c2083

I t was a gunshot. Not a loud one, but a definite explosion from a weapon. I'd spent my life on the streets. I knew the difference between fireworks and gunfire. The echo that had come from not far away sent the hair on my arms and neck on end.

I didn't like this. Not one bit. I knew when those guards had brought us outside and set us free in the wilderness, it was too good to be true. I thought maybe they just wanted us to fend for ourselves. Or maybe set us free just to see if we could survive. Something told me it was more sinister than that. It was smart not to trust anyone here. Not even the men I'd gotten to know. I'd been in this prison now for what had to have been close to a year. Some of the convicts celled with me had been there even longer.

We were the murderers. The rapists. We were the worst of the worst, and it was no surprise to me that they'd stuck us together to fend for ourselves. There seemed to be no rules in this hell. And that's what this place was. Hell. Fights equaled death. Anger was easy to release.

If they taught us anything, it's that we could be the monsters. We could embrace what brought us here. That didn't fare well for most. One wrong move or word, and that was it. We just killed each other, and that person was removed like garbage. That's exactly what we were. Disposable. Here, we were nothing. Unimportant. Not worth protection. Barely worth feeding. We were a number for a cause. Whatever cause that was…I had a feeling I was about to find out.

"Cody, did you hear that? What was that? Do you think someone tried escaping the way they brought us in? There were guards posted at the elevator. Maybe even outside of it. I was too anxious to pay much attention once we got outside."

I glanced down from the tree I was lounging in. The two men below were relatively new. When they'd seen me climbing up, they decided to stop walking and wait out the time until morning like me. I grew up in the city. I didn't trust some person or wild animal out here in the middle of nowhere not to try to take me out.

"Maybe." Cody stood. As dark as it was, I could only see the outline of his tall, slender body. With as high up and protected by the thick limbs, I could barely see that.

"I don't like this. We should have walked further. We should have run as far and as fast as we could from this place. I want to keep going."

"I told you, Henry. We wait until morning, and then we go wide and parallel. Those guards had to get here somehow. There has to be roads into this place. If we can find those, we can stay out of sight until it brings us to a town. Going further into this forest is a death sentence. Look at how thick the foliage is. We'll never find our way out. We have to think smart."

Bang!

"Fuck!"

Both men dropped down to a crouching position, and I couldn't help but sit up straighter on the limb I had been leaning against. My heart was starting to race as I looked into the darkness below.

"That one was definitely closer. They're coming. Let's go parallel now."

"Wait," Cody breathed out. "No sudden movements. If we run, they might hear us, and we can't see very well. It's dark as fuck here."

Bang!

Bang!

"Jesus! Too close." Dirt and random undergrowth crunched under the men's feet as they shifted and scattered. I could barely make out that they were clinging to each other, yet moving in a circle, uncertain where to go.

"Those were different guns. One shot was further away than the other. Two shooters."

" Let's go, Cody ."

"You're right. We can't wait. Fuck this. Let's go. Walter, you coming?"

I didn't speak. There was something not right as I watched them stay low and start moving around the tree I was perched in. I grabbed a branch above, holding to it as I debated going higher. If I could…I couldn't tell if it was possible. It was so dark, and the moon's absence didn't help. I couldn't quite see what was above me. I was only a good fifteen feet in the air, and where I wasn't comfortable with the height to begin with, it suddenly didn't seem anywhere near high enough now.

"Wait-Wait-Wait."

Both men jerked to a stop, huddling and leaning to the back side of the tree. As they grew quiet and became still, so did I. The silence was deafening. Aside from one of the men's heavy breathing, I couldn't hear anything. My head turned back and forth, trying to get a better grasp on any sounds I may have missed being higher off the ground.

"Shhh. Don't move. I think…Do you hear…something?"

I glanced down, but my stare went back to trying to see through the areas where the leaves hadn't fallen from the trees. It was on the cooler side. Colder than summer and maybe even fall, which is around the time I'd been brought here so long ago. Over a year? Was it already late spring? It was so hard to know. I wasn't even sure where we were at.

Two clicks had me jerking my head to the side, unsure what it could have been. Tighter, I held to the branch above me. My heart was in my throat, and I could barely swallow as another click sounded. The light flashing in my peripheral, nearly coinciding with the explosion, had my breath disappearing completely. A grunt sounded below, and I could see one of the men fly back from the tree. Gurgling was wet as it mixed with a repetitive low moaning.

"Cody? Fuck. Cody ?"

More scattering of ground debris sounded, and the following explosion had me pushing all of my weight into the thick trunk. Cries were immediate, as was the buzz of voices as footsteps grew closer.

"Ha. Take that. Two crows. I told you I had this, Percy. I bet Georgie hasn't shot two together."

"Show's what you know. Every one of these slaves are probably dead by now. That woman scares me."

The other man let out a bellowing laugh. "Who doesn't she scare? Say?—"

Bang!

"I'll be damned. That sounded in the direction of Shane and Vera. They're further along than us. I can't say I'm surprised," the older-sounding man said, letting out a breath. "Shane's an excellent hunter. Did you know he does this with the Main Master at least twice a month. Sometimes four or five depending on how crazy things are. Can't say I blame them, but I've found better things to do to release the stress, if you know what I mean ."

"Pl—ease. P?—"

"Crows. Pathetic."

Bang!

The gunshot from below had my lids squeezing shut as I tried to keep holding my breath. I was shaking so hard, I could barely keep quiet. A twisting pain contorted my insides sending sharp jolts to my middle. If it wasn't for sheer will to live, I would have thrown up on the spot.

"There. Shall we continue on?"

"Let me just check in." The younger-sounding male cleared his throat. "Three for me and Kelvin. What's the count for you?"

Crunching sounded from beneath their shoes as they moved around. A moment passed and the younger man laughed.

"Both Shane and Jack's team have two. Excellent. Eight slaves left." He paused. "Mic off. Say, Kelvin, if we win this, I'm never letting the others forget it. Why don't you tell me more about your other ways of fun."

"Oh…I have stories. Let's wait on those. If you want to win, we need all the surprise on our side that we can get."

The voices grew quiet as the men walked further away. I sucked in a deep breath, feeling myself sway. If it was from the slight breeze or the terror settling in my bones, I wasn't sure. I was hardcore on the streets, but this wasn't home. I wasn't the murderer here; I was the prey. If I wanted to escape, I needed to get as far away from here as I could. And fast. We weren't being released for a game of survival. We were being hunted like animals.