It was now the next morning. Most people already ran out of materials in row A, with them having their last meal this morning. Even though most people had enough for a week, most people traded their food for other resources, such as water. You could typically survive without food for a few days, but the same was not true for water.
With the death of Row D, Rows B and C had about two extra days of food. They had time, but we didn't. Even though we were their targets, it looked like row A was going to have to bring war to them.
Looking around, I was expecting some type of alliance to form in this row, but nothing. This row was filled with high-status, stubborn nobles. All wanted to lead, but did not want to follow. It was for that reason that an alliance was never formed. They never even tried because they knew of this reason.
Other rows had high-status nobles as well, but there was a gap between Burr and Marcus compared to the others. They came from families of marquis, while the others were merely counts, viscounts, and other lower-ranking nobles. They still had a higher status than I since they came from inside the walls. Even a baron from inside the walls was above me.
They had to follow, but my row didn't. They were all nearly counts, all high-ranking nobles. One of many kids. It was normal for higher-status positions to have multiple kids, with some even having ten. They would all compete for their family name. Usually, those who didn't rise above the rest had to take a different name or be killed. These nobles were used to controlling others, not being controlled by others.
I tapped my finger on the railing of my bed; the sound echoed through my little corner of the room. I may have Ael by my side now, but even he could not take on two rows of people. And that's expecting that some from row A won't turn on us.
That wasn't the only problem. There was Amiel.
For some reason, he had been giving me glares. There was a good chance I was going to be his target when it came down to it all.
I could see him talking to people from his row, and every now and then, he would look over my way.
It would be wishful thinking that he was looking at Ael, but even when he was gone, he would still look this way.
I got up from my bed and headed to the bathroom. I let Ael know I would be right back so that he could keep an eye on my stuff.
As I walked past all the rows of people and started to make headway to the toilets. Finishing up and walking out of the stall, I saw him.
It was Amiel. He followed me in here.
"H-Hello?" I said, startled.
I grew suspicious of the situation, thinking that he had come here to kill me. It wouldn't be out of the question if he did, the way he had been giving me glares all day.
I looked over his shoulder to see if anyone was with him. I didn't see anyone, but my mind wandered if there was someone else outside preventing anyone from coming in. Was I in trouble?
I gripped the knife in my pocket. I began to get ready for the worst.
"I need your help." He stated.
Confused, I stopped myself from taking my knife out of my pocket and let him speak.
"Burr, I need to kill him."
My heart skipped a beat or two.
"W-what?" I let out as the conversation takes a turn.
"I need your help." He repeated again, this time slowly, with a pause at the end of each word.
"And you came to me?" I laughed, not knowing what to make of the situation. Was this some type of test?
"Don't play dumb with me." He said, "I know it was you."
He saw I didn't budge.
"The amputation, the killings. You have been playing everyone in here."
I felt my throat form a lump, and I thought, was it over for me. Still trying to play it calm I asked, "And what makes you think I did all that?"
He smiled, "Do you remember the morning of the second day, the first death down here in the bunker?"
He waits for me to react, but I don't. "Well, the night before, I needed to use the bathroom, but before getting out of bed, I saw you leave. When I went to use the bathroom, I headed into one of the stalls—want to guess which one? The stall with the corpse in it."
"That could have just been a coincidence. I could have gone into any other stalls. We both know how many there are."
"I thought that too, but it was enough to get me suspicious and keep my guard up. So I stayed up the next night, seeing if you would do anything else. I saw you amputate Darrel and put his arm in his girlfriend's storage box."
'Shit.'
"You really are something."
'I'm done for.'
In truth, I had been behind most of it, well, besides the first killing. I was behind the amputation, the killings, and the necklace.
As my mind comes back to the necklace, I panic.
'Did he know? Did he know I was the one who framed him? I was only doing it to keep the attention away from me. All of this was in hopes of making sure I would be left standing. It's not like I had a choice. I would have been the first one to die if I hadn't. Look at the first day. I was almost accused of a killing I didn't do. I was forced to play this stupid game.'
Knowing that someone else knew, I wanted to break down. I never wanted to do any of this, but I had to. I didn't have power like any of the others here. If I wanted to survive, I would have to forge that reality myself, but now—now I was on the verge of breaking down.
Knowing I did not have time to do so I moved the knife I kept in my pocket out slowly. My hands began to sweat knowing I was going to have to kill him. How would I? And even if I did, how would I hide this. My mind began to race faster and faster as the world began to collapse on itself.
Amiel noticed and put up his hands, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Well, as long as you help me."
I stopped myself from pulling out the knife letting out a sigh with a relief washing over me. There was a chance I could still live to see the next day.
I contemplated before answering him, "And what about after?"
"Well, that's for the future us to handle."
"The future isn't that far with the way things are going."
"Well, you won't have a future if I let people know it was all you."
I gritted my teeth, knowing this was my only option. Right now, I was forced to go along with his plan.
"Fine. Do you have a plan?"
"Nope."
'You're joking.'
"But that's why I came to you."
He walked towards me, patting my shoulder, "You need to come up with something quick. We both know your row won't last long."
He started to walk to one of the stalls behind me.
Turning around, I had to ask one more question. "Why do you want him killed?"
"Because he was the one who framed me." I could see anger fill his face.
He thought Burr was the one who framed him.
***
As I walked out of the bathroom, I looked around frantically.
'Did I take too long?' I thought.
Before I started to look more suspicious, I made my way back to my bed.
If people were to find out about what Amiel and I talked about, I wouldn't survive another second.
Arriving at my bed, I could see Ael sitting on his bed. He was just relaxing, passing the time.
I peeked my head to grab his attention. "You said you had my back, right? Well, I need it."
He was my only option. I would have to fill him in on the situation. I just didn't know how much yet.