Condition Evolution 4 by Kevin Sinclair (books for 10th graders TXT) 📕

That was why I called you all together. However we have had an issue,” I said, gesturing at my face. “With the revelation that we may be stuck here for a long time, I didn’t want to leave those we had locked up stuck in those rooms indefinitely. I went to speak with them in the hopes that they would see reason. These three men,” I said, indicating the men standing with Roger and Amnarr, “have decided to rejoin us in the spirit that Uprising was created. I have yet to speak with Graeme, the one who attacked me on day one here.” I took a deep breath, before I delivered the news. “I did however speak with Rufus. He was very resistant to following my lead in any way. He believed with a pretty aggressive viewpoint that he should be in command here. I had no choice but to leave him in the cell, which prompted him to attack me.”

There was a collective gasp, and I looked around the shocked faces. Astrid’s face stood out to me in particular as expressionless. Shit, she was going to cause trouble. There wasn’t much I could do about it, so I forged on.

“After a rough fight, I was able to get the better of him. That’s when he pulled a knife he’d made, and came at me again with the intent to kill me. I was able to get the better of him, however he died in the exchange. It wasn’t what I wanted, but it has happened and for that I am sorry.”

I didn’t think it was possible for silence to grow quieter, but it did. Until, as predicted, Astrid spoke up. “So you just went and killed him because he didn’t agree?”

“Astrid, you know that isn’t true. He’s dead because he tried to kill me.”

“I know you didn’t trust him; I know you didn’t like him much either. I may have had some of my own concerns relating to him, but he most certainly did not deserve to be executed! I didn’t realise that's how Uprising would be dealing with disagreements. It makes me almost glad you just told me to leave, when I disagreed with you!”

Muttering and whispering sprung up amongst some of the humans at that. The fucking bitch was doing me right over here. The Torax on the podium with me went to speak, I was quicker.

“Why would you use the word execute, Astrid? That isn’t what I said, nor meant!” I snapped angrily. “Are you intentionally trying to cause trouble here because of our disagreement earlier? Because as I remember, you said you didn’t want to be part of Uprising, to which I replied, ‘work with me until we leave this place, then if you want to go your own way you have my blessing.’”

The muttering increased, spreading throughout the humans.

“You ask why I would use the word execute? Is it not clear? We’re hardly porcelain dolls anymore, Ember. A concerted effort must have been made to kill him.” She didn’t bother to respond to her part in the leaving Uprising conversation.

“Of course I made a concerted effort! I snapped his neck with all the force I could muster before he stabbed me. I don’t know about you, but I actually want to survive. Not get stabbed to death by Rufus.”

“So where was the guard when all this happened?” she asked, clearly insinuating something.

“The guard was with me, letting me in to speak with the others,” Roger said. The others with him nodded their agreement. Amnarr just stood, arms folded, staring at Astrid, with the worst attempt at a neutral expression I’d ever seen.

“Astrid, I’m trying my best to keep all of this together, and almost everyone here is making an effort to keep going. However, for some reason, you are going out of your damn way to cause division. I went to offer him an olive branch, because I didn’t want him confined forever. I, like you, didn’t think he deserved that. What did he do with that branch? Tried to fucking kill me with it. Look, I’ve freed three of his men, what reason would I have to kill him? If that was my intention, I could have killed him from a distance without ever going into his room.” I paused, looking around to gauge the response so far. Unreadable. “I’m not perfect and never said I was. In fact I’m a pretty fucking angry person deep down, because I, like Shaun—like all of you!—am fucking sick of being a victim! It’s that anger that drives Uprising. And it’s that anger that snapped the stupid bastard’s neck like a goddamn twig when he tried to kill me, all so he could make a grab for more power. You might not agree with me, you might even try to make it seem like something else happened, but you weren’t fucking there, Astrid, you were skulking around like a child feeling sorry for yourself because you didn’t get your own way with me. The way you're talking now, who knows, you may have even helped him. He may have made that knife from something in his room, or he may have acquired it from somewhere else.”

There was a gasp at that statement and Astrid looked like I’d physically slapped her. She was about to answer but I’d pretty much lost it now. “Did you know Rufus looked down his nose at both me and Shaun? All because we came out of Anatolia later than him. I can see it in your eyes too, since joining back up with us, the resentment has built because you feel dependent on people you see as beneath you. But when Ogun left, you were given a far better chance to thrive than what we had. And what did you both do? You fucked it up, living hand to mouth, desperate! Now you stand there looking down your nose at me. Is it just because Shaun isn’t here that you’re showing