Saki didn't know much about fishes. It was actually her mother's job to care about them, keep her eye on the little ones, as she explained to her the first time she had the opportunity to meet the ocean from afar.
The oceans make up about 71% of the surface of the earth, but she knew her mom never explored half of it, she knew she never let her toes touch the wet sand and she never walked along the seashores. Saki grew up wishing the marine life would somehow swim to meet her mom's fingers once again, but it didn't work like that, and sooner than later all prayers stopped.
"Time's running faster and we haven't heard a sound yet," Kuina mumbled, "I wonder why everyone is so quiet."
"They're waiting," Saki answered.
It was obvious. However, there were many reasons to answer the what. Maybe they were waiting for someone to make a mistake, step the stick, be too suspicious to be considered the target; maybe they were waiting for her collar to light up; maybe they were waiting for anyone to finally sink in their own desperation to live.
Oftentimes, different fish species playing nice in a public aquarium display tank can be helpful in determining whether they’re likely to get along in a home aquarium or not. The size of the exhibit is more important than one could think, that is because both heterospecific and conspecific aggression tends to become more intensified as tank size diminishes.
People were like fishes. Eventually, even if the time hasn't passed the thirty minutes of safe hiding, they'll start hunting down whoever dares get in their way out of that game.
Kuina sighed a few feet away from her.
"It seems like this game will be more stressful than others, huh?"
"They're all the same for me," Saki shared, touching the penguin prototypes displayed over a fake piece of ice simulating how their lives are. She wondered if they were all inside their own fake piece of earth too. "I haven't seen a penguin in my life," Kuina looked at her curiously, "But I once heard they're just birds wearing tuxedos."
Kuina snorted at her words.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," she smiled, but before she could say anything else a loud scream traveled the way down to the penguin area they were in.
Saki gave the direction the female shrieking voice had come her back. The emperor penguin watched them grow alert for any new sign of danger.
"The show's starting," Saki said, "It was a matter of time."
Was that what human existence was after all? Was that their purpose? Being trapped in an empty city, hoping every day that the value of their hearts would not be too high to pay for? Saki wanted to keep hers, she wasn't paying anything to anyone to keep her heart beating inside her chest, she wasn't ready to bleed yet. Perhaps that was her purpose, the reason why she didn't give up when she had the chance in the first place.
Saki could've turned around and let herself die. She could've told Kuina to do it, to win the game and drag her body out to the earth. However, she didn't.
And as she stood in place, consumed by her mind, she knew everything was about to get worse. In the end, time was too vital even in a world like that.
The warmth of the light switching on of her collar met her skin in an instant.
THE WHALE'S COLLAR HAS LIT UP. . .
THIRTY MINUTES LEFT BEFORE TIME LIMIT. . .
It isn't fair. Saki felt Kuina's eyes being drawn at the green halo illuminating her face. It's terrifying, disorienting, and not fair at all.
"So you're the whale."
"Surprise." Her voice cracked. She tried her best to not look as affected as she felt, but her breathing fastened and her fingers trembled.
Her companion's silence caused her to grit her teeth. Will that be her last moment alive? Will their last conversation chase Kuina's subconscious after she watches her bleed out with her hands bound? Will she even care? Panic dug its claws inside her throat harder and harder while Kuina glanced at her phone, watching every name on the screen turn gray each time a player's life was taken from them.
Then, she remembered. Rules always had a hidden twist.
"Only the last two players standing win," Saki recalled the game's condition, "It wasn't specified who, and it was certainly not specified if the whale had to be dead once captured."
Maybe she did have a chance left. A second try.
"So you're saying the winners could be a sailor and the whale?" Saki nodded, not trusting her voice enough to utter a single sound as she felt Kuina's presence drift closer. "What if you just end up getting us both killed?"
"Are you willing to take the risk?"
A shadow of green infused with the brown of Kuina's eyes, her doubts swimming away like a coffee's foam once tasted.
"We can try," She said.
Relieved, Saki almost gave in to the impulse of hugging her. Her face glistened in a thin layer of sweat. She had a chance, they had a chance.
Suddenly, the doors across the walk of the penguin's area opened in a blink, startling both of them out of their deal. A man tilted his head at them, his lips tugging upwards noting none had any weapons in sight.
"Found the big prize!" He shouted and, as soon as he arrived, his partner ran through the entrance, slowing his pace to meet him.
Saki's breathing became heavier.
"Stay behind," Kuina whispered, but it all happened too fast.
Both men charged at them at the same time without hesitation nor warning. The four of them knew they were reaching the game's time limit, there was no time left to waste. So when she heard Kuina's pained grunts and the men's angry shouts, Saki stepped back, almost tripping over a signal that was part of the tour.
"Get her now! Leave this one to me!" One of the men exclaimed, Saki couldn't tell which one. However, she did notice his hands fighting against hers as he tried grabbing a hold of her, only causing them to meet the floor. He trapped her under his body in a single pull. She felt her heart racing so hard she thought it would stop by itself before he could make another move.
Perhaps Saki was meant to die in her first game, poisoned and hopeless. She fooled death once, but she was having a tough time thinking she could do it twice.
Kuina screamed something. She couldn't hear what as her own desperation muffled any other sound attempting to reach her.
No matter how heartbreaking her cries were, the man towering her paid no attention. The blood in her arteries didn't seem to circulate anymore. Saki felt pricks all over her body, making it extremely painful to keep her arms lifted, blocking his sight with her fingers, but it was the immediate impression as if an explosion, the sudden eruption of a volcano, was breaking out in her head which numbed her limbs and warmed her skin.
"Hurry up!" Someone said.
The weight of the man's body pressed harder enough she felt a pointy object dug into her thigh, drawing a line of blood that stained her pants. She had forgotten about it.
Using the strength she had left, Saki pushed his face away the opposite direction of where her free hand sneaked to get the pocketknife's handle. With the push of a button, the light of her collar reflected on the blade, sending a luminous lighting that threw off Kuina's aggressor for a second.
A warm trail of tickles ran down slowly through her arms before a couple of droplets fell on her face.
She knew that what covered her hands, and pooled on her chest, was blood. She was sure of it by the way she gripped the knife tightly, pushing it deeper inside his neck and sliding it to the side as it cut his flesh open. She knew it by the way she heard him struggle for breath and how his hands finally relaxed.
It was only a moment after that the pressure on her neck and body vanished. A slap made her face turn abruptly and catch a touch of the cold caress of the floor tiles.
"Hey! Are you…?" Kuina's words trailed off an unwanted question.
Saki held a thumb up the steadier she could before letting her arm collapse with the floor once more.
GAME CLEAR. . .
CONGRATULATIONS, WE'LL NOW SUPPLY YOU WITH A VISA. . .
None of them uttered another word.
Saki felt that the moment her lips came unglued a catastrophe could happen.
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hopefully this isn't too boring and there aren't many mistakes 😪
feel free to correct me if you see any,
english isn't my first language!
hope you have a nice day <3