The interior of the car smells of leather, and the seats are comfortable. There's an underglow red hue, and a map of the Underground as a GPS in the car. There is also a Com in the car, and immediate clapping and shouting is heard as the doors drift shut. A key is in the ignition, but the car will not start yet.
A holographic scoreboard is on the left wall, shimmering black, red, gold and silver:
1. Gold (Elapsed Time: 14:09)
2. Red (Elapsed Time: 15:45)
3. Silver (Elapsed Time: 17:55)
“You actually looked scared there for a minute, Red. We thought you were going to let Emily kill you.” A guy's laughter was heard through the time. “You see that, Silv? I told you Red would beat your time, sweetheart.”
“Oh shut up, Gold.” Silver sneers but I can hear the playfulness in her voice. “Don't get cocky yet. I can still outrun you in Level One.”
I talk even though I want to remain silent. I don't want them to hear — or see — my tears. “How long have you two been Awake?”
“Four hours — ” Silver starts.
“Six hours, and I am ready to rock and roll! Bring on Level One! The other Players need their damn beauty sleep.” Gold rudely interrupts. “I'm comin' for my memory, Red.”
“Yeah well you can keep mine. I'll hand yours over if you promise not to kill me.”
“Deal.” Gold agrees.
“Guys, shut up. Shut up! Four is Awake.” Silver gets excited.
There's a flickering, holographic television on the wall in front of the car. Player Four was a boy as young as me, with dark eyes, dark hair and glasses. It feels wrong to watch him in only his underwear, but I can't help myself to look at him, gazing over his muscles and scarred pake features.
“I can hear you drooling from here, Silver.” Gold interrupts the perfect silence.
We don't get to hear Four's name, or see the photographs of him and his family. But something in his eyes turns darker as an explanation is given, when Four realizes he's on national television in only his underwear. Something changes in him. Something sharp and real that makes his bones move before his thoughts can tell him not to.
He's fast.
A lot faster than I was. Faster than Silver and Gold. He jumps platform to platform like he knows what he's doing. He's clumsier on the ledge than I was, and he was even unsteadier inching across it when Four realizes that each platform is crashing behind him.
He reaches the Choosing Room in 04:59, and nearly ten minutes later see him drop in a bland gray uniform that seems to fit his personality. He doesn't hesitate like I did. But the fear is obvious in his eyes, and he's way too tall to move around in the metal corridors.
He makes it up the rope in 10:45.
“Getting nervous Gold?” I grin.
“No, but you should be Red.”
When he walks past the mirrors, I can hear the beeping of a heart monitor and his screams that will be sure to haunt my dreams forever.
YOU ARE READING
GAME OVER
FantasyRed (Player Three) AKA Abigail Adams was a seventeen year old teenage runaway taken in by a deadly organization called GAME OVER. GAME OVER is a game designed to test your sanity. The winner will have riches, and be sent back home to their families...
