Game of Mass Destruction (COMPLETE AND AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK)

☠Night Three - Part VI: The Storm☠

"Those waves don't look good!" Aron shuddered, jumping forward. "Rós, let's go!"

Yuzuko eyed up the mansion above the staircase. "We should be safe there!" It looked like they would all be sleeping in the basement tonight.

"What's going on?" Rós twirled, tripping over a seashell.

"We're getting away from the rain." Aron picked her up and carried her over his shoulder. Somehow, he still had the strength to carry their weapons up the hill's steep stairs.

"Do you need help?" Yuzuko sked.

"I'll be fine," Aron insisted. "Help get the others into the mansion."

"Right!"

Yuzuko hovered to Alfie, Catherine, Lavender and Christian. "We're going in the mansion," she told them. "Do you need any help?"

"We'll be fine." Lavender staggered along with the rest of them. Feeling useless, Yuzuko dashed towards the last little group left on the beach. Bobby, Yanyu and Chang-Hoon seemed to have had everything under control. Maybe some of them weren't as wasted as she thought they would be.

Sakura seemed safe.

It meant only Mariangela and her friends that needed to be brought to safety.

"Where are you going?" Sakura yelled, fighting off Yanyu's grip.

"To get Mariangela!"

"You should leave her!

Yuzuko shook her head, holding her hand on her heart. "I'm sorry I can't. We're all in this together. She's just as much of a victim as we are."

"NO! YUZUKO!"

"Take her to the mansion!" Yuzuko ordered the group. The others were safe, apart from Mariangela as she was the closest to the unpredictable tides. The closer she got the stage, the greater it wobbled, wrestling for composure against the wind.

The clouds had darkened further.

It didn't just rain: it poured. Cold droplets splattered against Yuzuko's face and the wind blew her hair in a dozen directions. Running towards the stage should have been a walk in the park, but the wind moved Yuzuko in a zig-zag pattern.

The soldiers were quick to aid Sia on her route to safety, but they left Fanny and Mariangela to struggle on their own devices. In the distance, there was a lorry with Sia's name on it. Tidal waves veiled Mariangela and Fanny as the stage collapsed. A part of Yuzuko told her it was too late to save them.

A white hand flopped out of the waves. Once the shores were clear, Yuzuko crouched down pulling the hand from out of the rubble. She sat Mariangela on the rocks. "Mariangela! Wake up!"

Mariangela drew her last breaths and slumped into the sea. Her hair matted in seaweed and blood. She was dead, but Yuzuko still hoped to save Fanny. She whizzed around the shore, her feet splashing around her ankles until she saw Fanny scampering into the sea with her arms open.

"Please wait!" Yuzuko screamed, chasing her. "What are you doing?"

Fanny turned around. "I have to go. There's nothing left for me in this world."

Yuzuko trekked deeper into the sea. "You can't die like this. Mariangela wouldn't want that!"

Fanny grinned with tears dripping from her cheeks. She swam towards her and cupped Yuzuko's cheeks. "Oh, you're so lovely. I wish she was more like you."

"She?" Yuzuko was pretty sure Fanny was referring to Sia, but Fanny pushed her back towards the shore. The waves hurled Yuzuko back on the sand.

Another one bites the dust. Eyeing up the mansion, she saw a black figure at the top staircase, tiptoeing backwards towards the edge of the cliff. It had to be Bobby, everyone else had gone inside and he was the only one to wear black. 

Bobby struggled against the robots. Her body heated up as she charged towards him. Each death on the island was a failure to Yuzuko. "Bobby!" Yuzuko climbed up the stairs, feeling the weight of a dozen bodies. She held the bannister for support. "I'm coming to help you." 

Using her katana would be dangerous against the current climate. She needed accuracy, clear vision and sharpness. In the mist, she had none of them.  She could not risk impaling Bobby with her katana blade, so she threw rocks at the robots instead, along with any heavy-looking object she could find. It slowed the robots down, she was sure it wouldn't be long before the robots became too waterlogged. 

"Thank you!" Bobby roared, the rain drizzled down his face. The robots were unprepared for Bobby's sledgehammer. The only benefit from the storm was that it weakened the robots which would have helped them finish the game quicker. The hoard that was coming towards them had collapsed on the ground. 

Yuzuko looked up at Bobby, stomach piercing knots at how close he was to the edge of the cliff. "Let's go inside the mansion!" 

Bobby nodded. As he made his first step towards her, a robotic head flew into his face, knocking him to the floor and causing him to slip off the cliff. Yuzuko gasped, rushing to his aid. His grip against the rocks was firm, but the rocks were slippy. Yuzuko steered her upper body towards him, grabbing his arms as he slipped down. Her arms were in agony, but she refused to let go.

Bobby yelled over the sound of thunderstorms. "Let go! I'm too heavy for you." 

Yuzuko shook her head and kept trying to pull him up. Bobby's body slid up and down against the cliff's edge. She bit her lip watching Bobby's face clenched up. "I know this is painful, but I can't let you die. I don't want anyone else to die."  

"I'll be fine. I can swim." 

"You can't swim in that. Even if you did, you'll land on the rocks." 

"I'll end up taking me with you. Please, you need to let me go." 

It was something Yuzuko couldn't do. For one thing, Todd would never forgive her. Bobby was an important member of the group. He was the leading example. Her arms burned. "I can do it. Please believe in me." 

Panting for breath, she ignored the tears rolling down her beetroot cheeks. Feeling her shoulders collapse against the grass, she could feel Bobby trying to jiggle out of her grip. 

Yuzuko counted to three using all the strength in her arms. She pulled Bobby's torso over the tip. At that moment everything mattered. She felt like a hero until a bolt of lightning struck Bobby's face. 

Yuzuko blacked out from the contact. 

Mariangela dead
Bobby dead
343.73 points for all 7 surviving teams
287 robots remaining