The Gamble of The Hunted

3

Aaden, Tara, and Carlie were awakened by the men violently shaking them.

"C'mon! Get up!"

Mark was shouting while the girls slowly sat up and rubbed their eyes. Getting annoyed, Mark grabbed Aaden by her arm and nearly drug her out of the van until she was able to gain balance and land on her feet outside. She rubbed her arm and glared at Mark while he climbed back into the van and approached Tara.

"Don't you touch her!"

Aaden lunged forward but was held back by Kaleb. He shook his head as Mark turned back at Aaden.

"Girl shut yo mouth!"

"Just let them walk out!"

Aaden shouted making Mark pull in a deep breath and nod. Tara raced towards Aaden, jumped out of the van, and stood behind her fairly close. Aaden wrapped her arms behind herself to shield Tara while Carlie made her way outside as well but never broke contact with Mark.

"Kaleb get these girls in that arena. I'm sick of dealing with women damn."

He walked towards a giant building that seemed to never end on all sides. Tara stood beside Aaden and grabbed one of her hands while grabbing one of Carlie's with the other. Kaleb pointed at Mark indicating the girls better follow him and they did.

Once inside it seemed simple. Very large and they couldn't see the other side of the building. It seemed to never end. They saw people going into elevators that went down and never up. They stood frozen in the doorway and watched as other women their age, and some very young, being forced into the elevators. A man in his late fifties or early sixties walked up towards the girls with a huge smile on his face and stretched out his arms widely.

"WELCOME! TO THE ANNUAL, MONTHLY, SURVIVAL GAMES!"

He shouted. The girls did nothing but stare at him like he was an ego maniac.

"What? No enthusiasm?"

Turning to Tara he gasped softly.

"Ahhh, miss Tara Quinn."

He reached out to put his hands on her shoulders but Aaden slapped them away and Tara ran behind her.

"Don't you touch her."

Aaden growled. The man chuckled and sighed. Kaleb stood forward and gulped.

"Sir, these girls shouldn't be here! We cant put Tara Quinn in these games! She can shut us down forever. She's too valuable!"

He protested but the man simply shook his head before slapping Kaleb extremely hard.

"Now listen here boy, you will do as I say. I don't care how valuable that woman is. She's valuable to me. Shut up and get these other two girls down with the others."

Kaleb nodded and grabbed hold of Carlie while Mark grabbed Aaden and they began dragging the girls to the elevator. They were screaming and fighting to get to Tara and Tara was screaming and trying to run to Aaden but the man grabbed her with one arm around her waist, picked her up, and carried her towards an office. He walked into it and closed the door before easily setting Tara down into a chair. He sat across from her and smiled. Tara was terrified and she gripped the arms of the chair tightly.

"W-Why am I here."

She whispered. He sat back and put his hands on his knees.

"You will be placed into the Survival Games."

"The what?"

"The Survival Games. You and twelve other women will be put into an arena. An active one, animals, insects, natural food, trees, even seasons. You will feel like you are in the arena for years after just three days."