One kill for $50,000

The lights flicker on. I'm standing in a room with only a single door way in front of me. I can hear what sounds like people talking in the other room. Testing the door it's locked. How did I get here? Where is here? The loud speaker clicks on "ten seconds to show time". Show time? What do they mean by that? The door clicks and swings open by it's self. Taking a look around I decide it's that or stay here so I walk threw and the door again swings close by it's self.

The second room was just as fetcher-less as the first only this one had a metal table in the middle with a tarp draped over it. I walk over and pull the tarp back and stagger backwards as I gaze down the items on the table. A knife, a pistol and a ball pin hammer. What could these be for? The intercom clicks on again. "Choose your fate". A door in the floor opens up and a man tied to a chair rises up from the opening. "Kill this man here and now and live. Or kill your self and the man lives".

"What? What is this some kind of joke?". I look at the man in the chair. His arms and legs were tied to the legs and arm rests of the chair and duck tape was over his mouth. But the fear in his eyes was very real. I walk over to him and reach out my hand. He screams into the tape and thrashes violently against the bounds. "Its ok I'm just going to take this off you".

The intercom clicked on again. "If you touch this man you both will die". I jerk my hand back. The man takes a deep breath and calms a little.

No this was not sick joke, but a sick man playing a sick game. But if I didn't play along I would die if the man on the intercoms was real about what he had said.

The intercom clicked on again. "30 seconds before incineration". What! Incineration! Do they plan to burn us both alive in this room! My mind starts to race. I look around the empty room for someway out. Just some little glimmer of hope that I could get out of this room. But there was nothing, just the table with the three items on it.

Picking up the pistol I find it to only have one round in it. The man in the chair starts screaming and thrashing again. This would be the most human way, quick and painless. With out hesitation I turn and point to hub at the man. "I'm sorry!". I close my eyes as I pull the trigger and the gun goes off. Opening my eyes I see the man in the chair but he is still screaming. The bullet hit him in the shoulder and he was screaming out in pain. "Shit!". With no more bullets to do the job done right I drop the gun and reach for the hammer. Slowly I walk over the to man. His eyes grow wide when he looks from me to the hammer. "I'm so sorry. But I have a family", I say before I lift the hammer with a shaky arm and bring it down on his head. I hear bone cracking but the man is still screaming so I pull the hammer back again. On the second hit the cracking sound is mixed in this a wet slosh sound but the man still screams. Again and again I hit him until the screaming stops and my face is covered in blood.

As I drop the hammer and fall to my knees a third door opens. Wanting nothing more then to leave this horrid room I slowly stand and walk out in shaky legs. The third door leads to a small stage. A spot light shines on me blinding me when I step threw. After a moment for my eyes to adjust I see cameras all pointing at me. The intercom clicks on again "congratulations! For your participation in tonight's game you have won $50,000". Another opening in the floor opens up. Only this time there is a suit case on a small table that rises from the opening. The top was open and I could see the money inside it stacked high to the rim. I slump to my knees as the lights go out.