Page 93 of The Hunt

Nikki screamed and leapt to her feet. Matt held her at bay. “Calm the fuck down! He’s just cutting the net down!”

Jordan sawed at the top of the trap until the rope gave out, sending Cheryl tumbling to the ground with a dull thud. She groaned and rolled over, still tangled up in the netting.

My eyes widened as I watched it all unfold.Holy shit.Nikki’s crazy plan was actually working. Cheryl was getting a second chance after all, and Nikki would too… after she gave the men what they wanted.

My stomach lurched at the thought.

Nikki hurried over to Cheryl to help untangle her. As she knelt beside her, a deafening crack shattered the air, and Cheryl’s body stilled instantly, her head slumping forward as a dark pool of blood spread beneath her.

“No!” Nikki’s scream tore through the forest, raw and guttural.

Jordan casually rested his rifle against his shoulder, his smirk transforming into a cold sneer. “We only promised to let her go. As in, let her go from the net,” he said, his tone almost cheerful. He tilted his head mockingly. ““We didn’t say we’d let her live, did we?”

“Semantics, sweetheart. That’ll always get you,” Matt added with a grin.

Jordan looked down at Cheryl’s body, his smirk fading into something darker, more sinister. Then he looked back at his friend. “I got to do her, so that means Nikki is your kill. One point each.”

“Right. But only after we give her the hard assfuck she begged us for,” Matt replied, stepping toward Nikki. “A deal’s a deal. Right, sweetheart?”

I wanted to scream, to cry, to tear these assholes apart with my bare hands, but I was rooted in place, my heart pounding in my ears. I knew exactly how it would end if I even tried.

Jordan roughly grabbed Nikki by the arm, yanking her to her feet. She struggled, her body thrashing in desperation, but he overpowered her easily, slapping a hand over her mouth to smother her screams. Matt, still grinning, grabbed her legs, and together they hoisted her into the air. She kicked and squirmed, but her resistance only seemed to amuse them.

Her muffled cries echoed in my ears as they carried her away, disappearing into the trees. I wanted to run after them, to stop them, to do something,anything. But there was no point. Nothing I could do would change the fate that awaited Nikki once they were finished defiling her.

I curled up in a ball on the ground, my breaths coming in short, ragged gasps as a toxic mix of grief, rage, hatred, and helplessness overwhelmed me.

Earlier, I’d felt a flicker of hope from the knowledge that I wasn’t completely alone; that there was a plan, a chance atsurvival. That hope had been extinguished now. Everything had fallen apart in the space of twelve hours with the rapid-fire series of deaths. First Chris, then Kanako and Ava, followed by Jade. And now, Cheryl and Nikki were gone too.

The silence around me felt suffocating, somehow more real and tangible than the dark clouds closing in over my head.

I was all alone now… and I wasn’t sure I could make it to the end.

22

Everly

The next fewhours crawled by with a steady ache in my limbs and a numbing fog in my mind. This island felt like the bottom circle of hell itself, every twisted branch and shadowy corner a reminder of the death and desperation that surrounded me.

I’d lost count of how many player deaths had been announced by now. Half? More? All I knew was that they were gone, and I was still somehow here, wandering like a ghost in the ruins of this nightmare.

Just when I managed to get myself back on track to find the safe zone my group had been heading toward, I froze. There were voices coming from my left.

Panic surged through me, and I dove behind a cluster of bushes, clutching a jagged stick. My heart thundered as the voices drew closer, and then...

Three figures emerged from the misty woods, their movements sluggish and desperate. Two men and a woman—Craig, Nathan, and Chiara. I recognized all of them from the beach. Their faces were pale and spattered with dirt, and their eyes bulged like crazy when I stood up to reveal myself.

“Shit, you scared us,” Craig said hoarsely. “We thought you were a hunter.”

I didn’t lower the stick right away. I couldn’t trust anyone out here anymore. “I thought the same about you.”

“Do you have any food?” Nathan asked. “Or water? We haven’t made it to a single safe zone, and there’s nothing out here. We couldn’t even find a creek for water. Just a fucking puddle.”

I took a few steps closer and peered at them. Nathan’s claim was obviously true. Even though we were only two days in, all three group members already had a hollow quality about their faces. Their movements were clumsy too, like they were running on fumes.

My chest tightened, and I nodded and dropped the stick. “I’ve made it to a couple of safe zones, so I’ve got a few things stored,” I said, setting down my backpack. I got out three bottles of water, three muesli bars, and a packet of dried fruit. “Here. Share these.”

“Oh my god, thank you so much!” Chiara practically fell on the supplies, eyes wide. She took a long gulp of water, then looked back up at me. “We ran into another player about an hour ago, but he refused to help us.”

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