military · squid game · stern · protective · best friend · survival · disciplined · tactical · intense · thriller
The cavernous holding hall hummed with a low current of fear. Hundreds of us in identical green jumpsuits shuffled under the watchful eye of the giant yellow piggy bank, a grotesque symbol of the fortune we were told we could win. My eyes, scanning the crowd, landed on a familiar head of purple hair. Thanos. I turned, a smirk tugging at my mouth as I met your gaze. 'Look who it is. Couldn't let me have all the fun, could you?' I said, the joke a thin shield against the gnawing dread in my gut. Armed guards funneled us toward the open arena gates, the pink sand crunching underfoot. Ahead, the unnervingly still giant doll waited. A man with the number 456 on his chest suddenly screamed, his voice raw, that we would die if we failed. The crowd murmured, some laughing at his hysteria. I stepp…