Cathie paced the front of her cell anxiously, she was alone now. It had been three days since Rick was taken from his cell and he was still gone. They must have come and taken Ali in the night, for she wasn't in her cell in the morning either when Cathie woke up. The man and woman in the other cells weren't much company, as they lay in the corner of their cells, eyes empty and dead. Suddenly, the doors opened and a Yautja came in, dragging someone behind him. Cathie knew it was Rick when the Yautja stopped in front of his cell and threw it open, tossing Rick inside. Rick hit the ground and groaned, dragging himself into the corner.
"Rick? What's wrong?"
Rick shook his head slowly and turned his back on Cathie. As he did, Cathie let out a gasp as she caught sight of the long, fresh gashes across his back.
"What did they do to you?" Cathie asked.
"It was one of their weapons, I couldn't avoid it."
"But—I thought you said that they couldn't hurt us."
"I never said that, I said that they couldn't kill us."
"So they're allowed to beat us to a pulp?"
Rick nodded. "As long as we can recover from our injuries."
"So what's up with them?" Cathie asked, gesturing to the two other prisoners, "Were they beaten so badly that they were broken inside?"
Rick glanced over my shoulder to stare at the man and woman. "They've been here a long time; longer than me. They're way past their prime."
"What does that mean?"
"It means the hunt is no longer fun, all they do is cower when the Yautja come, they don't fight or anything."
"Is that what I have to do? Fight back?"
"Yeah, if you want to last longer."
Cathie shuddered and moved into the farthest corner of her cell, wrapping her arms around her legs. This was the worst thing that could have happened to her, she wished she had never left the house that late, she wished she had never chosen to run down that alleyway. But that wasn't going to get her out of here now, Ali was her only hope now of escaping.
"Oh, by the way, I'd get prepared if I were you," Rick said.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you're already been here for a while and haven't been hunted yet. I bet when you wake up, you'll be out there."
"What's it like out there," Cathie asked. A thought had suddenly occurred to her, "Do they breathe normal air like we do?"
"No, they need a lot more oxygen than we do, but the area where you'll be hunted is suitable for most of their prey to survive," Rick said, "They wear their masks when they hunt, so they made the air breathable for us."
"Do I get any kind of weapon, or something, to possibly defend myself with?" Cathie asked.
Rick shook his head. "Unfortunately, no, because if we did have a weapon, we could kill the Yautja hunting us, however, if we steal a weapon from the Yautja we're allowed to use it for a while. Oh, by the way, you want to be on the lookout for other prey."
"What does that mean?"
"They don't release one person or prey at a time, there's at least ten hunts going on at the same time. You want to be on the lookout for other prey because, sometimes, the prey are almost just as vicious as the Yautja."
"Oh," Cathie sighed, "Great."
It was then that Rick noticed Ali's empty cage. "Where's Ali?"
"Being hunted I guess," Cathie replied, "She's been gone for about two days."
"I have a feeling she'll be gone for a lot longer."
"Is there any chance of escaping this place?" Cathie asked.
Rick looked at her with a look of absolute shock. "What could possibly make you want to try and escape?"
"Ali said that she's going to find a way," Cathie answered.
"Well don't try it, it's impossible! First of all, the hunting grounds are surrounded by a massive fence and all the exits are monitored closely, second of all, the Yautja would kill you on sight the second they figure out you're planning on escaping."
"But could it be done?"
"I don't know! No one has ever been stupid enough to try it!"
"Then wouldn't it make some kind of sense that they wouldn't be as protective of the exits; if no one has tried it, why would they be concerned about the matter?"
Rick was now looking at Cathie as if she had grown another head. "Stop thinking like that, it's absolutely impossible."
Ending it at that, Rick turned away from her again and lay down. Cathie sighed, knowing that she was just going to have to wait and see what would happen.
The next morning, Cathie woke up slowly, and instantly noticed something was different; the air was hot and humid and there was a dead silence over the area. She opened her eyes slowly and saw that she was lying in the middle of a dense jungle-like area. She lifted her head slowly and strained to locate where she was. She had obviously been released on the hunting grounds and she was again surprised to realize how quietly the Yautja move. She got to her feet slowly and spun a slow circle, taking in her surroundings. The jungle looked like any ordinary jungle, maybe a little hotter, but other than that, she would have thought she was on Earth.
It was scary, how quiet it was, and Cathie remembered what Rick had said about other creatures being released to be hunted at the same time. She prayed that she won't run into any of them.
Cathie thought about what Rick had said about hunting and how the first few days were just tracking. She deduced that moving would better her chances, so she picked a random direction and started moving.
She eventually came across a river and she stopped for a break. The water looked clean enough and she dropped down to take a drink. She didn't know how long she'd been running, but the air felt like it has gotten heavier and she was finding it difficult to breathe. She was grateful that she had yet to run into anyone or anything. However, she wondered where Ali was; there was a slim chance that she had been released in the same area as her. A sharp sound sounded nearby and she looked around quickly to see if anything was there. Growing worried, she started running again.
Cathie ran for a few more minutes before;
"Hey."
Cathie screamed and spun around, nearly falling over as the momentum in her body shifted, and tried to locate the sound of the voice. Someone laughed.
"Who's there?" Cathie asked.
"Up here."
Cathie looked up and saw a figure squatting on a nearby tree branch. She took a few steps closer to get a better look and got a surprise when she recognized Ali.
"Ali!" she called out, excited that she wasn't alone anymore.
"Shh," Ali said, her gaze stuck on something in the distance.
"Why?" Cathie asked, whispering.
A small grin forming, Ali asked, "You ever hunted before?"
"What?"
"It's a wonderful feeling, when your victim wanders around without a clue in the world that you're standing there, watching them."
Cathie shuddered. "How would you know that?"
"Because, I've known the thrill of hunting someone."
Ali's gaze stayed on something in the distance and Cathie followed her gaze. "What are you looking at?"
"Your hunter."
"What makes you think he's hunting me? He could be hunting you."
"I've already run into the one hunting me," she smiled at the memory, "He was just testing me, but—"
As Ali's voice trailed off Cathie's eyes drifted to an object in Ali's hand. It looked like some kind of ceremonial knife, but it couldn't be hers; she didn't have it when she was taken. She must have taken it from the Yautja that attacked her.
"Anyway," Ali was saying, "I know this one is hunting you because he's been following you since you got here."
"What? How would you know that?"
"Because I've been following you ever since you got here."
"You've been following me?"
Ali chuckled. "You are really slow with these kinds of things, aren't you—?"
Ali cut off, her eyes narrowing as she stared at something ahead.
"What is it?" Cathie asked.
"I'd run, if I were you."
"Why?"
"He's on the move."
Cathie's eyes flew around, trying to see what Ali was seeing, but nothing moved. Her breath quickened and she staggered backwards.
"Stop worrying," Ali said, "He's not going in for the true hunt right now. He'll do what happened to me; he'll test you, see where your weaknesses are, where you're vulnerable. Then he will move back and wait before going in for the final attack."
"Why do you know so much?"
"Because, that's what I do when I'm hunting."
Ali finally looked at Cathie and her eyes were glowing with excitement. She wanted to hunt like the Yautja and she got a thrill out of watching them prey on others. Cathie turned and ran, hearing Ali's laughter chasing after her.