Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse

The Tournaments

Since the watch rotation was already messed up, we decided to throw caution to the wind with a game of UNO poker. Haden, Devin, and I sat around the coffee table playing. August came in from her perimeter search and grabbed a beer from the fridge before getting comfortable on the couch behind us. I offered to deal her in, but she said she preferred to watch.

"Okay, tell me about the tournaments," I said, frowning at my cards. I was losing rather dramatically, but I didn't care. I tossed in a couple of red chips and quickly realized that I had overplayed my hand. I reached to the ante to take one back and was promptly met with a slap from Haden. "Ouch!"

"No take-backs," she barked. She was, of course, winning because she was as aggressive at board games as she was in life.

"Geez, can you at least wait until I've got my ball gag in place, Madam Pagoda?" I muttered, rubbing my hand.

Haden and Devin exchanged a look.

"Who's Madam Pagoda?" Haden asked as she threw my coin back in my face.

I paused. "I have no idea." I laughed and they joined. "Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" I took a swig of my beer. It wasn't my first of the night, and it probably wouldn't be my last, but I was pacing myself just in case I had to do something remotely heroic or speech-oriented. "So, tournaments!" I slapped the table. "I can't take the anticipation. What is it? Why are you so happy about it? And how interested should I pretend to be?"

"Pretend!" Devin pinched my toes under the coffee table. I tried not to squeal for Haden's sake, but I couldn't stifle my high-pitched yelp. For the most part, she had accepted my new friendlier relationship with Devin, especially since we still weren't having sex, but I didn't like to be too flirtatious in front of her. I wasn't sure she would see the difference in it the way Devin and I did.

"The Metro put together a monthly tournament for regular Joes such as myself," Devin started.

"Your name's not Joe," I pointed out with my dingy-blonde voice. He winked to let me know he was amused, but didn't stop talking.

"Anyone can compete for the top prize."

"Prize?" I perked my brow.

"Right now it's just the namesake, but if I win the annual, I get a big plaque."

"Wow, back to the days when people were satisfied with trophies. How nostalgic. What do the competitions involve?"

"Every month is different. I did hand-to-hand combat. First, I fought one guy just to get a base ranking. Next, I fought three grim to get my score and then I fought the guy I tied with and I won."

"You got a lucky hit," Haden mumbled.

"You're just sore because you didn't even make it past the first round."

"Those women were huge. I'm doing the sharp-shooting tournament next month. We'll see if I'm not competing with you in the finale after all." Haden tipped her brow at him. He gave her a wolfish grin that made me blush more than Haden.

"Once a month a different study then?" I asked, trying to break them up before I had to start fanning myself.

"Yes." Devin started counting them off on his fingers. "Freestyle hand-to-hand, martial arts, sharp-shooting, swordplay, strength, speed and endurance, creative warfare—that ought to be interesting—balance and agility, mental concentration, staff fighting, spear throwing, and archery."

Devin said the last part with a hint of excitement and finality. He raised his brow, expecting me to mirror his enthusiasm. I glared at him and looked back at August. She shrugged and shook her head.

"Don't look at me, this is all him," she said, reaching into my hand to play a card for me.

I laughed. "No," I said without any more thought than it might take me to consider going through the last three months again. Devin's face scrunched with shocked disappointment. I shook my head to reiterate my point before taking a swig of my beer.

"What? Oh, come on!" Devin whined. "I saw how fast you laid out those grim the other day. Your defensive skills aren't the only skills Garrett helped you improve."

A stray thought entered my mind and I choked on my beer. Sputtering over my misdirected beverage, I blushed with embarrassment. August patted my back in assistance.

"What?" I croaked.

"You could win that tournament, and what's more, all four of us could compete in the finale together. We can't lose."

I looked back at August. She tipped her head in a why not way.

"What are you competing in?" I asked, thinking that she could compete in at least half of those categories.

"Swordplay." She smiled.

"Are you sure this isn't something you want me to do?"

August's smile faded. "Why don't you come with us to Haden's event in a few weeks? If it appeals to you, you can enter. If not, don't worry about it." I could see she was trying to offer me the option instead of forcing me to do it, but I could also see how important it was to her. I had already put myself through hell in the name of this woman. I wasn't sure I wanted to do anything more for her.

"I'll think about it," I said, giving her the only answer I could without disappointing her, or myself.