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Shriek. Shriek. Shriek.
Already wide awake, Miranda listened to the alarm which signified the start of another day in The Hunt. She couldn’t remember how many times she’d heard the morning shriek, but each time felt like the first. The sense of panic and dread consumed her, her stomach twisted and her chest was so tight that she was afraid it would suffocate her lungs. Her heartbeat so loudly that she heard the blood rushing past her ears.
How are we going to make it through this day?
She’d been up for most of the night asking herself that question over and over again. It wasn’t like she could get a good night’s sleep with all the insistent howling going on. She’d seen what was making all the noise. There was a group of polar bear looking animals that lived nearby. They’d lumbered by last night. Thankfully they hadn’t seen her peering from her shelter, holding her torch, ready to defend herself and her kids.
She’d discovered the torch tucked by some rocks the first night. It was a black and red metal tube, about an inch thick and three inches long. It could’ve passed for a regular pipe, but with the flick of her thumb, a gust of fire had spurted from the end. She kept it close just in case those animals came back.
The wind whistled as it rushed through the cracks of their hiding spot. Since the first night, she’d found another shelter. One with fewer openings, safer and a lot warmer. She’d thought to stay a few more days, but with those animals near, she was now daunted by the fact that another move was in order.
This shelter had served its purpose. She’d been able to gather her wits and regroup, taking the time to figure out what all the new icons on her comlink meant. She couldn’t communicate with the others, and she couldn’t call for food—a development that almost had her sniveling and rocking herself to sleep that first night.
She’d come a long way mentally since then. She had plenty of protein bars, the water canvas still came at the push of a button, and she had an abundance of weapons. She had knives, a machete, a long spear, and a thick rope. She also had an unlimited supply of firesticks. They did well to keep their small space warm and were the only reason they hadn’t frozen to death.
While she was up worrying about their survival and future, the kids were snuggled in the warm sleeping bag, both snoring lightly. She didn’t feel the need to wake them or put them on high alert. They hadn’t come across any hunters, yet. She was very aware that didn’t mean there weren’t any hunters here. They were out there. Somewhere. Waiting.
Adam stirred. He stretched and yawned. “What are we doing today?”
“What do you want to do, my baby?”
“I want to find Santa.”
“Hm, I think we can put that on today’s agenda.” This was their agenda ever since arriving to Level Two. Looking for Santa provided the perfect cover for trudging through the snow to find new hiding spots.
“Yes! I can’t wait to meet him.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. You know that it won’t be that simple. We’re still on our adventure. Even though we haven’t seen them yet, there will be robots here too. These robots will try to keep us from finding Santa’s workshop. We’ll have to avoid them. Otherwise, they’ll catch us and—”
“Make us go home.”
She tapped his nose and smiled. “That’s right.”
* * *
THEY’D SPENT THE LAST two hours walking. Well, she’d spent the previous two hours walking. The kids had sat on the sleeping bag while she’d pulled them using one side of her new rope tied to one corner of the sleeping bag and the other around her waist.
When her legs felt like bricks, she’d stopped for lunch—a picnic, Adam had wanted to call it—on a cliff overlooking a tremendous cavernous structure. She’d guessed that a long time ago, the land she was on and the one across from her had once been a single land mass. Something had happened to split it into two parts.
While Lexi drank her bottle and Adam complained about eating yet another protein bar, she wondered which direction she should go. It wasn’t that Miranda had many choices. She could either go right or left. She looked both ways. There was nothing discernable on either side.
She sighed. With the morning gone, she probably had two more hours to find another shelter for the night.
But what if I don’t?
Her chest constricted. She really didn’t want to think about having to spend a night out in the open.
“Look, mommy. Another robot.”
He was on the other side of the divide, approaching steadily. She wasn’t alarmed. The divide was that. A great divide. It was wide, and as far as she could see, the land didn’t connect again for many kilometers. Unless the hunter could jump far enough to clear the jagged rocks at the bottom, they were safe.
“Can’t get us.” She continued chewing her protein bar as she watched the oncoming hunter.
“Are we going to call a pod, or are you going to kill it?”
“We’re safe for right now, but if there’s a chance it can catch us, I’ll call a pod, so don’t you worry. Finish your lunch.”
Lexi pushed her empty bottle from her mouth and rolled to where some of her toys were spread out on the sleeping bag. Miranda kept her eyes on the figure. He was dressed in white, easily blending with the snow. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry. His pace was a brisk and even stride, showing no hurry to rush to claim them. Maybe he hadn’t seen them yet?
As he approached, recognition clicked. She knew that lithe yet muscular frame. She knew that saunter. She knew that confidence. It was Fanian with knives strapped to both his thighs and what looked like a cross-bow slung over his shoulder.
Damn!
“Why won’t you just die already?” she asked when he was in earshot.
He smirked across the distance separating them. She still wanted to knock that smug look off his face. “Because I like living too much.”
Lexi tried to crawl off the sleeping bag. Miranda pulled her back by her foot. “I thought I was done with you.”
His brows rose in feigned surprise. “You’ll be done with me as soon as I hand you off to my buyer.”
“I’ll end up killing you for good before that happens.”
He stopped at the edge of his side of the cliff and leaned forward to peek over the side.
God, if you’re listening, please let a strong gust of wind blow him off.
He took a healthy step back and smiled at her. “Care to come over here and give it another try?”
Of course, God wasn’t listening to her. He hadn’t listened since she’d come to this place.
Miranda rolled her eyes. “You’re not worth the effort. Shoo. We’re trying to enjoy a nice lunch without any interruptions.”
Fanian glanced from one side to the other. Then he touched his comlink and what appeared to be a map popped up. He studied it for a minute, then grumbled under his breath and closed it.
Worry gnawed at her insides. “Trying to figure out how to get over here?”
“There’s a bridge about fifty clicks down that way,” he tipped his head to the left, “but you’ll be long gone before I ever make it to you.”
This time Miranda smirked.
Confidence flowed from his as he braced his legs apart. “You haven’t won yet, beautiful. I might be able to jump this.”
She narrowed her eyes and slowed her chewing. “Liar. If that were the case, you would’ve done it already.”
His smile was taunting. “Maybe I wanted to have a conversation with you.”
She snorted at that. “All of our conversations end up with you almost dead.”
He fingered a scar around his neck. She’d done that. Hopefully, he had one on his scalp too. Score two for the single mother and zero for the asshole hunter. Pride settled inside and she took another bite of her protein bar.
“Give up, Fanian. I intend to win this thing.”
He took a deep breath. “Let me explain something to you, Mishka. Each Level is progressively harder than the last. While you sit here and enjoy an afternoon lunch with your children, there’s a family of bessen three clicks from you. Being from Earth, I’m assuming you don’t know anything about them.
They are hairy beasts that, when on their hind legs, are three times my height. They are big but agile, and while they may look friendly, they are anything but. One sniff and their entire pack will descend on you, ripping you and your children apart. They’re also the reason the two hunters who’ve been tracking you cannot advance any closer. I decided to go around them and ended up on this side. You don’t fully understand the danger you’re putting yourself and your children in.”
“A little long-winded, aren’t you?” She humphed. “I ran into them already. I’m not as weak as you think I am. So save it. Your exaggerated speech doesn’t scare me.”
Anger flashed and his lips firmed. “These are facts. Do you want me to tell you some other facts?”
Miranda ignored the small kernel of fear his words created. “Not necessarily, but I’m sure you will.”
His gray features tightened. “There are four main compounds on Turolois, built specifically for different species based on their oxygen requirements. Within each compound are a multitude of gaming arenas. Each arena has anywhere between ten to twelve prey at a time and up to fifty hunters. The games can last anywhere from one day to six months. So as you can imagine, there have been scores of prey on Turolois. But know this. Prey who’ve beaten the game are rare, and to date, only one of them was human.”
Miranda didn’t respond. She didn’t believe a single word that came out of his mouth. This speech had to be one of his scare tactics.
Fanian continued, “Only sixty-five percent of prey are captured. The other thirty-five percent end up dying in the game.” He jutted his pointy chin in her direction. “The odds of you winning are not in your favor, Mishka. You’re most likely going to get eaten by an arrancar, a pack of bessen, or captured by a hunter—today. I want that hunter to be me.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Like it or not, those are the facts and the odds.”
“Was this little spiel supposed to convince me to give up and go with you?” She stuffed her half-eaten protein bar in her pocket. Despite not believing him, she suddenly lost her appetite. She didn’t like those odds at all, made up or not. “I’ll take my chances, but thanks for the info. I wasn’t aware there were hunters following us. You’re the first we’ve seen since coming here. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Mommy,” Adam said, tugging on her arm. “What does he mean we’ll get eaten?”
She glared at Fanian. “Way to go. You’re scaring my kid with your pep talk.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and shot her a dark look. “You’re stubborn, and you’re putting your family at risk when you don’t need to. What do you gain from trying to advance? You cannot return to Ear—”
“What happens when I finish then?” She didn’t want her son to know they weren’t on Earth. Not yet anyway.
He blew out a breath, clearly exasperated with her refusal to give in to him. “You’ll receive credits to start anew and your freedom.”
“Credits?” Adam asked. “What about our medals?”
She turned to look at him and wiped a bit of protein bar from his chin. “Of course, we’ll get medals, baby.”
“But the robot said—”
Miranda patted his shoulders. “Lies to keep us from Santa. That’s all. You let me deal with him and his crazy talk, okay?”
Adam glanced at Fanian, then back at her. “Okay.”
She kissed him on the forehead. “That’s my good boy. Now, how about we pack up so we can leave?”
Fanian sputtered behind her. “Didn’t you listen to me? The odds—”
She cut him off by holding up her hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. The odds are against me. But what you don’t know is that I’m a fighter, and so are my kids. We made it to Level Two when many we came here with thought we’d hold them back. I can do this. We can do this.”
“You’re just a stubborn human,” he growled. “The animals advancing on you now will rip you apart. I’ll have to capture you just to keep your fool self from killing you and your family.”
Her lip curled in a snarl. “I’d rather die than live the life you’re trying to force on us.”
Fanian grumbled, then backed up and eyed the gap between them.
“You’re not thinking about jumping that are you?” She laughed. “Look who’s the fool now? The gap is too wide.”
Fanian took a few more steps back his face set in concentration. What did she care if he launched himself over the edge and fell to his death? At least it would finally get him out of her hair.
Fanian ran forward faster than anyone she’d seen before. He was almost a blur, his feet gliding over the snow as he kicked up small white bursts. When he reached the edge, he jumped, propelling into the air so gracefully she thought he would sprout wings and fly.
Then reality hit. Oh, shit. He’s going to make it!
Just as the thought came, Fanian began to drop. His arms flailed, and he fell. All she could see was the blue of his fingertips, gripping her side of the cliff.
Ha!
Miranda grabbed her machete and stood. After leisurely making her way to him, she peered over the cliff where he dangled.
He glanced up at her. His face was tight with strain. “Care to help me?”
She crouched and unhooked the cross-bow strapped to his back.
“You can’t be serious. You’re robbing me?”
She chuckled. “I’m going to miss you, Fanian. Not!” With a whack of her machete, she cut off his fingers. He dangled with his other hand as blood spurt everywhere. He didn’t beg for mercy or say a word as she chopped off the fingers on his other hand. To her surprise, he didn’t yell as he fell. He only stared at her with the most hateful glare she’d ever seen.
She stood and waved. “Come back from that, asshole.”
She made her way back to her kids and called a pod. After all, there were wild beasts and hunters in the area, and she still had to find somewhere to sleep for the night.