Bloody Angel

Chapter 005

The rooms around the enormous hall continue to open and the other participants come out. Some participants talk to each other, probably to create some alliances while in the Game. It doesn’t matter to me, though. Alliances work at the start, but in the end, they will need to kill each other. After being comrades, then killing each other in the end? Are they masochists? Or just plain crazy?

This time, same as last year, hundreds to almost a thousand join. They might have been at the end of their rope to join something like this.

Then the wall of the vast circular hall flickers. Instead of just a plain wall, it becomes hundreds of screens showing people tuning in from all around the country. They are here to bet on who will win amongst us. Some will choose the prettiest and the best looking. Some would even go as far as choosing someone ugly. Some will choose by profession, while others choose based on their achievements. But in general, the bet selection is random and subjective, as they don’t know a lot of things about us except our job, name, and age.

“Opal Guevarra,” the announcer says. I look around the room. “Twenty-two years old, prostitute.”

Ugh. They should have said ‘Escort’. Damn that Lucero. He doesn’t care about elegance, huh?

The introduction continues. There are bakers, chefs, teachers, scientists, and nurses. At least, those that I can remember. As expected, there are no politicians or any public figures.

An hour after, all the small faces that occupy the wall screens converge into one enormous face. The President. F*uck him too, for allowing this, for removing the claws of any human rights supporters and activists.

“Good day to everyone!”

‘Day’ huh? He’s not even allowed to say what time it is right now?

“As we have known for a long time, we are in a state of dilemma. The earth’s ability to support life is lessening as years come.”

I glare at the gigantic screen. The President looks healthy, or rather he’s suffering from obesity. Brown skin, bulging neck, but damn his eyes! They are like the slits of a lizard, which have become even more pronounced because of his puffy cheeks.

“There are not only food shortages, but shortages in all the basic commodities. And I commend everyone who joined for the sacrifice they are making for the greater good.”

Bloody hypocrite! He’s the main reason why many people are f*ucking starving! While people work for a living, he continues to increase taxes, decrease the paid leaves, continue to borrow from other countries with tremendous interest. Then he puts the money in his f*ucking wallet, and turns himself into this enormous pig that even if he pays me millions, I won’t f*uck him! I hope he falls to hell right now! Compared to him, the WIC company looks like an angel.

“We have always been a small, poor country.”

This t**t, can’t he just piss off? As he continues to speak, I get more and more enraged.

“So we thank WIC for giving us opportunities to have a new life on another planet.”

This garbage of a person, this tumor, this wanker, why can’t he just f*uck off! They are all evil! F*uck them! I hate them! If I have the power, I would kill each and every one of them!

The speech stops, and then fake applause sounds on the screen. No, wait. I look around. It’s not really fake. People who are joining the Game are clapping their hands? Are they s**t serious?! I’m not going to clap for that buffoon! He’s the reason we are about to kill each other and they choose to clap their f*****g hands!? Stupid bastards! I’ll kill them first! For worshipping that son of a b*itch idol!

The national anthem plays and with it, machines under our feet hum and vibrate. The floor under my feet cranks. I take a step back. Then a circular cover appears. Slowly, it opens into what looks like a slide. I can’t see the end of it. I hear screams. Some might have fallen into it without warning. I look at the screen, where the face of the President was shown before, it has a countdown. Right now, it’s on ‘10’. Below are instructions that say we need to use the slide, else we face the consequences.

I shift my attention and see the consequences it's talking about. The rooms, we were previously in, open and the servants come out with guns in their hands. I look at the room I was in. Sure enough, the man-servant who offered me food earlier had a gun pointing at me.

I smirk. I read the countdown at ‘5’ and turn my attention back to the slide. Let’s just hope that I won’t discover that I am actually claustrophobic. I sit on it and at the countdown of ‘1’, I let go and slide down.

The slide down is swift for my liking. The tunnel is extremely dark, and whether I open or close my eyes, it will just be the same. Instead of becoming tense, I relax and lie down on the slide. I’m not sure how long it will take. But I am f*ucking sure that wherever the Game will be held, it will be infested with surveillance cameras.

Damn it all! I hope I am back at the orphanage, even if it is a poor house. There are times we are hungry, but we are hungry together. That camaraderie. That feeling of having a family that cares about each other, even in poverty. I don’t want to admit it, but I missed it. I guess that it’s the only place I can call home. If only I could stay there forever, but alas, people age and I need to give my slot to someone else.

The only other way to stay at the orphanage is to take the cloth. I can’t do that. I can’t disrespect the sisters for taking up the cloth when I am no longer pure. Heck, even while I am at the orphanage, I have already started exploring a man’s body. My first was Kleavon, an African-American-Filipino mix, left by his Filipina mother at the orphanage’s doorstep.

Kleavon is the tallest and biggest among the orphanage boys, so I instinctively gravitate towards him. He told me I am the prettiest, so he’s drawn to me as well. He is a year older than I am. When he left, he promised that he would return when it is time to leave. I guess that’s the first promise a lover breaks. I’m not even sure where he is right now, or if he is even alive.

The tunnel brightens. I might be close to the Game area now. That’s a long descent. How deep are we, anyway?

When I hit the soft ground, I close my eyes for a while before reopening it. I need to adjust to the light. I look around. It ejected us at the edge of the game area, where mattresses are placed to cushion our fall. I hear a whirring sound behind me and see the tunnel retracting into the wall. Then finally it disappears. Now, the wall looks like it’s just a brick wall with vines falling from it.

I look at my left and right. Five meters from both my sides are other Game participants. Beside them are other participants that stretch out to the whole circular game area.

“Welcome participants! May you survive for the chance of a new life!”

When the short welcoming words end, I start to hear the sound of a real forest. I wonder how they’ve done it when in reality, we are just in a man-made facility. I stand up when suddenly, an explosion happens from my far right. The mattresses that we are on are exploding in random sequence!

I did not think twice. I jump before my own mattress blows up. I look at my left to see if the other participants had done the same, but then it exploded before they could even think about it. Thankfully, I’m over five meters from him and the explosion is limited in a certain area.

So, I run away from it, into the man-made forest. And I am thankful that I chose the jogging pants instead of that tempting lacy dress and stiletto heels.