The God Contest Regina

“Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

Alexander Graham Bell

All hell broke loose in the supermarket as people stampeded towards the exit, their shopping carts abandoned in their panic. The crowd pushed violently forward, packed shoulder to shoulder, each person desperately trying to be the closest to the exit. Parents hoisted small children on their shoulders as they struggled to keep them safe from the frenzied crowd. An elderly woman fell to the floor and did not get back up.

“So, we’re going to be attacked,” Emily said bluntly, tearing her gaze away from the chaos at the exit. “Ares is the god of war, after all.”

“No doubt,” Zee confirmed. “But who will be the attacker? Ares made no mention of players fighting each other, so there is no need for me to cut you down. At least, not today.”

“You aren’t making a good case for us to trust you, Zee,” Bethany said tensely.

“Trust is for fools, my dear,” Zee answered without pause. “Trust gets you stabbed on the midnight train to nowhere. But perhaps we can be allies, if only for today?”

Bethany glanced at Rocky, who reluctantly nodded. “We don’t know what Ares will unleash upon us. We need all the allies we can get right now.”

“Good decision,” Zee said, his voice concealing the hint of a threat.

“Rocky, I don’t suppose anything in your notes covers a supermarket war?” Emily asked, only half joking.

Rocky’s surveyed the pharmacy as his mind flipped through the possible scenarios. “Ares gave us ten minutes to prepare. Why did he do that? If all he wanted was a fight, he could have started the arena the moment the weapons fell. He’s wanting something more from us.”

He eyed the chest-high shelves filled with over-the-counter medications and vitamins, then glanced back at the pharmacy. “Ares said war is simple, but that isn’t the case at all. Even in ancient Greece, the winning army wasn’t just the one with the most men. It’s the one who is best prepared. The one who had the best position on the battlefield.”

Rocky’s plan came together. “If we fight in the open, we risk getting swarmed by whatever Ares sends against us. We are in the corner of the store, so if we fight here, we only have to defend on two sides. We can use the shelves to build a barricade from the counter to the wall, while robbing our enemies of the same cover. We can pelt them with these iron weapons from a distance as they try to reach us. If we get overwhelmed, we retreat into the pharmacy.”

“We build a… fort?” Bethany asked.

“Yes. In… um… nine minutes or less,” Rocky said.

Emily sprang into action. “I’m in. Rocky, you and Zee get started on the shelves. Bethany and I will collect the weapons,” Emily said as she took off towards the nearest aisle and started stacking spears, daggers, and swords in her arms.

“I trust you Rocky,” Bethany assured him as she headed in another direction.

“You are smarter than you look, Balboa,” Zee remarked when Emily and Rocky were further away. “Or should I call you General Balboa?”

“You should call me Rocky,” Rocky responded, eyeing Zee’s daggers. “I hope there is more to you than your ego. Do you actually know how to use those?”

“Don’t you worry. It may have only been a few short days, but I have felled more than one monster.”

Rocky and Zee moved over to the first shelf, bracing their shoulders against it. They shoved hard, moving it into position with a rusty screech across the floor. It was now flush against the cinderblock wall at the north side of the pharmacy counter.

“My first kill was this rat creature that was as big as a donkey,” Zee started to narrate as they moved to the next shelf. “I hate rats. You ever been trapped travelling in an empty railcar with a family of hungry rats?”

“Why would I ever had done that?” Rocky muttered, rolling his eyes.

“You’ve lived a sheltered life, Balboa. They are disgusting creatures. I took my time with that first kill. It was cathartic. Then I found another monster, and then another. I have a lot of shit to work through you see.” Zee’s exaggerated cackle found itself on the border of sanity and madness.

“Are you on drugs?” Rocky scolded, growing weary of Zee’s showmanship. “Or are you just that desperate to meet a quick end?”

“A little of column A and a little of column B. I live in the moment, Balboa, and damned be the consequences,” Zee responded, staring up at the winged eyes.

“Well, knock off the theatrics and push,” instructed Rocky. “Or do you want to die here today?”

“The Grim Reaper hovers over all of us, big man,” Zee responded, but he moved to Rocky’s side and braced his shoulder against the next shelf. “I am who I am, and I shall change for no one. Why spend my last remaining days denying myself?”

“Just… just start pushing,” Rocky said, Zee’s words found an unwelcome purchase in his mind.

“I’ve known plenty of people like you, Balboa. You’ve probably spent your life denying yourself. Denying who you are. I know what I want, and I am willing to take it. This God Contest was built for people like me to thrive. And if you don’t embrace that, it will swallow you whole.”

Glancing over at Emily, her arms laden with swords and spears, Rocky wondered how much Zee was full of shit, and how much he might be right.

* * *

The squeal of shifting shelves rang through the store as Bethany added another halberd to the growing collection in her arms. Her increased strength made the task easier, and she found she could carry ten different weapons before she had to dump them behind the quickly growing wall.

Bethany was prying out six spears that had embedded themselves in the floor of the mouthwash aisle, when the Indian mother cautiously approached.

“Can we join you?” asked the mother with a fear-filled stubbornness. She was carrying her sick toddler in her arms as the grandmother clutched a basket full of medication. “We don’t know what is going on.”

“Yes… of course. We could use all the help we can get,” Bethany said, trying to sound confident. She knew they wouldn’t stand a chance alone.

“I’m Anjali,” the Indian mother replied gratefully. “This is my mother-in-law Priyanka and my daughter Jaya. We’ve been hiding at home ever since this… contest… started, but then Jaya got sick, and her cough kept getting worse.”

The women’s only weapon was the fierceness in their eyes. Bethany found herself admiring their bravery. A winged eye flapped down from the ceiling to capture the moment. Bethany assumed it was the eye assigned to their family when Priyanka hurled a bottle of mouthwash in its direction, driving it back up to its perch in the rafters.

“I’m Bethany,” she replied. “We can use all the help we can get.”

“Will we be safe?” Anjali asked, fear threatening to crack through her carefully controlled emotions.

“No,” Bethany replied. There was no point in lying to them. “No, this is a God Arena. None of us are safe. We don’t know what will happen when the timer hits zero, but we’ll be in for the fight of our lives. All we can do is stick together and fight back.”

Anjali took a deep breath and steadied herself. “Susa ma, take Jaya and hide behind the pharmacy. Keep her safe and quiet. I’ll help here and… and fight.”

“Anjali, we should just go to the exit like everyone else. This whole thing must be a joke,” Priyanka demanded sternly. “Listen to your mother-in-law.”

Anjali ignored her and passed over the squirming toddler. “Go to the pharmacy, Susa ma. See what you can find for Jaya. I don’t want to leave here without her medication.”

Priyanka started to argue, until she saw the resolve in Anjali’s eyes. Cradling Jaya in her arms, Priyanka headed into the growing makeshift enclosure and into the pharmacy.

Anjali did not take her eyes off Jaya until they slipped into the backroom and were out of sight. “Will this be the last time I see them,” she whispered.

Bethany picked up a spear and thrust it into Anjali’s arms. “Don’t let it be.”

* * *

The last section of their makeshift wall slid into place as the timer entered its final minute. It was a barricade that left much to be desired, but it would serve its purpose. Any monsters that came would need to climb over the chest-high barrier or enter through the one-person-wide gap that faced the exit.

The shelves were cleared of their items, which had been flung into the open space around the barricade to create tripping hazards for the monsters. The structure reminded Bethany of a medieval castle, with the trees cut back and protected by a moat. Anjali must have had the same thought, as she spent their final few minutes pouring bottles of hand sanitizer, shampoo, and conditioner on the tile floor fifteen feet out from the wall. The result was a slick, invisible ring around the wall that would hopefully buy them time to pummel their attackers with their gathered weapons.

Bethany surveyed their defenses as she took her place at the northern wall, facing the back of the store. The four spears she had leaned on the wall next to her were ready to throw. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shirt and took a deep breath to calm herself.

Emily stood beside Bethany with her own stack of weapons, memorizing every aspect of the soon-to-be battlefield. Rocky hunkered down in the middle of their enclosure behind a barrier made of overturned chairs. From there, he could survey the entire area and quickly reach anyone who needed to be healed.

Two days ago, they had nearly died in the North End Savers. This time they were prepared. Bethany felt the light building within her - tiny weaves desperate for release.

“How are the new recruits?” Bethany asked, nodding towards their new allies who were taking their places at the wall. At the three-minute mark, Emily had brought in five more players who had been wandering the back of the store, paralyzed with indecision.

Henry and Abigail, a middle-aged married couple, and Henry’s twin brother Gabriel were defending the left side of the west wall. Abigail was the only one holding a weapon, and she was whispering harshly to her husband and his brother. Gabriel took a step backwards and knocked over their pile of spears and swords, and Abigail rolled her eyes.

“Well, let’s hope Abby gets them in line,” Emily said. “Ben and Marvin may be more dependable.”

Emily gestured to the two elderly men who defended the right side of the west wall. They were in their early seventies, both remarkably spry for their age. A pile of neatly arranged spears resting between them, each held a short sword and had a dagger stuffed into their belts. The men bantered back and forth, chuckling at a thirty-year-old inside joke. Bethany wondered if they had been in the military together and regretted that she’d had no time to get to know them.

Anjali defended the wall with the elderly men. Her knees shook with fear, and her eyes never left the gathered crowd at the exit. Jaya’s cry and her grandmother’s soothing coos emanated from behind the pharmacy counter, and Anjali’s tightened her deathly grip on the spear in her hands.

“Three defending north, six defending west,” Rocky said, then looked towards the pharmacy. “And one jackass who had decided to do something completely different.”

Zee stood on the pharmacy counter, surrounded by daggers, laughing as the final seconds ticked away. He had an ecstatic grin without a trace of fear in his eyes. He launched into an impromptu speech.

“My new friends. My comrades in arms,” Zee announced as the countdown entered its final seconds. He looked down at Bethany with a grin. “In moments, this Arena will strike for our collective throats, without hesitation and without mercy. What a gift that is, for it leaves us no choice but to stand our ground and fight for our lives. Set aside your doubts. Set aside your fears. They have no place behind our makeshift barricade. Are you with me?”

“Let the fuckers come,” Abigail cheered, enraptured by Zee’s speech. Gabriel and Henry looked shocked, but Abigail thrust two swords into their empty hands with an impatient glare.

Zee bowed towards Abigail. “You, fine woman, are a beacon of bravery and violence. A woman after my own heart. Let’s give them hell! Count down with me! Ten…night…eight…”

“Seven…six…five…” Abigail’s voice joined his, growing more confident every second.

“Four…three…two…” Bethany found herself counting down under her breath. She had to admit that it was a good speech, even if the man delivering it was the strangest man she had ever met.

“Stay safe, Bethany,” Emily whispered.

“You too, Emily,” Bethany replied.

Please, let us survive this.

“One,” Zee growled, a wolf anticipating the kill.

“Zero…” whispered Bethany, and the supermarket erupted into chaos.