Hell and Back (EXO x Reader)

Round 3 (Trial 31)

Word count: 1153

Chapter warnings: Intense violence, Gore, and Dangerous actions

[Please do not replicate any of the behaviors read in this book.]

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"They do it in movies all the time." She said as they walked through the woods, a few of the boy's phone flashlights illuminating the way. They were on their way to complete the last of the personal challenges, number 31. It wasn't really a dramatic number, but it marked the end of a grueling set of trials. Suho had initially refused to let them go get any rest until these trials were completed, only to backtrack when he realized that Y/N would have to complete them. Still, she pressed on. It was nearing the middle of the night, and it was all almost over.

"That doesn't mean it's safe." Suho grumbled. Her last challenge, and the last of the section, was a cinematic one to say the least. She would have to lay on train tracks as a train went by. If she lived, she'd win, easy as that. Her point was valid, it was a stunt performed constantly in movies.

"I still don't understand the limited power." Kyungsoo speculated. "Why is it you?" This was another strange factor of the trial. While the drop out fee was still the same, (listed only as 'failure'), it was the first trial in which Y/N was listed as the limited power. The only issue with that was the ever-present fact that she had no power.

"Does it matter?" She scoffed. "All that means is we're at max capacity if something goes wrong. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"It doesn't seem safe..." Kai muttered.

"Agreed," said Sehun, "Won't the sparks on the track burn you or something? Or what if trains ride lower than we thought?"

"Could you stop?" She asked. "It'll be alright. Freight trains run all night, and- Oh, speaking of which, there are the tracks." She pointed. Sure enough. The big, dormant red lights and plastic guards were coming up on the path. As they came up on it, she surveyed the width of the tracks. "There's plenty of room." Laying down on them, she looked up at the boys, all of them staring down at her with worried glances.

"You might want to back up," she said as she felt the metal beneath her begin to buzz. "It's coming." They did as she asked, quite reluctantly. The train took longer than she expected to show up. Apparently the rumble in the ground was detectable from miles away. Still, it wasn't too much time before the red lights began flashing, barriers lowering, forming a wall between her and her friends. Looking upwards behind her, she saw the train coming. Afraid, she shut her eyes.

The boys had to watch in horror as what happened next unfolded.

The first issue with their little plan was the pilot. Or, in less technical terms, the cow plow. Trains tended to traverse hundreds of thousands of miles over their lifetime, the vast majority of those miles running through empty land. Where there's empty land, there's plenty of animals. To avoid damage to the train, many had large, metal pilots affixed to the front. While the wheels were set far higher than they needed to be to clear her body, the cowpuncher was lower. As the train came up on her at over 70 miles an hour, it hit the highest part of her body, head raised on one of the planks- her nose. Not only did it break her nose, but it ripped her skin open on its way, peeling a huge chunk from her face down to her collarbone off.

In continuation, many train cars had devices attached to the links or the bottom. Some were meant to sweep the tracks, some to stabilize the carts, and there were hydraulic cables hanging between. The first she was hit by was the broom-like device under the first car, slicing over her body in thousands of tiny pricks. Getting brushed with a broom would normally be fine, but at high speeds, it left gashes all over her body, catching on her already wounded face and removing her skin even further. Finally, the cables hooked underneath hear, tearing her scalp away from her skull and snapping her neck, dragging her organs hundreds of feet down the tracks.

Once the train had passed, there was a myriad of body parts scattered around the shell of a human being littered on the tracks, Y/N completely obliterated by the train. At this, though, the train stopped. The blowing of the wind, she chirping of crickets and night fowl, all of it was silenced. Each member's face displayed a different level of horror based on how much they had realized.

Tao looked at al of them, shaking in... fear? Terror? Horror? It was something awful, and it was eating at his insides. He had stopped time out of panic, looking down and shaking. Noticing splintered pieces of bone mixed with what could have maybe been a lung, he threw up on the ground, kneeling as he tried to get a hold on himself. As he felt a tear run down his face, (more out of shock than sadness) he heard a buzzing. Checking his pocket, he noticed that it wasn't his phone.

"Oh, no..." He muttered. "Oh, no, no no..." He checked Kai's pocket... then Baekhyun. Then Sehun's phone in hand, one after the other, but the buzzing continued. He knew where it was. He knew. But he didn't want to go get it. Finally, though, after checking every other member's phones, he had no other choice. He could have just reversed time to undo the accident, but then the trial notification would go away too. He had to... he had to get it.

Walking over to the tracks, he tried to locate the phone, shutting his eyes as he reached towards the remains of her bottoms. When he felt the square, hard device, he pulled it out, trying not to breathe in so that he wouldn't smell the blood. Turning around, he was able to open his eyes again, looking at it. The screen was lighting up with the buzzes, but it was obscured by a river of blood as well as some miscellaneous gore and... was that a tooth? He threw up on the ground again, running out of substance in his stomach. They hadn't eaten all day.

Looking at the trials, he noticed that hers had been won. However, there was no accept button, nor 'next challenge' button. Instead, it was similar to the first time they had completed a set or trials.

Congratulations! You have completed the personal trials. Welcome to Round 3! Round 3 will consist of 9 trials for player Tao. If player Tao cannot continue or chooses to drop out, the trial will be null and player Tao will be penalized with the drop-out fee. Round 3 will end after trial 40.

Trial 32: Reverse time, and save Y/N's life.