“… William?” Slowly walking up to the gate, Larah shoots a worried look at the bloody texture of the gate; and William… was nowhere to be found. Ryder sat on his knees still, gasping for air as he holds his legs tightly of his cramp. Evelyn helping Channe get up and Sine pacing around the room they’re now in. Larah however, held her chest as she looks at the bloody gate; her eyes wide open as she slowly turns to Ryder on the ground still trying to get his lost air, “Where… where is William?” asks Larah in her worry.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAZ9oWLbbjdr
738Please respect copyright.PENANAFS4ISyZcnW
Ryder slowly stands up as he holds his chest and legs, he turns his head to Larah and saw the blood of the gate behind her head. He stutters to speak, trying to wrap up his mind from the long run, “H-h-he was just behind me!” said Ryder shakingly.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAybyjv7RTio
738Please respect copyright.PENANAhqPz8lalC8
Her surprised face changed into something sour, Larah’s eyes was not only wide open, but her eyebrows suddenly flared up. Her hands clenching and her teeth loudly gritting. Suddenly, she quickly walks up to Ryder and punches his chest repeatedly while he grunts in pain from his legs and lungs.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAxi23hwmTq0
738Please respect copyright.PENANAegLD5gcQJt
“Why didn’t you help him?!” Larah screamed at Ryder’s ear while she keeps punching Ryder’s face and chest, almost making him fall down again.
738Please respect copyright.PENANA7PCRKINGuw
738Please respect copyright.PENANAl7vxIoxC39
Evelyn lets go off Channe’s hand and runs between them, pushing Larah away from Ryder, but Larah kept trying to pounce at Ryder with her fists flying everywhere. She screamed longer than she was running away from the bugs, her eyes glittering with small tears and her mouth dripping spit from her constant shouting.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAy4KiioWuD4
738Please respect copyright.PENANAx7PxNGz2g6
“Calm down, Larah!” shouted Evelyn as she holds Larah’s arm, preventing her from hurting Ryder any further.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAw7cX4wPhuZ
738Please respect copyright.PENANAgbE7mLGm0k
Ryder however, began coughed and bang his own chest after Larah punched him multiple times; suddenly falling down on his knees and coughing some more, his vision beginning to blur. He shakes his head while his eyes close, trying to regain composure; but it only got worse. He opens his eyes again; he falls down on his hands, and as he moves his eyes in front of him; his vision becoming blurrier every minute. He sees a figure, drenched in black coming out from like an opened door; blinking to try and see, but it was too late. He finally falls to the ground, lying dormant before his eyes forced him to sleep.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAYDcpQjGAVI
738Please respect copyright.PENANAalSuagLQYO
He hears a faint bickering, and somebody calling for his name and the others before passing out on the ground. For minutes he stood in darkness, with low lights flickering from time to time until he slowly opens his eyes. He was standing up at somewhere different, he looks around only to see there is no else besides him; he was standing on the middle of a hallway, different from the room he passed out in, but then again, he was too tired to see the whole place. He begins to walk slowly towards the direction he was already facing, glancing behind him as he takes a step.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAnmEokNED35
738Please respect copyright.PENANAxj2bupXaef
Flickering lights as he passes through, in an unknown place; but felt familiar. The floor embedded with sheet white vinyl flooring; the doors made from dry birch wood; and the lights were florescent and kept turning off and on. The hallway felt endless as he kept walking, with the door at the distance messing with his eyes as it keeps backing away every time, he gets close to it. But luckily, it wasn’t endless after all. He reaches the door at the end of the hallway, gripping the door knobs with both of his hands before opening it wide. He passes through before the door closes behind him; he stood now in another hallway, but it was dark; all of the florescent lights were off, with only one that seemed to be glowing inside one of the rooms on the side.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAlnGppzEeOX
738Please respect copyright.PENANAtcZjv8mnfb
It was ominous, he thought; that there was only one light coming from in a room. With nowhere else to go, he begins to walk towards the lit room. The ominous darkness, the uncomfortable silence, and he still kept walking; and despite all of it, he was calm — maybe… too calm. He kept heading towards the door, but it felt like it was backing away like the door before, or the floor began to extend while he walked. He looks to the floor, and it seemed… off; it was moving in his eyes; but his heart remained still. He turns his head to his hand, and suddenly a bouquet of flowers appeared out of nowhere; he had no memory of grabbing it, but his heart remained unusually still, yet he still dropped sweat.
738Please respect copyright.PENANA6xxNa65OoF
738Please respect copyright.PENANAyF4IZsYpt8
His footsteps now echo through the hallway as he gets close to the door, everything seemed to slow down; his sweat slowly dripping, his ear couldn’t even catch the sound of his beat. He arrives outside the room, about to turn the corner, but when his head came into view; the lights instantly blind him from the seeing the inside. But he didn’t stop walking, he continued like nothing happened; his legs felt like it was not his own. He finally enters, and it was all white; a scream went along with it, slowly and carefully sipping into his ear; until the very scream covered all of his head, making everything ring aloud. It was nonstop, the screaming only became louder as he kept walking into the white abyss of nothing; he tried to stop but he couldn’t, like somebody pushing him from behind to keep going forward. Then, in his shock, a bed laid in wait for him — a white sheet bed, with someone laying down.
738Please respect copyright.PENANADVdkGmyjvT
738Please respect copyright.PENANAtuleIvc2kw
He can hear his own breath now as he stood still, watching in sweat; the body laid covered in white sheets and bandages, seemed to be dead, but… at his dismay, it moved. Ryder flinched, but couldn’t move; he was forced to stare as the body moves his hand. And it pointed at him, shaking as it slowly moves his head towards him.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAIKc9Bf28zU
738Please respect copyright.PENANAt2XvqOmf0J
“…This… IS YOUR FAULT!” the body screamed and shouted and Ryder, making him screamed also as the white light of the room turned dark, quickly closes his eyes and let’s go of the bouquet to cover his ears from the shattering sound. Then, as he opens his eyes; his head jumps up, he was finally awake — truly awake.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAFONiH9bWkL
738Please respect copyright.PENANAKi1MxATmKr
He breaths heavily while sweat came down on his forehead, he tries to calm himself down; he sits up straight and rubs his head with both of his hands while it was lowered. He steadies his breath, wiping the sweat with his elbow. Then he realized, he was in a room made of metal; with everything made with the same material. He touches his chest only to realize that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but his jeans still remained. He looks around the room to see if his shirt was hanging around, but instead, he found a different shirt, along with a gray jacket; both hanging on the sink, but they were dry. He stands up and grabs the clothes, quickly slipping them over his head and onto his chest. He turns his head to the metal door and stares it, pinching his hand for precaution before opening it and going through.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAsbLuIfgZxm
738Please respect copyright.PENANAvv8WesExHR
He closes the door behind him, entering a hallway with similar appearance to the room. Not only that, he sees a bunch of people turning a corner, walking in hurry to the end of the hall, “Why are we going back there again,” said one of the people walking; a woman at that.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAPSvsn89Kxx
738Please respect copyright.PENANAyy7qbU2OkC
“It’s probably another team that exited the maze… or the host has an announcement,” said a tall man with the group.
738Please respect copyright.PENANA2oRuMRBHUD
738Please respect copyright.PENANAtYxUdU4gay
“Finally, I don’t want to be near that damn maze any longer!” said a bald man as they walk through the double door of the hallway.
738Please respect copyright.PENANArt5ykIi38l
738Please respect copyright.PENANAFUuudTl5Q1
After the group of people exited the hallway, Ryder walks up and turns his head to look at where they just came from: A big hallway with many doors similar to the room he was in, “This must be a dormitory,” he thought. He continued to look around to see if anyone else was coming, but he guesses that all of them were already in the place where the group was headed. He soon follows the path the group went, walking towards the double door of the hallway end. He thinks of Evelyn and the others of where they were, and… William, “I guess… he didn’t make it,” he said to himself sadly.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAs3aNs3reIj
738Please respect copyright.PENANAjNkZMHUELg
He goes through the doors, and he was met with something unexpected. He entered a large room, enough for maybe all of the contestants of the game, because they were all there; filling the room with loud noises and constant arguments to bickers. His eyes wide open by the sight, all of the contestant in one room; mostly everyone had bandages on one or many parts of their body, maybe because of them tripping or because a few bugs bit them. And there was an unusual large screen on top of the room, overlooking the entire heads of the contestants.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAOxdZDPbr7V
738Please respect copyright.PENANAZdiTderBHr
Ryder tries to look over the countless heads of the contestants, trying to find anyone who he recognizes: Maybe Evelyn, Channe, Larah, maybe even Sine. But they were nowhere to be found amongst the many heads, like finding needles in a haystack. He tries to take a step towards the people, wanting to go through, but then, “Mr. Zean!” somebody shouted.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAnrTFpF2fVi
738Please respect copyright.PENANAfPXoHbcXiV
Ryder quickly looks around towards the voice, only to see a familiar he hasn’t seen after the start of the game, “Oh hello, you’re alive!” said Ryder.
738Please respect copyright.PENANA4T6V6J3k4o
738Please respect copyright.PENANAsRdn7deD3T
A familiar face walks up to Ryder, but his head a part of his head was covered in bandages, “Oh I’m glad to see you Ryder!” said Drew as he shakes Ryder’s hand.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAjfk0QYZ2do
738Please respect copyright.PENANAaYsm5FHezm
Ryder shakes his hand back only weaker; his eyes catching the sight of the bandages so he asks, “What happened to your head?” He points at Drew’s head.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAqcXT2i9iMp
738Please respect copyright.PENANAhO5iwNnVgU
“Oh this?” Drew touches the bandages, “A rock fell on my head, probably because of the bugs crashing on the walls or something.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAIXFI1UKCea
738Please respect copyright.PENANAU3raJkc4g3
“… So, I guess everyone experienced the same thing in the maze,” said Ryder in a low tone.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAagzrjG1mN9
738Please respect copyright.PENANALxhc4fIwNt
“That looks like it,” said Drew looking towards the other contestants, “This… wasn’t in the description!”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAiekU5GjTVT
738Please respect copyright.PENANAZgt2NQqPul
“Well, it did say games; we just weren’t told what games they were going to be.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANA2sEWWJJTlt
738Please respect copyright.PENANA1ejufTIlbt
“I just hope there aren’t any m- “
738Please respect copyright.PENANAQ4IECR7Kmf
738Please respect copyright.PENANAsSAOOAAGyV
A loud ringing suddenly echoed throughout the room, like a mic just turned on. Ryder and Drew went silent, as well as the other contestants. Then, a static mouth appeared on the giant screen above them, speaking in a somewhat robotic and deep voice, “Attention all contestants, please make your way to the first rest lobby for the announcement of our beloved host.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAJCdNCQJiV1
738Please respect copyright.PENANAq4XHYxNlKu
After the voice talked, a number of bickers and complaints began to surface amongst the contestants, while Drew and Ryder stood listening to the annoying noises, “Come on, let’s go to the middle; we’ll get a front seat view of the screen,” said Drew as he motions his hand for Ryder to come with.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAsWj6zI4VaA
738Please respect copyright.PENANAQ0vAdNgggB
Ryder hesitated for second due to the thought of them in the middle of the noise, but he went with Drew anyway. The two passes through crowds of contestants until reaching the very middle, just in front and below the giant screen. After a few minutes, everyone was gathered in the room; all noisy until the screen started to light up again and displays the static mouth. The voice was different from the previous one, older and articulate but it was still deep and robotic, “Good time to all of you fellow contestants, I assume that all of you are well.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAHhorWbmqoM
738Please respect copyright.PENANAEiUSOzr3VL
A wave of angered noise ran through the contestants, all of them shouting at the big screen, “This isn’t what I signed for!”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAYu4r33Yriq
738Please respect copyright.PENANAXsFQ21TykJ
“How can you be so cruel to leave this out!”
738Please respect copyright.PENANANZDYfS4TvK
738Please respect copyright.PENANAfk3ioJvjID
“Let me out of here!”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAffczXV9TZ1
738Please respect copyright.PENANAgXS6TTnkpU
Then the loud ringing sound echoed again from before, silencing the complaints of the contestants, “Now… now everyone; let us be civil about this whole endeavor,” said the voice from the screen, “You are all here for one thing, to complete the games and walk home with your pockets filled with gold; and with so much of mine to give away, the games are of equal difficulty similar to the extent of the value. So, forgive me for being not keen about the details, but this is what all of you have signed for: the possibility of a richer future, and it will not be achieved by constant noise.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAzconpHmXz5
738Please respect copyright.PENANA7ECUF9Kv3W
Then suddenly, a door opens from the left side of the room, “If you truly wish to give up that future, feel yourself free to go through that very door.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAHuYkNQNIgm
738Please respect copyright.PENANAHeioIR6aDD
Everyone looks at the door, including Ryder and Drew, but they stood still. For a moment, all of them were quiet, until one of the contestants quickly stands up and exits through the door; then a few followed soon after. Ryder looked at the door with a little sense of temptation, his foot wanting to step forward towards it; but he knew he couldn’t, he knew there was no choice. So, Ryder stayed, even Drew stayed but he was sweating heavily while he looked also. After a few contestants left, the voice spoke again, “75 dead and 21 leaving,” said the voice, “Out of 500, all of you are now 404.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAy9drzSQfBO
738Please respect copyright.PENANAtyNjpoUsUJ
“Now let us continue.” Three large gates suddenly open at the right side of the room, which showed three rooms similar to the one they were in, but smaller.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAhxmr5E2Plr
738Please respect copyright.PENANA3FbqsODwsB
Everyone looks and starts to whisper to each other, “Is there food? We’re starving,” said many of the contestants.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAWXTT2yLN4R
738Please respect copyright.PENANAIkuv0kH4Ij
“Oh… there will be food soon, and all of you get to choose what to eat, “said the voice somewhat strangely, “Now, all of you must enter one of the rooms; 20 is the maximum of each room and all that is left must wait their turn to go in.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAFR299rUrWl
738Please respect copyright.PENANAimzh978NDD
Without any thought, all of the contestants began to stand up, and some were already entering the rooms. Ryder and Drew went with the crowd that were heading towards the 1st room of the three. Contestant after contestant entered, then after it reached the 20 number limit, it suddenly closes. All of them waited for a minute, then the gate opened again, but the contestants that entered were nowhere to be found. They were shocked, but continued to enter anyways. Ryder’s eyes were wide open after he saw the very room empty, without any trace of the previous; Drew breathing heavily as he holds his chest from the empty sight. Then after they were pushed by the crowd, they were about to enter; but then the gate closes again, with the metal gate almost chopping Ryder’s head off. But instead of being still, Ryder carefully places his ear against the gate, trying to hear the other side; Drew followed suit.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAYQafnxFMRx
738Please respect copyright.PENANAMnONfN3VzD
“Can you hear anything?” Ryder asks.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAegBQOHdGAu
738Please respect copyright.PENANAxSyxsVOGIP
“…Strangely… no,” said Drew.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAaqKvKi33GN
738Please respect copyright.PENANAUuoJfWGMb4
Then the gate opens again, both of them hesitated a second but they were forced to enter quickly by the rushed crowd behind them. As Ryder entered, he looks around the room; seeing nothing but metal walls and some small speakers on the ceiling, “This doesn’t feel right,” Drew said as he was shaking
738Please respect copyright.PENANAZMOeKaXQ4l
738Please respect copyright.PENANAdtR20ERIM9
Then finally, the gate closes behind them; leaving them isolated by the other contestants. Ryder and Drew kept sweating and breathing heavily, while the others with them were eager for the food the voice told them. After a few seconds of standing, the speakers suddenly turn on and said, “Have fun… hunting.”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAYUuhCf2jmB
738Please respect copyright.PENANACGDxkMoXYo
The floor beneath them opens, making many of them scream as they fall to the ground. With the others falling first, then Drew fell while he screamed, then it was Ryder who fell on the last second.
738Please respect copyright.PENANAeou0gOtEYl
738Please respect copyright.PENANAVH2mjBVcgZ
“HELP!!”
738Please respect copyright.PENANAH0nCcvoYHB


