Gripping Thrillers

by Iain Rob Wright

  Danni huffed. “I guess some of us aren’t capable of changing.”

  Chris shrugged. “Some of us don’t want to. Who gets to decide what’s right and wrong? We’re all born on this earth the same way and it’s up to us what the fuck we do with our lives. Just because someone wears a uniform and tells me something is the law don’t make it so, as far as I’m concerned. I never once agreed to live by anybody else’s rules. I never agreed to pay taxes or obey the law. Other people just made that assumption. I do what the hell I want with my life and I’ll be damned if I’m ever going to feel bad about it.”

  “You know,” said Damien. “There’s something liberating about what you say, Chris. Maybe we should all follow our own moral compasses and do what we personally feel is right. The problem is that you have the moral compass of a brain damaged Hitler.”

  Chris grinned. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “Take it any way you want. Just know that the world will be a better place without you.”

  “World would be better without a lot of things, mate. Shame life ain’t perfect, nor is it ever likely to be.”

  “Not as long as people like you are in it, no.”

  “Weren’t you a bit of scumbag once?” Richard commented. “So who are you to judge?”

  Damien nodded. “But I was a scumbag by circumstance, not by choice. When push came to shove I took a better path.”

  “Good for you,” said Chris. “And yet your path led you to the exact same place as mine. Guess that would be proof that nothing we do matters, so might as well do whatever we feel like.”

  Damien said nothing.

  “Seems like he’s finally run out of self-righteous juice,” said Chris, nudging Richard in the ribs and laughing. Richard joined in the laughter but seemed to be hiding some sort of regret behind his eyes. Maybe the guy had actually done some thinking and didn’t like the conclusions he had come to.

  Damien still chose to say nothing. There was no need for words any longer. The only thing that mattered now were the tasks ahead. He could deal with Richard and Chris simply by winning.

  “HOUSEMATES, TODAY THERE WILL BE NO ELIMINATION TASKS, ONLY A FINAL GROUP TASK THIS EVENING. THIS WILL DETERMINE THE VICTOR.”

  Richard and Chris whispered something to one another and then nodded conspicuously.

  Damien did the same with Danni. “Those two are going to be working together. We should do the same.”

  “Of course. You don’t even have to say so. I have your back.”

  Damien smiled and kissed Danni on the cheek. “That means a lot to me.”

  “Shall we head to the garden? That’s usually where the fun and games take place.”

  Damien nodded. They left Richard and Chris conspiring in the kitchen and went out into the garden. It was raining moderately but it wasn’t a problem. The days of worrying about things as mundane as comfort were long gone.

  Damien took a seat on one of the perimeter’s benches. Danni stood in front of him and stroked her fingers through his hair. Nothing was said between them. They both just held each other in the rain as they waited for their fates to begin.

  28

  Night had fallen and spotlights came on and lit the garden as the platform began to rise. Damien and Danni were both still together, sitting side by side on the bench and leaning in against one another. The mutual warmth and the comfort of having each other near had lulled Damien into a relaxed daze. He quickly snapped out of it when he saw the platform coming up out of the ground.

  Here we go. Return to Thunderdome.

  “HOUSEMATES, ASSEMBLE IN THE GARDEN.”

  Chris and Richard strolled out from inside the house, both of them smiling confidently.

  “Let the games begin,” Chris said, grinning. “I think I owe you one, Damien, after our first head to head.”

  Damien nodded. “Try not to get disqualified this time.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m going to be winning this one.”

  On the platform was a wooden tool rack. On the rack were four handheld axes, not much bigger than hatchets.

  “HOUSEMATES, EACH OF YOU MUST PICK UP AN AXE AND THEN RETREAT TO A CORNER OF THE GARDEN.”

  Danni looked at Damien nervously. “I don’t like this.”

  Damien sighed. “Me either. Come on, let’s just go along for now.”

  All four housemates marched up to the platform and took one of the hand axes from the rack. Then they each picked a corner and retreated to it.

  “ALL OF YOU HAVE DONE WELL TO BE HERE. YOU HAVE BEATEN YOUR OPPONENTS IN VARIOUS ENCOUNTERS AND HAVE PROVEN YOURSELF WORTHY. YOU ARE WARRIORS. NOW YOU MUST FIGHT FOR YOUR ULTIMATE SURVIVAL. TO WIN, YOU MUST MURDER TWO OR ALL OF THE REMAINING HOUSEMATES. YOU HAVE THE TOOLS AT YOUR DISPOSAL, NOW USE THEM. GOOD LUCK.”

  Damien stared down at the axe in his hands with disbelief. This whole thing had been a nightmare from the beginning, and many people were dead, but Damien had not been made to directly take the life of another until now. There had been competitions where he‘d needed only to focus on winning. Now he was being told to actively murder his opponent.

  I can’t do it.

  Danni screamed. Damien looked up and over at her.

  Chris was hurrying towards her without a shred of remorse as she cowered and begged in her corner of the courtyard.

  He’s going to hack her to pieces.

  Damien bolted, racing across the grass. He had to get to Danni before Chris did or she was dead.

  But there was no way he was going to make it. Chris had had too much of a head start.

  He’s going to kill her. Then those two bastards are going to team up and come after me.

  Chris came within feet of Danni who was cowering on her knees. If she hadn’t clammed up in terror, she might have been able to get away, but the danger had frozen her in place.

  Chris reared back with the axe, ready to strike.

  Without thinking, Damien raised his own axe from several yards away. Then he flung it as hard as he could. The weapon tumbled and spun through the air towards its target.

  The weapon struck Chris in the side of his head. It didn’t embed itself like in the action movies. It just thunked against his skull and fell to the floor.

  Danni screamed in fright as Chris hit the ground. His head had been split open and a wide open gash travelled from the top of his skull all the way down behind his ear. He lay on the ground convulsing and yelping. The axe might not have sliced his head in two, but the blunt force trauma alone had been enough to put the man down.

  Damien made it over to Danni and dragged her upwards to her feet. “Come on,” he said. “Snap out of it.”

  Richard was standing near the centre of the garden. He had been watching what had happened and seemed worried. His partner had been taken out of the game and suddenly the numbers were not in his favour.

  Richard held his hands up and smiled. “Hey man. We can’t go around killing each other just because of their say so. You ain’t no killer, man.”

  Damien glanced down at Chris who was on his back and staring up at the sky dazedly. His breathing was irregular and laboured.

  “Well,” said Damien. “In a couple of minutes when Chris is dead, I will be a killer.”

  Richard nodded and an atmosphere of mutual understanding formed in the air. They each understood the situation. There was no compromise to be had.

  Chris moaned on the floor, still dying.

  “This is pretty screwed up, huh?” said Richard.

  Damien nodded. “That’s an understatement.”

  Richard sniffed, readjusted the grip on his hand axe. “We’re going to have to go for it, aren’t we?”

  “’Fraid so. Sorry.”

  Richard threw his axe to the ground at his feet and shrugged his shoulders. “Tell you the truth, I probably deserve it.”

  Damien frowned. “What are you doing?”

  Richard got down on his knees. “Taking responsibility for the things I’ve done. Just do it.
Make it quick.”

  Damien took a few steps forward, but kept the axe by his side. “You can’t just give up. That’s suicide.”

  Richard nodded. “I guess. Tell you the truth, I was contemplating it anyway. The reason I signed up to be here was because my life sucked. You two should take the money. I don’t deserve it. You’ve already seen the kind of man I am. I’m full of anger and violence. To be honest, I’m tired of feeling that way. I never meant to be the man I am, but…. Well, there’s not much else to say, so just get it over with.”

  Damien took another step forward, raised the axe above his head. But lowered it again. He looked at the painting of the eyeball and felt like it was watching him. “I can’t just kill you, man. It’s not right.”

  Richard looked up at Damien and nodded.

  Then he sucker punched him right in the nuts.

  Damien hunched over and fell backwards, stars clouding his vision as all of the air was forced from his lungs. Richard grabbed his axe back up off the floor and stalked after him, ready to swing the axe.

  Damien tried to catch his breath, put a hand up to protect himself.

  Rage contorted Richard’s face as he chopped the axe downwards.

  Damien closed his eyes and waited to be cut open.

  Something struck Richard from the side and his swing went wide. He staggered to his right and dropped the axe on the floor again. There was a confused, disbelieving look on his face and it soon became clear what had happened.

  Danni knelt down beside Damien, a bloody axe in her hand. Damien looked over and saw the blood begin to spray from Richard’s neck as his hacked-up jugular ruptured. The guy dropped to his knees and tried to stem the wound with both hands, but it was no use. His face was already beginning to grow pale as Death sharpened his scythe in anticipation.

  Damien was still in agony. A wave of nausea had taken over him and he was taking deep breaths to try and send it away. His whole midsection ached as pulses of dull, throbbing pain emanated from his groin.

  “Are you okay?” Danni asked him.

  Damien huffed and puffed. “Yeah…are you?”

  She smiled at him. “I’m great. This thing should finally be over now. We made it.”

  Damien looked left and looked right. Richard and Chris were both slowly bleeding to death. They would each be dead within the next few minutes.

  “HOUSEMATES DANNI AND DAMIEN, CONGRATULATIONS. YOU ARE THE VICTORS. PLEASE ASSEMBLE IN THE LIVING AREA.”

  29

  Damien managed to catch his breath after the blow to his testicles and was now sitting on the sofa anxiously. Was this really all over? Even if it was, would he really be allowed to walk free? Would he be given the money he was promised?

  A million quid each for me and Danni?

  Enough to give Harry a chance.

  Danni leant into Damien and he put his arm around her. She said, “We did it. We stuck together and we made it to the end.”

  Damien kissed the top of her head. “Yeah, we did. We made it.”

  But at what cost?

  “HOUSEMATE DANNI, HOUSEMATE DAMIEN, THE COMPETITION IS NOW OVER. PLEASE ENTER THE ELIMINATION CHAMBER.”

  Damien groaned. “Thought I’d seen the last of that place.”

  “Me too. Maybe that’s where they’re going to let us out.”

  Damien stood up and took Danni by the hand, while also picking up the hand axe he had left on the sofa. He felt better with it. Together the two of them walked towards the elimination chamber door, two survivors ready to leave a warzone.

  Damien held the door open for Danni and they both stepped into the white cube room. It was a place of death and suffering, but perhaps now it was the room where their salvation would take place.

  In the centre was a long metal table. There were two large open briefcases, one at either end. Between them, in the centre, was a large red button.

  Damien stared at the two briefcases on the table and actually let out a whistle. They were both filled with piles and piles of money, stacked neatly in thick wads of fifties.

  “That’s a fuck load of money.”

  Danni looked at him and grinned. “You’re telling me. I guess this whole thing was legit after all. They’re giving us two million pounds.”

  Damien suddenly felt lighter. More and more he was beginning to believe that he might just get out of this thing alive. But there was just one thing he didn’t yet understand.

  What’s that button for?

  “HOUSEMATES, CONGRATULATIONS. BEFORE YOU IS TWO MILLION POUNDS IN CASH. IT IS YOURS TO SHARE EQUALLY. YOU ARE ALSO FREE TO LEAVE THIS HOUSE THROUGH A DOOR THAT WILL SOON OPEN.”

  Damien and Danni exchanged glances and smiled.

  “HOWEVER, YOU HAVE ONE FINAL DECISION AHEAD OF YOU. ON THE TABLE IS A BUTTON. PRESS IT AND YOU WILL RECEIVE 100% OF THE MONEY. YOU WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO SHARE. PRESS THE BUTTON ON THE CENTRE OF THE TABLE AND YOUR FELLOW HOUSEMATE WILL DIE, LEAVING YOU ALL THE CASH.”

  Damien sighed. “That’s messed up,” he said. “We’re not about to betray each other after all that we’ve been through. A million each is more than-”

  Danni sprinted over the table and pressed down on the button with both hands.

  Damien had remained rooted to the spot for the single second it had taken for Danni to betray him. His mouth was hanging open. He did not understand.

  Danni turned around and faced him from the table. Her remaining bracelet sprung open and clattered to the floor. She was finally free.

  Damien shook his head at her. “W-why?”

  Danni grinned. She was suddenly very ugly and distorted, like a complete stranger. “Richard was the ‘crusader,’” she said. “He burned down a mosque in Leeds and tried to incite a local race war. “And it’s pretty obvious that you’re the ‘peddler,’ what with all the poison you helped push on desperate people that needed help more than they needed a line of coke. So, who does that leave?”

  Damien sighed. “Traitor.”

  Danni smirked at him. “Pity you figured it out a little late. It’s been fun playing you like a fiddle.”

  “What? Are you saying that you were a part of this?”

  “Duh!”

  “But why? What was the point of you pretending to be like the rest of us?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Why do you think? I’m here to make sure that no one walks away the winner. Can’t have you spilling the beans, can we? You can call me the contingency plan if you like. Oh, don’t get me wrong. You’re the winner, but as for letting you walk free, that just can’t happen.”

  Damien couldn’t make it add up in his brain. “But the tasks, the games… Why put this money in front of me if it was all just a scam.”

  Danni held her bandaged hand up in front of her. She unravelled it to show that she had no injuries – no acid burn. “The wasp stings sucked pretty bad, but all of the other tasks were faked. There was only water in my bowl during the acid task. The task I was in with Jade was weighted in my favour. There was a slight incline to the floor that gave me a little helping hand from gravity. Of course I made it look close, but it never really was. As for the money, well that’s payment for me and my team. We’re a cash only kind of organisation. Every time we do this, we get a couple suitcases of cash sent down from the people running things.” She ran a hand over the money in the suitcases. “God, how I love payday.”

  Damien snarled. “You bitch!”

  “Hey, I’m one of the good guys. All of you deserved to be here. You’re the scum of the earth.”

  Damien shook his head. “No. I changed.”

  “Perhaps, but there’s a kid called Gaz Brown that hasn’t walked since the day you beat him to a pulp. Poor kid doesn’t even know what day it is.”

  Damien sighed, and then actually laughed to himself.

  “What?” Danni asked. “What’s so funny?”

  “I didn’t lay a finger on Gaz Brown. My father was responsible. He just let me take the street cred for it. You got your facts w
rong.”

  “We never get our facts wrong. Gaz Brown’s father paid a lot of money to see you held responsible.”

  “Well, sorry to break it to you, but he’s got the wrong guy.” Damien tightened his grip on the axe in his hand. “And now I’m going to hold you responsible for the fuck up.”

  He ran at Danni but only made it half way. An unbearable burst of agony shot through his left wrist. Immediately he dropped the axe and keeled over. The pain took over him in waves. His diaphragm seized up and his mouth filled with saliva. The steel collar sprung free of his neck, any chance for the counter-agent gone.

  Danni came and stood over him. “Nobody ever gets out of here alive. I’m very good at what I do.”

  Damien stared up at her and gritted his teeth. “I’m…going to…kill you.”

  “Not in this life.”

  Damien used the last of his strength to grab the hand axe from the floor beside him.

  Danni’s eyes went wide. She leapt back and put several feet of space between them. Then she began to laugh. “You idiot. You’ll be dead within minutes and yet you still fight.”

  Damien grimaced, but managed to pull a smirk across his face. “The axe wasn’t meant for you.”

  Before Danni could realise what he meant, Damien chopped the axe against his left wrist. The flesh and tendons split apart and fragile bones broke.

  He chopped again.

  Then one more time, as hard as he could manage before shock sent him weak.

  Damien’s left hand slithered across the floor as his arm came away from it. The bracelet that had circled his wrist fell to the floor and leaked a yellowish liquid that must have been the toxin.

  Danni’s eyelids were stretched wide open, making her eyes look like marbles inside her head. “Get me out of here,” she shouted and backed up towards the opposite wall. “The fool’s lost his mind.”

  Two large men immediately entered the room through a hidden back door. They bundled Danni through it to safety and then started towards Damien. One of the men was the big fucker in black overalls.