by Chad Leito
Tonya lifted her upper lip in a snarl and backed away. She didn’t sheathe her sword, though, but brandished it with two hands as she leaned against the glass and waited.
The two Boxers who Baggs hardly knew walked over and stood beside Tonya. The male with the rat teeth eyed Baggs suspiciously.
So we’re splitting up, Baggs thought. This day just keeps getting better.
Hailey Vixen stood with her feet together beneath her short skirt. She looked from Tonya to Baggs, as though not sure who’s side she should take.
Baggs looked up into the crowd and saw a spectator exiting the arena through one of the big tunnels that penetrated the stands. He’s probably going to the bathroom, Baggs thought, and then he burst out in a humorless laugh. “What’s funny?” Spinks asked him; she stood a few steps back, as though slightly afraid of him. Baggs shook his head and covered his mouth, still laughing. When you got to go, you’ve got to go, he thought. And why wouldn’t that guy go to the bathroom—why NOT? I mean, he’s just at a show! This is entertainment to him, and if our deaths get boring, then he’ll leave! And if he’s got to piss while we’re dying, then he’ll take a piss. It’s not like these will be the only deaths in the Colosseum. There will be more when he gets back from the little boys’ room. Or maybe he’s just hungry; maybe he wants a hot dog to gobble down while watching the lions eat their snacks. Spinks took another step back from him, eying Baggs suspiciously with her green eyes.
Baggs gritted his teeth and forced himself to stop laughing. Get it together, buddy. Get it together. This isn’t time for giggles. Baggs swallowed hard and then his urge to laugh was gone, but now it was replaced with a frosty fear that gripped his stomach and he found himself holding eye contact with the lion in the cage behind him.
“Citizens, oh citizens, my citizens of New Rome,” came Emperor Daman’s voice. His head appeared in the HoloVision Box and he smiled, showing his metal teeth. “It is my pleasure to give the microphone over to Outlive announcers Tom Bernard and Iggy Smiles, but first, a word from our sponsors.”
The hologram of emperor Daman disappeared and then commercials began to show on the HoloVision Box. The first showed off a luxury Cadillac helicopter, giving the audience close ups of the leather interior and wood paneling. The second commercial was for HappyJack and showed a hot beef patty with melted yellow cheese atop a hamburger bun. Baggs marveled at the fact that people were trying to sell food before a crowd that was about to watch lions devour humans. The third commercial was for a cigarette company and showed Nikki Wild inhaling deeply on a pineapple flavored cigarette and then blowing the smoke back into the camera.
“I could use a smoke,” Larry said. “My last smoke. Kind of like Jesus’s last supper.”
“Don’t say that,” Spinks said. “You’re not going to die.”
After the commercials were over, the HoloVision Box showed Tom Bernard and Iggy Smiles sitting in a broadcasting booth as they looked down upon the maze on the arena floor. Tom Bernard was an old white man who was completely without any hair on his head—the skin atop his eyes was smooth and shining and without eyebrows. Baggs wondered if this was an aesthetic choice, a mutation, or a drug reaction. Iggy Smiles was a handsome man with olive colored skin who appeared to be thirty years old. He had short, neatly spiked graying black hair and a trimmed grey beard. Iggy Smiles wore diamond studs in his gigantic ears.
“Afternoon, ladies and gents,” Iggy Smiles said. ‘Smiles’ was a nickname that he received from the goofy expression he often wore on his enormous mouth. He was the color-man while Tom Bernard gave the more clinical play-by-play.
“Yes, indeed,” Tom said. “This is Tom Bernard and Iggy Smiles here in the broadcast booth, and we’re pleased to announce this event live for the citizens who have made it out to the Colosseum and for all the viewers watching at home on HoloVision Boxes or televisions. This is episode eight of season ten of the hit show, Outlive, and I’m sincere in saying that I think this is going to be a good one.”
“Right-O,” Iggy Smiles said, nodding. Some people snickered in the audience. Iggy Smiles had a comedic timing that made things he said funny even when the content wasn’t particularly humorous.
I wonder if Tessa is watching this, Baggs thought. She is probably sitting on the Linstrom’s couch, watching the television.
Tom Bernard’s voice echoed along the stadium. “Without further delay, let’s go through some of the rules so that we can get to the action. What we have here, ladies and gentlemen is your standard Outlive maze, with a few changes. What we mean by ‘standard Outlive maze’ is that each team will start from a different portion of the maze and have to work their way through to a certain point. Today, the safe point happens to be the HoloVision Box in the center of the arena. The first five teams to make it inside will be allowed to live. Only five teams will be allowed inside the HoloVision Box. This is something that each team needs to remember; the key is going to be speed. The bottom of the HoloVision Box has a computerized trap door that is currently open. Once those five teams have made it within, that door shuts to all other Outlive participants.”
“Exactly, Tom,” Smiles cut in. “I’d just like to add one thing real fast, if ya’ don’t mind. If one of a competitor’s teammates has made it within the HoloVision Box, he or she will always be allowed within the HoloVision Box. Even if the trap door shuts for some teams, competitors will always be allowed within if one of their teammates has already made it.”
“In other words,” Tom said, “if James Baggers of the Boxers climbs the ladder in the first three minutes, one of his teammates could enter an hour later, even if the trap door has been shut for other teams who weren’t fast enough.”
“Exactumondo.”
Baggs looked up and, once again, saw a live feed of himself on the HoloVision Box. They probably told the announcers to concentrate on me because of what happened at the Competitor’s Dinner.
Tom Bernard went on explaining the rules. “To make it a bit more interesting, lions will be released after the competitors. Once the competition begins, a door will open, allowing the participants to start running through the maze. There will then be a twenty second countdown and then the lions will be released after them. And then, after three more minutes, another batch of lions will be released.”
Iggy Smiles laughed: “I bet we’ll see some fast running today, Tom.”
“I know I’d run fast if a lion were chasing me,” Tom said and then chuckled. The chuckle conveyed that this is an impossible idea. He’s right, Baggs thought. It would be impossible for a rich man like him to find himself in the Colosseum. “So that everyone can keep track, we will keep a list of the teams who have made it inside the HoloVision Box listed up on the display.”
“I bet that this will be useful to some of the competitors,” Iggy added. “They can look up and see if their team has already made it into the safe room.”
Spinks pulled out her spear and held it ready. “So, in short, the rules are ‘run like hell and hope you find the ladder before a lion eats you.’”
“Basically,” said Larry. His glasses were dirty and he was sweating profusely.
“As is tradition for Outlive battles,” Tom Bernard went on from the broadcasting booth, his voice booming from speakers in the Colosseum, “We will have a quick start immediately following the rules.”
Iggy smiled with his big mouth and leaned towards the camera. “GO!”
6
Baggs looked up at the HoloVision Box and saw that there were five empty slots displayed on the screen; each of the spots would be filled with a team name as the members of the five teams that would live made it to the HoloVision Box.
If five teams make it.
Above the empty slots was a timer counting down from twenty seconds to when the first batch of lions would be released.
All three of the clear walls surrounding the Boxers fell to the floor the second that Iggy Smiles said ‘go.’ Red-yellow sand plumed up from under the fallen pane
s. Tonya Wolf and the two Boxers whose names Baggs never learned sprinted off through the right corridor, their heavy armor clanking with their steps.
Baggs looked at the three paths, then back at the lion that would be released shortly. He didn’t see an advantage to any of the routes. I suppose that a lot of who wins will just be the result of a guessing game, he thought.
“C’mon,” Spinks said, and she began to run down the left corridor. Baggs and Larry followed closely behind. They were a few steps away when they heard something crash heavily to the sand, followed by a scream.
Baggs halted, turned around, and saw Hailey Vixen lying on the ground. For a moment, he thought that she was headless; he was horrified. After staring at her for a couple more seconds, he realized that her head was inside of her breastplate; she had apparently been trying to take it off at the same time that she started running and fell. She was on her stomach; her legs kicked at the sand behind her. She was gripping the armor so hard that her fingers were turning white as she attempted to push it off her head.
The timer above clicked off time before the lion would be released.
Baggs looked behind him to see that Spinks and Larry had stopped also, a few feet away from him. “Come on,” Larry told Baggs. Larry saw Baggs looking back at Hailey. “We don’t have time!” he shrieked, clenching his fists beside him.
Baggs didn’t respond, but ran back over the fallen clear door to Hailey’s side. She was struggling within the armor, unable to untangle herself and get the breastplate off her head. She shouted and wriggled, but it wouldn’t come off.
Baggs reached Hailey’s side and looked up at the timer. Five seconds had gone by already. It feels like longer than that, Baggs thought. He cursed and then tried to yank Hailey’s breastplate over her head. Hailey was saying something but Baggs couldn’t tell what over the roar of the crowd. As Baggs yanked, the armor got caught on her armpits and wouldn’t budge; she was panicking and beginning to scream within her breastplate.
“Hold still,” Baggs shouted at her. Upon hearing his voice she calmed some and held her arms straight up for him. He pulled the armor from her head to reveal her sweating, scared face. Tears were running down her cheeks from her blue eyes.
“I tried to take off my armor and tripped,” she said. Her voice had taken on a childlike, pathetic quality.
“C’mon,” Baggs said. He put his hands beneath her armpits, and hoisted her up to the standing position. Baggs glanced and the HoloVision Box and saw that there were seven seconds left before the lion would be released. And, if we’re not one of the first five teams to make it, we’ll run around this maze until the lions drag us down. Baggs cursed and they began running towards Spinks and Larry, who were waiting for them.
Iggy’s sarcastic voice came over the intercom, “In a move that was sweet, but a little stupid, James Baggers has just returned to the starting line to help out a fallen teammate. We’ll see how that works out for him. Everyone else already has about a thirteen second head start over him now.”
“Shut up,” Baggs growled through his beard as he ran. The announcers talked about other people, but Baggs tuned them out; he was concentrating on putting as much distance between himself and the cage before the lion was released.
The first corridor down the left hand side seemed to stretch on forever; Baggs thought that their only chance of avoiding the lion would be to make several turns before the animal was released. Baggs, Spinks, Larry and Hailey were still running down the same straightaway when the crowd began to chant the countdown time in unison.
“THREE, TWO…”
Holy shit, I thought there would be another hallway by now, Baggs thought, panicking. It was strange, but in that moment of exertion, he thought about the gladiators of Ancient Rome and how so many of them had died a similar death to the one he was about to experience. Our lions are mutated to be smarter and meaner, but I bet that being killed by one of them feels about the same.
“ONE!” the crowd cheered.
Baggs instinctually looked behind him to see their lion leap from his cage in a single bound and begin to sprint over the floor. He expected the lion to make a sharp left and come after them. Baggs couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but the lion sprinted straight instead of turning left and then he heard people screaming.
“Ooooh, that’s got to be painful,” Iggy Smiles said in a light-hearted manner. Baggs didn’t know what he was talking about. He didn’t care. Some other team probably ran right in the path of our lion. It chilled him to know that some of the humans who had been sitting on the bleachers with him just a moment ago were dead. He picked up the pace.
In his mind, he estimated that the Colosseum floor was about two hundred yards long and one hundred twenty yards wide. The Boxers had started at one of the ends of the arena’s ovals, which meant they had begun one hundred yards away from the ladder. This wasn’t technically fair, given that some people started sixty yards from the ladder, but the Colosseum was more concerned with showing blood than fairness.
“It’s a dead end!” Larry puffed, looking forward. They had almost reached the first wall and had encountered no hallways among the twelve-foot tall clear walls that flanked them. Baggs’s heart rate picked up and he thought about how by the time they made it back to the starting point the first team would have probably made it to the HoloVision Box. If not the first two teams.
He felt like an animal in a trap. Which is kind of what we are, he thought, and almost laughed deliriously.
Baggs looked to his right and through the glass he saw an enormous lion charging at an Outlive contestant in a blue and yellow breastplate. The contestant had his sword and shield brandished and was standing his ground instead of running from the lion. The one thousand pound carnivore leaped into the air and soared through the man’s outstretched sword and shield as though they were toys. The lion took the man’s torso in its massive jaws and tossed him against the clear wall, causing the man to spray blood and scream at a high tone Baggs didn’t think was possible for a male to hit.
“Oh no!” Hailey said, looking at the man dying on the other side of the wall. She was pressing her knuckles to her forehead as she said this. The lion ripped and tore and then stared at Baggs and Hailey for a moment. Its yellow eyes flicked between them, and then the creature glanced up at the top of the wall that separated them. For one second, Baggs was sure that the animal was about to vault itself over the wall. Instead, the lion backed up a few paces over the bloody sand, turned and trotted off to kill more people.
Up ahead, Spinks had reached the wall and said, “it’s not a dead end.” Baggs could see it now. There were circular holes within the far wall that the participants could use like a ladder to climb over to the other side. The four of them climbed as fast as they could, one right behind the other. Baggs was the last one over and as he landed on the sand he thought, that ate up a lot of our time. He looked behind him and was dismayed to see that only one wall divided him from the entry point of another team.
The Boxers now had two hallways that they could chose from; they could either take one that initially ran parallel to the outside wall then turned inward, or take a hallway that initially ran towards the ladder and then turned left.
Baggs examined the two paths, thinking of which one to go down. The one on the left looks as though it curves towards the center, but it could be a dead end. From what Baggs knew about the Colosseum, it wouldn’t surprise him if they had hired psychologists to make the maze as unintuitive as possible. So we go right then, he thought. He looked down that path and saw drops of blood on the sand. Is a lion hiding behind the turn? Though the walls were clear, they were becoming opaque with sand, sweat and blood in places as the contest went on. Is that what that blood is from? Baggs supposed that it didn’t matter. The lions moved fast enough that the presence of blood or a carcass didn’t mean that the animal was still there.
Spinks ran towards the left, stopped, skidding on the sand and looked right; her head swiveled
between the two paths as she hesitated, contemplating which way they should go.
There’s no way to know which passage is the right way, Baggs thought. The only thing we can be sure of is that staying frozen with indecision won’t lead us to the safe room.
Without seeing if the others would follow him, Baggs took off down the right path. As he ran, he heard the sound of footsteps behind him, meaning that the others had followed. Baggs felt fast. He had always moved well for a big man, and after the drug-assisted week of intense training he had just undergone, he moved with speed that surprised the spectators. A flying camera was perched on the corner, recording him as he and his teammates sped around the turn.
We picked the correct path, Baggs thought upon seeing his new options in front of him. He faced a straightaway that ended in a wall with pegs sticking out of it that someone could use to climb over the wall. On the right side of the corridor there were three hallways running off of it.
He ran forward, wondering if Shade was watching him. His sword was in his massive hand. Baggs still lead his teammates and had made the decision that he would take the second corridor on the right; he had no real rational for this—all of the hallways on the right seemed to lead closer to the ladder and the safe room; Baggs had chosen this hallway because of a gut feeling he had about it. His intuitions seemed to be often right, and he didn’t think that it would be wise to use up any more time trying to rationalize the different paths.
He was just about to take the hallway when his ears pricked up to something the announcers were saying; they had been talking most of the time he had been in the maze but he had been tuning them out. They mostly announced the gruesome deaths that were happening all around him on the Colosseum floor. Now they were saying something that affected him.
“Oooohhhhh,” Iggy Smiles said in his nasally, comedic voice. “I think all of their necks are broken.”