Chase

Chapter 6

Dario had called everyone to his office one by one in order of how long families have been involved in the government. Astoria didn't know how long her family had been tied to the leader, but she thought it had to be a long time because she was the last one called. Kristian was called before her. She still hasn't talked to him about the words in the cave and how they connect to what has happened to the people here.
Before falling asleep the night before, after the announcement, she would think of patterns and connections that made sense to the storyline. Nothing added up in her mind. Maybe because her family limited her views of history in the government.
Kristian walks into the empty room and goes out the heavy metal doors back to his room. "Astoria" is on the projection of the other door, letting her know to come inside.
The door opened and Dario was sitting at his desk. 2 monitors were mounded in the top corners facing her. Multiple views of the cave were shown. He could see everything. The desk was occupied with papers and files with what might be everyone's records.
"I need to talk to you about yourself. I would like to get to know you since If you do win; I will be your advisor."
"I might win without doing anything. Their enough people dying in one week."
"Astoria, it's not my fault I have-"
"If you had nothing to do with it. Then who did?"
Astoria screamed furiously at Dario. She couldn't help it. For all she knew, she could be next. She walked out the doors while Dario was talking, she blocked him out and left. As she walked into the hall, Cora was there.
"Come with me," Astoria whispered in Cora's ear.
She led her through the tunnel where Kristian led days before. The vines started to appear. Words caught her eyes and she stopped.
"Cora, do you see these?" she towards Astoria and looked straight at the words. "What do you see?"
"Preserving mental."
"This is the place where I saw the other words. They predicted what happened and how the people died."
"Then what does preserving mental mean? Just watch us go to an insane asylum for 'training'."
Astoria grinned at her.
They walked into the greenhouse.
"This is beautiful. How can this be underground?" Cora looked mesmerized.
"Maybe their special plants." Astoria grinned widely.
"How did you find this place?"
"Kristian showed me. A couple of days ago, he wanted to me something, and this was it."
"Did he plant these?"
"No, this was all here."
"Maybe Dario has a green thumb."
"Cora, do you ever wonder what happened that led to this?"
"Like, the chase?"
"Yeah."
"Well, years ago there was a class the center called origin. We learned about the origin of Alvis. They only had this class for one year. It was for sixteen-year-olds, but there was this one person who looked older. The teacher told us how everything started. All I remember was there was a random blow-up everywhere. Only Alvis survived, but we were a broken city, barely anyone lived here and had barely any resources."
"Do you think there are other broken cities?"
"Maybe, but I doubt it."
"What do think happens to people who don't win."
"We die."
"Really?"
"Maybe."
"Why is it even called the chase."
"We chase each other to the top."
Astoria and Cora just looked around before going back to the hall. The words didn't change. They went to eat lunch, but before they could order, the speaker went off. "All contestants to the thrones."
"Dario must have had training planned."
"Let's hope no one dies."
Everyone gathers in the circle. Dario walks through the opening and already looks annoyed.
"We are having a Fighting contest. The last man standing wins."
They went to the open space in front of the doors from the experiment on the first day. A mat was laid out and a bracket full of everyone's names.
"Who goes first?" One of the older men says.
"You and Astoria."
Dario had a weird look in his eyes. This was for walking out on him earlier. The guy walked up to the mat and looked ready. He was muscular and tall. Compared to him, Astoria was a baby. She was almost 6 feet and had a little bit of muscle. It came from running climb out of the house at night to get things from the shops late at night. Her dad never let her get anything for herself. He always said, "Never give, always get." She would have to hide all her things under floorboards or ceiling paneling. Her room was old and most of the floor was broken, so she used that to her advantage. Her ceiling was also paneled and had space to put big things.
"Serapis vs Astoria. 3...2...1"
Astoria hit first, across his cheek. Serapis grabbed her ankle, but Astoria grabbed his wrist and made him hit himself. After every hit, Astoria's vision got worse. By the time she started to win. She blacked out and felt her ankle get grabbed and her whole body got flipped.