54 Settle This

"So no matter what we do, we can't leave this place," Sheloah asked and Ray nodded. He then looked at Veon.

"Is he your boyfriend? Sheloah's your name, right?" Sheloah raised her eyebrow at him when she heard Ray's questions.

"Why would I dare answer your questions? You're a stranger and an enemy at that," she said sharply and Ray went quiet.

Isobel approached her best friend. "Hey, stop now. You've been very angry since a while ago. Your head's practically a volcano now," she said and Sheloah spoke.

"Veon, you speak for me in my stead. It's like I'm talking to a retarded person," she said as she glared at Ray in front of them.

Veon looked at the girl beside him, then proceeded to talk with Ray. "What should we do then for us to leave? Will there be a sort of agreement," he asked and Ray looked at Veon seriously.

"Of course, there is. There will be a one on one battle between me and the leader of your group," Ray answered and Sheloah's group was quite surprised to hear this. "Who's the leader of your group," Ray then proceeded to ask and Sheloah stepped forward.

"Me."

The people on the opposing team looked at Sheloah incredulously and Tyler and Josh rushed forward to protect Sheloah just in case.

"Are you crazy? You're recovering from an accident and you're picking a fight," Josh said and Sheloah just ignored him.

"She's really insane. Nothing's stopping Sheloah from acting this way once she's really irritated," Tyler said then he sighed.

"Sheloah can't fight," Veon said straight and he went in front of Sheloah. "She's not in good condition," he added and Sheloah touched his shoulder.

"Veon, it's okay—"

He didn't let her finish. He suddenly held her hand and he looked at her with sharp eyes, surprising Sheloah.

"You're not fighting," he said and Sheloah's mother held her hand and squeezed it to make her stop.

"Listen to Veon. Your family, and some of your friends… would be very worried sick about you. You can't do things as you please," her mother said and Sheloah went silent.

She really had no say about it this time.

"If I won't have someone to spar with, you can't leave. The resources here are ours. Just return to where you came from or look for another alternative to go to your destination," Ray said then yawned.

How are they going to escape this place? They need to get to Australia.

One of the parents suddenly stepped forward. It was Dannie's father.

"Can I ask the reason why we need to hold up a challenge?" Ray suddenly looked at the adult.

"As parents, of course, we won't allow the children to do this. Your group and our group would be harmed. Just allow us to go. We will not return here anyway and all the resources are yours. We won't touch it," Dannie's father added and the parents nodded at what he said, agreeing, but Ray just shook his head.

"I'm afraid it's not applicable to us, sir," Ray said and he sighed. "Because this place is ours. You already got a lot of our resources such as food without our prior notice. It had already cut down our group's share," the opposing group's leader, Ray, said and Sheloah's mother now spoke.

"But what if your group can come with us," she said, bargaining, but Ray still shook his head to say no.

"Sorry, ma'am. It's still a no. We have other plans and we are also an independent group," he answered and the adults now had no say in this. It seemed that they have no choice but to comply with their rules.

"Why do we need to resolve this in violence," Sheloah's uncle said and Ray looked at him.

"We would like to settle this once and for all. If one of us loses, we would have to comply with the deal. We won't mind each other's business. This I guarantee," Ray replied and everyone went quiet.

Veon suddenly spoke.

"If I will be the representative of our group… will you agree to the challenge," Veon asked and everyone looked at him, surprised.

Sheloah suddenly held his hand. "Veon, what the hell?"

Ray looked at the two of them, a little irritated by Sheloah's display of affection. "Better if it's you. I'll add more rules to the challenge," Ray told Veon and he nodded, waiting for him to state the rules.

Veon was willing to fight for the group. Sheloah was quite unsure about this; if she'd allow Veon to fight. She knew that he decided to fight for her since her body's not in a good condition. Knowing this, she felt guilty to kind of force Veon to fight in her position.