===Rafferty Bucke===

"Oh no." Charī muttered. "It appears we are quite screwed."

"No shit, it's a Ten, and a Ten of Hearts of all cards!" Gabura snapped. "And with twenty one other people while we're the only ones who have no idea where we are! Could the odds be any more against us?" Hysteria swept through the room, as the people that were in the hospital gathered around in the lobby.

"I mean, at least it's a card we don't have yet?" Natsuki insinuated.

"Araya!" Someone shouted. "What do we do?"

"Okay, everyone remain calm!" He shouted, his thundering voice silencing the crowd. "Let's not panic and fall victim to what the game wants. Let's hear the rules, and go from there."

"He's right! Everyone, listen to him!" A woman's voice said, as she weaved through the crowd, walking up next to Araya; it was Aoyama. "This is a horrible stroke of luck, but if we all cooperate and use our brains, we have a fighting chance!"

Aoyama Tōka
Vigilante • Musician

"Before we begin, let's take a precaution." The announcer buzzed.

"What does it mean by that?" Gabura asked, turning to me.

"I-I don't know!"

"Um, guys..." Charī mumbled, pointing to a vent.

"Oh my god, what is that?" Someone shouted. A scream ensued, as the mob entered a wave of distraught.

Me and Gabura followed Charī's gaze, which landed on a vent that began spewing a gray gas. I turned around; another vent down the hall effused the same substance. The corners of my vision darkened, and I shook my head, clearing away the growing black, bringing a sleeve to my mouth, grabbing a hold of Gabura and Charī. "Come on! Let's g-get out of here! Maybe w-we can outrun or e-escape the gas!"

Natsuki backed into me, staying clear of the smoke, as someone next to her collapsed, unconscious. Natsuki squealed, before toppling over face-down.

"Natsuki!" Gabura shouted, dropping down to her knees. "Are you okay..." Her words began slurring, as more people around us began dropping. Charī's eyes drooped, as he steadied himself against a wall.

"W-Welp, I tried. Good l-luck..." I slurred to Charī with a grin, before collapsing. The darkness won.

. . .

I coughed. Something prodded against my neck; I shifted around, trying to dispel the uncomfort, before noticing that not only was I lying down, but I was lying down on something soft. I was in a hospital bed, and a metallic collar hung around my neck.

I sighed. "Collars... O-Once again." Couldn't the game maker have chosen something more original for me?

Lifting the covers, I scanned the room I was in. My hand was tattooed in bold; I was patient number thirteen–unlucky thirteen. 'Though,' I thought, 'considering I'm in Asia, I guess I should be glad my number wasn't four.'

No sound came from the surrounding rooms, so I moved over to the front door, but it was locked. I sat back down on the bed, tapping my foot, waiting for any signs of change to occur. With nothing else to do, I patted down my collar, searching for any mechanisms. My fingers traced over a button at the end of a notch, undoubtedly a lever. I flicked it, pushing it over to the other side.

And at once, a wave of electricity surged through my body.

I screamed, falling to the floor, my senses exploding with a rippling thunder that tore into every inch of my skin. I reached for the collar again, turning the lever back. Rolling over, I laid like a puddle on the floor, sweating and panting.

"All players have awoken. Let us explain the rules, after which the doors will then be unlocked."

'What was the point of having us subdued and dragged into each of these separate rooms?' I wondered, bookmarking the thought as the announcer began stating the rules.

"The game you will be playing today is Common Enemy, difficulty Ten of Hearts, as you already know. Hiding among the players is the Enemy. In the lobby is a safe that contains the exit key to the hospital. However, the safe needs a code which only the Enemy has. Players will need to hunt down the Enemy, and find a means to extract the code from them, via torture or convincing. For your convenience, each collar comes with a powerful shock system, which may aid in extracting the code from the Enemy.

"There is only one chance to input the code. If it is incorrect, it is an automatic Game Over. To achieve a Game Clear, players must escape the hospital within the time limit, which is four hours. If the time limit is met, and the Enemy has withheld the code for the entire duration of the game, then it is Game Over. With that said, let the game begin"

'Four hours?' I thought. 'Why are they allotting so much time for this game if it's meant to be a ten?' Pushing the thought aside and adding to my list of bookmarked observations, I got up from the floor, steadying myself on the bed railing, and making my way outside the door.

Two other people were outside of my room. I looked down; to the right of me were rooms fourteen and fifteen. They each had their numbers tattooed on their hand respectively.

"Do you have the tattoo as well?" One of them, a tall man numbered fifteen, asked.

I nodded, holding up my hand with an excited smile. "Unlucky th-thirteen."

"What should we do?" The man asked.

The woman numbered fourteen spoke up. "Let's all head to the lobby, so we can take a look at the safe. It's likely that's the idea everyone else has too."

I nodded. "G-Good idea." We walked down the hall, the flickering lights causing me to shield my eyes. The Three of Hearts got ugly–very ugly–with just six people. With twenty one people, plus us from the Beach, the game could turn very, very violent.

Noise began echoing down the halls. I perked my ears; the high-pitched voice was undeniably Charī's. I began running, heading to where the hallways met, and collided with Charī.

"Ouch!" He yelped, rubbing his head as he got up off the floor. "Rafferty! Nice to see you."

"Hey! Think this g-game is fun yet?"

"Well, quite frankly, I'm not as a fan of this game as you are."

I shrugged. "I love H-Hearts games, wh-what can I s-say? Let's just go find Gabura and Natsuki." We led the way, as the two people that were with me, and the one other person with Charī followed behind us.

"We're on the third floor." Charī stated. "I looked outside the windows earlier. I don't know how this'll help, but maybe we can find an elevator?"

"Down this hall for one more minute, then right turn." The man that was with me said as we passed by a hallway. "I helped map out this entire hospital. It's shaped like an F, and has five floors. There's an elevator at each end of the F, but only the furthest one works."

"Huh?" Someone said, as we continued to travel down the hall. "I'm having trouble following along. I've only been here for a few days."

"H-Here." I offered, taking a glass vase and smashing it against the wall. It yielded a flinch from some of the people that were with us, as I grabbed one of the shards and drew out an F by scratching up the wall with the tip of the glass fragment.

The man pointed out the features with his fingers. "Earlier, we were down here." He pointed to the lower portions. There's two hallways, with two rooms between each of them, and they eventually meet up, as we did easier."

"Here!" Charī said, taking out a sheet of paper and pencil from his pockets. "I never leave without this. Draw it out."

The man sketched a rough map on the wall, before revealing it to us.

"Ah," Charī said. "That makes sense."

"And the l-layout is identical for each f-floor?" I asked.

"Correct." The man said. "Five floors are all the same F shape, and there's a basement as well. Oh, and the first floor is different too, the lobby is a big open area at the entrance."

After another thirty seconds of walking, we made it to the elevator. I pressed the button for the ground floor, and after a bit of waiting, the elevator arrived. "It t-took a wh-while for it to get h-here." I observed. "I th-think the others are going down as w-well."

We got on, the soft elevator music doing little to quell the mood. "So, one thing that I'm confused about," a woman said, "is the time limit. This is a ten, yet why do we have so long?"

"I've thought about it too." Charī said, shrugging. His hand was marked with a sixteen. "It has to be an intentional design choice."

"I guess w-we'll see..." I said, as the doors opened on the first floor.

"This way." The man led, as we got out of the cramped space. After another bit of walking, the lobby came into view.

And it appeared we were the last ones to arrive. Araya met our eyes, and visibly sank in relief. "Oh my god, you guys are here. Okay." He took a deep breath, sliding to the reception counter and leaping on top of it. "Okay, let's see... If we can do this the easy way. If you're the Enemy, please step forward."

No one stepped forward. No one made even a single sound. I got onto my toes, peeking over the shoulders of the crowd. In the middle of the lobby was a safe, like the rules stated. On it was a standard pin system.

Araya chuckled, his forehead glistening with sweat and his eyes darting across the room. "Anyone? Well, I guess that was worth a shot."

"Raff. Charī." A voice whispered. It was Gabura, who had crept along the sides of the room with Natsuki.

"Gabura." I replied, as Araya continued talking. "Th-The safe. Did you check it?"

"Yes!" She hissed under her breath. "Me and one other guy lifted it. Nothing."

"Hey!" Someone shouted. The room's attention shifted to them–a man wearing a white jacket and glasses. "That group that you did a trade deal with." He nodded to Araya. "They've been whispering this whole damn time!"

"It's likely it's them!" A frantic woman shouted. "It's too convenient! They show up, and then a game starts!"

"It's one of them!"

"Maybe it's all of them!"

"Capture them and torture them!"

Waves of yelling filled the lobby, as the crowd shifted, some backing away from us, some closing in.

"These damn sheep!" Gabura yelled with her teeth bared.

"You!" Charī shouted, pointing to the man that accused us. "Everyone else was working through it diplomatically, talking to Araya and answering his questions. Why did you feel the need to accuse us? We're stuck here and have no idea about the layout of this building but have no way of communicating without sticking out, so of course we'd confide in ourselves! That's kind of suspicious, wouldn't you guys say?" He asked aloud to the room.

"Yeah... That does make sense!"

"Why did you call them out?"

I rolled my eyes. "Wh-Why are people so easy t-to control?"

"They're scared and don't want to stick out." Natsuki said. "They'll always go with the majority opinion..."

"Wait, we're forgetting something!" Someone said. "Araya and Aoyama! Aren't they the most suspicious?"

Someone else grabbed Araya by his hand, yanking him down. "He's even tattooed number one!"

Natsuki screamed; someone snatched her wrist, pulling it upwards. "She's number twenty five! She's the last number, that's got to be weird too!"

"Put them down, don't be an idiot." Someone said. It was Aoyama, walking into the lobby. She was number two.

"Where were you?" Someone asked.

"I was reviewing the security footage." She answered. "They were all cut prior to the game starting."

"It's kind of suspicious how you–"

"Shut your mouth." She cut off, facing the person who spoke out. "Here's what we're going to do if none of you want to die. We are going by every one of us, and we will all provide an alibi for what we were doing prior to the game starting."

"They can just lie." Gabura stated. We turned to look at her, as did the entire room. Her expression was still firm, yet I could distinguish the slightest falter in her voice, which marked an unusual uncertainty in her demeanor.

"That is true..." Araya muttered.

"Well, does anyone have any other options?" Aoyama asked. "If so, share it with the class! We'd love to hear. If not, this is the best option. We have four hours, after all."

"I have a better option." A man said, who stood near the crate of weapons. My eyes widened, as Gabura gasped, pulling Charī and Natsuki backwards as he grabbed a semi-automatic rifle. The crowd screamed, as he fired into the ceiling, smoke filling the air. People dropped to the ground, falling over each other, and covering their eyes in droves. I brought my shirt hem to my ears, covering them with both the cloth and my hands, muffling the gunshots. Though the round finished firing, ringing as loud as the initial shots still echoed in my ears.

"Put down your gun!" Aoyama shouted. "We're doing this diplomatically!"

A woman yelped, running away through the hall. The man aimed, firing a round of bullets through her. She dropped to the floor in a bloody puddle, her limp body sprawled over the navy blue tiles.

"You dumbass!" Another man shouted. "What if she was the Enemy?" He attacked the gun bearer for control, as the first man tussled with the barrel, the other man pushed it to his chin.

People screamed, backing away, as I covered my ears again in anticipation. The man reached towards the trigger, pulling it, and the man who bore the gun dropped, the bullets spraying through his head. Two people died, in under fifteen minutes. If either of those two were the Enemy, then the remaining 225 minutes were completely void.

The attacker seemed to be one of a group of people in a gang of militants of some sort, as three other people, two men and a woman, ran up, grabbing the weapons, aiming it at the crowd. People shrieked, cried, trampling each other in masses to distance themselves from the weapons as they aimed at the exits to the lobby.

"If you're the Enemy, you have five seconds to reveal yourself before we shoot this entire lobby!" The female militants bellowe. "We won't kill you, but we'll drag off each and every one of you and make sure you'd have said the code if you know it! Five!"

The room silenced. No one ran; no one wanted to be the first person to run, but no one had any way of orchestrating everyone to simultaneously run without giving themselves away. And so, even though all instincts said to run, no one could.

"Four..."

The four of us exchanged a series of mutual glances. Gabura nodded, taking my hand, as I took Charī's, and he took Natsuki's.

"Three..."

Gabura took initiative; she took a single step back. The rest of us followed, masking our retreat using the people that stood between us and the shooters.

"Two..."

Charī tripped.

He fell on his face, hitting the ground with a pained thud; a fallen pencil was the culprit. The crowd undulated around us, exposing us, as guns were cocked.

"EVERYONE, RUN!" Araya hollered.

That broke the silent, psychological pact between everyone–and so, everyone ran. But the militants took that as their opening, and they fired into the crowd.

"Aim low!" One of the men shouted. "Don't kill them!"

We ran with the crowd, but someone was missing. I turned back; Charī was still huddled on the floor, catatonic.

"Charī!" I screamed, as the room cleared. Gabura and Natsuki doubled back, pulling on him.

"Get the hell up, dude!" Gabura shrieked, as Natsuki yanked his shoulder. Only a few people hadn't run off yet, and we were aimed at the center of that man's target.

Charī's body moved; he got up.

The man still aimed, and I jumped in front of Charī, shutting my eyes. But then a crash sounded; Araya had tackled the man. The gun still fired, but missed me, instead weaving past Natsuki's arm and grazing the bottom of Charī's mask near his chin. The metal dented, as the bullet deflected, grazing his chin. It flew past, bringing a trail of his blood along with it, as it hit the ceiling, leaving a hole in its path.

"G-Go!" I screamed. "GO!" I screamed again, supporting Charī, who reeled in from his injury, grazing his wound with trembling hands.

Knowing the shooters were aiming low, I took a stretcher that sat against the wall, pushing it into the middle of the hall, which deflected a spray of bullets which came from the woman that counted down. We were the last ones running, as Araya released his grip from the man, and pulled the woman backwards by her hair, leaping over the stretcher, then pushing it down the hall, over her fallen body, crashing it into another one of the militants.

Injured, bloodied bodies lingered throughout the hall from the gunfire, as we continued running down, eventually meeting the part of the floor where it split–the lobby had been where the center of the F was.

Gabura went right, and we followed.

"You know," I said, "I th-think I realized why this game gives us so much t-time."

"Why?" Natsuki asked through exhausted pants.

"It's not f-four hours to solve the game. It's four h-hours of slaughter and torture we have to e-evade."

Words: 3030
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QotD: What's your favorite food?