Finn looked at the people chained up with him. He had seen some of them before. Rhea and Dominik had each won one task and come back victorious. He had seen them sitting chained up with other groups a few days ago where they apparently did a big event with several groups at once. Other than them there were two other men who apparently knew each other with how they talked. Chad and Otis. From what he could understand by their way of talking, they too had won a task each at some point not too long ago.
He didn't care about any of them. He cared about the sixth member of this group. Someone who had remained quiet until now. A woman with long, ginger red hair braided behind her back and a pair of light grey eyes. It was rare he had met people with grey eyes and for some reason that intrigued him. She was sitting right across from him and he decided to kick her foot.
"Hey, new kid," Finn said. "What's your story?"
"Leave her alone," Rhea said.
"Everyone here already won at least once before. I know I'm ahead of the rest of you. I wanna know her story," Finn said.
He looked from Rhea and back to the woman sitting across from him. She was staring directly into his eyes.
"I'm Finn and I'm a big thing around here," he said.
"Odina," she said.
"That's a strong name," he said.
"Divine creative inspiration," she said.
"Huh?" He asked.
"My mother read somewhere it's supposed to mean that," she said.
"Oh," he grinned. "I don't know about divine but if you're creative enough, maybe you actually stand a chance in there."
Rhea and Dominik snorted in laughter. Finn looked over at them with furrowed brows.
"What?" Finn asked.
"She's so dead," Dominik laughed.
"She can't go toe to toe with us," Rhea said.
"You two idiots forget only one will win. Even if it's one of you, you're gonna lose your best friend in there. Remember to say goodbye," Finn said.
Rhea and Dominik stopped laughing and instead looked horrified. They hadn't thought that far. Finn turned his head back to look at Odina again.
"What's going on in there?" She asked.
"I don't know," he shrugged. "It's a new task everytime. Something stupid and childish but you gotta win if you wanna survive."
"That's fucked up," she said.
"I know. I won five times," he said.
"Why are you happy about that? You're still here so it doesn't mean being set free again if you win," she said.
His smile dropped. He hadn't thought about it that way. Like everyone else, he had no clue why he was there or how he had gotten there. He woke up from a night of drinking and was chained up in this place. They were all told one person would win and that way get to keep their life. He had been proud having five victories so far but he hadn't stopped to think about how he was no closer to being back home.
"You never thought about it, did you?" She asked.
"No," he answered lowly.
"No one is ever getting out of here. You're proof of that," she said. "It doesn't fucking matter what the task it. We're all disposable to whoever kidnapped us."
"Don't fucking say that!" He snarled. "I'm gonna beat your ass and win once again, and I'm going home."
"Whatever you say," she said.
"I do say, Odina, you fucking bitch! Mark my words!" He growled.
She just nodded and moved her eyes down to the floor again. He was angry and wanted to hurt her but he knew nothing good would come from that. He had to play the game like always.
"They're ready for you," someone said.
They all looked up to see a man under a mask. He grabbed the long chain connecting the six people together and started moving. They got up and followed him into the room. They all looked at the tables and the items on them.
"We're building gingerbread houses?" Finn asked.
"I love gingerbread," Otis said.
"It's not an eating competition, you idiot," Dominik said.
"Pick a table each," the guard said.
They all walked over to the tables lined up and looked at the gingerbread pieces ready to be put together.
"You must all build and decorate a gingerbread house. The one that got the furthest when the time runs out will win," the guard said. "You got 30 minutes."
"30 minutes?" Chad gasped. "That's impossible."
"He didn't say to finish it. Just to get as far as possible," Rhea said.
"And decorate it too," Dominik added. "I bet they pick the nicest one if we've all made it equally far."
"Remember, there are no rules," the guard said. "Time begins now."
Finn looked at Odina standing next to him. She was only focused on her own house and nothing around her. She didn't look scared or impressed by the whole thing. She was most likely keeping everything bottled up inside and was planning on crying later. There would be no later. He was not going to lose this round.
"You're not gonna win so you might as well give up," he said.
"Concentrate on your own house," she said.
"It's a shame we had to meet this way. You're pretty. I would have rocked your world with a one night stand," he said.
"As if I would ever fuck someone like you," she said.
"You would," he chuckled. "Everyone fucking wants a piece of me."
She rolled her eyes but never looked over at him. His chuckle quickly died down when he heard Otis crying out.
"No! It was an accident!" Otis yelled.
They all looked at Otis that had dropped some of his pieces on the floor. He reached for them but a guard was behind him fast. He placed a gun at Otis' head and fired it before Otis could say or do anything.
"Otis!" Chad cried. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!"
Chad left his table to jump on the guard, only to be met by a bullet too.
"Oh my fucking god," Odina whispered.
"Is it beginning to sink in yet?" Finn asked. "There can only be one winner, and that person won't eat a bullet."
Odina looked over at Rhea and Dominik who had their full concentration on their gingerbread houses.
"This is insane," Odina looked at Finn. "You're all fucking insane."
"At least I'm alive," Finn said. "Now build! At least let me win fair and square."
They both turned back to their houses and continued building. The silence was broken by a gunshot. They jumped startled and looked over to see Rhea dead on the floor.
"No! Rhea!" Dominik screamed.
"What happened?" Odina asked.
"Who the fuck knows and who the fuck cares? You're still alive," Finn said.
"Rhea!" Dominik cried even louder.
Dominik jumped down to hug Rhea's dead body and somehow managed to tip over his own table. Another gunshot was heard and he wasn't moving anymore. Odina and Finn looked at each other.
"Only the two of us left," he looked down at her house. "And we're about equally far."
"Fuck!" She muttered.
They turned back to their houses and continued until a loud whistle from the guard sounded.
"One minute left!" The guard yelled.
"Fuck!" Finn growled. "You're not gonna fucking beat me, Odina!"
He looked over at her table and realized her house was already looking better than his. They had made it equally far but she had gotten some nice decorations on it already. He reached over and slammed his fist down on her house and broke it.
"What the fuck?" She asked.
"I win!" He grinned.
She did the same and slammed her fist down on his house.
"What the fuck are you doing, you bitch?" He screamed.
"Finn," she spoked calmly.
"You'll pay for this," he said.
She placed her hands on his cheeks and somehow made him shut up by one look alone.
"You're never getting out of here, Finn," she said. "This is the only way out."
He knew she was right. Tears started running down his cheeks when he saw two guards walk towards them.
"Fuck my life," he said. "I refuse to say thank you. You just got me killed."
"And you got me killed, but you know what? It's alright," she said
He saw the guard behind her raise a gun to her head. Judging by the look on her face, there was a guard behind him too. There were only a few seconds left before everything would turn to darkness. She twisted a sideways smile that somehow made him feel calm.
"I wouldn't have fucked you," she said.
"Yes, you would," he said.