Chapter 2 – American Students?
For someone with an aura of bloodthirst, he seems rather humanely softened at the sight of this blonde girl. I suppose they are good friends and was killed together during their school trip? It's no surprise how wicked Mother Nature can get. Just guessing.
"Glimmer..." he muttered, soft but audible enough for my heavy metal ears. I watched as he went over to inspect her face, brought forth his hand to touch her cheek.
She kicked him at the side and begun rolling on the floor screaming, waving her hands wildly as if she was attacked by a group of beasts. It's no surprise for one to enter this room acting as though they were alive a few moments ago.
"Hey Glimmer, it's me! Marvel!" he held onto his hip in pain, I assume this lady here is packed with punches, which is a good sign for her own survival in Gantz, she will need it.
"The beeeeees!" she shrieked, scaring the little girl lying beside her, I went over to wave at the groggy African American, she looked at me dumbfounded for awhile.
"Katniss?" she asked, "How long have I been out? Did you win?"
I stared at her amused, her reaction provides leads to my questions; she passed out? No, she died... that answer is more than certain. But to speak of 'winning', were they participating in some kind of survival games? It must be cruel to send students to fight against the wild, what is in the heads of these oddball faculties?
"Hey young lady, what happened?" I asked, she looked at me trying to focus, "and I'm not..."
As she closed her eyes for a long while, straining hard enough to narrow the concentration at me, I smiled at her readily to greet her as a newcomer to Gantz.
She let out a frightened gasp and backed away, shifting away along the sleek wooden flooring. I stretched out a hand like those of a welcoming guardian, but it was not enough to win her trust, she continued to back away towards the Gantz ball.
As she moved away, my attention landed on the calmed Glimmer, she was looking at me with confusion, then back at her worried guy friend.
"Who's this? And where are we right now?" she demanded for an answer from Marvel (I actually remembered his name).
The boy was quiet, he looked at me, which redirected the girl's eyes, then turned his head to look at ball. For a few seconds, I was drifted into their stream of attention, I felt my eyes fixated on the Gantz ball, just like how when I first entered the game. The feeling of disarray fell back into my mind, no; rather they crawled their way up to my eye sockets. Refreshed memory sent a great shock down my spine.
"Hey?" Marvel called out to me, I snapped out of the illusion of fear and turned to look at them, my jaw was hanging, my eyes speak of transiting hazy horror.
"Yeah?"
"Tell us where we are" he wasn't asking, he seems to be telling me. This guy can prove to be troublesome once he gets his own suit on, what if he were to really pick a fight with me?
"This is Gantz, a posthumous game where the chosen dead gathers" I said, trying to keep it short. One part of me wanted to burst forth all the information I know of, but it would be a waste to my effort to if I don't conserve it for later.
"We're dead?" Glimmer asked in bewilderment.
"Yes, but I would like to know how did the three of you died" I said, standing up and checking out my suit to make sure that it is working. Without the suit, I cannot keep order in this place.
"I won't believe it, how could I possibly die?" Glimmer shouted; my impression of her has crashed downhill and snowballing, I could only look at the little girl, who seems to be afraid of the two of them more than me.
"We're all dead" I said calmly, finding it difficult to think of anything informative to speak for now. If this chaos lasts long enough, I might actually lose my cool and not tell anyone anything before the mission transfer.
"He's right" Marvel pressed a hand firmly on her shoulder; she looked up to him frightened. It is not an uncommon sight in the Gantz room, some would refuse to accept that they have 'passed' on and some might even take this place as their hallway to paradise.
Glimmer whimpered a little, then turned to look at the little girl, "Isn't that Rue?" she asked Marvel.
"Yeah, I was the one who threw a spear at her" he smiled.
Their conversation sickens me, but this makes me think about the possibility of their pre-arrival scenario. Were they fighting each other? And why would Marvel pick on Rue?
"What do you mean you killed her? She's defenceless" I said, backing away towards Rue to act as her protector, I have to win her trust somehow, as for Marvel and Glimmer, I will win their respect and that would be quite enough.
"Why not wait for everyone to gather, then I'll tell you what happened?" he said, his smile was disturbing, it appears to me as if he was brought up to kill. But what annoys me is his mimicry of my sentence structure from earlier.
"There's no time, since your group seems related, it would be of great favour to all of us if you tell me what happened"
"You said we're dead right? Then why in the world should I care?" he put on a smirk as though he had outspoken me.
I looked over my shoulder to ensure that Rue is feeling safe, which somehow she appears to be as she clung onto the back of my shirt. I smiled at her, but her uneasiness is still heavily present, I stroke her hair, hoping that I wasn't as creepy as I thought. It was then she lowered her tensed shoulders and smiled back. I believe I had won her trust, at least a little.
"Died to die again, that's what I can guarantee, and the deaths won't be swift, usually" I stared at the Gantz ball, "alright, I will start explaining when there is at least eight of you here"
"Oh don't worry; there will be more than ten actually..." Glimmer sighed and smiled, her expression portrays equal amount of menace compared to Marvel.
"Which part of America is this?" I asked, trying my best shot, this might not even be America.
"America? I heard of that place somewhere in History textbook" Marvel sounded neutral for once, "this is Panem that you're in"
