Bloody Angel

Chapter 006

***** DAY 01 ******

The place looks like an authentic forest. The trees are real and strong to the touch. The soil under my feet smells the same way as outside. The trees give fruits and even the heat from the artificial sun feels real. I could call this heaven if I am not aware that I am here to survive. This vegetation–earth no longer supports this level of growth.

As I walk and run along the forest, dry leaves crunch under my feet. Even that feels so real. My eyes scour the area. There are overripe mangoes that have fallen from the tree. Food won’t be an issue at the start, as long as we know how to find it. This place is all forest, but nowhere I can effectively hide for a long time. Let them kill each other. I don’t want to take part in that. I just need to memorize the area first, so it will be easier to run and hide.

Running and hiding? No, that won’t work. Eventually, someone or something will come and kill me. I need to end my life on my own terms, and soon! A painless death. Something that will make me fall asleep and never wake up again.

The Game area is f*ucking enormous. It’s already what? More than half a day and I haven’t even reached the other end of the forest. I sit with my back to the tree. Today is the first day. Nothing will happen unless the participants start to kill each other already. So far, that’s not the case. While I am making my way to the other end of the forest, I saw three people already. But instead of attacking a helpless-looking young woman, they scurried away from me. Seems like they are afraid of any confrontation at this early phase of the Game.

If I don’t find a safe place to hide, I will just climb this tree and stay here for as long as this Game will allow. Ugh. F*uck you Lucero! I shouldn’t be here. I’m supposed to live it well! Not die under this tree!

Frustrated, I climb the tree. When I was in the orphanage, I always climbed trees—Kleavon and I. We enjoyed it, we even created houses on it, a place where we played and explored each other’s bodies. It was fun, exciting, and educational, much more than our s*x education classes.

Once I reach the middle of the tree, I sit on the strongest branch with the most leaves to hide me from below. If I get hungry, I can just get fruit from a nearby tree. It will also be good for surveillance and I will know what’s happening around me. And maybe, just maybe, the f*ucked up organizers will give a challenge that will kill the participants in a painless manner.

Leaning over the tree, I sigh. When I had just left the orphanage, I tried. I really tried. After waiting for Kleavon for a whole day, I realized he wouldn’t be coming for me. I was ridiculed. People from the orphanage told me I was foolish for believing such a youthful promise. Yes, Kleavon might have been serious the time he promised those words. But right now, he might be questioning himself why he’s so enamored with me, anyway. What’s so special about me that he will return and take care of me?

After that, I worked in a restaurant as an advertiser. The manager told me that I should use my beauty to get customers into his shop. Under the sun, I worked, giving pamphlets and smiling forcibly at anyone who would look my way. I desired their attention because, in that way, I would earn. And at night, after a quick rest, I would change to that of a server uniform. I would see the same faces that I invited during the day. We made small talk, small promises that they are going to visit more often. They did at first. They flirted with me in the first week and did it in the second week too. But they start to become aggressive in the third week, and in the fourth week, they realized that I was not planning to share a bed with a customer. One by one, they left me until I needed to advertise for the shop again. If only the food was great, then maybe they had remained a loyal customer even without an ulterior motive.

“Just leave the guy! He’s not gonna survive out here, and he’s just gonna pull us down with him!” A voice says, interrupting my musings.

“I can’t! It is my duty.”

“F*uck your code! He’s dying!”

I look below me. There are four people, two men, and two women. The three are arguing while one man is wounded. He looks like he was caught up in that explosion earlier. If he’s outside, he can still live, but here, inside the Game, it will be impossible. His back is bleeding profusely and he can’t use one of his legs.

“No, I can’t! He saved me! That should be me!”

“Then thank him for sacrificing his life for you!”

“How could you be so cruel!”

“We are in this exact predicament because we chose the good side. Now, look where we are!”

“Tia…” the wounded guy said. “Leave me under the tree. Please…”

I c*ock my head at the wounded man. Wow! That’s some martyrdom. Curious. I listen in and examine the four people. Choose the good side, huh? Are they political enemies? Oh! I so want to join them, and rebel against this Game. But in reality, these people are the main target of this game and I don’t want to be at the center of that. I’m sure they’ll die in the most gruesome way. I won’t even be surprised if they brought in some suicidal lunatic just to kill these four.

“No, I won’t leave you!” the woman named Tia insists.

Wow, she’s pretty and gutsy for her frame. She’s petite, has shoulder-length hair, and wears jogging pants like me. Well, they are all wearing the same way as me. But doesn’t she know that carrying an injured man for the whole month is impossible? Courageous but idiotic. I wouldn’t team up with that kind. The remaining two are better off without her.

“Please, Tia, I beg of you. Don’t make this harder for me.”

“No, Armand! We are going to find a way to survive this together.”

“I respect you, but that is impossible.”

Suddenly, the man named Armand makes a swift move, takes something like a pen needle in his pocket, and strikes it on his neck. I cover my mouth in surprise. And Tia widens her eyes in disbelief. Armand drops on the ground and she tries to catch him but to no avail.

“You! What did you just inject yourself with!”

“Something I requested from the organization in case this scenario happens. I know that you wouldn’t be able to abandon me.”