Task Description:

Tributes are forced on malfunctioning rides, they must hit one of the 'targets' before they are allowed to get off.

I don’t think there is anything like having a gun shoved into your hands and being told you have to shoot someone. The thing that is even worse is knowing you didn’t have a choice. I looked down at the playful orange color of the gun, it seemed ironic that they had turned an innocent child’s plaything into a weapon designed to kill, or brutally maim in the least. My stomach flipped, God, I didn’t want to hurt anyone again. Pain stabbed in my chest like shards of glass as the death I had caused flashed through my mind.

“Move.” The man with the cruel chestnut eyes that twinkled with sinister arrogance to them hissed. He aimed his gun at my back and I took a few extra steps to catch up with the other’s in my group. After the announcement had been made, everyone had been rounded up, handed acid filled guns and forced into groups. Arwen and I had been separated from Maxine and Cleopatra. I tried to force away the ominous dread that hung over my head like a cloud away as I tried not to wonder if them walking away, throwing nervous glances over their shoulders was the last thing I would ever see of them.

Ahead of us I could see the tall drop ride, its blue chrome paint glistened in the sunlight. Shiny and unchipped,  it was the most recent addition to the park - though in this ancient carnival ‘most recent’ didn’t mean much. The sapphire sky framed it and cheery little clouds dotted the skyline. Today seemed like the kind of day that should be spent with friends in a park- not fearing for your life. If this were a book the sky would be clouded, blocking out the sun and casting a dark shadow over the earth.

The gate to the ride squeaked open as the man opened it, awkwardly trying to keep his gun trained on us. “Get a seat. You’ll be shooting at the targets from the ride.” He flashed us a sinister smile that reminded me greatly of the Cheshire Cat. “Good luck.”

Arwen grasped my hand as we were jostled forward by the crowd, she looked over at me and said something, her face tight with concern, but it floated away with the other mumblings of the crowd before it could reach my ears. I was about to tell her I couldn’t hear her when she tugged me toward one seats near the end. I sat down slowly, wanting to put this off for as long as humanly possible. Arwen sat to my right, she watched me closely. “It’s okay. This acid won’t kill them. It will only sting them. A lot. But the people will be fine.”

I shook my head numbly, “Its not okay. I-I just-” I stuttered, unable to put all the emotions that raced around in my body into words. I furrowed my brow, I generally never had trouble speaking or finding the words to express myself. It was like my brain just wasn’t organized enough to focus on finding the word…

A tornado raged in my head, swirling around and picking up memories, thoughts and feelings, then flashing them before my eyes and seconds later tossing them away. An image of the young girl who had died because of me flashed through my mind and I felt my stomach wrench. Then my hands grasping the intestines of boy who had died in front of me. After that an image of my cat, Edgar Allan Poe  flashed into my head. “My cat needs to eat, or he will destroy my apartment again.” I said randomly, looking at Awen, who stared on in confusion. That was when my brain clicked. “Shit! My meds must have worn off.” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.

I reached my hand into my pocket, praying my emergency pill was still in there… My fingers curled around the small white pill and I stuffed it into my mouth. It would probably take at least 15 minutes to start working. After this though, I had no way to access ADHD medication… I just hope help would arrive before it wore off.

A look of concern crossed Arwen’s face. She opened her mouth to say something when the man stepped in front of us and coughed. “Would you mind shutting up and sitting still so I can lock you into your seats?” He spat, shoving the safety bar down before I could even respond. My eyes floated over to someone wobbling around with a vacant expression on his face. He must be one of the targets…. I didn’t want to shoot him, not at all…. And more importantly was the cereal killer who locked us in here wearing concealer? I could have sworn I saw some bumps on his face covered by a peach color of makeup.

“Morgan!” A voice yelled, sharply in my ear, finally managing to penetrate the thick layer of fog that seemed to surround my head. I looked over at Arwen guiltily.

She had an exasperated look on her face. She had probably talking to me….“Did you hear a word of what I just said? Or more importantly what the psycho with the acid filled gun said?” She demanded, I had to force my brain to focus on her to even process what she was saying to me.

I looked at her incredulously, “They said something? I mean he. And you.” I stumbled, squeezing my eyes shut and forcing myself to focus. I hated this, I hated this so much. I remembered  living like this every day when I was younger. It was like everything was screaming in my ear at the same time, begging me for attention.

“You-” She was cut off as we shot upwards. My heart leaped into my neck as the ride jerked upwards sharply and then back downward, slamming my body upwards so it my shoulders hit the top of the safety bar that strapped me in. Pain coursed through my body, emanating from where my shoulder had been stabbed last night. The ride slammed us up and down in a inconsistant zigzag pattern, as is seemingly tried to throw us from itself.  I saw a few people take aim with their guns squirting at the blurred shapes of humans below us.

How could they do that?

I swallowed hard, I had to do this. We had to do this.

It was just a little burn in an exchange your life.

What if it wasn’t?

What if I killed again?

We have no choice.

My eyes widened as the girl next to me fumbling with her gun and dropped it. I watched the gun tumbling to the ground. Simultaneously my eyes shot over to a fat kid who threw his hands into the air triumphantly. Someone cursed loudly as they missed. A sleek raven whose feather’s glistened iridescent in the sunlight flew overhead.

The ride torpedoed downward and came to an abrupt stop, my body slammed downward pain arching through my body from my slain shoulder. I looked over at Arwen who was looking over at something going on over my shoulder- crap. I should probably be looking too.

I looked over, but not before my eyes fell on a raven sitting on the skeleton of a stand across the beaten path. The man’s clapping caught my attention and my eyes shot over to look at him. “Congratulations, fatty. You were the first one to hit someone. You’re free to go.” He unlocked the kid and he bounced free screaming something about pizza and ran off.

My eyes flitted back to the raven that still sat perched across from us, as if observing the spectacle from a distance. It reminded me of my favorite poem “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, (perhaps my favorite poet of all time.) I had the bizarre, yet very yearning desire for it to start chanting ‘Nevermore’ like the raven from the poem.

My eyes flitted over to the girl who sat next to me- she had said something… I had no idea what. My brain had not processed it. Shit, I need my stupid meds to start working! I hated being so out of it. And- I looked over at the raven again- distractible.

The man strode over to the girl like a cat closing in on it’s prey. Why was it that these people reminded me so much of predatory animals? Perhaps it was just their lack of humanity…“Oh.” He said closing in. A sadistic look in his eye. “Your gun? You dropped it.” He laughed and the girl nodded uneasily. “You lose.” He said coldly, lifting his own gun to her eye. I watched in horror, my blood running cold as he pulled the trigger, forcing the nozzle into her eye acid ate away her eyeball, sizzling the weak flesh that surrounded it as well. He plunged it deeper into the eye socket, I knew it was eating deeper and deeper into her scalp, soon it would be to her brain. Vomit curled up my throat as I watched blood start to leak out. The girl’s scream was deafening, it ripped into my ears like the sound of a thousand tortured souls.

I watched as her her body slumped forward and bloody gunk dripped from the hole in her head where her eye had been, hunks of mushy brain and an eyeball half eaten away by acid fell at the man’s feet. “Ew. My shoes.” He groaned shallowly, stepping backward toward the rides control panel.

My mind recoiled like a snake, how could someone be so evil? He- he had just murdered a girl! A-and all he was worried about was his fucking shoes? How was it even possible?

He looked over at us with a twinkle in his eye, “Theres your motivation not to fail.” He grinned, looking us over as if he was relishing each one of our expressions. Then his finger flicked a switch and we were flying.

I lifted my gun to my shoulder, each time the machine jolted it shook me, making me have to re-take my aim. I got a figure in my sights, I took a deep breath and tried to pull the trigger. Something stopped me though, all the faces of the dead flooded my mind screaming at me not to do it. I could nearly see their mutated corpses swirling around my head. I tried to push my feelings aside and pull the trigger- I just couldn’t though. I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt another human being, especially an innocent one.

In retrospect maybe my repulsion to the idea of hurting the people had been more my rebellion as I tried desperately to cling onto my humanity. It was what separated me from the killers who played with us in here. Sadly humans when thrust into a situation as like the one we are in now, are presented with an either-or choice; die with your humanity or live without it.

Which would you choose?

One by one everyone on the ride shot the targets, who screamed with every new burn. Finally even Arwen hit one and she was let off. She didn’t run off like the others had though, she spun around and screamed at me, her eyes wide with panic. “Why the hell haven’t you even fired off one shot? Morgan. You are going to die if you don’t do this. He. Is. Psycho.” She screamed, her spit hitting my face as the man with the chestnut eyes pushed her aside and got into my face, his hot breath was inches from my face. My heart skipped a beat in terror. This was it. This was my utter end.

He smiled, his face alight with a exhilarated type of madness as he leaned in closer, “You're the last one on this ride.” He stated, my eyes darted in either direction and I realized with a shiver he was right, only the corpse hung limply beside me. “This is your last chance to hit the target or you die. Good luck- you’re going to need it.” He stepped back laughing as he switched the lever as the lift took off one final time.

With a knot in my throat I forced myself to lift the gun to my shoulder as the ride jerked to a stop, switching direction. I expected the painful thud of my shoulder hitting the safety bar but it never came. The bar gave way as soon as my shoulder touched it.

I was flung out of my seat.

I screamed, the shock and terror rushing out of my lungs as I was propelled upwards with the momentum of the ride, I tumbled through the air. My heart beat so fast I’m surprised I didn’t die of a heart attack right then and there.  I flailed my arms as I started falling downward, spiraling out of control. The world blurred past me like it had the rollercoaster, except I found no joy in this. It felt as if every thing inside of me was frozen with fear. I was going to die. I flailed my arms every which way trying to grab onto something- anything.

I felt my fingers curl around the armrest of the lift that was shooting upwards. I nearly lost my grip as my body abruptly changed directions.  My breathing was ragged as I tried to collect my thoughts. “Help! Just please help! I’ll shoot them! I swear!” I screamed at the top of my lungs terror coursing through every vein of my body as the lift shot downwards and I clung on for dear life.

The lift didn’t stop, “You have to hit the target first!” An all too familiar masculine voice shot into my ears. It shot back upwards and I felt my grip slip a little bit.

I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I’m going to die. I didn’t know how to move suddenly. Sweat poured from my forehead running into my eyes. A little whimper escaped my lips as I tried to calm down, to think straight. Words.

Shuddering, sweat dripping and sliding down the nape of my neck,

Terror, fear blazing in my eyes, hands shaking,

Worlds fall, I’m gasping for breath,

I will soon be falling, hands slipping but still gripping,

Horror, a stabbing in my gut like a burning knife,

I still clutch the gun that will save my life, I stiffy force myself to lift it aiming at the  human being who already had been scarred so many times from his fellow captors who had chosen to betray him for their own life. Soon my scar would join the others.

I began to squeeze the trigger- I screamed as a burning sensation exploded in my hand, causing it to slip completely. I fell for half a second, my heart stopping. I hands clutched something cold and stiff I swung back and forth, my hand screamed in pain as I squeezed my lifeline as tightly as I could, the burns still searing into my skin. I looked upward and realized I had grabbed ahold of the dead girl’s ankle. The skin on my hand bubbled a deep purple color as the acid are deeper into my hand. I felt my entire body trembling as I tried to hold on as the ride jerked directions again. I looked downward to see that the man had shot me with his acid gun, I watched him smirk and take aim again.  “Don’t you fucking dare!” I shrieked as if he would listen. I had to move. I couldn’t hesitate. This was it. I felt tears water in my eye as I lifted the gun and took aim as quickly as I could.

I looked away and squeezed the trigger.

The ride dropped down one final time and then slowly lowered itself to the ground. I let of the dead girl’s ankles, sobs of relief racking my body. I just lay there, shaking, barely even aware that I was alive. How was I alive? I couldn’t even think.  

Suddenly Arwen was in my face, “Okay, breathe Morgan. Your okay. Everything is okay. You're alive.” She said her face clouded with relief, leaning over to hug me. I felt her numbly pull me to my feet, my brain still wasn’t functioning. “Lets get the hell out of here.”

We walked away, my hope dying like the setting sun. It had been twenty four hours since we had been tossed into this living hell and the police still hadn’t arrived. With a twist in my  stomach I forced myself to admit the reality; no one was coming to save us.

We were on our own.