Shades of Wolves

Chapter 22: The answers from the old cover labels

When we entered the 1-1 battle, we discussed the game. Both went to either side, turned around and shot each other. The barrel had 5 bullets that were loaded randomly. Patch had removed the bullet when we turned around.

When I pulled the barrel, his heart was pierced. This gun was given to me by Axelsen at the warehouse, because he knew this day would come for sure. No matter which hole is filled, it will always shoot first.

Axelsen always knew how to press on someone's wound. If the opportunity comes, I also want him to taste, what it's like to have a gun pointed to his head. I don’t know if those bullets go through his heart, will the bastard still use Patch as a joke?

                                                                   Stacy

When the man was about to get up and leave, the light in the warehouse suddenly turned on. Donny leaned against the door, the tip of his finger twirling a gun.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

Donny looked towards Sammul. His eyes were not very kind. This was a warehouse used to store fruits or vegetables waiting for shipping to the city. The ground was damp and there were many layers of straw, some apples, tomatoes, and cabbages were scattered on it. He used the floor upstairs to raise chickens for eggs. It's true that he lived close to nature.

"I'm looking for Kiki, the dog. He ran in here but hasn't come out yet." Sammul replied back.

“A dog?” Donny came in. Kiki came down from upstairs holding a chicken in his mouth.

“You are so naughty! Release the chicken now.” Sammul s*****d his butt. Kiki put the dead chicken down and arched his ass to run towards Hoa and Nabeya.

"I'm sorry for letting it in here."

"It's okay, it's just a chicken. I'll offset your bounty." Donny laughed happily. Their tension was relieved.

"Aren't you going to join us?" Donny intentionally invited Sammul.

“I prefer bread to meat, thanks.” Sammul coldly refused and left.

In the yard, Hoa and Nabeya were having an intimate conversation with Donny's mother, Natalia. She had used to be an illustrator for product covers and billboards, but after her husband's death and the raging pandemic, she had chosen to go into the woods and had a simple life with her son. Natalia would love to have people come in and talk about life in the city, which was far from her current reality.

"I often go to the hospital to check, this disease causes a lot of complications, the eyes also fade." Natalia pouted. Diabetes was still a nightmare for the elderly despite the medical science revolution that had taken place over 50 years.

“There will be a cure” Hoa gave out her comfort words.

"It's been a few years. I've gotten used to it."

Natalia was very optimistic, though. She bragged that, in order not to make up for the feeling of missing her old life too much, every time she went to the city, she would buy a lot of things to store and did not forget to keep them, the box or the packaging, even if it's rust.

Natalia led Hoa and Nabeya to her room. A room with shelves full of empty bottles of wine, boxes of candy, cans of coke. This was more like a collection. Hoa had seen some brands from 10 years ago and was no longer for sale.

“A valuable collection. If you wait for another 20 or 30 years, they could be worth tens of thousands of dollars.”

Hoa took a look on the wall. There were quite a few stickers. She even framed them in different sizes. Near the window, there was a more formal cover label, apparently it was a certificate of a brand they had been loyal to for a long time.

“This certificate is only for diamond members, right? You must have bought a lot?” Hoa curiously asked. She went to the other side of the paper and looked at it. There was also the signature inside.

“Ah, Donny loves to eat that.” Natalia was warm when talking about her son.

“Me too. I really like them. But now it's no longer for sale. I wish I could see those products on the shelves again. The whole sky of memories, isn’t it?"

Natalia seemed to remember something. She took from the cupboard a stack of paperboards with colorful designs. It was a type of potato cake with many different flavors.

"I kept them all. If you like, I'll give it to you as a souvenir."

"What could ever be better than that?!" Hoa was really happy.

“Hey mom, come out, the barbecue is done!” Donny called out from the yard.

"Let's just get out." Natalia said.

“You and her go out first. I want to go to the bathroom.” Hoa responded and headed to the toilet.

Waiting for both of them to disappear, Hoa rushed into Natalia's room. She opened the cupboard and looked for something. There was nothing she wanted. Even in the closet and under the bed, there was nothing but piles of cardboard, product labels, bottles and rusty soda cans.

……………..

“Let's raise a glass. Hope everyone can win this game!” Donny invited Hoa and Nabeya very enthusiastically. Although Sammul did not eat meat, he seemed to enjoy this homemade fruit beer as well.

"I hope you're right." Nabeya laughed and clinked her glass enthusiastically.

They ate and drank until nearly midnight, then the party was over. Donny led the three of them into his room. Donny's room was similar to his mother's, but filled in with photos… pornographic photos. He also bought quite a few movies to watch, which was not too strange for a single, young and energetic man like him.

"You girls don't mind, do you?" Donny collected the discs and laughed.

“We are all grown up.” Nabeya replied in an erotic way.

"Then rest up. We'll be leaving at 6 a.m." Donny closed the door and whistled while walking to the living room.

In the room, each person sat in a corner. Their faces were all red from alcohol. Even with them being drunk, everyone was still full of thoughts.

"There’s something very strange to me"

Hoa raised her head as she spoke, but Nabeya put her hand to her mouth to indicate that she should not make a sound. At the same time, she took a nearby pen and wrote on the paper "beware of eavesdropping".

"What's strange?" Nabeya replied, motioning for Hoa to follow her.

“Donny is so strong and energetic, why live alone?”

Nabeya smiled and nodded.

“You want to have s*x with him?”

"Didn't you just smirk with Donny?"

"Hey, let's go to sleep. We still have to leave tomorrow." Sammul interrupted. He also followed.

In the mother's room, Donny was sprawled out on the bed. Natalia was sitting cross-legged. She had a cigarette between her lips. Her mouth was constantly mocking the sounds coming from the listening device next to her.

“Those teenagers”

"What's wrong? I'm this muscular and perfect shaped!" Donny jumped up. He pushed Natalia against the wall and lifted her skirt, one hand on her chest to massage the breast.

"Aren't you just so freaking into me as well?"

………………..

One in the morning, at Donny's house.

Surrounded by darkness, the bitter cold from the forest crept in each layer of clothes. The howling of wolves echoed throughout the mountains and hills, making people's skin shiver.

One hand locked the door, he used the chain to lock it from the inside out. Before leaving, he didn't forget to check a little if there was still a place to escape. When he was reassured, he gently took gasoline and poured it all over the house.

Standing looking at it one last time, the young man lit a cigarette. He leisurely took a couple of deep breath in, let the smoke warm himself up. Next to him was also a middle-aged woman, who was also smoking. The smoke coming out of her mouth like air from a boiling kettle.

“This outfit is really entangled.” Natalia took off her makeup, then threw away the country clothes she wore yesterday. Then, in her true form, she was a charming girl with an incredibly beautiful face.

“Sophia, no need to be that hurry!”

"Hurry up and close the curtain, Axelsen. I'm tired of being in this goddamn place." Sophia grumbled.

Donny walked over to the door, took off his make-up, then threw a burning cigarette straight into the previously poured gasoline.

Flames flared up, in an instant, it ate up without leaving a single piece. “Sophia is not in such a hurry!”

"Hurry up and close the curtain, Axelsen, I'm tired of being in this goddamn place." Sophia grumbled.

Donny walked over to the door, took off his make-up, then threw a burning cigarette butt into the previously watered gasoline.

Flames flared up. In an instant, it ate up without leaving a single piece.

“I thought they were smart, but they lost to our acting.”

Sophia and Axelsen sat in their chairs watching the red rage destroy the house and those who slept in it.

“They are not fools. In order to make them believe, we had to act really well. In addition, there is a lot of staging. Do you think that simple things can fool those mischievous cats' eyes?"

Axelsen laughed. He crossed his legs leisurely looking at his work. He and Sophia were the custodians of this round, making it their mission to challenge the players. If the stupid participants didn't realize, their deaths were well deserved. Viewers did not criticize a bit, to begin with, they also praised and admired the regulating ability of supervisors like them.

“I wish I could have showed them a few more hints, then they would not have died” Shophia laughed savagely.

"Really?"

"Of course!"

Sophia replied but she sensed something was wrong. That cold voice was not Axelsen's. By the time she turned around, Nabeya had punched her in the face, causing her to fall to the ground and pass out.

Sammul put his gun on Axelsen's head, then spoke close to his ear.

"If I pull the trigger and blow the head of the champ of season 1, will I be the most popular this season?"

Axelsen's body turned frozen, cold sweat rolling down his forehead. Sammul had the right to do so. If he could kill the supervisor and get out of here, he would be extremely popular. Fame and recognition would definitely go up. There were some seasons where the player was so smart that he killed four supervisors. The next rounds, he had received a lot of advantage thanks to that.

"How do you know I'm not just a regular guy?" Axelsen wanted to know it before he died.

“Remember the pig you brought here?”

“….”

“You used satellites to know we were lost and started setting traps. That pig wasn't trapped by that, but purposely tied it up, made him pee around and waiting for us to come!" Sammul collected his gun, he sat down on the chair next to him.

“But how do you know that pig was me who brought there? Is it marked?”

“You kept him locked up in the barn for a few days. He ate apples and tomatoes that fell on the floor. When you cut the pig open, I could smell it. In the radius around here, fruit trees are only grown here, this place. The pig also helped us. It ate a lot of things. A lot of fruit has not been digested yet.” Sammul laughed.

Axelsen really underestimated this guy. He previously purposely took the dog into the barn to see if there was any fallen fruit there. Axelsen understood Sammul's sense of smell, so before taking the pig away, he sprayed deodorant. Unexpectedly, the other fruits were also harmful to his plan.

"And the girl who plays your mother, she's good at acting, but you and her are so confident that you don't review your house." Hoa said in sarcasm.

“She said that she had diabetic. Yet, she has kept quite a few boxes of cakes, labels of foods rich in carbohydrates like potatoes, or corn. There's even a brand loyalty certificate. Donny takes his mother for regular check-ups, he surely knows what should and what shouldn’t to eat, unless… neither of you have this disease."

Nabeya pointed a finger at Axelsen's muscular abs.

“Natalia said you like to eat. We did try you, but you didn't touch it a little bit. Obviously, you hate them. On the contrary, your mother loves such foods to stay in shape."

“Natalia said she is suffering from complications and torture from diabetes. I looked for her medicine, but there was not even a single pill. Obviously, she lied”.

Hoa remembered being in the room. She had thought she was the only one who noticed how unusual Natalia was. Unexpectedly, Nabeya had paid even more attention than her. She had dragged Sophia outside and distracted Axelsen while Hoa had been in the room looking for evidence.

Axelsen laughed, this house was not arranged by him. He didn't care about that room either. Sohpia had been too confident. She had thought that by just following through with everything Stacy arranged, then everything could have been perfect. What a stupid girl! That was why she could have never been promoted for centuries.

“I see, you guys are very smart. Then, after this, I will be killed?”

"I don't know. I leave the decision to the other two girls."

Sammul stood up. Axelsen did not dare to protest. The guy who got the gun was the boss.

“I will not kill you and her. Hoa, of course, would not choose it, either. But we'll tie you both up, and…”

Nabeya stammered. She asked Hoa to use a rope to tie the two of them to the chair. Then she went to where they were sitting and pulled out a knife.

“But there must be something to be left behind, for you two to remember who we are and stay out of our way as far as possible.”

Nabeya stabbed Axelsen in the leg with a sharp knife. One and two times, until his face went pale, and sweat covered his forehead. Sophia wasn't much better either. She sobbed from the pain, then fainted.

"Do you still remember what's on the map?" Nabeya asked

"Yeah, still"

"Then let's go!"

The three of them left behind the other two and the brightly burning fire in the night. There were things that should not be done too drastic. Axelsen was a respected champion after all. Sparing him a life, it was not only to increase their status, but also as a warning to the rest, not to mess with their team. Otherwise, the outcome would be no different from Axelsen and Sophia.

……………………

In a car driving out of the woods, Axelsen sat in the front seat. Behind her, Sophia was still fainting. The driver's seat was Stacy, and she was whistling happily as she drove.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Axelsen asked. His lips were so dry that they’re chapped, his voice hoarse.

Still a quiet sound.

“That house, everything is arranged by you. The kid and his friends sensed the abnormality because you purposely inserted hints there. You wrote this script, after all.” Axelsen hugged his bleeding thigh. He was so angry that his chest felt like it’s going to explode.

Stacy was still whistling and ignoring him.

“Stop the car!”

The car suddenly braked, and Axelsen's head almost hit the window.

Axelsen leaned over, fixing Stacy's face to look into his bloodshot eyes.

"Do you really want me dead?" Axelsen asked.

“Do you want to continue or let the wound get infected and die!” Stacy asked coldly.

“I asked, do you really want me to die?” Axelsen wanted to find the answer.

"Right! I want to let you know that you should stop talking to me with your teasing face!”

"One day you'll see how my range goes"

"I will wait!"

Stacy stepped on the pedal. The car sped up on the rough road ahead.