[Fiction] Gameshow 3

[tallguy2241]

(part 59)
I gave my boulder a tentative push. It was heavy, but not too terribly so. It seemed to be made of plastic, with maybe something inside. It definitely wasn't the gold metal ball that it appeared.

It also wasn't perfectly round. It had bumps and dimples in a seemingly random manner. To my left, Meghan and Matilda got a good start on theirs as well. On my right, Roger was having trouble. He was probably the most out of shape as any of us, and he was struggling.

Push. Rest for a bit. Push. Rest for a bit. At one point, Shane stepped away from his boulder, looked around a bit, then began pissing tight on his boulder's track! I can't say I blamed him...it was a long walk back to the restrooms. His smug expression disappeared as his collar glowed, and he dropped, writhing pain, rolling in his own mess. Karen's voice boomed out from above, “Don't do that ever again!”

[tallguy2241]

(part 60)

Push. Rest for a bit. Push. Rest for a bit. I had a bit of a lead over Matilda and Meghan, so I sat for a longer rest. I closed my eyes, for what I thought was a short time. Then I heard Meghan say, “Wake up!” and I realized I had dozed off. Strangely, when I looked back at the doors we all had come through to start this level, they seemed closer than I thought they should be. Weird.

Push. Rest for a bit. Push. Rest for a bit. This was seriously tedious, After a while, I heard a chime, and then Sam yell, “Son of a bitch!”

“What's up?” I shouted back to him.

“You'll see in a moment. Keep pushing, you're almost there.” That gave us all a little extra willpower to keep going. Except for Roger. He was still way back. Finally, I felt my boulder fall away from me, and heard a chime. My boulder had plugged a hole in the floor, and I could see we were not only at the back wall, but the doors to the next level were right here, too. I also got to see the end of the track that I was pushing the boulder along, and saw that we were all pushing on conveyor belts! It was a slight motion, but it showed that as we were pushing forward, the belts were moving us back.

Over the next half hour (I think....time really got meaningless, especially in this circle), everyone got their boulders to the end. Except Roger. He was still way back. Shane was the last to get his in place, and right after we heard the horn signaling 10 minutes remaining. We heard Roger redoubling his efforts, but it was clear he wasn't going to make it. The doors opened, and we started to go into the dinner/sleep room. Kyla called out, “We're going in, Roger. Sorry. Good luck to you.”

“Shit,” said Roger. “Good luck to all of you.” And with that, the doors closed.

[tallguy2241]

(part 61)

We were all dead tired that night. We were even too tired ti complain about the food. Many of us even went back for seconds, as we had worked up quite an appetite. And we were asleep in no time.

The wake up alarm deem to come way too soon. And honestly, there was no way to know if time was being measured fairly. Grumbling and yawning, we stumbled our way through breakfast. From what I was hearing, no one felt they got enough sleep.

And way too soon, the doors opened for the 5th circle.

[tallguy2241]

(part 62)

The first thing we noticed with this new level...it was darker than the others so far. Like a late twilight. This level also had a river running through the middle of the circle. And a boat. With a cloaked figure aboard. The Bitch...I mean Karen...was waiting for us.

“This circle has the River Styx,” she said. “To get across, you have to pay Charon a coin to ferry you across.” She gestured toward the figure on the boat. “This is another circle where you do not need to gather any souls, just a coin.”

“And where do we find them?” asked Gareth.

“Oh, they are around....somewhere,” she answered. “And don't go out too deep into the water. You may not come out.” She said this last with an evil grin, and was gone.

[MysteryMailMan]

Looking forward for the next part of the story