Man Hunt

The twigs snapped under his feet, and the low fog hid the trees as he ran. Though the fog was dense to him, it didn't seem to affect the creature. Cold sweat dripped down his back, and the pants he wore were now soaked, but none of this phased him in his adrenaline-filled sprint.

Peter could still hear the fear from the screaming children. The first two were already dead, whatever that was... it just...

He shook his head, deciding not to think about it. The boy had to focus; his older sister was out there. He had a duty to protect her and ensure she got home.

Though he was younger, he was taller. The age difference was only a year, but that didn't stop him from always looking out for her. She was easily scared and consistently clung to Peter when something spooked her. This, though, would traumatize her, and Peter was positive about this, as his sister could no doubt hear the pained wails from the children.

Peter, still running, smacked dead into a tree that popped out of nowhere, as did the other hundred trees that had almost caught him off guard before. He stood up, the fog seeping deeper into his lungs, filling them heavily as he coughed hard.

The fog was heavy, leaving him trying to expunge the gaseous matter. His eyes burned as tears stung his scraped and bloodied cheeks.

He leaned on the tree, still wheezing from the fog as the last scream died off. He winced, knowing that the timer on his life was quickly counting down.

He wasn't sure how it happened. They were all holding hands, walking through the forest to an opening one of the kids spoke of—the perfect Manhunt field.

Halfway there, something ran by, and the kid in the far back screamed in horror as he held the severed hand of his best friend up to his face. More screams resounded from the forest, made by the now missing child. Within seconds, the children let go of each other's hands and scattered.

This was when Peter lost his sister. Then he realized they were being hunted by a creature distinguishable only by its noise. It was an unknown sound that nature even would sneer upon.

He was safe, though, or at least for now. He didn't hear it, so he knew he had some time to look for his sister. He started to walk again, wincing from the pain in his left leg following the abrupt contact with the tree. It wasn't broken, but it was either sprained or, hopefully, just bruised.

He took a long breath as he stumbled for a few minutes, slowly making his way to the clearing the guiding child had spoken of. He was sure his sister would have run there—she was smart—and due to the screams, she would have desired a safe location. Peter, though, was lost, and he only hoped that his sister hadn't gotten lost either.

~~~

Peter had been walking for roughly an hour, looking for any other kids or, more importantly, his sister. The screams would start and stop. The number of kids that had entered the forest was between twenty and twenty-five. How they got that many confused, even Peter, but he was never too social anyway. That was his sister's job.

She was the reason they were here in the first place. Maybe he should ban her from having friends after this if they survived. Shaking his head at the cruel thought, he continued to move, though it was now awkward, as he waddled in his pants that reeked of ammonia. His adrenaline had since ceased, leaving him exhausted as he struggled to keep upright.

Peter was slowly losing the will to keep his pants on due to the smell. His underwear wouldn't smell any better, but at least there would be less to attack his nose. He got to a nearby tree before stripping off his pants and throwing them to the side.

"What the?!" A voice cried as the soaked fabric landed on their head. Peter screamed, his flight instinct moments from forcibly having him run away. Then, the voice cried for him to wait. The kid took the wet pants off their head as their curly hair, now damp and pungent, walked towards him. "I got hurt on my leg by the monster." The kid said, pointing at the gash in their leg as the tears trailed down his face.

"It hurts less, though... I mean..." Peter stopped him by grabbing the kid's shoulders. "Aren't you the one that knew the way to the area?" Caught off guard, the kid nodded their head hastily. "Where is it? My sister is there... I know it." The kid looked at him in horror and denial. "She... she is probably dead..."

Peter pushed the kid to the tree, lifting him as far as he could against it by their shirt collar. "She isn't dead! Now! Where is it!" Tears rolled faster down Peter's face as he held the kid up, his horrifying imaginative abilities sending visions of his sister dead and bloody.

This led to a momentary lapse of judgment, allowing the kid an opportunity that went un-wasted. He kicked Peter in the chest with his good leg, sending Peter down to the ground. The boy coughed, glaring down at Peter. His first action was to spit on him.

This was followed by a kick to his side, leaving Peter heaving for air. The kid wouldn't let him off that easily, though; he kicked him in the stomach next. The third and fourth were to his ribs and the fifth to his head. Realizing he got the most reaction from this, the kid proceeded to kick Peter until a gurgling sound came from the throat of the child.

The distinct sound of the monster sounded from behind the kid, had the creature been sneaking up on them when they were in the middle of their scuffle?

Looking up, he could see the thick crimson pouring out of the child's open chest, mouth, and nose. The tears streaming down, mixed with the blood that burned the dying boy's face. A large spike protruded from his stomach, the boy's legs kicking furiously as he tried to come free. Then, a larger, blunter claw closed around the boy.

The snapping of bones was excruciatingly loud and painful even to hear. His screams grew louder as another claw clasped onto his left arm. With a quick tear, the arm was torn from its socket as the skin visibly stretched and snapped like strained rubber as the arm was detached.

Peter was drenched in the boy's spraying blood as he tried his best to stand and run. His sore body left him stumbling away from the boy and the creature.

The child, still alive, proceeded to scream behind him. The sounds of flesh being torn apart like ripping leather made Peter's stomach fail as dinner burned his throat and forcibly ejected itself from his body. The unnerving sound he never wanted to hear lingered in his ears, vomit seeping through his teeth as he moved. The tearing that made any child's deathly scream mundane in comparison.

Peter kept limping away, though, his chest, side, and head hurting from the kicks as he continued to choke on the fog and the tears streaming down his face. He heard the creature cry out in glee for its spoils. He wasn't sure how much distance he gained or how fast the creature was. Maybe it wasn't fast, though; perhaps it was simply obtusely long and skinny.

He didn't… couldn't think about the creature, though. He needed to remain on track and find his big sister before the monster found her first.

~~~

Two hours had passed, and the sound of the creature was in range again. The moonlight began peaking through the thick fog where Peter was. The night sky was bright with stars and a milky white moon, and the trees around him were void of leaves, allowing the natural luminosity to illuminate the fog.

It was peaceful… even if it was just for a moment. He had a chance to breathe. Moving to a nearby tree, he peered up through the small window in the fog. He looked at the moon, his eyes tracing the circles and specks that blemished it.

As Peter stared up at the moon, he heard the deathly sound of the creature nearing. In a panic, he spun around and hugged the tree. Every ounce of him screaming to climb. He moved his hands up, his feet following after.

Slowly he climbed the tree as the scream of another child close by shook his body, his foot slipped and he was sent down a few feet, caught by a limb which allowed him to regain his bearings. He took another few minutes to get back to where he was when the screaming finally stopped as the tearing sound echoed the forest again, followed by a large and viscous pop that made Peter throw up against the tree. His body desperately trying to fight to stay connected to the tree for the sake of his own survival.

Shortly after expunging the liquid mass from his stomach, he continued to climb. As he did, he felt the bile and tree bark smear against his bare legs. Gagging, he pushed himself to keep climbing till he was a few feet above the fog.

He let out a long sigh as he saw the opening in the middle. The Moon was also two-thirds done rotating. The creature truly did take its time with the children it tortured as they died slowly, confirming Peter's suspicion that it hunted for sport.

Shivering, he climbed back 20 feet down the tree after listening for over 10 minutes, barely hanging onto the trunk. He had to ensure the creature was gone. The noise had headed further into the thick dead forest. He looked at the opening, which was around 1200 feet away. It was a little over a fifth of a mile.

As Peter was almost to the tree's base, he fell off. He recoiled upon hitting his hip and side off the ground, though not much, as the remaining distance had only been around two feet from the ground. He shakily stood back up and started into a slow jog. He fought through the pain as he headed straight for the opening. He had seen a few silhouettes there and prayed one had been his sister.

The jog morphed into an anxiety-inducing sprint as the sounds from the night began to replay in his head. He dodged some trees, slamming his body into others as he ran. It was six long, painful minutes of running, his calves burning as the arched shape of the entrance appeared in his view.

Tears of relief poured down his face as he stepped out of the fog and into the opening, the moonlight catching off his eyes and blinding him as he tripped, tumbling down in front of the other kids congregated there. He looked up, his face covered in dirt, tears, and blood, his eyes scanning the area for his sister. The other kids made it a difficult task as they ran to the boy, seeing if either he was alright or to look behind him to see if the creature had followed suit.

"Peter!" a voice cried. A girl pushed past the kids and fell through, landing on the boy and making him cough in pain. "Are you okay?" she screamed, crying. The kids started yelling at the girl with an assortment of confused words and insults before they all shut up and looked at what appeared behind the pair.

One kid screamed as the creature's head leaned into the clearing. It's head was thin and triangular, dedicated to picking up sounds easily. Its body was large and skinny. Its legs bent in an anthropic form, it's long but lean arms fitted with three fanged claw-like appendages replacing its hands. Each claw was ragged with sharp barbs on the side and top for keeping pray still and a scythe-like blade on the inside.

Its unique sound, though not explosively loud, struck a primal fear into the children's hearts. Sarah was silently crying, clinging onto Peter, who had passed out from the creature's appearance and pain. She stroked his head, apologizing to her younger brother. There, quietly, so as not to gain the creature's attention, she promised to be stronger and to protect him like a proper older sibling.

She tensed as the monster began to massacre the kids around them. The screams and sounds of ripping flesh and the sloshing of blood besieged Sarah's ears as she shook uncontrollably, holding onto her little brother with every fiber of her being as she silently sobbed into the side of his head.

The screams around her spread out as the creature chased down the children, making noise as they ran. The horror of the situation was almost enough to make her pass out from the fear alone, the feeling of protecting her brother though barely kept her holding on.

The final scream rang out about an hour and a half later. The last noise of the creature was a victory screech, after which it didn't return. Unlike the ground she lay upon, covered in blood, body parts, and organs, the night sky was peaceful. She looked at the stars and the moon, allowing the colorful galaxy above her to distract her from the death surrounding her. And finally, exhaustion took its inevitable hold on her, eyes closing as she finally lost the will to stay awake.

~~~

Peter woke up with the sun in his eyes as his sister held him tightly. He looked around; the fog was gone, replaced by the bright blue morning sky. The sight that didn't change were the corpses that painted the ground red and brown with blood and other bodily fluids.

He looked down at his sister, her face stained by the streaks of tears that had run nearly the entire night. Tears stained his face, along with blood, dirt, and bile, leaving almost no inch untouched. He moved around slightly, waking up his sister in the process. She looked around, her eyes red like his.

She looked past him, seeing the carnage from last night before her.

The morning sun allowed her to clearly see the absolute severity of the mangled children that littered the clearing. She wasn't able to control herself as she began throwing up profusely, a large amount splashing onto her brother.

The night sky helped distract her last night from the sight but now it was visible in all its glory. Limbs scattered and heads smashed in or completely carved off. Intestines and organs now strung out along the scene like silly string.

The girl was shaken of her horrified state as her brother pointed at men walking through the forest towards them. They had dogs and were covered in black and blue with the word 'Police' plastered all over. She looked up at her brother who had tears again streaming down his face. Putting a hand to her own face after the stinging sensation made itself aware, she felt her own.