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Question upon question upon question.
I groaned as I pressed my fists to the floor and shoved myself up onto my feet. My bones cracked and my joints crunched as they healed and slotted themselves into place.
I pressed my face to the front of my cage. The animals were always treated the worst, and now I was considered among their number.
Across the way were a series of strange and magnificent creatures. It always broke my heart when I had to lay them to rest. I never let them live. To do so was cruelty. They shouldn’t have been shackled in here. They should have been free and proud somewhere out in the wilds of one planet or another.
Not cooped up in here.
I was much like them. The only innocent man in this infernal place.
Perhaps my end would be a mercy too. It would end my suffering and I too would be allowed to roam free.
The Survivor battles involved me fighting one opponent after another until I was so exhausted I couldn’t stand and fight any longer.
They would kill me, and it wouldn’t be quick. It would be slow and drawn out. Once they laid me to rest, they would become the new champion.
Then the others would fight and vie for the right to challenge the champion.
Enjoy it while you can, buddy. You won’t be the champion for long.
I had always spent my time fighting and shying away from using my ability. If I wanted to survive as long as I could in the pit and figure out a way of gaining access to the lab, I was going to need to buy myself time and use every advantage I had.
That meant not being shy about using my ability. It would be on show for all to see.
When the guards came to my cage, I knew what I had to do. I had to put on a good show.
It was what the audience—both the inmates and the Supervisor—wanted.
19
IVY
I banged on the wall for twenty minutes after they dragged Kren’s unconscious body from the lab. I paused every few minutes to try and regain the same focus I had achieved earlier and break through the barrier.
It wouldn’t come to me. I grew agitated and banged on the wall again with my fists.
Somehow, I’d managed to break through the barrier. It hurt but it was better than being cooped up in here. If it’d been faster and less shocked by what I’d managed to achieve, I might have escaped.
But I’d been too busy staring at the handsome lug sat in the chair.
I sighed. Even if I had managed to get out of here, what was I going to do about the guards? I couldn’t leave Kren behind.
And now he was out there, about to be plunged into something called a “Survivor Challenge.” He would be surrounded by enemies, and eventually, one of them was going to do what the others were only threatening.
They were going to beat him.
Worse, they were going to kill him.
And it’d been my fault. I shouldn’t have tried to show him where I was. The Supervisor was going to kill him anyway.
And where did that leave me?
On the wrong side of Shitsville. That’s where.
“Fuck!” I said, kicking the padded wall. “Fucking asshole!”
I unloaded into the wall, pummeling it with my fists and feet, head and elbows…
