𝑻𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅'𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈
𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒊𝒏'𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒊𝒏'𝒕 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔
𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒍𝒂𝒘
♧.♤.♡.♢
Game: Beast Hunter
Difficulty: Six of Spades
shit...
Why do I always seem to play hunting games? It really doesn't sounds good. Spades games will be the death of me.
♤
Rules: Hunt down the beasts
game clear: if the hunters kill all beasts
game over: if the beasts kill all the hunters
time limit: none
♤
I relax a little, coming with the militants wasn't actually that bad. We have guns, a lot of them, so it should be pretty easy.
'Okay, you five' Aguni says pointing to the second group that came with us. 'You go West, use your weapons, and kill those beasts'. They nod and walk to the indications, where the booths are.
'Samura and Niragi, you'll go on solo' Last boss that was leaning on his katana straightened up and walk in the distance where the Haunted house is.
Niragi stays still waiting for the rest of the instructions. 'Saiko, do whatever you want' he tells the girl that came with us and she happily walks to Niragi
He keeps his eyes on me, looking for any kind of reaction but I don't give him any. I just ignore him and focus back on Aguni.
The others who weren't with us parted ways, clearly frightened since they didn't have any weapons to protect themselves.
'Ameya, you stay with me', I'm a bit startled by this. Not thinking Aguni would've wanted to keep me by his side when I was clearly not the best for this game. And that must be precisely why he wants me by his side actually. To keep an eye on me, like he is used to doing.
I nodded and we began walking toward the Ferris wheel, on the East side.
'You never used a gun before correct?' he asks me
'Uh- no, never. I am more acquainted with knives actually' and to my surprise I notice the corner of his lips slightly moving. Did he just smile again?
He nods in my direction. 'Hold out the gun I gave you' I look at him unsure but hold the gun in front of me.
'First rule, always keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. Second, you only put your finger on the trigger when you are about to shoot. Third, always keep your focus on your gun and its target.' I nod
'Now' he takes the gun from my hands. 'When you are out of bullets, you push on this button, the refill falls, you take it out, put another one, you reload it by pulling this then shoot. Got it?' he tells me showing how to do it
I nod and take it back
'Show me' I look at him then back at the gun and replicated what he just did. Once again having observed in detail the maneuver 'Good , now let's do this'
The little music echoes in the carnival and the game begins.
A big screen in the middle lights up with numbers on it
13-23
For the first minutes nothing happens, you can only hear the music of the attractions.
But then a scream cuts the silence. I turn in that direction but don't see anything.
12-23
Numbers of hunters and numbers of beasts
I didn't recognize the voice that screamed. So it's either a militant I never talked with or one of the others. I put my bet on the others, they didn't have any weapons.
I look at Aguni for any kind of information. Should we move? Should we attack? Should we hide? Definitely not the last one.
He keeps his focus on where the scream came from. And I keep my focus on him.
I know I have a gun to defend myself, but I feel safer with Aguni, enough to let him protect me. I decided to put my trust in him.
'Watch out!' he shouts and pushes me behind him before shooting. A tiger came right in front of us. Growling at us. Aguni shots once, twice. But it's not stopping it. The tiger begins to rush to us. Aguni tried shooting more bullets but it was not working, that will stop the wild cat.
As the felines run in our direction, Aguni put his gun back in his belt.
What the fuck is he doing!
'Aguni' I say, the tiger getting closer
But he doesn't move, he waits. Fuck I shouldn't have trusted him. I can never trust anyone.
The tiger is a meter away
My heart accelerates 'Aguni!'
And just before the animal could jump on him. Aguni throws the biggest punch ever into the tiger's head, throwing the animal onto the ground. He quickly takes out his gun again and shoots three more bullets into the animal's head. Dead.
I breathe out. Okay, maybe I could actually trust him.
Another scream, an unknown one. Which is actually a relief.
I should feel bad, but I don't. At least it isn't Beach members. At least it isn't someone that could help win against those animals. At least it isn't Niragi...
My mind wanders to him. He was a real bitch the other night, he had no right to talk to me like this. Him even less than anyone else.
I was furious, at him. But also to myself.
He had been horrible to me, a real cunt, yet I couldn't help but still care for him. This bastard.
I hated how even if he was the one that broke me, my heart still cared for him.
I try to find him, looking everywhere. And I see him. Having fun in one of the attractions, not even caring a little about the potential danger luring at him.
He was shooting in the air with his riffle, having the time of his life in the swinging boat.
I wonder what went wrong for us to part ways and become so much different. Maybe we actually both went into our own alternate dimension. Maybe we actually did lose each other. I thought he would've grown eventually, but he proved me wrong. Maybe he was nothing but a lost cause. 'Cause, he ain't nothing like he once was...
'Okay let's move on' Aguni takes me out of my trance
We make our way around the East side. Being cautious of any signs of wild animals.
I look at the big screen in the middle of the funfair. There are 10 remaining of us for 20 animals. If each of us takes down two it shouldn't be that hard-
The numbers changes
7-19
Half of us already died, we need to be careful. The probability for us to win is getting lower, I'm not a good fighter so you shouldn't count me in. Six against nineteen... It doesn't look good.
'We need a new strategy' I speak
He looks at me, then at the screen. He knows too, that if we don't find a better strategy will all be dead. 'What do you propose?'
'We have guns, a lot of them, and good fighters. Tigers, lions, and other felines usually hunt in packs to attack more efficiently. Leaving little to no chance for their prey to survive.' He looks at me unsure as to where I am heading.
'We need to regroup, beat them at their own hunt. You're either the prey or the hunter.'
He looks back at the screen. 'It's risky'. He looks at me again. 'But it could work. Let's go'
I tighten the hold on my gun and lead the way. I know where Niragi is, but for the others, we'll have to search harder. We paths a few booths, walking carefully but surely. I am about to turn right when I hear a roar coming from that direction. I stop abruptly, fear rushing through my veins.
The beast is right next to the corner. I could hear its growl getting closer and closer. I had to do something. Aguni is on my right, checking the remaining bullets, he had one more refill left, I had two, but it wasn't the same gun, therefore not compatible.
I close my eyes. Breath in. And remember, keep the gun pointed in a safe direction. Only put your finger on the trigger when you are about to shoot. Always keep your focus on your gun and its target.
Got it
It couldn't be that hard. Right?
I put my brain on autopilot. Adrenaline taking over my irrational thoughts. My feet moved on their own, swinging in the feline direction. My arms stretched. My hands tightly wrapped around the deadly weapon.
I am faced with a panther. If my life wasn't threatened by it, I would be amazed. Its black fur makes it appear like an alive shadow. Piercing eyes, not once leaving its prey. Me. And mine nether living the animals. I just stare at it for a second. A weird feeling made its way through my mind. Somehow, it felt like looking at a reflection of myself.
I focus back on where my gun is pointed, at the head of my target. Everything around me becomes blurry, the world slows down. I can hear my pulsing heart like it was whispering in my ear.
I'm ready. My fingers linger on the trigger, the cold material burning my skin. And I press it.
The world goes back to its normal speed. The bullet is fired. The shock of the act propelled me slightly backward. And the explosion made my eardrums ring. I re open my eyes and find the mesmerizing animal dropped dead on the ground.
Its eyes are still on me, as I see the life evaporating from it. The panther didn't even try to fight. It stayed there, not moving, waiting for the impact, waiting for death.
I don't know why it disturbs me so much. I feel, regret, guilt? Why did this animal have such a big impact on me? Even the death of the people I pushed didn't make me feel this way.
'Hey kid' Aguni walks to me. I don't move, I'm frozen. He puts a gentle hand on my shoulder and I finally leave the animal's eyes to find his. He looked pained too, but not for the animal. 'We have to go' he moves his head to signal me to look back in front of me.
I turn my head and my blood freeze. Three huge lions were surrounding in front of us.
'Shit', I turn on my heels. Sprinting in their opposite direction. We had to find the others. Now.
Lions, they like to play with their prey. Toy with them, before ending their lives. It's more entertaining, it adds more difficulty, more challenge. So it wasn't surprising that they didn't run right after us. Instead, they let us run, let us hope.
We were in the middle of the carnival, the carousel just a few feet in front of us. And Last boss stands there, cleaning the blood on his katana from two tigers laying at his feet. I've never been so happy to see this weirdo.
Aguni stops in front of him as I stay behind. 'Samura, we need to regroup. There are three lions coming after us. And sixteen other beasts left. Do you know where the others are?'
He doesn't speak. Not even now, never. He just mindlessly points his katana in a random direction. To where the two other militants left from the second car.
They're running, sprinting even. Trying to escape the feral beast rushing after them. But they're running to a licitation I wish they could stay away from. They're running to the swaying boat. To Niragi.
'Oh no. Argh I'm going to kill him myself'
I begin to walk in that same direction. Their focus switches to me now.
'They're running towards Niragi's locations. And I know the big guy can handle himself, but we need to regroup right? So why are you still not moving' I raise an eyebrow at them.
Last boss doesn't make a sound as expected but turns to Aguni for affirmation. He looks right into my eyes. This is our only chance.
'Let's go' he steps in front and leads the way.
I look at the surrounding for any beasts but there aren't any, yet. This is strange since some tigers were right after our asses only a few minutes ago.
Someone shouts bullets in the air. 'ahaha, woohoo' I turn my attention back to the others.
'Fuck those animals!'
Aguni walks to him, 'Niragi save your bullets for after.'
'You're no fun', 'Where is Saiko?'
I hear a voice from behind me 'I'm here', oh so she's alive. I kind of wish she would've been dead. Behind her as the two other remaining militants
'What is your plan then Daddy Aguni' she says with puppy eyes. Oh, now I definitely wish she died.
'We stay grouped and hunt those beasts, not the opposite. There are 17 left, Let's go' He tells the group. They look kind of hesitant on the 'grouped' part but the thought of killing the animals cheers them up.
Speaking of the devil, the three Lions that once were after us, are now in front of us.
Let the final fight begins.
The felines sprint to us at the same time as Niragi shoots again, killing one of the lion in the process. Last Boss, run in their direction without any hesitation and slices the throat of the second one. Just as we thought the unknown militants would shoot at his turn, a leopard jumps from the top of the carousel and lands directly on him, eating his head first.
Right after three others land down.
I take a step back, my hands shaking with the gun locked inside of my grip. I raise the weapon and aim at the beasts. I see Aguni shooting and I don't hesitate a second more and fire, once, twice, thrice, click, click.
What?
I look at the gun, the barrel is empty. I look up and see the animals charging at me. I will not have enough time to change it. What a dumb mistake, spades games are not my things, I already said that spades will be the death of me.
I close my eyes, stay still, waiting for the impact, wait for death to take over me.
I feel the impact, hear more gunshots, and a heaving weight pushing me straight to the ground. That's it...
'What the fuck are you doing?! Are you suicidal?!!'
I open my and see not a hungry leopard but a furious Niragi. He looks at me angrily but as I don't respond he just exhales and turns around, immediately returning to shooting hunting.
I look around and see all of them fighting the animals, slicing their flesh, shooting them in the head, punishing them, killing them one after another.
But I just stay there, on the ground, unable to move. It feels like a movie, the action scene taking place right before my eyes as I just watch it unfolds. The numbers on the screen got lower and lower until they reached 0.
I don't know what happened to me. Was I really about to give up so easily? Was I really about to let it happen? Not even fighting, I was ready to accept my death.
After all that happened? After all I did? Even when I had the chance to escape?
No, that is not me.
So why did I just stand there waiting for the impact?
I hear the ringing music, the game is over. We won, not thanks to me. I quickly stand up and leave the arena, not even shooting a glance at the group. I don't even know who survived and who didn't. As far as I know, they could've all been dead. I just ran away.
I walked back to the Beach, it gave me plenty of time to think back to what happened back there and my unusual behavior. But as I realise I was already standing on the bridge facing the Beach. The question was still unsolved inside my brain.
♤