Second Wind

Chapter 9: When One Gazes Too Long Into the Abyss...

"WOOH!" Zero cheered as I jogged lightly over to her from out of the Arena. I had won the fight that had upped me up to the ravager rank. My knuckles were split from the knock-out I had given, and my face was sure to have a black eye, but I was pumped.

"Eleven more fights and you'll be a liberator like me!" she told me, giving me a high five. I enthusiastically returned it. There was a sudden weight on my back, and a voice cheering directly into my ear. "GO VYPER!" it yelled.

"Talk about an Angel on my shoulder," I muttered, allowing Angel to hitch a ride on my back to the mess hall. Zero and Angel waited in line to get my food and theirs while I went to our table.

The blonde haired girl plopped a sandwich and a snack-sized bag of chips in front of me. She crunched on a pear, glancing at me. I looked over to her curiously, "What?"

"You're rising faster than I thought."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means people will be out to get you, stop you from getting higher. Just watch your back, that's all."

"Hey, c'mon Zero. Let's just be happy she's doin' well in Deadlock. Most people like her take at least two months to form a strong routine," Angel reminded her. At least Angel was positive, I thought.

Zero responded with another juicy bite of her pear, causing juice to dribble down her chin. She didn't even bother to wipe it off, either. What a barbarian.

"So, I got a question," I started. Angel and Zero looked to me. "Are we allowed to leave, as in go get food or something? Like, there's a bunch of cars out in the parking lot, but they're barely any people who leave." Zero was the one who answered this one.

"Once you get to a liberator rank and above, you're allowed to leave. But you have to be back by eleven o'clock or you're in for a terrible hazing from Snakebite himself," she told me. I felt a surge of anger. I couldn't see my best friend, my Impala, until I got up to liberator, and who knew how long that would take.

"I feel you. But the good thing is that you can leave if you're accompanied by a liberator. AKA me!" Zero told. I nodded; fair enough. As long as I could get out soon, I would be fine.

"One last thing... How can you tell who's a renegade?"

Angel's response was interrupted by Snakebite over the intercom, "Next up is... Vyper and Whiplash!"

Son of a bitch. I why the fuck would he put me up twice? I considered not going up there, but I knew Snakebite would have my ass.

I saw the look on Angel's face that told me she feared the worst. "Look at the jackets," she finished. I didn't have any idea what kind of answer that was, but I didn't have any time to ask about that too.

"Pray for me," I hissed before bolting out of the mess hall. I round the corner of the Verge sharply, almost over turning due to the momentum. I sprinted down the main hallway, shouldering my way through the mosh pit of cheering people and bursting into the Arena.

I was there first. I steadied my breathing, taking deep breaths in from my nose and exhaling lightly from my mouth. It was an athlete's breath; it kept a steady heart rate and prevented shortness of breath. I knew that I was going to need all the tricks up my sleeve...

I reached into the pocket of my shorts, and felt my phone, in its otterbox, there. There was nothing in the apparently unspoken code of Deadlock that spoke against using weapons. It made sense that most people would, yet they didn't. Maybe it was considered a bitch move, but at the time I really didn't care. All I wanted was to win. If that meant being a pussy, so be it.