Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse

I Need a Hero

By the second round, I was having trouble staying in my seat. It could have been from any number of things: The electric energy in the crowd as they cheered for their favorite competitor, the nervous prideful energy I felt watching my mentor battle grim after grim, or perhaps it was just the fact that in place of cheerleaders, the mayor had secured strippers to dance for the box seats.

Unfortunately, I knew it was none of the above. Something was wrong. The instincts that everyone insisted I use were alight like a forest fire, but I couldn't translate them. It was all well and good to have a woman's intuition, but a hell of a lot of good it did with the brain of a nit-wit behind it.

I must have looked antsy, because Devin put his hand on my knee and gave me an inquiring look. I leaned over to speak over the cheering crowd. "I don't like this," I said, trying to articulate the only thing I was sure of.

"I hope not. I'm still holding out hope you'll give in someday." He winked at me and squeezed my knee before returning his attentions to his girly dancers. It took until then for me to realize he thought I was referring to them.

I looked to Haden for some counsel, but she was in the middle of an interview with two handsome male reporters.

I glanced between the dancing girls to catch a glimpse of Garrett. He was taking the brunt of eight grim at once. I wasn't entirely sure why they were bombarding him so much when there were six other competitors available. August was trying to get to him to help, but one of her three grim was too dexterous and managed to avoid all of her strikes. The other two were keeping her wary, but they weren't attacking.

I could feel myself rise as I watched the scene, but I still couldn't see the danger. August could win this tournament with one hand tied behind her back. Why did I want to run to aid her so badly? What was wrong? What was I missing?

I felt a tingle on the back of my neck, as if someone was watching me. I glanced at Adrian Dorn, but he wasn't watching me. He was watching August. He looked upward to the ceiling and nodded at someone.

I looked up and saw the gunmen prepared to save the day as the mayor had instructed them. They looked ready and willing to shoot any grim that got out of line. Aside from them, there were two new additions, but they weren't gunmen. They handled the spotlights.

My instincts, as primal as they were, were screaming at me. I stopped questioning them and let them take over even before I understood what I needed to do.

My hands gripped the railing beside me and I flipped over it. My shoes skidded down the cement wall, easing the sting on my feet when I landed on the concrete below. I could hear Devin above asking me what the hell I was doing, but I was already in motion again. Slow motion, though I knew I was pushing harder than I've ever pushed before.

Fucking legs, move! I'm too stupid to do this damn job. Please God no! Not AGAIN!

Despite the violation of rules, the crowd was loving my impromptu rush onto the field and they cheered all the louder. Had I had the forethought to simply warn August, she still wouldn't have heard it.

The grim spotted me right away and swarmed. I had no weapons. The first one I just barreled through with the momentum of my run. The second one grabbed me and I twisted his arm, flipping him over to his back and wrenched away. The third's face shattered before me when my fist went at him full force. I didn't even feel the three fingers I broke in the process.

Garrett saw me coming through, but he couldn't get away from his grim. They were on him heavy because they knew he would help August if she got in trouble. It was all a distraction. Haden's interviews, Devin's girly dancers, it was all to keep them from noticing August was in trouble.

Adrian hadn't anticipated me. He didn't know I was still a threat to his plan. The lights above weaved in and out of the battle and settled on August. The blinding light forced her to back away from her agile opponent—back right into her lingering herders.

"No!" I screamed, coming up fast. I didn't know if I would be fast enough.

The shivs were clear glass. They were concealed so well, I don't imagine the handlers would have even suspected they were there, even if they were looking right at them. The attack would go unnoticed by the gunmen above. Two well-placed stab wounds would be enough to kill August. It would go down as a tragic accident, and the mayor would ruefully promise to do a better job to safeguard his future contestants. All the while, he would demand that we continue with the tournaments to rid our home of every last wicked grim.

I pushed as hard as I could. One infuriating step at a time.

Move legs! MOVE!

I could see it playing out yards, feet, and inches from reach. I realized that I was right all along. My greatest fear was about to come to life and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I was going to fail, just as I thought I would.

August recovered from the glaring light and sensed more than saw the danger. She spun, cutting off the hand of one of her grim attackers. The other was a hair from eviscerating her while her defenses were occupied.

He lunged. I leapt. The glass shard scraped her stomach as he tumbled over with me on top of him. We were immediately tangled in a wrestling stalemate. He wanted to gouge my eyes out, and I just wanted to get off him and check on August.

I looked back. August's eyes and mouth were wide with surprise. Her weapon hung impotently at her side. The crowd almost immediately hushed in reverence of the moment. I heard the screams, but still didn't see the reason for them.

Haden and Devin were running toward us. Garrett was frantically trying to fend off his last grim.

August's third grim appeared from his ducked position behind her. He eyed me with a growl and grinned. His teeth should have been sharpened to fine points, and dripping blood, but they weren't. He was just the body of somebody I never knew.

August fell to her knees, bleeding from the cut across her belly. She keeled forward bracing herself with her hands. Blood dripped down into the sand, pouring from a different wound in her back. A nearly invisible glass shiv protruded from it.