by Logan Byrne
“What’s wrong? You look confused,” Liam said, as I walked up to him.
“Oh, nothing, I was just thinking about something I overheard,” I said.
“What is it? You can tell me,” Liam said.
“Well, it was that Jason guy. When I was putting away our staffs I overheard him and his partner. He said he was going to take out all of the older players pretty much right away so that he could have better odds of winning,” I said.
“Well, some people do that in the competition. Some people are nuts,” Liam said.
I wasn’t shocked that he wasn’t appalled like I was; he’d even thought of the same thing the other day before we agreed we would only defend ourselves if it came down to it. I knew he wasn’t bloodthirsty or wanting to go on a rampage and take everyone else out, but he wasn’t exactly too docile, either.
“I know you see it differently, but I just don’t think that taking out a bunch of older people is the way to do things. This competition isn’t about that. I think I have to tell them,” I said.
“Tell who? The older people?” Liam asked, with a shocked look on his face.
“Yeah, why not?” I asked.
“Because you’re just going to get involved and then Jason might come after us. I think you should just leave it alone,” Liam said.
“Wouldn’t you want someone to tell you if you were wearing a giant target on your back? I don’t want to help them, necessarily, but I want them to know they should watch their backs once the timer starts,” I said.
“Yeah, I guess I would. I support you in whatever you want to do, but it doesn’t mean I have to agree with it. I say you just leave it be, but I understand if you want to tell them. Just be careful,” Liam said.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“On second thought, I’ll go with you over there,” Liam said, walking behind me as I walked over to two teams, four people, who were all a little older.
They looked up at me as I stood over them, all of them sitting on the floor, likely wondering why I would want to come talk to them. I hadn’t talked to anyone besides Liam during the entire training.
“Can we help you?” one man asked.
“Yeah, I was actually hoping I could talk to you. It’s about the competition and I think you might be in some kind of danger,” I said.
They stood up, a concerned look on their faces, as one man, the eldest looking , moved forward a little, his voice soft.
“What do you mean, exactly?” he asked.
“I’ve overheard another team saying they wanted to, well, for lack of a better term, take out the older people in this competition. He thinks you all are weak because of your age, and that taking you all out would greatly enhance his chances of winning. I don’t think that’s right, and I felt that I needed to warn you, so that you don’t get taken out right away,” I said.
“And you’re sure of this? Sometimes rumors get started, you know,” another person asked.
“I heard it from his mouth directly,” I said.
“And who, if I may ask, is saying these things?” the front man asked.
“Well,” I said nervously.
“It’s okay, there’s no reason to be nervous,” Liam said, putting his hand on my back.
“It was Jason, from Los Angeles. He and his partner,” I said.
“That young man over there?” a man asked, nodding in Jason’s direction.
“Yes,” I replied.
“Yeah, he’s seemed like a problem from the get-go,” the front man said.
“I just wanted you all to know, so that you didn’t get ambushed or whatever. I know it probably isn’t the best move strategically for myself and Liam, but it’s the right thing to do,” I said.
“And we commend you for telling us. We definitely aren’t here to fight, and even though you’re apprehensive, I’m willing to bet you’ll be rewarded for your actions someday. It’s always best to do the right thing in life, even if it’s the hardest thing,” the front man said.
“Why is he looking at us?” Liam asked.
I looked over towards Jason, seeing someone else talking to him, someone not even from his home city. I didn’t really know who it was, since there were so many people in this competition, making it hard to remember every name or face, but she looked like a weasel, whispering to him as he and Bridgette looked on with angry expressions on their faces.
The girl who went up to them soon walked away, leaving Jason and Bridgette to confer amongst themselves as they continued to look at us. The older people sat back down in their spots and left us alone, ditching us after we had essentially saved their butts.
“This doesn’t look good,” I said, as Jason and Bridgette walked over towards us.
“So, you two are the problems?” Jason asked.
“I’m sorry?” I asked.
“Listen, we understand that there’s going to be competition that wants to get rid of us and knock us off. It’s only natural that you want your competitors gone, which was what my plan was that you must’ve found out about somehow. It isn’t cool, though, to go and meddle in those plans, essentially ruining them for us when we didn’t do anything to you to deserve such a thing,” Jason said.
“And I don’t think I should have to bow down and stay back just because you want me to. I heard something bad, I didn’t like it, and I decided to do something about it,” I said, with a snarky tone.
“I can see that you aren’t going to apologize and this won’t be settled, so there’s only one way to take care of it. I think we’re going to put you on our radar as well. Sure, you’ll be a harder target than those people,” Jason said, pointing to the older group I talked to, “and we might not go after you at the start because of that, but you’re going to get your turn, and trust me, it won’t be fun, at least for you. We’ll have a blast doing it, no pun intended.”
“Listen, man, why don’t you just turn around, go back to your spot, and go on with your life? We don’t need you over here causing trouble,” Liam said, stepping in.
“I’m not sure who you think you are, and why you’re stepping up for a snitch, but you should just stay out of this. This doesn’t concern you,” Jason said, extending his hand to keep Liam back.
“No, this does concern me. Alexia is my partner, and if you have a problem with her, then you have a bigger problem with me. Just turn around and walk away,” Liam said, an angry look on his face.
Jason stepped forward, coming within inches of Liam, staring at him dead in the eyes. They were almost an equal height, though Liam was maybe an inch taller. I could see the rest of the competitors looking on, gasping a little, all of us on edge as we waited to see what was going to happen. Were they really going to get in a fight? I knew it wouldn’t be good news for any of us, though I couldn’t say that I cared after what Jason and Bridgette did.
“Step away and turn around,” Liam said.
“Why don’t you make me?” Jason said, shoving Liam back a little.
“Hey, don’t touch him,” I said, interjecting myself between the two of them, so I now faced Jason.
“Get out of here,” Jason said, shoving me to the side.
I stumbled over my own feet, falling to the ground, catching myself with my hands, before flipping over onto my butt.
With an enraged look on his face, Liam made a fist, cocked it back, and clocked Jason right in the nose, making him stumble back with closed eyes before he fell to the ground. Liam shook his fist, walked towards Jason, and stood over him, staring at him.
“Don’t you ever touch her again, or I won’t make it so easy for you the next time. I won’t hesitate to take you out in the grid if I have the chance, or if you get anywhere near Alexia or me,” Liam said, as Jason rubbed his face, a few tears welling up in his eyes as he looked up at Liam towering over him.
Liam came over to me, where I still sat on the ground, and extended his hands. I grabbed them and he pulled me up, before putting his hand on my back, between my shoulders.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am, but I can’t believe you did that,” I said, still a little shocked.
“I’m sorry if I upset you,” he said.
“No, you didn’t. Just shocked is all,” I said.
“You’re my partner. I told you before that I had your back. I meant it,” Liam said, flashing a small smile, not showing any teeth.
•••
Our dinner that night was different. Since Liam and I still had a little bit of tension with Jason and Bridgette, a few of the competitors weren’t paying us any attention, not because they liked Jason and Bridgette, but I think they felt that being around us was like a death sentence for them inside the grid. They were much better off keeping their distance and just worrying about themselves. We didn’t hold it against them, I didn’t at least, even if we didn’t agree with it, but we understood that they needed to look out for themselves in the end.
“Where do you want to sit?” Liam asked.
“Seems like every table but that one is taken,” I said, pointing to a table with only two people sitting at it.
“Well, I guess that’s our spot,” Liam said, before we made our way over.
“Is it okay if we sit with you guys?” I asked, looking at them.
“Yeah, that’s fine. We were beginning to think that nobody wanted to sit with us,” the man said, laughing a little.
His voice was deep and raspy, the bass notes coming from his throat almost enough to send the hairs on the back of your neck straight up, though in a strangely good way. His skin was as dark as night. His partner was a young girl, a little squirrely, with thick glasses and a peppering of freckles across her nose and upper cheeks. They were an unlikely duo anywhere else besides here.
They had blue bands, from Seattle, and as we set down our trays of food they smiled, which was a nice change of pace after the way the rest of the competitors treated us.
“I’m Gregory, but you can just call me Greg,” the man said, extending his hand.
Liam and I both shook it, introducing ourselves. His partner seemed a little shy, as she ate her food and periodically looked up.
“This is Gracie, my partner. She’s a little shy and a whole lot nervous, but she’s a good kid. I’m glad she’s my partner,” Greg said.
“How are you two holding up so far with everything?” I asked.
“Oh, it’s difficult. It’s hard being away from my family, and let’s face it, I’m not going to win this. We aren’t going to win this,” Greg said.
“Don’t count yourselves out so early. You have a chance. We all have a great chance,” Liam said.
“Oh, I know you’re trying to be polite, and I appreciate it, but we aren’t exactly the cream of the crop when it comes to things like this. I’m a tad overweight, a bit too old, and I don’t exactly have the endurance I once had when I was your age,” Greg said.
“What about you?” I asked, looking at Gracie.
“Oh, no, I don’t think so. I’m not a fighter and I’m afraid of competition and confrontation. I’ve pretty much just accepted my fate in the labor camp,” Gracie said.
I was floored, looking at both of them, as they basically said they accepted their fates and were fine with going to the labor camp for three years to work themselves into the ground. Sure, they were vastly different, and sure, their odds of winning were fairly low, but your chances are always zero if you don’t believe in yourself. I just wished they’d believe that and actually have some confidence in themselves.
“You shouldn’t let that stop you. I think you two could do it if you wanted to. Maybe you just need to stay out of the fray and stick to the backwoods, out of sight, especially far away from that Jason guy,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, we saw what happened between you guys earlier. It took a lot of courage to stand up to him like that. He might not be the biggest guy here, but he sure is the meanest,” Greg said.
“I’ve read about guys like him in some books before. He’s a jerk,” Gracie added.
“We aren’t too afraid of him. He might think he’s this big, scary guy, but he’s really not deep down. He wants to scare everyone into fearing him, but he’s a coward, and he showed it today,” Liam said.
“Just don’t get yourself in over your head. I’ve seen a lot in my days on this earth, and let me tell you; sometimes you just need to not anger people to save yourself and the people you care about. He might not be as big and bad as he thinks he is, but if he has the chance and a good weapons card, I have no doubt he wouldn’t use it against one or both of you out of revenge. He isn’t exactly stable, if you know what I mean,” Greg said, his last sentence whispered.
The rest of the meal was relaxed, our conversation about the competition slowly fading away as we started to talk about our lives, and most importantly, Seattle. I think it was my favorite of the megacities; I’d seen a few pictures of it when I was in school. It was so beautiful, majestic, the sea of green forests like waves crashing down around the city. There were mountains, the walls high around the city, and it looked a lot cleaner than what we had here in New York. Even though you couldn’t go out into the forests, it still seemed like a paradise compared to what we had here.
Greg and Gracie lived nowhere near one another, on opposite sides of the city, to be exact, but they seemed united with one another, as if the entire city was filled with a sense of community and camaraderie, which was more than absent in this megacity. People in New York were all about material things, about possessions, about money and what you had in your bank account and apartment rather than the type of person you were.
It was the capital as well as a huge entertainment hub, the mega skyscrapers acting as gathering places for the rich and famous that served as constant reminders to the rest of us of how bad we really had it. They sat in their gold-trimmed apartments, their views going on as far as the eye could see past the city walls, leaving the rest of us to try to hop up and down, never getting a view of life outside these walls unless we stood on top of each other, drowning the people below us. The division of classes here was so strong that it could never be broken, no matter the strength of the force crashing into it. We never stood a chance.
Our dinners started late and usually ran long, most of us going to our rooms when we were done to wind down, maybe take a shower, and get in bed to rest after a long day of training. My muscles were sore after the sparring, especially my butt after being knocked down, and I knew that fluffy bed was begging me to get into it and fall into the canopy of snowy white fluff that covered the mattress.
“Well, I better go get ready for bed. I think I’ve had enough for today,” Greg said, standing up.
Gracie stood up as well, looking a little reserved, not saying anything.
“Well, goodnight, you two. It was nice talking,” I said.
“Yeah, it was. Remember what I said to you two. It might just save you,” Greg said, before he and Gracie walked to their respective rooms and left the lobby.
“Well, it’s getting a little late. I think it’s time to get to bed,” Liam said as he stretched, yawning a little in the process.
“Yeah, I don’t even want to think about doing any more work. All I want to do is get in bed, put my feet up, and count some sheep,” I said.
We got up, walking to the purple set of doors, before we stopped outside of ours, mine to the far right and his the second from the left.
“Liam,” I said, as he pressed the button next to his door.
“Yeah?” he asked, one foot in the room.
“Thanks again for today,” I said.
“Anytime,” he said, flashing a smile, before walking into his room, the door closing behind him.
Chapter Ten
A few days had passed and training went on, seeming to never end, no matter how much we wanted it to. Our days were long; some of the training took the better half of a day, while other times it seemed to go all the way until dinner. It wasn’t entirely bad, though; our own
work was short, and when another group took on the challenge, we all got to stand around and watch them, which definitely helped the time slip by.
I was adjusting to my new life well, even if I did get a little annoyed or homesick sometimes, but I had Liam there to help me through it. He had been great, always making sure I was okay and that we were doing things together. I think we were the closest of all of the teams; some of the others weren’t even friendly with each other at all. They were together more out of necessity, and not because they wanted to be. I could see Liam and I being friends after this was all over, especially if we ended up seeing each other at the labor camp. I knew they liked to separate friends, but I still had my fingers crossed that somehow it would happen.
I walked out into the lobby, my uniform fresh and crisp, my hair tied back, my ponytail flopping back and forth as I moved. Liam was sitting on a couch, looking up as I came. Then Christian came through the doors, prancing down the walkway with his digiboard lit up in his arm. I was beginning to think that it was fused to his forearm somehow. I’d never seemed to see him without it.
“Okay, everyone, listen up. Today you have an exciting phase to get through. It will be your strategy phase, but before you get all excited and nervous, we aren’t going to it quite yet. Since we haven’t done much at all with this subject, we’re going to give you some time with your hackers and your partners to go over strategy so that you’ll be better prepared later. For this, you’ll receive mock cards, as your strategy phase is dependent on them. They’ll be randomized, the same way your real cards will be when that time comes. So, if you’d all follow me, we’ll go get started,” Christian said.
We all got up, following Christian through the halls. Some of them were starting to become a little bit familiar. I had gone back and forth through them so many times that I was now fairly confident I could find my way around if something ever happened. Well, I could at least get back to my room, though I wasn’t sure I’d want to run there in an emergency. I’d rather just leave altogether.