Page 137 of The Hunt

“Not exactly, but I guess ‘mole’ is the simplest term for it, so we’ll go with it,” she said. “Every year, the previous year’s winner is put in the Hunt as a pretend player. Basically, their job is to make sure all the shipwreck survivors find each other, along with the starting cache. That way the game can start properly.”

I frowned, thinking back to those fraught moments on the beach. Nikki was right—it was allher.She’d directed the first group of survivors to the second, and she was also the one who’d pointed out the black ribbon around the tree which marked the spot where the cache was buried.

She’d played the part perfectly, pretending to be unsure and reluctant so the rest of us would never suspect she was secretly a society plant.

“So the winners have to go through the Hunt a second time?” I said. “That seems really fucked up.”

Nikki shook her head. “We don’t have to go through it all. The hunters are given the mole’s number—seventeen, in my case—and told to avoid targeting them. The online punters know there’s a mole in the game too, so they just ignore that number when they make their bets,” she said. “Anyway, it’s still pretty dangerous out there, because of the traps, so once the game starts, the mole is supposed to run back to one of the tunnels and leave the hunting grounds.”

“But you didn’t do that. You stayed for two days,” I said in a hollow voice. “Why?”

She threw her hands up. “Because I felt fuckingbad,okay?” she said. Her eyes were shimmering with tears again. “Especially for you. You weren’t a real player. The others at least had a chance to look up survival techniques beforehand, when they thought they were going into a fun wilderness game. But you were just clueless.”

“Oh, so you wanted tohelp?” I said, voice dripping with scorn. “How sweet.”

“I know you’ll never believe that in a million years, but yes, I really wanted to give you a fighting chance,” she said. “The others, too. I kept thinking… if I just stayed out there long enough, maybe they could somehowallsurvive. I knew it was stupid and delusional, but I still couldn’t make myself leave.”

“Didn’t you get in trouble with the society?”

“Yeah, they kept contacting me, demanding I come back in and stop affecting the integrity of the game, or whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Finally, on the second day, they contacted me and told me they were sending two hunters to drag me back in. And that was that. I was done.”

“Wait…” I slowly shook my head. “That doesn’t make sense.”

“Which part?”

“I remember those hunters taking you, clear as day,” I said. “You were screaming and crying like you were really worried about dying, and one of the hunters even made a comment aboutyou being his next kill. Why go through all those theatrics when all three of you knew it was bullshit?”

Nikki’s throat bobbed as she gulped. “You won’t believe it if I tell you.”

I took one step closer, jabbing the knife in the air. “Tell me,” I hissed.

“When they contacted me, I asked them to tell me which hunters were coming to collect me, and then I contactedthemwhile you and Cheryl went off to piss in the woods. I told them I wasn’t alone, so they needed to play along with whatever act I put on while they took me.”

“Why?”

“Because, believe it or not, I really liked you, Everly. Cheryl, too. I didn’t want either of you to know the truth about me. That I was a nasty bitch who lied to you the entire time,” she said, voice on the verge of cracking again. “So I decided to put on a big dramatic act with the hunters when they took me away. That way you’d both think I died like everyone else—as an innocent player. As your friend.”

“Hold on.” My mind flashed back to something she said a moment ago. “You told the hunters that Cheryl and I were with you?”

“Yes, I had to. You guyswerethere, so I had to warn them about that,” she said. “Your lives were never meant to be at risk, because they were given our exact GPS coordinates in order to come and get me, so it would be considered cheating for them to kill you. Hunters are taught to play by the rules. So they were supposed to put on a big show of taking me andonlyme,while you and Cheryl hid somewhere.”

“But they killed Cheryl,” I said in a low voice. “You know that.”

Nikki winced. “They weren’t supposed to, as long as she was just hiding somewhere. But the second she stepped into thattrap, she became fair game,” she said. “After all, it was their trap. And then…”

She trailed off, too choked up to continue. I rolled my eyes and snapped my fingers. “And thenwhat?”

Nikki drew in a deep, shaky breath. “The act I put on in the end wasn’t really an act. Those emotions were real. I honestly thought I could save Cheryl, and I reallywantedto. She was a good person. Not like me.” She paused, face crumpling. “I really, really wanted them to let her go. But they—”

“They shot her in the fucking head.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Nikki sagged on the end of the bed, scrunching her legs up to her chest as she began to cry. “I tried. I really tried.”

Even though I hadn’t given her permission to move to the bed, I decided to let it go. She seemed genuinely upset, and I still had the massive hunting knife on me, so I was quite certain she posed no threat to me.

When she finally pulled herself together, she looked up at me through red, teary eyes. “How the hell did you get out of the hunting grounds?” she asked. “I’m not asking as an enemy. I’m asking as a friend. I’m genuinely happy to see you here.”

I stiffened. “I’m not telling you anything.”

---