It was pitch black when Sungjong first woke. The distant sound of water dripping was all he could hear in the silence. At least until he realized the rushing in his ears from the headache he had that was so strong it almost made him sick. He felt like he'd been hit over his head. 

 

He probably would have vomited had he not seen something move above him. It was small but he knew he'd seen it. 

 

"Where... Where am I?" It was Dongwoo stirring. Sungjong didn't bother to notice, his eyes still adjusting to the darkness on what he'd seen. 

 

"Dongwoo?" That was Sunggyu. The maknae felt his headache dull just a little at the sound of the leader's voice. It was comfortable. "Is everyone else here?"

 

"H-Hyung?" That was Howon's groggy sleepy voice. Sungjong relaxed a bit more. 

 

"Ouch that's my head!"

 

"Cameras." Sungjong gasped finally, ignoring the humor of Myungsoo whining that he'd been kicked as Howon sat up. 

 

"What?" Sunggyu asked, everyone growing quiet. 

 

"They're everywhere... They're... Oh god..." All the red lights were finally focused and it was like stars over them. How ironic. 

 

"What is it, Sungjong?" Sungyeol whispered, the fear in his voice making it pretty obvious he already knew the answer to his own question. 

 

"Woohyun, are you there?" Sunggyu was still more concerned to make sure everyone was there before the game even started. Did it matter, they wouldn't be there for long. 

 

"Running M-Man..." was his reply to the leader's question. All seven where there. 

 

The lights at Woohyun's words, all of the men cowering behind their arms.

 

"Good guess, Woohyun," a booming voice said over some sort of public announcement system. A sob was barely heard over it but still, Sungjong crawled over to Dongwoo, holding him close. He felt hot tears fall down his own cheeks as he looked at everyone else.

 

Myungsoo looked confused. Howon had his back turned to everyone, his back heaving as he threw up. Woohyun was pale like he was watching his life flash before him, like he knew it was the end. So was Sungyeol, but he looked like he was in terrible pain. Sunggyu was calm but concerned, already articulating a plan to keep them all alive. 

 

 "You know the rules. Six weeks you must fight to live. You can all live or you can all die. If everyone but one is dead, time will stop. But there haven't been survivors yet. There are trackers, embedded in your skin that also monitor your heart rate and your conversations. You can't fake death or find a way out of this. We will hear you and kill you.

 

"Good luck."

 

The voice echoed around the stone walls and a screen projector hummed to life, showing the count down time. 

 

Silence followed but for only a beat. Then the panic seemed to vibrate the air between them. 

 

"Six weeks, here? We're going to die of starvation!"

 

"Or dehydration!"

 

"We'll die of both!"

 

"Stop it, guys! Stop panicking, all of you!" Sunggyu didn't have to raise his voice to be heard. Everyone fell silent and looked at the leader. Dongwoo even held his shuttering sobs, cheeks stained from tears. 

 

"You heard him... 'you can all live...' so we can do this. It won't be easy but we can stay together."

 

"Hyung, even if..."

 

"When."

 

"...If we all make it out alive, will we even have a company to go back to?" Sungjong asked. He tensed and looked down as six pairs of eyes turned to focus on him. 

 

"We will worry about that in six weeks, Sungjong. Now, right now, we only focus on survival. But not just for ourselves; we focus on all seven of us making it out of here with beating hearts." Even in this moment of complete chaos and utter hopelessness, Sunggyu was a voice of ration and reason. 

 

"He's right," Howon piped in. "They want us to fight among ourselves. We can't let them win. We aren't us without everyone." He turned wiped his mouth with the back of his filthy hand, dirt smearing across his lip. In any other situation, he would have done that on purpose and fans would go nuts. 

 

Sungjong shook his head, gauging everyone's thoughts by their expressions. Everyone but Woohyun seemed to agree they'd all live. But Woohyun knew better, just like the maknae. They had watched the two games before together; they both knew that the government would do everything they could to kill them all in brutal and painful ways.

 

"You're all too optimistic about this. We're doomed, all of us, to death. This is the last place we are ever going to be. Even if one is still alive, it doesn't mean you'll live."

 

"Woohyun hyung..." Myungsoo started. 

 

"I mean look at MBLAQ. Seungho hyung barely survived this and died on his way out to be taken to the hospital!"

 

"Don't be so positive, Woohyun," Dongwoo snapped. 

 

"He's just being realistic," Sungjong said softly, tightening his grip on Dongwoo. "Last year Gayoon noona found a gun and killed everyone then herself before the timer could announce she was the winner. This game is designed to test us, divide us, and eliminate us."

 

"Don't make us relive that, p-please..." Sungyeol breathed out. He still looked like he was in pain, his skin clammy and eyes starting to gloss over. 

 

"Whatever happens, we will all make it, all of us. I believe that we can do this," Sunggyu said sternly, standing up slowly. He had dried blood running down his face from his hair. In any other circumstance, it could just be make up for a music video shoot.

 

Sungjong sighed and looked at everyone's scared faces. He pat Dongwoo's shoulder and rest his head against him. "Optimism is admirable, I guess, in a situation like this." There was no use in bringing everyone down more when death loomed like a typhoon on the horizon. 

 

Woohyun looked at Sungjong and sighed as well. Admitting defeat would only make death come quicker. And it was no use fighting about it; no one was dead, yet. "What do we do then?" His voice was monotone, a hint of distrust still lingering. 

 

The leader glanced around at the eyes fixed on him, waiting for the answer he wasn't sure he could give. He didn't have the words to make this better, to make it make sense. He just needed to start from somewhere simple. 

 

"I think we should split up in groups of two with one group of three. We can search for anything useful. Maybe food or water or places to sleep... Anything at all." Everyone nodded in agreement.

 

Sunggyu paired Myungsoo with Woohyun, sending them through the exit under the time projection. Dongwoo begged to be with Howon, and the leader agreed but he put Sungjong with them. 

 

"Howon still looks sick and you look like you're not far behind him," he explained when Dongwoo questioned. The maknae helped the shaking rapper up while Howon turned to vomit again. It was a great way to prove Sunggyu's point without asking, Sungjong wanted to say but decided that it was best to keep it to himself. 

 

"Sungyeol, you're with me but...." Sunggyu trailed off when he realized the younger's shirt had a blossoming red spot spreading across it.

 

"H-Hyung..."

 

"What... What happened, Sungyeol?"

 

"I-I-I... I don't know... My arm just felt like it was b-burning th-then.... then this..." His breathing was shallow as he fell to his knees. 

 

Sunggyu lifted the younger's shirt, trying to see what caused the blood. He was covered in bruises and deep cuts, one of them looking like it had come open again. But how?

 

"It's okay, Yeol. I'll help stop it and you'll be okay. Just stay calm with me okay..." The leader frantically took off his jacket, feeling the cold biting at his skin. He folded the body up once and held it against the wound, using the sleeves to wrap around Sungyeol's slender body and tying it tight as possible at the front. 

 

"Th-There we go. You'll be better in no time." Sunggyu smiled as reassuringly as possible and put an arm under his, helping him stand up slowly. "Maybe walking around will help with the p-- ouch!" He jumped back as a painful shock went through him. He brushed it off as static but almost immediately forgot about it as Sungyeol fell back down, face scrunched in pain. 

 

"H-Hyung..." he whimpered, drool coming down as his body shook. 

 

"Dongwoo! Anyone! Someone... Comeback!" he screamed as loud as he could. He hoped someone would return and help him. "God, someone please... S-Sungyeol..." Sunggyu whispered the last bit, holding the younger close as he wiped is face. 

 

Panic started to set in the leader's stomach. He kept yelling until Myungsoo appeared, Woohyun trailing behind. 

 

"Stay with him. St-Stop the bleeding..." Woohyun nodded and collapsed next to Sungyeol, helping him lay on his back to put pressure over the wound. Sunggyu grabbed Myungsoo's arm and ran toward the exit the other three took. He wasn't going to keep screaming for them and hope they'd hear.

 

He wasn't going to lose anyone.

 

Not here. Not for the world to see. Not for the humor of the government.