Leading them to the dormitory, the guards brought the male contestants to their showers. Actual working showers. Of course, very limited, but showers nonetheless. Nobody can even remember the last time they saw a showerhead, or water as clean as this.

  Cheering, the people quickly stripped, running to claim their showerhead. The guards simply stood by, allowing the contestants to enjoy this small leeway. It was like watching puppies seeing snow for the first time.

  Trying to organize them, a guard said, “Alright guys, don’t use up the soap now. I want everyone spotless by the time you all come out, you here?”

  Agreeing to this, everybody began to cleanse themselves. The dirt and grime washed away from their faces, the blood of contestants washed down with it, draining into the floor.

  Leo washed away the little blood that got in his hair, taking light sips of the shower water falling down on him. It was like drinking purity itself, unlike anything he ever had.

  Finishing up, everybody dried themselves off and got dressed in white shirts and gray pants the guards had given them. Scanning the people, a guard nodded and motioned them to follow him.

  “That felt so nice, I haven’t showered in forever. Never showered like that though!”

  “Right? That water was so clear!”

  Stopping in front of a door, the guard announced, “Alright, you lot will be separated into three dorms now. Each dorm will have many rooms, each for one team. You will be able to roam around your dorm and your dorm only. Anybody coming out of their dorm will be severely punished, is that understood?”

  Everybody nodded, obviously not wanting punishment.

  “Great, please spread out into three groups and follow the guard that approaches you.

  Spreading into three groups, Leo quickly found Anthony and went to the group in the center. Scanning the crowd, across the room, he spotted Diego conversing with a pretty bulky guy.

  Unfortunately, he was in a different group, so Leo couldn’t call out to him.

  ‘I’ll wish you luck, bro.’

  Once everybody organized into three groups, two additional guards came and led the others away, leaving only their group. And one by one, each team was put into their rooms.

  Leo and Anthony were finally brought into their room. Overall, the room was pretty decent, the walls were painted nicely in white with a metal door. The beds had a memory foam mattress with a cotton pillow and wool blankets. There was even a table at the center between the beds. But they both knew it was pretty much a glorified prison cell.

  Before the guards left, Leo quickly asked, “Hey, can you ask the Lieutenant if we can visit the girl he took?”

  Pausing to consider, the guard replied, “I’ll ask about it. No guarantees.” He continued down and left the dorm rooms.

  Hearing the door close, Leo slid down the metal door, he exhaled in relief. Thankful for Amanda’s survival. Meanwhile Anthony faceplanted into the bed, letting out a painful groan.

  Leo put both hands over his face, sliding up to his hair. “We did it, Anthony. And look at this place! An actual foam bed! Can you believe this?”

  Anthony inaudibly replied as he was muffled by the pillow enveloping his face.

  All they had to do now was hope for their visit with Amanda. The Lieutenant seemed to have gotten softer when he saw that display, so maybe he’ll be a little more lenient in regards to her.

  “If we could get someone to vouch for us, we’re in! We just need to prove ourselves to them!”

  Exhausted, Leo got up and, like Anthony, faceplanted into the pillow. Throwing the blankets above himself.

  As he relaxed, the weight of everything came crashing down in a devastating tsunami. Every moment; Sophia’s hollow eyes, Chris’s sacrifice, the dog’s wide, sadistic smile, and the endless violence he saw today. It was just too much.

  But he couldn’t cave in. Not now. Not in front of Anthony.

  Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the cries in his throat. His hands were shaking ever-so-slightly as he remembered the sensation of breaking the man’s bones. Of reaching someone he couldn’t save. His body rose and fell in uneven tremors, each breath feeling as though smoke filled his lungs

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  Nobody could see this, he needed to stay strong not for himself, but for his friends too. If he wasn’t strong now, who would?

  Through the constant shivering, he finally gave in to the exhaustion, falling into a deep slumber with one singular, reassuring thought.

  ‘We survived the first day…’

  The next day

  Waking up, Leo yawned, stretching in place, his eyes widening as his calves tensed.

  ‘Please god no.’

  To prevent disaster, he quickly began massaging his calves.

  Hoping for the best, he looked over to see Anthony had begun doing push-ups on the floor.

  Mid-yawn, Leo asked, “Is this gonna be a constant thing now?”

  Stopping mid-push-up, Anthony replied, “Yep. I can’t stay as I am now can I?”

  He continued the push-ups.

  Leo sat up, stretching himself. His eyes lazily drifted to the door only to flinch at the sight of Patrick peeking through the slits of the door.

  Leo quickly fell back down beneath his sanctuary under the blanket, but alas, Patrick was aware.

  Banging on the metal door, Patrick yelled, “Leo! They’ve got breakfast, come! Wake up already!”

  All he wanted to do was strangle Patrick, silence him for good.

  He heard Connie’s voice behind Patrick, “Please just come. He won’t shut up otherwise…”

  ‘Ahhhhhhh…’

  He tearfully got up and opened the door. Welcomed by a sudden bear hug lifting him off the ground, practically kidnapping him into the shared space of the door where they were handing out the breakfast.

  Patrick got in line, dropping Leo beside him, with Connie trailing not far behind them like a shy cat.

  Excitedly, Patrick exclaimed, “I heard it’ll be toast with jam we’re eating today! I haven’t had toast before, but I heard it was good! I can’t wait!”

  Looking blankly at Connie, he could see she had the same deadpan face as he had. It was probably this similarity that she welcomed him so quickly despite her cold attitude towards him.

  She just wanted someone else to suffer in her stead.

  ‘I’ll remember this…’

  Finally, he got his plate. But the guard paused for a second, informing him that the Lieutenant had allowed for their visit to Amanda, as long as he could remain with them.

  Agreeing to the terms, Leo took his tray and sat next to Connie with Patrick in front. The food was yellow rice with two pieces of chicken breast with a side of black beans. They even gave an apple!

  Not wasting any time, Leo devoured the food. The taste was phenomenal, and it seemed that the other two had the same thoughts as they quickly emptied their plates.

  With a full stomach, Leo got up and returned his plate to the guard, thanking him for the meal. And returned to his seat.

  Connie suddenly asked, “Say, you knew that girl in the finale, didn’t you? The one that got ganged up on.”

  Surprised by this initiative, Leo replied, “Yeah, she’s a good friend of mine. Why?”

  “No, just wondering. She seems like a nice girl, but how nice can someone be in this world, right? When you visit her later, could you just ask her if I could… um…” She leaned in to whisper, not letting Patrick hear. “Could you ask her to give me some flowers too…?”

  “What, you like flowers or something?”

  She gave him a nasty glare. “Well, if you’re not gonna do it just say so! No need to judge.”

  “I mean, I can, but why don’t you ask her yourself?”

  Connie quietly mumbled, “I just don’t wanna scare her, especially with my first impression in the fight…”

  ‘The hell? She’s just shy.’

  “Uh, sure…”

  “Really? Thanks!” Though her face remained expressionless, he could see her eyes beaming at the thought of receiving flowers from Amanda.

  ‘Weirdos…the lot of them.’

  “Well, I might as well visit her now, I’ll see y’all later.” Waving, he left the table and went to Anthony, asking him to come visit Amanda now.

  “Uh, where’s the Medbay again?”

  “...”

  “...”

  ‘I completely forgot to ask.’

  Quickly, they went back to the center where the guards were handing out food and asked one for directions. They pointed down the hall left of their room.

  “There’ll be a sign that says ‘Medbay’ on it, you won’t miss it.”

  Thanking the guard, they quickly went down the hall. The eerily long hallway was poorly lit with flickering lightbulbs every now and then. But they finally got to the Medbay’s door.

  Standing before the door, Leo hesitated. The silence on the other side worried him.

  “Ready?” Anthony asked.

  Taking a deep breath, Leo replied, “Yeah.”

  And together they walked into the Medbay.