And at that moment, the click sounded and with it, Hob burst out with speed, jumping from roof to roof, trying to keep his balance and maintain his speed. That was when he saw it: lots of people running through the streets and some of them over the roofs just like he was.
Most of those on the roofs were almost the same age as him, desperate not to become the lamb, while in the streets, there were more of the young ones mixed in with some unfortunate enough to be the lambs. One thing was clear: the choice to go through the roofs was the right one, for most of those below weren't going to make it in time.
As for Hob, although he was doing much better than those below, he was still not sure if he would make it. He had to accelerate further or he wouldn't make it in time. As he accelerated, everyone else was also getting desperate. As for those who had accepted defeat, they started to pull others down. They attacked the others, finding sadistic joy in bringing others down with themselves, which wasn't the worst as many were dying as well to those who went haywire, killing as many as they could.
While seeing all of this, Hob got to the edge of the last roof and it was time for his leap of faith. So he took it, for behind him there was killing going on, and even if he survived it, he would be a lamb. So the only chance to survive was to jump.
In mid-air, he pressed the button on the staff his friend had given him and, to his amazement, it split in half with a not-so-sturdy frame extending from it and a put-together piece of cloth covering the gaps in the frame. It somehow made the fall slow down, but he was running out of time and being slow wasn't the best assurance he had. So Hob did something crazy: he tore a piece of cloth from the back of the tool, which made it go faster as the air was now passing through the back of it.
Just when he was almost at the venue, the tool broke, the cloth tore, and the frame was broken. Thankfully, Hob was only a few meters above the ground and fell safely inside the venue, where a net rose up behind him to stop anyone who was a few seconds later than him, which meant he had made it in time, in those 5 minutes. And with that, he fell to the ground as exhaustion washed over him.
And he wasn't wrong to rest, as the test would begin only a day after the participants arrived in order to allow them to be in their best shape. Because for what is to come, only their best can survive.
Soon, food was provided to those who made it, and a hunt was carried out to catch those who didn't make it and were going to be lambs. There were also those who went haywire, killing others they were caught and made the lamb to set an example for others.
Hob forced himself to get up and ate the food provided to him before taking out a makeshift sleeping bag to sleep. When he woke up, it was already past 23:00. Yes, they could now tell the time as a clock was put in the venue, which was making many people drool at its sight, but none dared to try and steal it as that would mean certain death.
Many were gathering in groups, exchanging information, and forming teams. No one knew what the next test would be, and no one wanted to take the chance of being alone in case it was a team event.
That was when a book was handed to everyone, including Hob. Hob opened the book, and what he saw baffled him. The book was about the history of this world, which was kept under wraps by the hypocrites, as they wouldn't let anyone know what was going on outside the safe zones except the "HUNTED." Of course, no "HUNTED" ever told the truth to anyone for any amount of money, for it would mean death to that person and those related to him.
And now that history was in his hands before he even became the "HUNTED," which only meant one thing: the only way to survive was to become "HUNTED" now, for this information wouldn't be allowed to be taken out by these people.
So instead of cursing his luck, Hob started to read the book. The book told of a civilization divided into nations fighting each other for resources, religion, and territory.
The book also explained what these things meant. Resources were things that were helpful in maintaining a good life for humans, while territory was the area a nation spanned. More territory usually meant more resources. But religion was the one that confused Hob, as it was defined to be the belief in something that's bigger and more powerful than everything else and provides all the resources there are. But if that was the case, why were the nations fighting for resources?
Since Hob couldn't understand it, he skipped that and read further. He came to know that there was something called nuclear bombs made by some of the nations, which were used to cause devastation unimaginable to anyone. The outside world was hit by these weapons of mass destruction, and the whole planet was covered by radiation.
While on the brink of extinction, humanity made a breakthrough and managed to build a tool to purify the radiation. But it was too hard to build, and the resources needed to make it were extremely rare. So the remaining humans made as many of these as they could and set up safe zones over the planet, trying to continue fighting for survival.
That was when the living beings affected by the radiation and mutated due to it started attacking the safe zones, making it hard for humanity to survive. Thus, making the "HUNTED" and the lambs a necessity for every safe zone, as the lambs can buy some time for humanity while the "HUNTED" work on surviving in the wild and gathering resources to make the tool to purify radiation, as well as fight off the "HUNTERS," which is the name given to the truly troublesome of the mutated beings out there.
And this was all there was in the book. Although it seemed suspicious as to how the history of humanity is so short, Hob wasn't going to complain as knowing anything was a step towards his goal.