{TIME’S UP}

Mr Z’s voice boomed loudly in everyone’s ears like the precursor to an epidemic.

Right after, Karh watched with a feeling of dread in his heart as some people directly collapsed right to the ground.

Even the young man wearing a pair of glasses to his right was included as sweat visibly soaked the shirt he wore.

“I guess this is it…” he muttered under his breath in a way that was still audible enough for Karh to hear.

To his left, the screaming and aggressive man had also mellowed down as he stared upwards with a melancholic air to him.

All around, almost everyone had somehow distanced themselves from the people that were yet to find their numbers like it was an epidemic and they were the sick ones waiting with dread for a dead sentence.

{ Now…Let’s see.}

The image of the man on the screens dressed in a white shirt, black buttoned up jacket and pants with a hat on his cane could be clearly seen as his head moved slowly from one side to the other, almost like he could see it all.

It was obviously humanly impossible for him to have been able to read the cards but the way he moved and chuckled made it seem like he had no problems doing so.

{I guess…not all of you were lucky enough to find your numbers}

{Still, allow me to show you where you could have seen it if you had looked well enough}

The very next second, white cards with big numbers written on it began to rise into the air. For the ones that were able to find their numbers, theirs hovered slightly above their heads for all to see. But for those that didn't, their numbers simply floated in the air wherever it was, with a thin red thread linking it to the particular person it belonged to.

Karh looked down at himself, before looking straight at the red thread that led to his card, until he completely lost sight of his card completely.

It was obvious that he never had any chance of actually finding it in the first place.

However, the man by his right wearing a pair of glasses, looking well groomed like a gentleman was a different case. His eyes widened with unbelievable shock as he slowly followed the thread from his body to his card, who unlike the others wasn’t floating in the air but stuck directly under someone’s feet.

Even Karh couldn’t hide his shock at seeing the spectacle right in front of him.

“What the hell did you do?”

He yelled the anger in his voice palpable as he moved closer to where the thirteen year old girl stood with a confused look on her face.

“Wh…what?” She stuttered shocked at the yell that was directed right at her from beside and the red look in his eyes.

“You’re standing on my f***** card” He proceeded to yell beyond annoyed. He was yet to know his fate and unlike others whose cards were miles away from them, the person right beside him proceeded to stand on a card without so much as caring to check what number was written on it.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

‘That’s my life you stood on,’ he wanted to yell, moving a couple of steps closer to her with a largely agrressive aura that showed that he would like nothing more but to beat the hell out of her only to stop, doing his best to reign in his anger until only a frown was left in his face.

What was done had been done. Raving about it wouldn’t change a thing.

His shoulders shook in anger and Karh understood just how pissed he was, and couldn’t help but be impressed by his self restraint.

While he decided to keep quiet, the openly aggressive Middle Aged man with a permanently pissed off expression on his left didn’t.

“If I were you, the least I would do is teach her s lesson before I go to the great beyond,” he said standing there with a tired expression on his face that showed that he too had accepted his fate. Especially since he too had been unable to find his number.

“I’m sorry! I’m very sorry!” The girl muttered under her breath, with her head bowed to the ground.

“I didn’t know…I swear I didn’t know. If I did, then I would ne…never…” she continued right before breaking into loud sobs that echoed further past where they all stood.

The young man with the glasses on his face simply pretended to be deaf as he waited around for whatever was going to happen next.

Unsurprisingly, Karh’s side wasn’t the only side where drama was springing up.

In different sections where different people yelling and screaming at their neighbours blaming them for how blind they had to be not to have seen their numbers, especially after it had been screamed out over and over again.

The noise was slowly getting louder, and in some cases some even resulted in fist fights as women clawed at men and some men attacked, slapping some women with clear hatred in their eyes.

From Mr Z’s vague words. It was clear that they had all concluded that they were going to die.

It continued for a while and just when Karh, looking around was sure that every corner was about to explode into chaos, he finally watched as Mr Z interfered.

{SHUT IT!}

A loud booming sound echoed loud enough to pierce Karh’s skull, so much so that a few seconds later he could still hear a dull ringing in his ears, half convinced that the ground was slightly shaking.

Instantly, the entire atmosphere became eeringly quiet as some people even wavered as their bodies tethered on the edge of falling to the ground.

No sound could be heard until Mr Z finally opened his mouth to speak again.

{The first part of my game was pretty easy right, yet some of you still failed. Now, I can’t help but be a little pissed}

{The second part is next}

Everyone instantly felt a chill down their spine the moment they heard those words, watching as the boxes on the ground suddenly began to light up in blue while the ones around Karh and the people beside him who were unable to get their cards, suddenly watched as the boxes they stood in on the ground suddenly turned red.

People, especially the ones without numbers became visibly afraid.

Someone in front of Karh even seemed on the edge of stepping of his box and into his neighbour’s own when Mr Z’s voice echoed in the air again.

**********{Sharing a box box is instant Death!} , with the person about to step into his neighbour’s box slumped into his own, as he gripped the floor in fear.

With the mask with the big letter Z on his upper face, the expression he had couldn’t be seen but his tone was especially angry, enough to terrify everyone.

Even Karh seemed to have absolutely no idea what to expect next, as he heard his next words.

{For this second part, I’ll make it even easier…}

{All you need to pass Is a number. ANY NUMBER}, Mr Z said and almost everyone sighed in relief prepared to simply grab any number on the ground only to watch as the ones on the floor and without any owners slowly began to disappear.

The cards hovering over the heads of those who had them moved until they fell right into the hands of their owners.

Even as everyone watched what was happening in front of them with palpable shock, Mr Z continued speaking without any change in his tone.

{You all have fifteen minutes}

{Steal a number and you survive}

{The moment the countdown ends, any one without a card would be burnt to a crisp.