Page 123 of Kill Feed

She crosses her arms tighter, realization kicking in.

“If this turns into teams, alliances, voting, or anything even remotely social, the easiest targets are going to be the people who look scared,” I explain, and they seem to catch on.

“So what do we do?” Lucas swallows.

“Nothing.”

Amani clears her throat, the sound forced as she tries very hard to pretend she’s standing at a bus stop instead of in the middle of a dark web survival game. To her credit, she’s doing a better job than most people here.

“Why can’t we just leave?” She gestures vaguely toward the clearing entrance. “The gate is still open.”

Lucas lets out a humorless laugh, tempted to reach for his neck but keeps his hands glued to his sides. “The hunters will kill us.”

She immediately shakes her head. “Yeah, but we avoided them this far.”

“Barely,” I add, gesturing to the scrapes on my riding gear.

“But we did,” she insists before pointing towards the forest, looking at Lucas. “We could sneak out, get back to your car, drive to the police—”

“The police are probably involved,” the words leave my mouth before she can finish hers.

“Even if we somehow got out,” Lucas adds, “they’d just send people after us. There isn’t a withdrawal option, Amani. I mean, once you’re in…” he swallows. “You’re in.”

The clearing suddenly erupts with a deafening alarm blasting across the clearing, and conversations die instantly. All eyes snap toward the building.

A crackle of static follows, then a woman’s voice pours from hidden speakers surrounding the building.

“Congratulations, contestants. You have completed the first game. Please proceed into the building through one of the three designated entrances.”

A low mechanical rumble begins beneath us as three massive warehouse doors built into the face of the building start lifting upward. The sound of metal groans and chains rattle, revealing an abyssal darkness beyond each entrance.

“Upon entering, all Players are required to discard their mobile devices and all weapons.”

The moment the announcement ends, the clearing comes alive. Not all at once, but like a flock of sheep, one after the other, they start to enter.

Lucas and I start to move, but Amani stands frozen in place.

“Amani,” he says, trying to break her from the spell she’s caught in. She blinks, then looks at me before taking a shaky breath. “I don’t think I can do this.”

Lucas immediately reaches for her hand. “It’s going to be okay.” My brow twitches at that. Of all the places on Earth to make that claim, this has to be the worst one.

Amani squeezes his hand but doesn’t look convinced. The truth is simple. Things are almost certainly not going to be okay, but saying that serves no purpose. Lucas, however, is trying to keep her moving— he’s trying to keep her functional, and that I can respect.

Her eyes drift toward me. Searching and waiting for a response. I don’t really know what she’s expecting; comfort isn’t exactly my specialty.

Still.

I step forward and fall into stride beside them as the crowd begins funneling toward the entrances. “Nothing’s going to happen to you,” I claim, urging her forward, and we finally move towards the building.

The loudmouth and his groupies are heading toward the center entrance, their laughter still carrying above the crowd, drawing attention exactly the way people like that enjoy doing.

Fine by me.

I angle our path slightly away from them. The less they notice us, the better.

My body continues to protest with each stride, but all thoughts and sensations fade into the background as I scan the contestants moving around us and spot a familiar face.

For a moment, my consciousness goes blank before the next set of questions fills me before settling, because truly, I shouldn’t be surprised to see him here.