6:00 PM, Day 8
"Alright, we need a plan for the future, now that we are down to five." Anna said, pulling out a notebook and a few pencils out of her pocket.
"And you think I can come up with one? I'm a fighter!" Sonya huffed, falling silent.
"Viktor, you? Any ideas?"
"We need a group name and a basic set of rules first, of course. Oh, and who's the fifth person?"
"Oh, that's Rosalind." Anna pointed at a student sitting alone in a corner, prompting a wave from them. "As for the name, what about the Ursus Student Self-Government Group?"
"That's a mouthful."
"Well, we can always use the acronym."
"What, USSG?"
"Yes."
"What, are we going to have a slogan next?" Sonya suddenly said, laughing. "I guess a straightforward, brass-tacks name is good every once in a while, though. Can I be the leader?"
"Sure, Sonya. You are the most famous of our group, after all." Anna said.
"Of course I am!"
"Well, anyways, you got any ideas for the rules?" Viktor interjected, looking at Anna.
"Allow me a second to write our name and leader down in the notebook, alright?" Anna said, jotting down some notes.
"Sure." Viktor said, waiting for her to finish. After she finished, they began brainstorming again.
"So, rules. How about 'No attacking other members of the group'?" Viktor said, furrowing his brow.
"Sure. Anything else?" Anna said, jotting down some more notes.
"All food and water must be shared equally?"
"Alright. Anything else?"
"Leave no one behind?"
"Sure. Can you think of anything more?"
"No, not really."
"Maybe we can add some more over time, then."
"Sure." Viktor said.
"So, what about the plan?"
"Well, we're probably going to run out of supplies, right? Are there any groups that have large amounts of them?"
"We actually have around two weeks' worth of supplies left, but the nobles have even more than we do."
"Sure. Let's attack them, then."
"Wouldn't peace be a better option? If we attack them, we risk death."
"Well, we have two options, don't we? We either starve to death or risk dying fighting."
"You have a point. How, then?"
"I don't know, at nighttime?"
"We could try that." Anna said, writing some more notes down.
"Sure. Let's look around for some better weapons first, though."
"Today? Isn't it a bit late?"
"No. Tomorrow, of course."
"Ah, I see…" Anna started furiously jotting down even more notes, before shutting her notebook and putting it in her pocket.
"Food's finished!" Gummy said, handing them some cabbage leaves and a chunk of bread each. Everybody dug in, nobody saying another word. They were all quite hungry, after all.
15 minutes later
Viktor finished eating the last cabbage leaf and walked over to the classroom door, locking it. After confirming the lock was still functional, walked a corner and lay down, rolling around for a bit before finding a cozy position and falling asleep. It had only been a week, and Viktor's life had already changed so much. From a cozy bed to the hard ground, from never going hungry to trying to suppress hunger every day… Viktor didn't think much about the contrast, though; he was fast asleep in minutes. It had been a long, depressing day.
9:00 AM, Day 9
"Alright. Today, we will look around for supplies. Any objections?" Sonya said, unlocking the door and gesturing towards it.
"Sure. Rosalind, let's go." Anna said.
"Anna, you don't need to baby me." Rosalind said, annoyed.
"Sorry. Anyways, are we going to go?"
"Yep." Rosalind stood up, walking out the door after Sonya.
"Viktor?"
"No problem." Viktor picked up his backpack and walked out, alertly looking around, Anna also walking out and closing the door behind her.
"Everybody split up into two groups. Viktor, you go with me. Anna, you go with Rosalind and Lada." Sonya said, gesturing for Viktor to come over.
"Sure." Viktor walked to Sonya's side.
"Alright, we'll take this side. You three take the other one."
"Good idea." Anna walked off with Rosalind and Lada, leaving Sonya and Viktor together.
"You lead the way, Sonya." Viktor pointed towards the classrooms ahead.
"Do not show mercy if we find another group, Viktor." Sonya said, walking forwards and checking the classrooms.
"Sure." Viktor said, not putting much thought into what he was agreeing to as he followed behind her and also started to search.
10 minutes later
"Found some!" Sonya said, gesturing towards a room to her right, prompting Viktor to walk to the room she was gesturing towards, seeing a group of six students huddled around a pile of cans and bags.
"What do you mean? I'm supposed to attack innocents?" Viktor said, pulling back from the window.
"Didn't you say that you wouldn't show mercy to other groups?"
"When?"
"Ten minutes ago."
"Hm… Fine." Viktor said, regretting not putting more thought into his words.
"Go ahead, then."
"I'm going to regret this…" Viktor jabbed at the lock with his staff, the door flying open with a bang and revealing six surprised students, though they recovered rapidly, one girl taking out a knife and another an axe.
"Charge!" The girl with an axe charged towards Viktor, swinging her axe at him. Viktor blocked with his staff, sparks flying from the point of impact, before counterattacking, swinging his staff at the girl. The girl blocked with her axe, but the impact had severely rattled her, and Viktor capitalized on his advantage with a continuous series of swings, the girl just barely dodging them.
Finally, on the eleventh swing, her luck finally ran out, and a loud crack sounded out as the staff impacted with her forehead. Undoubtedly, she was dead. Viktor, his enemy dead, charged towards the remaining three students, whirling his staff.
"We are not dying to your minions today, Viktor!" One of the remaining students said, kicking towards him.
"Interesting that you just assume I am the leader." Viktor swung his staff at the student's shin, the student letting out a cry of pain before falling to the ground.
"Should I kill him?" Viktor thought, walking over.
"Probably. I did agree that I would not show mercy."
"Ugh, I shouldn't have agreed to that…"
Viktor swung his staff at the student, killing him.
"And… That's the sixth group on the list, isn't it?" Viktor walked over to Sonya, just in time to see another one of the students falling at Sonya's hands, leaving only one left standing. Viktor charged over and bashed the remaining student's head, the student collapsing, lifeless.
"You finally decided to not show mercy?" Sonya said, gesturing to the student at Viktor's feet.
"Don't think I enjoy this." Viktor said, walking backwards a few steps.
"None of us do… Whatever, now's not the time." Sonya said, shaking her head. "How about we check what supplies and weapons they had?"
"Sure. This person had an axe. You want it?" Viktor said, picking up the axe the dead girl had been using.
"You think?"
"Alright, here you go." Viktor said, handing the axe to Sonya, before inspecting the students' pile of bags. "Hmm… They had around 20 cans of food and 15 bottles of water."
"That's not a lot."
"Does any group have a lot at this point?"
"Hmm… Yeah, I guess. Well, let's go back to the classroom."
"Alright, no problem." The two picked up the student's supplies, and together, they walked back towards the classroom.
15 minutes later
By the time they made their way back to the classroom, Anna and her group were already waiting there, having returned before Viktor and Sonya did.
"You got anything?" Viktor asked, gesturing towards their backpacks.
"No." Anna said, lowering her head.
"Well, I guess there shouldn't be a lot of food remaining just sitting somewhere, hm?" Viktor said, pausing to gesture towards Sonya's newly obtained axe. "But we found some stuff."
"Viktor, stop sugarcoating it. We killed another group and stole their gear, alright?" Sonya said, electing a strange look from Anna. "What? That's what we did!"
"Sonya, do you have any guilt?" Anna asked.
"No."
"Your conscience will make you regret your actions once this is all over…"
"And why should I care about this now?"
"Nothing. I just worry for the future you."
"Worrying about my future is none of your business."
"Ugh, fine…" Anna said, turning to Viktor. "So, what did you get?"
"Around 20 cans of food and around 15 bottles of water, and the axe." Viktor said, once again pointing towards the axe in Sonya's hands.
"Good job." Anna said exasperatedly. "But I still believe that you should not attack other groups unprovoked."
"Oh, whatever. So, are we ready to attack the nobles now?" Sonya asked, impatiently shifting her feet.
"Calm down. We need to observe them first. And that means-"
"Leaving me behind?" Sonya said, interrupting Viktor.
"Yes, and Rosalind."
"Fine… Am I that loud?"
"Yes, you are."
"Blyat!"