The Recall Trials
Chapter 95: We Are All Going To DIE

Chapter 95: We Are All Going To DIE

"Trial complete. Remaining contestants, return to the main room. Those who failed... are now part of the next trial—The Megalodon’s Trial."

A long silence fell. Only the ocean’s sloshing and the quiet whimpering of injured contestants broke it.

I turned my head, trying to count. There were bodies all around me....people gasping, sobbing, coughing up seawater. I started counting under my breath.

One... two... three...

When I reached twenty, realization hit me like a hammer to the chest.

"Zaara," I whispered. "That means... thirty-nine didn’t make it to the finish line."

She blinked rapidly, water streaming off her lashes. "Does that mean... they’re all going to die?"

I swallowed. "No." I stared across the ocean arena, toward the swirling waters and the closed gates on the far side.

Zaara’s lips parted as horror spread over her face. "You mean... they have to stay out there? Go through another trial in that water?"

My stomach twisted. "Yeah. That’s what it sounds like."

We both turned, looking back over the shifting platforms toward the distant expanse of dark water.

The massive gates that marked the finish line slid shut behind us with a grinding boom. Steel walls rose from the ocean, sealing off the twenty survivors from the rest.

A high-pitched alarm blared once.

"Congratulations, surviving contestants. You have earned safety from elimination in Trial Nine. Please proceed to the exit corridor. The remaining contestants will now begin... The Megalodon’s Trial.."

Zaara let out a choked sob.

A huge screen flickered to life over the arena. It showed the terrified faces of the other contestants left behind.

Contestants clung to platforms.

I watched a girl scream as a dorsal fin sliced past her platform.

The voice continued:

"The Remaining contestants must survive a twenty-minute swim across the ocean to the far gate. Enhanced predators have been released again. If you reach the gate alive, find yourself lucky."

By the time we got back to the main room:

Nomi collapsed into a seat along the wall, blood leaking slowly from a gash near her ribs. Carter stumbled past her, gripping his arm, leaving red fingerprints against the metal walls.

One by one, contestants stumbled into the room, shaking, coughing up seawater, trembling like leaves in the wind.

I exhaled.

The voice boomed from the speaker again.

"All surviving contestants, report to the main chamber for medical evaluation and briefing."

Carter let out a broken laugh, clutching his chest.

"Medical evaluation? They’re worried about our health now?"

Nomi spat blood on the floor. "I’d rather be dead than go through that shit again."

Zaara leaned against me, her forehead resting on my shoulder. She was shivering violently. I wrapped an arm around her, even though I felt like my own bones might rattle apart.

The smell of salt and blood was everywhere. It clung to our hair, soaked into our clothes.

The guards herded us down the corridor, boots echoing off the metal. The group was quiet. Too quiet. No laughter. No chatter. Just the soft shuffle of damp sneakers on the floor and the quiet, stifled sobs of a few contestants.

Dinesh muttered. "If we have another ocean trial, I’m feeding myself to the sharks. Done."

The freckled girl, still panting, turned to me. "Vincent... h-how did you... how did you keep Zaara moving?"

I swallowed, still tasting salt. "I didn’t let her look down."

By the time we reached the medical room, Carter eased himself onto one of the beds, grunting. "Damn it... I think my shoulder’s dislocated."

Nomi glared at a medic who tried to approach her. "Don’t fucking touch me."

Zaara sank onto a cot, hair plastered to her cheeks. A nurse carefully cleaned the cuts on her hand. I sat beside her, wiping saltwater off my own face, feeling my muscles twitch with exhaustion.

I kept my eyes on the door, waiting.

But the voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Contestants. Congratulations on surviving Trial Nine."

"Prepare yourselves. The next trial will commence tomorrow. Until then, recover... and reflect."

The speakers went dead.

Zaara flinched at the silence. "Reflect?" she echoed. "On what? How many people died today?"

She buried her face in her hands.

I took her hands gently. "We survived."

She looked up. "But at what cost?"

I couldn’t answer.

That night, I couldn’t sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw jaws snapping shut. Blood swirling in blue water. Screams bubbling up before silence swallowed them.

But worse than the sharks were the faces. The contestants who didn’t make it. The way they screamed. The way the water churned red.

And behind it all, Jojo’s voice.

Don’t let the Aetherions win.

I clenched my fists, tightening my jaw.

I wouldn’t.

Suddenly, the big wall monitor flickered on in the medical bay.

An announcer’s voice filled the room:

"Contestants. An update: the next trial will be physical. A test of endurance, strategy... and sacrifice. Sleep well."

I met Zaara’s eyes. She was trembling.

"I don’t want to lose anyone else," she whispered.

I pulled her close. "Neither do I."

Somewhere down the corridor, I heard a man sobbing quietly. Someone else screamed into a pillow.

I knew one thing for sure.

The game was far from over. And we were running out of time.

The door slammed against the wall as the others stumbled in, clothes torn, faces streaked with sweat. L

"Guysss—" I turned my head sharply at the cry.

"Lucaaaa!" Zaara screamed. She ran to him so fast she nearly slipped on the slick tiles. She flung her arms around his neck.

"I’m glad you made it," she gasped.

Luca’s arms hung limply at his sides for a second before he finally hugged her back, shaking so hard his teeth chattered.

"It was hell in there," he said. His eyes were glassy, red rims hinting at the tears he must have shed. "I’m going to surrender during the next trial. I can’t... I can’t do this anymore."

He staggered a step backward, pressing his hand over his mouth like he might be sick.

The rest of the contestants trickled in behind him. Some were limping. One girl’s arm was bandaged with a strip of someone’s shirt, blood soaking through.

There were less than twenty of them.

I counted, lips moving silently. The numbers refused to add up.

"Only fifteen of us made it back," whispered Theo, his face ghost-pale as he clutched the railing. "Out of forty-nine. We’re...we’re down to thirty-five."

Zaara’s hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God."

Nomi stared around the room. "I don’t think anyone can win this shitty game."

No one argued.

Somewhere far above, the speakers crackled. A mechanical voice boomed through the chamber:

"Trial complete. Survivors, enjoy your brief reprieve. You have twelve hours before the next challenge."

A cold hush fell.

Zaara still clung to Luca, her breath hitching as silent tears rolled down her cheeks.

Luca looked up, eyes shimmering. "They...they made us choose who would drown. They flooded the chamber and... and there weren’t enough platforms. I—" His voice cracked. "I had to push someone off."

A soft sob burst from the girl beside him.

I stared at them all.

Thirty-five left.

And tomorrow... even fewer.

We are all going to DIE.

No one seemed able to move. We were all frozen, stuck in that terrible in-between: alive, but waiting for the next blow.

The doors hissed shut behind the last survivor. An automatic lock clicked, echoing like a gunshot in the silence.

Zaara finally let go of Luca, wiping her cheeks with her trembling fingers. "Come sit down. You look like you’re about to collapse."

Luca obeyed, shoulders hunched, sinking to the floor against the wall. A few others followed, slumping.

"I still hear them screaming," murmured a tall boy, staring blankly at the tiles. "They kept screaming until the water... stopped them. And the sharks..."

Theo spoke. "This is a slaughterhouse. That’s all this is."

Nomi let out a short, humorless laugh. "Welcome to the Recall Trials."

Zaara spun toward her, anger blazing through the tears. "How can you say that like it’s a joke?"

Nomi crossed her arms, chin lifted defiantly. "Because if I don’t laugh, I’ll go insane. You want me to start crying too? Will that help anyone?"

Zaara opened her mouth like she might scream back, but Luca grabbed her wrist. "Don’t. Please. I can’t... I can’t handle a fight right now."

I swallowed hard, stepping closer. "We need to keep it together. Don’t give them the satisfaction."

Nomi’s eyes flicked toward me. "And what? We keep smiling while they chop us up trial by trial? We’re thirty-five. What’s the endgame here? Ten? One? None?"

No one answered, because none of us knew.

Another contestant, a girl with wild curls and scratches across her arms, rasped, "I’m leaving. I’m done. Let them kill me. I don’t care anymore."

Carter stepped toward her. "Don’t say that."

She shook her head violently. "Why not? We’re all dead anyway!"

"Stop. Please. Don’t give up. If we keep fighting, maybe—"

"Maybe what?" Theo shot back. "Maybe we’ll be the last ones standing? Congratulations, you survived. Enjoy the prize....your trauma for life!"

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