Zaria Dove

First Change

Initially, the thought of such a revolution frightened me. But now, when I get to know you, I started to question myself, isn’t tearing down this flawed system what we all truly need?

We are all victims of manipulation, not just women. If you dig deeper, you’ll understand why I say that. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to explain it all to you.

What you do need to know is that the easiest way to manipulate someone is through praise, and we all crave it. But now, with a clearer vision, I see that I am one of those who has been manipulated. I take full responsibility for my part in perpetuating this cycle.

Despite how incredibly annoying you’ve been, I feel honored to make this announcement. In the upcoming tournament, I have decided to let you win.

Not because you are incapable of winning on your own, but because they have done far worse and they have the power to make you lose, and because your victory is crucial in this situation.” He approached me closely and locked eyes with me for a brief moment.

“You were right. I investigated the butchery and discovered that they are not only feeding you human flesh, but they are also feeding it to the soldiers.

The worst part is that many of the soldiers are aware of this and still enjoy consuming it. I couldn’t bear to delve deeper into the matter!” A tear glistened in the corner of his eye.

He only took a few minutes to deliver his message before leaving. His mistake was not activating the camera while departing, and he had no idea what consequences this could bring.

Meanwhile, everything remained the same as time passed, and the number of infected individuals decreased until there were none left.

We had an endless number of questions, but no one to provide us with answers. So, we decided to focus on our main goal - to come out as winners in the tournament.

One day, they brought a young girl into the prison. She couldn’t have been older than 14 years. “Why did you bring my sister here? She’s only 14!” Nina exclaimed. “There are no empty cells!” She was referring to the cells without infected people, and she was right - there was no space.

They forcefully pushed Nina’s sister into the cell Nina’s cell, but Nina managed to catch her and prevent her from falling.

“They took us while we were sleeping!” Her sister cried.

“Don’t worry, everything will be fine, sweetheart!” Nina reassured her, wiping away her tears.

“Why would you bring a little girl into the prison?” I shouted, feeling frustrated and confused.

But there was no response, so I called out again, my voice filled with frustration. “Hey, you in the white space suit, you jerk!” Still, he remained silent, but a wicked smile slowly appeared on his face. It was then that I understood the true motive behind their actions.

“All of this is happening because of me,” I muttered to myself, realizing the gravity of the situation.

“What?” Nina, who was comforting her sister, asked.

“Don’t you see?” I explained. “They’re doing all of this to make you stop supporting me. They want to crush my motivation so that I either give up or step back.”

“Whatever you are doing, no matter what happens, don’t give up and don’t back down!” Alice exclaimed, her determination shining through. But the idea of sacrificing an innocent girl for my own pride weighed heavily on my conscience. How could I justify that?

“Please, let’s not discuss this right now,” Nina pleaded, her voice filled with exhaustion. And so, the rest of the day passed in silence, each of us trapped in our own thoughts. It wasn’t until everyone had fallen asleep that night that Nina and I were awake.

“Do you really think Alice is here because of you?” she asked, her voice laced with concern.

I nodded, confirming her suspicions. She then asked another question, tears welling up in her eyes. “What will you do? Will you step back?”

Without a moment’s hesitation, I replied, “Absolutely! I understand the importance of the family. If there was a chance to bring my dad back, I’ll take it, and I know it is not possible, so, if I can save your family, I won’t let it slip away.”

“No!” she exclaimed, relief flooding her voice. “I just needed to be certain that I put my faith in the right person.” A smile broke through her tears.

“But, Alice...” I started, but she cut me off before I could finish.

“They’ll have to go through me to get to her,” she declared, a determined smile on her face as she looked down at her sleeping sister in her lap.

The next morning, I threw myself even more into my training. Little did I know, my determination led me to break a bar on the cell I used for practice. In that moment, an idea sparked in my mind and I tightly gripped the broken bar. Returning to my cage, I began striking the ground where there was a noticeable bump.

As I flexed my newfound strength, I quickly realized that the ground wasn’t as hard to break as I initially thought. When the ground gave way, I carefully cleared away the debris with my hands, trying not to make any noise. Nina stood beside me, examining the broken pieces. “It looks like some kind of dried clay!” she exclaimed.

After pulling apart enough of the ground, a shocking sight greeted my eyes. There were two decaying bodies and a skeleton that seemed much older than the others. One of the corpses had been stripped of most of its flesh.

The infestation and the overwhelming stench hit me like a ton of bricks, causing me to rush towards the toilet seat in the corner of the canteen to vomit.

I cried out in anguish, and Nina hurried to my side, comforting me by rubbing my back. Overwhelmed, I collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down my face, making it hard to catch my breath.

Amidst my sobs, I managed to regain some composure and spoke to Nina. “Did you see the watch on one of the bodies? It belonged to my dad,” I said, my voice trembling.

She hugged me tightly as I continued to cry, finding comfort in her presence. With my head resting on her lap, I wiped away the remaining tears and lifted my head.