What are you fighting for?

6. The Deal

Pang

Suddenly, another shot resounds. The ball whistles through the air until it meets the flesh of Merces forehead. Pushing him back into the ground before he disappears into hundreds of blue pixels.

Her arms shoot up and Zana aims her gun from the place where Merce laid to Adyn.

Her brows pull together, making her eyes smaller in anger. Her fist clench around the handle, ready to pull the trigger and end it all.
Burning rage hisses through her body like deathly poison, screeching a demanded release in the form of unwanted violence. It was like a volcano erupting; fury sweeping off her like ferocious waves.

But something lames her. It's something she has seen in several movies. The person with the gun wants to shoot but as soon as her finger touches the trigger it freezes. She never understood why. In her eyes it was so easy.

Adyn steps closer, his arms in the air, surrendering. It would be so easy to end it but there  is something she needs to know.

"It was planned all along" her voice trembling.
"The woods. When we split up, Merce went to look for you and tell you about our plans. So you sent Soleil and Runyon as patrol. When I got too close to your meeting point she attacked me.
The bomb was not to kill Kaiora" she gulps
"Although that probably was a happy side effect for you. You knew that once the bomb detonated someone would fight and die. It was to create a diversion to help Merce escape"

She has never been so close to the enemy. His face has softened and she notices his pretty features but a pretty face wasn't going to safe him now.

"You sacrificed your team. One by one. Why?"

With anticipation she awaits his answer, the seriousness in his face scaring her.

"There are no allies in this game. In the end, only one person stands, wins. If you and your boyfriend were the last two, what would you've done?" Adyns voice calm and low
"I knew from the beginning that I couldn't fight 39 other competitors. I knew I only had to fight the last one and that is you. But... I don't want to fight. In fact I want to propose a deal.
Could you lower your gun for that?" His eyebrows raise and a mild smile appears on his face.

Zana shifts on her feet, the gun stays where it is. His mind was still a surging perplexity for her.

"I have one question for you, Zana Burris. Do you think of yourself as a leader?"
After Zana stays silent he continues "Because I think I've proven over the time here that I am a leader. I want to leave this as a winner but I'd like to convince you, that I'm the right one for this job. How about we live in peace for a month and if you aren't convinced that I'll be a good head of states, then you can kill me right here" he points to the ground of the arena.

Little salty pearls of sweat run down Zanas face. May it be from the sun burning on her head or the pressure of the situation.

Slowly, she lowers her hands and lays the gun on the floor.
"Trust is to be earned" she whispers before she turns around and leaves.

Overwhelmed.
She just wanted to stop the fighting and the losing people. She didn't want to be left alone. Never would she have imagined to be so affected by it. Zana came into this arena with a goal and everything she did in this game was to get her closer to that goal.

Angry.
Easily, she could have ended everything and returned to her home. But then those words fell out of her mouth. Adyn was right, she is not a leader, a leader would've just shot the enemy right there. But then he held that speech. Adyn is no leader either, he sacrificed his people to win. He is cold, colder than she will ever be. But then he held that speech, making the people believe he wants piece and freedom. Zana knows him better than that but if she shot him right there she would've been the one who killed the surrendering, diplomatic guy. It was a good plan, from the beginning, she had to admit that. However, Zana will expose him and show the world how he really is.

Alone she stands in their headquarter, a room that was once full of people.

There is a scream from deep within that forces its way from Zanas mouth, it is as if her terrified soul has unleashed a demon. All she feels is anger, all she feels is that she doesn't want to be alone, but Adyn played his game and she couldn't trust anyone, it was safer, easier to choose not to get attached to the people that she misses now.

The scream tore through the empty building like a great shard of glass. She feels her eyes widen and pulse quicken, her heart thudding like a rock rattling in box. The scream came again, desperate, terrified... human. Everything that she locked away when she entered this world.
The blood drained from the girls face, before she was even aware of making a conscious decision her legs were pounding furiously on the hard ground, her ears straining for more sounds, more clues as to where it had come from.
Yet these fists clench and her teeth lock up once the sound is out.

The anger unloads and she throws and shatters until the room is torn apart.

The raven haired girl lays on the ground, hers face closed in a grimace, skin pale and clammy. Every few minutes she would scream, not like one of those guys in some horror movie being tortured, but worse. It had a raw quality, the realness of a person consumed by a pain that knew no end or limit. Then she would go quiet, just panting. Keon should have been there at her side, at least then she wouldn't have been alone in his torture.

It was all so clear and easy. Kill everyone and win. Be the last one standing.
But then Adyn started this web of decisions, plans and intrigues. Now she doesn't know what to do. How to expose him. One month is not much.
Where is Kaiora now? To help with the plan and give her that reassuring smile.
Where is Keon? To calm her down and share a laugh.

There is a difference between being alone and being lonely.
Zana liked being alone, getting on top of this building and watching over the landscape in quietness.
She was never lonely though. She had her team, her friends, her family.
Loneliness is not chained to being alone. But right now it is.

A sigh breaks the silence she created.

Get your head straight, she thinks to herself. The plan is her priority now.

Zana just has to walk away for a while, see this "elephant" from a few miles away, figure it out.

And there is only one place to go.
The lake.