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IN THE FEW HOURS OF BEING AWAKE BEFORE THE ARENA, THE TRIBUTES ALL SAT IN SILENCE. Any words spoken were whispered. None wanted to break the barrier that rested between them and the truth: for some, it was the last morning they would spend alive.
With her head rested on Panlo's shoulder, Zea muttered: "B".
In front of her, on the ground, was Lamina. The redhead had drawn up a mock of an execution station, lines drawn under. "A game back in seven," she had explained, "Guess letters until you know the word. Every wrong answer is a body part for the noose."
The letter B landed twice in the word, a relief for the stick figure, one limb away from his death.
_ABB_ E _ _ A_
"You saved him," Lamina muttered as she filled in the letters. She glanced up, "Panlo, your turn."
The boy from Nine had seemed uninterested at first, insisting he would only watch. Yet with every letter Zea got wrong had increased his frustration, until he hopped in and guessed 'A'. "L?"
The redhead shook her head, stick moving to the figure, a straight line drawn, the body complete. Despite the childishness of the game, the sight made Zea's stomach turn. "Poor guy, if it weren't for the jabberjays..."
Panlo shook his head, pushing out his boot and smoothing over the dirt. "Stick?" He held out his hand for Lamina, accepting the drawing tool. "You ever play Bundles or Barrels?" He drew a grid in the dirt, two lines intersecting another set. He placed a circle in the middle, "I'm barrels, you make an X for the bundles. Three in a row to win."
"Bundles?" Asked Lamina, placing her X in the top left corner.
"The X looks kinda like two bundles of wheat," Zea shrugged, "If you're blind."
As the two played, Panlo self-sabotaging, the dread of what was to come lightened. Only when a peacekeeper—one of the more sympathetic of the bunch—came into their enclosure, did any talk cease, games abandoned.
"Alright you lot," he frowned, eyeing each kid with a grimace. "Time to go."
No one dared move for a moment, until Zea pushed herself up, stretching her arms, "Alright, let's get this thing over with folks."
Her action was a domino effect, Panlo hopping to his feet as well, shaking out one last pill for her. He waited as she pulled Lamina up before handing it to her, nodding as she swallowed. "Ready?"
Zea threw her arm over his shoulder, the other over Lamina, "Of course not."
◌
"When the bell goes off, you hide Lamina. Zea and I will grab weapons and find you." Panlo murmured. His voice was drowned out by that of Coral, speaking to her three allies as well.
They all figured the arena's terrain had changed, but none could gather just how. The floor, no doubt, was torn up, but what of the ceiling, the underneath of the arena?
