The Final Chapter

Whoever decided to replicate this game in real life is absolutely psychotic.

I aimed my sniper at the remaining two players who had guns pointed every which way. They would never know where I was, I change position every single time I've fired a shot. I was aiming for the guy on the right and fired. Plus, since I had a silencer on, they would never know either. The player fell down while the other one, bent next to him and held him close. I saw her shoulders shaking and she had placed her gun on the ground. A wave of emotions rushed through me but I didn't have a choice. I had to survive.

As I aimed the target at her back, I felt powerful, like I had control over her life. I got to choose whether she lived or died. Perhaps that's how the assholes who kept us in this game feel, perhaps that's how God Himself feels...if there is ever even a God. I've lost hope on Him years back.

Looking at the defeated girl, I finally pull the trigger.

~

The Final Chapter X.

A video game inspired by The Hunger Games. The whole point was to survive no matter what was at stake. But instead of 24 tributes, there were 100. It was a multiplayer game after all, I enjoyed playing it a year ago when it first came out and if I had known what would happen if I had won the damn thing, I would never have played this game. Ever.

The setting we're all kept in now was The City, the one I chose in my first victory. It was easier to hide in buildings and target people to shoot rather than face them head on. I don't think I would be able to shoot someone if that person was right in front of me, eye to eye.

As I leaned against the cemented wall, I thought about the first time I got the email from the Creators of TFCX, saying I was one of the lucky players to meet them. I got all excited and went to the said location, only to be knocked unconscious. The next thing I knew, I was here in this familiar abandoned city, where a voice-over stated there will be only one survivor. Like the damn game. Ever since then, I've learned to survive everyday.

Now, I believe there were still 68 people left, according to the screen where the psycho (or psychos) show the faces of the people who were killed every night on that massive screenboard a top one of the tallest buildings.

Suddenly, I heard a bullet hit the wall next to me. Scrambling up, two guys walked over, both holding guns to shoot me. I had my sniper slung behind my back, my mind wondering what the hell I should do.

"Finally found you," the guy on the left said. "You wiped out our group just now. I knew there was only one player here, Ralph and I hid back then and managed to follow you."

"You're him, aren't you?" the other guy named Ralph asked me. "You're that guy that everyone's been calling the Shadow. Who never shows his face but still manages to aim perfectly."

"I guess," I managed to say. If I could swing my sniper and just shoot them right now in a second...only if that were to be possible. There were two of them, if I aimed at one, the other would shoot me. Is this where I die then? I've managed to survive for so long. But honestly, I'm done killing people.

Just then, Ralph shoots his own friend and I watch as the bullet goes through his head. The guy dies in an instant, and I look at his dead body with a look of horror on my face. I manage to take the sniper and aim at him.

"Whoa, whoa," Ralph said, raising both hands. "Hang on for a moment."

"You killed off your own friend!" I exclaimed, keeping my finger on the trigger.

"Huh, I had to," Ralph said, sighing as he sat down on the cold floor. "If it's not me, he would've ended his own life."

"What? Why would he...what?" I asked, confused. But a part of me understood why, I've thought about doing so countless of times before too. Ralph gave me a calculated look.

"You're a solo player and yet you've managed to survive for this long," he said. "Do you know why that is?"

"No," I answered, still aiming the sniper at him. He just shot his own comrade, I could be shot next.

"Because there's no one holding you back," Ralph stated, putting his gun in his belt. "Me and -" He looks at his friend lying still " - Sean? We've been in three groups so far. I met him in the first group I joined, they died due to an explosion set by another group. Three of us survived, me, Sean and his sister named Kira. Then we let other three join our group too. But we were attacked by the group you just killed. They were looking for supplies and food."

My fingers on the trigger loosened slightly. "They didn't kill you?" I asked, surprised.

"They killed four of us as we tried to defend ourselves," Ralph said, and I saw him blink his eyes. He was fighting back tears. "Sean and I were wounded, but I told the group that they might need more people in their group and we were pretty great shooters so...they let us join them."

"They believed that?"

"Reluctantly at first, but then Sean and I saved them by shooting others and they trusted us," Ralph said. "Until you killed everyone else."

"I'm sorry," I said, leaning against the wall, putting the sniper down.

"Nah, don't be, you're smart," Ralph said. "This is just how we play this shitty game after all. That's the bottom line isn't it? To survive?"

"You could've killed me instead of Sean," I told him.

"Sean was already losing it," Ralph replied, looking at me. "He couldn't sleep at night. He begins to think everyone's trying to kill him even when we were in the group, including me...I don't think he could've survived for long."

"So you ended it for him?"

"Yeah," Ralph said. "Besides, you're the Shadow. I think I have a better chance of surviving with you rather than anyone else in this game."

"Sorry," I stated, hurriedly. "I'm a solo player."

"I know, but someone needs to have your back," Ralph said, standing up.

"No," I said, sliding the sniper behind my back. "I need to go. I'm glad you've survived this long now, I hope we meet again sometime soon."

I began walking away, waiting for a bullet to go through my heart or head. But Ralph didn't shoot me. As I rounded the corner, I spotted two people, a girl and a guy. Without a second thought, the girl shot me.

I cried out as I fell back, clutching my arm. "Not looking so amazing now, are you Shadow?" the girl said, grinning menacingly above my head. She faced the guy and said, "You were right about following those two idiots instead of killing them out there."

"Well, they did talk about finally managing to find the so-called Shadow, I mean, I wasn't expecting a teenager, what a disappointment," the guy said, walking towards me. The blood was soaking my clothes and the pain was intense. I couldn't hold the sniper and shoot them right now. Crap.

"Let's just finish the job, Jake," the girl said, aiming to shoot me.

"Yeah, you do it, Ursula," Jake replied, grinning. "Once this guy dies, it'll be easier to kill the rest. No one's that skilled enough to shoot from a sniper as this guy is."

Another gunshot and Ursula screamed out, clutching her bleeding right hand. With another shot to her back, Ursula slumped and fell down inches from me. "Ursula!" Jake exclaimed as he took out his gun.

I glimpsed sideways and saw Ralph aiming at Jake from behind a pillar. Jake fired at him twice and Ralph hid behind the stone pillar, then aimed and shot Jake again. This time, it hit his leg and he stumbled back and fell down the stairs. I crawled and leaned against the wall as Jake cursed. Then, looking at me, he aimed his gun only to be shot in the chest as Ralph approached.

"Shit, shit!" he said, crouching down and looking at my bloody sleeve.

"I'll be fine, I just need to take the bullet out," I told him.

"Do you have supplies?" he asked, urgently.

I took out a rolled up bag from my jacket pocket and Ralph hurriedly took it. Taking out the tweezers and ripping open my sleeve, he said, "This is gonna hurt."

~

The stars looked the same. I honestly wondered where the hell were all 100 of us taken to actually be placed in this pathetic game. Every night, before I slept, this thought came into my head and I missed my parents and younger brother terribly. God knows where they were, what they were doing...were they trying to find me? If I find out who kept us in this bloody dreadful game, I'm going to make his or her death worthwhile.

"Here, eat this," Ralph said, placing a stale looking bread next to me.

"I'm not hungry," I said, abruptly. Ralph took out the damn bullet and bandaged up my arm. Then we both decided to stay at the top of the building. I was inside my sleeping bag and he was leaning against the wall, eating.

"Look, you need to strengthen yourself up, you lost quite a lot of blood," Ralph said, sighing.

"I said I'm not hungry," I told him.

"Eat it," he stated with finality. I don't know why but it reminded me of my younger brother, who told me to drink the soup when I had a terrible fever in the past. Despite the throbbing pain in my arm, I smiled and began eating the bread. "Good," he said, satisfied.

"When do you think will this end?" I asked, quietly. I never had anyone I could ask this to.

"Hopefully soon," Ralph said, looking up. "It's sickening, forcing people to kill each other. What the hell is this person thinking?"

"Exactly," I said as we heard a loud BOOM in the sky. The screen flashed. It was time to see who were killed. Ralph looked at it as I looked at the sky. I didn't feel like seeing anyone's face I murdered tonight.

"Nine people," Ralph said, sitting down on top of his sleeping bag.

Nine. Which means there are now 59 people left. "I honestly regret winning this game the first time it was released," I said.

"Same here," Ralph said. "I bet all 100 players have the same regret."

"Who do you think will survive till the end?" I asked.

"I'm rooting for you," Ralph answered. "You're called the Shadow for a reason, you know."

"What about you? Don't you want to win?"

"Of course, but...surviving after everyone else is dead...I'm likely to feel stained for the rest of my life," he answered. "After all, I am a murderer. So are you, so is everyone. Whoever wins, gets to feel that way for the rest of his or her life."

"If I do survive," I told him. "I'm gonna find the asshole who set us up here and give him a bloody death."

Ralph scoffed. "I'm sharing in that dream too."

"By the way," I began, not sure if I should be asking this. "How could you manage to kill someone you know so easily?"

Ralph became quite for a while. Then he said, "I don't know. I just thought about how he's suffered for so long, you know? His sister, the groups we were beginning to see as friends...his trust deteriorating and...I just...I shot him. Haven't you ever done that?"

"There's a reason why I use a sniper," I replied.

"And also why you're a solo player?"

"Yeah."

"So you wouldn't manage to kill someone if you look at them face to face?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"No," I replied instantly. I didn't want to see their haunted faces when they died. That would haunt me for the rest of my damn life.

"You would have to do that, you know," Ralph said. "If necessary."

"I know," I muttered and looked at the sky again. A thought struck me; if somehow Ralph and I managed to survive till the final chapter...we would have to face each other to win this game. He just saved my life and I know that I'll do the same when the time comes. But then, if we do face each other...will I be able to pull the trigger then?