Video Games

Chapter Twenty Two

The hovercraft floats in the air, taking us to the very last destination. This is where the games end, this is where three of us die and the other one lives. The four of us just stare at each other, battered and bruised. Whatever this last game is, it’s going to involve mass pain, both physically and emotionally. My ankle and shoulder kill, and I can feel the majority of my lower back is bruised. Tiny cuts and bruises are present on my body; deep gashes that seem to have randomly appeared also decorate my dying body.

 I notice a cut bleed as I move my hand and reach out for Tynoco. Baiyou died and it was because he knew it would be me or him. Both Dexio and Baiyou sacrificed themselves to save me, the only girl left. As much as I love Tynoco, I really need to get home and visit their families, for they deserve all of the respect in the world. Not at one point did I think that they would kill themselves so that I could be happy – Dexio knew that Tynoco made me happy, so he sacrificed himself to let Tynoco live; Baiyou knew it was between him and I, and he knew that Tynoco would die if I was to die.

What neither of them realised was that only one of us gets to go home, so they only prolonged one of our deaths, if not both. Maybe they did it so that we’re the last two standing and that one of us dies at the hands of the people behind these games. Maybe that was their plan. Maybe they were also suicidal and had nothing left to hold onto so they killed themselves. No matter what happened, I can’t ever forget them and what they did for me. People will come and go in my life, if I live, but Dexio and Baiyou are the reason that I’m alive and will remain alive for as long as possible.

Fiddling with my hair, I feel the hovercraft fly towards the ground without control. Gripping onto Tynoco, I watch Ithai and Oguro cling to each other, frightened and unable to comprehend what’s going on. The irksomeness of what they’re going to us gets to me – why hurt us even more? Do they actually want us alive for the final game or are they trying to kill us right here, right now? As we fly through the air, I begin to rise from my chair; I’m only held back by the seatbelt that I wear over my lap. Not a single one of us are calm as we try to hold onto the seats.

The seatbelt doesn’t do enough; it snaps and I fly towards the top of the hovercraft. Screeching, I slam into the roof and instantly feel the blood trickle from my head. By the looks of it, no one else wears a seatbelt anymore; the four of us fail to reach each other as we’re thrown around like toys. My body flies into Oguro’s; I yell in pain as I feel my good ankle bend at a weird angle. If I’m able to walk after this, I’ll be amazed. If we’re even alive after this, it’ll be a miracle. Surely there aren’t cameras in here, right?

Holding Ithai as he flies past me, I make a desperate attempt to help the little boy. We both yell out as Tynoco’s body smashes into us; the three of us groan before Ithai’s undamaged hand grips onto the shirt of the boy I love. Oguro soon flies towards us; Tynoco grabs him and we all grip onto each other for dear life. My hand, despite being bloody and crushed, grips onto a pipe in the corner of the hovercraft. Just as I debate letting go, I know exactly what’s about to happen.

The three boys are forced into me; I end up crushed in the corner. As my back collides with the pipe, I let out the most distorted scream I’ve ever heard in real life. Tynoco looks as if he’s about to cry as he looks at me; Oguro manages to remain strong but the smaller boy cries as he’s squashed between three people. This is so painful; the agony in my blood is the only thing I can feel. My arms are numb from gripping onto people and my legs refuse to co-operate.

As we all land in a pile on the floor, I feel my feet give in to my weight and I can’t help but let out a yelp as blood is forced from the wounds around my feet and ankles. Collapsing to the ground, I pull myself along the floor and out of the hovercraft; Oguro limps, Ithai is barely standing and Tynoco is having more trouble than I am walking. We all help each other along, trying not to let the pain get the best of us. As we make it out of the hovercraft and outside, I see nothing but a running track with four lanes.