The Hunt

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next month, I hardly saw Zack. After he almost killed me on that street, Nate was keeping a real close eye on him. And mainly me. He just never let me out of his sight. He was so overprotective, like a big brother I never had. And as much as I disliked his protective nature, I had to admit I was glad for his watchfulness. You never know what could happen in here with people like Layden.

I wasn't afraid of him, no. He was only a stupid boy who didn't know what he wanted. I was afraid of his actions and his moods. He could do anything. People like him were rather dangerous.

Now, I was on my way to the training rooms where apparently they were to decide on who's gonna go on a mission out and who's gonna stay. These missions, I hears were really intimate which meant that only a small bunch of us were to go. Like just around 25 percent. Which was understandable of course, since outside they couldn't send out fifty or more young trainies. They would just cause ruckus and most likely get killed. So it was just gonna be around seven or eight people.

From what I heard, the leadership decided it on our skills on everything so far. Like how we managed in each stimulation, or in hand to hand combat. I didn't get my hopes really high on this one since there was a big competition. A lot of them were a lot better than me. Including Nate.

"Hey, Portwood," he greeted me as he glimpsed me at the entrance. "How are your nerves at this time of day?"

I looked at him with a confused expression. "Nerves?"

"Well, you know... The big mission." he lowered his voice for the last part dramatically.

I rolled my eyes. "Parker, you know I don't get nervous on these types of things. It's just a stupid competition."

"Oh but if your name's in there, you're the chosen one."

He smiled down at me and wiggled his eyebrows. I shook my head.

"That ain't gonna happen and you know it," I said, moving to the far end of the room. "I don't got a chance here."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Portwood," Nate nudged me with his shoulder. "Everyone has an equal chance of being picked out."

"That's not true and you know it," I looked him in the eyes. "They pick them by their skills. I'm not saying I don't have any, but compared to these guys? I'm nothing."

"Who's 'these guys'?" said Nate. "Half of them are just pricks who don't even know how to pick up a spear, let alone throw a punch. Come on, when are you gonna admit that you're good?"

I shook my head again and opened my mouth to say something when I caught sight of Zack coming into the room. He paused when he saw me but as soon as he caught Nate's eye, he looked down and continued walking.

"What was that about?" I asked with a big hint of curiosity. Zack seemed almost... afraid of Nate.

"Let's just say he won't bother you anymore. Not while I'm here at least." he said quietly.

"What did you do?" I asked rather harshly. I didn't like it when someone messed with my business.

But I didn't get an answer because just then, trainor Robins came up to the middle of the room with some of the other bosses and a stack of papers.

Mr. Robins cleared his throat. "So I believe you all know what you're here for today. We're going to pick a few of you who are gonna be lucky; or unlucky for that matter; to go out tomorrow night. That means you are going on a mission to find and possibly kill our friends out there.

"The chosen ones will go pack the most basic things they would need, such as food and water, change of clothes and most importantly, weapons. You don't know what's out there so don't act like it. We picked out the ones we think are the best in this group. I promise you, there's no way to cheat in this. When your name is called, please step out and get your ass up here beside me."