TBBT Fic: Last One Standing [1/?]
Title: Last One Standing
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard, and Raj get kidnapped and trapped in an abandoned building with no way to escape, they are left with only one option: to survive for as long as they can. One person will get killed every two hours, until only one remains. And it is up to the five of them to decide their fate. Who will be the last one standing?
Spoilers: Season 3, maybe? But only because of the Leonard/Penny relationship.
Warnings: Potential horror/gore. Probable frightening & emotional situations. Definite character death.
Characters/pairings: Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard, Raj; Leonard/Penny; Leonard/Sheldon
Word Count: 2,476
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Which is kind of depressing. If I owned the show, I wouldn’t be spending my summers writing these stories. I could control all five characters. I would be a very powerful person. In the words of Daniel Shaw, *deadpans* “Mu-ha-ha.”
A/N: This popped into my head after watching various Bones episodes during some downtime. I’ve never written anything like this before, but I figured I should give it a shot. I’ve also written very little Sheldon in my stories, so apologies in advance if he seems painfully out of character. And I took sports medicine a few years ago, so I’m a little hazy with the technical stuff of injuries. But I did my best to remember what I could. So the stuff I didn’t remember, I made up. xD
~~~~~
Chapter 1: The Game Begins
The sound of a door slamming shut echoed throughout the room, waking the first victim.
She opened her eyes, her entire body throbbing painfully. The room was pitch-black and she was lying on her side, against the cold, hard concrete floor. When she tried to lift her head off the ground, a sharp, piercing pain traveled from one ear to the other. The agonizing intensity shooting through her body made her groan painfully. Nevertheless, she managed to sit up, gripping her head with her hands. She blinked a few times, trying to see through the darkness. Unsuccessful, she attempted to call out for someone.
“Hello?” she groaned. “Leonard? Anyone?”
There was no answer. For a moment, her stomach seemed to leap right out of her as she realized she didn’t recognize this place. She looked around her, getting more and more nervous as each second passed. With no recollection of what happened or where she was, she was undoubtedly worried. A hundred questions started running through her head. Was she drunk or hungover? Did she get lost? Was someone playing an awfully cruel prank on her? Did someone kidnap her? Were they planning on killing her? Her mind was spinning out of control at the last thought. She started to wonder if she was alone, wherever the hell she was. Until she heard someone moan quietly. It came from her left.
“Owww…”
She instantly turned to where the sound was coming from, frantically searching for whoever was next to her. Unsure about who it was, she decided to approach cautiously. She extended her arms and felt around the ground. Once her hand hit someone’s shoe, she crawled next to the person.
“Hello?” She squinted, trying to get a better look at the person. She saw a sweater vest and jacket that looked very familiar. “Raj?”
“Uh?” Raj turned his head, his body screaming in pain. “Penn-” he managed to say before realizing who he was talking to.
“Oh thank goodness, Raj!” Penny leaned in to hug him, ignoring the waves of pain traveling through her body. Raj awkwardly patted her, at the same time wondering what was going on and why his head hurt so much.
Penny had a million questions to ask him, but stopped short when she heard someone else behind her. She turned and felt around for that person the same way she looked for Raj. She ran her hands across the person’s chest, feeling their clothing and trying to identify who it was.
By now, her vision had adjusted to the eerily dark setting, and she was able to see a yellow button-down shirt before feeling a cotton turtleneck. She immediately pulled back her hands after figuring out who it was.
“Howard?”
“Wha-ow. What the hell?”
He rubbed his forehead, and Penny could see he was wincing in pain.
“Howard, it’s me.”
“Me who?” He looked up at whoever was talking to him. “Penny?”
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
Raj had gotten up and crawled next to Penny, looking down at Howard.
“I’m-Raj? What’s going on?”
Raj shook his head, a worried look on his face. Penny sighed, “I wish I knew. I don’t even know where we are.”
“Wait, where’s Leonard and Sheldon? Are they here?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up and found Raj, and then you. I haven’t looked anywhere else. You guys, I’m scared.” She wrapped her arm around Raj, then Howard after he sat up.
Howard groaned. “Did someone kidnap us?”
“That’s what I’m starting to believe.” At this realization, Penny started crying, prompting Raj and Howard to awkwardly calm her down.
“P-Penny, relax. We don’t know what’s happening. Maybe everything’s fine. Just don’t freak out, that’s not going to solve anything.”
She nodded, wiping tears away as best she could and taking several deep breaths. “I know. It just feels like something’s really wrong.” She sniffled, hugging the two guys tighter. “I want Leonard.”
“We should start looking around, maybe we’ll find something.”
Penny nodded in agreement and the three of them crawled around the ground, feeling nothing but the cold concrete floor beneath them. It seemed like the room extended for miles as neither of them had hit any walls yet. Penny felt like she was drifting too far away from Raj and Howard and decided to turn back, until she hit something with her shoe.
She turned, squinting to see who or what it was. She didn’t have to think too long after seeing a red Flash t-shirt.
“Sheldon? Sheldon, are you okay?” Penny gently shook him, trying to wake him up. “Hey guys, over here! I found Sheldon!”
Howard and Raj rushed over to the sound of Penny’s voice. Sheldon was unresponsive to Penny’s shaking for a moment, until a shooting pain through his head immediately jolted him awake.
He opened his eyes and surveyed the room around him. Everything appeared dark and fuzzy, but he could tell that Penny, Howard, and Raj were leaning over him.
“What’s going on?” he whispered quietly, the unbearable pain in his head almost preventing him from speaking louder.
“We were hoping you would know,” Howard said. “You don’t remember?”
“I would remember, but it feels like I’ve been drugged, which would explain why my memory is temporarily failing.” He rubbed his forehead, trying desperately to remember something.
Raj whispered something into Howard’s ear, to which he replied, “That’s exactly what I was wondering.”
Penny turned to Howard. “What did he say?”
“He asked who would do this to us. I can’t think of anyone who has motive to kidnap all of us.”
Sheldon jumped in, this time speaking clearly. “Don’t start assuming things. A serial killer does not necessarily need motive to kidnap.” He paused before continuing. “Or kill.”
Everyone went silent, except for Penny, who started crying again. “I really don’t like this,” she mumbled through her tears.
Howard spoke again in an attempt to get everyone’s minds off Sheldon’s last thought. “It still doesn’t make sense. How did they find us? And why would they put us in here?”
“I don’t know. But we’ll find out.” Sheldon looked from Penny, to Raj, then to Howard. “Where’s Leonard?”
“I don’t know, we haven’t found him yet.” Penny looked around them as she tried to compose herself. “We don’t even know if he’s in here.”
Sheldon sat up, the other three helping him up. “There has to be some kind of light source in here.” He looked around, squinting through the darkness. “Let’s walk until we find a wall.”
The four of them walked together, slowly, in a single direction.
“Why does it feel like this room doesn’t end?” Howard asked.
“We’ll find something,” Sheldon stated calmly. “There has to be a wall somewh-” Their hands hit a stone wall in front of them. “Told you. You three stay here.”
Penny snuggled in between Howard and Raj, gripping their hands tightly as they leaned against the wall. Sheldon walked to his right, running his hands across the smooth stone next to him, searching for some kind of light switch or door. Once he hit a corner, he turned, and it wasn’t long before he hit a metal box sticking out of the wall. He hurriedly opened it, struggling to see what was inside. He could feel several switches and levers, and without thinking, flipped the first one he could. Luckily, he chose the right one. Several lights switched on, illuminating the entire room.
The four of them gaped at the massive room. It looked bigger than their entire apartment building. The ceiling held giant light bulbs dangling from wires. The walls were made entirely of stone, and all four walls were empty. No doors, no windows, and apparently no way to exit. There were random objects mysteriously scattered across the room. Splinters of wood, chunks of concrete blocks, and scraps of metal were lined across the floor, mostly near the edges.
Penny instantly let go of Howard and Raj’s hands, running as fast as she could to the other side of the room. Sheldon, Howard, and Raj looked to where she was running before realizing what she was running toward.
Leonard was sprawled out on the ground. His left leg was pinned under a slab of concrete, pools of blood forming next to him. Penny tugged on the concrete block, struggling to lift it off him. She couldn’t even budge it. She started crying again, frustrated, worried, and devastated that she couldn’t help.
She felt someone tugging her back from behind, and she tried to fight away whoever it was.
“Penny, stop!”
“No, we have to help him!”
“Penny, you’re not helping!” Sheldon pulled her away as she flailed her arms and legs in the air.
She collapsed to her knees next to Leonard’s head, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sheldon, Howard, and Raj surrounded the concrete slab. They started talking, presumably about how to get it off him without causing further damage. Penny thought she heard the words, “blood loss,” “internal bleeding,” “fracture,” and “Crush syndrome.” And although she didn’t really know what most of it meant, the words sent a chill down her spine.
She looked up at them with tear-filled eyes, seeing Sheldon pointing to Raj and then seeing Raj taking off his sweater vest and jacket. Howard kneeled next to the block, then looked around the room for something. He walked over to another part of the room and picked up a wooden block. She didn’t know what it was for, but she didn’t think for a second that they didn’t know what they were doing. Mere seconds passed by before the three of them were in action. They each took hold of one side and to Penny’s amazement and relief, successfully lifted the block off his leg. Penny brought her hands to her mouth when she saw Leonard’s badly injured leg. Sheldon immediately knelt down, holding Raj’s jacket and sweater vest, and wrapped his leg, tightly tying the ends. He looked up at Penny, an authoritative look in his eyes, telling her that it was going to be okay.
The group then proceeded to wake him up. After a good fifteen minutes, it seemed like he was knocked out cold and not about to regain consciousness anytime soon. But Penny refused to leave him.
“Penny, we have to find a way out.”
“No. I’m not leaving him.”
“Penny, if we find a way out, we can get help to Leonard sooner.” Sheldon tugged on Penny’s arm, trying to pull her up from the ground.
Just then, Leonard let out a small cry of pain. Everyone instantly directed their attention to him as he slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling, seemingly unaware of everything around him. Penny dropped back down to her knees and put her hands on either side of his face, trying to make him see her.
“Leonard, honey? I’m right here. Come on sweetie, look at me.”
He snapped out of his daze and turned to her. He tried to ignore the excruciating pain in his leg when he saw Penny crying. He absent-mindedly grabbed her hand, the look in his eyes telling her to stop crying. She smiled, gripping his hand and wiping tears away with her sleeve.
Even though it took some time, Leonard managed to stand up with the help of his friends. He wobbled on his uninjured leg, hesitant to put weight on his other leg. He leaned against Penny, who put her arm around his waist for support.
“Should I ask what’s going on, or can I assume that none of you know?” Leonard asked, looking at everyone. The four of them looked back at him and he could easily read their expressions.
“I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve been kidnapped,” Sheldon said. Everyone else already knew that, yet to hear someone say it with such certainty made the situation much more frightening.
Leonard nodded, asking, “Have you guys looked around yet?”
“Not yet,” Howard replied. “Although from the looks of it, there isn’t much to find. How the hell can there be no doors in this room, anyway? It’s impossible.”
“There has to be some kind of hidden passageway.” Sheldon stared at the ceiling and then glanced at each wall surrounding them. At first glance, he could find no signs of hidden doors or passageways. “Whoever did this to us clearly do not want us to escape.”
“Who would do this to us?” Penny asked, nearly on the verge of tears again.
Leonard held onto her tighter. “I don’t know.”
The five of them jumped when a loud voice boomed over what seemed like nonexistent speakers. They all looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. After all, it could have meant a place to escape. Alas, they found nothing.
“Welcome,” the deep voice said. “Are you ready to play?”
There was silence as the voice was evidently waiting for an answer. Sheldon was the first to speak.
“What do you want with us?!” he yelled to the ceiling.
“Are you ready to play?”
“Why did you take us here?!”
“Are you ready to play?”
Silence, again. Penny grabbed Leonard’s hand, moving in close to him for protection. He wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from whoever or whatever was messing with them.
“No! Forget it! Let us out of here!” Penny screamed.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Howard chimed in next. “I refuse to ‘play,’ whatever the hell that means.” The other four nodded in agreement.
The voice got calmer, and eerily softer. “Let me put this way. Either you play my game, or you all die right now. Your choice. So, are you ready to play?”
The five of them exchanged glances, each one knowing what the other four were thinking.
“We’ll play,” Sheldon said, almost at a whisper.
“Wise decision. Now, the rules are very simple. There are no exits in this building. There is no way for you to escape. The object of the game is to survive. One of you will get killed every two hours until only one is left standing. The last one standing will escape. The decision is up to the five of you to make. If you do not decide, I will decide for you.”
There were audible gasps, and everyone’s heart seemed to beat louder somehow.
“You will not have to worry about counting down the minutes of the rest of your precious little lives. I will gladly do that for you.”
With that, a section in the ceiling above opened, revealing a timer that read 2:00:00. The numbers were large and red, almost purposely intimidating them.
“What kind of sick game is this?!” Leonard shouted.
“Now let’s begin. Ready? Set? Go.”
And the timer started. 1:59:59, 1:59:58, 1:59:57...
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard, and Raj get kidnapped and trapped in an abandoned building with no way to escape, they are left with only one option: to survive for as long as they can. One person will get killed every two hours, until only one remains. And it is up to the five of them to decide their fate. Who will be the last one standing?
Spoilers: Season 3, maybe? But only because of the Leonard/Penny relationship.
Warnings: Potential horror/gore. Probable frightening & emotional situations. Definite character death.
Characters/pairings: Leonard, Sheldon, Penny, Howard, Raj; Leonard/Penny; Leonard/Sheldon
Word Count: 2,476
Disclaimer: I don’t own anything. Which is kind of depressing. If I owned the show, I wouldn’t be spending my summers writing these stories. I could control all five characters. I would be a very powerful person. In the words of Daniel Shaw, *deadpans* “Mu-ha-ha.”
A/N: This popped into my head after watching various Bones episodes during some downtime. I’ve never written anything like this before, but I figured I should give it a shot. I’ve also written very little Sheldon in my stories, so apologies in advance if he seems painfully out of character. And I took sports medicine a few years ago, so I’m a little hazy with the technical stuff of injuries. But I did my best to remember what I could. So the stuff I didn’t remember, I made up. xD
~~~~~
Chapter 1: The Game Begins
The sound of a door slamming shut echoed throughout the room, waking the first victim.
She opened her eyes, her entire body throbbing painfully. The room was pitch-black and she was lying on her side, against the cold, hard concrete floor. When she tried to lift her head off the ground, a sharp, piercing pain traveled from one ear to the other. The agonizing intensity shooting through her body made her groan painfully. Nevertheless, she managed to sit up, gripping her head with her hands. She blinked a few times, trying to see through the darkness. Unsuccessful, she attempted to call out for someone.
“Hello?” she groaned. “Leonard? Anyone?”
There was no answer. For a moment, her stomach seemed to leap right out of her as she realized she didn’t recognize this place. She looked around her, getting more and more nervous as each second passed. With no recollection of what happened or where she was, she was undoubtedly worried. A hundred questions started running through her head. Was she drunk or hungover? Did she get lost? Was someone playing an awfully cruel prank on her? Did someone kidnap her? Were they planning on killing her? Her mind was spinning out of control at the last thought. She started to wonder if she was alone, wherever the hell she was. Until she heard someone moan quietly. It came from her left.
“Owww…”
She instantly turned to where the sound was coming from, frantically searching for whoever was next to her. Unsure about who it was, she decided to approach cautiously. She extended her arms and felt around the ground. Once her hand hit someone’s shoe, she crawled next to the person.
“Hello?” She squinted, trying to get a better look at the person. She saw a sweater vest and jacket that looked very familiar. “Raj?”
“Uh?” Raj turned his head, his body screaming in pain. “Penn-” he managed to say before realizing who he was talking to.
“Oh thank goodness, Raj!” Penny leaned in to hug him, ignoring the waves of pain traveling through her body. Raj awkwardly patted her, at the same time wondering what was going on and why his head hurt so much.
Penny had a million questions to ask him, but stopped short when she heard someone else behind her. She turned and felt around for that person the same way she looked for Raj. She ran her hands across the person’s chest, feeling their clothing and trying to identify who it was.
By now, her vision had adjusted to the eerily dark setting, and she was able to see a yellow button-down shirt before feeling a cotton turtleneck. She immediately pulled back her hands after figuring out who it was.
“Howard?”
“Wha-ow. What the hell?”
He rubbed his forehead, and Penny could see he was wincing in pain.
“Howard, it’s me.”
“Me who?” He looked up at whoever was talking to him. “Penny?”
“Yeah. Are you okay?”
Raj had gotten up and crawled next to Penny, looking down at Howard.
“I’m-Raj? What’s going on?”
Raj shook his head, a worried look on his face. Penny sighed, “I wish I knew. I don’t even know where we are.”
“Wait, where’s Leonard and Sheldon? Are they here?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up and found Raj, and then you. I haven’t looked anywhere else. You guys, I’m scared.” She wrapped her arm around Raj, then Howard after he sat up.
Howard groaned. “Did someone kidnap us?”
“That’s what I’m starting to believe.” At this realization, Penny started crying, prompting Raj and Howard to awkwardly calm her down.
“P-Penny, relax. We don’t know what’s happening. Maybe everything’s fine. Just don’t freak out, that’s not going to solve anything.”
She nodded, wiping tears away as best she could and taking several deep breaths. “I know. It just feels like something’s really wrong.” She sniffled, hugging the two guys tighter. “I want Leonard.”
“We should start looking around, maybe we’ll find something.”
Penny nodded in agreement and the three of them crawled around the ground, feeling nothing but the cold concrete floor beneath them. It seemed like the room extended for miles as neither of them had hit any walls yet. Penny felt like she was drifting too far away from Raj and Howard and decided to turn back, until she hit something with her shoe.
She turned, squinting to see who or what it was. She didn’t have to think too long after seeing a red Flash t-shirt.
“Sheldon? Sheldon, are you okay?” Penny gently shook him, trying to wake him up. “Hey guys, over here! I found Sheldon!”
Howard and Raj rushed over to the sound of Penny’s voice. Sheldon was unresponsive to Penny’s shaking for a moment, until a shooting pain through his head immediately jolted him awake.
He opened his eyes and surveyed the room around him. Everything appeared dark and fuzzy, but he could tell that Penny, Howard, and Raj were leaning over him.
“What’s going on?” he whispered quietly, the unbearable pain in his head almost preventing him from speaking louder.
“We were hoping you would know,” Howard said. “You don’t remember?”
“I would remember, but it feels like I’ve been drugged, which would explain why my memory is temporarily failing.” He rubbed his forehead, trying desperately to remember something.
Raj whispered something into Howard’s ear, to which he replied, “That’s exactly what I was wondering.”
Penny turned to Howard. “What did he say?”
“He asked who would do this to us. I can’t think of anyone who has motive to kidnap all of us.”
Sheldon jumped in, this time speaking clearly. “Don’t start assuming things. A serial killer does not necessarily need motive to kidnap.” He paused before continuing. “Or kill.”
Everyone went silent, except for Penny, who started crying again. “I really don’t like this,” she mumbled through her tears.
Howard spoke again in an attempt to get everyone’s minds off Sheldon’s last thought. “It still doesn’t make sense. How did they find us? And why would they put us in here?”
“I don’t know. But we’ll find out.” Sheldon looked from Penny, to Raj, then to Howard. “Where’s Leonard?”
“I don’t know, we haven’t found him yet.” Penny looked around them as she tried to compose herself. “We don’t even know if he’s in here.”
Sheldon sat up, the other three helping him up. “There has to be some kind of light source in here.” He looked around, squinting through the darkness. “Let’s walk until we find a wall.”
The four of them walked together, slowly, in a single direction.
“Why does it feel like this room doesn’t end?” Howard asked.
“We’ll find something,” Sheldon stated calmly. “There has to be a wall somewh-” Their hands hit a stone wall in front of them. “Told you. You three stay here.”
Penny snuggled in between Howard and Raj, gripping their hands tightly as they leaned against the wall. Sheldon walked to his right, running his hands across the smooth stone next to him, searching for some kind of light switch or door. Once he hit a corner, he turned, and it wasn’t long before he hit a metal box sticking out of the wall. He hurriedly opened it, struggling to see what was inside. He could feel several switches and levers, and without thinking, flipped the first one he could. Luckily, he chose the right one. Several lights switched on, illuminating the entire room.
The four of them gaped at the massive room. It looked bigger than their entire apartment building. The ceiling held giant light bulbs dangling from wires. The walls were made entirely of stone, and all four walls were empty. No doors, no windows, and apparently no way to exit. There were random objects mysteriously scattered across the room. Splinters of wood, chunks of concrete blocks, and scraps of metal were lined across the floor, mostly near the edges.
Penny instantly let go of Howard and Raj’s hands, running as fast as she could to the other side of the room. Sheldon, Howard, and Raj looked to where she was running before realizing what she was running toward.
Leonard was sprawled out on the ground. His left leg was pinned under a slab of concrete, pools of blood forming next to him. Penny tugged on the concrete block, struggling to lift it off him. She couldn’t even budge it. She started crying again, frustrated, worried, and devastated that she couldn’t help.
She felt someone tugging her back from behind, and she tried to fight away whoever it was.
“Penny, stop!”
“No, we have to help him!”
“Penny, you’re not helping!” Sheldon pulled her away as she flailed her arms and legs in the air.
She collapsed to her knees next to Leonard’s head, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sheldon, Howard, and Raj surrounded the concrete slab. They started talking, presumably about how to get it off him without causing further damage. Penny thought she heard the words, “blood loss,” “internal bleeding,” “fracture,” and “Crush syndrome.” And although she didn’t really know what most of it meant, the words sent a chill down her spine.
She looked up at them with tear-filled eyes, seeing Sheldon pointing to Raj and then seeing Raj taking off his sweater vest and jacket. Howard kneeled next to the block, then looked around the room for something. He walked over to another part of the room and picked up a wooden block. She didn’t know what it was for, but she didn’t think for a second that they didn’t know what they were doing. Mere seconds passed by before the three of them were in action. They each took hold of one side and to Penny’s amazement and relief, successfully lifted the block off his leg. Penny brought her hands to her mouth when she saw Leonard’s badly injured leg. Sheldon immediately knelt down, holding Raj’s jacket and sweater vest, and wrapped his leg, tightly tying the ends. He looked up at Penny, an authoritative look in his eyes, telling her that it was going to be okay.
The group then proceeded to wake him up. After a good fifteen minutes, it seemed like he was knocked out cold and not about to regain consciousness anytime soon. But Penny refused to leave him.
“Penny, we have to find a way out.”
“No. I’m not leaving him.”
“Penny, if we find a way out, we can get help to Leonard sooner.” Sheldon tugged on Penny’s arm, trying to pull her up from the ground.
Just then, Leonard let out a small cry of pain. Everyone instantly directed their attention to him as he slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling, seemingly unaware of everything around him. Penny dropped back down to her knees and put her hands on either side of his face, trying to make him see her.
“Leonard, honey? I’m right here. Come on sweetie, look at me.”
He snapped out of his daze and turned to her. He tried to ignore the excruciating pain in his leg when he saw Penny crying. He absent-mindedly grabbed her hand, the look in his eyes telling her to stop crying. She smiled, gripping his hand and wiping tears away with her sleeve.
Even though it took some time, Leonard managed to stand up with the help of his friends. He wobbled on his uninjured leg, hesitant to put weight on his other leg. He leaned against Penny, who put her arm around his waist for support.
“Should I ask what’s going on, or can I assume that none of you know?” Leonard asked, looking at everyone. The four of them looked back at him and he could easily read their expressions.
“I think it’s safe to assume that we’ve been kidnapped,” Sheldon said. Everyone else already knew that, yet to hear someone say it with such certainty made the situation much more frightening.
Leonard nodded, asking, “Have you guys looked around yet?”
“Not yet,” Howard replied. “Although from the looks of it, there isn’t much to find. How the hell can there be no doors in this room, anyway? It’s impossible.”
“There has to be some kind of hidden passageway.” Sheldon stared at the ceiling and then glanced at each wall surrounding them. At first glance, he could find no signs of hidden doors or passageways. “Whoever did this to us clearly do not want us to escape.”
“Who would do this to us?” Penny asked, nearly on the verge of tears again.
Leonard held onto her tighter. “I don’t know.”
The five of them jumped when a loud voice boomed over what seemed like nonexistent speakers. They all looked around, trying to see where it was coming from. After all, it could have meant a place to escape. Alas, they found nothing.
“Welcome,” the deep voice said. “Are you ready to play?”
There was silence as the voice was evidently waiting for an answer. Sheldon was the first to speak.
“What do you want with us?!” he yelled to the ceiling.
“Are you ready to play?”
“Why did you take us here?!”
“Are you ready to play?”
Silence, again. Penny grabbed Leonard’s hand, moving in close to him for protection. He wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from whoever or whatever was messing with them.
“No! Forget it! Let us out of here!” Penny screamed.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Howard chimed in next. “I refuse to ‘play,’ whatever the hell that means.” The other four nodded in agreement.
The voice got calmer, and eerily softer. “Let me put this way. Either you play my game, or you all die right now. Your choice. So, are you ready to play?”
The five of them exchanged glances, each one knowing what the other four were thinking.
“We’ll play,” Sheldon said, almost at a whisper.
“Wise decision. Now, the rules are very simple. There are no exits in this building. There is no way for you to escape. The object of the game is to survive. One of you will get killed every two hours until only one is left standing. The last one standing will escape. The decision is up to the five of you to make. If you do not decide, I will decide for you.”
There were audible gasps, and everyone’s heart seemed to beat louder somehow.
“You will not have to worry about counting down the minutes of the rest of your precious little lives. I will gladly do that for you.”
With that, a section in the ceiling above opened, revealing a timer that read 2:00:00. The numbers were large and red, almost purposely intimidating them.
“What kind of sick game is this?!” Leonard shouted.
“Now let’s begin. Ready? Set? Go.”
And the timer started. 1:59:59, 1:59:58, 1:59:57...