The TV suddenly switched on. The screen lit up. A black background with plain, large white text appeared. Daso leaned forward and read aloud:
"Hello. Welcome to the Vote. You will all vote privately for one person in the building with you. Everyone must vote. Once the votes are counted, the person with the most votes will die. If you choose not to vote, the vote will be cancelled and everyone who did not vote will die. You have one hour to vote."
Finn stared at the screen mouth open. "What the hell? This has to be a joke or something!" Finn blurted out waving at the tv. "We aren't going to kill each other."
"It's obviously a prank," Daso said with a nervous laugh. "I mean, what kind of sicko would force a bunch of people, including kids, to kill each other? Nahhh. This is probably a YouTube thing."
“…But what if it isn’t a joke?” Maggie asked, nervously. She glanced at the others. She could feel tears burning at the edge of her eyes but refused to let them fall. She swallowed. “We were all somehow kidnapped, remember?”
Erik stared at the tv. He may be gullible, but… “Why would they put this much effort, taking us all from across the country and sealing us in this building, only to make a youtube video?”
"Rich people do weird stuff," Daso mumbled. "Like, the Jake Paul's of the world."
“Guys, I don’t think this is just a Youtube video,” Maggie said. “I think they’re serious.” She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t kill anyone! Just the thought made her want to curl up and hide.
Erik bit his lip. He was familiar with death, but he never wanted to kill someone. “Some sick mind games,” He muttered, glancing at the tattoo on his inner elbow.
"I can't kill anyone in here. You guys are like literal children!" He said looking around the room. He knew that if it wasn't for his sister he would just vote for himself.
“What if none of us vote? They won’t just kill us all, right?” Maggie suggested, but one could tell that she wasn’t sure that it would even work. If someone was crazy enough to kidnap a bunch of teenagers, who’s to say they wouldn’t just kill them all for refusing to vote?
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they killed us all. Probably some sadist running this.” Erik said, frowning. He was silent for a moment, before glancing at everyone in the room, “How old are all of you?”
Maggie flushed, looking down. She felt very young suddenly. “Sixteen,” she mumbled.
"seventeen," Finn said finally sitting back down. His leg bounced. He looked old for his age.
“I’m eighteen.” Erik added, wringing his hands. He doubted any of them were over twenty. What kind of crazy person would kidnap all of them, when they were so young.
"Sixteen," Daso said, his mouth pursed. "We're literally all kids. This is kinda messed up."
Maggie nodded. “So messed up,” she agreed. She continued to will herself not to cry. One of them was going to die. She never even got to tell her family she loved them. They probably thought she hated them right now.
Daso sat down, cross-legged, on the floor, cupping his face with his hands. He didn't want to get too down in the dumps –there had to be a solution to this. "We could…I don't know, lock the doors? I mean, how would they kill us if they can't get in?"
“But they put us here,” Maggie said. “Isn’t it only logical that they have some sort of key to get in and out?” She hated to be the downer, but she didn’t want to put all of their lives on the line when they didn’t have to be.
Of course. Daso scratched the back of his head, his curls bouncing. "Oh, so you're smart smart," he said with a grin. "You're totally right. But, if we all refuse, maybe there's safety in numbers."
Maggie blushed again. Why was she blushing when they were all in danger? Stupid Daso for making her heart beat erratically for no reason. “Maybe, but what if we all get one vote? Then there won’t be one person to die, so maybe we can stall for time or something.”
"You're making the rest of us look bad," he laughed warmly. "But hey, that's a great idea! What if we all vote for ourselves? One vote each, it all cancels out."
“Exactly!” she agreed, trying to ignore how warm her face was feeling. She was sure that her face was getting red from blushing. She glanced at the others for their reactions, hoping against hope that they would come up with a plan that would work.
Daso openly admired the girl, his eyes studying her face. He found it hard to look away. Leave it to him to find the cutest person in the room, even when he was kidnapped and possibly about to die.
Maggie felt his eyes on her, and glanced back at him briefly, making eye contact before looking away again. Why would he be looking at her out of everyone the room? She had to focus on getting as many of them out of this alive as possible, and Daso was only a distraction to her, no matter how cute he was. Her cheeks burned, giving her true feelings away.
Finn nodded. ”that could work. We just all need to promise to vote for ourselves, ” He explains looking at everyone.
(Sorry that I died for a bit!)
Sage had only been staring at the TV. No. This couldn't be real… She didn't want to die. She didn't want anyone here to die. Finn's voice caught her attention. He had been the one to calm her down earlier. Everyone in the room was on the same side now. Whatever they came up with would have to work.
"I… think it's the best we've got if we don't find an escape in the next hour."
Maggie nodded. “So, are there any objections?” she looked around, making sure to look at the people who hadn’t spoken up as well as the ones that had. Her face reddened as she glanced at Daso but kept trying to think of a solid plan.
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Sebastian had kind of frozen for a bit.
“You guys are literal kids…” he sighed, “Yeah, I’ll definitely vote for myself if that means we all have a chance of living, but how sure are we that it’s even real?”
"Then it's settled," Daso said, still smirking at Maggie. "Maggie's plan is the one we'll go with. And we can keep looking for a way out, too."