What are you fighting for?

10. The Danger

The shadows are already dissolving into the nighttime darkness when the fight finally ends. I always knew Zana wasn't bad at fighting, she was a fierce competitor indeed but in no way competition for me. It was no easy duel but I didn't really have to exert myself either.

With all her strength her stick flew down at me and I blocked it, taking the wood in both my hands. I pushed it back and with a dull sound she lands in the sand. My stick on her chest, she knows I won.

In her unreadable face, I see quite clear how annoyed she is. But I can't let her be mad at me, this entire plan is about her liking me just a little bit. So as a peace offering I stretch out my hand for her to take it.

Pushing her stick into my hand, she gets up herself. The anger from her eyes showed the scared child within, the girl knows all too well that she'd be dead by now if this had been a real fight.

As we walk, I glance over at Zana's face, still smoldering underneath her stony expression. For a while we walk in silence side by side.

"Why are you following me?" She snaps as we enter the city.
I stop walking and she faces me, since she was walking a couple feet ahead of me.

"I thought maybe we could eat together"
"There was no delivery and since you tricked them I guess we won't receive one any time soon"

She must have been distracted by her defeat, but i spotted the brown box a couple minutes ago. With big steps I get closer to the package. Reaching it, I turn around to see the astonished girl.

"Come on. Open it" I draw a smile on my face.

Finally, she starts moving and I can tell just by the way she walks that she’s insecure; her shoulders are hunched over, as if she was expecting a creepy clown to jump out of the box. Her footsteps are light and timid as she slowly approaches, watching me through skittish wide eyes.

Detecting a subtle smile on her face I rest my hands on my hips. It all worked out.

It was an ordinary cardboard box with no distinguishing features. There was no mailing address and it was sealed shut with brown tape. If anything the tape was the only unusual thing, it was applied a tad too enthusiastically. Her boney hands had trouble ripping it up.

She opens the cover and immediately my smile vanishes. And so did hers, it died faster than wisps of smoke dissipated after a candle flame has been snuffed out.
A red note.

"We told you to play by the rules" she reads, the monotony in her voice stabbing my gut. I never expected the last phase of my plan to be easy, but today was a complete disaster.
They weren't as easy to play with after all. My whole plan was directed at my competitors, not the game makers. I believed to be the game maker myself, a terrible miscalculation.

Her piercing blue eyes look up to me, raising one eyebrow as if she wanted to say I told you so. But as quickly as her smile had faded away, her face now contorts in shock. The earth is moving.

At first no-one moves, our brains unable to make sense of the input from our ears and feet. The ground is moving and the noise is like extended thunder only worse because the vibrations are coming from below. Then like a switch has been flicked Zana jumps up and grabs my wrist. Looking for safety, it's like we are on autopilot mode that all consuming fear creates. 

It looks like the entire city is falling from the sky and strucks the earth with mighty impact. Buildings start to crumble into their own foundation. I need to find shelter somewhere, there is no time to think as the sky is falling down on us.

Death by crushing. This can't be.
I feel Zanas hands on me before she pushes me to the ground, landing on top of me. My face and arm slide over the cement, ripping open my skin.
A scream, but it's not mine.

As I turn my head I see the brown haired girls face contorted in pain. Her leg is buried under bricks.
With her arms she grabs her thigh and pulls the rest out.
We get up and start running, well she hobbled but I pull her behind me.

As much as I'd like her to just die, I can't let that happen. Everybody would hate me for that and that is the opposite of what I want.

So we run. It feels like forever, we stumble and fall on the shaking ground but get up just as quick. Dust and chunk of the buildings front raining down on us. One arm over our head in the sad attempt to shield it. Back at home they taught us to crawl under a table and wait for the earthquake to be over but this is not home and the earthquake would never stop. The only way to survive is to get out of the area and reach the lake.

Exhausted but happy we step onto the stoney ground and sink to our knees. Zana lays down next to me, her face closed in a grimace. Her skin covered in grey dirt and red blood.
"We need to wash it off" I cough and pull her into the water with me.

Weakly, she sits down in the shallow water.
Stepping further inside, the water envelops me as closely as my own skin. Every new sore stings with the salt being washed in, but it is the only way to avoid infection. I wince as it swirls without mercy, penetrating to the cells that should be protected by smooth skin but lie open and raw. After the initial surge of pain it ebbs.

Wading through the water back to her I start cleaning her wounds as well before she crawls out of the river to pass out on the stones.