The start of another round. The challenge had officially crossed the halfway point.
Round six.
BEEP!
"Anyone who isn't in a ball pit in the next thirty seconds is eliminated."
And it started with another announcement.
The round had barely started, and the arena was already forced into chaos.
The arena erupted into movement. Shoes started thudding against the flooring. The panic was more controlled this time around. It was the second time they'd heard this announcement, so they were prepared to some degree. Nobody stood confused, trying to figure out what they were supposed to do, or was lost about where they were and didn't know where a ball pit was.
All the students roughly knew where the ball pits were, so they moved towards them in a somewhat orderly way. No one was spinning their heads to look for one.
The pace of everyone was slower than the first time. Fatigue was obviously setting in for most of the students. They weren't as sharp or energised as they were at the beginning. The announcement was probably music to some of the students' ears. This means they could relax in the ball pit, which is what some boys were doing in the largest ball pit.
Ash was sprawled out, legs up and feet poking out from the sea of plastic balls.
"They really wanna eliminate people," he said, watching a lot of people jumping in the ball pit.
"Calling an announcement as soon as the round started," Malakai replied, half submerged beneath the balls. "They're deffo desperate."
"If they wanted eliminations, they should've decreased the infection time," Nathan said, tapping his head because his head was itchy. "We don't even know how long infections last for because everyone gets cured after two rounds."
"There's too many vaccines," Ash replied, pushing himself up. "We got a hella from people kissing each other."
"I feel like people abused that," Malakai said, fidgeting with some of the balls.
"They did bruv. Do you know how many people abused that?" Nathan asked, turning to Malakai. "There's a group of people that all kissed each other and stacked up vaccines."
"Huh?!" Malakai pulled a face of disgust as his whole body straightened up.
"It's not that deep bruv," Nathan said, grinning, amused by his reaction. "It's just a quick kiss on the lips. A peck innit."
Malakai frowned at him. "Why don't you do that then?" he asked, pointing a finger at him.
Nathan snorted. "Fuck that," he laughed, sounding like he was better than that.
Malakai smiled at his laugh, "You're a fucking hypocrite."
"Nah bro. It's not that deep, but I'm not doing that," Nathan replied, throwing his hands up. "The face you made was like they did something mad."
"Kissing a bunch of people is mad," Malakai insisted
"No it isn't," Ash said, joining in.
Malakai's head swivelled to him and gave him an uninviting look, like he wasn't supposed to join in.
"Why didn't you join them then?"
"Because I was hanging around with your bum ass," Ash replied, throwing a ball at him as he finished his sentence.
"I didn't force you to join me," Malakai said, letting the ball hit him. "You've got free will. You chose to follow me," he said, picking up a few balls and retaliating. "When we get out of here, go kiss a bunch of people and get vaccines for us."
"Yeah, I will," Ash replied, dodging Malakai's throws.
"Pft. No one's kissing you bro," Malakai said, mockingly giggling between words.
"Fuck you."
The two immediately started their own miniature battle, pelting each other with plastic balls. This was probably the third time they'd done this in this challenge, and they still weren't bored of it.
Nathan watched them for a few seconds and decided he wasn't going to join in. He couldn't be bothered. Instead, his attention turned to the rest of the arena. The ball pit was still full of students.
"Yo, did they announce that we could leave yet?" he asked, looking out of the ball pit to find people.
"I don't know," Malakai replied, distracted by Ash and throwing a ball at him.
"I didn't hear anything," Ash replied, distracted by Malakai and throwing a ball at him.
BEEP!
"Anyone who is shot in the next minute is eliminated."
Eyes found each other all across the ball pit.
Malakai, Ash and Nathan simply stared at one another, each with the exact same confused expression.
Everyone slowly turned their heads to the person next to them. Nobody was scrambling. Nobody was moving. The announcement didn't bring any panic because...
"No one has a gun," Malakai said, as if he were stating the obvious to an audience.
"Because everyone's scared to bring it out," Ash replied, waving his hands around like he knew this would happen.
Nathan shifted where he was sitting, sinking a little deeper into the pit. "They should've told everyone to bring out their gun if they were gonna make this announcement," he added.
"This is probably why they made this announcement," Malakai said, copying Nathan and sinking into the pit. "For the rest of the challenge, people will have their guns on them."
Ash didn't copy them. He wasn't as calm. He hated that this happened. Their gun was sitting alone back in their zone when it could've been useful right now.
Ash crashed backwards to lie down. "Maaan. Shit would've been lit if we had the gun."
Nathan smirked as he let out a light laugh out of his nose. "That's one of the most American things I've heard since being here."
"Innit," Malakai agreed.
The trio kept speaking while everything else was still going on around them. The ball pit had its fair few people in it, each with their own conversations and situations. The main thing is that everything was normal. After an announcement like that, it should've been followed by panic.
But, no one cared.
"Can we leave the ball pit now?" Ash asked, shuffling himself up to look around, feeling a little restless.
"I don't think so," Nathan replied, unsure, looking for answers himself. "I don't see anyone else out."
"Another announcement will come after the minute is over," Malakai said, sounding confident, keeping his relaxed position. He didn't mind staying like this for the rest of the round. Malakai didn't take naps, but he'd love to right now.
Nathan glanced at him, "You reckon?"
Malakai was about to respond when something in the atmosphere around them changed. They all felt more motion coming towards them. More bodies started moving between students.
All the boys sat up and furrowed their brows at the scene.
A bunch of people were not quite sprinting but moving too quickly to be called walking. They couldn't move too cleanly because of all the plastic balls slowing them down. Their expressions were definitely not calm or neutral.
"Who they running from?" Ash asked, moving his neck side to side to see around the bodies.
"Some people are getting out," Malakai said, noticing people climbing out in a hurry.
"Stay here just in case," Nathan replied, watching everything closely.
"Bruh, I'm tryna see who they're running from," Ash said, walking in the direction everyone was running away from, curious.
"Oi Ash. Don't go there," Nathan called after him, gesturing for him to stop "Wait here innit. Someone probably has a gun."
"Good joke," Ash replied, turning to him. "I bet everything I have, no one has a gun," he said confidently.
"Does bro realise he's in America?" Malakai joked, smirking at Nathan and slyly pointing at Ash.
Ash clicked his tongue. "How many gun jokes are you British boys gonna make?" he asked. "Are you guys that jealous we have guns?"
Despite the joke, Nathan didn't join the smiles.
"Yo…" Malakai said, his grin slowly wiping off his face.
"What?" Ash asked, seeing his smile fade.
"Yo Leroy chill," Malakai said, his voice sounding more serious.
"Leroy? Who the fuck is Leroy?" Ash asked, scrunching his face in confusion.
"Ash move man!" Malakai said, swiping his hands at him.
Ash finally realised, after properly looking at Malakai, that Malakai wasn't looking at him, but beyond him.
He turned around and saw someone walking in his direction with a toy gun in their right hand.
"AYE YO!" Ash instinctively shouted, throwing himself and diving into the ball pit.
He didn't even check if Leroy had raised the gun. Ash dropped into the plastic balls and scrambled away, hoping he didn't get hit. His sudden movement caused people behind them to turn their heads and see what was going on.
"Leroy, llowe it bro (allow it(leave it))," Malakai said, slowly backing up with his hands up like a police officer told him to.
"Heh. You think I'm going to listen to you?" Leroy replied, chuckling, raising his arm and instantly locking onto Malakai like he had an aimbot.
Malakai stared at the gun, then at Leroy. There was a decent amount of space between them. Even with the gun pointed at him, Malakai wasn't that worried. The chance of him getting hit was unlikely.
Until Leroy started marching towards him.
"Fuck sake man," Malakai muttered, turning.
He tried going as fast as he could. The plastic balls made it awkward for him. He'd tried running in the ball pit in the previous rounds, but that was all for fun and games. This time he was genuinely trying to go as fast as he could. The balls shifted around his feet and rolled around his ankles, forcing him to lift his legs higher than he normally would. Once he got the hang of it, he started making some progress.
Pew!
A bullet sailed over Malakai. The shot was way off.
Malakai glanced back to check the difference between him and Leroy. He gained a little ground on him.
Leroy painfully realised he wasn't going to catch him by simply chasing him.
"Why is he so fucking fast?" Leroy mumbled, gripping the handle of the gun tighter.
His vision took a turn. He saw a couple of people outside the ball pit. Half scurrying away. Half watching.
He lifted his arm and aimed at the closest person he could see out of the ball pit.
Pew!
"Fuck!" Leroy angrily let out.
Leroy's shot missed again. Another wild shot that wasn't close to anyone.
He scanned the place in frustration. No one was standing still long enough to give him an easy target.
He was too hasty when the announcement came through. Like an idiot, he made it obvious he had a gun and purposely scared people. If he'd been more discreet, he would've for sure eliminated someone already.
Leroy assessed his options. There was no point in getting out of the ball pit and chasing people because they were long gone. That left him with staying in the ball pit.
Now he had to focus on targets. His eyes instantly settled on the closest group.
Malakai.
Nathan.
Ash.
The three of them were still in the ball pit, all in different places but closer than anybody else.
"Tch."
Leroy's expression changed. He lowered his body slightly and charged.
"OH SHIT! HE'S COMING!" Ash shouted.
He veered away, throwing himself toward one side of the pit rather than staying near Malakai and Nathan after seeing the gun being pointed in the general area.
"Shit."
Malakai and Nathan moved in the same direction, travelling parallel to each other. They pushed through the balls as quickly as they could. Going straight meant that the edge of the ball pit was getting closer and closer. They did not want to commit to going one way because that would cut the distance for Leroy. Neither of them wanted to look back.
Pew!
"FUCK!" Leroy shouted.
The bullet weaved in between them. Both of them saw it fly past them.
That shot only made Malakai and Nathan go faster... until they couldn't.
They reached the edge of the pit.
Malakai lifted a finger to indicate that they should get out of the pit, already putting a hand on the edge to lift himself up. Nathan forcefully shook his head with wide eyes. Then he gave Malakai a little sideways nod. Malakai understood immediately.
They split.
Going in opposite directions, forcing Leroy to make a decision. Either shoot to his right at Malakai or to his left at Nathan.
Malakai had his back to the edge, watching Leroy closely as he slowly edged forward. All of a sudden, balls started flying at Leroy. Malakai turned his head and found the source. Nathan was hurling balls at Leroy. No hesitation, he copied Nathan and picked up a few balls himself.
Neither of them were trying to run anymore. They didn't want to turn their backs on him. Both of them felt protected facing him, edging further and further away while keeping a close eye on the gun.
Leroy was switching aim from Malakai to Nathan. Almost like he was perfecting his aim on each of them so when he chose who he was going to shoot, the shot would hit.
The aim went to Malakai.
Then Nathan.
Then Malakai.
Then Nathan.
Then Malakai.
Then Nathan.
Then...
Pew!
BEEP!