The Grothlins

Chapter LIII - Game Over

Right after the sun rose, Rem and Marybeth started searching. For a couple of hours, they looked for tracks such as footprints, ashes from campfires and much more. They also climbed trees to search things from above. They repeated the process for several hours. In the process, they also stumbled to lots of agave plants where they made ropes.

After reaching the cliff, Rem and Marybeth started to doubt their plans. They sat on a boulder overlooking the cliff and saw that the ocean was infested with sharks. He asked him if they can just wait for the three. She agreed. They then both walked to just ambush them from the forest.

While walking a loud snap was heard.

Rem was suspended in the air with his right foot -- he was caught in a snare trap. Things worsen, Rotche, Ivy, and Hakiki appeared. Obviously, they teamed up to beat the two.

Rotche ran to Marybeth and they started to spar. Rem saw the scene and immediately tried to pick some daggers but Ivy and Hakiki got to him first. He then shouted in pain after Hakiki hit him with her machete, which immediately punctured on his side waist. Sahira laughed and prepared herself to kick him. However, he was able to catch her leg and immediately pushed her to Hakiki resulting to a collision. The two female fighter lost their balance and fell.

Rem took that as an opportunity. He quickly picked a dagger and threw it to the rope.

Rem fell hard. But, he didn't waste any time and ran to the two women. He dropped his body to Sahira with the sharp part of the dagger pointing at her. She shouted in pain. He immediately crawled and reached for the head of Hakiki and snapped her neck. An alarm went off.

Sahira was able to push Rem. She stood and ready to fight.

Rem saw that Marybeth was getting beaten and it was a co-incident that Sahira attacked. He then pulled rope and caught her arm. Then, in seconds her body was completely tied. He slit her throat.

When Rem looked back he was shocked.

"No!" Rem shouted seeing Rotche launching a powerful kick on Marybeth's stomach that threw her into the shark-infested ocean.

Everything went slower based on Rem's eyes. He never had a chance to think well because all he wanted was to see and save Marybeth. He ran towards the end of the cliff. But, he was stopped by a knife that stabbed through his stomach. He looked... It was Rotche showing a demonic smile.

Rotche pulled the knife. The only thing Rem able to do was to take a few steps backward. Losing blood and in pain, he fell. With his blurred eyesight, he saw Rotche's feet and she was walking towards his direction. She was laughing probably thinking that she was victorious.

Rem passed out...

*****

Wondering why Rotche was taking so long to kill him, Rem opened his eyes. He was surprised seeing a heavily lighted white room and he was alone. He panicked, shouted, and tried to break out of his bed. But, he can't, he was tied. He then touched his wounds and they were bandaged.

Then a door opened. People came in and they were rushing. A doctor checked the machines and his dextrose while three nurses pinned him down. Confused, Rem looked around. He saw Vincent and Jacklyn.

"Where am I? Where is Marybeth?" asked Rem. He was confused. He's like a kid, who woke up from a nightmare.

"Congrats, Burrows! You won the game," said Vincent, touching his arm.

"We won?" said Rem happily. He smiled but he was still confused. "Where is Marybeth?"

"You won the game," said Vincent stressing the word 'you.' "Only you made it."

"What?" Rem said.

Rem started to hyperventilate. He closed his eyes and everything flashed back.

*****

Rotche was laughing hard, knowing that she emerged as the winner. She half knelt in front of Rem to finish the job. She raised her arm while laughing. However, a rope suddenly caught her wrist. She was then pulled a few meters of unconscious Rem and at the edge of the cliff. She saw Marybeth on a huge boulder pulling her. She resisted and thought of cutting the rope but she can't. She was using her other hand in grabbing a rock.

Marybeth had the advantage. She continued to pull and was able to put her almost at the end of the cliff. However, Rotche grabbed the exposed roots of a tree that made things harder. Knowing that Rem was already losing too much blood, she made her final move.

"Rembrandt Jarel Burrow, I will forever love you," she said while tying the rope around her waist. "Continue helping the poor," she added and jumped from the boulder.

Her weight and the impact successfully pulled Rotche. Then, they were both in the shark-infested water. Two alarms consecutively went off.

That moment, men started to rappel down and they came rushing for Rem. Three men worked together to stop the bleeding of his wounds while one forced fed him with medicine. A helicopter suddenly appeared that airlifted him to safety.

*****

Rem opened his eyes and the reality slapped him.

"No, no, we should have won," said Rem already realizing that Marybeth was already gone. He also tried to get out that prompted Vincent to ask the doctors to just put him to sleep.

The doctors injected a certain medicine to his tube... It reacted quickly that made Rem's eyes heavy. In seconds, he fell asleep.