Black & White-English Version

2-Dead or Alive

Weeks went by and I played other Games, discovering that Spades were the ones I was best at. Besides running every day and being fast, I had great stamina and having practiced Karate for two years when I was younger came in very handy.

I'd only ever seen weapons in the movies, but here I was forced to learn how to use them...or at least let's say I did learned to load a gun and shoot. And that was enough for now. I also got myself some knives, three to be exact. I had two in my backpack and the smaller one was always tied to my belt.

My goal of becoming invisible worked great, I blended in, I stayed behind the scenes and when it came to teaming up I never showed all my skills. Even if you played together, it could happen that you were betrayed by your own teammates, even though it was a Game of Clubs and not of Hearts. I saw teams team up to take someone out; it didn't always require the survival of all team members to win, and those were the most dangerous games; so I never showed myself too good or useless. I always stayed somewhere in the middle and this strategy seemed to be perfect.

My Visa expired today so I walked to the nearest Arena. Judging by the size from the outside, there must have been very few players and as soon as I entered I had the confirmation of that. I grabbed the last remaining cell phone and looked at the other four people.

There were two boys a few years younger than me, who appeared to have just arrived by their confused faces, yet they hadn't asked any questions. They were probably still in shock. Then, there was a man in his fifties who looked like he was about to fall over from how drunk he was, and finally a girl with dreads, jeans and a blue bathing suit top and a chopstick in her mouth.

I acted as usual and waited in a corner, blending with the enviroment. The metallic voice broke the silence and the screen lit up.

Difficulty: 3 of Clubs

Game: Dead or Alive

Rules: Select the correct door within the stipulated time frame. Clear condition: leave the building within the time limit.

We weren't told the time, so I assumed that once the game started, a timer would appear somewhere.

Then the lift's door opened and I saw a sign with the word START, inside of it.

"Where are we?" One of the new boys asked.

"What does all this mean?" His friend questioned.

"It means we have to play or we'll die." The girl with the dreads answered. "And since it's a team game, you better get a move."

She was the first to get into the lift, followed by the drunk man and me. The new boys were the last to enter and they were visibly terrified.

"If a test is needed, I think we have someone who's right for us." The girl pointed her eyes at the drunk man.

I nodded silently.

"Are you voiceless?" She asked me.

"I see no point in wasting my breath before the Game starts." I replied, pulling up the hood of my black sweatshirt.

"You're weird, but I think you and I will make it out alive."

Of course I'll make it out alive. I have to survive at all costs.

The lift opened into a square room with grey walls where there were two doors; on one was written Alive, on the other Dead. The phones lit up and the voice reminded us that the time limit for this room was 2 minutes.

There wasn't much time, so the girl said, "Does anyone have any idea?"

I was thinking and didn't answer.