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GAME OF EXITS CHAPTER 14: SURVIVAL INSTINCTS
10: 39 am
Ryan slowly opens his eyes. The coldness of the dusty floor presses against his cheek. His blurry vision catches a vague figure of a small person standing meters away from him. At once, memories of his ordeal surge into his brain, telling him that his struggle is not yet over, and he has to get up as soon as possible. He unsteadily presses his hands against the floor, attempting to pull himself up. Soon enough, Ryan is able to sit on the floor while leaning against the wall near the door.
Unwilling to take risks, Ryan instantly creates five large glass nails in front of him, hovering and pointed at Liezel. At once, he sends them flying straight to her. Having seen the threat, Liezel quickly sends her smoke ring in front of her, easily swallowing the glass nails passing through it. Without warning, Liezel rushes toward Ryan, both of her arms oozing green smoke through their pores.
Startled, Ryan quickly encloses himself in a large glass prism. Liezel continues running and slows down as she approaches the glass shield. Liezel stares at Ryan who is still slumped on the floor and smiles victoriously as she looks up at her yellow smoke ring inside Ryan’s prism, hovering near a corner. Without delay, the smoke ring turns blue and five oversized glass nails dart toward Ryan, striking his head and torso. Right away, thick blood gushes and spurts out of Ryan’s impaled body….
Ryan screams out of his nightmare, so terrified that he forces himself to stand up as quickly as possible. With his pierced hip and torso, however, all he can do is slump on the floor and lean against the wall. He breathes heavily as he sees Liezel across the room, standing silently. Ryan wastes no time to enclose himself in a large glass prism. His nightmare makes him check frantically whether Liezel’s smoke ring managed to sneak inside his defense. He exhales, relieved, upon seeing that the yellow smoke ring is hovering near the ceiling above Liezel’s head.
“No. This is not… the end for me,” Ryan mumbles. “I… will… go home….” Ryan glowers at Liezel, fed up and enraged. Glass spikes suddenly emerge on the north, east and west walls. Larger spikes materialize and saturate the ceiling. Unsatisfied, Ryan creates glass spikes on the floor outside Liezel’s red circle. “Now… don’t tell me you can dodge all of them using your pathetic hula-hoop….”
10:45 am
“Let’s go,” John Paul says. His left hand is still covering the wound in his right arm. “I’m rank 12. Almost at the bottom. We’d better go.”
“Are you serious?” Kriz asks in disbelief, wrinkling her forehead. “Your arm is not yet—”
“Jennifer is fine and you’ve just healed Mabel. I can’t wait an hour more. Besides, my wound is not that—”
“No. Your arm is in bad shape,” Mabel says. “Are you sure you want to go now?”
“I know we decided to stay here until everyone is healed. But… I’m worried about—”
“The ranking?” Jennifer asks. “We still have lots of time. It’s not even afternoon yet. What’s the rush?”
“I just…. Are you sure you want to stay here? I swear I can manage myself.”
“We’re concerned about you,” Jennifer says. “What if something bad happens as soon as we exit that door?”
“I thought this is the safest place,” John Paul argues. “Wait….” John Paul starts unbuttoning his gray polo with his left hand.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Jennifer asks.
“Bandage my right arm with… this….” John Paul takes off his polo, revealing his perfect physique and sweaty, sculpted abs.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Why? Something’s wrong?”
“The hell….” Jennifer can’t help but stare at John Paul’s exposed upper body. Mabel and Kriz do the same, overwhelmed by the sight of a half-naked model. “Do you really have to sacrifice your polo for—”
“It’s okay. I’ll put it on after I’m healed. Help me, so that we can go.”
“My God….”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Jennifer gets the polo and starts bandaging John Paul’s wound with it. “You smell really good….”
“What?”
“Nothing…. By the way, what’s your name again?”
“My name? Oh, I’m John Paul. Thanks for helping us. Without you, we might have already died.”
“Don’t say that. We all helped one another. How old are you, by the way?”
“I’m 22.”
“Okay….” Jennifer continues bandaging John Paul’s arm. “Is it tight?”
“No. Just right. Ouch! Wait, wait. Ugh! Careful.”
“Sorry…. By the way, what perfume do you use?”
“Why?”
“It really smells good.”
“Really? I don’t remember. My sponsors give me clothes and perfumes for my modeling career.”
“I’m not surprised you’re a model. You’re really in good shape. I’m… impressed….”
“Oh. Thanks…. Does that mean you like me?”
John Paul’s question forces Kriz and Mabel to cringe in embarrassment.
“Why on earth did you think I like you?” Jennifer asks. “Are you always like that?”
“Sorry. Ouch! It’s a bit tight. Slow down….”
“I’m sorry. My muscles got a bit tense.”
“Okay…. Yesterday, I watched a weird video online during my break time and then I ended up here. I still don’t understand all of these.”
“Neither do I…. Okay. That’s it. Good to go.”
“Thanks…. Let’s go.”
“Are you serious?” Mabel asks.
“What’s the point of this bandage if I’m planning to stay here? We should go…. Now.”
About twenty minutes back…
Joriz frantically dashes alongside Aeron who is carrying Johnrey in his arms. Joriz is certain that if Johnrey hadn’t cleared another path, they could have already been caught and suffocated by thick, slimy cobwebs. The thought of being consumed by an oversized spider while rubbing against its hairy feet gives him unspeakable chills, driving his brain on the verge of madness. Joriz points his hands behind him and blindly shoots barrage of slime balls in an attempt to glue the remaining monstrous brown recluse spiders that have been chasing them for several minutes now. The largest of them has a body size like that of a typical office table, and feet that span a length of almost a meter. Luckily, they crawl a bit slower than a running human being, giving Aeron the chance to blaze five of them and Johnrey to blow away ten more. Only five remain, incessantly pursuing their targets.
“Johnrey, do that again! They’re dodging my slimes…. I really… hate spiders. I’m gonna die!” Joriz yells, sweat dripping from his face.
“He’s still… in pain,” Aeron pants hard. “Just glue them to the ground!”
“But they’re—Aaaargh!” Joriz trips and falls to the ground head on, brushing against the crisp, brown leaves and blades of grass.
“Joriz!” Aeron stops running, drops Johnrey onto the ground and randomly shoots the spiders with a torrent of fireballs. “Just stop coming baaaack!” The fireballs hit all the spiders and blow them apart as if they were struck by hand grenades. “Joriz, are you okay?”
Joriz can only groan in pain. His right upper cheek is bleeding, and his body is covered with dirt.
“Get up. They’re gone,” Aeron says.
“Thanks for throwing me,” Johnrey mutters, trying to stand up. “What happened to him?”
“He swam,” Aeron retorts. “Hey Joriz… Let me help you…. Can you walk?” Aeron removes the dust off Joriz’ clothes.
“My head….” Joriz grunts as he tries to stand up, lightheaded and wobbly. “Oh….”
“We have to keep moving…. Can you walk?”
“I don’t know….”
“Do I need to carry you?”
“No, no, no! I’m fine. I’m fine. I can walk.”
“How about you?” Aeron asks Johnrey. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Where should we go?”
“I don’t know….” Aeron pauses for several seconds, scans the place, and faces Johnrey. “Continue clearing this path. If we can’t find the way back, we create a new one. Now blow those trees away so that—”
“No.”
“What?”
“It’s very… painful. Can’t we just walk through—”
“It’s risky. We have no choice.”
“But—”
“You’ve done it and you’ll do it again. Now clear this path before it’s too late!”
Johnrey scratches his head and exhales. “Wait…. Where’s my bull cap?”
“What bull cap?”
“My black bull cap. I can’t lose it.”
“What?”
“Let’s go back.”
“ARE YOU CRAZY!” Aeron growls.
“I can’t lose it.” Johnrey stares blankly at Aeron.
“What’s happening to you?” Joriz asks Johnrey.
Suddenly, the forest is filled with high-pitched chuckles like a crowd of children is laughing at them. Joriz scans the tree trunks. Nothing. Aeron checks the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees. Nothing. The laughter continues and gets louder and louder every passing second.
“I’m going back,” Johnrey mumbles, staring blankly at a distant tree. “My bull cap….”
“Hey. HEY! Listen. We have to go,” Aeron says, looking Johnrey in the eye. “I won’t force you to clear the path anymore. Just pull yourself together and keep moving, okay?”
“No. Stay out of my way.” Johnrey aims his palm at Aeron’s face. “I’m going back.”
“Damn!” Aeron steps aside, taken aback. “OKAY! Leave, you moron!”
The laughter gathers more power until the place becomes intolerably loud.
“What’s this?” Joriz mumbles upon spotting a small dart stuck to Johnrey’s nape. “Aeron, look at this. There’s something in his—”
“Step back,” Aeron says. He lifts his arm and points his palm at Joriz’ face. “I will burn you.”
“What? Hey, what’s happening? Whoa!” Joriz says, startled. He slowly steps back, his heart pounding fast.
Johnrey starts walking back, and Aeron lifts his other arm until both his palms are pointing at Joriz. “I will burn you down.”
Joriz steps back further, sweating and confused. His heart thumps violently within his chest. “What’s wrong with you?”
Ryan slowly opens his eyes. The coldness of the dusty floor presses against his cheek. His blurry vision catches a vague figure of a small person standing meters away from him. At once, memories of his ordeal surge into his brain, telling him that his struggle is not yet over, and he has to get up as soon as possible. He unsteadily presses his hands against the floor, attempting to pull himself up. Soon enough, Ryan is able to sit on the floor while leaning against the wall near the door.
Unwilling to take risks, Ryan instantly creates five large glass nails in front of him, hovering and pointed at Liezel. At once, he sends them flying straight to her. Having seen the threat, Liezel quickly sends her smoke ring in front of her, easily swallowing the glass nails passing through it. Without warning, Liezel rushes toward Ryan, both of her arms oozing green smoke through their pores.
Startled, Ryan quickly encloses himself in a large glass prism. Liezel continues running and slows down as she approaches the glass shield. Liezel stares at Ryan who is still slumped on the floor and smiles victoriously as she looks up at her yellow smoke ring inside Ryan’s prism, hovering near a corner. Without delay, the smoke ring turns blue and five oversized glass nails dart toward Ryan, striking his head and torso. Right away, thick blood gushes and spurts out of Ryan’s impaled body….
Ryan screams out of his nightmare, so terrified that he forces himself to stand up as quickly as possible. With his pierced hip and torso, however, all he can do is slump on the floor and lean against the wall. He breathes heavily as he sees Liezel across the room, standing silently. Ryan wastes no time to enclose himself in a large glass prism. His nightmare makes him check frantically whether Liezel’s smoke ring managed to sneak inside his defense. He exhales, relieved, upon seeing that the yellow smoke ring is hovering near the ceiling above Liezel’s head.
“No. This is not… the end for me,” Ryan mumbles. “I… will… go home….” Ryan glowers at Liezel, fed up and enraged. Glass spikes suddenly emerge on the north, east and west walls. Larger spikes materialize and saturate the ceiling. Unsatisfied, Ryan creates glass spikes on the floor outside Liezel’s red circle. “Now… don’t tell me you can dodge all of them using your pathetic hula-hoop….”
10:45 am
“Let’s go,” John Paul says. His left hand is still covering the wound in his right arm. “I’m rank 12. Almost at the bottom. We’d better go.”
“Are you serious?” Kriz asks in disbelief, wrinkling her forehead. “Your arm is not yet—”
“Jennifer is fine and you’ve just healed Mabel. I can’t wait an hour more. Besides, my wound is not that—”
“No. Your arm is in bad shape,” Mabel says. “Are you sure you want to go now?”
“I know we decided to stay here until everyone is healed. But… I’m worried about—”
“The ranking?” Jennifer asks. “We still have lots of time. It’s not even afternoon yet. What’s the rush?”
“I just…. Are you sure you want to stay here? I swear I can manage myself.”
“We’re concerned about you,” Jennifer says. “What if something bad happens as soon as we exit that door?”
“I thought this is the safest place,” John Paul argues. “Wait….” John Paul starts unbuttoning his gray polo with his left hand.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Jennifer asks.
“Bandage my right arm with… this….” John Paul takes off his polo, revealing his perfect physique and sweaty, sculpted abs.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Why? Something’s wrong?”
“The hell….” Jennifer can’t help but stare at John Paul’s exposed upper body. Mabel and Kriz do the same, overwhelmed by the sight of a half-naked model. “Do you really have to sacrifice your polo for—”
“It’s okay. I’ll put it on after I’m healed. Help me, so that we can go.”
“My God….”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Jennifer gets the polo and starts bandaging John Paul’s wound with it. “You smell really good….”
“What?”
“Nothing…. By the way, what’s your name again?”
“My name? Oh, I’m John Paul. Thanks for helping us. Without you, we might have already died.”
“Don’t say that. We all helped one another. How old are you, by the way?”
“I’m 22.”
“Okay….” Jennifer continues bandaging John Paul’s arm. “Is it tight?”
“No. Just right. Ouch! Wait, wait. Ugh! Careful.”
“Sorry…. By the way, what perfume do you use?”
“Why?”
“It really smells good.”
“Really? I don’t remember. My sponsors give me clothes and perfumes for my modeling career.”
“I’m not surprised you’re a model. You’re really in good shape. I’m… impressed….”
“Oh. Thanks…. Does that mean you like me?”
John Paul’s question forces Kriz and Mabel to cringe in embarrassment.
“Why on earth did you think I like you?” Jennifer asks. “Are you always like that?”
“Sorry. Ouch! It’s a bit tight. Slow down….”
“I’m sorry. My muscles got a bit tense.”
“Okay…. Yesterday, I watched a weird video online during my break time and then I ended up here. I still don’t understand all of these.”
“Neither do I…. Okay. That’s it. Good to go.”
“Thanks…. Let’s go.”
“Are you serious?” Mabel asks.
“What’s the point of this bandage if I’m planning to stay here? We should go…. Now.”
About twenty minutes back…
Joriz frantically dashes alongside Aeron who is carrying Johnrey in his arms. Joriz is certain that if Johnrey hadn’t cleared another path, they could have already been caught and suffocated by thick, slimy cobwebs. The thought of being consumed by an oversized spider while rubbing against its hairy feet gives him unspeakable chills, driving his brain on the verge of madness. Joriz points his hands behind him and blindly shoots barrage of slime balls in an attempt to glue the remaining monstrous brown recluse spiders that have been chasing them for several minutes now. The largest of them has a body size like that of a typical office table, and feet that span a length of almost a meter. Luckily, they crawl a bit slower than a running human being, giving Aeron the chance to blaze five of them and Johnrey to blow away ten more. Only five remain, incessantly pursuing their targets.
“Johnrey, do that again! They’re dodging my slimes…. I really… hate spiders. I’m gonna die!” Joriz yells, sweat dripping from his face.
“He’s still… in pain,” Aeron pants hard. “Just glue them to the ground!”
“But they’re—Aaaargh!” Joriz trips and falls to the ground head on, brushing against the crisp, brown leaves and blades of grass.
“Joriz!” Aeron stops running, drops Johnrey onto the ground and randomly shoots the spiders with a torrent of fireballs. “Just stop coming baaaack!” The fireballs hit all the spiders and blow them apart as if they were struck by hand grenades. “Joriz, are you okay?”
Joriz can only groan in pain. His right upper cheek is bleeding, and his body is covered with dirt.
“Get up. They’re gone,” Aeron says.
“Thanks for throwing me,” Johnrey mutters, trying to stand up. “What happened to him?”
“He swam,” Aeron retorts. “Hey Joriz… Let me help you…. Can you walk?” Aeron removes the dust off Joriz’ clothes.
“My head….” Joriz grunts as he tries to stand up, lightheaded and wobbly. “Oh….”
“We have to keep moving…. Can you walk?”
“I don’t know….”
“Do I need to carry you?”
“No, no, no! I’m fine. I’m fine. I can walk.”
“How about you?” Aeron asks Johnrey. “Are you okay now?”
“Yes. I’m fine. Where should we go?”
“I don’t know….” Aeron pauses for several seconds, scans the place, and faces Johnrey. “Continue clearing this path. If we can’t find the way back, we create a new one. Now blow those trees away so that—”
“No.”
“What?”
“It’s very… painful. Can’t we just walk through—”
“It’s risky. We have no choice.”
“But—”
“You’ve done it and you’ll do it again. Now clear this path before it’s too late!”
Johnrey scratches his head and exhales. “Wait…. Where’s my bull cap?”
“What bull cap?”
“My black bull cap. I can’t lose it.”
“What?”
“Let’s go back.”
“ARE YOU CRAZY!” Aeron growls.
“I can’t lose it.” Johnrey stares blankly at Aeron.
“What’s happening to you?” Joriz asks Johnrey.
Suddenly, the forest is filled with high-pitched chuckles like a crowd of children is laughing at them. Joriz scans the tree trunks. Nothing. Aeron checks the branches and leaves of the surrounding trees. Nothing. The laughter continues and gets louder and louder every passing second.
“I’m going back,” Johnrey mumbles, staring blankly at a distant tree. “My bull cap….”
“Hey. HEY! Listen. We have to go,” Aeron says, looking Johnrey in the eye. “I won’t force you to clear the path anymore. Just pull yourself together and keep moving, okay?”
“No. Stay out of my way.” Johnrey aims his palm at Aeron’s face. “I’m going back.”
“Damn!” Aeron steps aside, taken aback. “OKAY! Leave, you moron!”
The laughter gathers more power until the place becomes intolerably loud.
“What’s this?” Joriz mumbles upon spotting a small dart stuck to Johnrey’s nape. “Aeron, look at this. There’s something in his—”
“Step back,” Aeron says. He lifts his arm and points his palm at Joriz’ face. “I will burn you.”
“What? Hey, what’s happening? Whoa!” Joriz says, startled. He slowly steps back, his heart pounding fast.
Johnrey starts walking back, and Aeron lifts his other arm until both his palms are pointing at Joriz. “I will burn you down.”
Joriz steps back further, sweating and confused. His heart thumps violently within his chest. “What’s wrong with you?”
