————————————————————————— The night following Ante’s outburst, the yelling got louder. Not just by a fraction, either; while the victims couldn’t quite differentiate their captors’ words through the concrete walls, specific voices were discernible. Ante, who’s voice was risen a few notches as if he was defending himself. The female kidnapper, who’s voice seeped with both disappointment and hostility. The ginger kidnapper, who showed little emotion in his words, but his voice was deep enough to reverberate throughout the building. The doctor, who’s voice was animated, paired with bitter laughs in between lapses in the argument. Some unrecognizable voice mixed into the fray, sounding vaguely like Rudy’s yet not as pitchy or upbeat. The individual behind the intercom who shouted bitter words at what seemed to be Ante, mustering up the most emotion he’d shown throughout the entirety of the kidnappings. The argument fell off after a long while, and for the rest of the night, the victims were submerged in a tense silence. Even the morning after, an eerie hush fell over the building. The man over the radio didn’t speak, leaving the victims to wake up on their own accord. As for the three on the bottom floor, they were oddly silent; perhaps it was because Ante had been replaced with the burly ginger and was nowhere to be seen. The victims quickly realized that their doors were unlocked, and they all carefully padded down to the main floor. Once everyone was on the main floor, the third kidnapper tentatively stepped up. They awkwardly cleared their throat before looking down at a small scrap of paper, which seemed to have random notes on it. “Okay, uh—howdy everyone. The boss isn’t doing stuff today, so… I guess I’m giving the instructions for today’s task. Don’t worry, everything’s dandy!” They explained, smiling weakly underneath their mask. “Okay—so, uh… first, choose the strongest in your group,” They started, looking down at their notes. “And then choose the three weakest in the group.” They continued, swallowing. “And I’m, uh… I’m gonna give the strongest person my gun, and then they’re gonna…” They trailed off, looking up at the skylight above before making a gun with their hand and creating mock gunshot sounds with their mouth. “… Yeah. So the strongest person goes to the far right of the room, the three weakest go to the far left.” They added before looking up. “Oh! If you have a strike, you’re gonna want to follow M— uh—her, female kidnapper with curly hair.” They quickly corrected, face going red underneath the mask. The second kidnapper shot them an iron glare. “Yeah. Follow me if you have a strike.” She followed up, arms folded. “We’re also going to be having our next singing competition tomorrow. The same as the first competition we had in the beginning—just sing your song. We’re speeding things up a bit, so be ready.” The female kidnapper warned, taking a step forward. “… Yep… Whelp… time to discuss! Give us your strongest… and your weakest. We’ll be giving food to whoever survives after this.” The third kidnapper remarked, finally backing off. And then, with shaking fingers, slowly slid their shotgun into the middle of the room. At first all the victims backed away from it, knowing all-too-well what the guns meant and what they were capable of doing. Things were tense for a few long moments after the receiving of the gun, everyone having the same thought: it felt criminal, taking a weapon that killed so many close friends. But then, slowly but surely, careful discussion in the form of song started to echo throughout the room. It was kill or be killed, the remaining 15 contestants had realized. Between the cracks in the wooden panels over the windows, the sky was a suffocating gray. Death was knocking at the facility’s doors, but this time… it was at the hands of one unlucky victim. Who would survive… and who wouldn’t make it to see another day? —————————————————————————
