The Husband Games

Chapter 10 - Entry

I couldn't kill Toby in the arena. But in the night in an alley, maybe I will. The place where he spat at me and beat me. I hated the thought of killing. It made me think of me being stabbed. I really hope that feeling wears off.

"Get out here Alison!" Tori called. I strolled out to see a girl who I didn't know. "This is Ella! As you know, I can't see you while you go up! But Ella is here to give you hints and stuff!"

I realized what today was. I looked at the calendar on the wall. 15th of July. The day I was due to go in. The day I was dreading since I was picked out.

The day I was going to die.

*2 hours later*

"Bye, Alison!" Tori whispered, tears filling her eyes. Oh yeah. I was going to die.

I hugged her tightly, telling her things to say to my mother. My mother was the person I was sure was going to miss the most. I stood at the door, walking in with Ella. I waved to Tori as she cried. Then the door creaked and slowly closed which made it harder to say goodbye.

"Okay, look. The only thing I ever tell anyone who I KNOW won't survive is to die. You obviously won't survive. I know it. So die, okay? Yeah. Bye," she patted me on the back, pushing me into the clear tube. I stood in my new outfit. It was black and had a leather feel to it. I felt like cat-woman.

I shot up to the arena, and turned around. It was a lovely meadow with a beautiful smell. I didn't want to get distracted. I was in the start position when somebody fell and blew to pieces. That was another rule created.

'You cannot step onto the grass until the shotgun is heard. You will activate a deadly landmine. You will blow to pieces.'

That rule worried me, until the shotgun was heard throughout the arena. I jumped down and grabbed a knife collection at the Platbagia.

(The Platbagia is the Cornucopia of Bonming. I dont know how to spell the real one, but I needed to make up a new one!)

I had no time, so I picked up a red bag on my way into the meadow. I couldn't stop running, or they would find me. The people who spend a while at the Platbagia. The ones who kill everybody slow. The Sewtas.

The Sewtas is a group of deadly hunters from Sewt and Tropha. It is a mashup name for the two. There are less than 3 Sewtas each year but this year, there are 6. 6 trained hunters. 6 deadly hunting machines. Hurray?

I kept running on and on until I was sure I ran for about an hour or two. I dashed up a tree that was about 50m high. I went up about halfway and sat down in the space between the branch. I put my knife collection under me for a few minutes as I searched the red bag throughly. The colourful birds lit up the trees around me as I looked at the bright blue sky.

My red bag had a lot in it. It had a knife, which I didn't need with my knife collection, a big bottle of water which is suited for re-filling and a small bit of fruit salad. As much as I hated fruit, I was glad to have something to eat just in case. My hunting skills have gotten better with bows and arrows as it was hard to hunt with a knife. I guess I had to make do with a nice sharp knife, maybe I'll get a spear along the way.

"Where is she?" I heard someone say below me. I held onto the tree, slowly getting up and carrying everything with me and going up to about 40m high. I dared to look down and saw Sewtas below me.

"I'm Alison! I can't hunt! I'm a poor waste of space!" I heard another person try to mock me. I could tell the first voice was Charlotte and the second was Brenda. They were both Sewtas.

"Stop mocking her!" I heard a girl named Skye say.

"You wanna go make her an ally? And leave us? Didn't think so! Shut up and walk," Charlotte snapped. Skye hung her head and walked along with them again.

I smiled to myself. I wanted to make Skye my ally. She seemed nice. At least I have somebody who wants to be my ally here. Or friend. If I don't win, I hope Skye is one of the winners. Charlotte and Brenda deserve to die here. But I couldn't put any of the innocent Sewtas or Sewta joiners at risk. I expected 6 Sewtas but I got 2 Sewtas and 2 innocent joiners. It was interesting how Sierra never went with the Sewtas. She was one. But never went. I just don't understand.

I stayed up in that tree until night fell. The orange sky I had been watching all day turned to a purple, then black. I couldn't risk falling asleep, but everybody thought that the first night. They all did. So I slumped down on the tree and slowly fell asleep.