Hour 5

One of the people looking at them was a woman with brown hair in a short Dutch braid. She had on a backpack similar in design to theirs and wore a light purple tank top along with a pair of dark blue jeans that had seen better days. She said, "Finally, it's been a while since we got someone." Emi asked, "What do you mean? What is this place?" The woman directed her to the wall behind her and Alex. She turned around and saw a small black screen with red numbers that read "24/25." Under the screen was a blinking post that stated, "When there are 25 people, the next phase will begin." The woman explained, "We've been waiting for more participants, so we may proceed." Emi asked her, "Did you appear here after finding a way through that laser field?" She answered, "Yeah, I think so." Then she laid her head lazily to her right with a shrug and said, "Well, everyone who would talk to me has." Emi noticed that most of the guests had already turned their attention away from her and now projected nothing but a cold indifference. Two men who sat near the wall on the left of the woman with the Dutch braid felt open enough to introduce themselves, something that helped Emi feel a little more at ease. Richard was a man in his 40s with a surprisingly full head of hair and a beer belly. He wore khaki shorts with a Hawaiian shirt and greeted Emi with a fist bump, which took her off guard. He had said, "Crazy situation this is, keep thinking I'm going to wake up, but I never do." He had spoken to her in a happy tone like he was on a yacht or a game show, not a life-or-death struggle. The other man's name was Jake, who wore a green long-sleeved shirt with a band logo displayed on it that Emi wasn't familiar with. He was tall with long black hair and didn't look much older than Emi. He had responded, "After I quit my job yesterday, I thought things could only get better. Now, I don't know what to think." His tone was more along the lines of what Emi had expected and she empathized with the sentiment. Then the woman with the Dutch braid introduced herself, "You can call me Alice. I was the last person to arrive here. it was probably around 2 hours ago." Alex, who had stood back up from his initial fall, brushed off his shorts and introduced himself before asking, "Who's that guy?" Emi turned to where he was pointing, she hadn't realized there was someone else in the room besides the people seated in front of her. Sitting alone on the floor in the opposite corner of the room was a bald man with a full beard dressed in a sleeveless black shirt, black jeans, and rugged black work boots that had multiple layers of dirt seared into them. His body was burly, arms thick with muscle and hair as well as a neck tattoo of a dagger that had started to fade. Alice said, "Apparently, he was the first to arrive here. He hasn't spoken to anyone, only stared us down when we've tried to talk to him." Richard replied, "That guy's bad news, I can feel it. Best to stay clear of him." Alex responded, "You guys are pretty friendly, though." Jake, who had just dug a candy bar from his pocket and released it from its wrapping in preparation for a bite, said, "It's impossible to know what's going to happen next. It could be valuable to have friends." "I guess so," Emi replied. For a moment, she was relieved. these were the first people she had a chance to talk with since everything had gone wrong. In the back of her head, though, her internal monologue reminded her, "They've all gotten past the first phase. they've all killed someone." Then she remembered the fact she was now a killer as well and tried to think of something else. Before she could, a deep voice dominated the room. "Somethings not right." The man with the black dagger on his neck had stood up and his body language was less than inviting. The atmosphere in the room changed and Emi could feel the unease leaking from everyone. His voice commanded their attention as a dense wave of suspicion dripped from it like venom "We were at 23/25 people when you two appeared, but we've only gone up to 24/25. What's up with that?" Emi responded, "Oh, well, like-" The man didn't let her finish as he pointed out, "Also, everyone here came one at a time. You two came together. That, combined with the group number only advancing by one is strange, don't you think?" Emi tried to take control of the situation, "This is my brother. he's helping me." The man looked at her with utter contempt and said "he isn't supposed to be here, is he? That's the only thing that makes sense. he isn't on this phase." Emi started, "My brother-" but again, the man seized the conversation for himself, his coldly calm words drilling into her chest, each with the force of a bullet. "You better pray you don't disqualify us. I'll kill you both." Goosebumps attacked her body as she stared into his eyes and her grip on Conner's shotgun tightened. She believed him. They weren't the eyes of a man playing up some tough guy persona, they were the eyes of someone who had killed long before this game ever started. Alice broke the tension "It's fine. we probably would've already been noticeably failed if something like that mattered. All we need to do is wait for one more person." The man looked at her, seemed like he was about to respond, then sat back down without saying another word which somehow made him scarier, like he didn't care about comebacks or meaningless dialogue. Emi sat down on the floor herself, as far away as she physically could from the bald man, and Alex sat next to her. Alex said, "I'm sorry, em." Emi said, "It's not your fault. Let's get something to eat." They each ate a granola bar from their backpack, and Emi chugged a bottle of water. She hadn't realized how thirsty she was until she easily emptied the bottle. They checked their remaining time, Alex was at 0:042:37:13, and Emi was at 0:026:36:12. He focused on the time for more than a few seconds, and Emi suggested, "Why don't you try to get some rest while you have the chance?" He took the .44 out of his backpack and gave it to Emi for safety as he laid down and used the backpack as a makeshift pillow. Soon, Alex was asleep next to her, and Emi marveled at how he was able to sleep in this situation. She thought, "he was probably up all night worried about that text, rightfully worried while I slept without a care." Not wanting to sleep as well and leave them vulnerable to that man she decided to look at her phone to see if she could learn anything else. When she loaded the map they had used to find the question mark she was met with the disclaimer "site no longer available. You are past this objective." She felt her chest tighten as she thought, "No..." She looked at Alex, who was still sleeping peacefully, and thought, "he's stuck here with me now...did I just lead him to his death? Even if we found a way to get him through objective one, how can he get back to the laser tag for the second? Is he stuck now, unable to progress?" her hand had gone so limp that her phone almost fell into her lap. "What have I done?" She thought to herself helplessly. She tried to hold back the tears as she thought "I'm such an idiot! I never thought we'd be teleported somewhere outside the map like some stupid sci-fi movie! I thought he'd have the option to continue." She tried to regain some composure as she thought "No, this doesn't change anything. I was never going to make him kill someone because I'll beat this game before that needs to happen." Her train of thought was broken as an older man, probably in his 50s, suddenly appeared in the middle of the room with a flash of light. He fell hard to the ground as he exclaimed, "What the hell!" The panel clicked audibly to "25/25" and her phone buzzed in her lap.

New objective: truth or dare

A black, tar-like glue began to form at the base of the digital sign that displayed 25/25. It descended down in a sickly sheet, and as it reached the floor, it solidified into a hard, flat rectangle. Around the middle of it, something started to bulge and squirm before a door handle erupted from it. Suddenly it blinked into reality as a 3D object, like a door manifested from the depths of hell. The bald man with the dagger tattoo stood up and opened the door without hesitation which released a piercing white aura impossible to see through. One by one everyone followed him without saying a word, all deep in their own thoughts. When it was their turn Emi and Alex braced themselves for what was to come.

As they stepped through the door they entered single file onto a massive stage that looked like it belonged to some tacky game show. The lights above them buzzed to life and streaked across the stage in an elegant twisting pattern that ended with them illuminating everyone on stage. In the audience, masses of black, shadow-like figures stood up from their chairs and clapped ferociously as they cheered from mouths that didn't exist. Emi winced as the cheers had the same ungodly tone as the one that had talked to her on the phone, something trying to sound human but missing something integral to achieve the illusion. That same voice now boomed over the impressive stage sound system loud enough to shake the very foundation they stood on and said "Welcome, contestants, it's time to play truth or dare. You will form groups of 5 and compete against the others. To begin with, one person from each team will be selected to play. Players will choose "truth or dare" and face the challenges our delightful audience has ready for them. However, you may not choose the same choice twice in a row meaning each team will have to alternate between truth and dare once it starts. When a player wins their turn they earn their team a point. If you fail, you lose a point for your team, and you will be replaced with someone else at random. However, if you win, you are free to stay or step down. If you stay, you can pick who is selected next from the next team that loses after you have won your turn; if the person that goes after you wins their turn, then they earn the power of selection. If you step down you can pick who replaces you. All teams will start at 0 points and the first 2 teams to reach 10 points advance. Any team that hits -5 is immediately disqualified." Pure elation suffocated the grotesque voice as it sneered, "Now, let's play some truth or dare."