Note: mild depictions of death and some strong language in this chapter.

———

The following day, Michael is sitting in the corner of the main function room alone. The rest of his team are still in their rooms getting ready for the day and for the game — whatever it should be. His mind goes over the possibilities that could come of today. Either, he will die in the next game, or he will pass it and move on to the next one. But if he passes the next game, how many more will he pass? Will he die today, or tomorrow, or the day after? What if he were to win the entire game? Would he be able to face seeing all his team mates die in front of his eyes? Would they be able to face seeing him die in front of their faces? Regardless, it's a horrible situation to be forced to experience.

"Hey, dude." Whitney emerges first, sitting on the floor by her new friend's side. "How are you this morning?"

"Wishing I wasn't here," he responds honestly, heaving a soft sigh. "How are you?"

"The same as you, I guess." She tries to find humour in the situation, but it's nigh on impossible to do so. "I guess all we can do is hope that the next game isn't too hard."

"Any game's hard when it's life or fucking death," he hisses, with anger not so much aimed at Whitney, but at the situation. Either way, he apologises. "Sorry. I'm just ... well, I'm sure you understand."

"I do. Don't worry." She gives a closed-mouth smile, nudging him gently to show she doesn't mind. "You're a nice person, Michael. I can tell that."

"Well you are, too. I'm glad we found each other in here." He returns the same smile. "I mean hey, it's the last week we'll ever see each other for anyway. May as well make the most of the positives while we're both still alive."

"I guess so." She snickers, her eyes averting to his face as he looks across the room. She admires his appearance — his soft, long curls; his deep, dark eyes; his perfectly-chiselled facial features with sleek brows; and his slender build. This man possesses every good quality; not only physically, but evidently emotionally, too. If only they were not limited on time — she'd feel excited to have met such a character, that she could perhaps get to know more and maybe even share a life with. Unfortunately, what happens in the game, will forever stay in the game.

"Morning lads!" George greets as he enters the room with Andrew, perhaps more enthusiastically than would normally be deemed appropriate. "Did we sleep well? I know I didn't!"

Whitney can't help but laugh at George's quirky personality. "I think we're all the same person, you know."

"Ah, tell me about it. I could hear George singing until 1AM in the next room. Bloody impossible to sleep with that racket!" Andrew complains, shaking his head in mock disapproval. "Hasn't even taken singing lessons to reduce the pain he causes."

"Shut up you bastard!" George chuckles, smacking Andrew upside the head. "My singing is not that bad. Have you ever heard yourself? Now that," he sucks air between his teeth. "That is pain."

"Cheeky get," Andrew retorts. "I would say wait until we get out of here so I can give your head a wobble, but at the very least, one of us won't make it out anyway."

"Don't remind me." George frowns; it's obvious he doesn't want to think about this harsh truth after years of friendship.

"Morning folks." Elton makes an appearance, interrupting the sentimental moment between the two friends.

"Good morning Elton," George grins. "How did you sleep?"

"Shocking," Elton comments. "But I guess that's how it is when you're faced with death every day."

"True." George pauses a moment to try and find a new topic of conversation. "Well, uh ... another day in paradise, hey?"

"Nice one," Elton remarks sarcastically. "I wonder how many more mornings we get as a group."

"With some luck, at least until the fifth or sixth game ... if not the very last day," Andrew suggests hopefully. "Otherwise forming this team will have been for nothing."

"I guess we'll just find out," Whitney interrupts, ending the conversation. Not long after, Lisa and Madonna arrive from their rooms. "Morning girls."

"Hey," Lisa greets monotonously. "Here we go again."

"Can't wait for another day of this," Madonna adds.

"At least we get to find out what the next game is soon," Andrew points out. "Not that we want to, but at least we'll be a step closer to getting out of this place."

When the only ways out are winning, or death, the rest of the group can only agree to Andrew's comment.

*

"The second party game is about to commence. Please follow the team members."

Now that all the players know what will happen if they fail a game, nobody is particularly excited to take part. What was once trash-talking and playful jibes at one another is now complete and utter silence. The atmosphere — or lack of — is truly haunting. All the partygoers follow the masked team members to their next game, arriving at another large open space.

This time, there are large, thick plants; as well as old, abandoned shed buildings; and a large body of water. Despite being such a grand size, there is very little room for free movement in this area. The players look around, unsure of what the game could possibly be. It looks like an exact mix of a rainforest and a haunted forest. Dark and dingy; with only the gaps in the trees allowing light to peek in between.

"Partygoers! Your next game is Hide and Seek. I will now give you the instructions. Players will be divided into two teams, chosen by yourselves. One team will be the hiders; the other team will be the seekers. To decide which team will be which role, a representative from each team will play Rock Paper Scissors. Whoever wins Rock Paper Scissors will decide whether they want to hide, or seek. Hiders must remain hidden until the time limit is up. If they are found, they will be eliminated. Seekers will be assigned one specific hider that they must find. No conferring with other seekers is allowed. If the seeker fails to find their hider within the time limit, they will be eliminated. You will now be given five minutes to form teams of thirty. The time starts now."

A five-minute timer starts, with the clock shown to players on a large screen over their heads. Immediately, strangers turn to one another for companionship; groups of three find other groups of five to form groups of higher numbers; a large group of ten finds a team of fifteen to make twenty-five. Michael's team of seven join forces with a larger group of twenty-two to form twenty-nine.

"We need one more player," Michael calculates desperately, noting that the timer has a minute and a half remaining. "Who do we choose?"

"How about that guy? He looks a little lost." Lisa points to a tall, slim man who is stood desperately trying to work out who to team up with.

"Go get him!" Madonna commands hurriedly, ushering her away with her hands.

Lisa runs over to the man — Player 091 — and invites him over. He accepts, looking relieved to have found a team to buddy with. The two players return to the group. "Guys, this is our new team member."

"Freddie; nice to meet you guys," he introduces briefly.

In return he gets varied brief responses, all welcoming him to the team. Both teams finally reach thirty members, just a few seconds before the timer reaches zero.

"Please select one player from each team to play Rock Paper Scissors."

"Who's playing?" Andrew asks.

"Let Elton do it. He's the smart one," George suggests.

"I don't mind doing it," Elton agrees. "It doesn't really matter who wins or loses. Both teams have equal chances of dying anyway."

"Okay — let Elton do it," Whitney decides. "That good with you guys?" she asks the other players.

When they all nod, Elton steps forward ready to play the game. Stepping forward from the other team is Prince. Upon seeing this, Whitney scoffs to herself.

"Rock Paper Scissors commences now."

"Rock Paper Scissors," Prince and Elton chant in unison, before striking their own respective choices. Elton chooses rock; Prince chooses paper — thus, Prince wins.

"Ha! Sucker," he jibes. "I wanna be seekers."

"Player 017 — please make your final choice. Do you wish to be hiders or seekers?"

"Seekers, man!" Prince shouts, gaining the verbal support of all his teammates. "We're gonna hunt those bitches down and get 'em killed!"

"Player 017 has selected seekers for his team. Player 080 has been assigned hiders for his team. The seekers must be blindfolded for two minutes while hiders find a spot. Then, seekers will have ten minutes to find their hider."

Each seeker is blindfolded forcefully by the masked team members, with a member holding the blindfold over the seeker's face to ensure no cheating and no sneaking looks.

"Hiders, you have two minutes to find a hiding spot. After the two minutes, the seekers will be released and will have ten minutes to find their assigned hider. Commencing now."

Michael and the rest of his team run into the thick, dense greenery of the artificial forest to find hiding spots. A few players team together and hide deep within the bushes; some players hide in the various shed buildings, behind garden tools as not to appear too obvious. Elton hides up a tall tree after climbing approximately fifteen feet. He uses the branches and the leaves to hide his bright yellow outfit. George and Andrew hide together in the furthest shed building from where the seekers are stood waiting; they bury themselves with old compost to cover themselves.

"Mate, we're gonna need to shower so bad after this," George comments.

"Shut up Yog, you're gonna get us killed!" Andrew responds.

Lisa rushes up a different tree to Elton, having had the same idea of climbing it. She looks down at the ground to see Madonna running around desperately in a panic; she whistles to catch her attention, to draw attention to the hiding spot she's currently in. Madonna grins at her friend, before climbing up another tree.

Whitney and Michael are both running together; trying to get as far away from the seekers as possible. They're completely stuck on a hiding spot. Their eyes dart around their surroundings, but nothing springs to mind.

"Where do we go?" Whitney whimpers.

"I don't know," Michael responds anxiously.

"The two minutes is now up. Seekers, you have each been assigned a hider to find. Your ten minutes begins now."

"Shit!" Michael cries. "Shit, we're dead!"

Whitney turns her head around once more. "Quick, hold your breath and jump in there!" She grabs his hand, before they both leap into the body of water, allowing themselves to sink beneath the surface.

The seekers start running into the forest, in search of their assigned hider. Some find theirs within a matter of moments; the hiders get eliminated and the seekers pass the game.

"Player 011 — pass. Player 017 — pass. Player 034 — pass."

After a minute or two, Michael and Whitney are in desperate need for air. They try to judge as best as they can whether there's any seekers nearby; when they see no motion and hear no noise, they quickly resurface for a breath, before submerging themselves under water again.

The search continues. George and Andrew keep one another's mouths shut with their hands to prevent sound from escaping their lips and giving away their location. Elton, Lisa and Madonna all use the leaves from the trees to hide themselves a little better — which proves to work effectively. Each seeker darts straight past them, without so much as even glancing upwards. More hiders are found in the next few minutes — leaving around half still unfound by seven minutes in.

"I can see you, motherfucker!" Player 099 taunts to Player 076, pulling the unsuspecting woman from her hiding spot. "Time to die, bitch!"

"Player 099 — pass."

"Please, no!" Player 076 pleads with the team member, who has acquired a pistol since the beginning of the game. She falls to her knees to beg the masked stranger. "Please, I'm not ready to die!"

The team member holds the gun up and fires it, hitting 076 square in the forehead. The woman tumbles fully to the ground; the sticky burgundy dripping from the hole in her skull.

With each gunshot heard, the remaining hiders feel more restless. With only a minute to go, the remaining seekers are also feeling the pinch. If they don't find their hider in sixty seconds, they'll be the one to die.

Whitney and Michael come up one final time for air, deciding it's best to hold their breath for the final minute rather than risk their lives at the final second. They sink beneath the water one last time, both starting to feel lightheaded from the lack of air they've received in the past 10 minutes. With twenty seconds to go, Michael feels himself slipping slowly into unconsciousness. He can hear Whitney's muffled sounds of panic, but is powerless to remain awake.

The timer hits zero. The seekers who failed to find their hider are shot one by one, while the hiders who passed leave their hiding spots.

"We did it!" George exclaims. "I can't believe we did it!"

"Me either," Andrew gasps. "How the fuck did we manage that?"

"Because we're a team, mate." George smiles at his best friend. "Because we get through everything together." Suddenly, he enters a state of panic. "Oh god, what if Elton didn't make it?"

Meanwhile, Whitney desperately tries to pull Michael out from underwater. "Come on, Michael! Don't do this! Come on!" she begs, slowly resurfacing not just herself, but him too. She climbs out of the water, dragging him with her. She throws his lifeless body onto dry land, before collapsing to her knees to help revive him. Upon placing her head to his chest, she notes that he's still breathing.

"Come on Michael, we passed the game! Please come back 'round!" she continues, slapping his face; shaking his body — trying all that she can. In a frenzy, she places her open mouth to his, to try and perform the kiss of life. She breathes into his mouth for a few seconds, praying for it to work. She withdraws from him. "Oh god, please man!" She goes again, breathing into his mouth.

Out of nowhere, Michael starts to cough and splutter. He regurgitates a few mouthfuls of water, which he must have swallowed when he slipped unconscious, before his eyes slowly open.

His first view is Whitney, with an expression of fear, excitement and relief.

~~

Chapter six! What did you think of the second game?