In the distance, you could hear shouting and screaming.
Yet the woman in red was unbothered.
"Hey, shouldn't we look for the vials too?" you asked, jogging up to her.
She ignored you, stopping by a board with the map of the zoo printed on. She spent a good ten minutes or so, just looking at the map while humming a song. Furusato, to be exact. It was a children's song, talking about one longing to return home. It was eerily fitting of their situation.
Once done, the woman started walking again.
Seemingly, she was walking around without a purpose. It was almost like she was here for a day trip. There were no animals in the enclosures but she would stop at each and every one, reading the information provided on the animals. Occasionally, she would let out a giggle which made you frown.
Did you make a mistake following her?
"Attention all players, twenty minutes have passed. I repeat, twenty minutes have passed. Are you working hard to find the vials?"
The announcement made you even more anxious. The rules clearly stated that you should look for vials. Those could be antidotes. What if everyone else found them and there were none left for you? Why was this woman not looking for the vials?
A little frustrated, you grabbed her by the elbow, pulling her away from reading about baboons. Instantly, she glared at you, and you let go of her elbow immediately. There was something about her aura for just a second that made her seem scarier than the game itself.
"We need to look for the vials. Aren't you worried at all? We've been poisoned!"
"If you want to look for the vial, then go ahead. I'm not stopping you," she said, turning back to the information board.
"But you're poisoned too!"
"Am I?" she laughed.
Was she not?
The game was called 'Poison'. They had to look for a vial. There was a time limit. Putting it all together, it only made sense that they were poisoned and had to look for the antidote before time was up and they succumbed to the poison.
Was that not the case?
"Ah, human minds. We like to think that our brain is so complicated but really, it's so simple," she said, turning to face you now.
"What do you mean?"
"If I tell you not to think about elephants, what are you thinking about right now?"
"...Elephants."
She tilted her head, not saying a word but looking at you as if you were to understand something so cryptic. Why were the smart ones always playing games? Could they not just explain everything plainly?
"Applying the same concept to the game, when you saw the word poison, what were you thinking?"
"That we've been poisoned."
"Okay, but how?"
"The water."
"I didn't drink it."
She did not drink the water.
Now that you were somewhat calmer than before, you could think rationally. Thinking back, you could remember her taking the water from you. You could remember her at the water table, and you could remember her giving the water to a rabbit. But you could not remember seeing her drink the water.
Was she the only person not poisoned then?
If that was the case, why were you following her around? She would not die, but you would!
Seeing the fear in your eyes again, she giggled.
"Attention all players, thirty minutes have passed. I repeat, thirty minutes have passed. Have you found the vials?"
"It's time," the woman said, clapping her hands together. "Come along now."
She was treating you as if you were a child, but somehow you still followed behind her. Some people were just born natural leaders, and she was one of those people. There was no doubt that she was intelligent, calculative, and perhaps manipulative. She was so good at it, however, that one would willingly be manipulated by her. As you were right now.
Walking back the way you came, she went back to the bush she was at earlier and crouched down. You knelt down beside her as she reached into the bush, rustling about before pulling out a rabbit.
"Hello you," she smiled, stroking the rabbit's head and tapped gently on its nose. She stood up, holding the rabbit like a baby and looked at you. "Do you understand now?"
This was the same rabbit as before, the one she fed water to. The fact that it was still alive meant that the water was not poisoned, which meant that you were not either! But how could she be so sure?
"You look like a rabbit when you're confused," she laughed, petting your head as she did the rabbit. "If the true objective of the game was to look for the antidote, they would have made sure that every single one of us drank that water. I didn't, and nothing happened to me. Which meant the water was only there to influence you, to make you think you were poisoned.
"And the fact that they gave us a time limit of two hours, but specifically stated that we were not allowed to do anything in the last half an hour, was suspicious. I'm guessing it takes about half an hour for the poison to work so I came back to check on our little friend here, who's still very much alive."
"Then what are the others looking and fighting for?"
"The real poison."
Still holding the rabbit, the woman went back inside the zoo, speaking to the animal in a soft baby voice the entire time.
You were relieved to hear that you did not ingest the poison, but should you not be warning the others? If they found the vials and drank it, they would die. Scrambling onto your feet, you chased after the woman. With her intelligence, they would believe her words more than yours.
"We should tell the others."
"Tell them what?"
"That we aren't poisoned! That the real poison is in the vials!"
"Look," she sighed, stopping in her tracks and faced you. "I'm not responsible for other people's lives. If they intend on searching for the vials, then so be it. I'm not obligated to tell them anything. I only told you because you wouldn't leave me alone."
"How can you be so heartless?"
"Because this is a game of Hearts."
Was that supposed to mean anything to you?
Before the rules were announced, you vaguely recalled seeing the eight of Hearts playing card on the screen. But what did that have to do with everything going on?
"Hearts games are all about manipulation and betrayal. You literally toy with people's hearts," she said. "They wouldn't trust anything I say, and frankly I wouldn't either. And neither should you. When it comes down to it, I will not hesitate to sacrifice you."