Asylum

Why Teams Have Co-Captains

Elektra

I've never been a fan of handouts, participation medals, or teamwork. "Everyone is a winner," and "I couldn't have done it without the team," are my two least favorite quotes. If I wanted everyone to be equal and on even playing fields, I'd be advocating for communism. But rest assured, I'm only hoping for my own dictatorship.

Another thing I never liked were the ideas of shared power. Is it really power when it's split between two or more people? I mean, what's the point? It's like winning a gold medal then having to split it in half to share with someone else. It's not even worth anything at that point.

But today, I get the smallest understanding on why people have two leaders. Up until now, Ren has been the one taking the lead. He's been organizing meetings with the Sages, setting up thought-out plans, and making sure everyone is accounted for. Since we first met, he's stepped up quite a bit. Though with the news of Kya's kidnapping, he seems to be falling apart. All those indifferent glances thrown her way recently, the vicious words he's thrown at her, and the obvious space he's wanted from her have all been exposed as a façade. For some reason, Ren's been doing all these cruel things to her to make us all and Kya think he hated her, but when she's in danger, he completely loses it.

And he lost it before Alistair showed up. Just her being out of sight from his Sages was enough to make him go bonkers. With confirmation she's been taken into the hands of an enemy who everyone knows is psycho, thanks to me, it only made Ren worse.

We reached a taxi with a small dilemma. There were four seats and five of us. I turn to Ren. "It's a sign," I tell him, not believing in such things but trying to dissuade him from coming. If something happens to us, we need him to come help us. He's being irrational right now. "You're not supposed to come with us."

"Shut it," he gruffly demands. "We all know you don't believe in that bull." He sinks himself into the passenger seat, where he impatiently taps a gloved finger on his leg. I'm a bit surprised he knew that about me. I mean, we all have been together 24/7 for a while now, but I've made sure to keep quiet so my departure won't be a grandiose affair. Have I been sharing too much?

"There's three seats..." Alistair numbly figures.

"Wow, someone's a detective!" Leo gasps, acting impressed.

Alistair rolls his mismatch eyes. "Are you still bitter about me stealing from you?"

Leo does that thing where he narrows his eyes, puts his hands on his hips, invades personal space, and whispers. Geez, now I'm getting to know these people too well. "Like an espresso, pal."

Sarah apologizes for Leo. "He's usually the one doing the stealing."

Lazily, Alistair looks to the Hispanic boy. "I see."

"Yeah, you've got eyes, don't you?" Leo sasses.

Ren's sharp voice pierces this pointless argument. "Get in the car, or I swear to God, I'm skewering you all on a kabob and frying you with my own hands!" Everyone got it together then, the instable tone in Ren's voice making us all a bit wary.

Alistair tenses up at Ren's words, shooting him daggers full of malevolence. Sarah tells him that Ren doesn't mean it – that he's just scared for Kya, and rightfully so. But Alistair doesn't seem sold on the idea. He slides in the car, not taking his eyes off Ren. Call me crazy, but I almost wonder if Alistair has some hidden beef with our Dragon.

"The bunker is made of total metal. It's almost infallible, considering it was designed to withstand earthquakes and block out flooding from monsoons. There's one entrance, which, unfortunately, is also our exit." I'm educating the population of Taxi from Hell on how we're to tackle the situation without getting our asses handed to us on a silver platter. My eyes scan over everyone to make sure they're bright-eyed and listening. Sarah is hanging onto my every word, her lavender eyes hungrily staring into mine. Ren is in the front seat with something scary in his eyes. Next to Sarah is me, uncomfortable in the middle. But no matter how uncomfortable I feel, I can't imagine how Alistair is holding up.