Texas walked back to her safe room, pissed. Her plan was not going as planned. She was dealing with greedy idiots without an ounce of brain cells. She took a seat on the small bed, her hands on her head when her daughter moved and turned her head in her direction."Mommy, I want to go to the toilet," she said.Texas had not anticipated her little girl waking up so early. She looked at her watch and it was five past ten at night. She could only assume it was the change in the environment."Oh sweetheart, did I wake you up?""No, I was awake, I have been waiting for you and want to use the toilet," the little girl replied, rubbing her eyes."There is a portable toilet somewhere here.""No mom, I want to use the toilet in my bedroom," she protested.Texas ignored her and helped her out of the blankets, placing her on the floor as she went on looking for the portable toilet. She had completely forgotten about it. It was one of the first things she was supposed to look for, but she had bee
"I still do not understand why they can't just kill you and give us another task," Washington stated, getting attention to himself. His statement was somehow a compliment on Texas, the woman was good and he somehow seemed the other ridiculous tests."Do not get me wrong, but why were you recruited into the game if you are military and have guns and spying gadgets?" he added. They all turned their attention to face Texas. It was not a secret that the woman appeared to be military trained."First of all, I am not and I have never been in the military and I guess the useless organization just did not do a proper background check on me," she mocked knowing very well Acer and her bosses were listening to the conversation."You are the CIA?" Louisiana yelled, holding her mouth. It was the only rational explanation she could come up with being a fan of a lot of American movies.Texas smiled, she took her statement as a compliment "No silly, if I was CIA, all the stupid organizers of the gam
"What?" Texas asked as she noted the confusion on their faces. They all kept staring at each other, still wondering how she managed to get close to them without making any noise.Nevada wiped the blood off his cheeks. The bullet had merely grazed him but it imprinted a wound large enough to gash blood out."We are all going to take a little trip to my house," she announced and signaled them to start walking.The organizers watched, wondering what her plan was. Taking all the remaining players under one roof did not seem to be a good plan. They predicted room for a blood bath; the game was not yet over, and they encouraged the pledgers to glue their eyes to the screen.Texas led the four players into her house, her two guns drawn. They were tempted to run but were overwhelmed with fear. They were sure she was going to shoot them, and the husband that she mentioned got them more confused. They all remembered Acer, explaining that the woman lived alone with her toddler.California began
"Was she speaking Russian?" Washington inquired as he moved away from the window.Louisiana, on the other hand, had her hands over her mouth, wondering if she had killed all the players."Please lie down," Alabama urged as he tried to remove the arrows from her legs. He was the only player who appeared unconcerned about what was going on outside."Did she... kill them all?" Louisiana enquired."Probably," Washington replied, looking at his watch. He had previously noted that they were 30 minutes into a new day. It was Monday, and nothing was happening to them. They were all safe; no attacks, no houses exploding. The prospect of Texas being correct about the loop made him feel guilty.The woman was right, all alone and among those in the room. He was the biggest doubter, and to make it worse, he attacked her.Alabama quickly pulled back on the arrows, sending Louisiana to wail in pain. She wasn't expecting him to pull the arrows without alerting her."Fuck you! Fuck you!" she yelled at
The two women lay low, without making any sound. They knew there was a possibility of the woman coming back for them, but they did not expect her to be calling out for them like she did not know where she left them. Nothing was making sense to them unless they were dealing with a psycho who had plans to play sick games with them and then later kill them.They were both terrified, breathing heavily as they listened to each other's heartbeats that were loud enough for them both to hear. Their nightmare appeared not to be ending. However, if she planned to finish them off, then she had to go and get them rather than them running to her.After calling out for what seemed like forever, Louisiana got tired and signed in disappointment. She could only wish they were okay and not badly hurt."I think they ran off. The crazy woman is really scary," Washington commented."Do not let her hear you calling her that.""Please do not tell me, you do not see that there is something not right with her
Washington looked at his watch. It was exactly 1 a.m. on Monday. "The game has no time limit," he explained. "I guess we were all in such a hurry to sign the contract that only one person out of fifty noticed that.""What?" The two women asked in unison."We can take a break, rest, and continue where we left off with killing the woman even two days from now."The two women stared at each other and then at him. They did not show any signs of excitement. He could only guess they were waiting for him to call everything a bluff."It's really cold out here, but if I were you, I would be in the house, near my target, striking when they least expected it," he added and walked away.The two ladies were left speechless, staring at his limping figure as he walked into the house and disappeared.New York grabbed onto California's hand. "You honestly do not believe all that nonsense, do you?"California turned to face her."Please tell me you don't! He is obviously her husband, and was sent here
Her boss rubbed his temple, of course, the woman was not stupid. There was supposed to be a strategy to whatever ruins she was doing to the game."Acer, stick to the plan, it is going to work," he replied. He had studied human behavior long enough to know which scenario triggered what in human beings. That was the basis of the games and its long success until they recruited the wrong recruit. However, he still had faith in it"Sir, I am not trying to change the plan. I just wanted to alert you to the fact that she is stalling the game!""To what end?" he inquired."That's what is not making sense. Killing all the players is the fastest and best way out, yet she wants to continue the game that she has been refusing to play."The boss pressed on his lips, "A distraction?" he pointed out."Yes, that is why I insisted on that safe room. Something is up in that room. She is trying to distract us," Acer replied.There was a stretch of silence, with her boss biting his lip. There was a lot o
Phone calls began to pile up in the offices of the organizers. Pledgers were expecting answers. They realized they had been blindsided by some footage. They demanded to see what had not been televised to them and threatened to cancel the games.The big boss remained silent, fuming, as the organizers pressed him to address the situation. He was tired of explaining things to the rich, spoiled psychos who were trying to use every minor issue against him.He was tired, he needed rest. He had been straining and working his back off to ensure that everyone had a perfect game. However, that was not taken into account. The knuckleheads had forgotten how spectacular the games had been the past few days. Not once had he tried to con them or favor players, but not one fool remembered that.He grinded his teeth in irritation, trying hard to calm himself down. He reminded himself of how selfish human beings were. Their reaction was not supposed to surprise him. Selfishness and greed were what he
Texas walked outside and found her boss pissed, waiting for her outside the helicopter."Sparing their lives was never an option," she said as she walked past him."Are you insane? They were the only people that would lead to the filthy man in charge of those stupid games!" He yelled at her."No one in that room knows who the idiot is," she spat out, annoyed, and entered the helicopter. Sebastian closed his eyes in irritation and followed suit. The helicopter was in the air in seconds, heading back to Washington. A message popped up on Sebastian's phone, forcing him to frown."What? Who was that?" Texas asked."Since you have forgotten how to play as a team member, it is none of your business," he replied, putting his phone away."The stupid leader was probably watching. With all the investors gone, he will need to recruit new ones," she explained.Sebastian glanced at her with interest.She explained "He is probably going to recruit every person that will take over from each of thos
Two hours elapsed with the organizers playing hide and seek with their computer mice. Their lives depended on finding their boss, but they couldn't find him. They kept asking for more time just to stall the wrath that was going to descend on them. Their eyes darted around crazily, looking for a way out, which was impossible given that the entire building was under lockdown. Tired of waiting, one of the pledgers walked to where they were seated and shot one of them straight in the head, splashing some blood and brains all over the other organizers before dropping to the ground. The entire arena let out a terrifying wail. "Maybe this will motivate the others to work faster!" he yelled. The organizers froze in terror for split seconds. Their entire bodies became impossibly still, with their hands twitching spastically, making it impossible for them to type on their computers. Their colleague lay a few centimeters from their legs, brains, and blood everywhere. What started as a pe
Hanging from a rope with her hands bonded together and her legs barely touching the ground, Acer finally opened her eyes. She could feel painful cuts on her face that felt like her flesh was bare.She looked around, trying to make sense of where she was. She vividly remembered being at Washington's house and having a needle stuck in her. She began panicking, "Hello, is... anyone... in here?" She spoke in a suffocated whisper. Her voice was trembling.She looked down, and that's when she noticed the blood all over her and the pieces that appeared to be skin. She knew it was hers but could not tell which part of her body it was from. A sickening wave of terror welled up from her belly as a voice from behind her finally spoke."Sleeping ugly has finally woken up," Texas said and began pushing on a high mirror. "You are going to love what I have done with your face," she said as she brought the mirror in front of her hostage.Acer stared at the mirror and let out a loud scream, forcing T
At Washington's house, Acer, still strapped in the chair, began panicking. She was sure it had been hours, yet Washington was not dropping to the ground and neither was anyone coming to save her or making a call on her phone.It appeared they were just watching and enjoying the show at her expense. There was no doubt her boss had abandoned her. She needed to start using her head fast if she was going to leave the house alive."Listen to me, Washington. I can help you get your wife's organs.""Shut up, do not think I am that stupid!" He yelled back at her."What's your fuckin' plan here exactly?" "None of your business," he replied, leaning on the wall. He had no idea what he was doing, but he knew he had a death wish. He looked at his watch. It was exactly two hours since he told Louisiana about his hostage situation. He got his phone out of his pocket and turned it back on. A lot of messages from Louisiana popped up, but none from Texas. Louisiana acknowledged passing off the messa
"Before you say a single word, please be sure what comes out of your mouth is correct because you have only five minutes to convince me why you made the call," Sebastian warned."I want back on the team, and I have a mission in mind," she replied.The man chuckled, his eyes fixed on the little girl.Texas signaled for a waitress and ordered the little girl's favorite ice cream. She then got out headphones and placed them on the girl's ears as the ice cream was brought to her."Is it not too cold for ice cream?" Sebastian asked."For the past three days, I had locked her underground in a safe room. I promised her ice cream once we went out, " she explained and told him about the organ-organized games and how she found herself in it.He stared at her with raised eyebrows. He was a man of few words and was good at hiding his emotions and reactions. She could not tell whether he believed her or not."I want to take them down, and you have the resources to help me," she added.He chuckled,
The pledgers watched, and as much as they wanted to feel sorry for the players, they couldn't. Killing or getting killed by Texas was the only solution to their misery. They already knew what they signed up for the second they were threatened with playing the game. They needed to finish up what they started or commit suicide. Those were the only two ways out of the contract. The pledgers were tired of waiting for some action. Acer was still in the air, the players were showing no signs of playing and Texas had disappeared into her safe room for hours while five corpses were rotting in her yard.It appeared the boss was not going through with the plans of calling the authorities on her, and it appeared they were not going to pick up the bodies either.They were left staring at a lot of empty screens with no action or any sign of action. A total of five hours had elapsed with nothing and total quiescence.Unknown to them, in Texas, in a small pub, Texas pushed a little trap door. She
The boss breathed in and out, staring at the screen and bursting into laughter like a mad man. Hiding one dysfunctional chip was one thing, but all the players having a dysfunctional chip was the end of his game.To make matters worse, the man who was equipped to fix the chips was still in the hospital. There was nothing he could do but laugh at himself. He kept laughing and pressing the buttons until his eyes were watery red and he was out of breath.She outsmarted him. He was nothing but a joke, both to his family and his employees. After fifty years of his family running successful games, he was the first one that broke the chain and failed, and his downfall was a tiny mysterious woman who appeared to have popped out of nowhere.He grabbed his vodka and began drinking it straight from the bottle as he loosened his tie. "Berth Rosewood, I think we should meet in person," he said, as he took a sip.He focused his attention on the screen. The players finished up with their goodbyes li
"How... how did she know my name?" Washington whispered.The other players looked at each other, blank. They remembered telling her their names in the safe room but not Washington's. They had no idea what his name was prior to Texas saying it out. They were also sure Washington had not been down there."I didn't tell anyone what my name was. Then where did she get my name?"Alabama pointed out, "You should be more interested about how she stitched your torn artery than how she got to know your name."Washington could only stare at him without altering a single word.The organizers were also confused as to how she knew his name. If he had not told anyone, then they were in trouble.Her phone rang as she walked into her bedroom, searching for her car keys. She looked at the number and recognized it immediately. It was their leader."Hello, love," she replied."Stop with the stupid games," the man said from the other side of the line. He was calling to pump some sense into her. "I think
Acer kept calling her boss, who to her disappointment was not picking up. She gave up, frustrated. He was clearly blaming her for the blunder when no one had the right to do so.They were all convinced that the players' failure to kill the insane woman was due to competition. Granting them a deal together had a high chance of success, but the players were simply too stupid to use their heads.To top it off, the players had cornered her with the time debate. It was not her fault that they requested a contract that stipulated they had to carry out a task within 24 hrs. No one had supported her when she was backed into a corner, not the organizers and certainly not her ungrateful boss.She got up and poured herself a glass of scotch, pissed at all of them for trying to flip the disaster on her.At the house, Louisiana had already begun cleaning up the kitchen. First, she dragged Washington to the spare bedroom and placed more bandages on his wound before returning to the kitchen. He was