Follow the guards.
Varian slows his pace as he looks around the town trying to find any clues on the next game. Nothing. Once again anxiety is through the roof. "Hey kid, stay close you don't want to get lost." Eugene whispers to varian while trying to keep up with the guard.
"Got any clue on what the game is?" Eugene asks varian. "I'm not sure... there doesn't seem to be any clues in here. I don't think I can predict this one." Varian looks up to Eugene trying to keep his eyes dry. "Do you think we are going to be okay?" Varian asks Eugene in a quiet voice. Eugene stops walking and puts both hands on varian's shoulder. Look directly into varian's eyes Eugene quietly but sternly says " ya kid. Look this is the fourth game soon we are going to be out of this place safe and sound. Got it? We can handle anything thrown at us." Eugene have a soft smile and said "Plus we are team awesome for a reason aren't we?" Varian gave a smile which was all he could do to calm his nerves.
'Eugene's right. Team awesome. Eugene is strong I am a genius we can do this.' Varian repeated in his head until the guard came to a stop."Please take one pouch." A voice said over the speaker while the guard was holding two pouches in his hand. Varian looked to Eugene in which he gave a reassuring nod. 'Everything is going to be fine.'
"There are ten marbles in each pouch. Please check how many there are." They did as they were told and once they counted the voice started to speak again "In this game, using your ten marbles, you compete with your partner." Varian slowly looks up a Eugene and sees thats he's looking at his marbles and let's out a shaky breath varian looks back down trying to control the incoming tears. "The player who takes all ten marbles from your partner wins." Tears slowly streaming down varian's face as the speaker repeats the instructions. Eugene slowly looks up to varian trying to hold back tears with a shaky voice he says "Kid?" Varian doesn't look up instead answers with a quiet " hm?"
"Kid listen to me. I'm not going to let anything happen to you." Eugene said in a stern yet quiet voice. Varian doesn't responded. He doesn't even look up. " kid are you listening to me?" No response "Kid." Nothing. "Kid are you listening to me." Varian didn't move."Kid." Eugene grabs varian by his shirt forcing him to look up at him. "What about Rapunzel?"Varian yelled with tears streaming down his cheeks. "She'll be waiting for you. And my dad-" varians voice cracks as he tries to finish the sentence. "My...my dad is dead. There's no way to get him out of the amber...he's gone..." Eugene let go of Varian's shirt and backed away. Eugene looked down for a second trying to find the right words.
"I know she's waiting for me but...I know she would want me to do the right thing. And right now the right thing is letting you live, Varian." Hearing those words are so painful to varian. He's betrayed them and now Eugene is willing to give his life to save varian? He can't have that. Varian closes his eyes and takes a deep breath "You know I can't let you right? There has to be another way for us to both make it out. We can think of something. Team awesome remember?" Eugene tries to give a smile " I guess we can figure something out...but if we run out of time you have to promise me you will take my marbles." Varian looks down "You know I can't do that."
Eugene's voice was now shaking "Promise me. Please.."
Varian looks back up to see that Eugene is shaking again "...I promise" Varian responds in a whisper. "Good."
***
"Have you come up with anything?"
"Nothing." Varian stands up from the stairs and yells into his hands. The yell turns into a sob "We have ten minutes left more then half of the people are dead and soon we're going to die." Varian cried. Eugene pulled Varian into a hug and tried to calm him down. "Hey, listen to me kid." He said in the calmest voice he could use "you are going to be fine varian." Varian took a deep breath trying to get back to normal "I can't do this without you." Eugene quietly shushed varian rubbing his back as varian continued to sob in his jacket. Time is running out and Eugene fears they won't think of a plan in time.
After varian stoped crying there was only seven minutes on the clock. "What do you think they will do if none of us win?" Eugene asked still rubbing varian's back. Varian shrugged "My guess is that they kill us both."
"... but what if we aren't the only team left?" Eugenes eyes lit up. "I mean what are they going to do? Kill us all? They need us to continue playing the games!" Varian remained quiet although he had an idea on where this was going. "That mean we could play against other players and neither of us would die!"
Varian let go of the hug and looked up at Eugene "You really think that would work?" Eugene put his hands of varian's shoulders and spoke "You are the brains of this team. If you think that our plan would work I trust you." Varian smiled "I think I will. We only have a few minutes left so we will have to split up and see how many people are not done once we finish we meet back up here got it?"
"Got it. 6 minutes left I go left you go right. Be careful." Varian gave Eugene one big heartfelt hug trying to once again hold back tears. "Team awesome."
***
As the time started to run out more and more gunshots could be heard all over the small town. Eugene frantically tried to count how many people there were left but the gunshots didn't help.
"Please! Please! Give me one of your marbles!" An young looking man frantically said trying to reach for Eugenes pockets to steal a marble but was soon shot by a near bye guard. The man managed to get a marble so Eugene frantically got the marble back and tried to put it back in the pouch that's when... "what?"
"No. Nononono." There's two pouches in his pocket.
He tries to hide it but a guard already saw it. A gunshot fired near bye. "Player 16, eliminated."
"No." Eugene cried out and ran to where the shot came from. There was the boy he promised would live on the ground with a bullet in his head. Eugene screamed out in anger which soon turned into a sob. "Varian." He sobbed bring the dead boys body to his embracing him into a tight hug.
"Varian." He screamed hoping to wake him up from the inevitable. "Kid. Please no." The cry continued. "How could I let this happen." Eugene wailed as he was putting his hand through the kids hair like how he used to do. Screams continued to come from Eugene as more blood left the boy.
The sobs continued until he was pulled away by the same masked man who likely killed varian. "How could you!?" Eugene yelled trying to get out of the mans grasp. But he continued dragging him soon they were going though the familiar bright halls and soon they were back at the beds. Everyone can read the room. Most lost the people closest to them while others lost strangers. That didn't take away from the fact that it still hurt to know someone died because of them.
"I'm sorry I didn't keep the promise kid." Eugene spoke to himself barely above a whisper. "I will win this for you." He let out with a shaky breath.
"And that is how you sneak something into someone's pocket without them noticing" Eugene said proudly sure he might of learned that from being a thief but that doesn't mean he can't teach others to do the opposite.
"Should you really be teaching my this?" Varian grinned at him.
"Hey! Don't look at me like that you don't know if one day you might need it."
