I Am Alive
Page 27
And the hits keep on coming. Tens of teens from previous games, screaming “I am alive” from their iAms. I knew it, there are teens still inhabiting the Dizny Battlefieldz. They have been hiding in previous games, pretending to be dead by not saying “I am alive,” so they can outlive the game. But how did they survive, living inside the Battlefieldz? Does that mean there is no Rabbit Hole?
“How are you alive?” Xitler grunts. “Who are you?”
“They’ve been hiding,” a girl says. Oh my God. It’s Pepper. “They refused to say ‘I am alive,’ fooling you into thinking they were dead, game after game, barely surviving in the hidden forest in the Playa. I did the same thing in the Mirage. I preferred to stay alive by not saying ‘I am alive,’” Pepper explains. “Now that one of us survived, we’re not scared anymore. We are alive.”
I stare at Leo across the distance. His face dims. He shakes his head slightly, as if telling me no, you’re a Ten. Don’t do this.
I turn around and look back down the slope into the battlefields, then turn back to the audience waiting for me. What should I do? Which direction should I go? Who am I? Am I a Ten? Or am I a Monster?
Then I hear another voice.
“Tender?” it says.
A single tear forms in my eye, like thick clay, wanting to burst out and splash against a rock.
“Woo?” I ask.
“What kind of a fool are you, Tender?” he says. “Coming here for me? I devoted my life to saving you from the Playa.”
“Woo. I couldn’t live without you. I had to find you, but then I gave up.”
“I am glad you made it,” the voice says on my iAm. “I wish you just won the games without stirring the hearts of the kids surviving in here. We didn’t want anyone to find us. We have gone through a lot, hiding in the last place anyone would think we are at.”
“Woo?” I say again. I know it’s him. He knows I know it’s him, but he has just become so practical. How is this possible? I can’t believe it myself. “So Wolf, the leader of the Breakfast Club, is actually you Woo? Is that your real name your mother never uttered?”
“The kids in the Breakfast Club saw what you did, and they decided to oppose me and declare that they are alive,” Woo says without acknowledging my words.
“How are you ali—” I ask.
“I sent Leo to save you,” he explains, and I look back at Leo, who tries to avert his eyes away from me. That’s why he didn’t want the Breakfast Club to know about us? The Breakfast Club actually lives in the Playa? Why didn’t they help us? “My plan was to save you and get you out alive. I want you to have a great life, not here in the Playa, preparing for a revolution. The Breakfast Club here believes you have exceptional powers because of some prophecy. Why did you go to fight in the Mirage, Decca? Why? I just wanted you to survive, and then after the games, we would find a way to make you escape.”
“Woo,” I say. “I am so confused. I can’t comprehend what you are saying now. You’re alive. How did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me? You sent Leo to save me?” I look back at Leo. My God. I can’t think anymore. Do I still love Leo? Was it true on his side, or just part of the act? Why is Woo so blunt with me?
“I understand you and Leo—” Woo starts to say. The audience moans now. Leo or Woo. I know they want to see more of this. But I am done with the games. I am done with the TV, and entertaining them. “Anyway. This is not the issue. The road is still long, Decca. You have to make a decision now. Go back to the world and celebrate being a Ten and part of the system, and make them win, or—”
“Or what, Woo?”
“Or come back here with the Breakfast Club, be part of us, and probably lead the revolution. We have built amazing things here. We are stronger. We can oppose the Summit. There are places inside the battlefields they could never enter. This is why I didn’t want to expose myself and sent Leo to save you, so they don’t know about us. Xitler knew you’re my weak spot, and that I would show up to save you. I refused to take the bait.”
“But why didn’t you tell me?” I fall down to my knees. “Why?”
“It’s time, Decca,” he says. “This is just the beginning—” He shrugs. “Or the end. It’s up to you, Decca.”
“Up to me to do what?”
“To decide.”
“To decide what?”
“Who you are. It’s a choice. Are you a Ten or are you one of us, a Monster?”
Did I tell you about when I was seven years old, and my mom wanted to kill me because she thought I was a Monster? Yes. I remember I did. I am sixteen now, and it’s up to me to decide whether she was right or wrong. I have to decide now. One choice that will affect who I really am, who I really love, and who really loves me.
As I decide, I wonder; what’s the number of the human spirit?
TO BE CONTINUED…
Want to read the next part of Decca, Leo, and Woo’s story?
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Thank you so much for reading.
Love all the monsters,
Cameron Jace
Oh, One Last Thing…
When you turn the page, Kindle will give you the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter automatically. If you enjoyed my book, would you take a second to click that button and let your friends know about it? If they get something out of the book, they’ll be grateful to you. As I will!
Wish you the best of holidays and a fantabulous new year,
Cameron