The Great Game Ch. 01

"Like you would want to replace Kate," Gunner retorted. "You've got a soft spot for her. And we both know I'm the one short, as it stands. You've still got two, and Kate is a temporary problem."

The sandalwood-haired man finally nodded. "It looks like this one got her teeth on you."

Gunner smiled. "She's a scrappy little one."

"Get her settled. We've got an hour."

Gunner nodded. "Here we go, pretty girl." As the two walked past the other man, his eyes ran up and down Ariel's naked form. His hazel eyes were sharp as knives, and she felt as though she were being dissected by them.

On the other side of the corner, everything was different. The hall was full of stuff - tins of food stacked neatly on one side, folded clothing and a variety of other supplies on the other. A line of camping rope with drying laundry spanned the distance between. Pillows, cushions, and blankets adorned the floor. There was a canvas tent set up on the middle of it all, with just enough space to squeeze past.

And there were other women - a couple walking freely, at least one other leashed to a long chain around the toilet at the far end of the crowded hall. She couldn't tell how many were here, with the tent obscuring her view.

One of the free women spotted Gunner and Ariel and smiled softly. She was of Asian heritage, with a tiny frame and straight, shining black hair. She was practically swimming in an XL red t-shirt.

"Gunner! Heyo! Who's this?"

Gunner smiled back. "New arrival. Ariel, meet Elle."

Ariel was completely overwhelmed. Broken down and exhausted. She tried to smile. It couldn't have looked good.

Elle looked sympathetic. "Aww, look at her. She just got here today?"

Gunner nodded.

She looked back to Ariel. "I'll get you some nice clean clothes, 'kay? I know, girl, it's rough out there. You're lucky you're right here." She started sifting through one of the stacks of garments.

"Can I sit down?" Ariel asked. She was so tired. The bruises on her head were throbbing.

Gunner gestured to a fluffy pile of pillows nearby. She collapsed onto them.

Elle brought over a pair of non-descript panties and a pink t-shirt that was much too large. She apologized - "they're all too big here, though!" - and then gasped, noticing Gunner's wounds.

"Eep. Can I clean that up for you?"

"No, Elle." Gunner looked to Ariel, still naked and draped over the pillows like a sunbathing cat. "She made them, and she's going to take care of them."

Elle looked a little angry. "Is she going to be trouble?"

"I don't think so. She's like all the new ones. She doesn't know the score, yet."

The other girl who'd been wandering freely smiled behind a veil of long-cut auburn bangs. "Girl after my own heart, then."

Gunner looked over. "That's enough, Ash. Sit."

The auburn girl obeyed, frowning.

Elle was pulling out a first aid kit. "Can I get you some food? Water?"

Gunner took the kit from her. "Ariel and I need some time to get settled. We'll be in the tent until the runner leaves. Is it David or Sam this time?"

Elle nodded. "David again. He wants to look for Kate. Hopefully the supply drop is near the green zone. We're still doing more than well enough for food. Batteries and medical would sure be nice, though. Can I be of any other service at all?"

"No, that'll be all." Gunner looked to Ash. "You could learn from Elle, darling."

Ash looked straight at him and tilted her head, batting her eyelashes. "Can I be of any other service at all?" she mimicked. Elle rolled her eyes.

"Yes. You can clean the facilities. Now." She narrowed her eyes at him, but then she stood and headed over to the toilet.

When Ariel looked up next, Gunner was standing over her. He looked concerned.

"You don't look well, pretty girl." He bent down and gently lifted her. She was unsteady on her feet, nearly rolling her ankle. Gunner swept up her legs with one arm and held her against his chest. She bit her lip and refused to make contact with his icy eyes.

She felt a bit safer - even comforted - with him holding her this way. And she loathed that. She loathed even moreso the feeling that he could tell. He leaned his head down and inhaled the fragrance of her hair. She startled a bit when he pressed his lips to her forehead and kissed her softly.

"It's alright, now," he cooed. "Do you need to go to the bathroom?"

"Yes," she admitted quietly.

He carried her across the hall. The girls on the chains moved out of his way without a word. Ariel could see now that there were three of them - a brunette and two blondes. Ash was on her hands and knees, scrubbing at the toilet with a bristled brush. She got up and walked off with a little huff. Gunner set Ariel down on the open toilet seat.

With a smile: "I'm going to give you a little privacy."

He walked over to one of the chained girls - the tall, lanky brunette who was sitting a short distance away. He touched her neck. She jerked away from him. She was fully nude, with full but small breasts and a thin figure. Very little muscle or fat on her. He whispered something to her and caressed her breast. She looked away from him.

Ariel was finding it very difficult to go with so much exposure. She tried to relax, and finally she released a slow trickle.

By the time she had finished, Gunner had the brunette laid out over his lap. He was massaging her neck and scalp. She expression was unreadable, but she wasn't resisting his touch.

He whispered to her, and she sat up and turned away from him. He returned to Ariel.

She looked up at him. "Can you please let my hands free so I can wipe myself?"

"Sorry, pretty girl. I'll take care of it this time." He reached for a pile of neatly-folded cloth rags on a towel by the sink.

"No!" She said, shocked.

"What was that?" He towered over her.

"Please let me wipe myself." She tried to look especially pitiful, her eyes pleading.

But he was having none of it. He wet the rag from the faucet. "Stand."

She did as she was told, thighs pressed together.

"Spread your legs."

"Please let me-"

"Spread your legs."

She obeyed, turning her red face away.

"'No' is not a part of your new vocabulary," he said, carefully wiping her from front to back. Her legs quaked with his touch, but she wasn't giving him any more tears. He wetted a second square of cloth and went over her again, this time with more attention to detail. She could feel herself becoming slick as the soft cloth teased her folds. She silently prayed that he wouldn't notice.

He tossed both used rags into a wicker basket on the opposite side of the toilet, and washed his hands thoroughly. Ariel was still red in the cheeks, looking away. She didn't fight him when he lifted her up into his arms once again.

He carried her to the tent, ducked inside, and laid her down carefully on a plush blanket. He brushed the hair out of her eyes before exiting the tent and returning with her new clothes, a couple of food tins and the first aid kit.

He took the end of her makeshift leash and skillfully knotted it a couple of times over one of the bars supporting the tent, giving her a couple meters of slack.

"I'm going to untie your hands, now. Be good."

He worked quickly. Her wrists were sore. She flexed them once they were free and stretched her shoulders.

He looked at her expectantly.

"Thank you," she said sharply.

"You're welcome," he replied, his voice smooth. He handed her the flask from his pocket. She gulped down every last drop of the lukewarm water, a little stream of it running down her chin.

He pulled the lid from one of the aluminum food tins and handed it to her. It looked terrible, but she was weak with hunger.

"We don't have any utensils, but there's a little basin over there for you to wash your hands in once you're finished," he said.

She scooped out little handfuls of some kind of meaty lasagna-style brick with her fingers and ate quickly. She couldn't handle much.

"Have a little more," Gunner urged.

"Please don't make me. Please. I don't think I can." She looked exhausted, and he yielded.

She washed her hands with the water in the basin and a little bar of soap sitting nearby.

Gunner opened the first aid kit and handed her a bottle of hand sanitizer.

"Use that, then spray the disinfectant..." he guided her through the process step by step, though she knew well how to handle such a basic medical situation. The wounds weren't deep. They were bandaged within a minute or so.

The speakers blared. "Food in nine. Miscellaneous in three. Next delivery in fourteen hours." Chirp. "Zero subjects in one. Two subjects in two..." The broadcast continued.

Gunner leaned back on a short pile of cushions and stroked her hair until the announcement ended. The sandalwood-haired man appeared at the entrance to the tent shortly thereafter.

"David," Gunner spoke. "You're running this one?"

"Yes. The supply drop is in three; I'll hang back around the four-side and see if Kate decides to stock up. Hopefully she hasn't run into the green zone girls. Or anyone else, for that matter."

"Good luck," Gunner offered, sounding sincere.

"Sam looks like he has it covered, but keep an ear out. The drop offs are out of the way, but you never know." David waited for a nod from Gunner, then took off at a fast jog.

Ariel desperately wished she understood what was going on around her. She could handle a lot, but a lack of understanding - that was tough for her.

Gunner went back to stroking her wavy locks. "You're processing a lot right now, so I'm going to hold off on explaining all of this. But if you lay right here..." - he looked to his shoulder - "... I'll give you the short version."

She wasn't sure whether that constituted an order. "May I please put some clothes on first?"

He smiled. "No," he said, his tone jovial.

Curiosity got the best of her. She rested her head hesitantly onto his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her bare waist. She tried to ignore it.

"Good girl," he cooed. "The announcements begin one hour before the first drop off of the day and end one hour after the last. We get one each hour in between. They let us know which sector they'll be dropping off the food in, and where all the other essentials will be - batteries for the flashlights, clothing, and so on. It's a little bit different every time, so we never know when we'll be getting lucky."

"Who drops off the food?"

"Whitecoats. There isn't much we know about them - presumably, they're the ones who put us here. You don't really want to be around when they make the drops - they don't like to interact with us, and they've always got a few well-armed blackcoats with them."

He stared intensely into her eyes. "If you ever see them - nice big vests with a round logo - you will run away from them. Yes?" He spoke louder than usual, his voice very stern.

She nodded.

"You shouldn't see them. Ever. You'll be staying here, and this isn't anywhere near the drop off point in sixteen."

He exhaled. "We have a good food stock. We don't usually go after the food, and when we do, we aim to get there first and grab the non-perishables. We make the supply drops whenever it makes sense to. If they announce a lot of others in fifteen or twelve - the adjacent sectors - we stay here and focus on defense."

"What's the point of all this?" Ariel was never the patient type.

Gunner looked concerned. "You will not like this part."

She lifted her head up. "I don't like any of the parts."

"Shhh. Lay down. I want you to try to calm down for a minute." She obeyed, slowing her breathing.

He inhaled slowly. "When you arrived here, did anyone explain anything to you about the game?"

"The game?"

"That's what I thought. When they introduce a new woman, they don't give any instructions for the game. That's not the case for the men."

"This is a game?" She tried not to balk at the thought too noticeably. Calm. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out.

"When we arrived here - not together, one by one, like you - we were each examined and then given the rules. Some of them, at least. We don't know why this has been constructed or for whom, but we do know what we're supposed to be doing. And we know the consequences for not doing it."

"What are the rules?"

"Tell me you're calm."

"I'm calm."

"Get calmer."

She appeased him, closing her eyes and taking more measured breaths as she worked her way through a hastily shortened self-guided meditation.

She opened her eyes. "I'm calm," she said, her voice smooth.

"Better," he said. He tried to keep his voice as soothing as possible.

"We're here to 'mate' as many times as possible with as many of the women as possible."

Her eyes bulged. He gave her a moment to fully absorb the words.

"'Mate' is their word, not mine. Fuck a lot, fuck a little, it all gets added up - points for each day you do, points for each woman you do, points for keeping those women to yourself - the longer the better." He paused. "Points for pregnancy. There are cameras, bugs everywhere. In all the light fixtures, and it's anybody's guess where else. Recording, tracking, tallying."

She turned away from him. He tried to turn her face gently toward him with his hand, but she fought to keep it where it was. He didn't push her.

Her voice was trembling a little, now. "Are you here voluntarily?"

"No," he said firmly. "Neither are David and Sam. Some of the others are."

"How many others?"

"There are seven. They keep the total at ten. And twenty-four women. As far as we can tell, none of them are here of their own volition. At least two of the men are."

She was crying again. He held her close by her waist and rubbed his fingers over her arm.

She choked back her tears. "What happens if you don't... if you don't do what you're supposed to do?"

"They replace the lowest-scoring male once every 30 days or so. Sometimes it takes them a little longer to corner one of them. They sedate him and take him with them. They shoot if they can't get him down."

"How long have you been here?" She asked quietly.

"Four months. David and Sam were in the original batch - they've been here five."

"How long do you have to stay?"

"We don't know."

"What happens... with the pregnancies?"

"We don't know."

"Is anyone here already pregnant?"

"Elle stopped menstruating a couple months ago. We suspect Lily - one of the blondes out there. And Kate, but she's not here now. Ash is trying."

"She's trying?" Ariel couldn't comprehend it.

"She thinks they'll let her go. There haven't been any births yet. We don't know what they'll do."

They were both quiet for a couple of minutes.

Ariel spoke first. "Why am I here now? Why not five months ago?"

"They replace the women when one of them dies."

She choked down panic. "How often does that happen?"

"Sometimes. A few have died trying to fight off the men. One had some kind of heart condition. Whitecoats must have missed it during the physical."

"Suicide?" she asked bluntly.

"Sometimes." That was all he would say. He pulled her closer and kissed her shoulder. "No more questions tonight."

Outside the tent, the lights were dimming.

The speakers chirped. Ariel wasn't listening. Too tired, too overwhelmed.

Gunner leaned in close. "I won't make you do it tonight," he whispered.

A long pause.

"Please don't make me go with the others," she said quietly.

"Never. Only with me."

He held her gently until she drifted off.

***************

She woke up with a start.

All was dark. Only a few beams of light outside the tent. Gunner was gone.

She couldn't see anything around her. She reached up to her collar until she found the rope. She slowly traced it back to the exposed bar she'd been moored to.

She didn't know knots. And these were complicated. And she couldn't see. But she had to try.

She worked her fingers around the spot where the loose end hung. How much time was passing? Five minutes? Ten? She kept working. Bit by bit, the knots came loose. She didn't bother with the knots around the ring of her collar. Better to just take the rope with her. She thought about feeling around for the clothing that had been left for her, but what if Gunner was curled up somewhere at the edge of the tent?

Silently, she crept out of the tent. One step at a time.

She decided to head back in the direction she'd come from. Maybe she'd remember something important. And there were more flashlights positioned on the other side, where the girls laid chained.

She slowly moved forward. One toe in front of the other, careful to not trip on anything.

Ahead of her, a flashlight sent a beam against the far wall. A woman's form was nestled on the pillow with the flashlight. It looked vaguely like Elle. Ariel couldn't tell if she was sleeping.

Ariel was out of view now, but she wouldn't be if she crossed that beam. It was impossible to go around the light source if Elle happened to be awake - and she didn't think she could do it without waking her, either. She wasn't about to throw this opportunity away.

She would run through the beam. And she would just keep running, as quietly as possible.

It took her a minute to mentally prepare for it. And then she ran. Through the beam of soft, yellow light.

She ran into the clothes hanging from the line, but they didn't stop her. Nearly tripped on a cushion, but found her footing. Thud! She hit the wall hard. Turned left, kept running.

Kept running right on into a man, creeping in the shadows.

She panicked, but tried to run past him. He swung a leg under her, and she crashed to the ground. He had her pinned within three seconds. A flashlight clicked on, inches from her face.

"Gunner's new girl. He hasn't even touched you yet, and you're ready to go follow Kate out there?"

It was David's voice. He was angry. Very angry.

"I should let you go." She squirmed. He leaned forward, putting his full body weight on top of her. She could barely breathe.

"Here's how that would go: You'd make it to eleven. Maybe even ten. And then one of those sick fucks would beat you bloody and rape you until you couldn't walk. Maybe keep going with something like this flashlight when he was done, just for the hell of it. Maybe leave you for dead. Maybe keep you. Maybe trade you to the next one for whatever he wanted out there."

Another beam was approaching from within the camp. David flicked beam toward it. It was Elle.

"What happened?" she asked, bleary-eyed.

"Where's Gunner? His new girl made a run for it."

She looked sad. Deeply sad. "He took over for Sam so he could get some sleep - I think he's coming now." More light.

There he was. His face was like stone.

David stood and handed over the makeshift leash that was still attached firmly to Ariel's collar.

"Deal with it," he spat.

Gunner didn't say anything.

He led her roughly into the tent and quickly tied her to the exposed bar with a single, simple knot. He hung his flashlight nearby, dimly illuminating most of the space inside the tent.

"Get on the floor," he said, his voice acidic.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked.

"Then show me," he growled.

She sat.

"On your hands and knees."

She shifted into position, eyes watering.

He grabbed the hair above the nape of her neck and roughly forced her face down against the blanketed floor.

He leaned back and spanked her so hard she nearly collapsed. She squealed.

"Hands and knees. I don't want to hear a sound out of you."

She got back into position, arms shaking.

Over and over he spanked her. She thought she might pass out from the pain. She had no idea that this could be done with only a hand.

She fell over twice, and twice she returned to the position without needing the command. Her whole body was shaking violently.