Cameron doesn’t seem convinced, but he doesn’t bother commenting further. His fingers remain by his side and ready to snatch his blade if needed.
“Let’s find more cadets to follow then. I don’t feel like chance is on our side today,” Bree mutters, looking Cameron over before she stands and walks parallel with the creek below.
At least our side facing the water should be safe from an attack. It’d be impossible to keep quiet passing through the water and up the slick slope. Cameron seems to have the same thoughts. His eyes remain only to the other side and behind us.
By the time the sun is in the center of the sky, we find a large group of cadets, all men. Most of them are almost as tall as Cameron and have blood all over their tactical gear. Judging by the way they hold themselves, they’re likely what remains from the countdown slaughter. Five of them lead the group and four trail behind. They’re all laughing loudly and clearly enjoying themselves.
The tall, lanky man at the head of the group has his arm bent lamely the way Wraith holds his. It doesn’t look like his broken arm has given him any trouble at all.
“I don’t think we should be anywhere near them,” Bree says, concern evident in her tone.At least she’s not friendly with them, that’d be a problem.Cameron hooks his thumb through his vest strap and glances at me indifferently, waiting for my answer like it’s up to me.
“If it comes down to the wire, I think I’d rather have to kill them than anyone else. At least we’d get some of them off the board,” I say as I watch the ignorant men shout and shove each other playfully. They look like a pack of fucking wolves, just like Cameron always references to. It makes sense now why he would pick up on saying it.
Cameron nods. “Let’s trail them then.”
Bree groans but follows us anyway.
I look down at my wrist. Sixty-five cadets left. The decline has slowed significantly, and there are only a handful of hours left.
The sun dips beneath the mountains again, and we’re thrown into darkness for the finale. Heavy snowfall lowers our field of vision, but it should also aid in keeping us hidden until we can get close enough to attack. We lucked out with the weather and shadows of the night. It’s practically impossible to hear anything beneath the shroud of millions of snowflakes buffering the air and deflecting the sound of footsteps.
I always thought it was miraculous how snow could silence the world. It seemed so magical up until I learned about sound and how it travels through the air and bounces off things.
It makes these storms so easy to kill in.
Bree freezes, her combat boots half buried in the swiftly accumulating snow.
“What?” I ask just as I feel my wristband buzzing.
My eyes flick down. The number has moved down to fifty-seven, but a message rolls across the top in red.
Five minutes remaining in Trial 1.
Cameron doesn’t even look at his band, just stares at us knowingly. He’s experienced in this, after all. I wonder what his first time around was like in the Under. I picture his fierce eyes, teeth bared as fury and blood mix in snow.
A shudder rolls through me as I shake the image from my mind.
He unsheathes his combat knife. It’s stained a burgundy red.
“Let’s get this over with,” he says in a calm voice. Like we aren’t about to murder other cadets.
Bree shifts on her feet and flashes me a concerned look. “Everyone got the message. Maybe we don’t need to participate,”she mutters hopefully. I wonder if she thinks Damian is with them by chance and fears one of us will kill him unknowingly.
Cameron’s jaw flexes, his eyes turn cold and distant. “No. I’m not risking it.” His grip tightens on the knife, and he shoots me a hard stare. His expression burns with agony. I feel it deep in my bones.
“You’ve lost someone to the trackers before,” I say in a hushed tone. His eyes dart away, searching the ground for something nonexistent before returning to my eyes. He doesn’t confirm it verbally, but the answer is clear.
I unsheathe my knife and look at Bree. “You don’t have to participate if you don’t want to, but I’m not going to die by chance.” A flutter of excitement races through my veins. I’ve never had a team like this before. Every job I’ve had to do in the past required only one person—me.
The rush of what we’re about to do pumps through my veins.
Bree shakes her head before her mask pulls to one side in what looks like a smile. “Fuck it. Let’s go.”
The group of men move slowly, focused as if they are hunting a group as well. The band around my wrist vibrates again. Two-minute warning.
We only need five more kills.
I clench my KA-BAR, ready to charge into a ferocious fight, but before I break into a sprint toward my first victim a scream tears through the night. My head jerks to the side, eyes catching on Bree’s body crumpling to the ground with a knife buried in her thigh. I spare a moment to see if she needs help, but she’s already fighting off the cadet and bringing him to the forest floor with ease.
