“So…”

204 seemed skeptical. She still distrusted me of course, but at least we had a conversation going. 12 was less amused by my presence. Probably because of the several punches and kicks he received from my end. In my defense, he did kill me at least a dozen times. So he kind of deserved it.

“So…?” I gestured for 204 to continue.

“So you want the three of us to be a team, make our stand here on the tenth floor and wait until enough others have died so we can overpower the last few and leave.”

“That’s the basic gist of it, yeah.” Why did she seem skeptical? It was a perfectly valid plan. Sane, almost, if you disregarded the ‘waiting for all the others to die’ part.

“What makes you so sure this will work?” 12 asked. “What if a mob finds their way up here and overpowers us in numbers?” He looked down from the balcony. People were running and screaming on almost all levels. Luckily, no one had made it as high as floor nine yet.

I shrugged. “I can’t be sure, but this is probably our best strategy of making it out here alive. All three of us.” Suddenly I remembered something. The lounge room. “And I even have the perfect spot to make our stand. Follow me.”

I guided them over to the lounge room. They let out a soft gasp as they entered. “How did you know about this?” 204 asked.

Shit. Little oversight on my part.

“I saw the same thing on the floor below while making my way up here,” I lied, hoping they would bite.

12 eyed me. “I watched you the entire time from the moment you came up to the ninth floor, 83,” he said. “And you went straight for the stairs.”

In an instant, 204 had an arrow nocked and aimed at me. At this distance, catching or dodging would be an impossible task. “Who are you?” she asked with an anger behind her words. “What is this place? Do you know more about it?”

I sighed and feigned an attack. 204 didn’t hesitate and let loose the arrow.

I woke up. Time to try that again.

“I can’t be sure,” I told 12. “But this strategy is our best chance for survival. Did you guys look around this floor yet?”

204 shook her head. “I came straight up here from the fifth floor when I saw the main hall. Something seemed off about the whole thing and I wanted to put distance between myself and the group. 12 had the same idea.”

“And you didn’t shoot him?” I asked, earning a glare from 12.

“That was before people started killing each other down there,” she answered. Good point. “And once that started, we decided to help one another.”

And team up to kill me well over fifty times, I thought to myself. Water under the bridge.

“If you came straight up here,” I asked, “then where did you get that bow?”

“In one of the rooms on the ninth floor,” 204 answered. “Strapped to the bottom of the bed. 12’s idea.”

12 nodded. “I was considering dragging the beds out and using them as a barricade, imagine my surprise when we found the weapons underneath.”

“Imagine that,” I answered. So some of the rooms had different weapons hidden away. What else would I find if I checked every single bed in this building? I backlogged the thought for now, my mind on the lounge room. “Alright, what do you say if we explore this floor, see if we find anything of interest that could help us?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

204 nodded slowly. “I’ll keep an eye on the stairs, you guys look around.”

Perfect. Nonchalantly, I made my way over the lounge room and opened the door. Just as I remembered it. I walked back onto the balcony. To my surprise, I saw two bodies near the stairs on the ninth floor, arrows protruding from their chests.

She wasn’t kidding around. I mean, I knew that already considering all the times she killed me, but it still came as a surprise.

“I found something!” I cried out and motioned for the both of them to come over. They let out soft gasps of surprise as they walked into the lounge room.

“Where the hell are we,” 12 said out loud, as he walked around the room. “What is happening here?”

“No idea, buddy,” I answered, “but this room gives us an excellent opportunity. If we move the couches and sofas into the hallway, we can block it off almost completely. Anyone trying to come through will be easy pickings.”

204 seemed to like the idea, as did 12. A quick moment of planning and task division later, about a dozen couches were moved and stacked into the hallway. If one wanted to enter or leave now, they’d have to climb and balance their way through the small gap left between the highest couch and the ceiling.

“Now what?” 12 asked.

“Now we wait,” I answered.

“And how do we know when there’s barely anyone left?” 204 argued. Damn, I thought, that was a fair point she made.

I mulled over our options for a moment. I could always leave the room and further explore the building to try and discover its secrets. If I died, I could easily make my way back here. But did I really want to stay huddled in this room for who knows how long? The mystery that was the building gnawed on me and I realized I had to know what exactly was going on here. Why hide myself here and waste time while I could easily explore the whole thing and even then make my way back here? I now knew I had a good back-up plan with these two.

It was time to meet the other four hundred something residents of the building.

“We can’t know,” I said and moved to the door. “So I’m going out and see if I can assess the damages.” A lie of course, but the easiest way to get out of the lounge.

“And betray our location to the others?” 12 asked skeptically. I could almost feel 204 tightening her grip on her bow.

I sighed. That was the other way of leaving of course. “Do what you want, I’m leaving.”

They did do what they wanted. The snap of a bowstring and I woke up.

For the first time in a while, I didn’t make my way up to the tenth floor. Instead I grabbed the axe from underneath my bed, that feeling of familiarity and calmness washing over me again, and made my way to the main hall.

Just like last time, people parted for me as I made my way to the center of the hall. I needed to test one more rule I had thought of earlier. I halted in front of 17, lifted up my axe and before he could react, brought it down on his skull. Blood splattered onto my face and clothes and I smiled. That felt good. People screamed and scattered away from me, leaving me in the center of an empty circle.

A heartbeat later, something snapped inside of me and all went dark.

I woke up.

“Rule number four,” I said out loud as I stared at the dull ceiling above me. “Don’t start killing until the announcement has been made.”

Minutes later, the killings began again. I ignored the screams as explored the chaotic hallways of the first floor. I’d decided I would go floor by floor, making sure I had uncovered every single inch of the building by the time I was back on the ninth floor. Axe and sword in hands, I stalked my way from room to room, inspecting each and every one of them.

Most people ran from me as they saw me approach, which was the smart idea. Others seemed more confident with weapons of their own. Sometimes they were rightfully confident during my first few encounters with them. But with every death, every new loop, I learned their fighting patterns, their favorite swings, their dominant stance…

The only one I had avoided thus far had been axe maniac and the dead-eyed woman I had encountered in my second loop. Something was off about those two.

To my dismay, the first floor seemed to contain nothing but either numbered rooms or empty hallways. I checked under every bed, behind every mirror, around every corner. Sometimes I found a bow and arrows, sometimes I found a small spear. With how tight the hallways were however, I always kept my sword and axe at hand. The only weapon I really wanted to find though was a gun, but so far my search had been without success. I wondered if those who created this place refrained from giving us guns on purpose.

Now that I thought of it, was my death loop on purpose? Or was this is a mistake on their part? Whoever they were.

Numerous deaths and retries later, I finally had to admit that floor one had nothing of interest. Not that it bothered me, I still had nine more floors to explore, but I’ hoped for at least one clue that led me towards the answer. Still, the search hadn’t exactly been without any results. I’d grown far more used to the axe and sword and wielded them with a certain lethality.

“Time for the second floor,” I muttered to myself as I walked back towards the main hall. Absently, I wondered what axe maniac was up to. I’d had a few close encounters during my search of the first floor, but had always managed to avoid him.

Not this time however as a figure appeared at the end of the hallway leading into the main hall. A figure holding a bloodied axe, a red grind and insanity-induced eyes on his face.

“Here, piggy.” He growled. “The wolf is here.”

Here we go.