The Legacies (Sequal to The Unrated)

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Zach was fighting to stay conscious. The pain Sarah had put him in was immeasurable. He brought himself to the wall and used it to help him walk. He didn't know what hurt worse; his pride, the fact she had Hunter or the missing fingers. He hated feeling like a coward running away, but what could he do? 

He was halfway down the hall when he thought about Hunter's words. Then his eyes went wide. "They're gonna know my chip is gone. I'll forget everything if they find out. What the hell am I-" Zach's head turned to the side as he listened. He felt like someone was watching him. He glanced behind himself at a figure hiding behind a plant. "Whoever you are, this isn't my blood. Don't mess with me!" 

To his surprise, it was Naomi. She stood up and started signing, but when Zach didn't respond, she took a marker out of her pocket and wrote on the wall, "Where is Hunter?"

"Why? You know what, never mind, I need you to do something. As you can see, I'm having a day and need some medical help. I need you to run to Hunter's room and get my notepad. I left it on his bed. Write down, "Tell Hunter he's an ass for making you leave him with that psycho." Got it? Wait, why don't you talk?"

Naomi shook her head and wrote, "No time. Need to find him. Is he back that way?"

"No, no, no. You're getting pit of here. No way am I letting a kid get hurt. I don't even want that on my conscience. Why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be at an activity center?"

Naomi bit her lip and wrote, "I was assigned here, and I'm not a kid."

Zach wasn't buying it. "Uh-huh, sure you were. Can you at least help me to the door?"

Naomi shook her head and grabbed his hand. She led him to a side room and sat him down. Zach watched her walk over to a trash can and take out a book bag. She set it down next to him and took out a first aid kit. "I think I'll need a little more than that," Zach said.

She ignored him and took his injured hand. Zach felt like he was going to vomit as she unwrapped it. Naomi handed him two pills and mimed swallowing them. "Normally, I wouldn't take drugs from strangers, but if Hunt trusts you, then you can't be all bad. Then again, his track record for trusting people has been crap lately. Eh, what the hell." He took them and watched her apply some cream to his wounds. He started to feel better after a few minutes. Naomi put her supplies back into her bag and strapped it to her back. She found a scrap of paper and wrote, "I'll be back with Hunter. Don't leave. Bad people are outside waiting to hurt you."

Zach laughed. "Bad people in here want to and did hurt me. No way she'd let me leave. You never did say the real reason why you're here."

Namoi rolled her eyes and wrote, "Not now. Now, hush! Here." She handed him a box cutter. "Just in case."

"Should I be considered that you have this?" Zach asked.

Naomi laughed and was about to walk out of the room. Then she turned around and wrote her name on the paper. 

Zach said, "I know. I'm Zach. I don't think I said it before. But you seriously need to get out of here. These games aren't as fun as they make them seem. People...die."

Naomi took a moment before writing, "I figured when I was brought here that something wasn't right. I know what you and your friends are doing. That's why I need to make sure Hunter is safe. I'll explain when I bring him back." 

Zach watched her walk out of the room and then begin rewrapping his hand. "At least I can still cook, or maybe I should get a robot hand." He laughed until he felt the weight of what happened as he fell asleep. "You better not be dead, Hunt."