I struck the bloodied sword against my shield. The drops of blood that hit my face seemed... felt like routine somehow... carried me into the ordinary and everyday, so insignificant that, glancing at the scoreboard, I instantly worked out how much time was left before Vera and Anton got their tickets.
Sixteen minutes. Not much.
The question was: what would the animators release now? A herd of elephants, or T. rexes?
And there was the show’s organizer. Waving an arm, calling us over.
We exchanged glances and, unhurried, with a sense of soldierly dignity, weapons clanking importantly, walked over to him.
— All right then, primates. Warm-up’s over. Get back out there and fight for real, team against team, — the man said, addressing me mostly. — Ten seasoned monkeys are about to come out. You’re in black, they’re in red. Don’t mix it up. You fight the reds until sixteen monkeys are left on the arena. Then you split into pairs, doesn’t matter who’s black and who’s red. One-on-one duels. The winners — eight of them — advance to the quarterfinal, then semifinal, final, and freedom! The winning fighting baboon gets discharged. The rest get another shot in a week. Go!
The ringmaster spoke fast, but clearly and with enthusiasm.
I suddenly felt adrenaline foam up in my body. Something clicked in my head: «There’s going to be quite a game of skittles!»
I shook my sword, remembering books I’d read about gladiator fights as a kid. In my late childhood I used to dream of standing in the Colosseum, fighting to amuse the Roman rabble. It had looked romantic and brave. My old existence had been short on romance and bravery! Now I was getting it in horse-sized doses.
Looked like I wasn’t the only one fired up. The moment the ringmaster finished his speech, the two dozen of us in black shook our swords and roared: «Forward!!!»
We marched to the center of the arena and stood shoulder to shoulder.
Nothing scared us. Nothing could frighten us. Where were the monkeys in red we’d been assigned to fight?
The crowd’s roar cut off. It went quiet, completely quiet.
From the gate that had released the tigers, a line of ten warriors emerged. They were killing machines, a head taller than us, half again as broad.
— Whoa-ooo! — the crowd shrieked in anticipation.
— Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta!!!! — my ears rang from the thunder of thousands of assault rifles firing salutes.
The red line, stepping slow and heavy, advanced toward us. Fighters in gleaming armor, colorful plumes on their helmets, flawless red tunics.
God! How were we supposed to match them?
I looked around. Fear had gripped my comrades.
Run? Nowhere to go.
Suddenly, for the second time that day, I felt like I was exactly where I belonged. I had to fight. I was obligated to fight. I would fight! What the outcome would be — didn’t matter. What mattered was not being a coward, living out the last second of my life as honestly as I could...
what was this?
what was I saying?
what was I seeing?
My gaze, sliding across the stands, froze, caught on something dear and kind.
On the opposite slope, in the front row, sat her — the girl from the blue room — smiling, waving her hand.
Dying got easier.
I struck my sword flat against my shield and stepped forward. Took the first step of my life toward danger.
A strange feeling washed over me: I was intoxicated by my own resolve to fight to the death, to fight the way I’d dreamed of a hundred times and never once done.
I struck the sword against the shield once more. The ring of metal was rousing. It roused more than just me: the guys in black struck their swords too and stepped to meet their fate.
We closed. Pathetic amateurs and flawless professionals, clumsy rookies and hardened veterans, closed in a fight to the death.
Blades flashed, illusions scattered. The monster facing me knocked the sword from my hand with a movement too fast to follow. While it fell to the arena floor, ringing and bouncing like Grigorovich’s coin, my stomach was already laid open to the crowd’s gleeful roar.
Pain!
Unbearable pain!
A-a-aah!
Someone had wired a thousand volts to my spine, an electric arc tore through my body, blowing the contents of my skull straight to hell. That’s it. The end...
