"What's going on? Where am I? Who the fuck are you all?"
Alyx heard the strange female voice and opened her moss green eyes. She looked around and saw other people lying on the hard ground next to her. She slowly sat up and looked at everyone. She didn't know a single one of them or where she was. She did a quick headcount and counted 20 people in total.
"Cool hair," a guy said.
She looked behind her and was met by a smile from a bearded, long haired man. He lifted his hand and pointed at her hair that was currently dyed black with pink tips.
"Cool hair," he repeated.
"Thanks," she said.
It was a strange thing to talk about her hair as the first thing in a place like this but she knew everyone dealt with fear of the unknown differently. Several voices were already shouting for answers.
"I'm Seth," he said.
"Good to know," she said.
"Seth Rollins," he said. "Do you have a name?"
"Yes," she answered.
He chuckled a bit and tilted his head to the side.
"Care to tell me?" He asked.
"Alyx," she answered.
"And your last name?" He asked.
"Does it matter?" She asked.
"I suppose not," he said.
She looked around again and let out a sigh.
"Glancy," she said.
"Alyx Glancy," he chuckled. "It has an Irish ring to it."
"I wouldn't know. I don't care about researching my ancestors," she said.
"Are you always this annoyed? You come across as sort of dry," he said.
"No, normally I'm in a better mood when I haven't been kidnapped," she said.
There was a hint of a smile on his face as he nodded. It made sense that she wasn't friendly towards him. She stood up and looked around the long room they were all in. There were four doors leading to other rooms, and a giant screen on each wall next to the doors showing a picture.
"Does anyone know what's going on?" Someone asked.
Alyx looked over at the blonde woman who had asked the question and noticed the black collar around her neck. She looked around and saw everyone was wearing the same collar. She brought her hands to her own collar but she couldn't get it off. All four screens suddenly changed to the same message.
"I don't know how to read," a man said.
Seth cleared his throat and started reading out loud.
"Each door leads to an arena. Everyday one of you will have to choose an arena. Once you have been through one, you will go to the back of the line until everyone has taken their turn," Seth said.
The message changed to one single sentence.
"Player one, choose your arena," Seth read.
The screens changed back to the original pictures. Alyx studied them. One showed a long road with a few trees and bushes spread out. On the side was a tall fence that was impossible to climb.
"Make it to the end of the road," Alyx said.
"Huh?" The blonde woman asked.
"This arena," Alyx pointed. "It's a long road. I guess you have to make it to the other end and you're free to go."
"What about the others?" The blonde woman asked.
"You got water over there," Alyx pointed at a screen. "There's ground on both sides so most likely you'll have to cross the water. The final two rooms make no sense. I guess we have to see them to figure it out."
"They look identical," Seth said.
"Not quite," Alyx said. "Sure, all we can see are rooms full of giant squares of metal plates but look at the squares. One room has holes in all the metal so something will most likely come up through those holes. The other room has plates slit down the middle. Like trap doors."
Everyone looked at the different screens as Alyx pointed them out. The blonde woman made her way over to Alyx and stuck out her hand.
"You seem like the smartest person here so I'm on your team," she said. "I'm Carmella."
Alyx grabbed Carmella's hand and shook it.
"Alyx," Alyx said. "Anyone wanna choose first?"
Everyone shook their heads no and tried making themselves invisible.
"They can't actually make us choose, can they?" Carmella asked.
"There's cameras. They're watching us," Alyx pointed out.
"Screw you guys!" Carmella shouted. "Go fuck yourself. We're not choosing."
Everyone screamed when they were shocked from their collars.
"What the fuck?" Seth yelled.
"They're gonna fucking electrocute us all until someone picks a door," Alyx said.
They were all shocked a second time and it didn't stop on its own.
"I'll do it!" Carmella screamed.
The electricity was turned off and Carmella nodded at Alyx.
"I'll do it," Carmella said. "I'll choose the road. How hard can it be to run to the other end?"
Carmella stepped over to the door and it opened for her.
"Will comeone come with me?" Carmella asked.
"The message said only one player each day," Alyx said. "This is not a team player game."
"You got this, Carmella," Seth said.
Carmella nodded and stepped inside.
"There's a screen in here too," Carmella said.
The door closed behind her and a new message appeared on the screen.
"Go to the X by the middle of the road and make it back to safety once the car appears," Seth read.
"What the fuck?" Alyx whispered.
The screens changed back and the one by Carmella's chosen arena turned into live footage. They all watched as Carmella walked down the road and stopped at an X painted on the road.
"Carmella?" Alyx shouted. "Can you hear us?"
No answer came. Clearly Carmella couldn't hear them on the other side. A gate opened in the other end and a truck appeared. It suddenly started driving at full speed towards Carmella. She turned around and ran towards the door she had entered from. People were screaming for her to run but she didn't make it back to safety. The truck ran her over, stopped, then backed over the body to make sure she was dead. The screen turned back to the still picture of the road again. A guy bent over and started throwing up. A woman placed her hand on his back to soothe him.
"It's okay, Daniel," she said.
"Didn't you fucking see that, Brie?" He snapped.
Brie moved her eyes over to Alyx and furrowed her brows.
"You knew that was going to happen. You're behind this," Brie accused Alyx.
"If I was behind it, I wouldn't fucking electrocute myself," Alyx said.
"I don't believe you," Brie said.
"I don't care what you believe," Alyx said. "We can stand here and fight for the next 20 days until we've both been through an arena, but make no mistake, we will both have to go in one at some point."
Alyx walked past the couple and down the long room.
"Where are you going?" Seth called.
"To see what's down here at the opening in the corner," Alyx said.
No one had noticed the opening until now. Everyone started moving slowly while letting Alyx have a headstart in case something was in there that would kill her. Seth ran past them all and caught up with Alyx.
"You seem pretty chill about this whole thing," he said.
"What's the point in panicking? The rules were pretty clear. Panic won't make this whole thing go away," she said.
They stepped through the opening and found 20 mattresses.
"Sleeping arrangements," she said.
"And sand," he said.
"It goes further. There's probably toilets somewhere in that direction," she said.
"You seem to know your way around this place. Have you been here before? Or have you tried something similar?" He asked.
"No," she said. "I've just known some fucked up people in my life so nothing really surprises me anymore."
She heard everyone start talking about the mattresses behind her and she continued through the sand. He followed her once again. It was a fake beach with no real ocean to escape through. They found a small wagon with two toilets in them.
"Guess you were right," he said. "Carmella was right when she said to be on your team. You are the smartest person here."
"Carmella's dead," she reminded him.
"But still," he said. "Why do you keep walking?"
"I wanna see where this thing ends," she said.
She kept walking until she been through every shadow and corner. There was no escape and nothing else to find. They walked back to the mattresses and saw that everyone had picked one each. There were two left next to each other and they picked one each.
"Toilets are in that direction," Seth said.
"Are there any food or water?" Brie asked.
"We didn't find any but the fake beach goes on forever. I'm sure there's a way in for them to leave it by the end when none of us are down there, or they'll go through one of the arenas with it when we're in here sleeping," Alyx said.
"I hate this place," Daniel said.
"I think we all do," Alyx said.
"I'm sorry I accused you for being part of this. I wasn't thinking straight," Brie said.
"That's okay. I'm not mad. I do suggest you all get some sleep because we all have to face an arena at some point. It's best to be full of energy when it happens," Alyx said.
Alyx lied down and Seth lied down too. He reached over and ran a finger over the knuckles on one of her hands.
"How are you truly feeling?" He whispered.
"Tired," she whispered back.
"You're not one to give away any secrets, are you?" He chuckled lowly.
"What secrets do you wanna hear?" She asked. "My parents abandoned me when I was 3. I lost my virginity when I was 14. I have an ex that used to beat me up. When I was 19, my best friend cut off my hair in my sleep because she was jealous I got attention from a guy she liked. I was once in a hit and run. Anything else I need to tell you to satisfy your curiosity?"
"Damn!" He said. "I'm sorry for being nosy. And if you remember anything from that hit and run, I'll help you find whoever was behind the wheel when we get out of here. And I do mean when, Alyx. We will outsmart whoever put us here."