The Arena

5: Who Knew I Could Make Friends?

"Why are you here?" 

"What do you mean?! What the heck are you doing in my room?!" I stumbled backward.

"Your room? This is my room!"

"No, this is my room! I counted, It's ten doors to the right of the training deck on this side of the building. Besides, If it weren't my room, how would I be able to get in?"

"If it weren't mine, how would I get in? Probably a malfunction. But this is my room, and that's for sure!"

"Really?" I stepped outside and turned to face the wall. I held out my hand and pointed to the doors as I counted the rooms.

"One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Ele- oh..."

She had a smug look on her face. "My room."

I could feel my face get warm. "But then why were you staring at me from across the cafeteria, huh?"

"Staring-" she froze and blushed. "Oh. You saw that? Well, I thought you were someone else..."

"Well do you and this 'someone else' not get along, because you looked angry."

"I wasn't angry, I was confused."

"'Confused'?"

"Well, considering the fact that the guy has been dead for a while, and not to mention that if he were still alive, he would be way out of the age range, yeah." the cap of her pen went flying across the room. I guess she fiddled a little too much with it.

"Who did you confuse me with?" I asked, picking up the cap and handing it to her.

"He was a surgeon. His name was Matthew. Matthew Galleby."

I gave a half smile. "Well, I can see why we were confused. He was my father."

She looked up from her pen. "You look just like him, y'know? Granted, you look younger, and there's something different about your eyes. His were brown, yours are more-"

"Hazel?" 

"yeah."

"I have my mother's eyes," I said as I pulled up a chair from her desk and sat down.

"Just about everything else looks like you got it from your dad. Your brown hair even lays the same as his. Although, your part is different. Your nose is a bit smaller, and your jaw is more narrow... maybe it has to do with age."

"No, I have my mom's jaw. I also get the part from my mom."

"Makes sense."

"How do you know so much about my dad anyway?" I ask, tucking a stray piece of hair back into place.

"He saved my life once. My family and I, we were in a car crash. If it weren't for the surgery he preformed on me, I would have been paralyzed from the waist down." She set the pen down and stood up. 

"My dad did save a lot of people," I stood up as well.

"Yeah. He was friends with my family ever since. When we heard of his death, well, now that I think about it, I am pretty sure I saw you at the funeral."

"I never saw you. Anyway, I think I will get to my actual room."

"Yeah. So, may I ask what your name is?" She asked as I walked out the door.

"Zack Galleby."

"I'm Makayla Morton. It's nice to finally meet Matthew's family, even if just one person."

I smiled, and left.

The next day Zarbeck woke me up at 6:00 A.M., which would have been nice compared to what time I usually wake up at, but due to stress, I couldn't sleep much. 

"Rise and shine, boy. Today you get your armor and symbol, along with your weapons. Hurry up, I'll be waiting outside."

I got out of bed, put on my shoes, and fixed up my bed head. I walked outside and found Zarbeck right out there as he said.

"You ready? After breakfast, we will be heading straight to the armory."

"The armory?" I asked as we walked down towards the cafeteria. 

"Yes, a different room you haven't seen yet. This will be the only time you will see this room, that is why it was not in our short little tour of ours. The only other times you would ever come back here is if your weapons break or need maintenance, which is unlikely." He stopped when we got there. "I will meet you back at your dorm, and then we will leave."

I nodded and went in.

I got my food, this time it actually was Earth food. Waffles, eggs, bacon, etc. I took some and sat down at the same table as last time. I wonder why it was this table that was always empty. Tyler joined me again. And, to my surprise, so did Makayla.

"Who's she?" Tyler asked, nudging my shoulder.

"Who's he?" She raised her eyebrow in what I think was disgust.

"Uh, He's Tyler, and She's Makayla. Why?" I put some salt and pepper on my eggs.

"Just wondering. Most people avoid me at all costs." Tyler looked down as he took a bite of a waffle.

Makayla loosened up a little. "I saw you sitting with him yesterday. Anyway, wonder what kind of weapons we are getting. What kind of symbol do you think we'll get?"

"Do you think the armor is all the same? Or do they have special armor for each person?" Tyler joined in.

"Probably the same. They want a to make it a fair fight, right?" Makayla took a sip of her chocolate milk.

"Maybe. But you did hear the Emperor, anything goes. Maybe they choose favorites..."

I sighed. "Honestly, I probably wouldn't be surprised if they did. Do any of your guards seem weird? Because mine doesn't seem to like me very much..."

They looked at me and shook their heads. "No, ours seem pretty neutral. They don't really say anything. Yours actually talks to you?"

"Well, He has nothing nice to say, but I guess he is very informative."

I looked around the cafeteria. The competitors seemed to be in a chatty mood. Probably the same questions being asked. They still seemed just as scared, maybe a little more anxious. 

I thought of my mom. She loved waffles. I'm sure she would kill to have a taste of these. I froze. Kill. I would have to kill in two days. It hurt my stomach to think about it. Taking the life of another. I could never do something like that, could I?

"Hey, you alright?" Tyler put his hand on my shoulder, jolting me back into reality.

"Yeah... yeah."

"You seem to zone out a lot." He said. "I guess you have too many thoughts to say. I finally got an answer to that question."

"And you say too much of your thoughts," Makayla added. "Y'know, Tyler, was it? In this tournament, everyone around here is the enemy. Sometimes I forget, but eventually, we will all have to kill each other-"

Her voice faded out and I was just left with my thoughts. Kill. There was that word again. I finished up my waffle and eggs and stood up. That day was getting closer, and after we were done here, I would get the tools that I would be forced to do it with. If this was the price that adventure came with, then I didn't want it.

I never asked for this.

I left the cafeteria with Makayla and Tyler calling after me, but I didn't listen.

I was faced with two options: Kill and save my mom, or stay strong and leave her to die for all I knew.

And I wasn't ready to make that decision.