Sorry, The Only Power Left Is Alteration.

They sat quietly for half an hour. Just as Circe had predicted, the others were starting to panic. Bickering could be heard closer to the wall and in some directions the tension had produced minor scuffles. She scowled at Alfredo. The old man seemed pitiful now, just sitting quietly as if her words had broken him.

“I’m sorry,” Circe said.

He pressed his hands into the ground beside his thighs. Here she was, trapped in a big cave with almost a thousand people and the only person who even bothered to notice her was the Buddha of Yonkers. Though he didn’t seem to contemplative or enlightened, with the exception of the beer gut, he made a terrible Buddha.

“It’s aight,” said the old man, “Not like yuh said anything ain't duh truth.”

An Asian man in a grey suit approached them, “Hey, the others are trying to find a way out of here. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to try and help?”

Circe looked up, asked, “You honestly think there’s an escape from hell?”

“You can’t know that, if this was hell there would be fire.”

“May I ask how you got here?”

The man breathed and closed his eyes as if the question had become stale. But then he shrugged and began talking.

“A beautiful woman in a lovely black dress was standing on the other platform. She looked like a game character. I thought perhaps she was cosplaying. She said she was lonely and wanted to play a game. We talked, but when she vanished, I was standing out leaning over the edge of the tracks. Haven’t you spoken to any one, they all have this in common. That horned girl appearing before something terrible happens.”

Circe nodded, “Thanks for sharing. You should probably conserve your energy. Something is bound to happen eventually.”

“You’re not going to help,” the man sighed, “I was offering you two a chance to join my group. But if you’re going to sit here and sulk than you can just rot for all I care.”

The man walked away as if from a failed business dealing. Circe leaned toward Alfredo and whispered.

“He’ll be the first one to try and kill somebody when everybody gets hungry.”

Alfredo shifted in his spot; his legs felt a little numb. He reached into his pocket an pulled out a broken and disheveled peanut based candy bar still in the wrapper.

“Yuh allergic tuh nuts?”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?”

“Whadda yuh think it’s supposed to mean, are yuh allergic tuh 'em or not?”

“No, why?”

He tossed her the bar. Being what it was, it had a fair amount of protein and calories. She looked at it, but immediately understood the gesture.

“Don’t be wavin’ it around all showy like now!” Alfredo snapped, “Put it in yer pocket.”

She did as he instructed, asked, “But why would you give me this?”

“Let’s face it, I’m old, ugly, out of shape. Duh only thing I got going for me is I got a bit of muscle on these old legs an’ arms of mine. A guy like me, yuh gotta admit, if it's a skill game I’m gonna be duh first one tuh go. Cuz I ain’t got smarts 'cept the street kind. If it's a hunger game, well, then I got a bit of insulation to eat through before I keel over. But you already look like yer in need of a few big home-cooked meals.”

“Pantry has been empty lately,” she admitted, “Too stressed to eat.”

“I’m too stressed not tuh eat. I’d give my left arm for a ramen burger right abou- don’t even think about givin' that back tuh me. I’m allergic tuh peanuts.”

“Goodwill gesture accepted,” Circe said.

Circe continued to observe. As always, she remained alone when everyone else formed factions. She pulled her knees up and rested her chin on them. For a moment she glared toward Alfredo. Her teeth pushed down against each other as she considered him while he stared at the floor.

It had been a long day. She had died from being hit by a bus and now the cappuccinos were wearing off. There were no bathrooms here come to think of it. She looked away from Alfredo to scan the crowd a little better, which forced her to look at other people.

A baseball player stood nearby, at least she figured that from the uniform and the helmet. Plus, he was armed with a baseball bat. She couldn’t tell which league because she didn’t follow baseball. He was really tall, dark, and handsome type too, the kind that never asked for her number unless he wanted something on the first date. From the narrowness of his eyes and the way his head was darting about, she decided she didn’t want to stare too much longer.

A police officer stood directed a small group. This man had all his police gear, gun, stun baton, probably pepper spray, and a radio. If there was anyone to make friends with, it was probably him. The Japanese business man was being really friendly. He talked to the officer, who nodded disinterestedly while directing his faction into a square formation. Come to think of it, they all had the same language here. Circe tried to see if there was anything on his vest indicating his department but he was too far away and the angle wasn’t good enough.

A group of three woman squabbled amongst themselves behind her. Three empty pop bottles were on the ground. She could hear them complain about being hungry and needing to use a bathroom.

The last group that wasn’t hugging the walls and was close enough to see was a gang of five teenage boys who had decided to team up. This group probably had the worst intentions. They kept walking around and eyeing the woman who were complaining and her team. Though they seemed wary of Alfredo for now. If the game was about not becoming meat, who could she trust? The betting money seemed to be with the police officer but he already had enough sycophants and wouldn’t need dead weight.

The sound of men at each other screaming came from around the left wall. Circe tilted her head and peered the distance but there was too much of a crowd to see what was going on. It sounded like a big fight, but it ended quickly. As the crowd dispersed, she saw a pool of blood and two bodies being drug from it. She couldn’t see the weapon.

“From duh amount of blood, looks like some psycho went crazy wit a knife.”

“There’s no way to cook the meat in here, what a waste,” Circe said.

Alfredo shuddered, “Ain’t nobody eatin' another person while I’m around.”

“Have you considered that this is probably a survival game, we’re trapped in here for a reason. If we don’t do whatever it takes, we’re gonna die again, and this time it won’t be fast!”

“Yeah, you do you, like I said, I gotta bit of insulation tuh burn through.”

“Well, I’m not touching it raw or spoiled, so if we don’t have a butcher…”

An obese man parted the crowd as he stepped in the congealing pool. This was the biggest man there, rolls of flesh pressed from behind his shirt, hypnotically jiggling rolls of skin hung from his arm. A bloody apron barely restrained the massive belly. He seemed a bit taller than the tallest near him. His back and legs jiggled with each step. The flesh on his arms hung like a skin flag as he picked up the corpse of a lanky man.

Blood drained from the corpse as the obese butcher raised his cleaver and bought it down across the belly to disembowel it. Innards spilled into the pool of blood on the floor. The butcher used his cleaver to precisely separate anything that could spoil the meat from the body.

The people who had been watching the fight dispersed and it became quiet as some attention focused on the butcher’s work while others choose to look or go away.

Circe gasped as Alfredo turned a shade more violet. Even though this was happening toward the wall, Circe’s eyes went wide and she turned pale. The butcher began work to separate the limbs. Circe couldn’t look away but her nails clutched deeply enough into her face to leave marks as she stared through a cage of fingers.

“Look away, don’t yuh dare throw up! This is duh sorta thing people do when their backs against the wall. Yuh talk a big game, but can yuh live with yerself if yuh do such a thing?"

A social dynamic was already forming in the cave and the two of them were decidedly outside of it. They had wasted time sitting, talking, and staring for who knows how long. Circe looked dark around the eyes and her posture drooped. She felt faint.

“Get some sleep. I won’t let anybody mess with yuh. Yuh can keep watch for me after yuh wake up.”

“I can’t, my heart won’t stop pounding,”

He looked around, then he took off his jacket and threw it to her. It smelt of old man, cheesesteak, and cheap beer. It didn’t smell like smoke though, that would have been a deal breaker. She balled it up and used it as a pillow. It was certainly better than nothing.

“We’re both going to die twice anyway, aren’t we,” she said.

“Yeah, looks like it toots.”