Conflict 

After the blood fest was over, we were quiet for a few days. Then, I got my voice back and decided to ask Elemental about Luc's knuckledusters. 

"Elemental," I say, tapping him on the shoulder. "I have a question." 
"Run it." 

"Those knuckledusters you gave Luc," I say. "Can I have a pair too?" 

He gives a tiny, knowing smile.  

"So you don’t know." 
"What?" 

"Sword, I know you’re asking because you're jealous that number one in the hand-to-hand combat department didn’t get his knuckledusters." 
"Yes." 
"Well," he replies. "I wonder what I should say." 

I'm getting a little impatient.  

"Just spit it out." 
"Alright. The reason I gave them to Luc, was because I saw you with sword." 

Time passed quickly after the Purge. The Administrator congratulated us,  all 252 of us who has lived through the Purge by dirtying our hands. Every single person was able to fulfil the kill requirement, and we were now a legion of cold-blooded killers. After that, he had briefed the 748 new arrivals, most of them trembling in fear or shock or trauma. Some challenged him furiously, demanding to know what was going on, and the rest watched, aghast, as they began to scream and claw at their faces whilst their heads exploded. There were a few who had roughly grasped the situation, quick to adapt, and were standing to attention, waiting for their orders. And there were one or two who were smiling like psychopaths. But The Administrator, which all his threats of death and all, was able to reign them in, and the total number of people in the cave skyrocketed to 977 people.  

Our lives weren't much different after that. Woodsy and Airo both recruited huge amounts of people into their groups, and it was becoming clear that soon there would be a battle between the two powerhouses of the Facility. We G1s (Generation One) trained separately from the G2s, and every day the weak dropped off one by one until the Facility's population had decreased by almost a hundred and fifty people. A few top performers from G2 moved up into G1, especially two specific members - 'Krim', who had climbed steadily up the ladder, surpassing many G1s and was now sitting at 066 using his marksmanship skills and shooting speed, and 'JJQ', who had climbed the ranks to 079 with her blade and knife handling which was unrivalled amongst the G2s. But there was one guy that troubled me. The only murderer within G2, who had already killed six people because they had gotten on his nerves, and one of those was a G1 member who had attempted to attack him back during the Purge. He hadn’t climbed the ranks at all but everyone was talking about him, 688, named 'Clown'. 

Out of those three, over the course of four and a half months, we only managed to build a good relationship with Krim, since both he and Loflo were into guns. JJQ was absorbed into Airo's group, since he had domination over the blade department despite he himself being a polearm wielder. And Clown just did as he pleased. He was the first person who was given special treatment by The Administrator. He had killed over twenty people now, without climbing the ranks at all, but people were afraid of simply the mention of his name. I had a thought a lot about what Elemental had told me. I didn't think I had talent for the sword, and I was 22nd in the blade department, way behind the monsters in Airo's group, and the likes of Kake, Ronin, Chris and Dobo. But one day, instead of sleeping, I asked Elemental to teach me some swords moves. He agreed instantly. And that was the best decision I ever made in my life. As it turned out, Elemental was right. I had a peculiar talent for using blades. It didn’t matter if it was a knife or a katana or a machete or a sword from a millenia ago, after only a few instructions I was able to wield it perfectly. We were at a point where in weapons training the G1s could choose which weapon they wanted to wield, and endure hellish training constantly on that weapon - I decided to settle for hand-to-hand and blade in the end, and I began to move up the ranks in the blade department, competing with Avoma, Elemental and Vedix from Woodsy's group for top spot. And the final thing we all collectively noticed was that the training was easier. No, it was better to say that we were stronger. 

It was five months after the Purge that the 'peace' was shattered. Rations were running low and the biggest groups, especially Woodsy's, were becoming more aggressive and Airo warned us that it was only a matter of time until a fight broke out, so we should get ready before Woodsy eradicated the entire G2 for food. So, we talked to our blade instructor of the upcoming battle, a rather easy-going guy for an instructor and about as tall as me, but incredible in his skills. And so, after being given a basket of wooden blades, and… manufacturing a lot of Elemental's knuckledusters. 

At this point, with fourteen people officially in the Pod, we had decided that we couldn’t have Luc and Swono sleeping on the floor forever so we moved into the empty Pod 47 and split ourselves into two groups of seven, with me, Ronin, Neo, Nyx, Chris, Swifty and Leon staying behind in Pod 50 whilst the rest moved. It was a lot quieter with our numbers halved in the Pod, but the others regularly came to visit. We could now manage without Artee, as the instructors had also forced us to learn skills unrelated to fighting like hacking, sign language and first aid, and could treat our own injuries just fine. And it was only a few days later when Airo came and told us that Woodsy was going after Krim and his only roommate.  

"We have the upper hand this time, surely?" Leon asks me. 

Me and him are alone in the Pod - the rest have followed Airo to get the other at Pod 47. To be honest, out of all the guys in Pod 50 Leon was the most… mysterious. I knew the least about him, and I talked to him the least too. But recently he had climbed the ranks like a monster and managed to displace Ronin in the top 10, becoming 009, putting Neo at 011.  

"We have the top 10 all gathered," I reply, pulling off splinters from my wooden sword, waiting for Artee to come back and pick us up.  "But just because we're… superhumans who've ingested strengthening serums like the pale viper venom with skills cut out above the rest doesn’t make us gods." 

"What are the numbers like again?" Leon questions, tapping his own sword on the floor as he waited.  

"Woodsy's gathered over three hundred people. Airo has about eighty to ninety. We have fourteen." 

"What does he even need so many people for? They're all gonna die anyway cuz only 75 of em can get out of here." 

"I don’t know, he's that bad he needed half the Facility to survive," I scoff, and then Artee's face is in the door, telling us to come. "Just watch out for that guy from G2, 080, 'Zak'. They say he moved up to G1 just after JJQ." 

"Got it." 

When we get there, Krim and his roommate, 166 'Framed', are in a standoff against Woodsy and his small army. Except Krim has the high ground because he's standing on a pile of about twenty unconscious people. When he sees us, instantly Woodsy and his gang of bullies begin to back up a little, then stop. 

"It was a long time coming," he says.  

I don’t like his voice. In all the times I've heard him run his mouth, I've never liked his voice. And I don’t like him either. 

"Back off," Elemental growls.  

"You look like a clown," Chris adds. "I didn’t know there were jokes here in the Facility." 
A guy about three inches shorter than me pushes forward out of the crowd of nervous cronies. He's got a mess of scruffy brown hair, and a face that looked incredibly punchable. It was Zak, who I had warned Leon about. Leon was looking incredulously like, really, this guy? 

"From what I hear," Zak says, his voice unreasonably loud. "The top 10 aren’t anything much. You took so long to make a move and now," - he gestures at the minions behind him - "we are stronger. Face it, 001, 002, and all you other… imps who were afraid of us." 

There's silence. But a different kind of silence from the Administrator's silence. Finally, Luc breaks the silence. 

"Come on then," he says, brandishing his knuckles. "Ever tasted this thing called a punch?" 

"Looks like he never had anyone humble him in his life," Neo agrees. 

"This clown," Chris snorts. "Would believe it if he was the one who scammed Neo in here." 

"Hey!" Neo protests. 

"Thinks he's the Administrator." 

"Looks like he'd drop before the punch lands." 

"Do you seriously think," Airo asks Zak, "We would waste time with the likes of you? I could take out the garbage any time I want to." 

"Alright!!" Artee yells, making everyone shut up, except Chris. 

"You are not Elemental," he mutters, and the others agree. Artee ignored him and keeps talking. 

"Look, can’t you just back off before things get seriously ugly? I doubt you seriously believe you can wipe us out here right now and walk away unscathed? What right do you even have to pillage like this?" 

"My people are hungry," Woodsy says, folding his arms over the hilt of his sword.  

"Yeah, me too, jackass," Chris scoffs. "But you don’t see me bustling around burning houses and looting like some broke-ass wannabe Vikings, do you?" 

"Hey, don’t insult the burning!" pipes a voice from next to Woodsy.  

It's El Casio, the current 059.  

"It's for effect." 

"Effect?" 

"Yes." 

"Let me just stuff that up my ass cuz that's where shit belongs." 

"Chris!" 

"Alright, fine! Stop flapping your worthless gums and just fight us already! Isn’t that what the clown wants!?" 

Zak, El Casio and Artee all open their mouths, but someone beats them to it. It's a tall, broad-shouldered guy, who I know very much about. Vedix, 023, ranked third in the blade department. One spot lower than me. 

"I like that idea," he says, and wraps a massive hand around his wooden sword, which is chipped and blunt on the edges from all his spars. "We came here to fight, didn’t we? So let's fight." 

"Agreed," Airo says. 

And with that, the fight against the biggest group in the Facility. And I don't think anyone there could've predicted what went down.  

Why, you ask? It's simple - they were strong. Woodsy, Zak, Vedix - all of them - they were strong, stronger than anything we might've imagined.