The next morning, Leo got up, yawning. Another day of torture. What did they have in store today?
Almost as if to answer his thought, the emotionless female voice spoke up again. “Please leave your rooms and meet in the large room down the right hallway.”
Leo slipped his uniform on and pushed open his door. He closed it behind him, and joined the mass of kids heading down the hallway.
The crowd eventually led him to an enormous room, constructed completely out of concrete, of course, benches and tables lined up through it. Leo gazed at the room curiously. What was it? A cafeteria?
“This room shall be open today for forming alliances, and creating enemies. Any acts of violence outside of the arena are not tolerable, and the punishment shall be severe.” The voice spoke again.
“Allies, huh…” Leo muttered to himself.
He glanced at the people nearest to him. All people he didn’t know, so he thought of the people he knew from his classes. He’d never ally with the sorts of Elizabeth. Alan and Anastasia obviously don't want to fit anyone in between them. Michael… He didn’t know him. And even though Hannah didn’t seem bad, she wasn’t the kind of person you’d want to ally with.
At that moment, Leo regretted not putting much effort into making friends. He’d always sat in the middle of the classroom, quietly working, and getting decent grades. Never had he tried to talk to the people sitting next to him.
He sighed, and sat down on a bench. Guess I’ll be alone. Leo thought glumly.
Across the room, Michael eyed Elizabeth. Maybe… Maybe one more try wouldn’t hurt. Right?
He took a deep breath and walked through her crown of admirers, until he faced Elizabeth herself.
“Elizabeth, I thought I’d ask one more time and-“
She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s a no Michael.”
“But-“
“Nu uh. Run on and find some other person to leech off of, kay?”
“Elizabeth-“
“Now what did I say? Get out of my face before I kill you!”
Michael scurried away, moving across the room.
Everyone was in small groups, talking quietly and pointing at the occasional person. Except for one person. What was his name again? Lee? Lucas? Leon?
It doesn’t matter. Michael thought to himself. I need an ally, and right now, he’s my best shot.
Michael walked up to him, and sat down next to him. “Hey…”
Leo turned to face him. “Let me guess. You want to be allies, right?”
“Yeah…”
“Okay, that sounds great.”
“Err… this is going to sound bad, but can I ask you what your name was?
“Yeah. It’s Leo. Leo Calderwood. You’re Michael, right?”
“Yep, I’m Michael. Sorry for not knowing you name… I mean, Elizabeth left me in the dust, and you were the only free person… Ah, no offense or anything!”
“Well, I can see why. I’ve never done anything worthwhile at school, I never tried to make friends. Anyway. Elizabeth left you right? Can I say that I’m not surprised?”
“Not even sure why I bothered, to be honest. I mean, Elizabeth? Joining someone like me?”
Leo nudged him jokingly. “The phone kid.” he laughed, referencing the nickname someone had given him a while back.
“My phone is my lifeline! I need to have it for sanity, you know? Like, seriously. That’s why I had to sneak it in.”
“Sneak your phone in, huh? Not bad, not bad at all.”
“They really didn't spend any time checking us.”
“True.”
A voice coughed beside them. “Excuse me?”
“Hannah, hi.” Leo said quietly.
“Hey Leo. I was wondering… Can I please join you two? Pretty please? I can cook, like with wood and animals and stuff, just as long as you kill them, and I can-“
“Hannah, this isn’t an auction. You’re not selling yourself. Join us.” Michael said, patting the seat beside him.
Leo shot him a glare, which he ignored.
“So, you say you can cook?” Michael said, bringing it up as a joke.
“Oh, yes! My mother always had me cook for the family every Sunday, after my father got back from hunting. They always wanted to do things the old way, so we got one of those fake campfires and set it up in our sink, and I cooked whatever he hunted. Now that I think of it, it was actually pretty cool… I hated it at the time but now…”
“You don’t miss what you have until it’s gone, right?” Michael said absentmindedly, seeming to be lost in memories of his own.
A tear ran down Hannah’s cheek. “I hate this!” she shrieked. “I hate it so much!”
All the groups near her moved a fair distance away.
“I just… I just want to go home! I want to sleep in my bed! I want to-“
Elizabeth materialized like magic. “Awwww, is the little baby having a tantrum?” she said mockingly. “Missing her darling mummy and daddy? Such a shame they won’t be here to protect you when I slit your throat…”
“Hey!” A guard shouted.
She ran up and grabbed both Elizabeth and Hannah.
“I’m going to give the two of you a lecture.” She said, dragging them out of the room.
Leo shook his head. “I’m glad she interrupted when she did. I just don’t know what I would have done if it went on.”
“No need to place ourselves higher on Elizabeth’s kill list, right?” Michael responded.
Out of the corner of his eye, Michael saw a head of blonde hair that looked awfully familiar.
He shook his head. Seeing ghosts Michael? Come on! You know that she moved back to France a little while after that incident two years ago.
“You alright?” Leo asked.
“Yeah.” Michael stammered. “I just- I just thought I saw someone I used to know.”
Alright guys. This marks the end of the redo of the first five chapters. Now, I can finally go on and write new chapters! Not that those redos weren't new enough anyway. I mean, I did completely throw out entire plotlines and add new ones. But anyway! I'm excited to be able to write more of this story at last, and I hope that you're all just as excited to read it.