To Fall is to Die

Chapter Eleven (Faze)

Lydia reached the cafeteria first, but Faze arrived only a few seconds later. He blamed his cast for that. The race hadn't been fair, but then again, what was life? Even after when he had taken the mission in the house into his own hands, he still found that he admired Lydia. She hadn't been ready for that type of mission, but she had so much else to offer. She was crafty and smart, and she knew exactly what to say at the right times.

She was at the entrance to the cafeteria, breathing hard with her hands on her knees. He stepped beside her, looking over the massive hall. Several of the other groups were already here, and they were all eyeing each other nervously. Now about a day and a half to the competition, everyone was already becoming close knit to their groups. He spotted Dawn at a table with two other kids, and she was waving to him.

"C'mon, Lydia." Faze beckoned her as he went and got himself some food, his favorite salmon sliders, then traveled over to Dawn's table. Lydia followed reluctantly.

The room was dead silent. No one said a thing or offered so much as a welcoming smile. The rest of Dawn's group had their gaze fixed on their plates, but she was looking up, tugging on one of her pigtails. He noticed that she was wearing the pin of strategist.

"So." Faze looked over the crowd, addressing everyone. "Does anyone have any plans that they would be willing to share?"

A girl on the far side of the cafeteria started to sit up, but one of her teammates pulled her back down. He recognized her as Liliana. Apparently, she was now a team leader. Thinking about how she had almost made him fall caused a shiver to pass over him. She would do anything to win, and all the others knew it.

"Faze. Stop!" Lydia glared at him and kicked him under the table. She knew where to kick where it hurt, his already casted foot. Mean. He looked away and she tucked into her bowl of mac and cheese.

Dawn looked over at her crew, but they were mostly silent. "We didn't have many plans yet. Mainly, ours was to stick to the rear and watch other groups go. If one fails, we will learn how to succeed." When she spoke about her team's strategy, she made sure to be quiet.

"That is a good plan." Faze commented as he bit into his sandwich. A trickle of cream cheese slid down his chin. "You will be protected from the start. The question is...what is actually involved in the Cup? A series of challenges, yes, but of what we don't know. Physical? Mental? Emotional?"

"Does it matter?" Lydia lifted her fork, a small piece of macaroni on the spokes. "It's the Cup. If we win, we get the big prize."

Dawn shivered as she looked towards the window. "And if you don't win...you fall or you get nothing at all. I want to get out of here."

Faze looked towards Dawn and gave her a nod of understanding. "We all do. But first, we must play their games."

Dawn looked down at her soup and swirled it slowly with her spoon, and Faze looked away. Isa was standing by the entrance to the cafeteria, and she did not look happy.

"Oh, look." Lydia spooned more of her mac and cheese into her mouth, looking over his shoulder. "Mrs. Team Leader is over there, and she looks mad. Maybe for the Cup we will have to face a million Isas."

"Lydia." Faze said sharply, standing up. What did she have against Isa? "Come on. Let's see what she wants."

They made their way over to Isa. Faze looked behind himself at Dawn and her team, noting their expressions. Dawn looked scared and forlorn, and he found himself wanting to spare her from what would happen to them all. At least one of them needed to tell the true story and not be pushed to say something different.

"We don't go talking to other teams." Isa snapped. "We can't reveal anything to them. If we want to make a winning strategy, we need to keep it to ourselves. We are each other's allies."

"We were just being friendly." Lydia grumbled, but let Isa led her to a empty table, one where it was only the three of them. That's what they thought the Cup was all about.

Faze followed, sighing as he realizing the truth. Isa didn't really understand, and neither did Lydia. He took a seat and pulled out his notebook to begin planning.