Ethan woke up disoriented, confused for a moment by the unfamiliar room that greeted his groggy eyes.

Unpleasant memories of the previous day resurfaced instantly, kindly reminding Ethan of the danger he was in, which then segued right into slight paranoia that he was somehow next. This was made all the worse when Ethan heard footsteps in the hallway, passing by his door. Ethan's head instinctively swivelled towards the bedroom door, heart pounding at the thought that his bad premonition was actually coming true. In his mind's eye, he imagined Blue fervently breaking down the door before taking his life. Here's Johnny.

The internet meme would often crack him up, except Ethan found it difficult to appreciate the joke this time. Fortunately, the footsteps simple passed by his door and continued towards the stairs before fading away. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ethan started preparing to leave his room.

“– Congratulations. Task completed. –”

The announcement blared throughout the compound.

Task completed? Did... did someone else die...?

It might not be murder... Maybe its something less... gruesome?

However, Ethan could not shake off the sinister feeling of the situation he is in. It was more than likely that the sort of "entertainment" that George seeks is more in line to what Blue had done.

This sudden development threw Ethan off, who was in the midst of removing his shabbily made barricade from the door. All the announcement had served was to reinforce the danger that Ethan as in, forcing him to seriously consider his mortality with every decision he has to make. But at the same time, his curiousity and desire to understand what had happened kept nagging at him, pushing him to brave the danger instead.

This mental tug of war made him indecisive, unsure of how to proceed. There was the possibility that the footsteps he had heard was related, which would make things more dangerous for him.

But its won't do me any good to hole up ignorant, there's no way I can just hide for the next 6 days without leaving for food and water. It'll probably be better for me to know what is going on instead, then I can get a better sensing of what to do.

Ethan's eternal pondering was interrupted by a sudden thumping on his door.

"Hey White, you alright in there? Its me, Grey. That announcement has nothing to do with you right?"

Ethan's heart had shot to his mouth by the sudden banging. Reminding himself that Grey was probably safe and trustworthy, he breathed deep in an attempt to calm himself.

"Yeah I'm fine. Let me just get some stuff out of the way."

As Ethan proceeded to remove his blockade, a sudden thought struck him. How did Grey know where I am? Ethan's hand held onto the door knob, but hesitated to open it.

"Hey, um, how did you know I am in here?"

There was a short pause, which to Ethan felt like an eternity, before Grey gave a reply.

"Mm its good to be cautious kid. You looked out of it last night when you left the dining hall, so I followed you. I didn't have any ill intentions though, just wanted to make sure you were ok."

Grey's reply did help to ease some of Ethan's doubt, though not all of it.

Sounds understandable I guess... Well, its probably too early to be making enemies, and her and Yellow are the only 2 I can trust right now.

Ethan steeled his nerves before proceeding to unlock and open the door. Fortunately, a gory death did not happen next. Grey stood before the door, but her attention was towards the dimly lit hallway, face grim. Turning her attention back to Ethan, she showed a satisfied smile.

"Good, you don't seem as jittery as yesterday. Lets go see if we can find out what this completed task is."

Without waiting for Ethan's reply, she started to walk towards the neighbouring door. Silently following Grey, Ethan contemplated mentioning the footsteps he had heard prior to Grey's arrival. If they do find something on this floor, its likely that the owner of the footsteps was linked to it.

On reaching the next room, Grey managed to open the door without resistance. A cursory glance suggested that no one had occupied the room during the night. The next few rooms were similarly unlocked, though some showed signs of previously being occupied, they too did not yield any results.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Grey tried the last room and found it to be locked. No answer followed by Grey knocked on the door, whose patience quickly wore out. She proceeded to give the door a few solid kicks before the handle broke loose, granting her, and Ethan, entry to the room.

Grey strode into the room without hesitation, but then immediately stopped in her tracks. Following her gaze, Ethan looked into the room. There, on the bed, displayed the outcome of the latest accomplished task.

A man in his late 30s laid still and lifeless. He was naked, though his lower half was patially covered. The 1st thing that Ethan registed in his shock was the man's hands. They were at his throat, as though he had been clawing at them in his final moments. The gold bracelet on the man's wrist informed of his identity. Well, given identity anyway.

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"Poison?"

While Ethan had been frozen in shock, Grey had already proceeded to examine the body, doing so with practiced ease. Hearing Grey mutters, Ethan registered the blood on the man's face, from his mouth, nose, and even oozing out of the eyes. Once again, Ethan felt the all too familiar sensation of nausea as he staggered out of the door gagging and retching air, tears forming in his eyes.

"Yep, that's an injection site right there. Right there on the thigh! Now... where is his card?"

When Ethan finally recollected himself, he re-entered the room. This time though, he resolutely looked at everywhere but where the corpse was.

"Why are you so interested in this? It just sick but... does it matter who did what? I mean, once they're done, they're done, you know..."

Grey simply gave Ethan a searching look. It was the type of gaze that made Ethan felt like he was being studied, as if every little detail of himself was being unravelled infront of Grey. After an uncomfortably long silence, Grey finally spoke.

"What's your group? The one on your card."

"Wha- Um, it says 'Civilian'. Why?"

Flustered, Ethan replied uneasily, unsure of the intent behind Grey's question.

"Same here, and as for why I'm interested in the death of gold? Well, I think its simplier if you just read this."

Grey produced a Grey card from her pocket and handed it over to Ethan. Apart from the color, it was in every way identical the Ethan's own white card. Realising what he had just recieved, Ethan quickly browsed the information printed.

Name: Grey

Group: Civilian

Task: Ensure no Outlaw leaves

So his task is to stop outlaws. So... those like Blue?

"I guess you need to find out who the criminals are then. So if someone completes their task illegally, their grouping changes to 'Outlaw'? Wait, then why are you sharing this with me? I mean, not that I will murder anyone or the likes, but isn't it detrimental to you if I did need to?"

Without answering Ethan's questions, Grey silently took back her card, and then handed a black card over to Ethan.

"That card belongs to Black. He's the one Blue got."

Ethan heart skipped a beat when he heard that. Resisting the urge to fling the card away, he proceeded to read the blood-stained card

Name: Black

Group: Outl▇▇

Tas▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇

Parts of the text was unreadable, but Ethan could easily guess the group that Black was assigned to.

"Oh... I see. Then um, how many Outlaws are there...?"

"Well, so far at least 3. Black, Blue, and whoever did this to Gold. It would be nice if it was just these 3, but I highly doubt a game so steeped with sinister intent will stop there. Its best to assume we are the only two in the 'Civilian' group..."

Ethan shuddered at Grey's words. It seems like his chances for survival were much slimmer than he had thought. Ethan sank to the ground in despair, clutching himself in desperation as he found his body shivering in absolute terror at this new found knowledge.

If every Outlaw's task leads to murder, then...

"""

We're screwed then. I knew I was going to die soon, but... In a place like this?

No way... I, I don't want to die here, not like this!

Mom, save me mummy...

"""

"Snap out of it White. You aren't alone. If we work together, we can both survive. There's still hope you know, don't write yourself off like that."

Grey patted the half-crying Ethan on the back, attempting to console him the same way she would pacify her crying child.

"I may be a detective now but I was a cop before, protecting citizens is still my job. We'll stick together and I'll keep you safe. And hey, I can even help out with your task. Does that sound good White?"

Somehow, Grey's words sounded reliable and reassuring to Ethan. Clinging onto the hope that Grey offered, Ethan found himself regaining his sense, blushing as he imagined the pitiful display he had shown moments ago.

"Yea sounds good. Thanks Grey. And well, my task isn't all that much. I just need to survive all the way, which I had almost already gave up on just now... Hahaha..."

Ethan handed his own card over to Grey, forcing out a laugh as he said that. Grey gave the white card a quick scan and then returned it, pleasantly surprised that such an innocent task would be handed out. She had mentally prepared herself for the worst case scenario where White had to do something borderline illegal, if not outrightly so.

"Well, that makes things easier then. Best to not let anyone else know about it. There may be some who will go out of their way to ensure you don't succeed."

"Also, you should know that Blue-"

A sudden shrill scream came from the doorway, interrupting Grey mid-sentence. Ethan whirled around, coming face to face with Yellow standing at the door way. Her eyes bulged as she stared at Gold's lifeless body, one hand gripping the doorframe for support, while the other covered her mouth in shock. Ethan could not help but empathise with Yellow. He too had reacted similarly.

"Is- Is he dead?"

Yellow's question was barely a whisper, her eyes darting between Ethan and Grey. Nodding grimly, Grey updated Yellow on what had been discovered, mainly that the deceased was Gold, who was very likely poisoned. Ethan noted that Grey had purposefully left out the 2nd part of the conversation regarding 'Outlaws' and 'Civilians', and Grey's own task.

Does Grey not plan to involve Yellow? Does she suspect Yellow too?

To Ethan, it had seemed that Grey had decided to trust him without much effort on his own part. Hence, he was unsure on why Yellow had been purposely left out of the loop, or by what criteria he had obtained Grey's favour. Nonetheless, he had took it as a hint that unless he knew the contents of a participant's card, it would probably be best to be more wary.

Maybe Grey simply decided to take a gamble with me. I guess no one would think 17yo teen would pose much of a threat. At least, not to a full grown adult.

Well, either way, its good to know I'm not alone. I should support Grey as much as I can too. Which reminds me...

"Oh! A few minutes before the announcement, I heard someone walk past my door. Since its this floor, it may have been the killer..."

Ethan blurted out, faintly hoping that this information would be of use to Grey.

"Hmm, that would help narrow it down. Orange was the last person to enter the dining area before the announcement. When I left to find you, Silver had been loitering around the toilet, which is odd. I never saw Brown or Green, though that may not mean anything."

Grey stood in place for a few minutes, arms crossed, frowning in contemplation.

"Well, its a good start, but we're going to need more clues to pinpoint the killer. That said, your stomach has been growling for a while now White..."

Ethan blushed furiously at that comment. It was true that he was starting to feel famished. All the excitement early in the morning without any breakfast finally caught up to him. Out of consideration for him, Grey and him headed to the dining area to continue their discussion. In their tow was a somewhat confused Yellow, who had probably misunderstood the reason for Grey's, and somehow White's, interest in finding the killer.