Death game elevator with kids (and my brother) and a world event

Date: 5/10/2020

It’s a bit hazy in parts but I remember some other moments well. It started with my brother, a few (maybe 8?) other kids, and I, all in the lobby / ground floor of a towering building. Surrounding the building was grass and roads leading to industrial places, as well as a set of tracks that looked like a mix between train tracks and a theme park’s roller coaster tracks; they had one line down the center, with the occasional track extending outwards, making little crosses over and over. The tracks were black and red, and every so often a sort of vehicle would ride by on them. The vehicle was basically a plastic and metal bench, fitting two people, with a little rounded oval fence thing going around it- again, it reminded me of a theme park ride. The fence/mini wall which made an oval around the seats gave just enough room for your legs to fit comfortably, and rose to about halfway up your ribs when you were sitting on it. The side of it had a door/gate that auto-locked into the rest of the fencing while the vehicle was moving. From the back of the vehicle, where the back of the bench would normally be, the same plastic and metal materials rose up and curved over top of the ride, creating a roof while leaving the ride mostly open. Little LED lights and a radio came from the top of this roof, accessible by the two people inside. The people passing by seemed like rich, or privileged people; important people, having fun or going to work or something. In the dream, I envied them; even hated them a little bit. They were passing us by like we were some sort of attraction at a theme park or something, and they looked so at ease in those vehicles, relaxing on the padded bench, sipping from a champagne glass because their ride was just THAT smooth. A lot of them were just your cliché wealthy couples, though; women wearing long, floaty blue gowns and shimmering necklaces and earrings, with ringlets of gold and silver tinkling on their arms, and hair done up in perfect artificial curls; and men with tuxedos or suits made of some fine, shiny material, cuffed at the sleeves to show wristwatches worth more than what I’d probably make in my entire life, and haircuts and beards trimmed so primly you’d think the hairdresser used a ruler. In the dream, the kids and I knew what was going to happen even as we first came into this lobby. The lobby itself was a big, open room, rectangularly shaped. The floors were polished white stone, maybe marble, and there were potted plants on either side of the doorway and beneath the two windows at the front of the building. Down the long room there were two carpets laid out, in whites and grays decorated with basic patterns, which made almost a strange imitation of a street: the carpets fluffy sidewalks, the marble floor between them a silken road, and on either end of the road, there were the destinations. At one end, was a very modern and sleek elevator. There was a huge panel set into the wall on one side, made of smooth glassy plastic that flowed blue from the lights behind it- and there must’ve been at least a hundred numbers displayed on the plastic, like it was a screen. The elevator itself was completely made of glass, showing through to a small area built all around the elevator inside of the building- exotic plants and trees sprouted at the bottom, and flowering vines crept artfully up the walls, making it seem like you were rising up through a very small jungle, which had sprouted inside of a building. The mechanisms that worked the elevator were nowhere to be seen. It was as if it just lifted into the air on its own. At the other end of the hall was a weird indent which housed a vehicle thing that looked like a long, sleeker version of the vehicles on the track outside. However there were no tracks visible in the room, and the vehicle sitting at the end of the hall was different in a few ways as well. Firstly, it didn’t have that roofed back to it, nor did it have the fencing/walls around the bench; the entire thing consisted of a plastic and metal rounded bench, which could maybe fit five people, and a little platform at the base of the bench where you’d rest your feet. It was hovering about two inches from the ground where it was, and made a steady humming that could only be heard if you got close and listened for it. The kids and I milled about in this room for a bit. We knew what was going to happen almost like we’d been through it before- the same way you know what happens after you’ve died in a video game and restart from the beginning again. My brother and I were talking quietly, making agreements. The entire building was, apparently, a death game. That is, a game with only one victor, where the rest are killed off during gameplay (and the goal of the game is just to survive). And it wasn’t secret or anything, either: it was similar to the Hunger Games in the way that it was highly publicized and was a giant event. It was next to the Olympics in how it was played out on the screens. The contestants (who were chosen somewhat randomly from literally everywhere, instead of signing up like in the Olympics) were all given little go-pro like cameras that attached to their shirts, so that the audience could watch what went down. In addition there were cameras hidden all over each floor and each room. It was made out like an intense reality TV show mixed with a competitive, sport-like betting show, where people would bet on which contestant would win, would root for different players and who would even choose favorite ‘teams’ (each contestant was assigned a color, although it wasn’t known how they chose which color for which contestant). It was like, a whole thing. Somehow my brother and I had both gotten into this but like I said, it’s almost like we knew what was coming- like we’d done it before. The kids eventually were told we had to go to the first floor- all other floors were locked anyways. On the first floor was a basic challenge, where each player had to solve this little puzzle cube and then find the correct slot where it belonged- there was a huge colored board in front of us with slots made for every cube. The last person to solve the cube lost. My brother and I both made it past- the kid who lost was left on the first floor while we went to the second. I don’t know what happened to him exactly, but everyone knew he would die. But most of us considered him lucky; his death was painful, as opposed to some others that’d come. There were several floors after that which I remember. My brother and I made it really far. Some floors were challenges where there didn’t HAVE to be a loser- that is, as long as everyone succeeded, nobody died- whereas others had very specific winners and losers. The losers would always die. When the player count was to maybe six or something, the games started getting way more intense. It went from puzzle cubes, math problems, trivia and board games, to teamed battles with real weapons and fights to the death over several different items, doorways, or simply just fights to win. These were scarier than the rest because while I was confident in my brother and I’s ability to solve the little puzzles and do math and whatever, fighting was a whole other story. My brother was tall and pretty strong and I’m decently fit, but I’m also short and we’re both legally blind, which wouldn’t help our case (for some reason I wasn’t allowed to wear my contacts in this game). However, we managed to get far despite this. I vividly remember one particular level; it was broken up into several modern office-type rooms, except they were meticulously clean and empty. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all clean whites and blacks and grays and blues, and the lights were fluorescent and white. The desks in the office rooms were completely bare, except for an occasional empty paper basket or something; in the place of papers and desktops, different types of weapons were hidden throughout the drawers and set on top of desks and chairs. Closets, cabinets, bookshelves, even trash cans- they all had various weapons and armor hidden in them. It reminded me of a modernized paintball course, especially because every kid was put in a different room before the game started. We had about a minute to scramble for weapons before all the doors unlocked, and we had access to both each other and each other’s weapons. It was a death game, with a twist: only three people could escape the floor. There were three tube-like escape pod things at the end of the halls. They’d be locked until there were only four people left, and then it’d be a race to find a spot in one of the tubes. Also, the weapons were definitely futuristic. They where all white with blue glowing spots, and shot laser-like bullets that travelled much faster than actual bullets and had a much more damaging and precise impact; the force of one bullet from one of the better guns could send the person being shot flying across the room. Also, their ammo wasn’t bullets. There were cartridges filled with glowing blue liquid, and when it ran out your gun would buzz a little and you’d need to replace the cartridge- which would be empty. I started in an office room with a pistol like gun and two cartridges. I grabbed the stuff and waited until the door unlocked. In a stroke of luck I found my brother, and we didn’t shoot each other out of surprise or anything. We obviously were going to team for this so we stuck together. He had a hunter-rifle (but futuristic of course) so we switched guns because I’m better with ranged stuff. Mostly because, although our vision sucked collectively, mine was still better than his. I just need really strong glasses or contacts, but my brother has a rare condition that can’t be fixed with glasses or whatever. We get to the tubes at the same time as another kid, a girl between our ages. Then two kids arrive and the fighting breaks out, with my brother and I flipping a nearby table and using it for cover while I used my rifle to shoot at the other kids and my brother waited with the pistol in case anyone came close. The fighting was over within a minute. Four people were left, one injured, who had retreated, one uninjured, but nowhere to be found- I assumed that the two remaining kids probably retreated because they knew they couldn’t fight both my brother and I all at once. We were a team, but they were alone. It’d be too risky for them to try and fight us straight up like that. My brother and I waited it out by the pods and eventually the two kids come at us, teaming. We take down one kid, the injured one, and everyone scrambles for a pod. I climb on and see that it’s overhanging off of the building; looking straight down makes my stomach wobble a bit as I see a twenty story fall below me. I hold out my hand to my brother and motion at the pod next to me, and he climbs on. Then, something happens- something weird. The dream blanks and next thing I know I’m back at the bottom floor where I started. My brother and the other girl are there, along with some other (new) kids. My brother and I start strategizing and stuff, because we already know exactly what’s going to happen. I feel nervous, scared, and yet also prepared and determined. I’d done it before; I could do it again.