Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 1: Survive!

Chapter 1: Survive!

I lay silently on my cot, hands comfortably folded behind my head.  I longed to sleep but could not find the will to close my eyes.  If anything, I would not want to be here at all.  I slowly sat up, groping the darkness and tossing aside my worn covers.  I swung my legs to the edge of my cot and rubbing my face.  I sighed deeply.  Another sleepless night, I thought.  I took several minutes to adjust my eyes to the darkness.  I observed my surrounding like I did every morning.  In the far left corner of my small room was a sink, and nearly two feet away was the toilet.  The mirror for the sink was shattered, leaving me a single shard to see my reflection.  The ground was a rough pavement that I could never figure out.  I had no buddies with me anywhere; just myself in this damned cell.  I stood up and walked over to the sink to wash my face.  Someone walked down the hallway, carrying a flashlight.  I turned to the light to see the Warden. 

"'Ey, you.  Get back to sleep, will ya?  It's so damn early and you're already awake?"  He puffed.  In his left hand, the one not carrying the flashlight, he held a single cigarette.  It was halfway burnt up and I could smell it from where I stood.  I nodded and walked back to my cot and lay down again.  I interlocked my fingers again and looked at the ceiling for the millionth time.  Tomorrow morning would be another test day.  I hated test days.  I sighed and rested. 

"Wake up you good-for-nothings!  Let's go, c'mon!  It's time for testing today!"  The Warden barked annoyingly.  He used his club as an alarm, sliding the piece of plastic across the cell bars, the sound resonating through my mind.  I slowly opened my eyes, blinking away sleepiness.  The Warden came to my cell first.

"You.  You're first."  He pointed a sasuage finger at me.  I sighed and stood up to stretch my limbs.  He unlocked the cell, swinging the cage wall aside.  Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled a pair of silvery handcuffs, locking them around my wrists.  He stood behind me and escorted me towards the testing lab.  As we walked along the prison, the other prisoners sneered at me and stuck up their middle fingers.  They spat at me, calling me vuglar names.  One such prisoner reached his arm towards me and grabbed me by my orange jumpsuit.

"You piece o' shit.  Ain't even gon' last a few minutes in the arena."  The prisonser snickered and unleashed me.  I calmly resumed my walk towards the lab room.  The Warden pushed me against the door.  He unlocked the handcuffs.  I opened the door and squinted as I entered the opaque white room.  Usually, the cell was so dark that I would be used to it.  Walking into this room was obviously a different experience. 

"Welcome 21."  The doctor said, sitting in his chair with a mug of coffee in his hand.  He lifted the mug to his mouth and took a small sip, the liquid obviously scorching his throat as he cursed under his breath.  He gently placed his mug of coffee on the table next to his chair and stood up, stroking his walrus moustache.  He retrieved a clipboard from the same table, quickly taking a pen from his lab coat. 

"Sit."  He instructed, pointing towards a padded chair with wires coming from every inch of it.  I sat down, knowing that the Warden would do something about it if I didn't listen.  I took a quick glance at the Warden's taser: a weapon capable of killing a human if contact is held for more than 3 seconds.  The doctor walked towards me and began to plug in his machinery.

"Today, 21, we're going to test your physical capabilities.  Last week, we observed your eyesight, hearing, mental health, and body mass index."  The doctor strapped a glove with wires all over it, probably recording the muscle contractions or something.  Next, he fitted a tight fitting suit on my lower body, something similar to the glove.  Then, the doctor moved to the opposite side of the lab and brought a life scale dummy of a human and place it in front of me. 

"What I want you to do is to punch this dummy as if you were in a fight.  Do not hold back.  Furthermore, after punching, follow up with a kick and any other physical attacks you wish to perform.  When finished, we will discuss the abilities you have aquired from being from your particular Region.  Please, do not fail me 21."  The doctor sighed.  He moved behind his desk and started clicking the computer screen.  Once he was finished clicking, he flipped a small orange switch and the dummy came to life.  It stood, glowing from the lights placed inside it.  Sighing, I stood at my standard fighting stance: legs shoulder width apart, left fist in front, right fist covering my face.  The doctor waited for me to punch and the Warden stood crossed armed, unamused by my stance.  With one fluid motion, I throw my body weight into my right fist, connecting with the dummy's chest.  I followed the punch with a succession of jabs to the face with my left arm and finished with a sidekick to the dummy's side.  I stood there, calmly awaiting the results.

"I-incredible!"  The doctor joyfully yelled.  He grinned evilly at the computer screen and looked deep into my eyes.

"The punch you initially delievered instantly shattered the dummy's ribs.  The jabs were effective, causing slight brain damage and the sidekick ruptured the dummy's vitals.  Amazing."  The doctor was happy.  He was so happy he was shaking.  I saw his hands begin to shake and his grin turn into a smile. 

"It's as expected from Region 21: their close quarter combat skills are top notch and their hand-to-hand combat without weapon skills are superior to any other region.  That's needless to say that many regions could hold you off, but if you connect any of those punches to your target, they are dead."  The doctor declared.  True, Region 21 citizens were martial art genius', but the dummy was too soft.  When kicking and punching the dummy, I noticed that the material used to create the dummy was too soft and the bones were far too weak.  In addition, the punches I delievered were only about 75% of my strength.  From personal experience, I knew that a 75% punch and kick would most likely bruise and cause fracturing, not a clean break.  This dummy was not an actual replica of a human.  But, I couldn't say that to the doctor...

"Thank you, sir.  It's an honor to be so highly praised by you."  I said, bowing my head.  I heard that once, a test subject yelled at the doctor and the Warden tazed the subject.  Once on the ground, the doctor took his coffee and poured the firey liquid into the eyes of the test subject, causing him blindness.  I didn't want to piss off the doctor at all, nor did I want to piss off the Warden.

"No no, 21.  The pleasure was mine.  Please, Warden, escort him back to his cell and give him extra food tonight.  The games begin in only 2 days, so I want every test subject to be at their peek."  The doctor mused, shooing me away with his hand.  The Warden took me back to my cell and placed a large tray in my cell.  On it, there was bread, a slab of cheese, some sort of meat that was flavored with salt and pepper, an apple, a tall glass of water and a small slab of milk chocolate.  I went straight for the chocolate, savoring the rich flavor and sweetness.  The doctor somewhat enjoyed my visits and always rewarded me with some chocolate.  However, today the slab was three times as big as the original portions he gave me.  I took the bread and moved over to my cot.  Pull off the covers, I opened the mattress and pulled out a small package of salt.  Taking the water from the sink, I soaked the bread in the water and salted the bread.  I moved the bread to a cloth where I drained most of the water out.  Placing the bread in the cloth, I hid it behind a brick, where I had stored away 4 other loaves of bread the same way; each was rock hard and unlikely to mold up.  These, I hoped, were to be used in the Death Match coming up soon.  I returned to me food and quickly ate all the food, drinking the water to flush down the bits and pieces of meat and cheese that were stuck on my teeth.  The days wore on as I lay in my cot doing absolutely nothing.  And before long, the Death Match was only 12 hours away.

Nothing could prepare me for what was about to happen.