ZERO ESCAPE: Last hope. Ch2
Author's note: Consider this chapter as if it was a paralel history for the previous chapter 1, with one of the choices being different, provoking a different ending. As It might be boring rereading all over again the same events before the choice change and you might not notice when was the change, I prepared a summary with the events that happened before that appear in this one too. Trying to make it as similar as the game version could be. (in the way that there you can fastforward text that u already did.). Anyway, enjoy.
Also, this is a work of fanfiction, as the website name implies. Zero escape, its plot and characters don't belong to me.
Edited with the help of a beta reader.
Summary of repeating events for this chapter:
Sigma wakes up in a cell. From MARS? Voice threatens to kill unless escape. Solves the puzzle and gets out.
Join 8 more people: big guy Omega, labcoat Delta, overly suspicious Phi, moto suit Iota, old mole lady Theta, kid Mu, bald businessman Beta and asocial Lambda.
Their kidnapper Zero speaks about the nonary game. One exit. Explosive bracelets. 9 hours.
Bracelet dial shows choices for doors. 2 choices: Heracles door and Hermes door. Chooses Hermes alongside Omega, Theta, Beta, Phi, Iota, and Delta. Mu and Lambda chose Heracles.
Communications room solved!
5 hours left. 2 new choices: Dionysus door and Hephaestus door. Chooses Dionysus alongside Omega, Theta, Phi, Iota. Beta and Delta chose Hephaestus.
Might Zero be one of them?
Recreation room solved!
2 hours left. New corridor with a possible door in the back from other abducted yet to join them. 2 new doors' choice: Zeus door and Apollo door.
Everything becomes blurry…
"Sigma!" Phi shoved my shoulder as I was about to touch the screen, and the Z symbol made my finger to stop just a bit before I could touch it. I really had a bad feeling about it.
"We can… choose, right?" I asked the exasperated Phi.
"Just be careful on the symbol and you'll touch the one you want," she replied.
"I did so and ended touching the Alfa.
I looked at the doors. One had a bearded guy with a thunderbolt in his hand. The other had an almost naked young guy with the sun behind him.
"We'll go through the Apollo door then," said Omega, "Come on; Granny, Sigma."
"Hey! Wait up, punk, I'll teach you how to-" but Theta's complaints were silenced after the door closed behind her.
"Those two never seem to agree. I wonder if we will be alright…" I said aloud.
"Why don't you worry about your own situation?" Phi advised me, following Iota into the Zeus door. It closed behind them.
I nodded to myself and followed Theta and Omega inside Apollo's room. Leaving the door to close behind me, I found myself in a hospital room, or an infirmary, I wasn't sure.
Surprisingly, Theta wasn't sitting in any of the chairs that were in the room but was checking the room instead, same as Omega. Glad at the change of attitude in the old bag, I joined them as well. We didn't have time to sit around anyway.
1:45
Damn.
The first thing that I noticed was how colorless the room was. Furniture, instruments walls, floor, and ceiling were all white. That helped to see the only things with color, apart from the black screens. Those were 4 mannequins seating on 4 benches next to some beds. They weren't ordinary beds, though. There was no mattress, just a plain surface with some screens on the side. There was a fifth bed and on the 5th bench, there was a medical file. I kept it with me as I kept looking.
Omega was trying to open a locker but it was locked or stuck. In any case, it didn't look like it was going to be useful so he stopped and checked the counter next to it. It had some cupboards with medicine bottles of different sizes and color stuff inside. Next to it, a balance was glued to the counter. Or so it seemed when I tried to move it. On one of the balance plates was a scalpel and on the other side a white colored pen, and a needle with a roll of string. Next to it was laying a little weight, but there was no indication of how much it weight.
I was still checking it when Omega snatched the file I was holding, "Let me see that…"
I was going to object, but I guessed it was my fault. I cold have checked it before and I left it like that. I saw Omega frowning and glancing at the mannequins, which Theta was checking with her hands. I looked at them. They were wearing no clothes and their only difference was the hair on the heads. One was blond, one brunette, one ginger and the last one bald.
Omega gave me the files back, "You do this. I'm not playing doctor with these, they are creepy."
"I rolled eyes, "Thanks a lot…" then I proceeded to read the files, "Clinic History:
6:30 Patient George arrived, 2 anesthetic doses given, ready for transplant.
6:45 Donor Patrick arrived, 3 anesthetic doses given, ready for transplant.
6:50 Getting Patrick's left Kidney, 2 0- blood bags placing, closing the opening.
6:55 Opening right side of Patrick lumbar area and placing the kidney, 4 AB+ blood bags used, closing the opening.
7:00 Patient Adam arrived, 3 anesthetic doses given, ready for surgery.
7:05 opening left side of Adam's abdomen, retrieving appendix, 3 0+ blood bags used, closing the opening.
7:10 patient Gilbert arrived, highly contagious, 1 vaccine dose injecting.
Warning: One try only."
I looked at Omega.
He grinned, "Told you, playing doctors."
But before I could scowl at him, our other teammate spoke, "One try only huh… if we do it wrong we won't be getting out… what hope there is left in this kind of game…"
Both Omega and I looked at Theta with a confused face. She looked defeated, sitting on the only empty chair as if one of the 4 mannequins was a dead sibling or something.
Omega shrugged and turned at me serious, "We only have one chance, don't fuck it up."
"Heh, Thanks for the cheers… Ok, first we have to follow the instructions, George arrived the first so he must-"
"Who is George?" Omega interrupted me.
"Damn, good question. If we chose the incorrect mannequin, we're fucked. We looked at them carefully as to guess who was who, but there was nothing on them that could identify them.
"What the fuck? There is no way out? Is this it?" he looked angry and hopeless.
"Don't lose hope, there is time left!" I tried to reassure him, but I was trying to do it to myself as well.
"It's useless," A voice said behind me. I turned to see Theta still sitting on a chair, spinning her cane in her hands, "How much time left? 30 minutes, 40?" she asked me, without even looking at my face.
She could have checked herself… or maybe not, being half blind and stuff. I checked my dial. It said 00:32 and so I told her. She shook her head and sighed, "No, that won't do. It won't be enough. We'll all die here…"
"Hey, cheer up, grandma! We're not dead yet!" Omega said and I nodded. Well, at least, he was looking not as defeated as before but I noticed his anxiety.
Ok, think. There must be something in this room. A hint to identify these dolls…
I looked again to the places I have checked before. Again, I ended at the scale. The scalpel there and the stitching were easy to understand, given the instructions in the medical files. Below the counter, I saw the cupboards with medicine bottles. I almost ditched them until something caught my attention. It was a 0+ symbol. I grabbed the transparent plastic bottle of red pills and checked the label: 0+ blood.
"Omega, didn't you check these bottles?"
"Yeah," he replied, "But I'm sure they didn't have a name like George or Adam on them."
I looked at the files again, then at the bottles. I looked through them till I found the labels mentioned on the files. Soon I had 3 bottles of red pills (labels: 0-, 0+ and AB+ Blood), one of the yellow pills (label: Anesthetic) and 1 of blue pills (label: Vaccine).
My head seemed to press my brain at that very moment and I had to grab my temples for a bit. When I opened my eyes again, the scale was right in front of me. I shook my head and checked the scale intently, "Maybe…"
"You all right, dude?" asked Omega.
I didn't answer and instead, took out the exact doses of the pills and positioned them all on one side of the balance, then the little weight on the other side. The moment they stopped moving, a click sound was heard on the locker that seemed useless before and I opened it without a problem. Omega checked the insides after patting my back, all smiles.
Fuck that hurt. I don't want that kind of physical praise. If it was a woman, though…
Then I looked at old bag Theta and felt a shiver down my spine.
Ok, better no praise at all from anyone! Honest!
"Good! Here are 3 identity cards. No pic but the cards are colored."
"Only three?" I asked confused.
"It's ok, once we identify the first 3, we'll know the one left."
Right… dunno what's wrong with my head, seriously.
"Patrick is red, Adam is black and Gilbert is yellow. Then, George has to be the baldy!" he announced.
I wasted no time, grabbed the bald mannequin and positioned it face down on the first bed starting on the left. On the next bed, I positioned the red hair one. Then I took the scalpel and cut the left low backside of Baldy. It was made of leather so it was a bit hard. A bit apprehensive, I inserted my hand and grabbed a small object. Out with it, it looked like a plastic kidney toy, but it had some weight on it. I placed it on the right side of the Red's lower back after using the string to close the first opening and cutting the second mannequin. I closed the second opening as well.
I took a large breath. Damn, I felt like I was a real surgeon, but it wasn't the lives of the 4 mannequins the ones worrying me at the time. I got the black haired mannequin and I positioned it next to Red in the next bed, facing up. Then I used the scalpel on his belly, cutting the leather on his left side and checking the inside with my hand and took a cucumber shaped toy that felt like lead and left it on the counter. Then I closed the opening.
I then looked at the blonde mannequin. I took it. It was just putting him on the bed and it would be over… Just that?
I looked at the files again. There was no surgery to be done on it. He only arrived and was administered a vaccine cause of a virus or whatever. I frowned. That seemed too easy. Besides, there were two beds.
"Why are there 2 beds?" I asked aloud.
Theta wasn't looking at me and Omega just shrugged, "Does it matter?"
I glared at him, "As far as we've seen this far, nothing is left to chance in here. If there are one bed more than is needed to be used, then it might mean something!"
He glared back, "We only have 10 minutes left, Sigma! Just place it in whatever bed and finish!"
"But if I chose the wrong bed… wait… the wrong bed… Oh… Those bastards…" I finally got it.
I checked the files: patient Gilbert arrived, highly contagious…
I grinned and put the last mannequin in the last bed, avoiding the one next to Black.
Then we heard an electronic voice.
Apollo's room unlocked!
"Yes!" I threw my arms up in a victory. And dodged the "friendly" praise pat in the back that was coming my way.
"How did you know it was the other bed?" he asked all smiles.
"If the patient was contagious, I wouldn't put it in a bed next to the others," I explained.
"Good one!"
"Now let's get out of here!" I said, running outside. I didn't even wait for them this time. What for, is not as if they were gonna wait there forever.
Outside, there was a large door in front of the one I had gotten out from, it had a sea carving on it with a merman holding a trident.
"Hey, check it out! This has to be the last door!" I checked my dial and there were 3 lights, only one left, "Guys, we're almost done!"
But I didn't get a reply.
I looked back. Theta and Omega must have been still inside the room as there was no one behind me. Also, not far from the door, I had just used, there was another closed one. Supposedly, the one Phi and Iota had to open.
What's taking them so damn long; we're running out of time!
Wasn't it weird for them not to follow me? I started to worry, so I went back to the infirmary.
I had been right to worry, both of them were lying on the floor. What the hell?
Wait… what's that red- Oh fuck… oh shit… No way!
"Hey, Omega, Theta!"
But they didn't move. I didn't need to move them either. At least, not Theta, she was lying with her face up, her glasses nowhere to be seen and a terrified expression on her face. The worst was her throat. It was sliced open.
I touched the body. It was still warm of course; she had been alive just a couple minutes ago! Why was she dead?
I looked at Omega, he was the only one who could have done this!
And still, he was also dead!
I slowly pushed him until he was facing up too. His throat wasn't sliced like her; he had only one insertion wound as if he had been stabbed with something.
Like the blood stained scalpel on his right hand.
With a trembling hand, I grabbed it. Indeed, it had the right size to create both wounds.
But why?
Had they gotten into a fight? Killed each other? They didn't seem to hate each other that much, at least openly. Besides, what could had Theta done to even damage Omega that much? He was twice her size! What had happened while I was checking outside? I had been out for just 2 minutes!
I gritted my teeth and forced my eyes closed. Nobody else had gotten out. Were they dead too? Why was everyone dead? Damn it!
I felt a hot shiver down my spine and in a quick rage I almost smashed the scalpel against the nearest wall, but I stopped before even starting, feeling defeated.
They were all dead. Theta had been right; none of us would escape. Was it useless?
I stared at the scalpel in my hand. My hand was now covered in blood too.
This game was a torture; I just want it to end.
The scalpel spoke to me offering the only way out.
Yes, that was the only way. Silly that I couldn't see it before.
I pointed it towards my throat and in a fast movement, it was done. I barely felt any pain, just my chest getting warmer from something dripping on it.
And my legs trembling.
I fell to the floor into a puddle of something red and sticky.
Right, it was my blood.
It didn't matter, though. It was over. Game over.
The darkness engulfed me and I started floating into the nothingness.
END (suicide)
Author's note: Way shorter than previous one. Mostly due to summary. Also, not the final ending yet, just another bad end. More to come soon!