Enzo shook his head slowly, returning Lixi's hug with a gentle embrace. "We can't ensure a tie. People won't listen. They didn't listen when I said vote for yourself. It would have been a tie between everyone, but they didn't listen."
Paige looked up, horrified at Enzo. "You think that we didn't listen?"
"It was a tie between Veda and I," Enzo said softly, his gaze on the ground. "Someone voted for us."
"I didn't," Paige insisted, still clinging to Veda. "I voted for myself!"
Enzo finally looked up at her. She seemed sincere, but…how could he be sure? "Okay," he whispered, "Okay, I believe you. I don't know who voted for someone other than themselves. I don't know."
Paige looked around warily. Two people in the room, at least, weren't trustworthy, but she had no idea who they were. "When did it say the revote was?"
"I voted for myself." Lixi confirmed as she held onto Enzo tightly.
"I…I don't know," he said. "We probably have another hour."
"What are we going to do?" Paige whispered, mostly to herself.
Enzo didn't say anything. He was out of ideas. He felt utterly and completely helpless, trapped in a situation he couldn't control. He thought he'd be able to seize control but that was naive of him. He couldn't control anything that was going on and it was driving him crazy. He buried his face in his hands again, imaging that he was home with his nephew squeezing his cheeks, telling him everything was fine.
“Are we just supposed to… comply? Are we just going to have to vote?," John said in despair looking from Veda to Enzo. True, their lives were on the line now, but in reality they were all threatened by the system.
"If we don't vote, they both might die. What choice do we have?" Paige asked, her tears flowing heavily now.
At this point, Lixi's brain was so fried. She didn't know anymore. She didn't want to kill anyone, she was only 12. Tears dried up on her cheek as she vent her knees and cupped her face.
(I just realized that there's a five year difference between Paige and Veda…lol)
Veda hugged Paige tightly. "Enzo I already said vote for me. The only one here I have to live for is Paige. But people are depending on you. Just let me die. " Veda really didn't want to die. And clinging to this young girl who she already felt responsible for she felt as if she shouldn't be saying this. But Enzo was more important.
"Stop," Enzo whispered. "You're just making it harder to vote for you. You don't deserve to die, not at all." How could he vote for an innocent woman? What kind of man would that make him?
( How to torture your readers 101: Make characters argue about who to sacrifice and make the reader chose.)
Veda shook her head. "You're wrong. I deserve to die. The things I did in my past…..well let's just say they weren't exactly pretty. I did what I had to to survive and keep people safe. But it doesn't EXCUSE me from my fate."
"My past isn't perfect either," he said, his eyes glossy, with a breathy laugh. "How'd you think I got this scar?" He gestured to his bad eye. "I don't deserve my life anymore than you do."
(Is it possible to like….volunteer to die like replace someone?)
(You wanna know the worst part of this?
I'm listening to the Glee Cast's version of If I Die Young as I'm writing all this)
(Nat, I swear you just made this 3 times worse…)
(I know…..I'm close to tears rn
But it's a beautiful song so I have it on repeat….)
Paige looked up, her clear blue eyes wide. "I want to die," she whispered.
( I've never heard that song….Imma listen to it.)
Veda shook her head. "You weren't voted, therefore you cannot die."