Level 1 Days

"Hey, Andrei's back!"

As Andrei approached the dilapidated church at the centre of the small circle of equally run-down houses, all of his siblings ran out to meet him. The third youngest, Vali, was first. Followed by Cornel, and then the twins Anca and Sandra waddling their way over to him.

"Wait, Andrei. Did you win the game?" Cornel asked, his small fists shaking in excitement.

"Wait, yeah. You're alive, right? So you came to get us!" Vali yelled. "Cornel, get Dorina!"

Cornel ran into the church, while Andrei picked the two toddlers up. Anca immediately buried her face in his chest, while Sandra started clapping and babbling something.

"Yes, I missed you both too." Andrei chuckled.

"Do the block thingy!" Anca yelled.

"I can't do that when you're clinging to me!" Andrei laughed.

Cornel ran over to Andrei, dragging Dorina in one hand and holding a cinder block in the other.

"Right, I'm guessing these two wouldn't stop asking about the blocks." Cornel sighed, moving some overgrown brown hair out of his eyes. "So let's just do that before the reunion."

Cornel set the block on the ground, and Andrei summoned his greaves, kicking it with the back of his foot. The block was reduced to rubble, same as usual. But at least the two three-year-olds got a kick out of it, clapping and cackling as they watched it turn to dust.

"So Andrei, you're back." Dorina said, maintaining her usual regal demeanour, but her emerald-coloured eyes shone in relief that he was still around.

"Yeah. Only for a few days, though." Andrei replied sadly.

"So you'll be forced back in." Dorina sighed, clutching her long brown hair.

"I'm guessing that's what the guard is for." Vali noted, dusting off his thirdhand blue shirt.

"That is my duty." The guard nodded.

"Alright, cool." Vali nodded.

"Actually, where's Adriana?" Andrei asked calmly, looking around. "She not here?"

"Ah, that part. How do we explain that one?" Vali replied, looking at the ground. Dorina shifted her gaze towards the church.

"Adriana's fine, right?" Andrei asked.

"She's at…the junkyard." Cornel said with an awkward cough. "She should be back in a few minutes, so if you wanna wait, then…you can. That's allowed."

Andrei did as he suggested, standing outside the church while the others went inside their houses. When between the houses, Adriana appeared. Only with a short shaggy haircut instead of her previous long flowing black hair, and black jeans with a red sports bra instead of the usual teal dresses.

And next to her, was Lucius. Same trenchcoat and oversized felt hat.

"Hey, Lucius!" Andrei yelled, running up to him and delivering a swift knee to the stomach. Lucius curled over in pain, but Adriana stood in front of Andrei before he could do anything else.

"Adriana?!" Andrei yelled. "What is this man doing to you?"

"Relax, relax." Lucius replied, standing up while still holding his stomach. "You weren't able to act on our contract, so your darling of a sister here has filled your shoes for you."

"I wasn't able to work on our contract because all of your previous fighters got arrested. They all died in stage one of the gauntlet because of you!"

"Hey now, buddy. Don't enter illegal tournaments if you don't know the risks. Them's the rules."

"You said you would take responsibility if we got caught! And the second we did, you teleported away!"

"Buddy, I got more fighters to find. Take Adriana here. Only three fights in the junkyards, and already ranked number four in the women's division! If she keeps this up, I'll promote her to unisex, and all of your families burdens will be dealt with."

"And if she gets caught?" Andrei asked, grabbing his coat.

"Then I'll do my best, but no guarantees." Lucius shrugged, teleporting a small distance from him. "But hey, four hundred thousand tua sounds good, right?"

Andrei lowered his fist. As much as this man's face disgusted him, he had to admit that they needed the money.

"It does sound good."

"Right, right." Lucius continued. "Trust me, I got a few men of the law on my payroll, so I doubt much could happen."

"Look, Andrei." Adriana started. "Whether you like it or not, none of us fighting in the junkyard isn't gonna make mom better."

"See, see?" Lucius added, waving his hands. "I'm providing a service to this place. "Trust me on this, it's the best option for everybody. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some more offers to apply. See you later."

And with his final word, he adjusted his coat and took out a wad of bills, tossing it at Adriana's feet, and turned his back to the fighters and vanished in the blink of an eye.

"Look, I know this isn't what you wanted to come back to." Adriana sighed, counting the bills. "But none of us were able to get legit jobs since dad died, and treatment isn't gonna pay for itself."

"But your clothes!" Andrei yelled. "Those aren't proper!"

"Less clothes means more views, which means more money." Adriana replied calmly. "And what we got is enough food for a month and about two thirds of the money mom needs."

"And mom will last that long, right?"

"He has to be strong enough, considering that she dealt with all of us."

The two of them went into their house, with Adriana throwing the money onto the table.

"Vali, budget." Adriana commanded calmly. Vali took the money and began counting, while Dorina went down the stairs, hugging Andrei as she did.

"Is mom still here?" He asked.

"She's fine right now." Dorina replied, nodding sadly. "She tried staying awake to see you, but it'll be another fourteen hours or so before you two can talk. And I don't think you can hug, you might crush her."

"I see." Andrei sighed. "Can I see her anyway?"

Andrei climbed the stairs into her room, where his mother lay unmoving. She looked paler, and her face looked more wrinkled, but she was otherwise the same as ever.

"She kept asking about you." Dorina said. "Asked if you were okay and if you were staying on the right path. She was always relieved when Adriana told her you were making sure not to hurt anyone. She only felt sad when she heard you were almost deceived by the traitor."

"Wait, I was?" Andrei asked. "When? Who was it?"

"It's…"

Before Dorina could give the answer, the two of them heard the sound of a gun load. The guard, so silent up to this point that they forgot they were even there.

"Giving that information is punishable by death." They spoke. Not a shred of emotion or compassion in their voice.

"Okay, I won't tell him." Dorina panted, trying to cover the panic building up in her voice. The guard let their gun down. But Andrei was already thinking about who this person was. Gemma or Ulrich? They were both dead, so having the guard care about him knowing either of them wouldn't make sense. But maybe it could have been…

"Food's ready!"

The thoughts about who it could be left his mind. But he would need to think about it more.

"Hey everyone, I'm back!"

Wendy came in through the door, finally getting a chance to look up at the sky through the glass dome that covered outfarm number nine. Today's was grey and cloudy, but that was fine. It would become a nice blue later, like it always did.

"Someone watch out!"

Wendy looked in the direction of the yell, seeing a bull rampaging through the field on an enclosure next to her. The bull broke through the rotting wood fence, charging straight at her looking ready to kill. The large metal door automatically closed behind her just as she got out of the way, the bull bashing into it headfirst. The bull let out a pained yell, charging once again towards Wendy.

Wendy quickly placed her hands on her hair, feeling the built-up electricity make its way towards her hands. She thrust both of them out, shocking the bull. It let out a low noise before falling on the ground before a short farmer ran out to see her.

"Oh, good lord miss! I had no idea the fence was that bad!"

"It's fine." Wendy replied calmly. Still reeling from just how she did that, letting her instincts take over like they did and just shocking the damn thing. She looked around, hoping Jeanne saw it. She wasn't around, so it was time to see her.

"Hey, family! I'm back!"

As she entered the humble wooden farmhouse, her mother looked up from her knitting.

"Oh, Wendy!" She yelled out in her high pitched accent, that of a stereotypical farmer. "You're back!"

"Sure am!" Wendy yelled, beaming as she said so. "Back for two days! So where are dad and Jeanne?"

"Well, dad's outside." Her mother replied. "And Jeanne went out to deliver some food to level four. I don't think she'll be back for a couple days, sadly."

"Oh, right." Wendy said, her smile faltering. "But…I can write her a note, right? For when I win the game."

"Oh, of course." Her mother replied with a warm smile. "I'm sure she'll love that."

Wendy immediately ran into their room. It looked the same, except for the stuffed animal Jeanne kept by her bed no longer being there. She took out a pen and paper and started scribbling on it.

Dear Jeanne.

I'm doing well in the game so far. There were a few close calls so far, but Eric has been protecting me. He's been protecting a girl called Yun-Yeong too. She's pretty cool. I think she has a crush on Eric, but if I'm wrong maybe you two can get back together. Actually, are you still talking to that Emilia girl on level 4? Meeting her would be cool.

Anyway, seeing you motivates me to keep going, and I'll you when I win the game.

Love Wendy.

She drew a quick smiley face and left the note on top of Jeanne's bed. She left the room merrily, going back into the kitchen.

The next few hours were the same as any other day in her life before the game, unfortunately one of the ones without Jeanne. She helped her father feed the pigs, helped the cows back into the stable, and watched over the chicken eggs to see if anything hatched, which unfortunately didn't happen. Once she was done and ate her dinner, she went into the shower to wash off. Once the sound of the water was on, her plump father took off his flat cap and let out a heavy sigh.

"Tough day?" Her mother asked, picking up his plate.

"Ah, it's fine, Ava. She was just talking about Jeanne the whole time."

"Well, that's probably to be expected. I'm just surprised she doesn't remember what happened."

"Yeah, that." Her father groaned, taking a sip of his tea. "Do we tell her about what happened?"

"Don't you dare, Logan. Besides, she was there when she died according to the police. She probably just blocked it out of her memory, is all."

"That can't be healthy, can it?" Her dad asked.

"It's healthy enough for her to keep going, okay? She'll be fine. She has a good group of people behind her, and she only has to outlast five more people. I'm more concerned about if they have her body."

"Her body?" Logan asked, sitting up.

"The police took her body for an autopsy and never gave it back. Knowing that sick shit, they might it planned for something. Have it hang from the ceiling and saying she made her kill herself, or something."

"Wait, they'd do that?!" Logan replied. "So why are we letting her go back?"

"She belongs to the New Bunnies or whatever they're called. They'd kill us if we try to break her out." Ava sighed, moving a strand of her short blonde hair out of her face. "But if she keeps up the energy she had today, it's only a matter of time before she comes back for good."