One girl shrieked and was the first to flee. She didn't get far because when she ran past a cage the panther Keijiro first spotted lunged out and tackled her to the ground. There was a splatter of blood but Keijiro looked away from the mangled body after that.

The rest of the participates began to split up and run for their lives.

"What- what is this?!" Fujitaka held his face, frozen in place.

"Who cares, let's go!" Keijiro said and took off down one of the paths.

Michael grabbed Fujitaka, dragging him along and followed after.

Keijiro ran with no destination in mind as he saw more animals come at him from all sides. There was another scream in the distance and the lady above spoke to them once again.

12 participants remain

Keijiro wanted to believe this wasn't happening but the alligator that was now on his tail told him otherwise. How in the hell was this a game and how was he going to survive this?

"Hey, over here!"

Keijiro looked back to see Michael trying to get the alligator's attention with Fujitaka now nowhere in sight.

The alligator changed its target leaving him alone and Keijiro for a second didn't know what to do. He then fumbled with his gun and aimed it at the animal before taking the shot.

The bullet hit the alligator's back which startled it causing it to hiss. Michael took that chance to jump around it and run back over to his friend.

"Where's freckles?" Keijiro asked.

Michael huffed and wiped the sweat from his brow. "I don't know, I tried to get him to follow us but he freaked and ran off."

"Well, he's dead."

"Don't say that." Michael observed their area then pulled them both over to the empty panther enclosure to hide in. "This is seriously messed up."

Keijiro agreed. "Maybe we're both dreaming."

"So, we just so happened to fall asleep in the middle of the street in broad daylight? We were surrounded by so many people, I'm sure they would've woken us up if that were true."

"Right," Keijiro said and peeked out the fence. The place was basically a safari now with tons of animals roaming the area looking for its next prey: elephants, giraffes, lions, and even polar bears.

"Alright," Michael said, taking in deep breaths, "alright, we... we have to lock in." He thought back to what the lady said about the rules. "So, we basically just need to find the exit."

Michael started to check the panther enclosure but there was nothing. "Okay, so it's not here."

"Help!"

Keijiro and Michael both turned back to the fence and saw the chubby man in the hat attempting to run for his life. There was a large hippo chasing the man and closely gaining on him.

The man was sweating from head to toe and had somehow lost one shoe. "H- help! Someone!"

Michael nudged Keijiro's shoulder. "Go help him!"

"Like hell I will."

"Keijiro!"

Keijiro held the gun closer to him. "It's best not to use bullets on anyone unless one of us is in trouble." He glanced back at the man. "Plus, even if we do save him do you think he'll be able to keep up with us?"

Michael sighed. "I... I guess you're right."

"You're too kind," Keijiro told him right as a scream surfaced. They both saw the hippo catching up and chomping down on the man's torso. The hippo continued to rip and tear every piece of skin or bone it could get in its mouth and eventually the screams silenced.

Michael swallowed the bile rising in his throat and covered his mouth.

Still, there was no time to be shaken up because the sound of squawking came from the sky and Keijiro spotted two large birds, most likely pelicans, soaring their way.

Keijiro aimed his gun at the first one and took the shot, hitting the bird right between its eyes. He then looked at the second one and cursed.

"What are you doing?!" Michael asked once he saw Keijiro put the gun on his back.

"I told you, I don't want to use any more bullets unless it's important."

"This is important!"

The second pelican swooped down into the enclosure and had its legs out to grab at least one of them. Keijiro pushed Michael out of the way as the large bird took hold of his arm which drew tiny drops of blood.

Keijiro brought his arms down to smash the bird into the ground and Michael stood back up to wrap his hands around the pelican's beak.

The pelican instantly released Keijiro's arm, trying to now open its mouth but Michael's hands kept it closed. Keijiro then took the chance to stomp on the bird's neck with a loud crack.

Michael panted, letting go of the limp bird. "This... is not a fun game."

Twenty minutes remaining.

"You've got to be kidding me," Keijiro said then faced Michael, "we need to find the exit."

"Yeah, I already said that." Michael brushed himself off. "How are we supposed to know where it is though? There are tons of enclosures here."

"I don't know but we're wasting time." Keijiro left the panther enclosure first and ventured back out into the chaos.

Keijiro and Michael passed the chubby man's mangled and bloody body along with other deceased participants and made sure to be on the look out for any more animals. There were a few snakes slithering in the distance and one elephant that only stood still.

"There," Keijiro whispered and pointed to a nearby gift shop. The two quietly jogged over and entered the store but the bell on the door rung which caused a few animals to roar.

"Hurry," Michael said and they both went to go hide behind the front counter. As Keijiro crouched down with his friend, he was surprised to see another person present.

Fujitaka was curled up into a ball, sniffling as blood stained his face.

"So, this is where you ran off to," Keijiro spoke and Fujitaka's head snapped up, clearly frightened.

Michael observed the boy's face. "What happened? Are you hurt?"

Fujitaka shook his head and sniffed again. "No. I ran into that older woman we met earlier. I asked for help but she pushed me in front of a cheetah to save herself. I thought I was a goner but the cheetah still went after her." He buried his face in hands. "There was so much blood!"

"Sounds like she got what she deserved," Keijiro said but Fujitaka disagreed.

"No one deserves that."

Michael peeked over the counter to see a tiger now guarding the front entrance due to the sound of the bell.

Keijiro and Fujitaka did the same.

"What do we do now?" Fujitaka asked.

Keijiro but his lip then took out the phone they were given from his pocket. "Biscuit always got scared when I took pictures with the flash on..."

Michael stared at him. "That's your cat. We're talking about a tiger here!"

"Tigers are just grown up kittens too!"

"I think it's worth a shot," Fujitaka said.

Keijiro gripped the phone in his hand but Michael held him by the end of his shirt.

"If you take that picture and the tiger pounces on you through the door, I'm going to laugh," Michael told him.

Keijiro smiled. "I know." He moved away from the front counter and found the camera function in the phone.

When Keijiro approached the door, the tiger saw him and gave a low growl. The big cat's claws dug into the ground as if it was indeed ready to pounce.

Keijiro held the phone up at the tiger. "Say cheese?" He snapped a picture causing the tiger to flinch and blink rapidly, obviously startled.

Keijiro tested his limits and spammed the button causing nonstop flashes and the tiger let out a terrifying growl. Keijiro figured he'd probably up and die right now but instead the tiger mean- mugged him before running off.

"I can't believe that worked," Michael said, walking over.

Fujitaka hesitantly made his way over as well while Keijiro continued to peer out the glass door. He could spot another body, a female, near some bushes where a polar bear was having its lunch.

10 minutes remaining

More pelicans along with other tiny birds could be seen in the sky and the panther was scoping the area with a blood stained mouth as the elephant stayed mellow in its own place.

Keijiro's eyes widened.

"What is it?" Michael asked after seeing his friend's face.

Keijiro ignored the question and inspected the gift shop for any feeding cup stations. He found one for multiple animals: giraffes, birds, and turtles. Unfortunately they were all empty except for one bowl of fruit that sat on a nearby table which was actually the only source of food inside the shop.

Keijiro grabbed the bowl and walked back over to the door.

"What's he doing?" Fujitaka asked but Michael just shrugged.

Keijiro grinned at them. "Follow me." He led the other two towards the elephant although there were still a few murderous animals around them.

"Are you trying to get us killed?" Michael asked as they stopped in front of the large animal. Unlike the others, this elephant did not show any signs of hostility.

Keijiro looked around at the other animals that stalked towards them but when they spotted the elephant they grunted and left the three alone.

"Why do you think all the other animals roamed around searching for a kill except for this elephant who stayed in place this entire time?" Keijiro spoke to them.

Michael stood on his toes to try and see around the elephant and saw that the elephant's enclosure was different from the rest. Inside, there was a door that clearly did not belong to the rest of the cage.

Fujitaka gasped. "The exit!"

Michael looked the elephant up and down. "Do you think it'll attack us if we try to go around?"

"No but there's no way we can get around it anyways," Keijiro said then held the bowl of fruit up for the animal.

The elephant gratefully accepted an apple with its trunk then ate it in one bite. Keijiro shook the bowl a bit before setting it to the side away from the enclosure. The elephant then followed after it, leaving its enclosure and continued to eat the fruit.

"Oh, thank god!" Fujitaka cried and ran for the exit.

Keijiro exhaled in relief but looked over at Michael who was still focused on the other side of the zoo.

"What is it now?" Keijiro asked.

"There could still be people who are alive."

Keijiro scoffed. "There could be. Now let's go, we have less than ten minutes now."

Michael pursed his lips then cupped his hands to his mouth. "Hey!"

"What are you doing?!" Keijiro hissed.

"If anyone's still alive then the exit is in the elephant enclosure!" Michael called out.

The three waited for a few minutes and Keijiro saw one guy peek around one of the bushes and rush towards them.

"See, I told you," Michael said to his friend and urged the guy to run faster.

"Nah, he's gonna die," Keijiro responded.

Fujitaka looked at him. "What do you mean?"

Keijiro gestured to the panther that was hiding almost out of sight, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"Good job on leading him to a horrible death," Keijiro added.

Michael felt guilt seep in. "I... I..." he looked over at Keijiro. "Do something, man! You already let one person die!"

Fujitaka covered his mouth in shock.

Keijiro choked on a scoff. "I didn't do anything."

"Exactly!"

Keijiro nodded towards Fujitaka. "Ready to go?"

Fujitaka frowned and continued to stare at the guy running as fast as he could.

Just then, the panther finally lunged out having its eyes set on the guy who tripped over himself in fear.

"No! Please!" The guy cried out.

The panther growled and opened its mouth to bite the guy's head but instead, a gunshot rang out.

Michael looked over at his friend who now had his gun in his hands still aimed at the panther.

"Damn it." Keijiro smacked his teeth and stared down at his shotgun that was losing bullets by the minute.

The panther fell, dead, and the guy pushed himself to a stand before finally making it to the exit.

Upon closer look, Keijiro saw that the guy was actually the one who planned on taking his gun if he got killed before the game started.

"Thank you!" The guy had tears in his eyes and embraced Keijiro.

"Don't mention it," Keijiro said through clenched teeth, "now get off me."

The guy let go, embarrassed, and was the first to leave through the exit. The other three were about to do the same but something stopped them.

"Help! I'm here!"

Keijiro immediately shook his head at another voice that called out to them. "No. No way. We have to leave now."

5 minutes remaining.

"I think he's right," Fujitaka said.

Michael was conflicted on the decision to leave or help then called back to the person. "Where are you?!"

"I don't know but I think I can see an elephant!"

Michael turned to Keijiro. "They're close."

Keijiro desperately wanted to just leave the entire place behind even if it meant abandoning his friend but he knew he could never do that.

"Go through the exit, Fujitaka," Keijiro ordered.

"Huh? But—"

"Do as he says," Michael said then ran off to help the other survivor with Keijiro right behind him.

Fujitaka said a silent prayer for them before being the second to go through the exit.

"We only have five minutes!" Keijiro reminded as he used the end of his gun to whack a pelican that swooped down at them. He followed after Michael before they turned a corner and saw that there were actually two people.

One was a girl with short hair comforting another girl whose leg was completely totaled. She must have been attacked by a lion or bear to cause that kind of injury.

"I need help carrying her," the short haired girl told them.

Michael removed his shirt and wiped the blood before tying it tight around the injured girl's leg causing her to wince.

"Help carry her like she said and I'll be on the lookout," Keijiro told him and Michael nodded.

Keijiro took the lead with his gun as Michael and the short haired girl helped the injured girl limp to the exit.

3 minutes remaining

Keijiro shot at another alligator crawling towards them and whacked two monkeys that tried to bite at his legs. They all could see the exit now in sight while the elephant remained calm, eating the fruit.

Keijiro arrived first but turned back when he heard a yelp. It was the injured girl who made the sound after dropping something and he looked closer to see that it was an inhaler.

"Take her to the exit," the short haired girl instructed, and went back for it.

Michael nodded and adjusted the injured girl into a bridal position and went to go join Keijiro.

1 minute remaining

The girl successfully retrieved the inhaler and sprinted back to the elephant enclosure.

"Hurry!" Michael encouraged her.

"Come on, Akemi!" The injured girl cried.

Keijiro watched the scene in anticipation then sighed with relief when he saw her reach her hand out to give Michael the inhaler and he took hold of it.

Zap!

The three then watched in horror as a red laser beam came down straight through the girl's head and Keijiro looked down to see her feet inches away from the inside of the elephant enclosure.

The girl's eyes rolled back and her hand fell from Michael's leaving the inhaler in his.

"No! Akemi!"

Michael held the injured girl back from trying to crawl to her friend. Keijiro dragged them both through the exit doors so this nightmare could be over and they entered a white room where Fujitaka and the other guy were waiting.

"There you are!" Fujitaka ran over and embraced Keijiro.

Inside the room was a tv screen on the wall, a table and two couches with a door in the corner. Michael sat the girl down on one of the couches while the screen turned on with a happy ding.

[Game Clear]
Congratulations
[3 day visa]

"Visa?" Keijiro tilted his head. "What does it mean by three days?"

"You receive a visa after every game you play," the guy explained, "you get three days off until you have to play again."

"What if we don't play?" Fujitaka asked.

The guy held this hand up in the form of a gun and pointed it under his chin causing the girl on the couch to cry louder.

"So, if we don't play we die and if our visas run out I'm guessing we still die, huh?" Keijiro asked and the guy nodded.

Michael tried to console the injured girl but she didn't want to be touched or talked to. Keijiro then walked over to the table and saw a single playing card laid out for them.

6 of spades.

"What's the card for?" Keijiro asked.

The guy scratched the back of his neck. "I'm not actually sure."

Keijiro figured there was no harm in taking it so he pocketed it and left the given phone on the table while the others did the same.

Keijiro watched Michael return the girl's phone for her. "I hope you know going forward we can't take her with us."

Michael was about to argue against that but a voice interrupted him.

"I don't need any help." The girl sniffed, overhearing. "I'll be fine."

"Uh, I can look after her," the guy offered, "you know, since she's hurt."

The girl shifted on the couch but didn't object to the idea.

Keijiro felt someone tug at his shirt and looked to see the slightly shorter blonde boy staring up at him with puppy dog eyes.

"Please take me with you," Fujitaka pleaded.

"Why? You're useless."

Fujitaka's mouth hung open and Michael hit his friend over the head.

"What?" Keijiro said, "no offense but he didn't do anything this entire game."

"But we're both new so we should stick together." Fujitaka tried to convince him. "I... I don't want to be alone."

Keijiro could point out that the boy can just go with the two other survivors but just sighed.

"Fine, come on. Let's get out of here."

Fujitaka's eyes lit up and he happily followed his two new companions along with the other two out the door.

It was evening by now and Keijiro didn't want to know what it'd be like at night. The guy who volunteered to stay with the injured girl waved goodbye before departing with her.

The three boys went off on their own and  Keijiro felt he could finally breathe since the zoo was out of sight at this point.

"We need a place to stay," Michael stated the obvious then looked down at his bare chest. "Maybe somewhere with some clothes too."

Keijiro nodded. "Before we arrived here, the area we were in had a mall nearby, right?"

Michael smiled. "Good thinking."

With Michael in the lead, they made their way back to the main road where all the attractions and shops were. They found the abandoned mall that also had plant growth overrunning it but it was better than nothing.

Keijiro sighed before stepping inside, ready to make use of their new home.