V2Ch13-The Popular Kids

Gradually, the other members of Mina’s group agreed to share with the opposing team.

She thought the teenager and the older gentleman who had initially objected remained a little reluctant. But they conceded, perhaps because everyone knew that she had been the main actor in solving the challenge.

The huddle broke up, and the victorious team members each grabbed their sack and began dividing the provisions. The other team looked on in what appeared to be confusion.

Mina was the first to approach the white line on the ground. She’d produced a large napkin from within her Small Bag of Deceptive Dimensions, and she now spread it on the ground and placed half of her food on the napkin.

“What’s this?” one of the young men from the other team asked, approaching.

Mina looked up at him. The young man looked tall and fit, with a mop of blonde hair and a suspicious scowl.

“It’s food,” Mina said simply. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t all eat, just because the proctor decided to give only one side provisions. So some of us are sharing. Hopefully other people will follow the example.”

“But why?” Another young man on the other side spoke up. He was Hispanic, a little shorter than the first guy, but well built. His cheeks were pockmarked with acne scars.

“I just said why,” Mina replied brightly. She wrapped the napkin up as best she could, and she used a stone she picked up to push the bundle of food across the white line. The proctor had said earlier that they couldn’t cross it, and she didn’t want to risk any consequences from doing so herself.

“Alright then,” the blonde guy said shakily. His eyes were momentarily distracted from Mina as he saw her other team members follow suit and share their provisions.

She rose to her feet slowly and dusted off her clothing.

“Good luck to both of us in the next round,” she said. “I would shake your hand, but I still don’t know if we can cross the line.”

“For sure,” the blonde guy said. “Ah, and my name is Keith! Forgetting my manners.”

He picked up the food Mina had put down with a look of relief. Now that he seemed sure enough that this wasn’t a trick, he looked almost embarrassed.

“I’m Mina,” she said. “Here with my sister Yulia.” She gestured to Yulia, who was placing half of her food nearby too.

“Andy,” the Hispanic guy said, stepping closer to pick up the food Yulia had given. “And you guys are awesome. I’ll compete against you anytime.”

“Yeah,” Keith said, now fully smiling. “No one has to go hungry, right?”

“That’s what I think,” Mina said. “Maybe—”

Suddenly she found herself back in the snowy Orientation space.

“Whoa!” Yulia said from next to her.

“So sudden,” Mina said.

And the proctor was there again, standing in her same position from before.

[Our sincerest congratulations to the challenge winners! As promised, all provisions have been provided to them. They are yours to do with what you wish, without restrictions or interference from us. New housing has been constructed for our winners.]

The proctor gestured toward new buildings that had somehow been thrown up alongside the old ones. They were similar in exterior appearance, but twice the height of the old buildings. And they also looked fresher somehow.

[You will not be able to enter the new housing unless you have successfully won a challenge. Please do not attempt to enter, for your own health.]

“Hey, what about provisions for the rest of us?!” Someone shouted.

[Those who failed to successfully win the challenge are welcome to hunt for food. Alternatively, you can wait for the next challenge, which will be held in three days.]

“That’s bullshit!” That same voice called out again. Mina could see him now. Around twenty feet away from her. A small, sweaty man with a noticeable gut. Surely he can’t be starving yet, she thought. Doesn’t he know how dangerous this situation is?

[Any further interruptions to these announcements will be met with immediate death.]

“I don’t believe you. Hey, guys, this person has a body just like us. We can take h—Yeeaaarghhh!”

A horrible, inhuman noise filled the air where the man had been standing. An invisible force had come down on him and crushed him into the snow. What was left was a large blood smear where he’d been, some internal organs, and odds and ends of the body that had managed to go flying away from the impact zone. The men and women around the troublemaker looked stricken. Blood and bits of gore caked their clothing and skin.

Something tapped her foot, and Mina looked down to see an eyeball had managed to roll all the way to her. She covered her mouth to keep from vomiting.

Oh my God! Why would she do that?! He was just a loudmouth. He obviously wasn’t a threat to her!

[As I was saying, another challenge will be held in three days. You have time to change up the memberships of your teams. We will hear any verbal statements made regarding team structure, and we will take such statements into account. For example, you could tell one member that they are no longer a part of your team, in which case we will assume that they are in a team on their own until someone states otherwise. If you do not make any verbal statements regarding such a change, your team will simply be teleported to the challenge location when the next event arrives. Best of luck, and well done in the first competition!]

And the proctor was gone once again.

Silence ruled the air for a few frozen seconds.

“The System feels more monstrous the more time we spend with it,” Mina said to Yulia quietly.

“Yep,” Yulia said. The tone carried the connotation, ‘Duh!’

“Let’s go to our new room, sweet. I don’t feel entirely safe out here among everyone. People will be on edge after a death right in front of us.”

“How about I walk you both to your new housing?” Detective DaSilva approached.

“That would be welcome, sir,” Mina smiled gratefully. “Honestly, I feel a bit queasy. Best for me to get behind closed doors.”

“Sure,” DaSilva said sympathetically. He offered his elbow, and Mina grabbed it. With Yulia on her other side, Mina felt well insulated from the crowd, which had begun to murmur with discontent now.

“Tensions are getting high, Detective,” Mina commented quietly.

“I know it, Ms. Danailova. I know it. But what can we do?” he replied.

“There’s very little,” she granted.

“I think you’ve already done what there was possible to do, in terms of lowering tensions. I’m starting to realize how wise your choice was. Imagine if you had to try to hold onto all that food now, with no white line separating you from the other team. I’d probably have had to shoot some of those fellows.”

“You definitely did the right thing, sis,” Yulia agreed. She was looking around. Clearly noticing, to Mina’s chagrin, the teenaged boys in the crowd around them.

She tried not to groan as she thought of how annoying it would be to keep Yulia apart from the boys in this place. Especially the ones who had won their challenges. There would surely be no sex segregation in the new housing as there had been in the old.

Although Mina hadn’t taken a survey of all of the winners of the challenge, she had seen that most of those carrying sacks of provisions were men. Not everyone was carrying them openly. Some had stowed them in the Small Bags of Deceptive Dimensions, as Mina, Yulia, and DaSilva had after splitting their food with the other competitors. But if the people Mina had seen were at all representative of the challenge winning population generally, the new housing would be predominantly male-occupied.

As long as the doors lock, it’ll be fine, she told herself. Yulia isn’t stupid. She won’t let strangers into our space. And I’ll make sure to remind her what a bad idea that would be.

As the three of them drew close to the entrance to one of the new buildings, the murmurs of the crowd broke into shouting.

“You bastards have to share—”

“Get your own!”

“Calm down, everyone!” A voice that had become a bit familiar over the last day or so broke through the noise. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Detective DaSilva had turned to look at the tumult, and he let out a small exclamation under his breath.

“Shit!” he swore.

Mina and Yulia turned to see what he was looking at, and they saw the self-appointed leader walking toward them.

I know I heard his name somewhere before now, Mina thought. Her mind raced, trying to think of what to say when he made it to them. And what he might want.

But the leader closed the distance quickly.

“I’m Paul,” he said brusquely. “Don’t think we’ve met. Need to ask you folks a few questions. I’m sure you understand.”

He’s speaking loudly, so that the rest of the mob can hear him, Mina realized. Making us some kind of scapegoat?

“Paul, you said?” Mina began.

He didn’t acknowledge her question at all. “First question. Is it true?”

“Is what true?” Mina exaggerated her accent slightly. “I sorry, English is not my first language.” She spoke at a similarly elevated volume to ensure the crowd would hear her answers to Paul’s questions as well.

“Is it true you had extra food that you’ve shared with the other team from your challenge?!” Paul asked hotly.

“Um, no,” Mina said. She shook her head and tried to put on a perplexed look. “No extra food.”

“Then they’re lying?” Paul asked. “This is a serious matter, so be careful how you answer.”

“We just shared what the System gave—”

“That’s what I’m talking about! Extra food, so you had enough to share! How much did the System give you? Not all of us were given enough to share!” He continued to speak at the top of his voice, as if the conversation included the whole mob of people outside.

“No extra!” Mina said. “Same as them!” She pointed at one of the people who still had a sack of food visible.

“I don’t think—”

“Listen, buster!” Detective DaSilva placed himself between Paul and Mina and began poking Paul in the chest with his right index finger as he spoke. “I know the bullshit you’re trying to do. It isn’t going to work, and you’d better quit it before you get a bullet right here! This situation is already volatile enough, and you’re making it worse!”

With his free hand, DaSilva was gesturing for Mina and Yulia to retreat into the champions’ quarters. Mina noticed and gently pulled Yulia back with her. As soon as she felt the tug, Yulia moved quickly to retreat into the building without further prompting.

As Mina retreated into the building herself, she heard the sounds of heated argument from more than just the alleged leader and Detective DaSilva. Others had gathered, too, without her noticing until she was on the threshold. She recognized it was unsafe for her to stay any longer, though.

People were angry.

She and Yulia went up the stairs hand in hand. They heard more people entering the building as they neared the top, so they ducked into the first room they came to.

They locked the door behind them and retreated further into the room. They could hear muffled sounds of people moving in the building behind them, and they didn’t want to confront any of these people, whether there were many or a few.

“At least we made it to a room,” Mina said, trying and failing to smile.

Yulia wrapped her arms around Mina and buried her face in her sister’s shoulder.

Mina felt Yulia’s hot tears through her jacket, and she held her little sister close.

Before she could say anything comforting, there was a pounding at the door.

“They’re in here!” A male voice proclaimed.

Then there was Detective DaSilva’s voice. “Get away from there, asshole!”

“Huh? Who do you think you are?!”

There was a sound of someone being struck. A thud. Then several more thuds, increasingly distant.

A few seconds passed. Then another set of knocks on Mina and Yulia’s door, much gentler.

“Ladies?” DaSilva’s voice again. “Coast is clear out here. Fellows got the message and cleared out!”

Mina started to move toward the door, but Yulia was holding her tight.

“What if they’re making him say that?!” Yulia hissed.

“I’ll check the peephole, sweet,” Mina said reassuringly.

If they can get into the building, I have no doubt they could break down this door. It’s just wood as far as I could tell. Normal wood.

Yulia stayed back, her face red and teary and buried in her hands, while Mina walked slowly toward the door. The baby was starting to move inside her, and she imagined he was agitated by all the noise, the sudden running and shouting, and perhaps his mother’s stress.

It’ll be alright, little one, she thought. She imagined herself sending calming energy down into her womb, although she realized such thoughts were silly and mystical even as she had them.

She looked through the peephole. Detective DaSilva looked like he would have a black eye tomorrow, and he was missing the collar button from his shirt, but he was otherwise alright.

She still felt a bit reluctant to open the door.

“Thank you for protecting us, Detective!” she called through the wood. “Did you get hurt?”

DaSilva smiled. “Nothing I can’t handle, ma’am. I’ve been in my fair share of fights over the years. Even if I occasionally get knocked down, I’ve never lost yet!”

Probably better not rely on him too much, Mina couldn’t help but think. A very well-intentioned man, but someone who says things like that will inevitably lose a fight eventually, at exactly the wrong moment.

“Do you need healing?” Mina asked.

He shook his head, then seemed to remember there was a door between them. “No, ma’am. I just wanted to let you know it’s safe out here for now. I’ll be staying across the hall from you in case anyone else gets any funny ideas. I might come back a bit later to talk to the two of you. Probably best if we keep a low profile the next day or so. I’d rather not have to shoot Paul. He’s not such a bad fellow, though he made a serious mistake here.”

If that’s what you call a mistake, I wonder what being a bad fellow would look like!

“Thank you again, Detective! Please let us know if you need anything from us.”

“Of course!” Detective DaSilva looked at the door for a moment, then went into the room across the hall from them and stayed there.

I’m glad he didn’t ask me to let him in. Yulia could’ve been right about other people forcing him to talk to us. But refusing would’ve been awkward.

Mina walked back to Yulia and took the room in afresh. Now that she saw what it was like, it was clear that it was an upgrade on the first room they’d shared.

There were still two beds, but they were larger. There was charming, old-fashioned furniture. Two dark wood vanities with three mirrors mounted on top and wooden desk chairs placed in front. The window was fairly small, as the window to the first room had been, but it was bigger. The room itself was larger, as well. And Mina didn’t expect they’d need to share the space with anyone. After all, the champions’ buildings had at least one extra floor each based on height. And they would only have half as many occupants as the first buildings had needed to accommodate.

This is a nice reward, Mina thought. If only people weren’t so irrational, we could enjoy it properly…

She put an arm around Yulia again and embraced her. The two lay down and held each other in silence for a long time.

“Why are they treating us like this?” Yulia asked eventually. “You just tried to help people!”

“They’re not in control of their situation,” Mina said. “They want someone to blame. They think that having someone to blame would mean they have a way of solving the problem. In all times and places, I think people behave this way when they’re afraid. That Paul probably thought they would turn on him if he didn’t solve the problem, so he jumped to blaming us. It was the easiest way he could think of.”

She shook her head wearily. And in time, the two of them slept.