The Novice Prey & the Daring Prey by S. J. Lewis Page B

looked familiar. After so much time in the woods, though, everything had started to look the same to her.
    She got up and started moving through the woods in an expanding spiral, hoping that she might find her stuff that way. As the sun dropped down almost to the horizon, she had to admit that her plan wasn’t working. Maybe she’d picked the wrong place?
    “Hi, there!”
    Alexa shrieked and at the sound of a male voice practically at her elbow. She whirled, ready to flee, and then saw it was Will Longstreet, sitting on a log and smiling crookedly at her, his air rifle slung across his back. She wasn’t on his list. She was safe.
    “You scared the shit out of me!” she gasped.
    “Didn’t mean to,” he shrugged. “I thought you saw me. You seem a little jumpy, Alexa Marx. How come?”
    “This hunting thing is getting to me,” she said. “I’m just not used to it.”
    “You’ve been doin’ pretty well, I’d say,” Will rejoined. “You still ain’t caught.”
    “No, but I don’t know how the others are doing,” Alexa said. She wanted very much to sit down, but the only spot to do that wasn’t the ground was on the log right next to Will, and she didn’t want to get that close to him. She hadn’t had a shower in days, and washing off in the same creek that she did her laundry in was an unsatisfactory substitute.
    “Well, I can give you some information about that,” Will sighed sadly. “My tall, blonde volleyball player got taken early today, about as far to the east as she could get without goin’ out of bounds.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Alexa’s sympathy was genuine. “I know you had your heart set on her. But that means it’s down to just me and Naomi, so it’s good news for me.”
    “Well, get set for more good news. Naomi was nabbed late last evening at Jackson’s.”
    “That means…I won!” Alexa smiled. She almost felt like dancing. “Thanks, Will!”
    “No,” he corrected her. “You beat them out, but the hunt’s still goin’ on. There are still men after you.”
    “Oh. Yeah, I guess there are,” Alexa turned somber.
    “So, now what?” Will asked.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, what do you plan to do now?”
    “Oh.” Alexa said. “I guess I’ll keep trying not to get caught.” Now that she knew she’d actually beaten the other women she felt a bit let down.
    “Think you can keep it up?” Will asked.
    “I don’t know,” Alexa admitted. “This is hard. But…how did you know about Martina and Naomi?”
    Will unclipped something from one of his pack straps. He held it up so she could see it. It looked something like a cell phone, only bulkier.
    “See this?” he asked.
    “Yeah,” Alexa nodded. “What is it?”
    “It’s a chip reader,” Will answered. “You hold it up next to a woman’s earlobe and it reads the chip. A hunter catches a woman; he uses this to send the information back to Gordburg so they know she’s been bagged. I’m not sure if these things are connected, or if somebody in town sends a signal back out to all of ‘em, but it’ll also tell all the hunters carryin’ them that the woman was caught.” He clipped the device back onto the pack strap. “That’s how I know.”
    “Can you talk to other hunters with that thing?” Alexa asked warily.
    “Oh, hell, no,” Will shook his head. “Can’t talk, can’t text. It’s only good for sendin’ one kind of signal, and receivin’ one kind of signal.”
    “Oh.” Alexa felt relieved. “So, what are you going to do now?”
    Will shrugged. “I dunno. Head on back to town, maybe.”
    “Well, thanks for the information,” Alexa said. “Sorry you didn’t get Martina.” She turned and started to walk away. She still had to find her stuff, if it was anywhere nearby, and she really didn’t feel like talking. She’d gone about half a dozen steps when she heard a sudden, loud ‘POP!’ behind her and something stung her left butt cheek, making her jump and cry out.