Game of Mass Destruction (COMPLETE AND AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK)

☠❤Day Three - Part IV: Survival Instinct❤☠

News of Hassin and Nila's death hit the survivors hard, especially for Mariangela who didn't see their deaths coming. If any of them were to survive, it had to be the nurses. Mariangela lowered her head and meditated. Holding back the tears, she pretended to look occupied for the camera. She couldn't let her stepdaughters watch her morn for strangers without shedding a tear for her husband.

She inhaled and exhaled, feeling her muscles relax as the aching melted away. Perhaps it was her husband Pedro, who was the stranger all this time. She only knew Hassin and Nila for three days, and she trusted them more than people she had known for years.

Game of Mass Destruction wasn't the first reality TV show she had taken part in. If Mariangela survived, she knew it wouldn't be the last. She and her husband had taken part in countless celebrity specials. Mariangela performed poorly at the quizzes but excelled at the sports. Any money she received from the celebrity specials would always go to charity. If she were to survive Game of Mass Destruction, she'd give the money to her family.

Any chance of a Pussy*Pussy*Meow*Meow reunion was gone. Sia was too obsessed with the game show and Fanny Bru was bound to give up eventually. All the songs needed was Sia's voice, but could she even sing anymore? Of course, Mariangela still had to pair up with somebody before midnight. Even being Sia's bandmate wasn't going to spare her.

Yuzuko came over with some tea. "Sook-Jo made this for everyone. It's a Korean Starbucks drink."

Mariangela's palms pressed against the icy cup. Hot palms became cold. "What is it? It looks lovely."

"Chonpodoburakkutīburendo."

"I don't know if I'm going to remember that one." Such a long name for a drink that she knew little about.

"It's green grapes and black tea blended together."

The closest she had to grape juice was wine. "Well fresh and local produce always tastes superior."

"Can I say something?" Yuzuko asked.

"Go ahead." There was nothing that could offend Mariangela now. She knew that the world may hate her. She could understand if the other contestants hated her for being a murderer. Not everyone would excuse her.

"You seem...happy for someone who's lost their husband."

"He deserved it. I don't like rapists: and that's that!" There was nothing more she could say about it. The change of topic was welcoming like a cool breeze behind her back.

"You said you knew my grandmother," Yuzuko said, sitting on a rock next to Mariangela. "What was she like?"

"She was a crazy one, but let me tell you this... she was kind."

"Were you two best friends?"

"She was one of my best friends." Mariangela bragged about the wild nights in Ibiza and the hiking in China. She didn't know what Yuzuko was asking about Takako, the advanced android that Professor Denki passed off as a human, or Sia.

"My grandmother never told me these stories," Yuzuko admitted. "She always told me that she lived in Japan all her life, and has never left the country."

That confirmed it. Yuzuko had no idea that Sia was her grandmother. Even though they were talking about two different people, it was nice to bond over the same iced drink. "Oh, I can assure you, your grandmother's been around."

With the way Yuzuko started at her, Mariangela knew that she didn't believe in her. Before either of them could speak, they were interrupted by screaming. Both women jumped up. The others dashed to the hills.