Chapter 13: a Game of tag

                                    

                                          



How long has it been yet?
                          
Days?
                          
Months? 
                          
All I know is I've been here for quite some time now. This place, it is.. special you can say. It has definitely changed me as a person. Everyday, numerous people die, right in front of my eyes. I became totally desensitized to death to be simple. From peoples head's blowing off, to being punctured with an arrow, to people being robbed of their last breaths due to being poisoned, I've seen it all. To be honest, the games, it's not requirement of survival to me anymore, I just play out of boredom. Thanks to that, it didn't take me long to develop the perfect strategies to survive any game I played. Toying with people's minds was really my favorite. I remember, during an elevator game, the purpose was to reach the 5th floor by answering the questions correct. The thing was if the a minority got it wrong, they'd go down way more than the majority would if they got it correct, so making them choose the wrong answer was just away for me to reach the top the fastest. I mean, in a world like this, don't we have to prioritize ourselves in order to survive? 
                          
The afternoon transitioned into evening as the twilight was setting in. I was still walking around town, visiting many shops to pick out a new outfit. I walked in one of the shops that looked like it had the most trendy clothes.
                          
 Let's go with a monochromatic outfit this time. Black? 
                          
I looked around the store, holding up clothes, looking if they would fit together. 
                          
"This'll do I guess", I said, holding up a pair of greyish black baggy jeans and a black cropped top. I went into one of the changing rooms and changed in there, leaving my old pair of clothes behind. "Looking good as always babe", I said to myself in the mirror. 
                          
Dusk was falling rapidly as I got outside, letting me know it was time to participate in another game again. I could see a building being lit up in the distance , so I directed myself in that way. Upon arriving, I noticed I was probably the first participant, as no one was in the lobby yet. It was a big apartment building. What shall it be this time?
                          
I took one of the phones on the table as usual and let it scan my face. 
                          
'There is currently 1 participant – 10 minutes until registration closes'
                          
After waiting for a bit the other participants started arriving. I could clearly see who was new and who had already been here for a while. The new people always seemed to be the most nervous and ask all the questions you could imagine, while the experienced will be the one trying to hide themselves in the exterior. There was one that automatically caught my eye though. There he stood, leaning against the wall, trying to cover his face in his white hood, listening to some kind of device, his long blonde hair falling in front of his face, completely unbothered, mysterious. Interesting. 
                          
'Registration closed – there are currently 13 participants'
                          
'Difficulty: 5 of spades'
                          
'GAME – A Game of tag' 
                          
'RULES: Run away from the tagger. To clear the game: Discover the safe zone that is hidden in one of the building rooms within the time limit. You clear the game when this objective is fulfilled. Time limit: 20 minutes. After 20 minutes have passed, the time bomb hidden in this building will explode.'
                          
I could see how some people around me were completely astonished by the concept, making me chuckle in myself. The game seemed pretty fun to me. But I wasn't in the biggest mood to run today, I'm was going to find a safe place to observe the dying world around me. I sighed and was the first to walk away to head upstairs. I stepped inside the elevator, and went up to the highest floor, because why would the tagger put so much effort in going up so high anyways? I arrived at the top and made my way to the farthest side, giving me best view on the entire building.