LOVE ON FIRE

Zoe's POV

"Are you sure you're going to win this?" Matteo asked as he squeezed my hands gently.

"Am I not strong enough to face her?" I demanded in acute disappointment.

"You're strong but she has more experience than you in fighting. You were just a normal person on mars but her parents were fighters so they might have trained her."

"This is a deathmatch and only one person survives, you shouldn't have accepted the challenge."

Noah walked up to me with a smile. "Scott is fine now, he's resting." He said and I nodded.

For the first time, it actually dawned on me that few people still cared for me. "Thanks Noah, you've been a great help to me." I appreciated it with a smile.

I walked into the tent where Scott laid down, he smiled when he saw me. "I love you, Zoe."

"I love you too. I'm sorry it had to happen this way, I and my team got lost in the forest when we were attacked by a snakehead fish." I explained kindly.

"A snakehead? What's that?" He asked, confused.

Scratching my cheeks, I replied. "It's a dangerous water animal that you'll never want to meet in your entire life."

"They wanted to use you as an experiment for PROJECT 123." He revealed.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is that the name they gave it?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," He answered sitting up and leaning on the wall. "Jake has a beef with you and he's not ready to settle it anytime soon." He continued.

"I know." I conceded reluctantly as he stood up.

"We need an escape plan to leave this camp." He said.

Momentarily panic-stricken, I stared at him. "That's totally not a good idea, we need to stay together to survive earth."

He chuckled. "Staying with betrayals?" He asked.

I gave it a second thought, he was definitely right. "I'll think of something but I'm not promising you of anything." I told him.

Noah's POV

I ran my fingers through my hair when Liam came, he looked at me before sitting down on the wood with me. "What are you doing?" He inquired in a casual tone.

"I'm just trying to be happy." I answered. I couldn't help but remember when he answered the truth question and told them that he couldn't fall in love with a guy.

"Why? You're supposed to be naturally happy."

I smiled. "I'm sad because of Zoe, I want her to win this fight and I'm not ready to lose any of my friends again."

He chuckled. "I'm always here for you, I'll never leave." He reassured me.

I nodded but the thoughts hit me hard. Liam would always take me as a friend and nothing more. "Yeah." I said raggedly.

"Are you angry with me?" He asked and I shook my head. "You seem to be cold towards me since I told Matteo that I could never fall in love with a guy."

Smiling, I gave him a reassuring look. "I'm certainly not angry because of that, he was not supposed to ask you such questions when he knows that our people don't tolerate homosexuality." I told him trying to hide my pain.

"I don't believe in what they practice, fuck their traditions if I eventually fall I'm love with my gender but I won't." He said.

"What do you think of the fight?" I asked, changing the topic.

A smile plastered on his face. "Alexa has a better chance of winning, I place my bet on alexa, if she loses, I'll do anything you want but if she wins, you'll do anything I want." He suggested.

I was totally cool with the deal. "That's totally brilliant, I have so much faith in Zoe and I'm sure she'll win."

"We should probably go and watch the fight." He suggested and we stood up, I picked up my gun and headed towards the fighting arena.

The Islanders were already waiting for Zoe, they stood in groups chanting Alexa's name. "It's time for the battle." Jake said loudly and dropped a knife on the floor.

Zoe's POV

"It's almost time." I said and sat down near Scott. Dropping my gun beside him, I blew out an exasperated sigh. This was my only chance of proving to the Islanders that I was going to serve them with all my heart.

He squeezed my hands gently. "I'm sure everything will be fine." He reassured with a smile.

I tried to force out a smile but I couldn't, earth certainly changed everyone. They were all blinded by greed and power. "I don't know, this is not right." I told him.

He scratched his cheeks. "What is not right?" He asked.

"I can't fight Alexa, that's totally wrong. She's like a sister to me." I answered truthfully.

It was the truth, even though I accepted the challenge, I had no intention of killing her. It was never an option and I could never hurt her.

Scott placed his hands on my cheeks and kissed me on my forehead. "If you don't kill Alexa, she'll certainly kill you." He warned.

Looking at him, I nodded in agreement to what he said, he knew that Jake would never let her spare me. I was also sure that he must have told her to kill me immediately she has the opportunity.

"I pray she backs down from the challenge, I don't want to kill my best friend."

"Your best friend tried to kill you." He reminded me gently.

"I know but...."

He interrupted. "You have to be the assistant commander so you can influence his decision, this is our chance at the right thing." He advised.

He was definitely right! If I wanted to survive on Earth, playing a hardened role was the best choice. "I wish this was a game." I revealed.

He chuckled and let out a smirk on his face. "Unfortunately, it's not a game where you can easily switch to easy or hard mode. You've got to fight to be in the top position, there are times when you'll take the hardest decision to save people."

"It's already time." I heard Jake announce and I stood up. I walked towards the entrance of the tent and took a glance at him before finally working out of the tent.