I woke up slowly. My stomach had settled by now. My eye felt dry and tired, still. My head hurt. Not only that, but I felt like something was building up in my chest. A familiar feeling....
I swallowed the lump in my throat and slowly broke down to tears. It wasn't just a dream. I knew when I saw the blood on the sheets. I did it. I killed those two men. What the fuck was wrong with me? This isn't a show, or a book. It's not a game. This is real life. It's not a pleasant real life, in fact, my fate seemed to be tainted from here.
Nick was killed, and those two men didn't seem to have been bad people at all, either. I hate myself. This was fucked.
My cell was already open when I woke up, but I couldn't- Well, no, I could, I just didn't WANT to.... Holy shit.
Without me knowing it, someone had entered my cell. They were silent, probably because of the scene.
"uH..."
It was Jonny. Shit, this is not something I want him to be here to see.
"Jack..?"
I heard his voice quake a little. He sounded like he would almost cry, and that made me feel even worse. I was planning on staying still but-
"JAAACKKKKKKK NOOOOOOOOOOO"
He hugged me as I laid there. He was quite loud, shouting into my ear like that. I crumpled in his arms, and when he saw my face, he shut up. I helped myself up and into his arms and he hugged me for a while. I could feel his cheeks getting red as I held onto him. After what felt like a long moment of me sitting in his embrace, he rubbed the back of my head and began to speak.
"You.. You must have… done them in, right?"
I nodded, and it seems he understood, "I would have thought you'd disappear too. But, you didn't. And, sure, maybe you hurt them, but they were going to hurt you, too. It might be fine like this, as well. They weren't good people. You told us about their past, as well. You'd be better at justifying it than me..."
He… Well, he calmed me down.
"I'm just glad that isn't your blood, haha..."
Okay, that gave me a smile. I released him after a moment more of hugging him, and he scooted back a bit. "Don't make me worry like that. You're our best hope of surviving this place. You proved yourself well twice. We can't have you dying so early..."
I nodded, wiping my face with my arm.
"Oh- Uh, someone asked for a hint for the third game. They said the information was very important for you-" He pulled out a paper from the pocket of the uniform, handing it to me. "It was also quite costly.. However! Do not worry, they are okay, they just… lost a few fingers."
I stared at Jonny and he didn't seem like he enjoyed it at all. I didn't, either. I know how he must have felt just hearing about such a sacrifice. I unfolded the paper and read it out loud.
"Friend Feud..?" I frowned a little. The games were tied to some similar ones on earth… Wheel of Misfortune, the "Useless" Trivia one, and now "Friend Feud?"... I handed the paper back, clearing my weary throat "Did you ask what Ashley thought it was..?"
Jonny nodded his head, "Yeah, but she said she never had any electronics when she was younger and only got them recently."
"Sounds unlucky… But, I know what it COULD be."
Jonny's face perked up, and so did his face. "Oh? Really??"
"We're probably playing family feud."
"That game? What'd the punishment be for getting things wrong?"
I didn't know exactly what would happen, but considering the rising difficulty… The first was probably a mistake. It culled the herd too much from what they actually wanted, most likely. So, they shortened it to another knowledge, but slightly luck based game, and now another one like it. If one implied direct damage, would this one be dealing with direct damage, then? Maybe the responses might similarly be tied to the damage of the people on your team.
Jonny nervously chuckled as I was deep in thought. "Ah, I see it must be too much, I can-"
I rose my hand as he was moving to get up, making him plop back down. "No no, I have an idea, but… you'd probably not like it."
His face moved to one of worry "Damn… It's going to hurt us right?"
"Yes, of course, but this one won't be when we are passed out… We're getting hurt whenever we pick a least popular answer to the survey. Three strikes, we'd probably lose a life, at most."
Jonny's face got even sadder. I can understand how he felt. However, I do not expect to lose, should they play fair.