Chapter 2 #3
“I hope the last competitor gets here soon,” Sadie mumbled, and I noticed that she, too, had her eyes glued to the timer above. “We’re running out of time.”
She took the words right out of my mouth.
“What do you think the penalty is?” she asked. “What do you think happens if someone doesn’t show up within the allotted amount of time?”
The closer the timer ticked down to zero, the more my stomach twisted into knots.
“I’m not sure,” I finally responded. “But I doubt it’s good.”
I stood next to Sadie as we watched the timer continue its descent.
Three minutes and two seconds…
Two minutes and fifty-seven seconds…
Two minutes and nine seconds…
The final contestant still wasn’t here, and even the crowd around us had grown silent as we all watched the clock tick down.
One minute and thirty-one seconds…
One minute and three seconds…
I glanced around and expected to see the final competitor any moment now. Had he overslept? Was he running late, or had he simply chosen not to come? Was he hiding out in his house, or had he gone on the run?
Fifty-seven seconds…
Forty-nine seconds…
Twenty-six seconds…
It was now so silent that I could hear each audible tick as the seconds went down.
Nineteen, eighteen, seventeen…
Even the news reporters were silent as they stood there with microphones in hand.
Ten, nine, eight…
My chest felt like it had thirty pounds of added pressure pressed onto it, and I forced myself to breathe. Beside me, Sadie was trembling slightly, and she kept glancing at me, so I tried to remain calm and unconcerned in appearance.
It seemed to ease her tension a bit.
Six, five, four…
I glanced at all the other contestants, and each of them seemed to be holding their breath.
Three, two, one, zero…
The timer ran out, and for a moment, nothing happened.
Suddenly, there was an odd sound from the spaceship, and I watched as a metal panel slid down and a small object quickly flew out.
It was too fast to get a good look at it, but from what I could see, it was similar in shape and appearance to the drone-like spaceship, only this one was on a much smaller scale, no bigger than a microwave.
The small drone darted past the crowd and flew close over their heads, and there were several gasps and screams as everyone ducked to avoid its flight path. But it didn’t make any move to attack anyone, and it continued past the crowd and disappeared into the distance.
Several seconds of silence ticked by as we all stared in the direction the drone had disappeared. I waited for something more to happen, but nothing did. The seconds turned into minutes, and the crowd was becoming restless.
People began to shift and murmur among themselves as they all wondered what the drone was for. I could see various newscasters begin speaking to the cameras again.
Sadie glanced at me with a confused and concerned look on her face, and I could see the question in her eyes.
Where did the drone go?
And what was it for?
Suddenly, I could hear the sounds of distant screams, and everyone went silent again and turned to face the direction of the noise.
The screams were quickly growing louder, as if they were moving closer to us, and I saw Sadie take a small step closer to me from my peripherals.
I squinted in the direction of the screams and tried to make out any unusual shapes, and at first, I couldn’t see anything. There were just buildings and blue sky.
But then, a strange, dark dot appeared amidst the blue, and it quickly grew larger as it moved in our direction.
It didn’t take long for me to register what the shape was. The drone had returned, but it appeared to be carrying something…
As the drone sped toward us, I realized that it was carrying a person. The drone’s top panels had opened up to release six thin, mechanical arms, and they all grasped at a man who was kicking, shouting, struggling, and punching at the thing.
Despite the drone’s small size and thin arms, it held steady against the man’s use of force, and it wasn’t until they drew even closer that I recognized the man as the twelfth contestant.
The one we were waiting for.
The man continued to buck and struggle against his mechanical captor, but it was no use. The machine easily maintained its grip on the man and continued its flight directly toward us.
I guess that was the penalty, then. You could try to hide or run, but if your name was chosen, then you were participating in the game no matter what.
I supposed it could be worse.
Depending on what the game was, exactly.
The drone flew to the edge of the plaza and dropped the screaming man a few yards away from the rest of us, and then it just hovered there, as if it were watching him.
Or us.
I wasn’t sure why, but I had a really bad feeling in my gut, and I instinctively took a step in front of Sadie and positioned my body between her and the alien machine.
The man struggled to his feet, and I could see the tips of his fingers and the knuckles were all bruised and bloody from his previous punches and clawing.
He finally gained his footing and turned to look at all of us. His pale blond hair was wild and messy, whether from his flight over or his struggle, I wasn’t sure.
It was probably a bit of both.
The man’s pale, blue eyes were wide and frightened as he gazed at us. I couldn’t tell if he was going to try running again, but it certainly looked like it from his wild expression.
I subtly shook my head at him, as a warning not to try anything.
His shoulders sagged, and he looked dejected, as if he accepted his fate as a competitor. Then he took three steps forward to join our group.
Suddenly, a panel at the bottom of the drone slid open, and a small cylindrical tube came out.
Everything else happened so quickly I barely had time to process it.
The small cylinder pointed at the man, who was mid-step, and there was a bright flash of light and the sound of sizzling.
When the light disappeared, and I was actually able to see again, the man was gone, and in his place was a circular pattern of scorch marks and a pile of ash.
Holy shit.
I could feel my heart rise into my throat as I realized what had happened. The penalty had been much steeper than I thought, and no matter what the aliens called it, what they had in store for us was no game.
For one brief moment, there was nothing but silence as everyone stared at that little ash pile and tried to process what just happened.
The drone retracted its cylinder, and the panel slid back into place before the small machine retreated back into the spacecraft. Its mission was finished, and a loud, robotic voice made an announcement from the ship.
“Penalty dealt.”
Then all hell broke loose.
The crowd began screaming, and there was mass chaos as the people closest to the scene of the crime tried to flee but were blocked by the bodies behind them, who were still trying to move closer to see what exactly had happened.
Several of the male contestants staggered back while a few of the women started sobbing hysterically. The cute auburn-haired woman looked absolutely terrified, but she didn’t break down like the others did, and instead she moved to console those who were weeping.