As Ael came back from his shower, people argued. It wasn't just one or two, but multiple. Mini-alliances formed inside the bigger ones between rows B, C, and D, causing people to fight over the resources. Then, there was the whole killing that happened, which caused less trust within this bunker. The leader was catching on to what was going on.
In the midst of it all, a punch was thrown. It was the leader of group B, Burr. He punched a person in his row. The man was knocked back a few steps, where his fist was practically the size of his face.
"No one is leaving!" Burr yelled. His deep voice dominated all the other voices in the room. Everyone went silent.
The other fights turned to see what was happening."If anyone wants to leave the alliance, then you will have to pay with your resources."
Everyone in his row who was planning to leave turned pale. There were a decent number of people who were trying to leave the alliance, but most of them were staying. They were at a disadvantage. If they tried to leave, they would for sure die. Either from starvation or them trying to fight Burr and his group off, and Burr was already a one-man army himself.
His family had a genetic trait where there was no limit to how much muscle they could grow; thus, their family usually could overpower most people in a one-on-one fight. He was barely nineteen, and yet, his muscles were twenty to thirty percent bigger than most people here.
The other groups, who were facing the same issues, then turned to their leaders just for them to look at Burr. After a short pause, the two leaders nodded at each other.
Marcus, the leader of row C, not missing a beat, followed Burr's example, "You heard Burr, this row will suffer the same consequences."
Finn, group D's leader, may have had this issue, but his situation was slightly different. Out of each row, he had the most resources. Group D was the trading center for this bunker. But soon, people would want to take his materials. Finn had to join groups C and B in their decision, even if he was against it.
Burr and Marcus looked towards him, waiting for his response. They knew he had to join them.
Unlike the other leaders, he wasn't trying to rule with an iron fist; instead, he used charismatic words as a weapon. Contemplating, you could practically see the gears in his head.
After a few seconds, he looked at his row. He could not wait much longer. The chance was going to leave him soon. Right now, he had the attention of not just his rows but also the leaders of the other rows.
Coming to a decision, Finn finally said, "This row will face the same actions."
Just like that, this bunker felt like a dictatorship with these three people at the head of it. The only row that was not a part of it was row A—meaning, now more than ever, we were vulnerable. We always were, but now, it was one row against three, not each row against each other. That if you even called row A a row. It was just a free-for-all.
Row C and B may have had some disruption in their alliance, but right now, their alliance has grown. The bloodbath was going to start soon, and I was going to be at the center.
My heart sank to my stomach.
'How did this even happen?' I thought.
I tried to stay out of it, but I somehow got in the middle of it.
'This is just great. Life is fucking great.'
Ael, still drying his hair, watching what was going down, interrupted my thinking, "Well, it looks like we're in trouble." I turned and stared daggers at him. Enough so he turned towards me as he finished drying his hair.
"You don't have to look at me like that. Stares like that can hurt a maiden's heart." He put his hands on his heart, making a whole scene as if he'd been shot there.
After all the teasing and his annoying me, I snapped. "You're not even a maiden, the furthest thing from it."
"Sheesh, who got your panties in a bunch?" He said. "Fine then, stares like that can hurt a friend's heart."
Baffled and more scared than anything, I quickly replied, "Friends?"
I didn't want to be friends with this man. People knew what he could do, and with people going against this row, he was for sure the first target. Becoming his friend would mean people using me against him. It's why I have been so careful talking to him. I didn't want people thinking I was close to him. Becoming his friend would just put another target on my back. I did not want to become more at the center of it than I was. I didn't even know this much was possible.
"I mean, why wouldn't we be?" He put his arms out as he shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, as a token of our friendship, I gave you those energy bars."
"I traded for those." Clearly, the whole situation was getting to me.
"And I gave your food back. Look at your storage bin."
I got up from my bed and walked to my storage bin, near where Ael stood. It was all there. He must have put it there recently.
"Look, I'm not asking for it back. All I am asking is for you to have my back when it all goes down." Clearly talking about the bloodbath that was about to happen.
I stared at him. I could not figure out what was going on in his mind. First, he didn't kill me outside when he had the chance. Now, he gave me free resources, especially in times like this. The only way I was going to get close to figuring this out was by asking.
"Why? Why me? Why do you want to even become friends?"
He chuckled a bit, "Can't a man make some friends? Plus, you seem fun."
"Fun?" I asked more confused than before.
He looked out to the other rows, "You're different—in a world that requires you to kill, you decide not to. I want to understand why?"
My heart filled with disgust. He was recalling the moment I was unable to kill the man outside.
"I'm fun because I couldn't fucking kill a man?" Aggression showed in my voice. I stood up from the storage bin that I'd been searching through.
"No, fun, because you hesitated as you were about to die, but yet, I can see you want to live. Why is that?"
He turned back to me, "I can tell from the desperate way you fought, the way you took him down. You have a strong will, but you hesitated. I want to know why."
I stepped back a bit. "Why? Because they are another living human being."
"A living human who wanted to kill you." The smile that was usually on his face disappeared. I only saw this happen once.
I knew what he was saying was true—I told myself that multiple times, but yet, I was unable to.
I always had pride in the fact that I was different from the others in this Empire. That I wasn't a monster like them. But maybe I was just a flawed creation of the gods.
***
The day was quickly coming to an end. Even with the other rows' mistrust of their alliance, it looked like their alliance become stronger through fear. They could not leave their groups since it would mean dying early. Right now, the best thing they could do was stay with their alliance.
I looked over at the officer at the front of the bunker to see what he was doing. It looked like he was finally done with that book he hadn't put down for days. He was just leaning back in his chair with his feet on his desk. He seemed ready to knock out. From afar, I noticed something. He had a tattoo on his ankle—a four-legged star.
Just then, I felt glares burning into my skull. It was from the other rows. They realized row A was their key to survival if they wanted to live longer. They would come for our resources.
Day five was coming, and with that, the bloodbath was as well. I couldn't help but think to myself, 'Will Ael really have my back if I have his?'
He was a psychopath. I could not know what was going through his mind, even if I really wanted to.