Page 55

CONAN

“ Y ou missed a good fight between two of the contestants,” Drago says as I approach the screen, peering over his shoulder.

I recognize the contestant on the screen, the only one that stood out to me in the intake. Contestant number ten.

Nervous yet defiant.

“Has she got the key?” I ask.

“Yep. She stole it right from Contestant Eight. Chased her down, smothered her, and then legged it.”

“Nice.”

“Contestant Eight remains unharmed?” I ask.

“Yeah. She’s chasing her own tail now in the woods. She won’t make it to phase two.”

I scratch my head.

“How far is Constant Ten from the cabin? Which key does she have?”

“I’d assume it’s key six. And if so…”

He zooms out on the drone.

“She’s less than fifty meters from it.”

I nod.

“Who is manning that cabin?” I ask, and Drago pulls up the time schedules on the other screen. I scan to find cabin six.

“Reggie.”

“Oh.”

That is a difficult cabin to complete. A true survival task.

“Let’s see if she makes it first. Contestant Nine is right on her tail.”

I squint as I lean in on Contestant Nine.

“Is she holding a bat?”

How the hell?

He zooms in closer.

“No. But that’s a huge fucking branch.”

Anger fizzles inside of me, I don’t know why.

“I’ll take care of her. No weapons is quite clearly in the rules. We gotta stop her.”

I can tell by the way she’s stomping through the dirt that she means business. And I’d take a bet she is willing to kill to survive. That is the risk of this game, that is why we have to monitor it so closely.

It looks like she will be reminded why it’s important to listen to the Hunter of Inferno.

And for some strange reason, I want Contestant Ten to make it to phase two.