“Run, rabbit, run!” he calls after me, clearly enjoying his task. I take a mental snapshot of his ginger beard and the raised scar across his pock-marked cheek. If we meet again, I’ll stab him in the dick.
The brunette mouthsrun westbefore the quad bike pulls away and disappears into the murk. The sound of a distant male voice shouting, followed by a sporadic burst of gunfire, reminds me I can’t afford to hang around.
Myfriendadvised me to remove the bunny suit, but now that it’s snowing, it makes more sense to keep it on. The white fabric stands out less than my dark jeans.
The cold sinks into my feet as I push up and force my body into moving. Because I have only one shoe, it affects my gait. While my left foot is moderately warm, the other is freezing. Small stones dig in, making me hiss in pain, but I swallow the discomfort.
Being out in the open is suicide, so I run for the trees, hoping this is west. I think it is, but without the sun, it’s hard to tell.
Trails and tracks crisscross the forest. I move as fast as I dare while trying not to make too much noise. My goal is to find a dense thicket where I can hide until it gets dark. It’s a shitty plan, but the longer I stay visible, the more likely I am to be found.
It takes forever to hike a relatively short distance. The terrain becomes increasingly inhospitable as the snow thickens and the path I’m following climbs higher.
I see no one, but I hear faint screams. Sound travels out here.
Each high-pitched scream makes me want to crawl into a hole and never come out. A terrified scream means some poor woman is hurting. Or dead.
It’s like the set of a slasher movie, and I’m the dumb blonde who’s too stupid to live.
I hope the bastards responsible for this sick game get their comeuppance.
I’m seriously regretting watchingSquid Gamenow. What if the evil overlords who designed this game have placed giant dolls with machine guns in the forest?
The trees thin. I burst into a small clearing where a dead body lies in a pool of blood. Shock causes me to freeze.What the fuck happened? Is this the fuckingHunger Gamesnow?
From his clothing, the dead body belongs to one of the asshole hunters, so who took him out? I scan the clearing but see no sign of anyone else.
My anxiety kicks up several notches. At this rate, it will be a heart attack that takes me out, not a hunter.
There’s a gun trapped half under the corpse, so I gingerly pull it away while trying not to vomit at the sight of all the blood. I spot a knife too, so I grab that as well.
Knowing I have some protection makes me feel a tad better. I have no qualms about shooting anyone who tries to shoot me. And if they get close enough, I’ll use the knife.
Be more like Katniss Everdeen,I tell myself before laughing hysterically. Fuck, I’d be the first one to die in theHunger Games. No skills. I’m more like a female version of Peeta Mellark, the character everyone feels sorry for.
The path I follow away from the clearing narrows and gets steeper. I’m exhausted. My head spins from a lack of food and water, but I push on.
Even though the wall the other woman mentioned could be fucking miles away, I refuse to give up. There isn’t anywhere to hide around here. No dense thickets, just half-dead bracken and small shrubs. What I need is a fallen tree I can squeeze under.
The sound of a twig snapping to my left stops me in my tracks.Fuck. Have I inadvertently crossed a hunter’s path?
I freeze and listen. At first all I hear is the wind howling through the trees, but then a shadowy figure emerges from a small clump of trees a few feet away.
He’s tall, fit-looking, and relatively young. This dude’s no couch-potato exec on a weekend jolly. He’s the sort of guy who puts in time at the gym and posts photos of his clean meals on Instagram. I have a feeling he’s no slouch in the shooting department either, from the way he handles his gun.
We eyeball each other before he smiles. A smile almost as cold as I feel.
“Hello, little rabbit. Aren’t you a cutie? Now where did you find that gun? What an unexpected treat!”
I try to lift the rifle, but my hands are numb, and it slips from my hands into a patch of snow.
The man’s laughter breaks my paralysis. I’m not hanging around waiting for him to rape and murder me. Before he can make a move, I dash sideways, forcing my way between some bushes. My act of defiance amuses him, and he chuckles and follows.
I pant hard as I run. Adrenaline pushes me beyond my physical limits as I try to evade my captor. He’s fit and fast, but I’m smaller and more agile, which gives me the edge as the trees grow denser.
I hear him curse as he fights through the tangled undergrowth. Brambles shred my exposed skin, but I’m too pumped to feel any pain. No longer freezing either. If I can get far enough ahead, I’ll hide and then try to stab him at close range.
Assuming he doesn’t shoot me first, but something tells me he plans to toy with me for a while.
