I don't like alliances

Lily's confession sparked a lot of curiosity amongst the rest of us, whom where of the opinion that she had the liberty to waltz in and out of this garden as she pleased.

I stared at Lily, whose expression was currently hardest to read at that point. Then lazily averted my eyes to 415 who obviously had something planned.

"But make no mistake, this isn't a scenario where I can't leave, but rather I won't." She told us, mainly fixing her gaze on 415, "I wish you all good luck." Lily said in a quiet voice.

Subsequently, the effect of the anesthetic became dominant, rendering the rest of us unconscious at almost the same time. I myself tried to keep my consciousness for as long as possible, in order to see where they would take us. But I slowly found myself falling under the influence of the drug, miserably losing consciousness.

The last thing my wary eyes landed on was 415 being carried over someone's shoulder, her arms listlessly swinging from side to side.

**********

"Wake up!" A soft kick to my gut accompanied the distinct summon to regain consciousness. My body felt cold, no, I was stretched out on top of something cold, and solid too.

Not your eco friendly dirt and grass.

I snapped out of consciousness, springing up into a sitting position, only to bump my head against 415's, almost sending her unconscious.

Again.

She made a hiss sound at me as she stood to her feet, protecting her forehead with both hands. "You're the last to wake up, again." I got the feeling that she was looking down on me, but shrugged it off.

Underneath me was metal, something I didn't peg we'd be seeing for a while. Not wanting to lag behind further, I caught up to 415 who was walking away without me.

"Why are you following me?." The irritated look in her eyes pointed out that she was a loner, the direct opposite of someone like me, who wouldn't move without a group.

I took a sweep of the area, and noticed only two things, the walls were made of silvery metal, same with the flooring. Then there was the metal door in front, half slid open, where I could only guess the rest of us where.

"We're in the same group, aren't we?. Though I don't like it, I think it best we stick together." I replied her, walking on the same footing with her.

She was an inch shorter than 415, and looked a year younger, she had to be twenty one at most. I could still perceive the rebellious teenage aura seeping out of her.

"You and I can obviously note that the idea of groups has been abolished. There is nothing tying the both of us together, triple three." She moved ahead from me, and walked towards the room, taking an abrupt pause at the entrance.

She looked over her shoulder at me, her plain blue eyes sizing me up from head to toe. "Don't depend on others anymore, it isn't cool." Those were her parting words of wisdom to me, before she herself waltzed into the room.

I combed my frustrated fingers through my hair, following after, wondering just what it was that made people want to abandon me. I walked into the room, prepared for the absolute worse, but at the same time expecting the best possible outcome.

"So you made it." A calm voice acknowledged on my entry, I traced the voice to 177, who stood against a steel wall. In a cube like sort of room, large enough to contain all...

My eyes diverted to a screen which hung on one of the walls, With the number 76 displaying on it. I could only guess that we all had to regain consciousness before the game would start.

"It's good to see you've recovered." I told her, honestly relieved to see someone I knew, especially her, Miss, I trust you with my life even.

"Any news on where the other members of my group could be?" I sheepishly asked, standing beside her, earning some sharp glares here and there.

"What's their problem?" I inquired, trying my hardest to avert my eyes from what looked like a room full of my enemies.

"Like I care." She responded, resting her head against both hands, looking up to the metal ceiling. I followed her gaze to notice a timer hanging on the wall, my mind immediately understood why everyone was mad with me.

"205 approached me, three hours before we all passed out from the anesthetic." 177 let out, staring intently at the timer.

"Really? Who was she with?" I asked all too excited, my mood definitely stood out from the condensing tone set.

177 even narrowed her vision at me and went as far as to scoff in amusement. "She was with that leader of yours, and some other people. They said something about wanting to form a party of survivors, and find a way to escape the garden."

Well, that sucked. For me though, but 205?. She must be living a the good life, spending time with hotshot alone, recruiting as she called it.

"Did you accept the offer?" I pried, using my eyes to search for 415's location. Convinced that there was a chance she could have been the killer.

"No. I don't like alliances like that."

"Oh, that makes sense." I lied, unsure why someone would pass up on the chance to move with a secure group and support each other, just to play hooky.

"42 didn't fancy the idea either." She added, a small smile playing on her lips at the mention of that punk.

"He was with them too?" I almost cried out, firmly pressing my brows against each other. It seemed as though the group moved on quite nicely after tossing away the dead weight.

"42's with me, when I left your group the punk came after me, saying he wanted a fight. And trust me, I told him it wouldn't be a fair fight if I was bruised. The kid sat on a branch, waiting for me to recover completely. He challenged me again and got his ass handed to him, badly." She stopped and stood up straight.

"That kid is something, he promised to subdue me in combat, saying that if he could beat me, he'd get a step closer to reaching his goal. After that, he decided to stick around me, saying we should be a team till he beats me and finds a stronger partner."

"That sounds like the kind of thing 42 would say, but why would you indulge him?" I face palmed, feeling embarrassed over him.

"What do you mean why? That kid can move, he almost had me a couple of times and he doesn't depend on weapons to fight. Having someone like that around could keep me on my toes, don't you think?." She asked not expecting a response.

I heaved a sigh of relief, glad that he found a crowd he fit into.

"But where is that punk?" I just noticed she was by herself here, 205 and hotshot were missing too.

"Well, after he pushed the idea of forming an alliance away, he started eating. I warned him against it, knowing all too well the type of underhanded tricks that bitch would pull off. But this was what that kid said. 'Like Hell If I care' and ate the whole damn thing regardless. But in a way am glad he's resting, putting him out here without any experience would only get him killed."

On cue, a red light which I only noticed now started to flash, an alarm sounded along with it, hinting at us that something would happen.

"I guess it's time." 177 announced, stretching both her arms and legs, staring at the second steel door that slid open, revealing a bright white light from the other side.

One after the other, we filed outside, some in two's others like 415, wanting to be alone. 177 went out before me, indirectly telling me she would be working alone.

I took calculated steps outside of the room, using my inner elbow to shield my gaze from the bright light as I advanced forward, ready for whatever it is Lily had to throw at me.

"Come one!. Come all!." Lily announced from the middle of a very spacious arena, speaking into a little microphone hung on her left ear.

My eyes twitched at the very sight before me, my feet unconsciously took a step back, baffled.

"To a very interesting game of chess!" She cried out, making sure to place a lot of attention on the word, interesting.

From the very moment we walked in, it was clear, that she had us right where she wanted us and we were screwed.