The rain stopped. The mud was thick. Kade, Jax, Daniel and Elena stood at the edge of the ruined gate. The sky was grey, but the air felt a little warmer.“Okay,” Kade said. “We keep moving.”“Where to?” Daniel asked, wiping mud from his face.“North,” Jax replied. “The map says there is a river there. Water is life.”Elena nodded. “I can boil water. I know how to disinfect it .”Kade looked at the map on his wrist. The screen flickered.“The map shows a small hill,” he said. “If we climb it, we can see the whole zone.”“Good,” Jax said. “Maybe we spot the exit.”They started to walk. The ground was soft, each step sank a little.“Watch your step,” Kade warned. “Don’t slip into a sinkhole.”“I’m fine,” Daniel said, but his voice shook.Elena smiled weakly. “I’m scared,” she whispered.Kade heard the fear in her voice. He felt a pang in his chest . He wanted to protect them. But he also knew he had to stay sharp.“Stay close,” he said. “We need to stick together.”They reached the hill

The light faded.Kade opened his eyes to the cold metal floor. The desert heat was gone. Now sterile chill and buzzing fluorescent lights.He sat up slowly. Ribs screamed from the wyrm fight. Elena knelt beside him, checking his injuries."Nothing broken. Just badly bruised.""Doesn't feel that way."Jax and Daniel stood nearby. They were in a massive corridor. White walls. Steel doors. The chemical smell is thick in the air.[ZONE 2: THE FACILITY][OBJECTIVE: ESCAPE WITHIN 72 HOURS][PLAYERS REMAINING: 61/100]A speaker crackled. The robotic voice returned."WELCOME TO ZONE 2. THIS FACILITY TESTS INTELLIGENCE, NOT JUST STRENGTH. FIND THE EXIT. AVOID THE HAZARDS. TIME STARTS NOW."Silence."What kind of facility?" Daniel asked nervously."The kind that kills people." Kade stood, testing his weight."Great. Just great."They moved down the corridor. Identical doors on both sides. Some are open. Some are sealed. Lights flickered constantly.Jax checked the first room. "Lab. Equipment de

Victor Kane swirled his champagne and smiled.The penthouse stretched across the entire top floor. Floor-to-ceiling windows showed the city below like a kingdom. Inside, thirty of the world's richest people gathered around a massive screen wall. Each screen showed different angles of the game. Different players. Different deaths."Your boy is bleeding again, Victor," a woman said. Thin. Sharp features. Diamonds dripping from her neck. "That cave crawler really tagged him.""He's fine, Catherine," Victor replied smoothly. "A few scratches build character.""Character doesn't win games. Strength does." The speaker was a heavy-set man with a thick Russian accent. Dmitri Volkov. Oil money. Lots of it. "My player, Viktor Stone, has fourteen kills. Your Player 77? Only seven.""Quality over quantity, Dmitri." Victor took a sip. "Your Viktor is a blunt instrument. My Kade is a scalpel.""A scalpel that keeps almost dying."The others laughed. Victor didn't.On the main screen, Kade's group e

The hunter's red eyes locked onto Kade."PRIORITY TARGET: PLAYER 77. ELIMINATION PROTOCOL ACTIVE."Its arm cannon charged. Electric hum building.Other players had gathered. Hiding behind rubble. Watching. A few recognized Kade."That's him! Victor Kane's sponsored player!""The worm killer!""He's dead now. Look at that machine!"One player laughed. Tall. Cocky smile. "Victor wasted his money on that guy. The machine's gonna tear him apart!"[PLAYER 38: MARCUS REID][KILLS: 5][THREAT LEVEL: LOW]Marcus called out. "Hey military boy! Not so tough without your sponsor gifts, huh?"Others joined in. Mocking. Enjoying the show."Run, little soldier!""Machine's gonna make you scrap metal!"Kade ignored them. Focused on the hunter. I watched how it moved. How it is calculated. Looking for patterns.The hunter fired.Kade dove. The blast destroyed the wall behind him. Concrete exploded into dust."He's running!" Marcus laughed harder. "Victor's champion is a coward!"Jax raised his pistol

The central tower loomed closer. Massive. Black steel reaching into the red sky. The zone exit had to be at the top. [ZONE EXIT: CENTRAL TOWER - LEVEL 50] [PLAYERS REMAINING: 52/100] Two more dead. The hunters were still working. "That's a long climb," Jax said, staring up. "Fifty floors." Tyler adjusted his makeshift motion detector. "And probably trapped." "Everything in this game is trapped." Kade kept walking. They reached the tower base. The entrance was a massive steel door. Half-open. Dark inside. "I don't like this," Daniel muttered. "You don't like anything," Jax replied. "Can you blame me?" Tyler's detector beeped. "Movement. Inside. Multiple contacts." Kade raised his hand. Stop. "How many?" "Six. No... seven. Spread out. Waiting." "Ambush." "Definitely an ambush." Kade studied the entrance. One way in. Perfect kill zone. Whoever was inside had the advantage. "We go around," Elena suggested. "Find another entrance." "There isn't one." Kade pointed. "Look at