by Kieran Song
“Why?” Allegra pleaded. “Please tell me.”
Tiberius sighed and she saw the sadness engulf his hardened face.
“Because I’m afraid,” he replied.
Chapter Nineteen.
Dog was so transfixed on Jacob’s picture that he barely heard the knocking at first. However its persistent rattling on his door interrupted Dog from his waking dream.
Dog opened the door.
Allegra’s face was swollen and she looked like she went a few rounds in the pit herself. She was shaking as she held onto his dinner tray. Oddly enough, he already ate.
“Your face,” Dog said. Allegra looked down in shame, her long hair hiding her swollen face. “What happened?”
She set the tray on the table. “Here’s your dinner.
“Tell me,” he insisted.
Allegra shook her head and said “I shouldn’t have come,” just before she made a dash for the door. However Dog was much faster than she was and he cut her off, barring the way out.
“Am I to be YOUR prisoner as well?” she asked.
“I ate already,” Dog said. “You’re here to show me your face.”
She looked exhausted. “I don’t know why I’ve come.”
Dog stepped aside. “Go then, if that’s what you want.”
She stared at him with large wilting eyes and then she started to cry.
“I’m useless and weak,” she said in between tears.
“No,” Dog said firmly. “You’re not.”
She buried her head into his chest, which took him by surprise. Dog stood there like a dumb mule. He had no idea what to do so he let her cry as he felt the warmth of her tears soak into his cotton shirt.
When she was done, Allegra looked at Dog and smiled, though it was bittersweet. “You’re not very good at consoling someone.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Hold me,” she replied. “Just make me feel safe.”
Dog was nervous as he wrapped her in his massive arms. Allegra was so small and fragile, yet she felt heavy in his arms, which was funny because he lifted weights twice the size of her on the bench. He was almost afraid she would fall out of his embrace and shatter like glass on his bedroom floor so he held her tighter, though delicate enough not to hurt her. Allegra reciprocated.
“Is this your first time holding someone?” she asked him.
“I don’t remember,” Dog said.
“The last one to hug me was my brother, just before he entered the pits.”
“Oh.”
“He died,” she said. “Ryker killed him.”
There was a moment of silence before Dog decided to question her again. “What happened to your face?” he asked.
“Am I ugly?”
“No,” Dog said. “You’re beautiful.”
Allegra laughed as she wiped away tears from the corner of her eyes, carefully avoiding her swollen cheek. “Now you’re just lying,” she said. “I look like a mess. I’m just an ugly little girl.”
“Now who’s the one that’s lying?” He seemed to have said the right thing — she let out an innocent giggle.
“Was it Ryker?” he asked once more.
“I pray everyday,” Allegra said. “I pray for everyone in the Arena to find courage, especially me. I still don’t have any. I pray for no more deaths but the children die anyway. I pray that somehow Ryker doesn’t wake from his sleep, but if he does, may someone show me mercy and let me sleep forever instead.”
“I’ll kill him,” Dog said. “He’ll never lay a hand on you again.”
Allegra shook her head. “No, don’t. My prayers are foolish dreams anyway and I’ve already seen too many people die. Just stay alive, that’s all I need from you.”
“Then do the same for me,” Dog said. “We’ll survive this place and leave it together.”
“You promise?”
Dog nodded. “I don’t say what I don’t mean.”
Chapter Twenty.
Dog wrapped the hockey tape around his hands and knuckles and clenched it into a fist. He held it for a while as he pictured everyone he had killed with his bare hands. Some faces he remembered, seared into his mind, while others simply faded away, lost and forgotten in his memories.
“Another victory tonight, ain’t that right?” Garret said as he escorted Dog, in chains, towards the iron gates.
“Another body,” Dog replied.
“You’ve been doing good kid. Don’t let the deaths get to you. It is a matter of survival after all. Them or you.”
“Have you killed anyone before?” Dog asked. The old guard hesitated in a moment of reflection.
“Yeah,” he finally replied.
“Did they deserve it?”
Garret sighed. “They never do kid. They never do.”
Over the past two years, Dog had come to respect Garret. In fact, he wasn’t ashamed to say that he liked the old man. Unlike the other guards, Garret was patient. The fact that he frowned whenever fights got too brutal and turned away when someone was about to die suggested a glimmer of humanity that the other guards lacked. Garret didn’t like the fights at all.
“Why are you here?” Dog finally decided to ask. It was a question on his mind for a while and now seemed like a good time as any to find out.
“For the money,” Garret replied. “Ryker’s the only one that’ll have me and I’m not good at anything else.”
“Is money that important to you?” Dog asked. He pointed to the gravediggers dragging a body out of the pit, a red smear trailing behind the corpse. “Is it worth it?”
Garret shook his head. “I hope someday you make it out of this place alive,” he said. “And meet that one person that you’ll do anything for.”
Dog understood. “Love makes you do stupid things,” he said.
Garret let out one of his raspy laughs that came from deep within his lungs. “What can you do? Love is a trickster. Makes a fool out of the best of us.”
Dog heard his name announced over the speakers, much to the delight of the crowd.
“I’ll see you after your fight,” Garret said.
“You’re always so sure I’ll come back.”
“Some things are constant. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west, my left ankle gets stiff a day before it rains, and you always come walking back from these fights.”
“Then I’ll see you after old man,” Dog said as the iron gates opened and he stepped into the pit. He listened to the echoes of his name reverberate around him. Sometimes it was hard not to get caught up in all the excitement and the hype while they were worshipping him. Some days Dog wanted to bask in the glory and scream proudly at the top of his lungs.
It was the ghosts that stopped him from doing so. They never let him forget that each victory was another life stolen.
Dog paced around the Arena, waiting for his opponent to arrive. It took a while but finally the gates opened and out walked an oddity that Dog had never seen before.
His challenger was decked out in metal, sharp at the edges, and he resembled a steel porcupine. The armour was a weapon itself. Spikes protruded from its hard surface, leaving Dog to wonder how he was even going to get close to that thing. The helmet his opponent wore was something medieval, like a skull fashioned out of iron.
“You’re kidding me,” Dog muttered. The onlookers loved it though. They screamed and cheered at the metallic abomination. The armoured boy was introduced as Torture and before Dog had time to think of a strategy, the match started.
He needed a weapon. The gleaming steel buried in the sand caught his eye and he immediately lunged for it. It was a dull-edged butter knife.
He swore. Ryker was really stacking the odds against him this time.
Torture took a clumsy swipe with his spiked fist, missing Dog’s head by a few inches. He whipped the butter knife at Torture in retaliation and watched in frustration as it bounced off the armour like it was plastic. Dog leapt back, giving himself a
bit of distance. He needed time to think.
Luckily the armour looked cumbersome and Torture trudged awkwardly as a result.
Once more Dog scanned the pit for something to arm himself with. Without a weapon, he was useless. Maybe there was one left over from a previous match buried somewhere. And then he saw it — a rusted chain entombed in the sand. He pulled at it but it was deep in the dirt; the dried blood and sweat had formed a hard-crusted layer that cemented the chain.
Dog was so focused on the metallic links of the weapon that he failed to notice Torture closing in on him.
His left shoulder erupted in pain as cold metal tore into it. Dog released the chain immediately and grabbed his shoulder. Blood oozed through his fingertips while he pressed against the wound.
Another spiked fist came flying at him but Dog evaded it, though it was a struggle. He desperately needed that chain.
With urgency, Dog attacked the links again, with his feet firmly planted, and pulled with all his strength. His shoulders throbbed and he felt his forearms stretch and burn. He was almost convinced if he pulled any harder, his shoulders would tear from its sockets, but he didn’t stop. The chain was all that mattered. It was his only means of survival.
Dog let out a roar that was more beast than human as he felt the metal ultimately give way and with one last surge of strength, he freed it from the ground.
Dog was now armed.
Torture lumbered towards him, howling like a mad animal but Dog was ready for him. He coiled the chain around his fist one revolution and used it like a whip, slashing at the metal skull helmet. The metal-on-metal impact was loud and Torture screamed and clutched his head. His ears must be ringing. Dog didn’t let up and drilled the helmet a few more times, each blow striking the metal with a loud clang as if it were a gong. Torture continued to scream as he frantically tried to tear off the helmet, but it was difficult with the heavy spiked gloves. He was distracted, giving Dog the opening he needed.
He lunged forward, hooked Torture’s right ankle with the chain, and pulled and brought the metal monstrosity down to the ground. Underneath the helmet, the wailing was feral as Torture began beating at his own head like it was a drum. Something wasn’t right with this boy.
Dog lashed the chain around Torture’s left hand and used his leverage to pull it towards the monstrosity’s right hand, though it wasn’t easy. Torture was struggling on the ground and he proved to be quite resistant but after a tough struggle, Dog was finally able to bind Torture’s two hands together. It was only then, when Dog felt Torture was fully incapacitated, that he walked over and removed his opponent’s helmet.
The face that stared back at him sent shivers down his entire body.
The boy had almond shaped eyes and small facial features: ears, nose, and mouth. Tears and snot ran down his face as he stared at Dog in bewilderment. He was mentally challenged.
Dog looked up at Ryker and screamed at him. “Ryker! You worthless shit.”
The pit master glared at him. Dog was shaking so hard from the anger and his voice cracked as he spoke. He could barely even get the words out. “This boy…”
“Kill him,” Ryker ordered.
“No,” Dog said. “I won’t. Let him go.”
“You don’t give me orders,” Ryker seethed. “I will not play this game again. Kill him or die with him. I will not hesitate to put a bullet in your head this time.”
The threat against Dog proved unpopular with the crowd and a chorus of boos erupted throughout the Arena. And suddenly Dog saw a thin thread of hope to save both of them. It was a desperate attempt, but to rescue this boy, he had to take that thread and pull at it with hopes that Ryker’s plan would come undone.
Dog turned to the audience and spoke to them for the first time ever.
“Every night I come out here and I fight — I kill for you. I never ask for anything in return,” Dog said. In the background he heard Ryker screaming at him, but Dog ignored it. Only the crowd mattered now. Their lives were in the audience’s hands.
“Tonight I ask for one thing only.” Dog walked over to the boy who was confused and crying. “Let him live. If there is anything human in all of you, let this boy go. He’s not like us. He doesn’t even know where he is,” Dog pleaded.
Ryker’s commanding voice took control of the crowd again and a tense silence befell the auditorium. “You fight because you have no choice. You are not allowed to ask for anything in return,” Ryker said. “Mercy is something only I can grant and my orders are clear. Kill the boy.”
“I won’t do it,” Dog replied. “Kill me if you want.” He said it loud and clear so that the entire Arena could hear him. He then turned to the crowd and directed his next words carefully at them. “You heard the terms. We either both live or we both die.” Dog stood in front of the boy like a shield. “Are you going to let Ryker kill me? Kill your Champion?”
And the audience replied in unison. “Live! Live! Live!” Perhaps for the first time in these pits, they witnessed something so different and so wonderful that they wanted to be a part of it too. They had witnessed redemption.
Dog turned to Ryker and looked him in the eye.
“Your call now Ryker. Kill us both and piss off the crowd or let us both live. What’s it gonna be?”
The entire Arena was silent and they held their collective breaths as Ryker pondered his decision. Finally he shook his head and spat into the pit. “Live,” he muttered and then turned and disappeared from the balcony.
Garret opened the gates as Dog lifted the boy up, whose hands were still bound by the chain.
“Keep him tied,” Garret said. “In case he gets aggressive again.”
“Is it still worth it?” Dog asked.
No words needed to be spoken as the look on Garret’s face said it all.
Dog clasped Garret by the shoulders and gave them a firm squeeze. “Take him far away from here. Get him somewhere safe and don’t come back.”
Garret nodded.
“And thank you,” Dog said. “For everything. You’ve kept me alive.”
Garret smiled. “You did good kid.” He then leaned closer and whispered into Dog’s ear. “I’ll leave something for you taped underneath the bench press in the gym. Check it the next time you’re there.”
Garret took the boy and guided him gently through the tunnels, though before leaving, Garret paused and turned around and spoke to Dog for the last time.
“It’s sad, I’ve never seen more than one person walk out of the pit alive until today.”
And then they were gone.
Chapter Twenty-One.
“It’s been a while since you needed medical attention,” Allegra said as she cleaned the gash in his shoulder. She poured antiseptic over it and dabbed at it with a cloth. If it stung, Dog made no indication of it.
“My body is slowing down,” Dog said. “I can’t fight like this forever. One day, someone will step into the Arena and will either be stronger than me or be extremely lucky. Doesn’t help that Ryker’s been stacking the odds against me every week.”
“Does it scare you?” Allegra asked.
Dog didn’t reply.
She changed the topic. “You turned the Arena on its head today. You turned the crowd against Ryker. This is twice now that you embarrassed him publicly.”
“He’s furious. Maybe the next fight he’ll put me up against men with machine guns while I’m armed with only a plastic spoon.”
“And risk pissing off the crowd?” Allegra said. “No, Ryker is always about spectacle and the fight itself. He thinks of it as an art form. Guns and bullets aren’t his style. Too lazy for him.”
“An art form…” Dog pondered.
“It’s sick. A million hobbies out there in the world and Ryker chose murdering kids as his,” she sighed as she grabbed the hooked needle and thick thread and began stitching up the wound. She pushed the point of the needle through his flesh and pulled the two flaps of skin closed, sealing the red and exposed gap tightly
with the thread. Dog never flinched.
“You have any hobbies Dog?” she asked.
“Surviving.”
“That’s not a hobby,” she said. “There must be something in this world you enjoy doing.”
“I like talking to you?”
Allegra laughed. “I hate to break it to you but I’m not a hobby,” she said. “Though I’m convinced that torturing me is another thing that Ryker added to his list of enjoyments.”
“What are yours?” Dog asked. “Hobbies I mean.”
Allegra thought for a moment. “I used to love reading.”
“Used to?”
“It’s hard to get books in this place,” she said. “When we go outside to the city to scavenge, there’s always the opportunity to bring back books, but they search us thoroughly on the way back down. We’re not allowed to take anything for ourselves. The only other chance is when Ryker brings new kids in; he strips them of all their belongings. He keeps anything valuable for himself: electronic devices, jewelry, and cash. The rest he throws into the trash.
“Sometimes I’ll find books in there and I’ll take them. They have less issues with us taking garbage. I hate myself for it though. I feel like a thief, stealing from people sentenced to die. Does that sound horrible?”
“No,” Dog replied. “Books are meant to be read. Those boys won’t be reading anymore. It might as well go to someone who cares about the book.”
“You don’t think I’m a bad person for taking them?”
“No.”
She smiled. “Thanks. For a long time that was on my conscience.”
“Compared to all the other stuff that goes on in this place, I say your crime is pretty mild. You’re one of the least guilty people here,” Dog said.
“I also love poetry. I’d kill to see a book by William Blake -” she quickly stopped herself when she realized what she had just said. Dog raised an eyebrow and gave her a funny look.
“I’m sorry,” Allegra said. “Talk about saying something stupid.”
Dog grinned. “We all say stupid things sometimes. I threatened to kill you a few times before.”