The Arena

4: The Competitors

The Emperor stepped down from the platform and left. everyone looked like they were in a panic. I knew I was. After all, we were just thrown into this madness, not knowing how far we would get. Not knowing if we would ever see our families again.

But if I win this, I could get my mother back. And that was what I was going to fight for. But I've never been in a legit fight. Who's to say I don't die in the first round?

I shook the thought away. I couldn't think like that. Zarbeck pulled me away, through the huge crowd of people. We walked through the halls, which were beginning to fill up with people coming in.

We walked by the many rooms, until we stopped at one. He grabbed my hand and put it against the door. The door scanned my hand, turned from purple to blue, and opened up.

"What the-"

Zarbeck pushed me inside.

"Was it necessary to push me?!" I turned to face him, but he shushed me.

"Look, boy, you better win this thing, or-" He paused. "Just win, got it?"

"Win? How am I supposed to win?! I'm a farm boy, not a soldier!"

"Calm down-"

"'Calm down'? No, I'm Panicking! " I yelled.

"Listen, boy-"

"My name is Zack."

He froze a moment, processing what I had just said. "Listen, boy, I know it is scary, but you got to get through it. Believe me, there are far worse things than death on the battlefield. Let's hope that you don't have to go through that."

I looked around the room. There was a single bed, a bookshelf, a closet, a dresser, a desk, a lamp, and I'm pretty sure that was a bathroom I was seeing in the corner. This guy, he sounds almost like he is speaking from experience. What did he go through that was worse than death?

"Anyway, this will be your new room."

"How will I be able to remember which one is mine?" I asked.

"Your symbol will appear on your door."

"'My symbol'?"

"Yes. You will receive a symbol, much like the symbol of the empire, but yours will be unique to you. It will be on just about anything that you own or that pertains to you. It will also be the symbol the audience will remember you by."

"Okay... when will I get my symbol?"

"As soon as the armor arrives. Until then, I will show you around, and then you will have lunch with the other competitors."

"But won't it be really crowded?"

"The cafeteria is bigger than you think. You saw it earlier. Besides, after the first few rounds, we won't have that problem anymore."

I gulped. He was right. After the first round, the numbers would go from 128 to 64. The more I thought about it the more my heart sped up. The more my panic grew.

Zarbeck unchained me. "C'mon," He led me through. He brought me through the halls, many of the rooms were being occupied with their competitors. He led me to one large room, even larger than the cafeteria. Inside there were targets, dummies, rock-climbing walls, and obstacle courses.

"This is the training area. There are four of them, one on each side of the building. You have the option to come here anytime in your freetime. However, you won't be able to come train until you have your weapons."

"Weapons? When do we get those?" I asked, my hands were shaking. Only now had it occurred to me that I was expected to kill whoever I fought against. I was not ready for that. I obviously had never killed anyone before, and I never wanted to.

"You will get them tomorrow along with your armor. A lot will be happening tomorrow."

I nodded and he brought me out into the cafeteria.

"Is that really it?" I asked.

"Well, not exactly, but that is the only room that will be of any use to you. The rest are none of your concern. For now, you need to eat. Go talk to people." he turned and left.

I don't know, but it seemed like they were pretty confident in their abilities to stop any outbreaks because the other competitors were all unchained and without their guards. There were about 12 guards in the cafeteria.

I got my food, which looked surprisingly normal, and sat down at a table. Another guy sat next to me.

He had on a red shirt and black pants. His sandy hair wasn't perfect, but wasn't a mess either. He had blue eyes, and a mischievous grin. He was skinny and a bit shorter than me, but then again, I had long legs.

"How's it going?" he asked. "I'd assume horrible, considering the fact that we are pretty much on death row."

I raised an eyebrow. "Do I know you?"

"No, but figured, might as well get to know my fellow competitors, am I right? Everyone here seems so... so... well... I don't remember the word."

"Depressed? Scared? Angry? On-edge?"

"Well, yeah."

Yup. 'Bout summed it up. Those feelings were all that I was feeling. But this guy seemed different. It was kind of weird.

"I can't blame them, I feel the same. I have a little sister who was taken. She's only seven, you know. I can't let them do anything to her."

I nodded. I knew how he felt. My mom. I would do anything to get her back safe.

"My name is Tyler, by the way. Tyler Dratt."

I took a bite of my food.

"Do you not have a name, or do you just not wanna talk?" he asked as he played with his food.

I hesitated. "Zack Galleby." I finially said.

"Cool. You sure are a quiet guy. Not much to say, or too much thoughts to say?"

Well, probably the latter, but the real reason I wasn't talking was because I wasn't too sure how I felt about the guy. I wasn't too sure If I could trust him.

"I don't know how I'll do out there, do you? After all, there are bigger, stronger, faster people. There are older, more experienced people. I'm only 18, I'm not ready. I'm not a fighter. I'm sorry if I come across as annoying. I just... I just need someone to talk to. I-" His voice cracked. He was a bit obnoxious, but he was just like everyone else. Scared.

"My mother was taken. And... I had always dreamed of adventure, but this was never what I wanted."

He looked up at me, but I didn't look at him. Instead, I looked across the cafeteria. There was a girl staring right at me. She had dark clothing, and her long dark brown hair lay in a braid across her shoulder. She was far away, but I could still see her piercing green eyes. I don't know what she wanted, but she did not drop her gaze.

"Hey, dude, you alright?" I heard Tyler next to me.

I shook out of my daze. "Y-yeah."

I looked over again, but she was gone.

I finished up my food, said bye to Tyler, and went back to my dorm.

The door closed behind me as I entered.

I froze.

She was sitting at my desk, fiddling with a pen. She looked up at me, her eyes fierce and intimidating.

She said only one thing:

"Why are you here?"