DEATH IS THE ONLY WAY

Zoe's POV

We walked into the forest taking the route we passed before, I could hear screams and I stopped. "Can you hear that?" I asked, stopping.

I couldn't seem to recognize the voice but I knew it was a familiar voice. I knew that voice. "I don't know, it's like a man is screaming for help." Noah answered.

"It sounds like Scott's voice." Matteo chipped in and I ran leaving the rest towards the camp. "Hey, wait for us." I heard him shout from behind me but I didn't stop.

I reached the camp in no time and found Jake brutalizing Scott. My heart raced and I walked towards them. "What are you doing?" I demanded, agast snatching the whip from his hands.

I looked at Scott who was already unconscious and stared at Jake, I didn't know why he was flogging Scott.

"Your stupid boyfriend made a stupid decision." He retorted and picked up a gun.

"What did he do?" I inquired, curiously.

"You should just stay out of this. We're not in Mars where our parents control us. They're all dead and we're the only ones that survived." He told me.

I felt myself growing impatient. "I demand to know what Scott has done." I said as Noah, Matteo and Liam walked into the camp.

"What's the meaning of this?" Matteo asked and wanted to injure Jake but I stopped him.

Jake smiled and let out a chuckle. "You wouldn't want to join him, would you?" He asked Matteo and I looked at him.

"What has he done?"

"He spoilt a box." Jake simply answered.

I frowned. "What box?" I asked.

"A box that would take us back to Mars, he ruined everything." Alexa answered, coming out from the group and facing me.

I scoffed. "You wrench, I can't believe you agreed to it."

A smile plastered on her face. "It's not my fault that your boyfriend wanted to save you." She said.

I just didn't understand what they were saying. "How can a box take us back to Mars?" Noah asked, looking at her.

"Alexa made the box recently which can take one person at a time to Mars but we needed an experiment." James answered as I stared at him awkwardly.

"An experiment? Do you mean animals?" I asked.

"Human experiment." Alexa answered and I looked in shock. Noah and Liam brought Scott down and I ran to meet him.

"Scott, are you alright?" I asked and helped him rest his back on the tree.

"Yes, I'm alright." He answered and I hugged him. I couldn't bear anything bad happening to him.

"Zoe?" Jake prompted softly and I turned to look at him. "We wanted to use you for the experiment." Jake said and I felt my heart shudder in response.

I stood up and faced him. "What do you need an experiment for?" I asked.

He walked towards me and wrapped his arms around my waist, I slowly removed his hands and shifted back. "According to Alexa, if the box doesn't work, you might get stuck in space." He revealed.

I looked at Matteo and we exchanged uneasy glances. "I can't be your experiment." I told him.

"Why?"

"Space is very dangerous – and without protection, people would not be able to survive there. In space, there's no air so you can't breathe. It's cold and you would freeze. There's lots of nasty radiation from the Sun, and from the rest of the Universe so you'd get bad sunburn." I told him and his eyes widened.

"You're brilliant, where did you get that knowledge from?" He asked.

"My mom taught me."

"You mean, your prostitute mother." I insulted and I sent him a punch to his face.

He rolled his eyes and walked away. I looked at the Islanders with pity. "You're all just here for nothing, he'll use you as an experiment soon." I told them.

"Just shut up, Zoe." Alexa replied.

"I won't keep quiet because we need to know the truth, you're using us to survive." I said to her and she frowned.

"You're just being insecure. We should probably end everything this evening. One of us must die this evening." She replied.

With a confused face, I asked. "I don't understand you, killing each other won't solve anything."

"You actually want to be a coward, I'm challenging you to a fight this evening." She challenged me.

Looking at Scott, he shook his head trying to tell me not to accept but I wanted to kick her in the ass and show them that I was the winner. "I accept your challenge."

She laughed. "You should have waited to hear the rules and rewards," she said. "Sharp objects like knives will be used except guns." She added and I felt a shiver through my spine.

"I didn't agree to a knife fight."

"Well, you did," she replied with a smirk. "We have to fight each other to death and one of us must die if not we'll start all over again." She continued.

"What are the rewards?" I asked.

"If you win, you'll become the assistant commander and you can influence the commander's decision but if I do win and you die, I'll become the commander." She answered.

A whimper escaped my throat.