"I've got you!" the red-hat man said, his muscles screaming as he gripped her wrist and used all his strength in his hand to pull her up.
But then, another horrific scene entered: sickening, a wooden crack echoed through the beginning of the trunk. The branch was splintering with a crackling sound, unable to support the weight of two people, which made them shiver and chill.
Both of their eyes looked at the developing crack. Realising the next dead situation, she shook her head continuously. "Don't leave me, please!!" She begged, her face turned pink, and tears flowed down her cheeks to land.
The crack develops second by second.
"Please! No!! Please don't leave me!"
Her weeping sound made the zombies get alerted and look above, and hovers in hunger, their jaws clicking in anticipation and trying to grab her leg.
The red-hat man's brows touched together in a difficult decision, looking at the crackling branch and the woman. "I am sorry! I'm really sorry. If I don't let go, we both are going to die," he apologised as he slowly peeled her fingers one by one.
Again, she held her other hand before he peeled.
"Understand me, I can't die for you? He said, giving her a final, forceful shove that knocked her hand away.
She fell straight to the ground with a sharp bone-crackling sound.
The next second, a zombie circled her as if ants rounding the sugar. Teeth tore into her throat, sharp claws peeled open her skin, and they began tearing into her stomach, devouring her inner organs in the dirt.
Watching all the horrific scenes from above, he shut his eyes to couldn't unbearable, his breath coming in ragged, shallow gasps. Then he looked back at his hand, and a wristwatch of hers remained. "I am sorry," he hummed to himself.
"Beep!"
[ SYSTEM: ID NUMBER: 666112: USER EXPIRED]
A notification screen on the woman's watch blared in red light before fading to complete black. "Is she really dead?" His confusion lingered, but there was a sense of urgency in the air
He stared at his reward, his pupils dilating in total shock as his jaw dropped in disbelief. He couldn't believe the numbers on the screen.
[CURRENT STATUS: SURVIVAL_SUCCESS]
[ TASK 1: COMPLETED]
[PLAYER ID NUMBER: 666279]
[PLAYER NAME: CHRISTOPHER]
[CREDITED REWARD POINTS: 1,000]
[SPECIAL REWARD POINTS: 100,000]
[ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: RUTHLESS_INSTINCT]
[CURRENT BALANCE: 101,000]
[TOTAL OBTAINED POINTS: 101,000]
"What the hell?" Christopher's muttered. Again and again, he checked his watch to confirm whether it was real or not.
"What the heck? How did I get these many points?"
He processed the whole scene , he understood the truth behind the reward, "Wait! What? Killing a human rewards 100K?" He sat stunned and speechless on the branch; he looked her his hands if he couldn't believe that he had killed a person. The realisation washed over him like a slow-acting poison, sinking in deeper with each passing moment.
---
"Beep"
A blue light system notification pulsed simultaneously from the watches of August, Devin, and Max.
"Oh! It's task time," Max announced, his face illuminated by the neon glow of his screen as he swiped to the Task page and read the sentences aloud.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: TASK PERIOD]
[LOCATE THE SECURE ROOM TO SAVE YOU FROM THE TOXIC GASES.]
[TIME LIMIT: 15 minutes]
"TIME REMAINING: 15:00... 14:59..."
"What's meant by 'secure room'?" August questioned as her eyes darted around the hollow building to Max's face. "But I can't see any safety room here. Every corner of this place is empty. There's nothing but glass and concrete!"
"Come on, August, we're running out of time! There must be one, especially since it's the task period. If we don't have one, we won't be able to survive in toxic gases," Devin interrupted to clarify her point.
Max gave a finite nod with a slight inner smile, "He's one hundred per cent right. There must be a safety chamber." he turned his face towards Devin's side. " What's your move, buddy?"
Devin pointed from the top to the bottom of the building. "We split up. I'll take the lower levels, Max, you take the middle, and August, check the roof. "
"In the final three minutes, we are returning to the 5th floor. If anyone finds out the room's, tag it on the map. Move! What if there is more than one secure chamber!"
"Wow! It sounds like teamwork!" Max gave an assured, agreeable nod.
Now it's time 12.30.
Following a Devin calculation, everyone dispersed and hurried to their assigned floors. Devin took two deliberate steps down the stairs towards the ground floor, his eyes scanning the empty corners.
Max calmly stepped down to the middle section floor with the same nonchalant manner as if he was the game master.
August scrambled for the top floor, her fingers and legs trembling as she checked every door. Every room was a void—no clues, no codes, just the silence of a dying world.
The time vanished without warning: "7:00," The halfway point.
Max didn't search. He calmly went to the 7th floor, opened the middle room door as if he already knew the secret room. He paused in the center and scanned every corner; his gaze immediately noticed a single book on the empty rack that was clearly glittering in the light. "Book?" He mumbled, reaching out and picking it up from the rack.
CRACK.
Immediately, a hidden door opened with a mild, cracked glass sound. Beyond it lay a pitch-black chamber. A smirk curled up on his lips as he stepped forward and was ready to step inside the dark, but before that, a beep sound from a watch interrupted.
"THREE MINUTES REMAINING," a cold AI voice warned the timer on his wrist.
"Oh, God! It's time for my gameplay," Max thought as he placed a book again and went back to the fifth floor.
On the fifth Floor.
August was standing in a wreck, staring at the floor as she was biting her lips so hard she could taste her own blood, and her mind was already sinking into her own world.
"August, Where is Devin?"Max's voice broke her thought and brought her back to reality.
August touched her brows to relax and looked up, noticing Max looking perfectly calm and with zero tension. "I don't know; we left two minutes ago, but still he didn't come back," she swallowed and rushed her words in pure fear.
Max looked back at his wristwatch and the floor. "He should be here. What if he found a secure room, but decided he didn't want to share the air?" Max suggested. He watched her every expression carefully and intentionally, making a bad impression on Devin. "Think about it, August. Why would a smart guy like him risk his life coming back for us? He's probably already sealed himself in."
Hearing those words, she looked at the timer, which made her doubtful, but she didn't express anything. "No, maybe he is still looking for the secure room or trapped inside."
Max grinned mockingly. "Seriously? We all promised to be here at the three-minute mark. It's been two minutes past that. You still think he's coming back to save you?" He questioned with full confidence, pouring oil on the fire to break her trust.
August stayed quiet, hunching her hand as she stared at the clock, which showed "0:45" and emitted a beeping sound. As the time faded quickly, her trust level also faded gradually.
"Don't get confused, trust me. I found the secret chamber; I think we have to move before the toxic gases occupy the building," Max suggested as he grabbed her hand with a gentle, manipulative squeeze.
August looked at the stairs one last time before vanishing into the seventh floor. A million questions raced through her mind. Is he okay? Why didn't he come back?
At the same time, "00:09... 00:08..." on the timer counted the last seconds.
A hissing sound was released from the vents, and a white fog gradually formed with a mild, unbreathable odour, covering floor by floor.
Before the gas occupied the 7th floor, Max and August entered the secure room. When they entered, a dark chamber, a door automatically shut, and the light automatically turned on.