The Televangelist by Deus X Machina
The first thing Theodore Craig noticed when he regained consciousness was the coppery taste in his mouth. Fear drove the drowsiness from his mind. Was it blood that he tasted? He moved his tongue around, finding a round metal object inside his mouth. It was held in place by a heavy iron contraption that covered his mouth and wrapped around his head.
Theodore was sitting on the hard concrete floor of a room. There were no windows and the only door was a small round one in the center of the wall opposite to him.
Oh, dear Lord please help me, Theodore thought as frightened tears spilled from his eyes onto the contraption's mouthpiece. As he slumped on the ground, he felt something press inside his pocket. Reaching inside, he found a tape recorder. His hand shaking, he pressed Play.
The tape clicked to life. "Hello, Theodore," said the soft, harsh voice on the tape. "I want to play a game. You have made a fortune by taking advantage of people like me. The sick. The desperate. The doomed. You take their money and give them nothing but false hope. They leave their doctors and you rob them of what little life they have left. You are a liar, a false prophet. And do you know the Bible's punishment for false prophets?"
As if on cue, the heavy round door on the other side of the room swung open, revealing a dark and narrow tunnel. Theodore heard some machine activate and heard the sound of rocks tumbling around inside the tube.
The tape continued. "The punishment is to be stoned to death. The device being held inside your mouth is a bomb. In five minutes, it will detonate. The key to unlock the device is at the other end of that tunnel. The inside of the tunnel spins, causing stones to tumble around inside. Think of it like a cement mixer. If you can survive the punishment God has prescribed for you, then you shall be freed. Live or die, Theodore. Make your choice."
Taking shallow, frightened breaths through his nose, Theodore glanced at the revolving tunnel, where stones were thrown around, waiting to crush him to death. Gathering up what little courage he had, he sprung forward, unknowingly releasing his headgear from a tether in the wall and starting the bomb's timer, and threw himself into the tunnel. Almost immediately he felt the stones pummeling him, smashing his body like the fists of an angry God. He desperately put his hands over his head to protect him, only to feel his fingers getting crushed. As he inched desperately down the tunnel, he felt more rocks raining down on his body, breaking bones and crushing organs. He vomited blood copiously but since his mouth was blocked, it filled his nose and he nearly suffocated. His vision fading, he struggled and finally reached the key hanging at the end of the tunnel. Grabbing it, he unlocked the device, pulled the bomb from his mouth and dropped it on the floor. Blood flowed from his mouth, clearing his nose, but he had no time to enjoy his ability to breathe. He had to turn around and make the return trip back through the door. But he was weakening. His bones were literally shattered by the rocks and huge amounts of blood flowed freely from his body. His eyesight was fading; he was effectively blind.
Finally, halfway through the tunnel, his body gave out. He was at the mercy of the stones, a helpless sack of flesh filled with shattered bones and loose muscles. The last thing Theodore saw, before that final rock struck his head, was the bomb, thrown around by the revolving tunnel, landing right beside his head.