just said ya I want to die and stuff. We both laughed but I guess Jake took it seriously.
"As you all know, the Survive Game is a series of games to, well, survive!" I felt Sage's arm dig harder into my arm, painfully. I turned to glare at her, but her face made me stop.
She looked positively excited.
"AND! This year's prize money has increased, thanks to our generous donor, Mr. Fay! So, this year's prize is not a billion dollars each, it's two billion dollars!" The people around me started chatting loudly, sounding very excited. Sage was practically vibrating in her shoes.
'But won't that mean the challenges are two times harder?' My breath caught in my chest as I realized this fact.
"But this year, the games will be much harder!" I groaned along with the countless people surrounding me.
"In the twelfth Survive game, a total of one hundred and thirty-two people have joined. But only five will win." The host's velvety voice spread throughout the arena like butter.
"So, ladies and gentlemen, I wish you luck and if you can,"
"Survive." I whispered as the players completed the host's line with the all too familiar word of the Survive games.
That's when we heard the cranking.
