Underdogs

FORTY-SIX

❝Insomnia is just another word for chit chat with the demons during bedtime.❞

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Chapter forty-six:

INSOMNIA

His bluish eyes were downcast, staring at the smudges of blood still fresh on the pavement. She scanned him, from his thin arms to his trembling hands, almost able to smell his fright in the humid air. Unfortunately for him, her sympathy had long since been drowned by a powerful sense of survival; she had a role, a task she had to accomplish in order to keep breathing.

Glancing over her shoulder, she caught the eyes of her father and forced back a defeated sigh. Those people were not there to analyse the potential of their little warriors, but to force hope out of her body and turn her into their loyal puppet. They wanted to see her will fade from her brown gaze, to make her into something lethal and void of emotions; a monster with no heart, a machine that would follow their orders without hesitation or compassion.

"Choose a weapon," she recited, like so many times before, while pointing at a splintered table to their right.

There was a short pause as the boy — who looked to be her age, if not younger — lifted his tired gaze to meet her impassive stare, before he walked over to the displayed weapons. There weren't many to choose from: a long, spiked bat; a small blade; and an axe.

Galene waited for him to make his decision, expecting him to go for the biggest or the most impressive before failing completely — like many had before.

However, he did something that caught her interest and would make the difference between dead and alive.

For a fleeting moment, he turned around to look at her and pursed his lips. He was scanning her attributes to calculate his best option when facing her; it became clear to her. His intelligence would be his trump card; the reason he would survive, no matter the outcome of the fight.

He picked up the small blade, before walking back to his designed spot.

"Why did you choose that?" she asked, making a rare move by doing so.

Normally, she would just jump into action, ready to put a quick end to the battle before it had even started. But she was curious, and her question meant everything at that moment.

"Between the three, I would've chosen the bat. But it's turned into a normal bat by now, with the worn-out spikes which wouldn't do much damage and only makes it into a heavy, powerless weapon. I'd venture to guess many have used it to fight you without truly thinking it through, so they ended up smashing it against the floor time after time."

Having not expected such a reply, the girl remained silent and waited for him to continue.

"The axe would be pointless, but I'll explain how obvious it is," he kept on, his frustration towards Everharts finally showing. "You're considerably shorter than me, and that makes it easier for you to dodge any attempt to hit you with such a heavy weapon."

She hummed in understanding, yet her admiration didn't reach her eyes and remained hidden inside.

"For the record, I hate violence," the boy revealed suddenly. "People use it to overpower the weak, but there's no worse feeling than losing an argument or facing your own stupidity."

His speech was enough to impress her, but nothing he said could be enough to save his ass. And by the way his honest voice dropped to a defeated whisper, the boy was aware of his fate. The girl before him was short and thin, like the children in the Underground City. Famine could be notice in her face, exhaustion reflected off her brown eyes; both of them faced a situation