Chapter 33: THE HUNTED
In the present.
The woman scanned the man's badge they had just tricked. The screen on her bracelet displayed +50❤️. Since their cooperation, it was their fourth candidate they had hunted.
"Just two more to go."
With this thought, she tossed the badge to Leorio. He caught it and prepared to badge it with his watch.
"Please, let it work," he chanted like a prayer before scanning.
However, unlike the woman, his bracelet screen did not light up.
"Damn!" he raged. "Why can't they just scan their own badge?"
The woman came to his side. "I remind you that you also scanned your badge. You're not the right person to complain."
The woman's words, though true, frustrated Leorio even more. He pressed the blue button on his bracelet, and the screen immediately lit up. The interface read "400/1000."
He turned off his bracelet and went to pick up his backpack he had left a few meters away.
"Alright, let's go. Hopefully, we'll find another candidate," he said.
Following behind, the woman said in turn, "I already have 50 years off my sentence. You can take the lead to..."
"It's out of the question," Leorio cut in, turning to the woman. "An arrangement is an arrangement. I never go back on my word. Until it's neither my prey nor my hunter, we finish with your sentence first."
His tone was full of determination. He then turned to pick up his backpack.
"Do you know that at this rate you risk failing this exam?" the woman retorted. "By insisting as you do, it's only me who risks winning from this collaboration. Not that it bothers me, but I don't want you to hold it against me afterward."
Leorio stopped.
"I know well," he replied. He clenched his fists. "Do you think I'm doing this just for fun?" He turned to the woman again. "As long as it eventually makes you a free woman, then so be it. I could retake the exam next year anyway. So stop doubting my choice and let's focus on collecting points."
The woman acquiesced resignedly to Leorio's words, understanding that it was useless to discuss further.
"Look, bro, what do we have here?"
It was then, as they were about to leave, that a deep and menacing voice suddenly resonated behind them.
Leorio turned slowly to the source of the voice, discovering two men dressed in orange prisoner jumpsuits, their gaze evoking an aura of imminent danger.
'Criminals. Damn!'
"We need to leave as soon as possible," he then whispered to the woman. "On my signal, we run. Got it?"
Receiving no response from the woman, Leorio briefly took his eyes off the two men to look at the woman. However, he was surprised to find the woman completely panicked, trembling in every limb. Her gaze was fixed on the two men.
Trying to bring her back to reality, Leorio placed a hand on her shoulder, but his gesture seemed to do little to calm her.
At the same instant, one of the twins appeared beside them. This action surprised Leorio.
'Quick!'
The twin examined the woman with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
"Bro, am I dreaming or is this woman a criminal like us?" he wondered, his piercing gaze fixed on her.
His accomplice, remaining in the background, watched the scene with amusement.
"No, bro, indeed, she's wearing the same jumpsuit as us. What's she doing with a candidate?" he replied.
Leorio, sensing imminent danger, instinctively positioned himself between the woman and the two men, brandishing a dagger he had quickly drawn.
"We have nothing to do with you," he declared firmly, attempting to conceal his concern. "Let us go in peace, and no one will be hurt."
It was only at that moment that the close twin's gaze fell on him.
"Strange, bro," he said before stepping closer, a mocking smile forming on his face. "It looks like they're collaborating."
"Don't come..."
Leorio was about to tell the twin not to come any closer when he suddenly felt like a sledgehammer hitting his stomach violently. A gulp of saliva escaped from his mouth as he was propelled against a tree trunk in the distance. The collision made the tree tremble as Leorio slumped to the ground, his face against the ground.
The truth was that it wasn't a sledgehammer that had just struck Leorio, but the twin who had approached as quickly as an arrow and struck him with a punch.
Standing where Leorio had been, the twin chuckled, "Pretty weak candidate, bro."
The other twin stepped forward and stood a few steps away from the woman who was still frozen with fear. He lowered himself slightly so that his face was at the same level as the woman's.
"Since you're a criminal like us, you must know who we are, right?" he said.
The woman found herself frozen, trapped between terror and helplessness. Her heart pounded in her chest as the twin's voice resonated in her ears, threatening and icy. She felt like a cornered prey, unable to find a way out of her desperate situation.
'Why did I have to run into them? I'm done for. It's the end...'
Her mind wavered between the burning desire to flee and the brutal reality of her imminent capture. Every fiber of her being screamed to escape, to find refuge in the shadow of oblivion, but the weight of fear kept her anchored to the ground.
The twin in front of her seemed to relish her discomfort, savoring every moment of her inner agony. His sharp gaze penetrated the woman's soul, probing the depths of her terror with sadistic pleasure. To him, every tremor of his victim was a sweet melody, a cruel reminder of his own condition.
"You're trembling like a leaf," he chuckled, a smile devoid of any compassion stretching his thin lips. "Brother, do you mind if I take care of this one?"
The woman felt a cold shiver run down her spine. The twin's words resonated like an implacable verdict, sealing her fate in the darkness of their merciless world.
Meanwhile, the other twin, his eyes fixed on where he had earlier sent Leorio flying, replied, "Go ahead, brother. As for me, I'll deal with the young man."
Leorio could be seen trying to get up. The twin smiled and began to walk slowly toward him.
Taking advantage of the brief exchange between the twins, the woman instinctively stepped back, desperately trying to put distance between her and her assailants. Every step was a battle against her own terror, a challenge thrown at the abyss threatening to engulf her whole. But her trembling legs refused to obey her command, betraying her wavering will.
The twin, with a quick and brutal gesture, grabbed the woman by the neck, crushing her fragile throat under his iron grip. His warm breath caressed her face, filled with promises of torment to come.
"You know fleeing is useless," he whispered, his voice tinged with menace. "Why don't you try to distract me instead?"
Gritting her teeth, the woman drew from the depths of her being, gathering the shreds of courage that remained to her.
"Help..." she gasped as her words choked under the relentless grip. "I... don't want to die..."
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