Chapter IV: Resourcefulness

Drake stands in an endless white void, with nothing around him except himself and a reflection of himself. The reflection stood before him like it was another man, rather than a mirror. Upon inspection, little piece of his reflection's body was falling off in shards, like glass. Drake simply stood in silence, as he stared as this reflection of his. "It's a rather unfair game, life is" the reflection says. "Trapped between remembering who you are, and survival in a place called Pyramid. Which is worse, do you think?".

Drake blinks a few times before he asks "What do you mean? Pyramid is obviously worse".

"But how many times will you destroy yourself?" The reflection asks. "Are you doing it to survive, or are you doing it to find out who you really are?".

Drake pauses for a moment and says "To survive, I guess".

"Then that means to win this... Pyramid game" the reflection says, "you must accept defeat in finding out who you were".

"What do you mean?" Drake asks.

More pieces of the reflection slowly fall to the endless white void, as the reflection says "You can remember, but you can never recover that which you've lost. Truly, who you were before is gone now. To venture past this point is to accept that. Will you accept defeat, or will you accept death?".

"Defeat or death?" Drake asks. "Aren't the two-".

"Synonymous?" The reflection asks. "Usually... however, like I've said, this is an unjust game. There will be no victory for you". Suddenly, Drake begins to feel as if he were falling. The void around him turned from an endless white void, to a black one. Suddenly, all around him, pictures of memories flashed at him for a moment. Pictures of memories that made no sense to Drake. At the very end of this fall, he could see but one face. Ziya's face, with a genuine smile, rather than a false smile. As he was falling, the picture of her face grew closer, and he felt as if he were about to fall onto the memory that he himself can't recall.

Just before he had an impact with the memory, Drake's head shoots up from the concrete floor of Pyramid, gasping in fear. "Drake!" Ziya panics. "You alright?".

Drake looks around in confusion. Georgie wasn't there, and he was alone with Ziya now. "Zizi?" He asks. "Where'd Georgie go?". Ziya looks over at Drake in confusion. "What?" Drake asks.

"You called me Zizi..." she says.

"Yeah?" Drake says as he looks at Ziya in confusion.

"You said you didn't believe I was your friend when you entered the game" Ziya says, "and you refused to call me Zizi... did you get your memory back or something?".

"No?" Drake says as he looks down and thinks to himself. "Why am I calling you Zizi?". Suddenly, Drake looks up at Ziya and asks "Is your name Ziya Zimmerman?".

"Yeah!" Ziya says. "So your memory is coming back then!?".

Drake raises one hand to the side of his head, trying to ease a headache. "Ugh, no..." he says. "I don't know... where do I know that name from?".

"Don't force it!" Ziya says. "You'll cause yourself a lot of pain if you try to force yourself to remember!".

"Yeah... alright" Drake says as he tries to relax. "Anyways, about Georgie?".

"Shit, I hope that stupid hick remains gone forever" Ziya scoffs. "But he said that he's going to try to find us some teammates... I still don't trust him".

"Better than nothing" Drake says.

Ziya tilts her head to the side and asks "But is it? I feel like this would be better if we just took on their teams with just the two of us...".

"Maybe you're right..." Drake says.

"You... agree with me?" Ziya asks.

"I wouldn't mind getting my hands dirty if it meant getting these people out of the way" Drake says. "I want out of here. I don't care what it takes".

Ziya seems to almost recline as she begins to worry about Drake. "You're not feeling... weird, are you?".

"I'm fine" Drake says.

Ziya sighs and says "That's not a good thing...".

"What makes you say that?" Drake asks.

"That means I'm too late" Ziya says.

"Too late for what?" Georgie asks as he approaches with two other men.

"Is this the girl?" One of the men ask.

"That's her alright" Georgie says.

Drake jumps to his feet as the man walks up to Ziya. He crouches down in front of her and reaches out to her. "The name's Jake" he says as he unfolds his hand for a handshake. "You say you're looking into finding a way out of here?".

"That's... the plan" Ziya says as she leans over to glare at Georgie.

"I kept my end of the bargain" Georgie says.

"Don't worry, we're not here to kill you" Jake says. "The other one here, his name is Will. And you're the girl this man was ranting about having too many lives?".

Ziya shows her watch to Jake and says "And I know how to use them, in case you have any funny ideas".

"You can trust us" Will says. "We want out of here too".

"I can not trust you" Ziya says. "The only one here worth placing trust in is Drake. The rest of you can piss off".

"Don't ya want a team?" Georgie asks.

"That's not my idea" Ziya says. "It's Drake's idea".

"Hold on, Zizi" Drake says. Drake then leans in close and whispers "We can at least use them for now. Besides, look at their watches. Georgie has six lives, Jake has five and Will only has seven. I have twelve and you have eighty-two now! Don't worry too much, we can handle things, if things go wrong".

Ziya thinks for a second, then crosses her arms and says "If you say so...".

"So, all clear?" Jake asks.

"All... clear" Ziya says hesitantly.

"Good" Jake says.

"I don't suppose any of you have brought any rations?" Ziya asks.

"I'm out of food" Jake says.

"I barely got anythin' left" Georgie says.

"I'm empty" Will says.

"Great... so no food" Ziya says. "You at least still have some, right Drake?".

"Y-Yeah" Drake says. "I still have that dried food you gave me... you need it?".

"No, keep it. I don't care if the others starve to death" Ziya replies.

"Isn't she lovely?" Georgie asks.

"I guess this is to be expected from the top killer in this arena" Will says.

"So, how'd you do it?" Jake asks.

"You really want to know?" Ziya asks.

"Yeah" Jake says.

"Really really want to know?" Ziya asks.

"Yes, please!" Will says.

Ziya gestures with her finger for the other three to come closer. Once Will, Jake and Georgie all come closer, she yells "Mind your own fucking business!".

The five of them start walking towards the next flight of stairs. On their way there, they decided to rest, because Will and Jake were tired and didn't rest before they left. As much as Drake and Ziya hated it, they stopped anyways. While resting, a group of two people wielding rebar attacked. As Georgie and Jake fought off one, Drake alone handled the other. Jake and Georgie each killed the other man once before he ran out of lives and died. The other, however, appeared to be out of Respawns.

Drake managed to narrowly dodge the rebar the man swung at him. Grabbing him by the arm he swung the rebar with, Drake pulled the man to the ground as he pulled him arm back. While the man lay on the ground, Drake continued pulling his arm until he heard a snap. Then Drake presses his foot on the back of the man's neck until you heard another snap, followed by the man no longer screaming. He never regenerated after that. As the two mysterious attacker's watches turn off, another life is added to Drake's, Jake's and Georgie's counter.

As Ziya watches in worry about her friend, Georgie just smirks as he says "I'm impressed. You've improved. I guess those two were desperate".

As Drake goes back to sitting down, he refused to respond to Georgie. "Ready to move yet?" Ziya asks.

"After that?" Jake asks. "I think my blood is pumping enough to keep moving, I guess".

As they all start walking, Will asks Ziya "So, Georgie says you've been through this game before, is that right?". Ziya refuses to answer. "And he says that you told him the game changes every few floors?" Will asks, though Ziya once again refuses to answer. "Does it get any easier to pass the floors?".

"No" Ziya says.

"Why not?" Will asks. "The floors get smaller, don't they?".

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see why" Ziya says.

"What's the point of having a teammate that's been through this if they won't help?" Will asks.

"I didn't ask you to be on my team, now did I?" Ziya asks. Suddenly, Will fell silent as they continued to walk. "The next floor is probably your last chance to make additions to your stupid team" Ziya continues to say. "After that, most people will either be in a team, or have decent enough weapons to survive on their own. That's all the help you'll get from me".

"What happens after the next floor?" Jake asks, however, Ziya remained silent. "Right. I get it. No more help. Gotcha".

"I'm not on your team" Ziya says. "I want to make that clear. I'm on his team. You just so happen to be here also. That does not make me on your side. That just makes you an ally of my friend... a friend of my friend is not always my friend".

"And what does he have to say about all of this?" Jake asks as he points at Drake. "I guess he's like the team leader or something?". Drake simply continues walking, without acknowledging what Jake says. "Uh, hello?".

"Hm?" Drake asks. "I wasn't listening".

"Never mind" Jake says.

"He's rather... different" Georgie says.

"I wonder whose fault that is..." Ziya says sarcastically.

"Yer welcome" Georgie says.

Finally, they make it. Floor 46. Strangely, most people on this floor were rather spread out. By now, most people have begun to see a pattern in the game, as the others try to build up teams to fight off the other teams. Most people began to avoid moving too far in any one direction, as the groups were spread out. By this time, hunger was also becoming a factor in the game. A couple days have past, and most people have eaten their only rations. Preserving energy was a tactic that many people who have made it this far started putting into practice. "I hope there's someone around here with food" Jake says. "I sure hope someone here has died before they've eaten all of their rations".

"Letting hunger get ta ya, eh?" Georgie asks. "Ya should've preserved food if yer gonna be like that".

"I have no idea how much time has passed!" Jake says. "How am I supposed to know when to eat, and when not to eat!?".

"For one, you can keep track of the floors" Ziya says. "You know we're still on the first five floors, right?".

"How do ya do it?" Georgie asks. "I haven't seen ya eat anythin' since I've met ya guys".

"You've gotta plan better than that" Ziya says. "Be more resourceful".

"If you're so resourceful" Will asks, "Then what should we do from here?".

"Well" Ziya says, "we can cut through the middle, over the area you see over there with the most debris. If people around are able to see us, it wouldn't be much of a problem to lose sight of them, with all of that debris. By now, most people are likely avoiding the center, so it shouldn't be too hard. Even then, with more debris, lays more options of stuff to use as a weapon. So we'd either make it out perfectly safe, or we'd make it out with more lives".

"Sounds good to me" Drake says.

As the five of them leave, they cut through the middle of the arena. Typically hiding behind large chunks of debris, like giant pieces on concrete, held together by rebar. The large chunks looks as if there was previously a large building in the middle of the arena, and then was demolished by a wrecking ball. As they sneak through, they heard a small shuffling sound. Ziya became instantly weary of this, and tried creeping around corners to find where this noise was coming from. Immediately after she turned a corner around some large debris, she was met with a knife to her neck and a woman holding it. The woman looked just a little taller than Ziya, with long and straight black hair. She had a shaky grip on the handle of the knife, but held it firmly to Ziya's neck.

As Ziya stopped moving, Drake came around the corner with Ziya to see what was going on. "Well?" Ziya asks the woman.

The woman began to get nervous at the sight of coming across a team, rather than a single person. She fell to her knees and dropped the knife. "Just my luck..." she says.

Will, Jake and Georgie all come around as well, and see the woman on her knees. "What's this?" Jake asks.

"A knife?" Will asks. "Where'd you get a knife? There's been nothing but chunks of concrete rock and rebar so far!".

"I-I came from the next floor up" the woman says. "Guess that doesn't matter now... this is where it ends".

"I know there isn't any weapons like that on this floor" Ziya says, "so I figured you came down the floors for something. What was it?".

"Just finish me off..." the woman says. As the team looks down, they could see the number "3" shining on her watch.

"Actually, I have a better idea" Drake says. "Want to make a bargain?".

"I've already lost my food" the woman says, "you're too late. Some other group of people already came by and stole it".

"How about a team?" Drake asks as he reaches into his pocket. Drake then pulls out a little bit of dried food and throws it at the woman.

The woman looks up at Drake and asks "Why would you help me?".

"You seem capable" Drake says.

"... That's it?" The woman asks.

"Good enough for me" Drake says.

"You've at least made it up to floor 45" Ziya says. "Did you already have a team?".

"No" the woman says. "I don't work in teams".

"Well, you do now" Drake says.

"Excuse me?" The woman asks.

"It's now or never" Ziya says as she begins to sit down. "I'm assuming you need some time to build up the strength to move? You're awfully shaky".

"I'm starving" the woman says as she begins to tear open the food's wrapper. "Never ate since I got here. I was saving food, but these people killed me just to take my food, then ran away before I Respawned".

"What's your name?" Jake asks.

"Judy" She says. "What're you guys building a team for?".

"We're planning on finding a way out of Pyramid" Drake says. "You in?".

"A way out?" Judy asks. "... Sure, if you think you can honestly do that".

"If we're gonna rest" Georgie says, "then I'm takin' a nap. Wake me up when we're gonna leave".

"I'll take a nap too" Will says.

"Not a bad idea" Jake says. "I didn't rest very much before coming to this floor. You three can handle everything, right?". Ziya stares at the other three, then Jake says "... Right".

"Still though" Ziya says to Drake, "I'm not so sure on the idea of building a team".

"I must say" Judy speaks up, "I don't like those three. I've only just met them and I hate them".

"We need all the hands we can get" Drake says. "What if breaking out requires a bunch of heavy lifting?".

"I guess that's fair" Judy says.

"At least there's someone else in this game who isn't completely insufferable" Ziya says.

"I'm assuming you're referring to me" Judy says, "and I'll take that as a compliment. Anyways, what'd you two do to get on death row?".

"We weren't" Ziya says. "That's the problem".

"Then how the hell did you land in Pyramid?" Judy asks.

"Long story" Ziya says.

"I don't feel like sharing that story" Drake says.

"Fair enough" Judy says.

"And you?" Ziya asks.

Judy sighs and says "I was a hacker".

"Does hacking get you put on death row?" Ziya asks.

"Not usually, no" Judy says. "However, I was attempting to leak very... discriminating information about a very big man".

"What was it?" Ziya asks.

"I was planning on exposing the info about Pyramid, the moment I found out about it" Judy says. "Apparently that lands you in Pyramid. The information was about none other than-".

"Governor Dylan Floyd" Ziya says.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Judy asks.

"I've met the man, just before I was thrown in this game" Ziya says. "By the way, I didn't know a hacker could fight. Where'd you get your other lives?".

"It's kill or be killed" Judy says. "I'm simply trying to survive".

"So if you know about Pyramid also" Drake asks, "then who exactly watches this game?".

"The governor" Judy says, "as well as, many different political figures, a large portion of the governor's hand picked cabinet of staff, and the game also sells tickets via the black market. My plan was to expose the government's link between them and the black market. However, that ended up buying me a one way ticket to hell".

"So you have information then?" Ziya asks.

"Yeah, that I do have" Judy says.

"I think we can actually be friends" Ziya says. "Because I will need something from you".

"What is it?" Judy asks.

"If and when we can get out of Pyramid" Ziya says, "I want to know all about the Governor. I want to know what his daily schedule is, I want to know which building he frequents the most, I want to know how to trap him with his pants down. Think you can tell me that?".

"I can tell you about most of those things you've listed" Judy says. "However, what makes you confident that you can make it out of here".

Drake and Ziya both hold up their left wrist to expose their watches. Drake's watch showing the number "13" and Ziya's the number "82". "We have our ways" Ziya says.

"No way" Judy says. "How the-".

"This isn't my first time in this game" Ziya says.

"And the other three?" Judy asks.

"Don't trust them" Ziya says. "They're not worth the effort".

"To be honest, I don't trust them either" Drake says. "They're only here for lightening our load of work".

"Yet, you've come to trust the likes of me..." Judy says.

"You have something valuable" Ziya says. "You have information. Information that I've been looking for. At the very least, you piss me off less than those three do".

"Then I have a counter offer" Judy whispers. "Fuck those three, we can be a three man team".

"We can lead them to believe they're a part of the team" Ziya says.

"Then that'd just leave them to do the work" Drake says.

"Exactly" Ziya says. "They do their part, and we don't have to worry about keeping them alive".

"Once they outlive their usefulness, we can leave them" Judy says.

"I like the way you think" Ziya says.

"Survival of the fittest" Judy says.

"Is that alright, Drake?" Ziya asks.

"I think that works out" Drake says. "I'm not particularly a fan of having a serial killer as a friend. Keep them, get rid of them, I don't think I care at this point".

"Then it's settled" Judy says.

As the team finally gets up a couple hours later, after the other three wake up, they began making their way to the next floor. "Remember the plan, you two" Georgie whispers to Jake and Will.

"Mhm" Will says. "We wait for the time where we can successfully hold those three down. With the right opportunity, we can take them. All of their Respawns will be ours".

"We just need more teammates" Georgie says.

"What about the girl with the knife?" Jake asks. "Think we can get her to help us?".

Georgie looks up at Judy, who was having a chat with Ziya. "I don't think she will help us" he says. "Not sure why, but it looks like those three get along".

"That makes this harder" Will says.

"Still though" Jake says, "shouldn't we only beat them into submission? If we leave all three of them on their last life, we may be able to milk them for assistance. That girl still holds knowledge about the game".

"Do what you must" Georgie says. "I just want to see them beaten, bloodied and begging for mercy".