Page 72 of Make Me Hunt
From what I can tell, I’m in the Nurse’s Office.
I wait for a few minutes before another guard brings me my sword and the bracelet they mentioned.
My heart is pounding. My fucking brain is pounding, like I’m trapped in one of those Lara Croft video games. Except, this is real, and it’s starting to feel more like the Squid Game’s, where players have to kill each other to survive. But these aren’t random people lured in by the power of the mighty dollar. They’re killers, abusers, monsters. Which also means, most of them are trained to fight.
Since I need to take advantage of every opportunity, I start digging through every drawer and cabinet, grabbing a bandage, some morphine, and a B52 shot, as the nurses used to call it. It’s a cocktail of Benadryl, Haloperidol, and Lorazepam. Sounds complicated, but I’ve picked up a few things while being here. This shit could put a horse down, and they use it on patients in full-blown crisis.
I’m still going from the cabinets when the alarm blares.
The game has begun, and before I know it, screams are starting to echo through the hallway. But I didn’t come here to play. My purpose is entirely different. I don’t care about the money. I only care about beating Ares at his own game. And I will succeed—no matter what that means in the end.
But I’m also playing this smart, and I can’t afford to get myself injured before I get to him. If I were to walk out of the room, I’d probably face more than one opponent. And my goal isn’t for money. It’s survival, for now.
I’m not afraid of facing any of the men in here today. But there’s a chance they’ve grouped together to hunt, or that I’ll get jumped by one contender while fighting another. There are no rules when it comes to this, so I don’t expect anyone to play fair or wait their turn.
The cabinet near the door looks heavy enough to help me barricade it. I do just that, slowly pushing it against the floor, careful not to make too much noise and draw attention. I just hope they’ll figure it’s just a locked door and move along for now, as long as they have other targets.
The roars and cries are getting louder. People are screaming and begging while laughter can be heard in the background. Some of them actually find it funny that they’re taking someone’s life for money. But I don’t have time to feel sorry for them, and none of the people in this game are worth my pity. They should be in prison or dead by now, so as far as I’m concerned, Ares is doing the world a favor. But he messed up. And I can’t allow that to go unpunished.
Suddenly, someone tries the door. I jolt, fingers gripping the hilt of my sword. But I’m not scared. Truth be told, the only thing that scares me right now is not completing my mission.
There are more voices down the hall, and the handle stops rattling.
I give it a few more minutes, and everything grows quiet. The stillness is almost surreal, but I know I’ll have to start moving eventually.
****
I open the door and slip into the lobby. My eyes scan the space, and I can see cameras everywhere. The bracelet won’t stop vibrating with kill after kill. There are already only thirty-eight of the players left.
I pass three bodies on the floor. All women. Though I don’t stop. I keep moving, looking for Ares.
There’s no point in searching inside the rooms because he wouldn’t be hiding. This place has three floors, and over twenty-five patient rooms per level, plus storage closets, med offices, and different utility rooms. That leaves a fucking lot of ground to cover.
There’s an elevator they use to transport patients with disabilities and supplies, but it’s too loud. The main stairs might be guarded, as well. Still, I know about the fire escape. One of the few perks of spending time locked up here. And from what I can see, the signs pointing to it are gone, just like most of the guidance signs in this place.
The emergency stairwell door should be at the end of the hallway, next to the medical supply units. And that’s exactly where I’m headed.
I pass a guy dressed in white, and do my best to ignore him, despite those gawking eyes, like he’s a damn ghost watching us from the outside. He looks more casual than the contestants, like he could be a bookkeeper or something. But definitely not an active player in these games.
I’m five or six doors away when I hear voices behind me.
I have to hide. Now.
I’m next to the patients' quarters, so I take the first room on the right as quickly as I can, but as soon as I step inside, I realize I’ve made a mistake. There’s a faint rustle somewhere to my left, and before I get to realize it, a nightlamp comes flying at my head.
I duck just in time, the lamp smashing into the wall behind me. But before I can regain my bearings, a purple shadow is moving towards me. One of the Rats.
Even though I don’t usually find pleasure in taking a life, I’m going to enjoy killing this man. Especially since he’s all too familiar to me. He was Elias'snurse. More like, his worst nightmare. And I can barely believe that I got this lucky break, because now it’s time he paid for what he’s done.
Hesprints straight toward me, a hunting knife in his hand, which means he’s already taken out one of the players. And I’d love to play around—show him what true suffering means—but I haven’t forgotten about the voices in the hallway that now turned into hurried footsteps, approaching faster and faster.
I let him get close enough, and when I consider he’s at the right distance, I crouch low, knocking his knife aside. I sweep his legs and send him crashing onto his back. The blow stuns him just long enough for me to get back up on my feet and stomp on his hand, which holds the knife.
I’d love to carve him up and leave him for dead, but I must be ready for whoever was attracted by the noise we made. I take my sword and drive it straight through his heart.
My bracelet instantly lights up: 500K. More money than I ever dreamed of. And yet, right now, it means nothing.
The door flies open behind me, and two men burst in, both wearing black. The first of them is at least two heads taller than me, dark blue eyes and a beard that makes him look like a fucking Viking. A very, very dangerous one, judging by the evil gleam in his eyes and the axe he’s holding in one hand.
