The Gamble of The Hunted

10

Ed and Pete followed Kaleb out to the car he arrived in. They had managed to convince the Quinn family to stay behind as their trip would be dangerous.

“Where are the games held at?”

“A little town that is extremely hard to find. It is called the Train Coach and-“

“Train Coach?”

Ed interrupted. The three hopped into the silver Mercedes. Ed in the passenger seat, Pete in the back seat, and Kaleb behind the wheel.

“Yeah the town is called Train Coach.”

He replied slowly and kept his eyes on the road. Ed glanced in the rearview mirror at Pete who was staring right back at him.

“How long will it take us to get to Train Coach?”

“About two hours. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”

“Enjoy? I doubt that. On the way there I want you to tell us more about these games. And why it is just now you decided to come find help.”

Kaleb pulled the car over to the side of the road, put it in park, and shifted his body to face Ed.

“I just now came because I just now got the guts to stand up against my father. Year after year I have watched him put innocent people into these games. Innocent women who were turned into killers in less than two hours. Why? Because my father enjoys the pain of women.”

He paused and sighed.

“My mother left him. She left him coldly, months before I was born. When I was three years old, she dumped me on him. My mother kept me for three years and then she just left me on his doorstep in the snow. She never told me why. She just said ‘Go wait on the porch for your father Kaleb. Don’t leave that porch or he will get angry at you.’ Took him 3 days to get home. CPS was called upon my father and they came and took me before giving me back to him in a week. He was forced to keep me for reasons I don’t know of. He punished me for leaving that porch. It wasn’t my fault I left the porch but he didn’t care. Now he despises women. He raised me to despise women. It’s now I realize women are innocent creatures like us. It’s now I realize that what Park is doing is wrong.”

Kaleb stared at Ed for a few short moments. The car fell silent as nobody knew how to respond. Kaleb turned back to the wheel and drove off into the night.

…

Papers were flying everywhere. Men were fighting men. It was almost as if there were a separate games for the gamblers and Park.

“STOP!”

Park shouted making everyone in the room freeze and turn to him.

“Stop your fighting! You want these women out simply because there is no action. Let me give you action.”

Smiles formed on the faces of nearly everyone in the room as they turned towards the screens. The three women were sleeping by the fire.

“Send the wolves.”

Park spoke. The man in charge of obstacles nodded.

“Yes sir.”

He replied and pressed a tiny read button by a picture of a paw print.

…

Tara was sleeping peacefully for once in she didn’t even know how long when she was suddenly awoken by a howling in the distance. She popped up and listened closely. Another howl making her fully aware the three were being preyed.

“Dammit where did they come from?”

She whispered and quickly moved to Carlie and shook her. She woke easily and looked up at Tara.