Chapter 12

When Daphne could finally sit up again, she realized that her friends were no longer beside her. She got to her feet slowly, looking around for them. She heard some voices in the level above her and hurried up the stairs and found her friends and four other players.

"Daphne," Eli greeted her when he spotted her. "The brunette is Dave, two-toned colored hair is Dillan, purple hair is Wayner, and orange hair is Mike. They're new players."

"Hello," Daphne waved her hand. "How long was I out for?"

"The whole night," William answered. "Well, technically we all were asleep, but Eli woke up the first, and you the last."

"We're waiting for Creator to let us know what the next challenge is," Mike said. "I feel like Creator is doing this on purpose, keeping us waiting."

"The people watching is probably enjoying this," Wayner sighed.

"I still can't believe that people enjoy watching us explode," Dave muttered. "But then again, I guess to them they're just watching a horror reality show."

[Players, the next game is Tag, You're It.]

"I don't like the sound of that," Kiana murmured.

[Tag, You're It will last for an hour. There will be three Taggers. The goal is to not be a Tagger when time runs out. When time does run out, the three Taggers will be eliminated. When the game starts, the three Taggers must give the other players a ten second head start before going after them. When you touch another player, the Tagger must say "Tag, You're it" to make the other player a Tagger, and free him or herself from being a Tagger. When another player becomes the new Tagger, the must yell out their names and say that say who they were caught by before running after other players or they will be eliminated. The first three Catchers will be William, Dillan, and Mike. The game will start now.]

"10... 9... 8..." Dillan started counting. The players all scrambled away from the three Catchers, Daphne and Kiana hurrying down the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Daphne asked.

"Away from the Taggers!" Kiana replied.

The two girls had just reached the first floor when they heard a voice announced, "I'm Dave, I was caught by Mike."

"Already?" Daphne said, just as they heard thumping footsteps behind them. Turning around, they saw Dillan chasing after them. The two girls ran away from him, but he was faster. Reaching out a hand, he touched Daphne's shoulder.

"I was caught by Dillan! I'm Daphne!" Daphne called. Dillan had already ran away, but Kiana was still standing near to her. Daphne looked at Kiana for a moment before rushing up the stairs, looking for someone else to catch.

"I'm Eli, I was caught by William," Daphne heard Eli's voice say a few moments before she heard another voice say, "I'm Mike, I was caught by Eli."

Eli ran down and met Daphne on the third floor. Daphne hesitated to touch him, but Eli told her, "Go ahead. I'll find someone else to catch."

Daphne touched Eli and said, "Tag, You're it!"

Eli called out, "I'm Eli, I was caught by Daphne!" He turned to Daphne and told her, "You, William and Kiana should try to avoid the other players. I suggest barricading yourselves in one of the rooms. My room, perhaps? Creator didn't say that we couldn't, after all. If one of you get caught, stay on the third floor unless someone is close enough for you to tag. I'll come and let you catch me before tagging someone else. Go barricade yourself in my room first. I'll go tag someone else and go tell Kiana and William."

Daphne nodded and hurried into Eli's room, waiting for Kiana and William to enter before barricading the door. Soon, Kiana and William entered the door and Kiana yelled, "Keep the door closed! Someone is coming!"

Together, the three of them pushed Eli's bed and desk to block any other players or Taggers from entering. There was a call of, "I'm Wayner, I was caught by Eli."

"Why won't Eli join us?" Daphne asked. "It's safer for him to be here too!"

"He said something about the viewers not liking it," William answered. "He said that the viewers want to watch a show where there are plenty of death games. All four of us who were part of Survive from the start, and he said that the viewers probably wouldn't like it if all four of us stayed safe and the three of the four new players died."

"But what can the viewers do?" Daphne wondered.

"This whole game is to please some viewers, right?" Kiana said. "That means that if the viewers don't like it, they might ask Creator to not let us hide in the rooms."

"So, Eli is basically sacrificing himself to keep us safe," Daphne murmured.

There was a sudden bang against their door. Another bang moved the door a bit. The three friends rushed to hold the door down, but the relentless pounding was starting to push the door open bit by bit.

Suddenly, the door flew open and Dillan burst in, tagging Kiana. "I'm Kiana, I got caught by Dillan."

Dillan had already took off, and there was only about forty-five seconds left before the Catchers would explode.

Kiana looked around unsurely. She would explode soon if she didn't tag someone, but the only people close to her was her friends. Eli appeared at the room and held out his hand. "Tag me, quick. I'll chase someone down."

Kiana tagged him and Eli called out that he was tagged before taking off, telling them, "Barricade the door for any last second Taggers coming after you three."

"I'm Dillan, I was caught by Eli." Dillan called out not long after.

Kiana, Daphne, and William pushed the things in front of the door again and Daphne said, "I'm glad Eli won't explode. He's pretty okay, apart from the whole thing where he's so good at killing people and framing others."

"I know," Kiana sighed. "But honestly, we're not much better. We're all playing the game, after all. At least Eli knows how to play it."

[Time is up. The three Taggers will now be eliminated.]

There were three screams before there was a knock on the door, and Eli's voice asked, "Guys? Are you okay? The game is over."

[The remaining players can now access the next floor.]

Daphne opened the door, and Eli stood on the other side. "Come on. The faster we beat this game, the faster we can leave."

The three of them stepped out of the room. "Who else survived?" William asked.

"Dave," Eli answered, the four of them making their way up the stairs to the hospital-looking floor. The room was full of beds and equipment, all labeled with names. Dave was already there, and when he spotted them, he scowled.

"Why did you even ask me to come up here?" Dave muttered.

"Why did you listen to me?" Eli retorted. "And if you must know, I want to get this whole thing over. We've gotten two challenges in a day before, so since Tag, You're It only lasted for ten minutes, Creator might give us another challenge."

[Players, get ready for the new challenge. This game is called Save Yourself.]