“The first step is being patient,” I told her. “If I’m going to get you a prize and keep you safe, we need to wait for our opportunity.”

The announcement had said that people needed to maintain “exclusive physical contact” for 75 seconds to claim the prizes. Exclusive, as in, “you’re the only one touching it.” No one had gotten a prize yet, and I doubted that would change anytime soon. Most of the orbs were rolling or bouncing across the arena, claimed temporarily by person after person, and then lost again.

A few people were powerful enough to keep a grip on the ones they’d claimed, but it hardly mattered unless they could also keep anyone else from laying a finger on it. I didn’t know what “claiming” a prize would look like, but presumably there’d be some indication. I’d seen nothing thus far.

Entering the fray now had almost zero advantages. If I was trying to claim a prize myself, there was a slim chance I could keep dodging attacks long enough to run the clock out. Slim, because there were at least two other people here that had the Sprinter augment, or something like it. I was pretty sure I was still faster, but the gulf wasn’t as wide as I would like. Not to mention, as fast as I was, I couldn’t outrun walls of electricity or clouds of gas that poofed into being out of nowhere. Keeping possession of a prize would not be easy.

The fighting had gotten much nastier. Because someone had died? Because people knew that prizes might mean an end to hunger and thirst? Probably some of both.

I didn’t think anyone else had died yet, but several people were bleeding. The charred pinkish skin around the murderer’s eyes and her stumbling gait suggested that she had been blinded.

It was hard to wait. There were people who needed help, and prizes almost in reach.

But… I couldn’t help everyone, and even if I was breaking my promise not to participate, I was determined not to break my promise to get back safely.

Over the past few weeks, I’d seen plenty of people fight: my friends, our hitchhikers, and many others. Most people didn’t rely on passive abilities like I did. I wasn’t just waiting for people to be injured; I knew most people couldn’t fight long. In a few minutes, the battlefield would be filled with people who had to think twice before using their superpowers, people who were tired and moving slowly and not thinking clearly. Some might even misjudge things and collapse from over-exertion.

The best thing I could do for now was to build trust with my chosen teammate, who was still nestled up against my back with her eyes closed. Keeping my trident at the ready, I crouched down and started speaking. My voice was calm, but not quiet. I had to speak up to be audible over the screaming and noise in the arena. “You know, I have a daughter who’s three. I’m guessing that’s a little younger than you are?”

No response.

“She really likes the My Little Ponies show. Do you like it?”

A shift, but no response.

“I think her favorite character is… Appledash?”

My alcove buddy said something this time, too quiet to hear.

“What was that?”

“I said, there’s no Appledash.”

“Pretty sure there is.”

“It’s Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Get! It! Right!” Her head was still leaned up against my back, shielding her from seeing the fighting, but a little hand slapped into my back with each of the last three words. The hits were much harder than I would have expected, and I grunted as she knocked the wind out of me.

“Ooof. My bad. Which one of those is the purple one?”

“They’re not purple! Twilight is purple!”

As I continued to intentionally mangle My Little Ponies lore, the little girl started loudly lecturing me. It seemed to take her mind off the screaming and fighting, and I felt her relax slightly. Absentmindedly, I continued the discussion while keeping my focus on the combat in front of us.

Finally, I saw one of the prizes change color in a woman’s grip, fading from a lurid orange to a pale grayish-white. It was time. I interrupted our discussion. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Um… Rina.”

“Okay, Rina. Nice to meet you. My name is Mr. Vince. I’m going to try to get you a Shop soon, but I’m going to need your help.”

Her stress returned instantly. The neck of my shirt pulled on my throat as she crunched the back of it up in her fists. “What… what do you need me to do?”

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“The first thing I need you to do is just wait here while I grab something. Then, I need to pick you up and carry you around so no one hits us. You’re going to have to hold the prize away from my body, so I’m not touching it, until it loses its color. Do you think you can do that?”

There was a moment’s quiet. Then: “I think so.”

“Okay. Wait here. I’ll be back in a second.”

I set down my trident to leave my hands free.

Two women had been fighting over a blue orb, but the first hit the second with a baseball bat, knocking the prize from her grip. I scooped it up before either could, but frowned as I got a closer look at it. The center orb didn’t look anything like a Shop. If anything, it looked like a stylized org chart. Had the murderer just been wrong? Were there no Shops? Or were the orange prizes different?

A man across the arena had one of the orange orbs, and was flinging fireballs at the people trying to take it away. He blasted my fingers as I grabbed a handhold, but I was ready for the pain and didn’t let go. I spun in close to him, using the full force of my body to pull him off-balance and bring him into the turn with me. He stumbled, and I moved again, shifting in opposition to his thumb, the weakest point in his grip. The prize popped free of his grasp. The moment it was in my hands, I poured on the speed to get away.

“Rina!” I yelled. “Be ready!”

Rina’s eyes flew open, taking in the arena for the first time since the fighting had started. She looked terrified, on the edge of panic, but when I drew near, she held her arms out and let me scoop her up.

The motion was awkward while I was holding two of the unwieldy prizes, but both Rina and I were stronger than we ought to be.

I adjusted her so she was sitting on my left arm only, but leaving the hand with the orange orb free. “Here!” I panted. “Keep this away from my skin.”

I was ready to give her the blue one too, just to be safe, but I caught a glimpse of a building, clearly a Shop, hovering within the orange orb. I left the blue orb hanging from my arm, pinned in place by Rina’s butt, and focused on dodging.

The three people I’d robbed had all started after me angrily, but one of the women stopped when she saw Rina in my arms, turning away to find a different target. The other two followed, but were slow, much too slow to catch up.

The man tossed fire bolts in my direction, but the missile’s flight wasn’t instantaneous. Even if I hadn’t been actively trying to evade, I think all but one would have missed.

I circled, trying to keep my distance not only from the fighting but from the bystanders. I was sure I wasn’t the only one who’d had the bright idea to jump into the fray late. I was able to keep clear of melee weapons, but not of all the supernatural attacks, taking laser fire, hexes, and some kind of caustic spray.

That last attack caught Rina too, and she screamed, a child’s wail so out-of-place on the battlefield that all the fighting paused for a moment. I used my free arm to wipe as much of the spray off her as I could, then tried to give her a Healing Touch. I was startled to realize she didn’t need healing, and even more surprised when she started healing me.

“I’m… okay… Rina. Thanks… but save… your strength.”

I’d been moving at something close to my top speed for what felt like forever now. Breathing was hard, and talking was harder. I couldn’t dodge everything, and was grateful that many people caught a look at the little girl and decided not to attack. After Rina screamed, a few Force Shields started flickering into existence around me when it looked like an attack might strike true. My first wild thought was that Davi was here, too, but I didn’t see her. Presumably, the shields were the work of a friendly stranger who shared my sympathy for the little girl.

After what seemed like an eternity later, a message in my mind scared the shit out of me.

Prize claimed. Reward will be granted at end of challenge.

The orb in Rina’s arm was still orange, so-

I tilted my head, peering around Rina’s body. Oh. The blue orb. I guess the rip in my sleeve had kept the handle pressed against my skin and allowed me to claim it.

Moments later, the orange faded from Rina’s orb.

“Rina! You… can… drop that… now…”

She opened her eyes long enough to peek at the orb, although she squished them shut tight again soon after, then threw the used-up prize on the ground.

I threw my prize clear as well and returned to Rina’s alcove, where my trident still rested undisturbed. I set her down and returned to my post as sentry.

Several people were downed, and I hoped that most were exhausted, rather than dead. I saw five gray orbs, including the two that Rina and I had dropped, and another faded as I watched.

The fighting, which had encompassed the entire arena, became limited to smaller and smaller areas as fewer prizes remained.

What a fucking waste, I thought. It was hellishly depressing to watch people - some of the strongest I’d seen - tear each other to shreds. The man who’d bled out in front of me was the first to die, but he was joined by at least two others, and there were five more with serious injuries that I hoped would be sent back to someplace secure, where friends were ready to help. If they were pitched out into the open, they’d be goners. I considered going to heal them, but I didn’t want to leave Rina alone… and I wasn’t sure it was the right plan. At least one of the incapacitated people was the woman I’d seen commit murder, and there’d been too much going on to watch everything. I couldn’t say for sure that the other injured weren’t equally bloodthirsty.

When only one orb was left, I crouched down next to Rina again. I kept an eye on the struggle, but I was reasonably confident in our safety.

I went over the details of the Shop with her once again, making sure she understood how to purchase it, and how to buy food from it, and that her sister could transfer Money to her if needed. I couldn’t get much more out of her than nods, but I prayed she understood.

Then the clear casing snapped around me and dragged me back.

Davi and John were already waiting when I returned. “Vince! You’re alive!” Davi said.

“Thank God,” John added.

“Good to see you two. Byron and Kurt aren’t back yet?” I said, taking off my helmet.

“No, they-” Davi’s eyes snapped to my forehead. Her smile vanished. “Wait… what the fuck is that on your head?! Damn it! Why?! Why would you risk yourself?

“So… funny story…”