The first elimination game (3)

"Well, listen to her. Isn't she insulting you the same way your boss insulted you?" The alligator mask man placed his hand on the brawny man's shoulder.

"Humans like her, who won't stop looking down on others, do not deserve to live. You are clearly better and more worthy than any of these people. Don't let this type of trash trample you any longer. Go ahead, pierce that bullet through her and teach her a lesson."

"Teach a lesson…." The brawny man echoed him. In a flash, he fired the gun right through the woman's forehead. Splattering her brain matters to the ground.

"That's right. There are still others too." The alligator mask man continued to encourage the brawny man to shoot people. The sound of guns being fired echoed throughout the street, frightening other people.

The gunshot even echoed louder than the screams of people who were devoured by the 'mutated monster'. The ten high school kids all cowered in fear and pressed their heads closer.

"W- what should we do?"

"Right, what should we do?" A cold voice repeated and laughed maliciously. The thin young boy with glasses shuddered. He looked to his right and saw the man with the alligator mask standing a few meters away from him. In his hand is a small gun. The thin boy shuddered, and he instinctively crawled away.

He opened his mouth, but because of panic, he was too scared to say anything. No words will come out of his throat. He tried to pat his friend, but the man with the alligator mask stopped him.

"They cannot see me." The alligator's narrowed eyes blink innocently. "Only you can."

"N- no way…" The thin boy gulped dangerously.

"We c-can't go out! That voice said we have to survive 24 hours in here. Or not, our number must be 150 before we can get out of this hell."

"Yes, 150." The voice of the alligator mask man echoed. He slowly approached the thin boy with glasses. The gun in his hand swayed. "What will you do?"

The thin boy is not stupid enough to not know this man is making fun of him. But he was powerless to fight.

"Hey, Leo!" The thin boy named Leo had his collar grabbed by the biggest man in the group. Leo's head was forcibly turned to look at the monster below.

"See that?" The 'mutated monster' was sniffing its head at the entrance of the mall. It then growled loudly and ran straight toward the mall's entrance. Not a second later, they heard the harsh sound of glass breaking apart and people inside the mall screaming.

"The monster had found our hideout!" The big bully screamed directly at Leo's ears.

"What are we supposed to do now?! Huh?!"

Ever since Leo started high school, he had been bullied by this group of kids. Whether in or out of class, he will have his books and notebooks stolen. His bag will be wet because of the water from the mop. His study table will be filled with graffiti.

Leo won't be able to eat anything for lunch because of these people. They ganged up on him in the backyard. Beat the life out of him and take away his wallet. If that wasn't enough, he can't get inside the room unless he buys them their drinks using the little money he has left.

Leo's high school experience has been riddled with misfortunes and tragedies.

The big bully slammed his face right against the glass wall and spoke. "Look, we all wanted to live, right? In order to escape, we must have someone distract that monster away from the entrance, then we can run our way out of this mall." The big bully looked at his friends.

Then they heard the door of the small office they had hidden on the first floor crash down. Everyone shuddered. The growl of the 'mutated monster' seems to be much closer than they expected.

Fear crept into their eyes. The ten of them quickly crouched down and hid under the table and office chairs. Not daring to look up and stare at the glass walls. They can hear the heavy thump of huge feet walking closer to their location.

"Alright, gang. This is what we're going to do." The big bully quietly took out a baseball bat from the huge box stashed in the corner. There are also other things in there. Like the gloves and the ball, but it has no use for them.

"Leo, take this." The big bully shoved the bat into Leo's frail arms. The rim of his glasses quivered as he found the courage to ask. "What am I going to do with this?"

"Attract the monster's attention of course." The big bully said in a matter of fact tone.

"Leo must lead the monster down to the other office room beside this one. Then we can use that chance to slip away and escape."

"NO!!!" Leo could not control himself and shrieked. Tears began to stream from his eyes, but the others could not see them because of the dim red lights from the sky.

"Noo… I don't want –"

PAK!

A loud slap echoed inside the dim office room. Making the growling stop. But nobody noticed it. Leo was too stunned to move. His cheek began to burn in pain as it got slapped by the big bully's rough hand.

"What are you scared of?! You're a man, right?! Act like one!"

Leo was shoved roughly to the ground. The bat fell out of his hand and rolled a few meters away. Leo was helpless as he watched one of them pick up the bat and the other two drag him to his feet. Forcing him to get up then shoved the bat in his arms.

"Stand up straight dumbass. At least, make yourself useful." The big bully spat.

The man with an alligator mask watch this scene with amused eyes. He leaned at Leo's ears and whispered.

"Aren't you tired of these people treating you like trash? You wanted to survive, right? To be free of them? Then take this. Use this weapon. Free yourself from their bullying by putting this gun in their heads. And they will never again treat you like trash."