From across the room, I saw a tall, blue-haired man in front of his storage bin. His jaw clenched as he stood in front of his storage box.
"What's with the disruption? What's happening here?" Marcus stood in between the two, holding the accuser back.
He paused, taking a minute to try to digest the situation.
"He thinks I took his necklace." The tall, blue-haired man replied. "But I didn't."
"I see," Marcus looked over at the other man, a vein was poking out of his neck. "Look, if Ameil says he didn't take your necklace, I have to believe him. He is not the type of man to do so."
Then, the other row leader came into the frame. "Well, if he didn't take it, there shouldn't be a problem looking." He towered above everyone else, creating a sense of presence.
"Burr, we both know there would be no reason to take a necklace." Burr stared at him almost like he was trying to intimidate him, "There is a reason if it was made of ember stones." He turned his face, looking back at his rowmate. "Just like you have to believe your rowmate, I have to believe mine."
Marcus, knowing he could not lash out, clenched his hand. "You say that, but how does he even know that he stole it?"
"How do we know he didn't?" Burr let out. Tilting his head, letting his arms out, he said, "Clearly, the simple solution to this is to just let him check his storage box. There shouldn't be any harm to it, should there? I mean, unless you want to make a pact of death and have him test it out."
A pact of death would put one of their lives on the line. It would make sure that the person was telling the truth. It was often used in court so people wouldn't commit perjury—if they did, they would drop dead on the spot.
It could also be used to bet people's lives on the line when betting on something or making a deal. It put most people's minds at ease when doing this.
Marcus hesitated for a moment. He stepped back, walking past his rowmate. "Show him, Amiel. You stole nothing, right?" He turned his head slightly to make sure Amiel could hear him.
"Yeah," he replied.
"Then there shouldn't be any issues."
Amiel stood there frozen. His expression didn't change much, but he was paler than before.
Turning back, Marcus spoke to Burr and his group, "Go ahead. Search." Without a moment of hesitation, Mark scavenged inside the storage bin.
After a few seconds of digging in there at the very bottom, a gold necklace with an ember stone hanging from it shone.
Amiel stood in silence while whispers were heard across the bunker. Marcus walked toward him, and a loud clap rang reverberating on the bunker's walls. He slapped him across the face.
Marcus turned to Burr and bowed. "Let me apologize for Amiel's actions. This will not happen again." As he unbowed, he turned towards everyone in the bunker, letting out his arms. "To everyone here, I want this to be known: Amiel is no longer a part of our alliance. That means he is a stray. Do with this knowledge as you wish." Amiel stared at the ground in shock.
"Does this work as a form of punishment for you?" Marcus spoke, facing Burr.
Burr, keeping a straight face, replied, "This will do just fine."
The whole commotion died down, simply to be filled by murmurs. No one in this room knew what happened. Then, from my peripheral vision, a golden-haired boy came toward me. It was Ael.
"Uh, why is the air so tense?" I stared at him.
***
"Wow, that was fast." Ael stared off into the distance where the event transpired. "Didn't expect fights to break out that quick. Honestly, I thought it was going to take a bit longer."
As he turned towards me, he asked, "How are you holding up?"
"Fine," I replied.
Ael returned to a sarcastic expression. "What a blunt answer."
"Well, there isn't much to it." Not lingering around, I get up from my bed. "I'm going to take a shower."
Ael just stared as I walked off.
As I walked away, I could see people being more tense, and why wouldn't they be? Now that this happened, people would be more wary of their valuables. Especially since we are so limited in them.
Upon returning from showering, I glanced over at Amiel, curious about the whole situation. He was being ignored by everyone, even his friends. He was just sitting on his bed.
Even with row C abandoning Amiel, I doubt their trust will be back to the level it was. It's not like there was much to begin with.
When an alliance is formed, mutual trust is needed. That or mutual benefit. The only issue is that all that would be thrown out the window at one point or another. At one point or another, everyone would have to kill each other. The question is, just how long until then?
'Dumbasses.'
As I get up to my bed, I peek to see Ael on the top bunk. "Ael, would you like to trade some of this food for your energy bars?"
Ael, looking confused, asked, "Why?"
"Well, I haven't been able to get sleep. I need something to keep me energized."
"Sure, just go ahead and grab it from my storage bin."
"Perfect, thank you."
I go through his storage bin, taking the energy bars. But as I closed the bin, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. The officer is talking to the person at the end of this row.
'That's weird.'
I haven't seen the officer get up from his desk bed area since we got here.
"Ael, look."I tapped the railing on the bed to grab his attention. He got up from lying, his head poked through.
"Oh, that is interesting."
"Right, what do you think that can be about?" Ael relaxed his head on the edge of the bed. "Who knows? All I know is that he hasn't talked once to any of us since we got here."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too." Still staring at the officer, he turned to find me staring at him. He smiled just to walk away a few moments later. "Well, I guess that's that," Ael said.
"Seems like it."
Not taking my eyes off the officer, he returned to his desk and continued the book he was reading the other day. 'How interesting can that book even be?'
I didn't trust the officer much, seeing as he was learning what to do on the spot. Then there was the fact that he was insane, talking about a second awakening. He was second to Ael himself.
But I noticed something about Ael. He was rational in a sense. When he killed, it seemed like there was a reason for it; otherwise, I'm was sure he would have killed me by now—but the officer, not so much.
He waited for people to fight to the death just to see who would earn the last few spots here. Putting his life and the lives of those on the platforms on the line. Not because he wanted to give people a chance, but because he enjoyed the sight of it all. Is that how everyone was in that type of line of work? Police work and in the war?
All of them were kill-hungry. I haven't met many people who were in the war and made it out alive besides my instructors, and even they were questionable. I still remember seeing multiple scars on them, with some having missing limbs. And yet, they still wanted to return to the battlefield. The only reason they didn't was that the empire wished for them to teach the newest generation.
As my mind began to wander, I started to think about how much longer until we get out of here. If it even happens. Knowing this, I have no choice but to prepare for the worst.
'Will I even be able to sleep tonight? ' Still holding the energy bars in my hand, I looked down.
'At least I have these energy bars.'
Thinking about it, I decided to put these bars in my storage bin so I don't lose them. But as I opened my storage bin, I noticed something.
'Shit.'