"Ok, the game is pretty simple. Go in and find the girl who looks like a chimpanzee. Once everyone sees her, the game is over" said Rob the leader over the headset.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go and get this party started. Chimpanzee girl, here we come, get ready to die." came another voice over the headset. It must be Mark, He was the only one who was crazy excited about the game, the rest of us had joined because it was his birthday and as we cannot celebrate it together under this lockdown, this was the one way we could be together.
"Listen, Mark, I don't want any of my men killed out there. If I am going to be leading this I want everyone to be on the same page here. No shooting anyone unless absolutely necessary. The game is pretty simple, we have three scenarios in which we need to find this girl, first is an abandoned military base, second an abandoned theatre, third is a house."
"Must be a pretty big house to be on level three. Any plans on how we are going to approach each building ?" said Sanjay always the voice of reason. I could almost hear his brain ticking coming up with all possible ways to approach each level.
For a bunch of 15-year-olds, we were a pretty neat group. We had our leader Rob, topper of the class, closely followed by Sanjay and Hari. You would think the competition would make them enemies but you could not find any closer friends. The only reason I was in this group was because I was new to our class this year and the teacher had asked Sanjay to help me with getting familiar with the curriculum. Mark was there because he was Rob's best friend since kindergarten. The reason he passed any tests was because Rob tutored him. But he brought in the much needed lightness and also crazy online video games to our group.
"So, shall we start ?" I asked, trying hard to sound enthusiastic. No one needs to know my absolute terror over having to play this game. It was just a game. I remembered the one time I paid paintball and survived till the end because I hid behind a hay bale and came out holding a white flag. I was the last surviving member of our team. I did not shoot anyone and no one shot me. My only thought in mind going in this game was the same don't shoot and don't get shot. If anyone could have foreseen the horrible turn of events, everyone would have gone in with the same thought, even Mark, especially Mark.
"Okay Anil, ready, here we go. Keep close people, it looks to be darker than expected. Move forward carefully and slowly." said Rob.
After almost 10 minutes of going through corridors after corridors and Mark losing us points by shooting at a broken table and some chairs, "Hey, can anyone hear that music, where do you think it is coming from ?" said Hari, talking for the first time since everyone logged in to the game.
"I hear it too. Maybe we can go down this corridor and see if the volume increases," said Sanjay beside an extremely excited person who could only be Mark. He was hopping around while everyone was walking.
"Let's shoot some mad looking suckers out there while we are at it. Let's go, woohoo." The fact that everyone was somber did nothing to dampen Mark's enthusiasm.
"Yes, the music seems to be coming from that door marked Cafeteria. Should we go in?" I said. "I read all of the instructions and there was no mention anywhere of following the music, but it looks like that is the only remaining way, I am tired of roaming around." said Rob "Kick down the door Anil, you are nearer." With my heart in my throat, I kick down the door to find around 20 people dancing with disco lights on. And everyone saw the chimpanzee girl dancing. She had the head of a chimp, but the body of a very curvaceous girl. She was dancing along with a guy who had the head of a lion.
Suddenly all the walls disappeared and huge letters came up in front of us saying "Level 2 - Unlocked", with a score a hundred points fewer thanks to Mark who was still hopping around enthusiastically.
... to be continued
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