Chapter 4 – Infighting
The line-up goes like this, a macho black guy on the right, followed by a guy with short black hair and tanned skin. Then there is this red head that seems to be lying in a rather comfortable position, as if she died a natural death, and all the way to the left is a short but cute looking girl with black hair tied back and slight freckles on her face.
"Thresh?" Rue stood up and moved toward the dark-skinned young man, "Thresh I'm so glad you're alive!"
I watched her eyes get teary; the young man opened his eyes and shifted his entire weight onto both elbows, massaging his forehead before looking at Rue carefully. His calmness impresses me; he seems to be quite the thoughtful one compared to the rest.
"Not you too Clove? Looks like you didn't win" Glimmer smiles, no, I would consider that a smirk.
"Clove..." Thresh muttered. At the sight of his expression, the little boy with the curly hair backed away and curled up into a ball, eyes covered behind his knees.
Thresh stood up and went over to Clove, his ferocity frightens even me, the only guy with the suit. But I must not allow any internal strife, "Don't be reckless!" I shouted.
"Stay out of this!" he turned around and pointed at me, his heavy breathing is enough to tell me how pissed off he is.
Clove took this chance and lunge forward from her squatting position, she drew a knife from her jacket's side pocket, but her attempt to attack was futile, Thresh grabbed her by the wrist and tries to crush it.
With haste, I stepped forth stopped his punch, like a human chain, I grabbed hold of his wrist too. He turned around stunned; it is no doubt that he is surprised of how someone like me is able to effortlessly restrain him. But I have to admit, he is very strong, I could tell from the way his struggle to get off my grip did budge a little, I too was surprised.
"Yaaahhh!" Clove took another knife from her holster and went for a stab.
I intercepted the stab with my body. Marvel and Glimmer were shocked, so was Paisley and her 'boyfriend', Clove stared at me dazed, she tried to stab through my stomach again but it did not penetrate.
"Get away from me!" she screamed, and surprisingly Thresh let go of her.
I turned around to greet the African dude, he looked at the spot where there was suppose to be a knife wound. "What are you?" he asked.
"I'm sent here to teach you guys how to survive" I said, "Have I proven enough?
Silence fills the room, I trust by the saying of 'silence means consent'. I stood in between the malicious ones, the couple and the newcomers. The little ones were safe with their backs against the wall, staying away from the potential fray.
"Stay away from this, both of you" I signalled the couple respectfully, they moved away as I asked, my eyes were on Marvel, Glimmer and Clove. Clove appears to be unhappy with my intervention, her eyebrows twitched, I sighed as I imagined how it would be a great pain to keep this three in check.
"What do you want?" Clove's stare started to unnerve me, it was as if she will not hold back in an attempt to kill, her eyes says a lot, her stare filled with malevolence.
"Calm down..." I tried to sound melancholic; something about this group bothers me. I am afraid that half the group will be dead by infighting before the aliens could get to us, this is terrible. Why would Gantz transfer me here to look after this group? Is he trying to teach me the importance of tolerance and teamwork? I pray that this just a simulation?
"Clove, chill out, we're gonna have more fun according to this guy" Marvel folded his arms, his expression clearly states that he wants me to start explaining, which I am ready to.
"I can't trust that you lot will not hurt each other, so I want all of you to split up into groups that you're comfortable with" I said, feeling a little jerky with my voice, I am nervous, yes I am.
"I think you're taking this too far, we're not a bunch of students in case you don't know" Glimmer stood out to confront me with her head held high.
"All I want is to make sure that the lot of you are comfortable with who you're with. That way y'all won't end up killing each other, trust me you don't want to-"
"Who are you?" the Asian dude asked, I was stunned for awhile.
"Oh sorry everyone, I've yet to introduce myself, I'm Melvin, your mentor from Singapore" I looked at everyone, trying my best to look friendly again. I'm afraid that my transition of expressions might make them think that I'm deranged.
"... Where was I?" I looked at the one who broke my train of thoughts.
"You are worried that we might kill each other?" the tanned guy behind me said.
"Thanks, and yes, we need all the manpower we can get to overcome missions, according to the information that I'm fed with, we won't get any more intakes after this transfer, so this is all the members that we have. Anyone dead will be troublesome for the others. I have to make sure that we're all cool with one another, is that okay?"
"Missions? So we're not really dead are we?" Marvel asked.
"No, we are dead that's for sure, tell me, what were you guys doing before you came here?"
"We participated in the Hunger Games" the Asian dude replied, he less doubtful now.
"What was it about?" I asked.
"We were put into battle royale, it's a culture in our country to send teenagers into the capital city for a fight to the death" Rue answered, I looked at her jaded eyes. My heart went out for all of them. I see... so it all makes sense now, no wonder they wear the same attire.
"Since the lot of you were put into battle before, then is it safe to assume you guys are all trained for combat?"
"Not all" Marvel smirked at the rest of the teens, they weren't pleased but it appears that they have acknowledged my presence and the importance of the potential information I hold.
"Okay, first of all, the equipments are most important, it increases your chance of survival at least five folds or more" I said, feeling good that I could finally give off something informative "as I have proven, the suit allows you to withstand normal attacks; it strongly enhances your strength, endurance and mobility. You can ask Marvel"
He wasn't happy with himself being used as an example.
"Once the ball opens sideways, search for a briefcase with your name, then go into the hallway one by one to put on your suit, grab any weapons that fits you, then prepare for transfer, it's best to work in a big group, but judging from this... should we rather work separately?"