“Anyway,” the Queen said, “One and Sixteen, only one of you can walk away from this. We need to take you to the final trial of this course. The winner will be welcomed into our community. The loser will be trapped and imprisoned again. They’ll get their chance to escape, but they’ll have to go through the games again to do it.”
A glance at Rose and Flynn saw her pale hue. No doubt he looked as bad. Neither of them wanted to go back to that prison. But could he sell her out to save himself?
“Come on, darlings,” the Queen said as she walked away, her hips swaying, her dark trousers clinging to her tight bottom. “Follow me.”
Chapter Forty-Two
They used the back of an old lorry. It had been patched up after years of corrosion had taken bites from it. A completely new wooden top lay across it. Hopefully the rusty frame could support their weight.
Two ladders rested against the lorry.
“You have to pick one each,” the Queen said. “One, you go first.”
Before she went to her ladder, Rose walked over to Flynn and lifted his left hand with hers. Not a shake, more a gentle squeeze. “Good luck,” she muttered and pulled a tight smile at him.
The breath left Flynn’s lungs as he stared at the girl. Only one of them would walk away from this. If only they’d met in better circumstances. Because he didn’t have the words, he simply nodded at her.
Rose dropped Flynn’s hand and picked the left ladder. Flynn walked over to the right.
As the pair climbed to the top, the crowd fell silent, many of them watching on with open mouths. Even the Queen seemed gripped by what she saw, her attention on Rose more than Flynn. His pulse quickened, anxiety buzzing in his guts. She’d made the correct choice, he knew it. He’d have to go through the games again.
When they reached the wooden roof of the old trailer, the Queen called out to them. “Now wait, I need to get around to the other side.”
In the time it took the Queen to walk around the trailer, Flynn looked down at where they had to jump. Two piles of soiled mattresses.
The Queen said, “One pile will give way and throw you back into prison.” She winked up at Rose. “One of you will have to start all over again and earn the number one brand.”
It suddenly dawned on Flynn and he looked from Rose to the Queen and back to Rose again. “This is your second time around.”
Why hadn’t he seen it before? Rose’s number one brand had been over her left kidney where everyone else had them over their right.
Rose winced as if apologising and lifted her shirt to reveal the skin over her right kidney. It had an angry red cross branded through the number six. “I’m sorry, Flynn.”
“So you knew which ladder to pick? You bitch.”
Rose shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Right!” the Queen called out before Flynn could say anything else. “On my count, I want you both to jump. The best of luck to you. May the best person win. Although I think we all know who’ll win this one.”
“One,” the Queen called and Flynn ground his jaw. He’d have to go through the games again.
“Two.”
Although Flynn stared at Rose, she didn’t look back at him. Tears ran down her cheeks and she shook where she stood. “I can’t believe you’ve screwed me over,” he said to her.
“Three.”
For a brief moment neither of them jumped. The Queen stared up at them and said, “Don’t make me say it again.”
“Fuck you, Rose,” Flynn said and he jumped. He saw Rose in his peripheral vision jump with him.
Chapter Forty-Three
As Flynn crashed down, he flinched in anticipation of the mattresses giving way beneath him. When they didn’t, the shock of it snapped up his body from the ground remaining firm.
The pile of mattresses beside him folded in on themselves and pulled Rose under.
Flynn stared at the hole Rose had vanished through and the crowd erupted into cheers and whoops. Because the mattresses had fallen down the hole with her, they’d covered her, obscuring her from his view.
When Flynn looked at the Queen, he saw her smiling. “What just happened?”
A tilt of her head to one side and she said, “You won, my dear.”
“Did you switch the holes around? Did you trick Rose?”
“No. Number one knew exactly what she was doing.”
Flynn’s jaw dropped and he lost his breath for a second. “She knew she’d picked the route back to the prison?”
The Queen’s smile broadened and she spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. “She did. What a gesture, eh?”
Some of the crowd made soft sounds at Rose’s sacrifice.
“It would seem she values your freedom more than her own, Flynn. Notice how you’re Flynn now too? You’re not a number anymore. You’ve made it, honey.”
The way she called him honey sent a chill snaking through Flynn. But his mind quickly returned to Rose and he looked into the hole next to him again. She lay beneath the pile of mattresses somewhere, waiting to be taken back to the prison. Why had she sacrificed herself for him?
Before Flynn could say anything else, a couple of the Queen’s guards came forward. Two women dressed in royal blue, one of them had a sack in her hands.
“Please forgive the need to cover your face again,” the Queen said, “but we still want to keep the whereabouts of our community secret. We don’t know if we can trust you yet.”
The world turned dark as one of the guards slipped the hood over Flynn’s head. It had a halitosis reek from having been used a lot, and he screwed his nose up against the stale smell of it.
“We’re going to take you back, feed you, clothe you, and let you get some rest. No one will ever talk about you being in the games again. Once you enter our community, the shame of the trials is left behind. But know this, you’ve just earned the respect of everyone in the royal complex. It’s no mean feat getting through the games. Well done, Flynn, you’ve proven yourself worthy.” She raised her voice. “Let’s hear it for the champ!”
The crowd erupted. The white noise of it beneath the hood spun Flynn out more than before.
Much more gentle than the previous guards, the royal guards led Flynn away. Whatever happened, he needed to get Rose out of that dungeon. He owed her everything.
Chapter Forty-Four
If Flynn were to guess, he’d say about half an hour had passed. In that time, he’d walked a little way and then rode on the back of a cart, which, from the clop, clop, clopping noise, he assumed to be pulled by a horse or donkey.
He heard huge gates open. They passed through them and finally the cart stopped. Someone helped him down, gentle in their handling of him. It stood in stark contrast to how they’d treated him in the dungeon and he didn’t trust it one bit. Because he’d seen just how cruel this community could be, he refused to lower his guard.
Flynn walked over uneven ground—it felt like it might be a field—then it levelled out and the acoustics changed, the snap of their footsteps showing they’d entered a building of some sort.
Although Flynn had plenty of questions, he didn’t ask any. They’d called him the victor, but he’d been a prisoner until then. A prisoner who had no right to ask anything. The illusion of free will didn’t wash with him, especially with the hood still over his head.
It sounded like the space they walked through opened up. The echo off the walls and ceiling showed it stretched wide and high. The sound of footsteps that had been behind him pulled next to him as their party clearly spread out. A group of people with him, but he couldn’t begin to guess at how many. If he tried to fight now, he’d undoubtedly lose.
Besides, Flynn needed to save Rose. He needed to bide his time and work out where they kept her so he could get her out. As wary as it made him to be there, he had no other choice. Anywhere else and he wouldn’t have a chance of finding her location.
The acoustics changed again as they entered what sounded like another corridor. The wa
lls and ceiling sounded like they’d closed in and just one pair of footsteps came with him.
Then they stopped. The person with him snapped what sounded like a door handle down and the gentle creak of hinges called out through the quiet. They grabbed Flynn’s elbow and gently led him into the space before pulling his hood away.
Every time they’d removed Flynn’s hood, he’d had to blink against the change in light. Now they’d done it inside, the adjustment felt much less violent.
When he could see, Flynn took the place in. A room larger than the one he’d had in Home, it had a window too. It had a double bed in the middle of it and a chair in one corner, suggesting he might actually get some leisure time in this place. A tin bath lay beneath the window with a bucket of water beside it.
He’d been so busy taking in the room, he only now noticed who’d led him in there. A step back as he looked at her regal face and he stammered, “Um … I’m sorry, I didn’t realise it was you. Sorry.”
The Queen smiled at him. A genuine smile for the first time since he’d seen her watching the games. She seemed much more relaxed than before. Her look spoke of a friend much more than a leader as she said, “Welcome to the royal complex.”
Before Flynn could reply, she added, “There are some clothes on the bed for you. Get yourself cleaned up and I’ll show you the rest of the place when you’re done.” And with that, she left him alone in the room.
Chapter Forty-Five
The clean joggers lay soft against Flynn’s freshly washed skin. A bit too thick for the summer heat, but it felt great to wear something comfortable and clean. Especially when the bath water had been so cold.
Despite warming up since he’d dried off, Flynn still felt the shock of the frigid bath in his tense muscles. The brand on his back burned from being submerged and no doubt had infection deep inside of it.
Flynn stared at the door to his room as he walked towards it. It had a small round window in it for people to look in, but he couldn’t see anything outside other than the wall opposite.
When he stepped out, Flynn found the Queen waiting in the corridor like she said she would. “Sorry to keep you,” he said.
She pulled her straight black hair behind her left ear and shook her head. “Don’t be sorry, you needed to get yourself cleaned up.” She looked him up and down. “How’s the brand?”
Like she gave a fuck. “Sore.”
“I can imagine. We have a cream for that. I’ll make sure you get some.”
It would have been nice if the cunt hadn’t branded him in the first place. Despite her niceties now, he couldn’t forget what she did to people. The kind of sick freak who made murder a sport. He couldn’t ever forget that.
Another broad smile at Flynn, her teeth whiter than any should be in this new world, and the Queen turned around and walked off. He followed her, taking the place in by looking around where he hadn’t been able to before.
The corridor with his room on it had many similar rooms running along either side. Much like Home, but without the dingy underground feel to it.
“So what is this place?” Flynn asked.
The Queen laughed and shook her head. “You’re so young.”
Flynn didn’t reply.
“It used to be a hospital. That would be obvious if you were slightly older. I suppose you probably never visited one of these.”
“I did when I was two and broke my arm. But that was a long time ago and I can’t remember it.”
They walked the rest of the way in silence. The Queen kept the pace quick, her black leather boots slamming down against the hard floor.
Despite being repulsed by the woman, Flynn found himself staring at her arse in her tight black trousers. Every time he tried to look up, his eyes soon dropped down to it again.
Chapter Forty-Six
What must have been the hospital’s foyer opened up at the end of the corridor. Rows and rows of chairs were covered in dust from disuse. Many of them had ripped cushions, the foam padding from inside lolling out of them like yellowed tongues.
The Queen walked straight through the area and Flynn followed her. As they moved, he looked at the dead monitors on the walls. They must have been useful in the old world. Now they collected dust, much like the ones in Home’s canteen.
A small corridor led to a large set of double doors that had been wedged open. Flynn followed the Queen out of them into the bright sunlight, where he looked at the larger complex.
A huge fence ran around the outside of the place. Entire trees had been stripped and stacked next to one another much like they’d done at Home. The fence stood about four or five metres tall and looked like it could withstand anything people could throw at it.
Most of the space in front of the hospital had been turned into farmland and Flynn saw maybe twenty people working the fields.
“We only sleep in the hospital,” the Queen said as she watched Flynn take the place in. She pointed over at a large wooden barn. “We use that place to eat in and get together as a community.” A ruffle of her nose and she screwed her face up as if she had a bitter taste in her mouth. “Something about hospitals gives me the chills. Ghastly places really.”
Flynn didn’t comment. Too young to have a decent memory of them, he hadn’t had a chance to associate them with anything yet. Although that would undoubtedly change.
“People have different roles in the royal complex,” the Queen said. “You’re either a hunter, a cleaner, or a farmer. You can request to be one of them, but ultimately I decide where we need you most. And if I can offer you a little advice, I’d say you should set your heart on being a hunter.” She ran her eyes up and down his body, the tip of her tongue poking through her thin lips as she did it. “You’re such a strapping lad, I wouldn’t want to waste what you have.”
Heat rushed to Flynn’s cheeks and he looked down at the ground. She’d eat him alive given half a chance.
“Come on,” the Queen said and smacked him on the arse. “We’re in time for lunch, and everyone’s waiting to meet you.”
Once she’d pulled a few steps ahead of him, Flynn’s gaze returned to her athletic form.
Chapter Forty-Seven
The closer Flynn walked to the large barn, the louder the chatter spilling out of it. There were clearly a lot of people inside. The Queen stopped ahead of him, and when he caught up to her, she forced her arm through his, linking them like a father of the bride would with his daughter. She then led them towards the barn’s wide-open front doors.
As they drew nearer, Flynn saw more and more people in the barn, although they hadn’t seen him yet. It took for him and the Queen to enter the hot space before everyone fell silent and looked over.
The tight pack of bodies and lack of ventilation added to Flynn’s nerves and he started to sweat. A hot summer day made hotter by being crammed inside. Many of the staring faces glistened with perspiration too. No doubt the barn would be great in the winter, but it felt like too much that day.
Where Flynn had expected the people in the room to throw themselves prostrate at their Queen’s entrance, they didn’t. Reverence for their leader, sure, but not blind subservience. Maybe she ruled with respect rather than fear. Although, none of that mattered because he’d experienced what the vicious cunt did to her prisoners. He’d never have anything but resentment for the horrible bitch.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I’d like to introduce you to your new champion.” She turned to Flynn and said, “Flynn …” She then paused, leaned close to him, and spoke so only he could hear. “What’s your surname?”
Flynn replied with similar hushed tones. “Golding.”
A cocked eyebrow and the Queen said to him, “One of life’s winners, it would seem.” She then turned to the room and announced, “Flynn Golding!”
Most of the room got to their feet and clapped. A group of people at a large table laden with food banged their metal cups against the wooden surface but didn’t stand up. Flynn looked across
at them and then back at the Queen. “They had number sixteen,” she said. “Today they’re royalty.”
Now fully in the barn, Flynn inhaled the smell of cooked meat. Although the canteen at Home had an essence of meat in their broths, they mostly ate vegetarian. The rich smell made his stomach rumble.
A long table sat at the head of the room with two empty spaces at it. The large chair in the middle was vacant. A grand throne, it had a high back and red cushioning. The seat next to it also sat empty. The perfect space for a little man toy. A look down at their still-linked arms and Flynn sighed.
On either side of the empty seats sat a row of women. All of them wore royal blue. All of them—his stomach sank—except one. The broad-shouldered, hook-nosed, vicious witch looked at him and smiled. It turned his blood cold.
When the Queen headed in the direction of the table, she dragged Flynn over with her.
Although Mistress looked at Flynn, he didn’t look back. Regardless of how she wanted to play it now, he wouldn’t forgive what she’d done. He couldn’t. To forgive anyone in this community would make him one of them, and that wouldn’t happen. Mistress would pay for branding him like a cow.
The community might have welcomed Flynn in, but he didn’t belong there. As hospitable as they were, he couldn’t ever forget what they did to people.
Once they’d sat down, Flynn looked over the sea of staring faces. Seeing one hundred and fifty people or more, he leaned closed to the Queen. “Is this everyone in the community?”
The Queen nodded. “Meal times are important. Wherever possible, we all eat together.”
“Even the guards on the gates?”
A cold stare came back at Flynn. “People in this area don’t fuck with this community. Even if they did manage to get past the massive wall, they wouldn’t last two minutes once inside.”
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