Shades of Wolves

Chapter 19: The Lurking Danger

November 14th, 2100.

She is a person who is good at hiding. We've been friends since we were kids. Her cover of poor grades was so perfect that I didn't notice it for the first four years of middle school. She always got a good enough grade point, around average just to pass.

It wasn't until I missed an important test and needed it to get into a prestigious school, that I realized how good my friend was. Hoa did it for me. When I asked why, Hoa said, there weren't many people in the world for her to make such sacrifices.

Hoa often said, when she was in trouble, I was there. But in fact, the times she helped me were countless. I'm a weak dependent person. But with what happened, I don't want Hoa to die because of her stupid promise.

Peccinini is someone I know here. I chose him because he has a special ability, he will keep me alive. Ander is an asshole, but he's in good shape. And I want to keep him with me, to protect me as well as protect Hoa's group if we ever face each other.

I know she gets along well with Sammul, even though they just met. They are quite a team, if you ask me. Nabeya is a good partner. She's smart and physically fit. They look like a bad combination. But it's rare that an elephant can kill an ant while an ant can eat an elephant carcass.

Mahoney

Sammul took a gun and decided to buy it along with three bullets. The gun was 10 dollars, but the ammo was 50 dollars for each. They only had enough money to buy three pills. After some discussion, they decided to add a warm coat, rope, three traps, a bow and arrow set of ten, a knife, a fire tool, a sleeping bag, bread. After all of the purchase, they had $15 left. Hoa's group was not planning to buy more. No matter how cheap the traps were, they had enough. The greedier they were, the heavier stuff they had to carry. And then the speed would be reduced.

With a small amount of money, Nabeya offered them to divide it into three so they could buy what they liked as a treat for themselves.

“What would you buy for 5 bucks?” Hoa asked.

“A cake or something to cheer up the mood.” Nabeya replied. Sweets before the departure time were not a bad idea.

"And you?!"

Hoa stopped at a stall. She looked at the animals in it for a long time. A golden dog looked up at her earnestly.

“Can I bring an animal with?” Hoa looked over at Nabeya.

"Why not? That your 5 dollars. You have every right in the world to. I'm sure he will walk several times faster than Sammul." Nabeya chuckled.

"Then I am gonna make my choice here. You go buy the cake that you like."

Hoa went inside to see the prices of the animals there. They ranged from about $1 to $50. Hoa wanted to laugh when there were even gold fish here. What would they do then? To decorate?

“You want to buy a pet?”

A voice came from behind. It’s Malvis. She was wearing clothes with the WIC logo, but unlike her predecessors, she's more of a supermarket worker, with a hat on her head and a multicolored apron.

"But I don't have enough money!" Hoa regretfully looked at the other 30-dollar golden dog. For some reason, when her gaze drifted over it, she felt as if she was looking at Kiki standing in front of her again.

“Those who come here rarely choose pets” Malvis said while opening the door of the kennel, the dog ran out and licked Hoa's hand.

"Because they're annoying?" Hoa asked.

"Because the players don't know our intentions." Malvis turned to go to the mirror. She then brought out a goldfish in a small tank.

"Goldfish!?" Curious Hoa.

“Goldfish look very fragile, but their life force in the wild is very strong. They live in most ponds except… poisonous water!”

Hoa was surprised at Malvis' intentions. Her words meant that this fish was used to test the water in rivers and streams. But certainly, the underlying idea was to be extremely careful with the water they were about to drink. Hoa recalled. The medicine for people was expensive, but poison was cheap. If a team upstream put it in the water, even if it's cooked, it would still be impossible to separate the poison from the water.

“I saw your performance in the last round. Very impressive!” Malvis smiled. She took the dog out in front of Hoa.

“So, I'll take 5 bucks of yours for him as a gift. Will you buy him?” Malvis stroked the golden dog's fur. The dog was extremely obedient. He used his sparkling eyes to look at Hoa.

“Will he die after the game?” Hoa asked. Because the rule was that only one champion was allowed to walk out. What if the pet was forced to die?

“If you win, he will go with you. You two will walk out of here together”

"What is his name?" Hoa raised her head and asked.

“He has no name yet. He is still waiting for his destiny!” Malvis put the rope in Hoa's hand.

“Thank you. What a meaningful gift!”

Hoa hugged the dog. The warm fur made the memories of KiKi come to life in Hoa.

“Give him a name”

Hoa kissed the golden dog's head and called him by his dear name.

“Kiki. His name is going to be Kiki!”

“Okay, bring Kiki to the counter. Someone will calculate the total price for the items your group buys!” Malvis gave out her hand in invitation.

Until Sammul's, Hoa’s and Nabeya’s group left, then the artificial robot gradually took off her mask. A man looked at her. A cigarette in his hand burning. His eyes full of hidden intention were looking at the lovely woman who was holding a lollipop between her lips.

“You really are biased!” Axelsen flicked his cigarette, then propped his chin to look at Stacy.

“That is not a violation, though. Supervisors are entitled to grant exclusive privileges to whom they wish. You've done it before, haven't you?" Stacy replied coldly.

“Because she looks like you? One came here for the life of a loved one with the companion is nobody but her best friend?”

Axelsen pointed his eyes to the beautiful face in front of him. He grabbed her chin so their eyes met.

"And then shot him in the chest with her own hands!"

Stacy's eyes began to rage. Lips pressed tightly together.

“Sorry, that gun was given to you cheaply by me” Axelsen laughed sarcastically. "Wanna have something to drink?"

Stacy pushed the man's hand away, threw her apron aside, and walked out the door, but still didn't forget to leave a sentence for the guy behind her.

“I help her because in the three of them, she is the one that deserves to live the most!”

……………………………….

Hoa's group came out of the gate. They put almost everything on the backpack. Sleeping bags and warm clothes were ready to wear. Anyway, it's pretty cold. Sammul was holding a gun. He had good sense of smell and analysis. If being ambushed, with a sharp nose, he could find the whereabouts of the lurker. Hoa and Nabeya carried knives and traps which was to use for them to look for food. The book was in Hoa's possession. She hung it diagonally across her chest. Nabeya also had a bow and arrow around her waist. That alone was already heavy enough. Luckily, Kiki was a dog and he did not need her to carry him on her back.

“We just take you here. Finding the tower will be your job. Wish you all success!" Malvis in her business suit greeted them and left.

In front of them, there was an abandoned city. It was completely different from the crowded scene at WIC headquarters. Was this the "backyard" of a prosperous city?

“The first playground has appeared. Post-apocalyptic city”

Sammul smiled and walked forward. Since each team would have their own warehouse to avoid knowing the other team's plans, the exit door would also be different. Staying away and not facing each other allowed each team time to decide what steps to take, what stuff to do.

“Are we going to the subway station first?!” Hoa spoke up.

All the three of them were well aware one thing. They did not have a map with them, but this city definitely did. The map of the area was usually located at the station or the airport. There they could find their next direction.

"But let's wait for four hours. Then, we can go" Sammul added.

“Are you afraid to face the other teams?” Nabeya asked.

“Yeah. They also need to find out which direction. If we get there first, there's a good chance that we’ll be the prey for them right away"

In Hoa's group, besides Nabeya who had good defense skill, Hoa and Sammul would both be at a disadvantage in close combat. They had guns, but that would only help them to win one or two of the bottom groups, the $25 to $200 groups, because of their inability to arm themselves. The other teams would probably have their weapons with them 24/7, ready on their hands. And if it was Mahoney's group, her group would be more at a disadvantage. Everyone was pretty sure that Ander would buy quite a lot of murder stuff from the warehouse, because he was very violent and had 4,000 dollars to do it.

“Let's hang around and see how this place is” Nabeya suggested.

Both sides of this area were empty, no sign of human life. There were ruined shops. Lots of rusty cars placed close together. Before their eyes, there was a tall building, covered with moss and green trees. It must be admired that WIC created this environment exactly like the apocalypse when a series of meteorites tore the Earth, causing everything to crumble, humanity died and nature revived as it was.

“Nothing. There’s nothing here. And there’s nobody but us”

Nabeya glanced around. She wanted to ask someone for directions. That must have been faster than going to the train station, because it was unlikely that WIC would put the map there.

“This wreckage is more real than a fantasy movie.” Nabeya could only laugh inside.

“It is better than New York during the pandemic” Hoa whispered.

Hoa also recalled that about 5 years ago, the world was no different from the end of the world. More than half of the global population had died because of viral variants one after another. They had been like a waterfall. Not long after a vaccine had been created, two or three types of mutagenesis of the virus had been born to resist. Until now, scientists had only been able to restrain it and they were extremely worried about the mutations that were spreading silently.

Their group was going to a main road. The road was too bumpy that it looked pitiful. The sky was filled with full of crows. Their cry sent chills down everyone's spine.

The three of them walked in the cold wind, not knowing that, in the distance, there was a pair of eyes watching.