“Contender number twelve. Step forward.”

I want to throw up. There’s nothing in my stomach to throw up. I step a shaky foot forward onto the dusty ground. The presenter voice booms over the stadium and all of my senses are overwhelmed at once. The crowd roars as my opponent waltzes into the arena and I swear I’m going to faint.

“Let the game begin.” A horn sounds and my opponent charges towards me. Despite being starved and not knowing which parts of me are and are not broken, I swerve out of his way and hurry to pick up a weapon. I’ve never been so close to giving up, and yet still managed to keep on fighting. There’s nothing left for me out of this stadium, yet still I fight.