꧁𝚂 𝙴 𝚁 𓁹 𝙿 𝙷꧂

A L L I A N C E S

Not so long ago, there was something called Apocalypse. Years and years of war were required so humans made it on top once again. Even with the efforts and sacrifices, the creatures that caused the chaos were still alive, located in many specific areas all around the globe, being restricted to those locations thanks to the Task Forces. Still, after almost 50 years that people lived in peace, they missed adrenaline, the entertainment of survival. Thinking about that, the man, now known as The Warden, made a game, or as he liked to call it, sport. Those whose family died in the war would be thrown to either die, or survive all 57 locations, which obviously never happened.

What The Warden affirmed to be a mere sport, to the lower class, was a massacre, simply because after the apocalypse, the soldiers who died lost all their wealth, and their families became the lower class, and only those were thrown to the yearly slaughter, and it obviously generated many riots. Supposedly thinking about it, that one year, he sent invitations to all higher class families, the most self centered, snobby kind of people. Over 100 people gathered in the hall, all sat down in fancy clothes, waiting as the others came by.

Timothy, the boy that carried the most selfish features in the room was sitting down looking at his phone and even in such a position, it was as if an unyielding aura of arrogance swooned around him, people around him supposed such behavior existed because of his looks, that weren't at all unpleasant, it was quite the opposite, his hair precisely matched the walnut table they all sat around, his light skin glowing under the strong lights of the room, and his clothing reflected the wealth he supposedly carried.

At that moment, a woman walked in, the sound of her heels moving Timothy's eyes away from the phone, only to see the girl now sitting beside him, she had almost the same features as him, the only thing that tamed the pretentious behavior was the way her eyes darted all over the room. She smiled politely at him, but right after, her face turned into a cold, doubtful face, while she read the invitation again.

-Dear elite member,

We have the pleasure to announce that you have been invited to a meeting at the warehouse from woodlane street.

Dress presentable clothes, and bring a bag.

We are waiting for you,

The Warden-

In a quick move, she took out a pen and wrote something on the bottom of the invitation, her free hand covered the content on the paper. She inhaled deeply before crossing her arms, leaning them on the table and covering the paper, now fully, before clearing her throat, which caught the boy's attention. The paper slid from under her arm "We're being recorded" was written on it, Timothy seemed not to care, and just gave her a sly smirk.

-By the way, I don't think I caught your name- he says, his accent giving out that he was British, moving a bit closer to her -Madison Ross. She said harshly

-Timothy Johnson, you can call me Tim though- he says. -Well, the invitation said only university students were called. What do you do?- he asks, leaning a bit on her chair -Forensics science. I'm a Forensics expert.- she says not being able to hide a hint of a proud smile on her face. She got back to silence, looking around the room, mostly to the top corners of it. It was a cold room, all white, with bright lights and a mirror. She had to fight the will to check if the mirror was real or not, but inside her, there was something tingling, screaming for her to not stay inside, but obviously, she ignored it.

-Hey, the invitation also said that ex-military would be called... What were you? Naivy, army, marine, air force, coast guard? I was in the army.

He carried on, looking at her curiously -I was one of the people assigned to prevent the trespassing of the Wingstingers.

-So you were from the Task Force?- he asks, his eyes slightly widening as his eyebrows raise a tad bit while she nods. -Well, looks like we have something to talk about now...- he trailed on leaning dangerously close to her ear.

-Are you blind or something? - she mumbled, which was responded by a chuckle of the boy - What?- he said, moving his hand to a strand of her hair, but before he reached it, she grabbed it tightly

-Top corner, behind me, and shut the hell up- she grumbled. His eyes followed her instructions, meeting up with a pair of cameras - Oh...- he muttered, keeping silent.

Then, The Warden arrived with the military. -Welcome all of you- he started. -Well, how could we start.... The contestants of the last crop died, as you know. Now, we decided to renew things. This year, the higher class will be participating. You'll be participating.Once he said that, the room fell silent, people being now able to distinguish who belonged to any part of the army, and who didn't, their reactions built two distinctive groups, the ones that were crying, shouting, or even vomiting, and the ones that merely stiffened up, a few of them having a tear falling of their eyes, or at least having a little hint of a held in cry.

-We placed random items for you. Grab them, and you'll be taken to the first location. Good luck.-

And with that, he left. The military, though, dropped something on the floor. The noise made Madison look at it, and she only saw a small pen drive. She grabbed it, and kept it in her purse. She knew what items to gather thanks to her suspicion, so she just ran to those and ran to Tim right after. -We need to form an alliance- she said -Well princess, if you insist- -Listen, those people here are fighting for their lives. They'll work solo to win the prize and to survive. They'll go crazy. Working together will have a better outcome. Now well... You're pretty much the only person i interacted- he simply shakes his head -We were picked?- he asked, as if he didn't want to believe it. -Yes...- she muttered. His eyes darkened as he walked to the door and started banging on it, cursing whoever he could. Madison ran to him -Listen, it will do nothing! We'll get out... some other way.- He stops, still panting -Fine, i guess, but i'm in charge- he turned to her, as she scoffed -whatever, big boy- she rolled her eyes.