The Huntress

They told me to make my last kill in the dead of night, when Nano is bringing the food from the silos back to his team. “It’s the best time,” Timothy had told me, kissing the top of my forehead, “But, it’s dangerous.” 

“I know,” I had told him. 

His eyes seemed frightened at the very thought of losing another teammate. We had already lost one, and finding her body, retrieving her watch, and completing her kills was a brutal task. We almost lost Ace in the process. The scar on his arm, a reminder to us all that we can’t take a risk like that again. 

Yet I told Timothy, “I can do it.” 

I had left the binder on the counter, the rule book. I know it by heart. Its words are engraved in my memory. Run. Kill. Survive. It’s all I have ever been taught, really. When I left our base, I remember repeating the last words Timothy had spoken to me,“You run, Claire, no matter what happens, and you win.” 

Now, with the tip of a blade pressed against my spine, it seems ages ago that I was ever safe. I wonder if I should run. Nano’s grip against my arm is strong, calming in a sense that my life is in his hands. I have no control over what happens now, right? 

“I’m gonna ask you again,” the cold metal of the dagger pierces the skin above my spine, “Where is your base?” 

He demands it, yet I don’t answer. My team is back at the base, counting on me. I had this one last kill to make. If I glance down at the glowing screen of the watch on my wrist, Nano’s name is a bright red, still taunting me. 

Run. Kill. Survive. Does it even matter what order those words are in? 

“I can’t tell you that.” Nano moves the blade in a sharp motion, tearing at my skin. I bite my lip to keep from crying out, warm blood trickling down my back. 

“You want to survive. I can help you,” he’s lying. He will kill me in the end. I know he will. “My team will go in, make the kills they need, and get out. Your friends will never have to know you gave them away.” 

I could tell Nano the location of our base. His team would seek out mine, make the kills that they need, and escape. But Nano is not going to let me go. He will kill me after this, fast and simple. He hasn’t yet, which could mean only one thing. 

In the dark it’s hard to see much of anything, but his watch glows bright, and the name on his screen isn’t mine. This makes sense. He would’ve killed me by now if I was his victim. 

“You’re lying,” I sneer. I need more time. 

His laugh rips at the silence surrounding us in the cluster of trees. We’d be an easy target for other teams. But they’re all dead. “People can only get so far with lying, my dear,” his breath is putrid, and hot against my neck as he looms over me. I struggle against his restraints, a rope tied around my wrists, his hand on my arm. “I will get you out of here alive, all it costs you are the lives of your fellow teammates.” 

“All it costs?” I scoff. The lives of the people I have lived in this cage with, all fighting to regain our freedom from the Before to continue to the After. “It’ll cost me the lives of my friends, and my family. I don’t think I am willing to risk that.” 

“Then you’ll die,” he says plainly. 

Run. Kill. Survive. I will survive. 

“No.” 

“What?”

“I said, no.” Nano can’t kill me, even if he wants to. It’s illegal for him to kill someone else's victim, unless he is wearing their watch, which would make them dead. 

It’s silent for a moment, and I can almost hear the wheels turning in his head. He seems to understand that he can’t kill me unless it’s in an act of self defense, and knowing about the cameras around the place, the Lords are watching our every move. They know that Nano has the advantage. He could bring me back to his base, and let one of his teammates kill me, the one who has my name glowing on the screen of their watch. If Nano could have, he would’ve already brought me to his base by now. What’s keeping him? 

I glance at the burlap sack on the ground next to my feet. Nano had dropped it when he caught me. I wouldn’t go down without a fight, and he could see that plainly, understanding that he couldn’t hold the food bag and me at the same time. 

“Shit,” he curses under his breath.

It happens fast, the rope is off my hands. I had been untying the knot behind my back, a skill that I had to practice multiple times. From behind I kick Nano in the groin, and he falls to his knees, moaning in pain. I turn fast, catching the handle of the blade as it falls from his grip, and driving it between his shoulder blades. His body writhes and his feet kick. I thrust the blade a bit deeper, watching the life leave his eyes. 

Another kill. My last kill. It almost came natural for me to kill Nano. Almost easy. Guilt doesn't consume me like it had after my first kill, and I push him off my lap. I stand up, pulling the dagger from his back. I look down at my clothes. The sleeves of my shirt are soaked in blood, my hands dripping. I bring my shoulder up and wipe my mouth on the sleeve. Nano’s team will be worried about him. They’ll send someone out to check on him, and it could be my seeker, the one who needs to kill me. 

I wipe my hands in the grass, trying not to look at Nano’s body as I wipe the blade on his shirt. Sliding the dagger into my belt, I smile. Timothy will be happy to see me, alive. 

The wounds on my back are pulsing now. Nano wanted to make his mark, and I’m sure the scar will stay for a while. Before leaving, I sling the burlap sack over my shoulder, and kneel down over Nano. I flip him over. In the dark it’s hard to see, but I can almost make out the jet black hair.

 Every time I have killed, my victim’s eyes would always haunt my dreams. I remember every pair of eyes, engraved in my memory along with the rules in the rule book. It isn’t much guilt that I feel for killing them. I just can't forget them. They were still people. They had dreams about life in the After. They had a life in the Before. They are just following the rules. Run. Kill. Survive. 

I kneel down and brush my hands over Nano’s eyelids, standing up when my work is finished. 

I will survive.