Escaping the Arena

The Tank

The Arena appeared, at first glance, exactly as Lindsey had envisioned for it to be: Dirty, Loud, Exciting. She could go on and on.

As they entered the flagged gates that led to the 'campgrounds', she had heard it called by one of her two new guards, she was greeted by boisterous laughter, smells of all sorts of food cooking on the dozens of open fires, people generally looked as if they were at a party.

It was the heat of the day when they arrived. The caravan looked more than worse for the wear. The almost month of traveling had really taken a toll on all of them. Their numbers had dwindled drastically, over 12 prisoners had managed to escape the day of the sandstorm. Some were killed, yes, but in a way that was the best escape one could hope for.

Lindsey liked to think they died on their own terms, in their own way. Maybe that was just what she told herself to feel better.

Bram had not been happy about the plot, understandably. He had lashed out at anyone in sight. Three guards were victims of his angry rage. Blackflag had just stayed in his vehicle, laughing at the entire episode.

Arriving at the Arena did little to lighten the Master's son's mood. No, he walked around with a permanent frown upon his face. How dare these ignorant slaves but a black mark on his record? How dare they make him out to be a fool.

Lindsey relished in his sour mood. Served him right.

She didn't get to enjoy it for long. Once the group arrived in the campgrounds she and the rest of the slaves were hauled off to what was known as the Tank.

In reality, it was a large, gated area. It was incredibly over crowded and loud.

"I don't remember the Tank being so full." She heard another slave say as they were shoved inside.

She had an inkling that the reasoning was due to the growing unrest in the Waste. More people were rebelling now than ever.

She looked around her, Kairos and the brothers were being pushed across the gate roughly, they looked rather amused. Probably causing havoc once again. It made her proud and anxious at the same time. She didn't trust the Arena. An ominous feeling gripped at her insides.

"Finally!" Kairos bellowed as the men made their way to her and Cait.

Lindsey immediately took her place beside her partner, glad to once again be back in his presence. It really did wonders for her nerves when he was around.

"What is this place?" She questioned. She was still rather confused by the entire set up.

Kairos gave her a chaste kiss on the temple before sliding an arm around her. "This, love, is the Tank." He made a grand gesture. "Where all the scum of the Waste wait for their demise. At least that is what they say. Really this is where they can coral us like cattle until we are sent to our performance."

It set really badly with her that she had been compared to cattle, but she didn't mention it.

"Performance?"

Alexios had taken his position to her left. She watched as the young man eyed everyone around them warily. He trusted no one.

Argus too positioned himself beside Kairos. The two brothers were silent as always.

"Of course, Lindsey," Cait interjected. "Don't you know anything about how the Arena works?"

Like Kairos, Cait had been to the Arena as a younger woman. In her fallen faction, her uncle had been the leader. Her mother had died during childbirth and her father during a raid. She had been taken in by her uncle, and like Lindsey, trained beside her cousins to be a potential leader. Not all factions were as backwards and unwilling to change as Enmity.

Lindsey blushed in embarrassment at her lack of knowledge and shook her head.

"You will 'perform' for the leaders of the other factions." Cait explained. "It can be anything, or nothing. I've seen many people simply stand and wait for their fate. If they like you, you will move on. Usually they go until they get bored of performances."

A sick feeling rose in Lindsey's throat as she saw a dark headed mother and daughter being pushed through the throng on people. She and the mother caught one another's eye for a moment before they were swept away with the crowd.

"What happens then?"

Cait shared a dark look with Kairos before shrugging indifferently. "Depends on your importance. No worries, you and Kairos won't be going to the dogs."

"Cait!" Kairos barked angrily, causing the girl to shrink back slightly. Nothing else was said on the subject.

Lindsey felt her heart clench in her chest. She didn't dare say another word, she didn't want to know anything else at this point. They still had two days before the opening ceremony began.

Later, she and Kairos had found a quiet spot to sit beneath the shade of a colorful banner. She allowed herself to sit back against his chest and just study the crowd.

She noticed how some people seemed to greet one another as if they were old friends.  She hadn't even thought about the idea that some of these people knew one another. From her own experience, most factions didn't have a whole lot to do with others. Something told her that things were different outside of the Nexus faction. She wondered if Eos had cut them off from many of the other factions because of her.

"Where is everyone supposed to sleep?" She asked suddenly. The thought had just jumped into her brain as she noticed the sky darkening. The smell of cooking food wafted from outside the gates and made her stomach growl audibly.

Kairos gave her an unreadable look. It was almost one of pity.

"The ground, Linds." He told her softly.

"Sleeping bags?" She asked hopefully, not that she had never spent the night on the ground, but surely they would not force all these people to sleep on the dirt!

Kairos simply shook his head.

"Oh," she mumbled as she settled herself back against his chest.

Nothing else was said between the two. Lindsey felt herself begin to drift off as Kairos absentmindedly played with the fingers on her left hand.