Man Hunt

Chapter Nine - Despite Everything, I smile

I sit on the log beside Kate, staring into the blackened fire pit. The charred remains of last night’s fire remain in it. I can’t get the image of the mute’s body from my mind. Horrifically vivid pictures of the boy’s mutilated corpse continue to flash in my head – I know this will haunt me forever.

Aaron is the only one absent from the camp; he is collecting rocks for the boy’s body in the trees where the boy was murdered. He wants to make a mound for him, so his corpse isn’t just lying out in the open. I still cannot believe he did it. He killed someone.

I feel disgusted yet relieved at the same time. I’m glad we are one step closer to getting off this godforsaken island, but horrified at the fact that we have to murder innocent people to get there.

I try to tell myself that if it was the other way around, and I had been taken by the members of the red team, I too would be dead. However despite Niamh’s actions yesterday, I can’t see her being able to stand by and watch me be beaten to death. Then again, I would never have guessed that she would ever betray me like she did yesterday.

‘’What if there is no way off this island?’’ I ask.

‘’What?’’ responds Kate, turning from the empty fire pit and back to me. Eve also looks at me from the log opposite me.

‘’They’ve lied to us about so much already, how do we know there even is a boat to escape the island?’’ I question, elaborating a bit more.

‘’There has to be,’’ replies Kate, although there is no conviction in her voice.

‘’Think about it, why would they allow us to go back to civilisation? We’d be living witnesses to their crime,’’ I continue.

‘’Oh will you ever stop whingeing,’’ exclaims Eve angrily before Kate can respond, ‘’things are bad enough without you diminishing hope for us as well. It’s all we have left.’’

‘’I...’’ I begin, unsure of even what I am going to say.

‘’Just shut it!’’ she snaps in response.

 We sit silently for the next few minutes, alone with our thoughts yet again. I hate this, because my overly acting imagination decides to run through the most horrific possible scenarios that we could be facing in the next few days. What will happen to me if I am taken? What will happen to us if Aaron is taken? How will I cope if Kate is taken?

My train of thought is interrupted by my stomach – it grumbles so deafeningly loudly that I am surprised none of my team mates pass a comment on it. We are all out of food. We finished the last of our sandwiches earlier today and are running low on water. We are going to have to refill our bottles later.

A few moments later, Aaron returns to us with a piece of paper in his hand. He sits down on a log beside us and clears his throat, ‘’I found something in the mute’s pocket.’’

‘’What is it?’’ I ask.

‘’The letter he got when we arrived, his instructions,’’ explains Aaron.

I notice that the quiet boy is staring at Aaron with a look of shock on his face. He obviously knows what is coming; he probably received the same letter.

‘’What does it say?’’ asks Kate.

‘’Dear Jason,

You may be wondering why we brought you here, and perhaps where exactly ‘here’ is.Well we are pleased to inform you that you will be participating in a new TV game show. In this game show, twelve teenagers will participate as two teams of six for the possibility of winning a grand sum of one million Euros for each member of the winning team. Well, that’s what your team members have been told; that is not at all the truth.