“By failing to prepare, you’re preparing to fail.”

Benjamin Franklin

Bethany stood in front of Mr. Mercury’s Emporium, juggling four of the lunchroom’s plastic glasses with ease. Emily sat at the table before her, gawking, as her desperately needed coffee grew cold in the mug beneath her nose. Despite the rings of exhaustion under her eyes, Bethany’s eyes sparkled with delight. On a whim, she added a quick spin to the climax of her routine. She caught the first glass, then the second, and the third, but she missed the fourth by a hair. It fell to the ground with a hollow clunk and rolled under Emily’s legs.

With an exaggerated bow, Bethany placed the three glasses on the table as Emily walked over and handed her the fourth.

“That was impressive, Bethany,” Emily said with caution. “But drinking those vials was reckless, and that’s coming from Ms. Reckless herself. Just… talk to us next time, before you do something dumb? We’re a team now.”

Emily ruffled Bethany’s hair playfully. Bethany wondered if this was what it felt like to have a big sister, and she smiled at Emily with the delight of a small child. Emily gave her a playful punch on the shoulder as punishment for not being appropriately reproached.

Bethany stood there in shock. She’d never received a playful punch before. Only angry ones. The smile left Bethany’s face as her thoughts turned dark.

“I’m so sorry, Bethany,” Emily started to apologize, realizing her mistake “I didn’t think…”

“It’s okay, Emily,” Bethany said, her smile returning. “I like having friends. I’m just… not used to it yet.”

Emily pulled Bethany into a quick hug, then gave her another playful, and much gentler, nudge before changing the topic.

“If you got those coins by beating monsters, then we need to figure out how to beat more,” Emily declared bravely. “Because I want some of those vials. I wonder if we could break open the vending machine. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that…”

“Emily!” Bethany admonished.

“Yah, you’re right,” Emily said unconvincingly, still staring thoughtfully at the Emporium. Her eyes darted to her metal pole leaning against the lunchroom wall. “I’ll earn them for the hard way. For now.”

“Breakfast is ready!” shouted Rocky from the grill as he flipped fried eggs and bagels onto faded plastic plates and slid them along the counter. “Come on, waitress! Order is up! Get the lead out!”

“Our chef is an ass,” Emily laughed, heading over to grab the plates.

“Yah, but you love it,” Bethany teased.

“Careful there, Bethany. I might accidently drop your eggs on the floor if you get too cheeky.”

Bethany took her place at the table and was joined by Emily and Rocky, the latter carrying three glasses of milk.

“Enjoy this while you can,” Rocky said as he lifted his glass in a toast. “Milk will be one of the first things to disappear.”

“Really, Rocky?” Emily said sarcastically, clinking her glass against his. “Any other inspiring tidbits of information you want to share first thing in the morning?”

“We need to go back to the North End Savers Supermarket,” Rocky said casually as he dipped his bagel in egg yolk. “The haul from our first trip will not last us more than a couple weeks. If this Contest is going to last months, we need supplies for the long-haul.”

“Oh, we can go get my car while we are there!” pipped up Bethany. Emily and Rocky stared at her, surprised at the excitement in her voice. “What? Everything I own is in that car. I appreciate the loaner clothes, Emily, but I miss my own stuff. Especially my bras. I’ve been wearing this one for three days and it’s getting gross.”

Rocky choked on his milk and Emily laughed. “Can’t argue with that, and I’d rather be out there doing something useful than sitting around in here. When do we leave?”

“The sooner the better,” Rocky said, matter-of-factly. “This is the third morning of the Contest. We aren’t going to be rescued. The military isn’t going to show up and shoot that giant eyeball out of the sky. We know that, and other people – other players – are starting to come to the same conclusion. They will look around their homes and realize just how screwed they are. They will begin to grow desperate, and that desperation will lead to chaos.”

“Well, aren’t you a ray of sunshine,” Emily mumbled, her mouth stuffed full of egg. “But I won’t argue with you. After I left home, spent my first year traveling on a shoestring budget to some remote places. I’ve seen what can happen when food grows scarce. It doesn’t take long for the people to turn on each other.”

“You’ve had so many adventures,” Bethany admired, thinking about her own desolate childhood. “All I had was a library.”

“Trust me, Bethany. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Emily said. “I found far more happiness at the refinery than I ever did traveling the world.”

Bethany glanced at Rocky, who was shoving an entire egg into his mouth. “Yah, I bet you did,” Bethany teased, and Emily gave her a gentle kick under the table.

“Anyways,” Rocky said, eyeing the two giggling women with suspicion. “We need to stockpile resources as soon as we can before the chaos grows. I don’t want to be fighting both monsters and men for what we need.”

“We should leave after breakfast,” Bethany concluded with mixed emotions. She was afraid of what lay beyond the refinery walls, but the pragmatist within her knew they could not hide and expect to survive. “At least we have powers now.”

Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

“Yup,” Rocky said, pushing his empty plate away and letting the blue healing flame build in his palm for dramatic effect. “We are stronger than we were yesterday, and we’ll be stronger tomorrow. I will get the truck fueled and ready to go. Grab your weapons and whatever bags we can find. We’re going shopping!”

Twenty minutes later they were on the road to the North End Savers Supermarket as the rusted refinery gate screeched closed behind them.

* * *

“Rocky, your prediction was frighteningly accurate,” Emily said, staring out their windshield at the chaos that lay before them.

The morning of the third day of the God Contest saw the North End Savers Supermarket engulfed in anarchy. The once empty parking lot was now filled with dozens of vehicles and hundreds of people all clambering over each other as they looted the store. The front entrance was clogged by two moving trucks that had backed up over the sidewalk, leaving little room for people to maneuver in and out. The result was a clogged mess of desperate people driven by fear and anger.

There was no order. There was no reason. It was every person for themselves.

Bethany watched two middle-aged men slam their shopping carts into each other, spilling their contents across the parking lot. Without pause, the men started throwing punches at each other and shouting obscenities, while the gathered crowed helped themselves to the groceries that had fallen from their carts.

Tearing her gaze away from the fight, Bethany looked towards the Gas Bar. She saw her Civic resting a short distance away from where she had left it. Someone had pushed it out of the way to free up the gas pump, which had a line thirty cars deep and growing as desperate motorists filled their vehicles for what could be the last time.

“See, this is why we are staying at the refinery,” Rocky said, gesturing at the haphazard line of cars waiting for gas as he slowly weaved through the parking lot. “Those pumps will be empty by the end of the day. And then what will they do?”

Bethany tapped Rocky’s shoulder. “My car is over there, Rocky,” Bethany directed. “I hope everything is still there.”

Rocky weaved his way slowly through the chaotic parking lot and pulled up beside Bethany’s Civic. Bethany jumped out of the truck as Rocky slowed, her anxiety building. “Please, please, please,” she prayed as she peered through the cracked window shield.

Everything was still there, and she felt relief wash over her, until a foul stench reached her nostrils.

“Oh, that’s why it is untouched,” Bethany said, staring at the two rotten gas station sandwiches that had filled the car with their odor. Her suitcase had spilled across the back seat in her flight after the Arena of Dolos, leaving the inside of her Civic covered in worn clothes and crumpled papers. No one would look through the windshield and believe anything of value lay inside.

Emily peaked over Bethany’s shoulder. “Oh, Bethany, that’s… well, you’ve got your own room now, at least.”

“It doesn’t look that bad,” said Rocky, leaning over Bethany’s other shoulder. “I like the yellow flowers on the suitcase.”

Spreading her arms wide to block her new friend’s view, Bethany sputtered out an explanation. “Umm…it was all temporary. Just a place to stay until I got to my feet. I’m not like that. It’s not… I don’t…”

“It’s okay, Bethany,” Emily said, placing a hand on her shoulder. “We saw your past, remember. We know what you had to deal with. We’re proud of you.”

Bethany felt the tears build in her eyes and she wiped them away with a quick swipe of her sleeve.

Looking over at the supermarket entrance, Rocky reached into the back seat of the truck and pulled out the shopping bags. “Bethany, I’m glad your stuff is safe. Now, let’s head over to the supermarket. At this rate, the place will be empty by the afternoon. We need to grab everything we can get. I want to leave here in a few hours with both the truck and Bethany’s car filled to the brim.”

Rocky’s eyes fell on the two fighting men, now bloodied and bruised. The fight had escalated to include two dozen people as frayed nerves finally snapped. Rocky reached into the flatbed and hauled out Emily’s pole and his axe.

“Keep your weapons close,” Rocky said with caution. “Let’s go.”

Without hesitation, Rocky lead the way into the chaotic crowd. As Bethany followed behind, Diana’s words cascaded into her thoughts.

In the Contest, you will see a person’s true nature, brought out when life and death are at stake.

“He’s getting more confident,” Bethany whispered, nudging Emily as they followed Rocky across the parking lot towards the entrance.

“Uh huh,” Emily agreed, her eyes scanning the growing crowd around them.

“The way he carries that axe. His solid strides. How he gently parts the crowd as he walks by,” Bethany continued.

“It’s nice to see him this assertive,” Emily said with an impressed whisper.

“The apocalypse brings out the best in him,” Bethany suggested. “It brings out the best in both of you.”

“He’s always been his best,” Emily said, confidently. “This Contest just brings it out more. But me? I don’t think so.”

“Come on, you are amazing,” Bethany encouraged. “Why would you ever think that?”

“Were you this nosy back home?” Emily asked as she circled around an upturned shopping cart.

“I never had the opportunity to be nosy. I had no friends,” Bethany said matter-of-factly. “Now I’m discovering who I am. And, apparently, I’m a nosy matchmaker, at least for today.”

Bethany tilted her head, wordlessly repeating her question to Emily.

Emily sighed and decided to confide in Bethany. “Okay, but this stays between us. Promise?”

Bethany nodded. “I promise.”

“There is a downside to infinite recollection,” Emily started. “You know that feeling when you recall something embarrassing you did? How it makes you shiver and makes you feel worthless? Well, now I can remember every single detail of my life, including those moments. I laid awake last night replaying memories over and over in my head. Every time I failed Emma. Every selfish decision. Every screw-up. Every… every time I took Rocky for granted.”

“Oh, Emily. That’s… that’s awful,” Bethany comforted, her enthusiasm deflated. “Is that… permanent?”

“It took me a few hours, but I figured out how to turn infinite recollection off. It’s just… look, its hard to see all the missteps you’ve taken in your life replayed for you in grim detail. It messes up your confidence, you know?”

Bethany did not know what to say. Words seemed inadequate, so Bethany simply pulled Emily into a hug.

“Well, I still think you are amazing,” Bethany assured her. “I may have only known you for a couple days, but there is no one I would rather be with than you and Rocky.”

“Yah, but you don’t know anyone else,” Emily smirked.

They watched Rocky gentle nudge two scuffling men out of their path. The mens’ looks of anger quickly vanished when they saw that mammoth with the fireman’s axe standing before them, and they shuffled out of the way with a quick apology, their fight forgotten.

“Did you know Rocky is scared of heights?” Emily said. “He’s terrified. But he’s climbed that refinery tower two hundred and thirty-two times to sit with me and watch the sunset. That’s just who he is. I can see every day of our friendship, and that’s always who he’s been.”

“He’s a good man,” Bethany agreed. “He cares for you, and you care for him. I don’t need infinite recollection to see that. So why not take the chance to be with him? What have you got to lose?”

They arrived at the entrance to the supermarket, and Rocky glanced back at his companions with a gentle smile. Emily returned his smile and nodded, and Rocky walked inside.

“Everything,” Emily answered as she followed him in. “He’s all I have left.”

“You’re braver than that, Emily,” pushed Bethany. “You…”

Bethany stopped mid-sentence as her back foot crossed the threshold. The sliding doors shutting closed behind her, she saw a bronze plaque hanging above the entranceway that had not been there two days ago. A plaque that chilled her core.

G.A. 1-142, Ares

Arena commencing in:

00:00:03

00:00:02

00:00:01