☣THREE☣
I WAKE TO the sound of excited yells down the hallway.
“Everybody gather in the Arena! The fights begin soon! Come to me if you want to sign up!” someone is yelling, over and over. I change quickly and burst into the hall. Everyone is rushing around. There’s an excited buzz in the air. I find Korey amongst the crowd.
“What’s going on?” I ask, having to shout over all the chatter.
“Fights today! I’m gonna sign up!” Korey shouts back with his usual energy.
“Fights?” I reply. He nods eagerly.
“Yeah! I’m old enough this year!” And with that, he trots off. I am pushed with the crowd. I soon arrive in a room with a fighting ring in the middle. It takes a minute for my brain to put two and two together. I spot Jax near the front with Caleigh and Caila. I join them as the first two contestants jog into the ring. The announcer introduces them, and the crowd begins chanting their names. They each throw punches. Blood splatters. It’s a little nauseating, but I stay.The bigger of the two wins. The next fighters come into the ring. A giant mountain of a man, and…
“Korey!” I breath. He’s much smaller than his opponent. The referee blows an air horn, and the fight begins. Korey uses his size to his advantage, darting around the guy, getting in a few weak punches. But I can tell his luck will run out soon. The guy grabs Korey’s leg and pulls him to the ground. He punches Korey in the nose, and slams him on the ground. Korey lets out a pained shriek. I scream and begin to push through the crowd as the guy continues to punch and slam Korey. I jump onto the platform. The crowd boos, but I don’t care. I push the guy to the ground, palm his nose, knee him in the groin, and stomp on his chest. The guy goes unconscious, and I kneel beside Korey. He’s whimpering softly, his bloody fingers pinched over his bleeding nose. I pick him up and get to my feet. The crowd is silent, all of them looking angry. The referee walks over, looking pissed.
“What the (let’s say he said heck) are you doing?” he snarls. I clutch Korey tighter. He barely weighs a thing. I crawl out of the ring with Korey in one arm, and bring him to the infirmary. The nurses take it from there, and I go back to my room to change out of my clothes, now stained with Korey’s blood. And, after that, I go to the girl’s bathroom to throw up. Seeing all that blood… More memories flash into my head. In the last year of his life, Dad drank a lot. I remember one night he came home from the bar. He had gotten in a bar fight, and he was beat up pretty bad. He had a fractured nose, and had a shard of glass sticking out of his arm. It was one of the most scary nights of my life. A voice snapped me back to reality. I turned from the open stall to see a woman maybe thirty years of age with blonde hair.
“Not a fan of the fights?” she asks.
“My friend got beaten up,” I reply. The woman nods.
“You’re the girl who jumped up on the platform. Not many people were happy about that.” Her tone is not disapproving, it’s almost amused. “That takes guts, though it seems you have just upchucked them.” I manage a weak laugh. The woman steps forward. I stand up.
“I’m Jenna. I kinda run this place,” she says, and hold out a hand for me to shake. I take her hand, give it a brief shake, and glue it to my side.
“I’m Kara. So you’re first in command?” I reply. Jenna nods.
“Jax is second. Caleigh is third. An odd one, she is. She knows a lot, she’s seen a lot. Which is why she’s third in charge. Now, Jax, he knows his shiit(ake mushrooms). Best fighter we have. All his family died from the Virus in the first month. He was on his own for a year and a half. He knows great survival skills. Which is why he’s second in command. And I started this place. Which is why I’m first in command.” Jenna gazes fondly into my eyes.
“I didn’t ask,” I say.
“Now you. Why are you here?” Jenna asks, ignoring my comment.
“Jax brought me here,” I reply, worried about where this is going.
“Why, though? Any mutants we come across, we don’t just take in. We give them a choice. Come with us, or be killed. But I take it he didn’t ask you.” She picks absently at her nails.
“How the (heck) am I supposed to know?” I snap, nearly yelling.
“Jax sensed a great deal of power in you. He told me you were important. Why?”
“I don’t know,” I answer. Jenna gets a knife out of her pocket. She spins me around, and pulls my back to her chest, the knife at my throat.
“What are you here to do? Take my place? Sabotage the camp?” Jenna snarls in my ear. I feel my wings pressed uncomfortably into her stomach.
“Nothing! I’m here to just live!” I unfold my wings with a burst of strength. Jenna flies back and slams into the ceramic sinks. I stare at my wings, now full-sized. At least a ten-foot span. Jenna groans. I scurry out of the bathroom, only to come face-to-face with Pumpkin Kid.
“I know who you are,” he says in a nasal voice. “So stay out of my way, or you’ll be dead.” He pushes me against the wall, and walks past me. I stumble back to my room and curl up under the covers, letting the tears take over. Why do so many people want me dead? What did I do? I scream into my pillow until my throat is raw and my eyes are sore and dry. I get to my feet, determination running through my veins. I need to find Jax. I throw the door open and head to the Arena, where I can still hear people cheering. I storm in, grab Jax by the arm, and throw him out into the hallway.
“Why the (heck) did you bring me here?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. Jax shakes his head, tries to break from my grasp. I dig my stub nails into his skin.
“You don’t understand,” he says, keeping his eyes down.
“I deserve to,” I growl. “Two people have tried to freaking kill me today!”
“Kara,” Jax begins.
“Don’t ‘Kara’ me!” I snap.
“Get off of him, you female dog,” comes Caleigh’s steely voice behind me. I back off, and turn around. “Calm down, Kara. Everything will be explained soon. Just calm down.”
“Caleigh,” I growl.
“Kara. Calm down, please.” Her voice stays flat, but I can see the plea in her eyes. I let out a huff of breath and storm off to my room. I start to pack up my things. A change of clothes. The ratty old blankets. Canned food. The first-aid kit. Before I leave, I check on Korey. He’s back in his room with his nose in a cast, various bandages covering his face. He perks up when he sees me.
“Kara! I’m so glad to see you!” he exclaims as he wraps me in a weak hug. “Thank you for saving me!” I hug him back and rest my chin on his head. How will I live without this little squirt of energy?
“It was no problem, Korey. Just promise me…” I say quietly, as tears fill my eyes. “Promise me you won’t do that again.”
“I promise.” Korey’s voice drops an octave.
“Look, bud. I’m leaving. Can I trust you to take care of Caila for me?” I ask, putting him at arm-length. Korey’s brow furrows.
“Y-you’re leaving?” he asks, sticking out his lower lip.
“Yes. Look, I gotta go now. Just please, please stay out of trouble.” I get to my feet and head back to my room. As I reach for the handle of my door, an alarm goes off. The hallway is bathed in red light. I hear a boom, and drop to the ground. Smoke fills the hallway. I can hear people rushing around and screaming.
“Caila!” I call, and choke on smoke. I pull my shirt over my mouth and nose, and squint my eyes through the thick grey cloud. I begin to crawl to the door that leads out into the crossway over the cafeteria. Once I get there, there’s less smoke, so I can stand up. But I wish there was more smoke, so I can’t see what I’m seeing now. Bodies. Lots of them. Just lying there limp. They were eating dinner, when the explosion went off. Wires hang from the ceiling, crackling with electricity. I scan the cafeteria, and am relieved when I don’t see Caila or Jax, or even Caleigh. I feel hands grab me from behind.
“I told you to stay out of my way!” Pumpkin snarls in my ear. And suddenly, I’m falling. I flap my wings helplessly. Soon, I become ensnared in a tangle of crackling wires. I feel a sharp pain across my side as a live wire burrows itself into my flesh. I begin to thrash, and wince as the wires trapping me burn my skin. And then I’m falling again. I’ve never flown with my wings, though they’re fully formed now. I whip them out, and they catch air. I float to a soft landing on a table, beside dozens of bodies. I feel weak, so weak. Too weak to cry out. So I’ll just lay here and bleed out from the now gushing burn on my side. Right? And, just as I’ve accepted that I’m going to die, I hear footsteps.
“Kara!” A voice calls. Is the speaker drunk? The words are blending together, the voice sounding faint. My vision grows hazy.
“I’m going blind,” I think aloud, as sturdy hands pick me up. “Or insane.” And, for the third time in the past two weeks, I black out.
Science Fiction
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