《Playing Games of Despair》Chapter 16: The Meat Pile (1)
Advertisement
The Challenger was supposed to be a floating island paradise. It was a cruise ship with hundreds of crew members, waiting on the hands and feet of the moneyed elite who had obtained tickets to travel across the world with the fighters of God’s Tournament and watch the Tournament live.
At the same time, it was a floating lawless society. Away from the watchful eyes of governance under the four countries, in international waters, crime ran afoot. Gambling in the casinos. Fights sponsored by the underground betting network. Murder in the cabin. And now… attack by panthers.
The Tehari panthers were what stood between the four young fighters—two cowering behind an overturned table without weapons and one comatose in a drawer—and freedom. Freedom through the grey metal door onto the corridor.
Gilgamesh wiped the sweat from his brow. “Any bright ideas on how we’re getting out of here?”
A rustling sound came over the speakers. There was a security intercom setup in the mortuary.
“Well well well… Today is my lucky day! I get to kill two Celtians... and a Xin as a bonus,” a voice came over the intercom. It cackled away, laced with gleeful malice. “I am going to be a hero for this. Glory, come to me!”
Realisation immediately dawned on Dart. It was a set-up. Someone had been watching from the security cameras. That very same someone had planned the attack by the panthers—and the targets were fighters. He looked at Gilgamesh. From the way the attacker had identified his targets as Celtians, and his accent… he had to be from Vinlan Corp!
Gilgamesh had also pieced together the revelation. “There are going to be consequences for killing tournament fighters from other countries.”
“Haha! Accidents on ships are common. There will be no proof when I’m done with you all,” the voice cackled menacingly.
“Or you could get caught, and start another war with Celtia,” Gilgamesh responded smoothly. “Don’t be patronising! We’re the most important people on the planet right now. Stop this madness!”
“Why don’t you face us yourself, huh?” Dart growled angrily. The faceless voice was getting on his nerves. He sounded mad for power. A typical politician.
Advertisement
Gilgamesh facepalmed, shaking his head. Well, there goes our chance to negotiate for our lives.
“Haha! You’re way too arrogant, for someone who choked at the elimination round,” Minister Glover laughed into the microphone. This was going to be fun to watch! “Celtia’s best, they’ve been calling you…” he said, arching an eyebrow. “Let’s see what you’re made of!”
“Anyway, enough chatter. Kill them all, my…” the speakers boomed.
His last words could not be heard.
Bang! The grey metal door to the mortuary slammed open.
“RUN!” A stranger yelled.
A grenade flew into the room. The panthers scattered in alarm. Smoke immediately filled the mortuary.
Without skipping a beat, Gilgamesh saw his opening in the confusion and tore off for the open door.
Krystal hesitated. My brother…
Dart, coughing wildly, retrieved his knife from the corner of the room. He turned and yelled at Krystal to get a move on. “Your brother is safe here! Let’s go!”
Gilgamesh yelled, “He doesn’t know about Ming. Run!”
Watching from inside the observation room, Minister Glover was just as shell-shocked at the sudden turn of events. Who had thrown that grenade? The smoke marred the security cameras in the mortuary, and his vision was essentially blocked.
“Chase them, you dumb cats!” He instructed his panthers over the intercom, which were lost without their sense of smell.
Following Gilgamesh down the corridor of the basement floor, Dart and Krystal came upon the cargo hold area. Whoever had thrown that grenade had likely also made a run for it, because they were nowhere to be seen. The three were on their own.
“We need to hide!” Dart urgently looked around for a hiding place.
“They can sniff us out,”” Krystal pointed out.
Dart had spotted a promising prospect in a sign up ahead. “I have a plan!” he shouted, waving over at Gilgamesh and Krystal. The sign read ‘Food Storage’.
Gilgamesh ran over. “You genius!”
“See, I told you the corpses are kept cold in the mortuary before cooking!” Dart grinned mischievously.
Advertisement
“I… take that back,” Gilgamesh muttered.
The entire cold storage was a giant walk-in warehouse with fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat to feed an entire cruise ship for months. The trio wandered through the rows of bags of rice and wheat, then crates of oranges and pineapples, and baskets of spices like dried chilli peppers, turmeric and black peppercorns. Dart was amazed at the variety of mushrooms happily growing from woodchip blocks; some were so oddly shaped that he was not fully convinced that they were edible. Gilgamesh stuck his head into one of the barrels out of curiosity. “Pickles,” he muttered.
Finally, they followed their noses and stopped in their tracks. The sight before them was just as bloody as the murdered girl’s room. Hunks of meat, sausage links and even whole carcasses hung from the ceiling racks. Piles of prime cuts, steaks, and chops were stacked up on shelves. Buckets of offals, organs and entrails sat next to piles of bones. The floor was slippery with dried and re-dried blood, and slick with cuttings of meat. Krystal pinched her nose silently in disgust.
From somewhere behind the butchery, the fighters could hear the sounds of goats bleating and the rustling of feathers. The live brothers and sisters of the dead animals stored here were not too far away. Right outside the door leading to the cargo hold of live animals were vats of blood where the slaughter took place. Next to it were an industrial-sized meat grinder, and a huge meat slicing machine. The entire operation was connected to the hanging racks.
The butchery was the perfect hiding place. It already smelled of death.
“You think you can hide?” the loudspeakers sounded. The fighters jumped in shock. They were still being watched! Wherever he was, the Minister was watching from safety behind the security camera. Dart’s stomach churned with anger. Coward!
***
The panthers were scratching at the metal door at the far end of the cold storage. It was only a matter of time before they managed to get in. The three would have to think fast, or their hiding place would become their death trap.
“How does the food here get from the basement to the restaurants…” Gilgamesh wondered out loud.
“You mean this?” Dart gestured towards the metal grated dumbwaiter that was at the top of a hollow vertical shaft. It was operated by an automatic chain pulley. Dart could hear voices coming from the top of the shaft; it probably opened up into the main commercial kitchen for food preparation.
Gilgamesh was way ahead. “That’s our ticket out of here!” Gilgamesh cried, pressing the button frantically to call the elevator down.
Krystal turned away from the dumbwaiter and bluntly stated that she wasn’t going. “My brother is still on this floor.”
“Are you seriously suggesting that we fight those things?” Gilgamesh was incredulous. “You’ve got to be kidding me… He’s in the walls listening and watching our every move...”
“Well, we have no other options. We are fighting,” Dart was firm. “Besides, didn’t you say that you liked helping people?”
Gilgamesh reluctantly admitted, “I did...”
“Fine. But first, we need a plan,” he looked around. His eyes settled on Krystal as he scanned his surroundings. She was a stunning beauty with her hair held in a twist with a sharp metal hairpin. Even in this time of danger, her lips settled in a bored expression. How attractive.
Gilgamesh leaned forward and slammed the wall behind Krystal with one hand, almost pinning her. He looked into Krystal’s eyes deeply, a gaze that filled the air with electric tension. With his other hand, he reached out and slid the hairpin out of Krystal’s hair. Her blonde locks fell to her shoulders in cascading waves.
With a flick of his wrist, Gilgamesh aimed the pin at the camera mounted on the corner of the wall behind Krystal. Bullseye! The glass shattered and the lens cracked.
Advertisement
Above All
"In a world where strength rules supreme. All beings shall bow before the strong."This is the golden rule of all mortals who wish to take the path of martial arts or wizardry and defy the will of the heavens.Those who do not obey this rule will suffer a miserable fate worse than death. Arthur, a 13 year old boy who has encountered a strange occurrence during his early childhood, is forcedto undertake the tribulation of the heavens. Follow him and watch as he tries to become the one who stands above all.
8 183Munivit Anima
The first nuclear war which damaged the earth and the destruction of the planet is already inevitable. Despite the drop of population from 7 billion to 2 billion, countries still continued to fight for little whats left on Earth. A lieutenant in the army decided to hack all the nuclear facilities and activated the self-destruct code. He was caught and killed right after he activated the code. While his soul is wandering in the dimension of life and death his soul was summoned by the Demon King from the world. the reason he was summoned was to save the Demon Race from total extinction because the humans had invaded their continent. They were overwhelmed despite their advantage of higher magic because the Dragons are on the side of the humans. Now that the Demon race is nearly extinct, it is up to the summoned being to save them. but something unexpected happened.
8 223Medieval Terror
[Trickle! Trickle!] Blood… Pure unfiltered blood. Thick wetness of inhumane variety was drowning the contours of my defiled countenance with crimson slick. My warrior’s mien was brutally decorated with the vile viscera and entrails of the dead. Scattered all around me was a large pile of corpses floating in the bloodthirsty puddle of the afterlife. Accompanying my rest within this detestable domain was a rapacious array of lord Beelzebub’s kin. A swarm of black motile embodiment capable of aerial drifts made my bloody appearance barely visible. [Buzz! Buzz!] I was dead yet living, I could travel between the broken realms of existence and meddle with the vengeful souls. Such was possible by virtue of my life that had succumbed to the Lure of Enigma. The bizarre events that unfolded which brought me to this destitute phase of utter dysphoria was a mixture of tales that will leave a distasteful flavour of doleful buds on your tongue. If you wish to know more about my apocalyptic journey then feel free to turn the pages of my undying path. However, I must warn you, inquisitive readers. My legendary tale might cause your weak constitution to become cripple, hence read at your own peril. (Link to Discord) https://discord.gg/XqY4JAfhcd (Author’s Notes)You can offer your support for Mia Aim’s creativity if you visit the following links below. I’m currently in the process of working on my new LitRPG-Fantasy novel, Word Fu! The latest chapters are published on Patreon along with character artwork. Please offer your support. https://www.patreon.com/MiaAim_Creative_Force https://www.amazon.com/author/miaaim https://www.amazon.com/author/manga-god
8 209The Protector and the Peacemaker
The secret war between the Slayers and Mythics is secret no longer. Porter the Slayer and Sarah the sphinx have, through their unlikely love, become the bridge between the human and Mythic races, and together they hope they can find a way to end the fighting without one side destroying the other. With incriminating evidence against the Master Slayer, Drake Mortoph, there may be a chance that they can disband the Slayers before the two armies reach each other. Mortoph has more secrets than Porter and Sarah realize, though, and he will stop at nothing to keep them from being revealed.
8 178Promise
A Cold and Cruel world besiege the dammed as everything dies off. A Collection of Grimdark & Horror Stories.
8 90chef d'oeuvre | JeongMi | by festoon
"She is a work of art."An adventure of two ordinary girls struggling to live a satisfying and pleasing life. One is a violinist who is a bright and bubbly girl. One is a passionate cold painter who strives for her dreams and is ambitious who wants to prove herself to her parents using art.A story of life and love, ambitions and apathy, greed and selflessness, invulnerability and helplessness, success and failures. What if the paths of Jeongyeon and Mina meet?Follow their struggles, efforts, experiences, growth, and romance in this story. :chef d'oeuvre means masterpiece:!! DISCLAIMERS !!*slow burn romance *photo not mine (book cover)*work of a FICTION*I don't know much about music and art so there might be errors and inaccuracies but I have enough knowledge about it*English isn't my first language
8 173