Episode 6
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Previously on "Gladiators." Reese and Lindsay worked out their differences in a duel, and eventually Lindsay was welcomed into the alliance with Sarah. Two other duos agreed to fight it out on the field on honor. Reverend Clarence tried to recruit Jamal into his faith, but was it enough? Three ladies tried to kill the child molester, but this had tragic consequences as Bobby was killed in the crossfire. Julia chose not to live without her husband and fearlessly joined him in death. Like Romeo and Juliet, they are now together forever. Now phase two has begun, and our brave soldiers are preparing to hunt down the gladiators. There can be no more immunity, and alliances will become more fragile because in the end, their can be only one. Which Gladiator will eventually win? Only time will tell.
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Barnes and his soldiers had received the alert, Phase 2 had begun. It was sooner than they'd anticipated, but they would be ready in a matter of minutes. Most had made bets on who would be the first to fall, and ofcourse the network promised a bonus to any soldier who actually killed a Gladiator, any Gladiator. Even in the midst of this chaos, some were talking about taking out Sarah, and not just those who had money bet on her as the next to fall. They thought it was romantic how Bobby and Julia had died together. They knew that Julia killed herself so that Sarah's immunity would be voided. These soldiers wanted to make that death count, it was as good a reason as any to target a Gladiator right now.
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10:44
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Sarah felt bad about killing Bobby, he wasn't her intended target. Still, she had to focus on her own survival right now. She had immunity, for a little while anyway. Sarah couldn't kill Jeffrey during this time, but she could accompany Reese and Lindsay as they hunted for him. Then Sarah got another alert, Julia was dead, round seven had begun. This also meant that not only was it now round 7, it was stage 2. This meant that the soldiers would be coming for them, hunting them all down until there was only one left. The only way to stop them, was to quickly kill the other gladiators. Ideally Sarah still would prefer to kill Jeffrey, and hold off on killing Lindsay and Reese. Still, Sarah had already decided to do whatever it took to win. Survival was the only goal, there was no prize for close second.
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10:53
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Gaines and Mandy arrived at the old office building. They had planned to fight Alan York and Colonel Mcnamara here tonight. But they arrived early, planning to study this place, looking for advantages for when their opponents arrived later. Then they saw the alerts, there were only eight other gladiators still alive, and phase two had already begun. Mandy and Gaines hoped that Mcnamara and Alan would arrive soon, so they could get the soldiers off their back quickly. It didn't escape their attention that eventually they'd have to kill each other, but that only applied if they both made it to the final two, and that didn't seem likely at the moment.
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11:11
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Jamal had dreaded checking the alerts on his smartphone. If another gladiator fell, it was no longer possible to regain immunity. Still, he had to know who was left. It was worse than he thought, Bobby and Julia were both dead, that meant that the soldiers were coming for them. Only nine corpses stood between Jamal and his freedom, one of whom had just spent the last hour trying to talk him out of it.
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Jamal: Those love birds that you married, they're both dead.
Clarence: I feared as much. But I take comfort in knowing that they're together in Heaven now.
Jamal: They could have killed you, but you talked them out of it. Maybe you're just a really good con man, you figure the soldiers might not want to kill you, so you sit it out while everyone else gets killed.
Clarence: If you really believe that, then there's probably nothing I could day that would change your mind.
Jamal: I can't get immunity anymore, but I kill you, maybe they'll give me a little breathing room.
Clarence: You might be right about that. If all that matters to you is your own survival, then you should kill me. But know that I will be joining Bobby and Julia in Heaven. If you continue to kill for their amusement, where will you eventually wind up?
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11:14
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Jeffrey checked his smartphone. It was now round 7, and phase 2. The soldiers were coming for all of them, and some might want to target him for his pedophilic tendencies. Jeffrey also knew that those three women were coming for him, at least if Sarah had immunity she couldn't kill him, now her immunity was gone. Jeffrey was desperate, he still deluded himself into thinking he would go to Heaven when he died, but he doubted would be allowed to give in to his urges up there. He had one last desperate plan, to go to the park, where children were playing. If he was cornered, he could use a child as a hostage. And in the meantime, he might have time for a little fun. But first, he needed to eat.
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11:34
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Alan York and Colonel Mcnamara arrived at the office building, planning to do recon before Gaines and Mandy arrived. Mcnamara was arrogant enough to not think that his opponents would be smart enough to do recon as well. Mandy and Gaines were surprised to see them, but used this opportunity to fire on them. Mcnamara and Alan were surprised, but the quickly took cover. They were sitting ducks out here, they needed to find some way to get in the building, and soon. Mcnamara knew that Alan had given him a distraction that allowed him to kill Abruzzi in the hospital, Mcnamara knew he needed to return the favor. He signaled that he would provide cover fire, while Alan made it to the building. Once Alan got inside, Gaines and Mandy knew he would come to their location, so they made themselves scarce. Once he knew they were now away from the windows Mcnamara went inside. At this point, neither group knew exactly where the other was. It was still anyone's guess who would be the next to fall.
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12:03
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The sniper made himself comfortable on the perch. This spot was directly across from the home of Jamal's mother. It seemed like common sense that he would crawl to his mommy when he was scared, and he must be scared at this point. The game wasn't even half over, and now the soldiers were coming for everyone, who wouldn't be scared. This sniper had bet on Jamal being the next gladiator to fall, there was a bonus for any soldier who killed a gladiator, a bigger bonus if the gladiator had previously won immunity. All he had to do was wait and Jamal would show up.
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12:34
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Sarah, Reese, and Lindsay grabbed some takeout and discussed their strategy. Sarah also gave the cashier some money, and he confirmed that someone fitting Jeffrey's description had bought a fairly quantity of chicken and left.
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Sarah: Jeffrey knows he's going to be killed, by best guess is he wants to indulge while he can.
Reese: He did have a lot of fast food chicken containers. If he wants sex, he'd probably go to a local elementary school.
Sarah: It's summer. Also anyone who hangs around an elementary school would attract a lot of unwanted attention. A public park on the other hand, he could blend in.
Lindsay: There is a park near here, good a place as any to look for him.
Sarah: Yeah, but we better eat first, need to keep up our strength or he will have that advantage over us.
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12:48
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Jamal called his mother.
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Mother: Jamal, are you okay?
Jamal: For now. You were right mom, I talked to the reverend, he convinced me that I need to stop the killing.
Mother: Baby, I'm so happy.
Jamal: He's performing a baptism of me at his church. I'd be honored if you could make it.
Mother: I'll be right over.
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Jamal's mother gathered what was left of her lunch for Jamal. It looked like it would rain soon, but she was willing to risk it to see her son one last time. As she left the sniper realized she was going to see her son, he would just have to follow her.
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1:11
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Alan and Mcnamara continued to try and find Gaines and Mandy. Neither group knew exactly where the other one was. It was during this that Gaines got a message on his phone. It was allegedly from the Underground.
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Gaines: It says they can help us escape the country.
Mandy: You think it's legit?
Gaines: I don't know, but it's as good a chance as any to get out of here alive.
Mandy: We have a more immediate problem.
Gaines: We could probably get away without York and Mcnamara knowing.
Mandy: That's not what I meant.
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Gaines peeked out the window and saw what Mandy meant. Barnes and a few dozen heavily armed soldiers showed up in full body armor. They quickly sealed off the building. Somehow Barnes knew that four Gladiators were here, two had previously won immunity and therefore had higher bonuses. Escape would not be easy.
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1:23
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Sarah, Reese, and Lindsay were in the park. They saw Jeffrey, talking to a small child. With the rain coming the child's mother wanted to go home, but Jeffrey was convincing the kid to stay. The women figured they knew what this pervert wanted with the child, as did the mother, only the small child seemed oblivious. The women were trying to figure out how to get Jeffrey away from the child, but he saw them. In his desperation Jeffrey grabbed the child, and used it as a hostage. Lindsay, Reese, and Sarah all held their guns on Jeffrey. None wanted to take the chance of hitting the kid. Jeffrey knew he couldn't keep it up for long, but once he let the kid go he was dead. Then a shot rang out, a sniper who was hunting all of the Gladiators. The shot hit Jeff in the face, wounding but not killing him. In his pain he let the kid go, who quickly ran back to their mother. Had the sniper been aiming for Jeff to kill him, or merely trying to help the kid. Jeffrey would never know. He knew he was a dead man on furlough, but he tried to fire his gun anyway. It was too late, Reese, Lindsay, and Sarah all fired on him at once, he died huddled against the children's swing set. This meant that there were only nine Gladiators left, but they also knew that there was en enemy sniper in this area. They would all have to kill each other soon to get them off their back. By sheer panic and instinct Sarah, Reese, and Lindsay all aimed their guns at each other. It was a truel, and it was anyone's guess who would fire first.
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The following is an excerpt from Jeffrey's last recorded message.
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Jeffrey: I'm not ashamed of what I am, I've defiinitely had some fun along the way. It's not like I'm a homosexual or anything like that, all my partners have been female. If I get to send a few sinners to Hell, great, they deserve whatever I give to them. And if I die, my sins are forgiven. Until then, I look forward to having some fun in this game.
