Once we entered the gym, there was an aura that could be felt throughout the entire room. It seems like everyone was just as nervous as I was. Since it’s pretty clear to us now that they want us to kill each other, it definitely makes sense why we would be worried that this mandatory meeting is going to try and foster more hostility between us. Not like things can get much more hostile than they already are. Sienna hates Keon’s guts. Keon and Cyrus heavily dislike each other. The twins split up in a very explosive way. Conrad called Miles a coward. There’re not a lot of good vibes as of now. It feels like one small push and chaos will take over this place. Hell, even just being stuck here for a couple more days might be enough to truly push someone to the brink. I’d really like to believe that no one could be capable of taking someone’s life here, but people do it in the free world for a lot less and they do it a lot more often, so it’s really hard to say. I just hope I can make enough friends to keep myself alive until we are found because I am definitely not clever or strong enough to do it on my own.
Levi and his entourage took their places on the stage in the back of the gym in the same place where they first introduced themselves. We were also in the same place sitting in our chairs that are laid out as if we are in some sort of harmless school assembly. I never thought I’d wish I was at a homecoming assembly, but I finally found a good reason to go against my antisocial personality. I’d almost rather be going up to give a speech at high school graduation…almost. Things aren’t that bad yet. After bowing to the crowd, Levi finally began speaking.
“Wow! What a turnout! I almost feel like I should be a little nervous!” he said. “I’ve always had a little stage-fright, and even in a place of power, it doesn't quite go away.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Sienna yelled from her seat.
“Tough crowd…” Levi said. “I’m just trying to open up to you guys, and show you some of my insecurities…”
“Oh, Levi. Don't mind them. They are very lucky to be in your presence, they are probably just in awe!” Andrea said while shooting us more death glares.
“It’s quite alright,” Levi said. “I can’t expect them to be nice to me all the time. They are in their rebellious years after all.”
Both Sienna and Carmen gave Levi the finger simultaneously. I’d be way too scared to say anything to these armed psychos, so I commend their courage. Even though Sienna and Carmen are on opposite sides, they seem to have similar ways of sticking it to the man. Maybe if we can get the groups back together, they’d be thick as thieves.
“Oh, ho! How lively! Alright, I think we can start now. What I’ve brought you all here to discuss is the lack of murder happening so far. It’s truly disgusting that you are all still alive.”
“I thought you said that we didn’t have to kill each other and that it was only an option if we wanted to leave?” Keon said, standing up.
“That is true, and I stand by what I said, but that doesn't mean I have to like it,” Levi said. “In fact, because I don’t like it so much, I’ve decided to hurry the process along!”
“This is only our second day! No one would stoop so low that quick!” Amber yelled.
“Perhaps, you have a point. However, I am not a patient man so I will be giving you all a motive! Isn’t that fun?!”
“M-motive?” Louis said. It looked like he was about to go back to his old ways of cowering in the corner.
“Do your worst, shitdick!” Sienna yelled.
“I doubt there’s a motive you can give us that is stronger than just keeping us here, so you shouldn’t waste your time and ours,” Keon said.
“Yeah, it’s not like anything can get worse at this point…” Miles said.
“It’s cute that you all think that,” Andrea said. “Levi has you all like clay in the palms of his hands. If he says ‘jump’ you say, ‘how high?’ Now, be good malleable lumps and stay quiet until he is finished.”
Everyone decided to stop disrupting his speech and braced themselves for this supposed ‘motive.’ I really don’t know what could drive me to kill someone, especially since I’m not sure if I could come up with a good enough plan to do it and get away with it. No matter what it is, I’m going to stick to my plan of trying to stay close to Marin and the others.
“I’m happy you see me as that clever, Andrea,” Levi said. “Now, for the motive, I am going to be giving you all friendship bracelets!”
No one said anything. It seemed like some of us were worried if they’d be dangerous, and others thought that this was some sort of joke. I fell into the first category myself. I’ve played Zero Escape before and nothing good can come from a mastermind giving you a bracelet even when the word ‘friendship’ precedes it.
“Now, everyone line up in a single-file line and Andrea will put all of your bracelets on individually. This is mandatory.”
“Wh-what are the bracelets going to do?” Amber asked.
“I’ll explain everything once everyone has one,” Levi said. “Please be patient.”
“If you are waiting until the end to explain, then they are clearly dangerous in some way!” Marin yelled.
“Please refrain from making judgements or assumptions. I swear on my honor that I will answer all of your questions after everyone has one,” Levi said.
Alex then left Levi’s side and brought a box from behind the stage and took out the first bracelet. It was hard to see from where I was sitting, but I could definitely tell it was lacking the bright vibrant colors and beads that made it look like an actual friendship bracelet. It instead was metal and looked more reminiscent of a prison shackle than anything kids would give each other in 3rd grade art class. The bracelet very much matched the oppressive atmosphere we were feeling in this hellish building.
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“Well, if no one is going to line up and be cooperative, then I guess we’ll just have to put them on in the order of your seats,” Levi said. “Let’s start on the left side. Carmen, looks like you’re our first lucky participant! Lucky you!”
“Lucky my ass,” she responded. “You are not putting that thing anywhere near me.”
Andrea walked up to Carmen in her seat who was standing her ground. Two very outspoken and confident people going at it with the stakes so high. It’s a people watchers dream. However, with these life and death circumstances, it’s hard to not be nervous even when you’re just watching.
“Be good now,” Andrea said. “I wouldn’t want to hurt you.” She lifted her jacket up to show her gun holstered.
That definitely would have made me cave, but Carmen did not change her expression. She stood up. Got close to Andrea's face. And said, “Fuck you.”
A second after Carmen had said she was on the ground with Andera on top of her. Andrea was punching her in the face as Carmen tried to block the blows with her arms. Andrea’s punches were too strong though and the protection her arms were giving was not very effective. I saw blood streaming from Carmen’s nose as she started to try and curl into a ball to better protect herself. Only about ten seconds after the fight had started, Conrad, Keon, Marin, and Alex went to break them up. Alex had grabbed Andrea off of Carmen like she weighed nothing at all while the others put themselves in between the two with Marin looking after Carmen’s injuries.
“You motherfuckers!” Conrad yelled.
“You will pay dearly for this! I fucking promise you that!” Keon yelled even louder. “If you think you can beat us down and prevent us from escaping while keeping yourselves intact you are gravely fucking mistaken. We will have your heads on stakes for this.”
“Ugh. She got a few good hits in. Fucking puta,” Carmen said holding her nose.
“Alex, please escort Andrea outside to cool off,” Levi said.
Alex nodded and carried Andrea out of the room while she shouted expletives at us. The passion Keon showed was more than I had ever seen from him before. I really felt like curling into a ball myself. Seeing Carmen get her face beat in was enough to extinguish any doubt that this was a serious situation. I think I finally know why Louis felt the need to hide from the world.
“Sorry about Andrea,” Levi continued. “She’s very…passionate. Now back to the bracelets! Alex, why don’t you do the honors?”
Alex took the box of bracelets and went over to Carmen who was still being looked over by Marin.
“Stay away from her!” Marin yelled. Carmen took her hand.
“It’s fine, Marin,” she said. “Go back to your seat. I’m fine.”
Marin looked at her sadly, then complied and went back to her seat. Carmen didn’t fight Alex and instead put her arm out and let the bracelet be put on. No one else seemed much in the mood for fighting either as everyone else received their bracelets without much fuss. Once Alex got to me, I was able to finally get a better look at the bracelet as a whole. I didn’t really learn anything new as it was just a shiny piece of metal. But my main takeaways were that it looked like it might be very difficult to get off, and it felt heavier than I thought it would be.
“Now that the bracelets have been given out, I will explain what you all need to know,” Levi said. “These bracelets are locked onto your wrists, and they cannot be removed through any means. They are electronically locked and any attempts to try and break that lock will be futile. There is also a heart rate monitor built in that will notify us when it feels a lack of heartbeat, so cutting off your hands won’t work either! Here’s how they work: One of these bracelets is set to automatically inject a slow-acting poison into one of you within the next 24 hours, and they will only be removed when a murder is carried out. If a murder is not carried out within the next day, one of you will die a slow and painful death.”
“WHAT?!” Conrad screamed. “Y-you’re lying right?! This is a joke!”
“Oh my god…” Emma said under her breath.
“This is so fucked up…” Sienna said, tearing up.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” Miles said while grabbing at his bracelet.
Everyone seemed to have their own ways of coping. Almost everyone was grabbing at the bracelets, holding their heads, or mumbling to themselves. The only people who weren’t panicking in some way were Cyrus, Robbie, and oddly enough Louis. Nothing ever seems to phase Cyrus and Robbie, so it made sense for them to be okay, but Louis was panicking since we first came in the door. He was looking at the bracelet carefully and pushing on the front of it. He did say that he was an electrician, so maybe he has some knowledge of the technology used in these bracelets and can help us get them off somehow. I guess that thought was my own way of coping.
“Sorry, Conrad, but I am fully serious,” Levi said. “Things are so exciting now aren’t they! Now no one can feel safe! One of you will die no matter what, so you might as well try and carry out a murder so you can have a chance at survival! That’s the only chance you have to guarantee your safety! Come up with a fool-proof plan and carry it out to perfection and you will get to go home with your life in tow!”
“You’re a fucking freak,” Carmen said. She sounded like her nose was clogged.
“Glad to see you’ve got your bite back,” Levi sneered. “Now, go everyone. Let’s have a wonderful and eventful day! I’m excited to see how you all adapt to your new circumstances!”
After that last statement, Levi, Alex and Jane left the stage through the back entrance. Jane shot us a worried glance before she left. I don’t think this is going to be an easy thing to fix even with her help. Having a bracelet on my wrist that could possibly kill me within the next day is not something I can put out of my mind, and looking around, I can see that others feel pretty similarly. Although if only one of these bracelets is filled with murderous intent, then I guess the odds are in all of our favors, but regardless, someone will have to pay the price if we can’t find a way to get these off or deactivate them. Still, I doubt that even if we did find a way, they would let that stand without giving us something worse.
“There’s no need to panic,” Keon said.
“Shut the hell up!” Sienna barked. “This is not fucking funny anymore. I need to get out of this fucking place.”
“There is no way to get out currently without someone losing their life, so just calm down and let’s think this through,” Emma said.
“Emma’s right,” Keon said. “Let’s all go to the gym and discuss our next move. We cannot let them have the upper hand for even a moment.”
Sienna ignored their words and walked off in a huff.
“Seems like they’ve had the upper hand since we’ve arrived here…” Mia said.
Cyrus’ group was still making themselves scarce when Keon was around except for when it was time to be critical, so only Marin, Mia, Emma, Carmen, Amber, Conrad, and myself were still listening to Keon. Louis was still in the corner tinkering with his bracelet away from the group, and Sabrina was as white as a sheet looking straight at me. I still don’t know why she’s always looking at me, but I’ve weirdly gotten used to it at this point. I just really hope she’s not planning on cutting my head off. Regardless, I think it would be smart to avoid her if I can help it.
“We’ve still got numbers and someone on the inside,” Keon said. “Hopefully, this partnership with Jane will prove fruitful and not something that will eventually dig our graves.”
“We’ll just have to be cautious with giving her information,” Emma said. “We need to only receive information rather than share any of our own to her. That gives us the highest percentage chance of this being beneficial even if her intentions are not entirely transparent.”
“Agreed,” Carmen said. “That’s the only way.”
“Alright. Let’s go,” Keon said.