Survival of the Fittest

Chapter 6 – Survival of the Fittest

A few hours after listening to German Barns' motivational speech, we found ourselves headed toward our various dormitories, at least to get some rest for the rest of the day.

Stepping out from that furnace of a hall, a good number of us were sweating. Some had beads of sweat on their face and a number of them were drenched with it.

As the little breeze outside touched our bodies, we felt a soothing cold calm that tended to our discomfort.

I heaved a sigh as I journeyed toward the hostels like several of my mates.

There was a reason for my sigh regardless. I knew that Bright was trying his best to catch up to me from behind, and if he did, he would jump on me with enthusiasm and make the both of us fall to the ground.

I'm not going to have that anyway and so, I started to countdown in silence, targeting exactly when he would make body contact with him and whenever he attempted to I would dodge.

Not long afterwards, I heard his joyous chant of victory as he leapt into the air, his shadow growing bigger and bigger with each second that went by.

"There you are, roomie!"

Bright descended with hopes of landing on my body but quite unfortunately for the young man, I foresaw this coming and sidestepped, leaving him crashing down on bare ground.

Seeing Bright on the floor, I looked at him and released another sigh, "Watch it, man."

As I was still scolding him, he turned his face toward me and the facial expression that I saw had me weak and short of words.

'Is he crying?'

"My face!!" Bright yelled out.

His face was smeared with dust from the ground and turned red as it seemed every drop of blood in his body moved to his face. As he yet lamented, a line of blood dripped from his left nostril, triggering a slight cringe within me.

"Dude," I said to him, pointing to my left nostrils. "You have—"

"My face!!" he cried out again, paying me no heed. Tears flowed generously from his eyes.

"Dude, you have blood right there," I tried to let him know for the second time but it seemed he was more bothered about the dirt on his face.

It was getting frustrating and I couldn't deal with Bright any longer. I massaged my forehead and shook my head, gross disappointment etched on my face.

'Ah, fuck. Now, I have to get used to this dramatic ass all over again. Nay, not today, man. Not today.'

Saying this in my mind, I turned frontward and left the boy to continue wallowing on the floor as much as he liked.

"Hey, man! Won't you help me?" he said.

I halted and gave him a sidelong glance. Of course, he wanted attention from me. I knew that but that didn't mean that I was willing to give it to him.

After a short pause and silence, he turned around and continued to walk forward.

"You can crawl and abase yourself on the ground for as long as you like. I'm not picking you up and I'm not sure any other person intends to do the same. You have feet, Bright… use them before you lose them."

Damn, that was fire!

I felt my quote right inside my chest and the inner me boomed with brilliant energy at my own intelligence.

My words left a blank, memorable expression on Bright's face. He was struck with an instant dose of cluelessness and couldn't help but stare at me endlessly as I continued to walk.

Bright blinked several times as he gazed at me cluelessly.

'What the fuck is wrong with this dude?' he thought. 'Such a sick bastard.'

Bright said and after a few minutes of staying on the ground by himself and watching fellow recruits walk past him without a care in the world or even an iota of inclination to help him up, he rose to his feet and dusted himself.

'Fine. I will get up myself. All that motivational speech instead of lending me a hand. Tsk,' Bright shook his head and exhaled, blending into the crowd of recruits that were headed back to the dormitories.

Even if he wished to deny it, I had been right because I knew how this world worked.

Our current world thrives on the saying: "Survival of the fittest".

Not the richest.

Not the poorest.

Not the weakest.

Not the strongest.

Only those who are fit and have equipped themselves properly for the most possible dire situation will survive.

Even if Bright wanted to refute my words to him, he couldn't; for at the back of his mind he knew it was the truth and he had seen it.

No one cared for another and if that was the case, one had to care for themselves.

The walk from the blazing hall to the dormitories in the Eastern Wing of the Cube was not a very long one, but it wasn't short either. Maybe I was feeling it because I was walking alone.

The Eastern Wing of the Cube housed many structures and essential facilities that we needed to survive.

The idea was that once you enter the Cube, you cannot leave until you graduate, except under special circumstances. However, these 'special' conditions most times were granted to the descendants of the silver spoon families.

Anyways, the dormitories were only one set of structures in the Eastern Wing of the Cube. There was a large mall that housed several stores as well, a park and playground, a small field etc. Most of the things we would need in our day-to-day activities were in proximity to us.

Reaching the gates that led into the male dormitory, two men dressed in black uniforms stood guard and examined the male recruits one after the other before letting them inside with their luggage.

I didn't have much with me but a small bag that contained a few clothes so my search was going to be quick.

"Your ID?" the older of the two guards requested.

I took out my cube and showed them and after a quick assessment, I was released with my name registered into the Dormitory Catalogue.

As I entered the dorm and climbed the stairs toward my room, I felt an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia once again. Everything came flooding back into my head like it was just yesterday.

I smiled, expressing genuine happiness for the first time in a long time and at the same time, tears rolled down my cheeks.

Sniff~

I didn't know why I felt like a mushy bag of emotions but I learned to resist these feelings and let them free, and that was exactly what I had done.

As I reached my door, following the instruction that German had given about how to operate the cube—which I already knew—I muttered, "Card mode."

Hearkening to my voice, the black cube in my palm twisted and turned as it took on a new form, stretching itself until it became what I had instructed it to be—a key card.

I slotted the black key card into the slot on the door.

Click~

After punching in a few details and getting a green checkmark, it opened up and I entered.

Collecting my breath, I looked around the room, checking out every nook and crank that my eyes could see as I looked at the door.

It was still as beautiful and perfectly arranged as ever.

Of course, I knew this room. I had stayed here for a long time before graduating from the Cube. However, after my graduation, I never returned here. Perhaps, that was why it looked fresh to me since I had not set my eyes on it in years.

Oof~

Riddled with exhaustion from the long travel, I dropped my luggage and took a section of the room, had my bath and fixed myself something to eat.

Bright wouldn't be coming in until after about two to three hours since he would go and burn his time in another friend's room. Well, good for him as it was good for me.

At least, I had enough time to catch some quality sleep before tomorrow when we would meet German and our real journey in the Cube begins.

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Author's Note:

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Thanks for reading.