Hunter drones hovered ominously above the deep woodland, breaking the eerie silence. Their red lights peered at the Wolf Team's hiding places, but whether they were friends or foes was still up for debate. With a sardonic grin, Zac glanced across to the team that was hidden.
With a hint of mischief in his eyes, he ordered, "Bells, block their footage and patch me into their feed."
Bells launched her digital crusade in an instant.
The drone footage disappeared and the operators were left perplexed as the command center's screen went dark.
A voice snapped through the communications of the Wolf Team, providing a glimmer of hope in this nightmare. With hope growing, it said, "Command to Wolf Team, we have the Target's location." Proceed in the direction of the exit, southwest."
However, Lucas, spurred on and impulsive, leaped to his feet and sprinted for their lives. A bullet found its mark, cutting short his sprint.
"My, my, my," the person on the communications mocked. "An impatient one, isn't he?" The voice had changed by now, becoming more humorous and evil. Bells had already penetrated their line of communication and established the roots of their suffering.
"You of all people should know, you should listen to the complete instructions before proceeding," the woman's voice said. "I will repeat: 'We got the location of the Target, move south-west towards the exit, and you will be able to escape... that is if you don't get shot... Haha… Haha... Ha…'"
Cold sweat trickled down the foreheads of the remaining members of the Wolf Team. A spooky silence descended upon their concealed spots as the surrounding temperature appeared to drop.
"It's Zero," the captain finally spoke, fear evident in his voice.
As Zero's voice emerged from the speaker, "Right guess, but there's no prize for it," it chilled their bones. "Everyone, take a seat. Remain inside the trees' protection. As long as we stay behind them, he is unable to fire."
"Incredible. Zero persisted in his taunting, "Quite the intelligent one we have here. So now we are playing the hiding game. Well then, let the game begin."
"There are four of you left: Frank, Jessie, Alice, and our beloved Captain."
"Eenie Meenie Miny Mo, who will be the next to die? Ha, ha, ha... And our lucky winner is... Alice."
Alice had the impression that a monstrous creature was fixated on her. She started to tremble with fear. Her thoughts were still plagued by Zero's voice.
"Alice, I have armor-piercing bullets here, and I have locked onto the tree you are hiding behind," said Zero. I'm going to fire a shot. You have two options: you can move away to avoid being shot, or you can take your captain at his word that I won't be able to spot you and stay there and get shot."
The stress was too much to take. Alice has to decide between listening to the terrifying voice on the communications system and trusting her captain's statements. Her ears rang with Zero's laughing.
Alice decided what she wanted to do. She was unable to deny the sensation that Zero had truly located her. The countdown hit one, and she rolled to the right. Swiiiiiiiiish, a bullet passed through her head, and her lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
"Dammit, I will f***in kill you!" With a voice filled with sorrow and fury, the captain bellowed.
"Aahh. Alice, you ought to have paid attention to what your captain said. Well, it's not as though it matters."
The moment the voice finished, another bullet whizzed through the air, striking the tree Frank was leaning against, his neck being instantly pierced, and his life abruptly ended.
Jessica and the captain were the only ones still alive. They could feel the walls closing in around them as despair took hold.
With all the remaining energy, the captain raced forward and exclaimed, "Run!" Jessica trailed behind, but fear followed them like an obdurate shadow.
The captain could hear another bullet whistling through the air, and a deafening scream came from behind. His head shifted slightly and he saw Jessica kneeling on the floor, blood splashed everywhere, her arm torn as if it would break at any moment. She was hit by another bullet, which entered her head and went through her left eye socket, causing her to collapse, lifeless and fractured.
The captain's only motivation was his resolve, which propelled him to the brink. He continued to murmur, "Survive... I must survive," his voice shaking.
At last the forest's edge came in sight. Even though he stumbled while sprinting, he managed to crawl and run to the safety of the camp. The lieutenant approached him with a gloomy expression on his face as he observed the commander of the Wolf Team.
Blood was all over the captain's body, yet he could see no wounds, at least not his own. He had on a bewildered look that combined relief at having survived this terrifying ordeal with grief at losing his teammates. Looking at the ramshackle form of the captain, the entire camp felt a chill run down their spines.
The General emerged from his tent, drawn by the disturbance. With a commanding presence, he spoke loudly and demanded an explanation. "What's happening? Why is there so much babbling?" With nervous looks, the soldiers moved aside to make room for their commander.
The captain of the now-destroyed Wolf Team, Big Wolf, caught the General's attention. He questioned, "Big Wolf, what happened inside the forest?"
The captain murmured, a shell of his former self, "Zero... Devil... Zero... Devil..." with unfocused look. The very sight of the captain's behavior was enough to send chills down the spines of even battle-hardened soldiers.
"Take him to the infirmary..." The loud, lethal sound of a bullet slicing through the air interrupted the General's command. Big Wolf's head exploded, splattering blood over the lieutenant, the general, and a few other people.
"Sniper! Grab a shield!" A soldier barked, and seasoned fighters launched smoke bombs to block the sniper's view. For a short while, there was mayhem, but the soldiers soon regrouped and sought cover against the lurking menace.
"All units, get ready. We move in tomorrow at the first sign of light," the General said. His resolve to apprehend Zero remained unshakable, even if his face and uniform were still marred by the blood of his slain comrade.
Meanwhile, Zero, sure of his abilities to outmanoeuvre the armed forces, had been listening in on their chats through their communications. He was aware that they wanted him to live because he was carrying a sinister secret that they could not let die along with him.
At first light the following day, the soldiers advanced into the woodland. Clasping it from all sides, they moved like shadows through its insides. But there was no sign of Zero in the center of the forest. As directed by the general, the soldiers were split up into groups and were required to check in via the communications every minute.
Standing high atop a tree branch, Zac, the enigmatic spectator, observed as they made their way deeper into the jungle. He stayed hidden, his augmented eyes providing him with an unobstructed view of what was happening below.
"So, shall we begin with the final performance?" Ever the enthusiast, Bella asked.
"Why do we have to be so dramatic?" Shaking his head slightly, Zac asked. "Couldn't we just finish it all off and be done with it?"
Bella was so excited that she couldn't hold back. "How can we do that? We've spent ages getting ready. We at least need to let them know how they died."
"Anyway, get it done quickly," Zac groaned, conceding defeat to his team's theatrical theatrics.
Their radios crackled to life at the same time as the soldiers searched the jungle for Zero, and a bone-chilling cackle came from their communications. The realization that Zero was not finished with them made their hearts race.
An icy, menacing voice said, "Welcome to the Death Game," to everyone present. "But before we begin, I would like to sing a few lines of a poem that reminds me of our current situation."
A foreboding tone started to play in the background while the voice read a melancholic poem:
"Forests were set on fire—but hour by hour
They fell and faded—and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash—and all was black.
The brows of men by the despairing light
Wore an unearthly aspect, as by fits
The flashes fell upon them; some lay down
And hid their eyes and wept; and some did rest."
There was a sense of approaching dread among the soldiers. "Well, as for what the Death Game is, well, it's very simple," the voice said as the poem came to an end. It's a game where all of you die. Although I had intended to make it more amusing, I have to finish it swiftly because of time constraints."
"So, I only have two things to say: 'Let the fireworks begin' and 'Sayonara,'" Bella said with a horrifying finality.
Chaos ensued in the forest. The entire area was on fire, and explosions could be heard echoing through the trees. The air was filled with the troops' yells and cries as they hurried for safety. Zero was the master manipulator dragging them toward their doom, and the very forest they had sneaked into was now a lethal trap.
The General, his heart heavy with the weight of the lives he was responsible for, found a crack in the rocks and sought cover. His world was a whirlwind of smoke and fire, and the explosions around him persisted.
Suddenly, a thud cut through the cacophony. Something had dropped in front of him. Leaning forward, he saw the lieutenant's severed head with a mixture of awe and dread. The eyes stared at him with an expression frozen in terror, pain, and despair, and the rest of the body was absent.
The soldiers were imprisoned in a living hell, and the world had turned into a nightmare.