The waiting room was quiet.

Too quiet.

9.9.7 was tempted to whistle just to get Some reaction out of the 20 , oh I mean 19 other participants in the stone chamber..

As time passed by, the echoes of the crowd in the other room grew louder.

Sounds of chains rattling and pounding filled the air. A direct contrast to the current aura of gloom that filled the tiny room.

9.9.7 looked from one person to another , memorizing the faces and the behavioral patterns of each of them. Afterall, their lives were pretty much interconnected the moment they were called upon to play the game of death.

One mistake could spell doom for the whole pack.

There was the muscly dude. The other muscly dude. The lanky one. The stupid looking one. The wimp and the jerks..

Great team. He thought sarcastically.

A long moment of silence passed before a large thud was heard from the other side of the room.

The wimp who was leaning against the wall collapsed to the ground.

His face pale with fright.

His arms wrap around his shoulders like he was fighting the cold.

Tears streamed down his face.

“I can’t . I just can’t. I can’t do this any longer.” He wept

“Poor dude.” 9.9.7 thought.

The others absolutely did not share the sentiment though..

The burly one stepped forward. Storming towards the lanky pile of mess weeping his eyes out… his face contorted in rage

 “are you joking? “ he yelled “after all we’ve gone through to make it this far. After everything.”

The wimp shivered. Curling himself into a ball as the burly one balled his fist aiming directly at him.

The wimp shut his eyes, bracing himself for the pain but nothing happened.

An arm had shot out in front of him, blocking the punch. A tall lanky stranger had stepped in. He looked- well he looked exactly as they all did. Pale and malnourished.

“Enough. Hitting him wouldn’t solve anything “ he said.

Wow. 9.9.7 suddenly felt the urge to applaud the performance but once again refrained from doing so.

The burly guy seemed to have something to say but even he paled at the sound of the metal gate rising, signifying the start of their ordeal.

With a sign, 9.9.7 rose “let’s just get this over with “ 

And now it begins…..