Shades of Wolves

Chapter 20: Simulated Trap - (Part 2)

Train station, 2:30 pm.

They finally reached the train station. The carriages were still there, rusted and covered with dust. The glass door was cracked, the plants was covered all over the place. They multiplied and destroyed walls that had not been cleaned for a long time.

Hoa's group still very carefully observed every movement. Obviously, at these times, Kiki's hearing and Sammul's nose were effective tools for them to recognize the danger lurking around.

“Wait, something smells like blood here.” Sammul raised his hand. Nabeya and Hoa drew their weapons and prepared themselves.

Kiki barked a few times. He ran forward and then turned into another intersection. It seemed like he found something.

“Kiki, come back! Kiki!” Hoa shouted loud at her dog. It could be a trap over there. She didn't want to lose such a companion, not when the race had not even begun yet.

A few dozen seconds later, Kiki brought them a bloody towel and an empty gun. Hoa's group of people followed the wall slowly towards the other intersection.

There were a lot of bloody handprints on this peeling wall. The red color on it stretched in many lines. If they did not make a wrong guess, someone must have been seriously injured and had to put their hands on here. On the ground, there were more blood stains. This fight must not be small. Not sure how many people had been injured or killed.

“It’s quite brand new. Maybe, just about an hour or two ago.” Sammul reached out his hand to make a touch on the blood splatter on the leaves before bringing it down to his nose to smell it.

“We should find the map first. Need to get out of this city asap” Sammul suggested. They should not stay here for too long. There might be traps or ambushes.

In the control building, there was indeed a map of the city. But no tower appeared. They discovered that there were quite a few exits leading to a larger area, a forest. Since the next area was shaded green, plus there were a lot of wild animals in the city, the jungle terrain was a highly probable guess.

"Shall we stay here and wait for tomorrow's departure or what?" Hoa asked.

“I think that we should stay here for one night. We need to trap animals for meat and to store some water.” Nabeya suggested.

Although in the forest, the food source was pretty much very rich, they did not plan to play any survival game in there. They must speed up and head towards the tower location rather than looking for food to survive. A city with large reserves were worth saving for more.

"Then let’s find a secluded place and rest. We will leave early tomorrow morning." Sammul suggested.

"OK!" Hoa and Nabeya replied in unison.

After agreeing, Hoa looked at the map one last time and tried to memorize it in her brain. They split up to go to the bathroom. Because the toilet was located upstairs, Sammul decided to guard the stairs to let the two girls went there first. He would go later.

"Let him stay here with you." Hoa pointed to Kiki who was wagging his tail cutely. Sammul was all alone, with the dog by his side, they would be more secure.

“Up to you!” Sammul replied coldly as if with or without the dog, nothing changed. He had more confidence in his abilities than others.

………………………………….

Hoa and Nabeya walked slowly, still very alert. Up here it looked cleaner, probably because the glass had blocked the way of dust and trees.

“The toilet is over there!”

There was a sign and they entered a turn. But when they got there, the wall was covered by all the fresh red hand prints. Hoa and Nabeya approached and called loudly to confirm if the victim had still been in the restroom.

“Is anyone in there?!”

"Hey!?"

It’s still the silence that replied to them.

Hoa slowly opened the door while Nabeya held a knife in front of her chest. The scene in the toilet was very chaotic. Blood-stained paper covered the ground. In the corner there was a person lying on the floor. It was a girl. She let out a groan and was shaking in pain. This outfit surprised Hoa a bit. It was exactly like Mahoney's.

“Mahoney, is that you? Mahoney?!”

With each step she took, the wounded person’s face became clearer. Her face was pale. A large wound in her abdomen was bleeding profusely, soaking the floor.

“Mahoney!” Hoa called out in panic. It's her. How could it become like this? Hoa knelt on one knee on the ground, reaching out her hand to her friend.

Right now, Sammul sat under the stairs. His arms were crossing against his chest, an allusion to the body's natural defenses. Kiki was very well-behaved. He knew that this guy did not like touching or licking. So he lied on the ground and had no intention of flattering Sammul.

As if bored, Kiki stood up. He ran away from Sammul for a while, then brought back a black bag.

Sammul sniffed the bag. He noticed the abnormality. Immediately, he stood up and went straight upstairs.

…………………….

A loud announcement from loudspeakers were everywhere in the train station.

“I am Malvis. Announcement: Team 2 is eliminated! Team 2 is eliminated!”

In the bathroom, a creepy image appeared. Hoa was lying on the ground, her wrists cut off, the blood seeping into her white shirt was really difficult to one’s eyes to see. Her whole body was trembling. Her face turned white.

A hand pushed open the door and entered. Behind her were two people, a male and a female. The middle-aged woman had brown hair, blue eyes, and her face was full of wrinkles as if she had lived a life of sadness.

“Told you guys it would work” Sylla looked at the person below. She sat down and looked pleased with her prey.

“25 bucks, so what? The bottom team, so what? With only a trap, we get a bunch of stuff these idiots buy.” Sylla burst out laughing.

The other two also walked over to Hoa's body.

“Shall we get the book first?”

He reached into the black crossbody bag on her chest. But as soon as the arm reached her, a loud scream resounded throughout the room. His wrists were cut off, blood gushed out incessantly, spraying all over Sylla and the girl next to him.

"How is it possible?"

Sylla was bewildered, but her professional instinct made her quickly find a rope for the man who was dying on the ground. But she knew in her heart that this guy would definitely completely done. The cut made his wrist fell off his arm already. Just a few more minutes, when the bleeding stopped, his life would also end as well. No equipment, no medical, could save him anymore.

Hoa and Nabeya pushed open the door of the next room and stepped out. They looked at Sylla's mess. They showed their sadness, but no sympathy towards the woman. She used a dirty trick to set them up. This was a well-deserved ending for her. Just a little late, if Nabeya hadn't noticed something extremely unusual, perhaps Hoa would have had an artery cut and died not knowing the reason.

“This kind of simulated trap, is really formidable!” Sammul pushed open the door too. The man curled his cold lips.

The boy in Sylla's arms slowly closed his eyes. His breathing was as weak as a string that’s about to break. He kept calling his mother, calling a lot. Maybe the purpose he came here was the same as most of them, saving loved ones or someone very important.

The girl watched her comrades stop breathing. She panicked, screamed and ran out the door. Hoa did not want to have any more beef, because sooner or later the girl’s life would be the same as that of the other guy. Losing all memories, and committing suicide like dozens of guys in round 1 was just the end of it.

“How do you know my trap?” Sylla was still holding her teammate in her arms. Her body was now dyed red like the color of a dandelion.

"Strictly staged. I almost died from it" Hoa pursed her lips angrily.

She recalled a few dozen minutes ago.

…………………………

Mahoney laid there dying. Hoa was about to touch her, but suddenly Nabeya grabbed her hand. Her face was brooding as if she was thinking about something.

“What is it Nabeya? Can't you see that Mahoney is about to die?" Hoa sobbed. She pushed her hand away.

“Hoa, wait a minute!” Nabeya restrained.

“But she will die!” Hoa burst out.

"Calm down! Something is not right!"

"What?" Hoa’s eyes teared up.

“Where is the cut… the cut right at her neck?”

Nabeya sat down. Her finger was pointing towards Mahoney's throat. Hoa stepped to the opposite side for a better view. That's right. Back in the canteen, Ander had threatened her with a knife and almost slit her throat, Hoa herself had bandaged the wound. It was just a day or two, the wound could not be healed that fast. It looked as if like nothing had happened before. Not even a scar.

Nabeya took out an arrow from the basket. She then lightly touched Mahoney below. As expected, the arrow went straight through the flesh as easily as nothing there. It’s truly a space trap. Nabeya continued to gently bring the arrowhead to the wound, where the most bleeding was.

Bam

Four intersecting iron blades cut off the arrowhead with ease. The trap showed its original form. The baby monkey was below. His mouth was full of blood,. His eyes were widening starring at them. How terrible it must have been before he died.

"Are you okay?"

Sammul hurriedly opened the door. Fortunately, both of the girls were fine. The black bag KiKi brought back had a strong smell of monkeys. Someone had killed it and brought the body here. The purpose was nothing but to trap them.

"So heartless!" Hoa looked at the little monkey.

“That's because we won the first challenge and came in second rank. If we were these are the bottom ones, we would also have to be cruel.” Sammul leaned against the wall, very leisurely teaching Hoa.

“By the way, if… you want to revenge for this animal. I have a way”.

Sammul went to the trap. He brought two sensor wires connected to his brain. Then he took a knife and cut off one of the monkey's arms. The image of Hoa slowly appeared on the ground with her wrist was severed, blood splattered on the floor.

“This trap, after folding, will open again 5 minutes later. We will trap them!”

Nabeya and Hoa understood Sammul's plan. Because in order to have the other team's supplies and food, the one who had set up the traps from the first place probably was somewhere else nearby to wait for the loot. Sammul went to the control room. When he got there, there was a working speakerphone. He purposely faked Malvis's announcement and lure the ruthless people out.

………………….

Nabeya walked over to Hoa's corpse. She pulled out an arrow before throwing it at the bleeding stomach. The arrow was cut into two. The image of Hoa also disappeared. What remained on the floor was a trap with four cutters mounted around it. Their blades were sharp and clustered together. Underneath was the carcass of a small monkey with a square box that had the size of a hand attached to the center. On the top of the box, there are two wires connected to the sensor.

This type of simulated trap was originally developed for biological purposes. Scientists would use four-dimensional simulations that created individuals of the same species and smell to attract rare creatures in forests or harsh environments where they were difficult to monitor on such a large scale. Then professional hunters improved it into a higher killing thing. To enable it, an equivalent object was required. Usually, people would make a plastic image with a smell and put it under a square box to magnify the image.

But that was only the technology from 10 years ago. WIC had developed it to a more advanced level. They allowed it to be connected with the brain, which stored the memories of the trappers. When connected, infrared lines would run up to the host, adapting to its arranged shape, simulating and magnifying it.

Monkey had a close appearance to humans. It was a highly compatible substitute, so Sylla's group must have deliberately captured and killed the baby monkey. To resemble Mahoney, who was wounded in the stomach, she had stabbed it as many times as possible to make it bleed as much as possible. Looking at that poor monkey, everyone could see how cruel they were.

“This kind of trap is 20 bucks, right? I see it in the warehouse. What's better than using 20 dollars to get 1000 dollars and kill an opponent?" Nabeya sat down before squeezing Sylla's austere face with her hand.

“It's like you used that cheap $5 chip to ruin my father's 20-year medical life. You sold him out, made him feel guilty and committed suicide!” Nabeya's eyes widened.

“He was the devil who abandoned his patients and chose the rich. He deserved it!” Sylla screamed and laughed like a madman.

“Is that so? But who is the one who pulled out the breathing tubes and injected them? You or him?" Nabeya chirped, her breath cold.

Nabeya was dangerous and deadly now, unlike the cheerful person she had been before.

“He ordered me, he did it. Not me!" Sylla jerked Nabeya's hand away. She cried and shouted angrily at the girl before her eyes.

“Who could possibly give order you if you don't want to do it? You did it for your son. He got sick but he could not reach the surgery. That’s why he died. And you blamed the patient with the virus, saying they took his chance. You hallucinated and denounced my father. You are a b***h who deserves to die!"

Nabeya tugged at Sylla's collar so that the woman could see her hatred. After her father's death, she had investigated Sylla. Her son had not survived. She herself had ended his suffering with injections. Sylla had been taken to court but because her mind had not been in its state at that time, she had gotten away with the crime. She then had returned to work and ended up posting some made up videos of her father online. She had taken the cheap chip that she had faked to the police station and pushed him, a man who had just lost his wife, to the be the hot topic for public discussion.

“No, my son is alive.I will win this game and replace his heart.” Sylla shouted. She frantically scratched her hair.

"He’s already dead. Don't you remember injecting it yourself?!" Nabeya kept putting more salt into Sylla's wounded heart. She screamed so loudly that the depths of the woman’s mad mind could wake up and receive the anger from her.

“Nabeya, stop it!” Hoa prevented.

Sylla was pitiful anyway. There was no point of keeping putting more pressure.

"Since you killed him, you're the killer!" Nabeya didn't listen to Hoa. She constantly pushed Sylla into the abyss of sin.

Sylla had lost her mind. Her throat was hoarse and she didn't have the strength to scream. As if she had reached the line of suffering, she stood up and stepped back. Until she hit a puddle of blood and tripped on it. Her neck fell into the open trap again. That horrible scene made Hoa unable to bear it. She had to run out and vomit all her guts out.

“If you ask me who is cruel, you will always be on my list!” Sammul laughed. He closed the door to walk out, whistling as if he felt something amusing.

Only Nabeya remained there. She took revenge to let her father rest in peace. But her heart sank deeper and deeper. It was just unable to get out anymore.