Hour 9

Alex had been sure to hold Emi's hand as they walked through the door to hopefully avoid the chance of becoming separated in the next objective, so he flinched when her grasp unexpectedly tightened. As they took their first cautious step into the unknown, they were blasted with a wave of cold air that completely took Emi off guard. Before her eyes could adjust, the first thing she noticed was the smell, which had a familiar, almost nostalgic scent. As Emi squinted, she realized she was in a supermarket of all places, the produce section, to be exact. There was a wall of fresh vegetables behind assorted bins of different fruits which wrapped around the entire section in a colorful display. Alex said, "Well... I wasn't expecting to walk into a store." Emi agreed as she remained attentive to their surroundings, "Yeah, don't let your guard down, though." She had barely finished her sentence when the rhythmic tapping of distant footsteps became just audible enough to be heard over the elevator music murmuring across the store's speakers. She looked out over the aisles and saw people emerging from different parts of the store. The elevator music was abruptly cut short, and the foul voice that had narrated their truth-or-dare game announced, "You will have the next hour to spend however you please. You may use the restrooms, gather food, and collect supplies. There is no leaving the store, and you may not harm anyone else during this time. Failure to heed this rule will result in your immediate death. Now, enjoy your free time." The speakers clicked and the elevator music began to serenade the store again with an eerie, haunting repetition. The people Emi had noticed from afar began to grab food items from the shelves and search through the small coolers at the front of the store for drinks. She couldn't accurately gauge exactly how many people there were, but she guessed there were currently somewhere around 7 or 8 in her line of sight, possibly more in deeper parts of the store. Alex said, "We should still be careful." His face was shadowed in worry as he explained, "That voice said you couldn't hurt anybody during this hour-long break or you'd die. If someone has a revive, though..." "I know," Emi said, giving his awareness credit while trying to assuage his uncertainty. "We'll be careful, but I don't think anyone is going to waste their one-time revival right now as long as we don't give them a reason to." She patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's use the bathrooms; I've had to go for a while." "Me too," Alex acknowledged with a tired sigh. As they headed for the restrooms, they passed by a display stand full of digital clocks, all counting down from 0:001:00:00. They currently had 58 minutes and 39 seconds left.

Emi and Alex weren't the first people with the idea to make use of the restrooms but they kept to themselves and didn't bother anyone. As Emi washed her hands, she quietly realized, "Anyone starting this game with less than an hour would've been screwed given the current rules." As she turned the water off and dried her hands on her shirt, she made a mental note, "I definitely need to start thinking ahead more regarding the rules of these games. I don't want to back myself into a corner later on with a decision I make today." Alex had finished using the bathroom and decided to find himself a new shirt, his current bloody one having attracted too many uneasy stares. As he discarded his shirt with the gunshot hole for a yellow one with a pink video game mascot a man in military fatigues watched him curiously. Emi tried to find ammunition for their weapons, but there wasn't any. The store they were in seemed to be more of a small neighborhood market rather than a dedicated shopping center. She did, however, locate a small "outdoors" section that had a few camping items, and she settled on adopting a small pocket knife. As she continued walking the store, she did her best to memorize its layout; there was a decent chance the next game could happen here. She witnessed people breaking into the small pharmacy to raid its pills, people cracking the glass at a tiny kiosk that sold cigarettes, and someone sitting down with a 12-pack of beer fresh from the cooler. She thought the idea of dulling your senses before another potential life-or-death game was foolish, but she understood the sentiment; at this point, you never knew which hour could be your last, so you might as well enjoy them. She reunited with Alex in the clothing section before they navigated their way back around to the front of the store where they found that the windows were tinted over, making it impossible to see out, and the front doors were, of course, locked. A sale rack by the doors housed pamphlets that revealed that they were currently in a storefront that was positioned on Del Rosa Street, San Bernardino, California. Emi had been about to make a joke about visiting Laguna Beach while they were in California when Liam's voice trickled down her spine with the cadence of a viper hiss. "Out shopping today?" Emi gently pushed Alex behind her in a protective motion while the glare her face produced challenged what the anatomy of her face was capable of. Liam asked with a disingenuous smirk, "What's wrong?" Emi was silent, she had no words for the man in front of her. Liam dropped his hands into his pockets as he asked, "Silent treatment?" He shook his head in disappointment and remarked in an unamused tone, "Women." Emi thought, "When we were waiting for 25 players, Alice told us he wouldn't talk to anyone, only stared them down. Now he won't shut up." Several people had noticed the ongoing altercation and directed their attention toward the unfolding drama. Her hands became fists as she thought "he's definitely getting off on this, this sick game and hurting others." Liam noticed her clenched fists and laughed under his breath, obviously satisfied he had gotten to her in some way. The elevator music cut out as the voice commanded, "Your break period is over. The next game starts now." All at once, a random sequence of numbers appeared over everyone's heads in a flicker of red light. Emi understood what was happening with a sharp acuity; their current life span hours were being projected above their heads in real time. The voice continued, "In this game of tag, the person with the least amount of hours is IT. When the IT tags someone, that person dies and the IT steals their hours. If the IT is no longer the one with the least amount of hours, then they will lose that status, and the one with the lowest hours will earn the title IT. The game will conclude when there is only one person left. Are there any questions?" A man in military fatigues with a buzz cut and sunglasses picked up an apple from the produce table before taking a bite out of it. Between his chewing, he asked, "Why hasn't that kid's hours appeared above his head?" Alex sunk even further behind Emi who defended him, "he's not a part of this game." The man took another large bite of his apple, chewed, and swallowed. He thought for a second, then replied, "that makes him dangerous." "What?" Emi asked, not liking where the situation was headed. Liam added fuel to the fire, "Her brother isn't in this phase; he didn't progress to the truth or dare phase either, even though he came with her to wait in that room, meaning he hasn't passed phase two yet. That means he's on phase one, so even if he isn't IT, he's dangerous to us, he'll target us to pass phase one while we worry about the IT." Emi countered, "That's not true! Alex isn't going to kill anyone!" It was too late, though, everyone had grown distrustful of the fact Alex's numbers weren't appearing above his head like everyone else's. The man with the buzz cut threw his apple core to the ground as he reported "I think we take him out. Being immune to the current rules makes him dangerous." Emi started, "Hold on-" but the voice announced, "The game starts now!" Emi grabbed Alex by the arm and tried to run, but they were flanked by Liam, who proudly displayed the "IT" title above his hours, which read "0:002:03:28." Emi was stunned with confusion as she asked, "How? When I ordered you to give Alex half your hours in truth or dare he got around 100!" Liam cackled menacingly "I spent most of my hours during our break on some bonuses from that strange app. I knew I'd find a way to get them back in the next game, so I had some fun." He demonstrated some of his ability with a swift kick that dented the end of an aisle with a screeching crunch and sent a shockwave that launched various products from its shelves. He admired his work, "enhanced strength for 2 hours, not bad." As the man with the buzz cut led a group of people at Emi and Alex from behind, Liam rejoiced, "I can't wait to try my other bonuses out on you." Emi rose to his challenge and said, "You aren't making it out of this game alive. I'm going to kill you."