Rules of Survival | afi

intermission

The acid rain was Calum's idea.

It was more out of a panic than anything else. He was in charge of monitoring the contestants that day, watching the little red dots that represented their lives move along the map. Forty left. Two days remaining. Ashton was one of those forty.

He knew that the rain would trap everyone where they were, keep them from moving forward to kill each other at least for the time being. Besides, he figured that giving Ashton and his partner some one on one time wasn't a bad a idea. Ashton needed the company, the state of a closed in conversation. Maybe he'd open up.

A lot of Calum's friends and family are appalled by his obsession with helping the guy. They think it's weird, and a little creepy. But they don't know Ashton like Calum knows him.

Despite being quite a few years younger then him, Calum rose in the force quicker. He became chief within a few months of the job, and Ashton joined his unit shortly after. They became friends almost instantly.

It didn't take long for Calum to realize that he knew Ashton before it all.

Back in middle school, when all the kids made fun of him for looking asian and pushed him in the dirt every day, there was always one boy that helped him after. He never spoke, just picked up Calum's books for him and dusted off his uniform. Every single day. This went on until one day, the kids just stopped.

Calum later found out that they were forced to, if the black eyes and bruises they were all sporting the next day said anything.

After that, he only saw Ashton in the hallways. An occasional nod, a small smile in his direction. What was probably just a small act of kindness to the curly headed boy meant the absolute most to Calum, and it proved to him that there was still some good in the world. It got him through highschool and onto UNI.

Calum recognized Ashton's kind green eyes, his protective physique. They caught up and became friends immediately.

Calum watched Ashton fall in love with his wife, a beautiful accountant at the towns local bank. He was there for the birth of his first child, then the next two. He was even asked to be the Godfather of Ashton's son.

Ashton loved his family more than anything in the world. Calum knew that, everyone knew that. So when the accident happened, it completely destroyed him.

Calum watched as Ashton broke down. He watched as he quit the force, stayed shut up in his house for weeks. He tried to help him, tried to reach out, but it was no use. He was too far gone. Or so he thought.

The news of Ashton's enrollment in the Battle Royale was almost as much of a shock as the accident was. Calum couldn't believe it, didn't want to believe it. He tried for days to convince Ashton not to do it, to try something else, but with every desperate plea he could feel him slip away.

So he applied to be a strategist.

And, like most things, he was able to rise to the challenge. The recruiters loved him and all the fake experience he had told them about. He secured his spot on the panel, and vowed to do whatever he could possibly do to help Ashton win. Even if it meant sacrificing himself in the process.

Which was bound to happen, considering any relations between strategist and contestant is incredibly illegal.

But Calum presses on, watches Ashton's stats, makes sure that he's staying alive. It's the least he can do for the guy after all he's done for him, even though the contest officers are starting to catch on.

If Calum is killed for illegal relations, a very high possibility, at least he can die knowing that he saved someone that makes the world a better place.