Survival Hunt - Part Two
Casey looked at her father and then back straight in front of herself.
She tensed up and began to feel her legs tighten. She slowly put her hand on her cheek. She could feel the icy fingers through the wool. Her hand jumped off her face and she shoved her hand into her jacket pocket.
“Casey, it is okay, calm down,” her father assured her.
Casey nodded intensely and stared wide-eyed at her surroundings.
I’m not nervous, pfff… At least I think I’m not…
It was her first time outside her house even though she was fifteen. Since there was a two years delay, she was not needed to step outside her house. The outside world looked amazing yet scary at the same time. The world creation was beyond anyone’s mind and calculations.
For so many years Casey believed the world was small but now in it, it felt larger than ever imagined. For fifteen years she had looked at pictures of outside life in books and online. The most she had ever seen was her limited chances to stand outside in her backyard looking out into the distance at the tall and snowy mountains. The closest connection ever made with an outsider was a shy wave to the adult neighbours. Casey had never seen a teenager other than in movies.
“I’m not nervous…” Casey mumbled to herself. “How can I be? I’m acting like a thirteen year old. I’m not thirteen… I’m fifteen now… I’m fifteen…”
The more she mumbled, the more her words became slurred together. The more they slurred, the more she got nervous. By now, her dull gloved fingers have drilled their way through her father’s jacket, making five round holes side by side to each other.
Then the bus stopped.
Casey smudged a hole in the foggy window and looked out. Her eyes grew enormous at the sight of many, many people gathering around an entrance.
“Dad, I wanna see now!”
“I get it,” her father said, laughing.
The two of them thanked the driver with a nod and stepped off the bus. The ground here was the same as the ground back in the house. The air was the same too, except slightly warmer. The breath of humans made a big difference. Here was probably a little more polluted as well.
The bus left the stop and view became clear.
There in front of her two brown eyes was a massive gathering of people: tall and short, wearing heaving colourful jackets, scarves, and hats. They were all crowded around a large brownish building put together by bricks.
There was a line of small windows at the very top of the building. There seemed to be no other entrances of light other than the windows and the closed double doors.
Casey leaned back and looked at the building as a whole. The building was tall and wide. There were no other buildings surrounding it. In the background, Casey tilted her head sideways and studied intensely with confusion. It, in fact, was not space to step into. The background was a background. The back was the handwork of an amazing and incomparable artist with great talent.
Behind the brown building was a camouflaged building painted to fit into the surrounding environment. The trees were painted exactly where a tree would be placed. The clouds were slightly shifted and whiter than usual but the sky looked much like the current somewhat gloomy sky. No matter how far you looked to your left or right, the building seemed to stand. No matter how high or low you looked, the building was there in front of your eyes.
Casey glanced at her father, who was greatly interested in the new look of the building. She smiled to herself a little and then said, “Dad, why is there a hidden building?”
“That’s the arena.”
“It’s huge.”
“There needs to be space for the dinosaurs.”
“Is that why there are no surrounding buildings?”
Her father nodded. Casey looked away from her father and back at the building. Her mouth was opening wide. She was a little fascinated by the time taken to create such an entertaining arena.
But during the three days of the survival hunt, there would be no one to watch, no one to be the judge or the referee. During those three days, no one but the participants would see what was going on in there. None of the hosts would see and they would not be there to say what was fair and what was not.
Basically, once in there, there was no way out. There would be no say of what should have happened and what should not have.
Somehow, once a tradition, nothing could stand in its way. Once a tradition, there was no reason to stop.
Casey watched the people push around at each other into the building. Now the double doors were open and welcoming all thirteen year olds to nineteen year olds with parents and adults to come in.
* * * * *
“Welcome all!” a tall man wearing a black suit and red tie shouted into the microphone. The voice echoed in the large hollow gymnasium filled with people.
He continued, “We welcome you to another year of the Dinosaur Survival Hunt!” He smoothed back his brown gelled hair and touched the stubs of mustache on his face. “It has been two years since the last hunt. We want to make this year much memorable and much to your concern…”
Sometimes you had to wonder what the point of the hunt was for. But that question never came across any of the people’s minds. Because it never came across their minds, the question was forever unanswered.
Everyone was silent and listening intently to the raspy voice of the man as he continued to speak and speak and speak.
Casey found herself not quite paying as much attention as she wished. Listening to people talk and talk was school stuff. She thought of the teacher than came to her house to teach her various topics. The teacher was friendly but she had the most annoying high chirpy voice that would call a million dogs to the house. Sometimes Ms. Minda would scare Casey’s father out of the house to do some grocery shopping.
Casey laughed to herself and looked around at the room. The walls were tall and curved in like a dome. The strong wooden pillars were square-shaped and attached to the sides of the building. The walls were smooth, laminated wood and had patches of glow lights from the open windows.
There was a huge stage, more like the entrance to a palace ballroom: the double spiral stairs leading to one balcony. The man was standing in the middle of that balcony, looking all professional with a suit and microphone. He reminded people of an upper class man from the House or something close to that.
There were also many doors behind him but they were hard to see from a hundred meters away. There was no sight of any door on the lower level except the one that leads back outside to the street. Currently it was closed shut and some men in suits stood at the door with stern looks on their faces.
Casey’s eyes rolled around excitedly until she saw a girl standing a few adults away. She was clutching tightly to an older woman’s hands. Casey assumed that was the girl’s mother. Casey looked at the woman. She had long black hair that waved at the ends. The woman looked beautiful and young. She had no strong make up on but her face looked incredibly worried.
Casey looked back at the girl that stood a few inches below the top of her mother’s head. She had the same black hair but it was straight and pulled back by one small elastic band. Then Casey wondered why the woman had such a sorrowful expression on her face.
One more time Casey looked at the girl. This time the girl looked back. Casey almost jumped out of her skin, surprised. She stayed still, physically though. The girl with black hair had dark coloured eyes. She had thin lips that curved upwards in a smile. Confused yet content, Casey smiled slightly back. Then she turned around and looked at her father, who was still listening to the suited man.
“…And so, I would like to invite all the adolescence at the age of thirteen to please come up onto this balcony with me,” the man said with open arms.
A loud murmur filled the room. People started shuffling and pushing and speaking at the same time. Casey stood close with her father and bowed her head as people tried to walk by her. She felt herself being moved around violently in the flood of people.
Finally the lower area of the building became silent again. On the balcony behind the speaking man was a mob of young looking people. They were the thirteen year olds. They were the twelve year olds that once wished they would never have their thirteenth birthday. Now they were the teens that wished their twentieth birthday was in a single minute.
Casey had her eyes squinted at the small faces, trying to picture each and every one of them. But many of them stood in front and behind each other, making it hard to see even the tops of their heads. From just one look at the group, there had to be at least thirty or more of them.
“These!” the man spoke again in a booming voice. “These young teenagers here… You should be incredibly proud of them for making it this far in the stages of life. Please, recognize them and give them a round of applause.”
Something made Casey unable to put her hands together. She smiled at the group of kids. They were to be pitied, not applauded for. They were to be felt sorry for. At such an age they would be placed in an unknown environment. They, who were so young, may not see their parents’ smiling faces ever again. But they were brave and strong. They stood together as one, standing tall, looking out at the great horde of people, who were now below them.
Clapping filled the room as the man started reading out names. The list felt like eternity. There were so many of them. There were definitely more than thirty of them.
Soon, the clapping died out and the man nodded down to look at some papers on the podium. “I would like to ask them to enter the first room for preparation. This may be the last time you see them, this may not be. Please, give them another round of applause.”
Casey looked down at her trembling hands. She looked back up at the balcony and watched the last of the thirteen year olds enter the first room from the right. Inside her heart, there was a small ache. She put her hand over her chest and shut her eyes tight.
Why does it hurt?
The man’s voice had her eyes pop open. He smiled distinctively. There was a pause and then a continuation. This time, it was the fourteen year olds’ turn.
Casey looked around her. She was still standing close to her father, hands tightly gripping on like the last of her life. Then her grip loosened. She caught sight of the girl with black hair. The girl’s mother gave her a kiss on the forehead and let go of her daughter. The girl smiled back and looked into her hands as she dashed into the crowd of kids walking up the spiral stairs.
It was a repeat of the thirteen year olds except with different names and the word ‘fourteen’. Everyone was nervous. Everyone was trembling. Everyone was joyful as well.
Casey seemed to have tuned them by looking deeply at the fourteen year old’s faces. There was a similar amount of them as the previous age group. There might have been one or two more but they seemed balanced.
There was a squeeze on Casey’s right hand. She looked and felt her father’s familiar squeeze. Something was different though. The grasp was tighter than usual and cold instead of warm. Casey looked up at her father’s face. His glasses had fallen down his nose quite a bit but he seemed to have not noticed.
Her father then looked at Casey in the face. He gave her a forced smile, which forced Casey to smile back. “You’ll be all right.”
Casey tried to nod but her head would not move. She tried to speak but her mouth would not open and her lips would not form words. She felt her fingers shake more and more until they were visibly shaking.
Her left hand covered her right hand, adding more strength. She knew her father understood her fear. It was normal to fear in times like this. It was normal to be afraid, to be greatly afraid. But why was no one against such fear?
The man’s booming voice was heard loud and clear. He was the only one standing on the balcony. His hands were folded together and still smiling. A row of adults wearing suits and business outfits stood against the wall near the stairs. They looked as if they were helpers of a sort.
I would like to invite all the adolescence at the age of fifteen to please come up and join me on this balcony,” the man said in a cheerful voice.
Casey’s heart stopped. It either stopped or was beating so hastily that the beats were not even conspicuous. Both her hands reached up to her chest, she felt her heart beat again. Her mouth opened and was quietly gasping for air. She felt her father’s warm hands over her shoulders. Casey smiled and relaxed at the touch of friendliness.
“I’m okay.”
Her father said nothing, only smiled half assuring and half worrying. He let go of his daughter and she bowed her head at him.
With a deep breath, she grabbed her father and hugged him tightly. Her cheeks were hot and her eyes were dried with no tears. She wanted to cry so badly but had no water in her face anymore. She ended up sweating through her fingers. She felt her father’s embrace.
Casey breathed hard again. People brushed passed them. The voices that were mumbled and mashed together a few minutes ago now were clear. They echoed through Casey’s head. She lowered her head again and pulled a chain from under her jacket. She took that chain off her neck and held it in her father’s hands.
“Dad, please take care of mom while I’m gone. I don’t want you to lose her if you ever lose me, okay? Promise me you will take care of her…”
‘I will’ were the last words Casey ever heard from her father’s mouth directly to her. She turned around, took a deep breath, let it out, and walked along with the other kids without looking back. Her ponytail bounced, prickling her neck as she stepped up the never-ending number of stairs.
* * * * *
Through the third door from the right was a large dimly lit room. The door shut behind the last teenager. Then a large ceiling light flickered on, lighting up the whole room.
The room was square-shaped and rectangular. It was long front to back. The walls were painted a light brown colour and some paint was peeling. The floor was hard, cold and grey. There was a small stage at the far end of the room. There, was the source of bright spotlights. On the stage were a couple of people. They were adults without doubt.
The fifteen year olds began gathering closer to the stage. Everyone kept their distance from each other. No one knew each others names. There was no reason why they should. Everyone on this land was a single child. No one had siblings or relatives.
Casey stood near the back for a moment, observing everything that went by. The room was quite silent. There were some whispers and some adults speaking to the teens, telling them to gather at the front.
With a smile, Casey walked forward and stood by some people she had no idea who they were. She just stood there like she was part of them. They stood there like they were one with each other. Everyone just stood there.
Then a young woman stood at the microphone at the center of the stage. A bright light focused only on her, making a circle of light around her feet. She smiled at all of the teens, giving the impression of being open and friendly.
“Hello everyone,” she said in a calm voice. “I’m sure all of you are quite nervous since this is your very first year participating in this hunt. I know because I’ve been there. I just want to tell you that this year should not be any different from the previous years. But that was what should have been decided.”
She paused and looked at another person in the back. Then she looked back at the crowd and continued to speak. “Because of the two years delay of the survival hunt, there has been a change. Normally there would be three days but this year, and only this year, there will be a full seven days in the arena.”
She spoke in a somewhat shaky voice. Then there were murmurs among the fifteen year olds. Most of them were speaking to themselves so no words were heard clearly. Casey lowered her head but her eyes focused on the woman in the spotlight. Her fingers grew hard and her shoulders tensed.
A full seven days in the arena… A full seven days… Normally there would be three days… This year… seven days…
Casey felt movement in her fingers. Her elbows bent and she touched her hot cheeks. Both her icy cold hands were warmed in an instant after touching her face. She lowered her hands to her sides and continued staring at the woman.
“There is going to be a lot of preparing. I hope you are all ready for this. Can I hear you all say yes?”
There was a low, long response in unison.
The woman went on. “So at twelve, there will be lunch provided for you. That will be the last meal you will receive. Tomorrow morning is the day you enter the arena. The procedures will be explained as we go so please do not be worried. At this time, I would like to give you some thinking time, some time to do whatever you might do on your own. After ten minutes, I will explain to you how we will prepare a backpack.”
Casey dropped to her knees and slouched down. She rested her elbows on her thighs and put her head in her hands. She felt her fiery hot neck and sighed. She was kneeling in the corner by herself in the now brightly lit room.
Her head raised and she looked up at the far ceiling. Her eyes narrowed in the luminous spheres of light. Thoughts were once again racing in her mind. They were thoughts that suddenly jerked her. They made her feel hot and cold at the same time. Confusing thoughts they were. Even she could not think of what they showed.
They were dark images flashing with light in no pattern. In the flashes, clear images showed for a second. More images flashed and Casey realized what they were. Images telling her what might happen in the arena. She tightened her shut eyes and focused.
A flash of light and trees were shown. Rain was pattering on the hard earth. Then Casey noticed the flashes came with loud noises. Roars they were. The roars were causing the flashes. The voices, the angry, echoing voices were familiar. They were heard in movies before. They were clear but not remembered at this time.
Then a hand touched her shoulder. Casey’s eyes opened and she jumped sideways into the wall. Her eyes were wide and she showed a shocked expression on her face. The person who had touched her was also shocked. It was an adult.
“Are you okay?” the adult asked.
Casey’s lips shook and she nodded once. “I-I-I-I’m…”
“It’s okay,” the adult said and smiled gently at her. “Everyone gets scared once in a while. I just want to tell you that lunch time is starting. You can go over there,” the adult pointed at a cardboard box on the table on the stage. “You can go over there and pick up a piece of paper for your seat number.”
“Y-Y-Y-Y…” Casey stuttered.
The adult smiled again, patted her shoulder, then walked off.
Casey was still shaking. She moved her eyes to look at the box on the table. Many fifteen year olds were already lining up and one by one picking out a number. Casey watched a particular teenager pick a number and walk through a door behind the stage.
When she finally calmed down, she stood up, with the help of the wall, and dragged herself to the line. The line by now was quite short and only a few people were behind her. She looked at their faces and immediately they turned away. Casey, too, looked away and walked on.
She pulled out a number: thirty-six. Then she followed the person in front of her into the next room. The room was big and looked like a formal dining hall for brides and grooms. Casey only recognized the location from the many movies she had seen with her father.
By the door, she stood and scanned the room. There were many tables; rectangular tables. Each chair had a number imprinted onto the cloth. Casey looked down at the crumpled piece of paper in her hands and looked again at the seats to find the number thirty-six.
The tables were close to each other and fit twenty or more people. The numbers on the chairs were adjacent to each other. The reason for the many members at the table was to not make any special connections. The hosts of the survival hunt did not want the participants to be too close with one another. Even though the participants created bonds, they would not stick close with that person. Betrayal was expected.
Now sitting at the dining table with no one on either side of her, Casey stared into space silently. A few minutes later, the seats were all filled up, even the ones next to her. She was busy staring at nothing that she was not aware of company until the bell rang for the servers to bring the teens their plates.
“Lunch is served. In your bowl is egg soup. On your plate there is a casserole. This contains zesty chicken mixed with cheese and mayonnaise. There is some pasta, as you can see. On the side is some salad. Please raise you hand for assistance to the salad dressing if you wish for it. Drinks will be served with a raise of your hand as well. Please ask the server for the various choices.”
Casey stared at the plate in front of her. To many people, this would be considered too much. For her, this was slightly less than she would ask for. But now actually in the survival hunt, there was no need to make selfish requests. They did indeed say this was the last meal served. If this was the last meal, what would be eaten during the hunt?
* * * * *
Lunch had ended just like that. It was already one-thirty in the afternoon. Everyone was learning how to fill their backpacks. Each fifteen year old was given a thick backpack with only one zipper opening. The bags were all the same colour: dark green and brown.
Each bag had one name on it. Casey looked down at the bottom of her bag. In faded black pen colour was written ‘Cassandra Lee’. She was not used to seeing that name or hearing it that for a second she wondered who that was.
She glanced at the other people. No one was talking to each other. They all sat by themselves with a handful of bag. It sort of felt lonely.
Then backpack filling was finished. Inside the backpacks was not much. Just for one person: a flashlight with extra batteries wrapped in a small Ziploc bag, there was a pair of scissors in another bag, a knife in another bag, a bunch of bandages and wound ointments. There were individual packed headache pills. They were not in plastic or tin containers like the normal ones from the shops. These pills were rolled in a thin net-like fabric and were easily accessed. The whole goal of backpack filling was to make sure when you shook the bag, not much sound was made.
Casey shook hers and was greatly proud to hear nothing but light and low sounding shuffles. A few adults came around to aid anyone who was stuck, lost, and confused.
Everything went by in silence, as if everyone were separate. The feeling of being one did not last long. And that feeling would not last. Maybe there would be one more feeling as being one, a group, when they all fell to sleep. Then the next morning, everyone would be scattered. The age groups would be mixed. No one would know who each other were anymore. That was how it was supposed to be all along.
This was a game. This was a game played by fate and it was a game with no fast forward, rewind or pause buttons. Only a play button that once pressed, stop would be futile until time dragged to the very, very end.
