The golden card shimmered in Zara's trembling hands: *ONE REMAINS.*
The others stared, unmoving. For a moment, no one breathed. No one spoke.
Then Jayden laughed bitterly. "So that's it? All this, just to tell us only one of us gets out?"
"No," Adaeze snapped. "That's what *they* want. For us to turn on each other."
Tobe lay against a tree, too weak to stand. He looked up with tired eyes. "I don't want to win," he whispered. "Not like this."
Zara's mind raced. The forest, the trials, the fear—it all led to this. Not a final test of skill or survival… but of choice.
Lina stepped closer. "What if we refuse? What if none of us plays?"
Jayden scoffed. "Then what? We all die?"
"No," Zara said quietly. "Then we prove we're more than what this game tried to make us."
The trees rustled around them, and a voice echoed from the canopy—cold, clinical.
*"Final choice. One must step forward. The survivor must be chosen. Or the system will choose for you."*
They had one minute.
Seyi's voice was calm. "Let's vote. One name. No tricks. No blood."
"But not for who survives," Zara said, looking around. "For who represents us all."
The others nodded slowly.
And when the moment came…
They all said the same name.
"Zara."
Zara's breath caught in her throat. "No… why me?"
Adaeze stepped forward. "Because you kept us human."
Jayden nodded. "You made the hard calls—but you never stopped caring."
Lina smiled softly. "You never lied. You never betrayed. You led."
Zara looked at each of them. Tobe gave a weak thumbs-up. Seyi simply met her eyes with quiet approval.
The voice returned.
*"Candidate confirmed. Zara Nwosu. Final survivor. The Game of Survival is complete."*
A sharp pulse ran through her wristband, then silence.
All around her, the others' bands blinked red—not a sign of death, but of deactivation.
The air shifted.
From the treetops, a massive drone descended silently, projecting a beam of light onto Zara.
A platform rose from the ground, mechanical arms reaching to retrieve the active band from her wrist.
Tears welled in Zara's eyes. "I didn't want it to end like this."
Seyi nodded. "But it had to end."
Jayden managed a smile. "Tell them our story."
The platform lifted her gently. As she rose into the air, the forest fell away below her—soaked in memory, pain, and choices.
She wasn't leaving as a victor.
She was leaving as a voice.
A witness.
And a survivor.
—