THE DOMINANCE GAMES

CHAPTER 4

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ENTRY NO. 2
1605 HOURS
C-6 JADE SECTOR: ASHTON HEIGHTS
OUR APARTMENT: No. 24
35'C INDOORS
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I lie across the couch with my arm draped loosely over the back rest. The spot where River usually sits remains empty; I don't dare  spread my legs over it. The power has been back on for a while now, but only the soft glow of the T.V lights the apartment. I don't bother to turn on anything else. Why should I?

My eyes drift toward the ceiling.  Was it just this afternoon that River picked me up from the Academy? It feels like an eternity ago.

I think back to when he dropped me of at home. There was something in his eyes before he left, a certain restlessness. But now I would never know why.

Stacks of homework sheets clutter the coffee table. Arithmetic, my favourite subject. Just the way I like it. But I don't dare move from my vigil. It wont take me long to work through the equations anyways.

Silence rings throughout the apartment. It seems emptier, without River being here. I yearn to hear the sound of his leather combat boots squeaking against the wooden floorboards again, the laughter that seemed to fill the all the spaces inside of me. The way he could smile and instantly make me feel like everything will turn out all right.

I have to close my eyes and remind myself to breathe. I think of River's face, of all the memories I have of him, and finally of the moment I was told he had been killed. Then I wipe away at the single tear streaming down my cheek.

“I'll stay with you forever and ever, Ant, No matter what. I promise.”

I learned earlier why the Commander had requested me at the carniege scrapper. Apparently, she's had an eye on me for a long time now. For a very special assignment, that according to her needed more brain than brawn.

"The dominance games." Her words echo in my ears. " We win that tournament, Capital 6 will have enough money for all our needed repairs. The capital wants you, Ant. All you need to do is say the word. Simple as that."

Except it's not as simple as that. The dominance games is no ordinary tournament. River and I used to watch it all the time on television, so I'm acutely aware of the procedures. There are 16 rounds, all held on Dominance Island, one of the most lethal places there are in the Union.

You'll need points to survive. Points you win by getting votes.  Voting costs money. More money = bigger chance of survival.

If you don’t make the point standard by the end of each set time, you're booted of the show and sent to prison. Then your capital can choose to either redeem you ( for a hefty sum of money, of course) or leave you to rot. Most people are left to rot. 

There are only 24 spots in the final round. That's when all the finalists are sent into the jungle to retrieve the dominance stones. First person to retrieve all 16 and make it to the top of Dominance peak wins.

Except you must be the last one standing (Which, thanks to  the mutants that dwell on the Island wont be particularly hard ). It's also going to be rigged, which means mines, smoke bombs, tear gas....

A place I won't last a second in.

I open my eyes with a sigh. My head hurts.

Tibbs suddenly leaps onto my lap, and I stroke her velvet coat absent-mindedly. I gather my thoughts for two hours. Then in the third hour I beep Commander Mirrors. I've made my decision.