Chapter 1

The Game Begins

Jacob Hawkes was certain that he had just landed one the best possible job for him. As a mercenary, he had been involved in all sorts of conflicts, ranging from small to large. He had done rescue missions, defensive battles and even assassinations throughout his professional career. However, now he had been given a job that seemed almost too good to be true, especially when you considered the payment.

The job was very simple. You were dropped out of a helicopter in the middle of an island that was covered in a thick forest. Once there, all he and his team had to do was eliminate a single person that wasn’t part of their group. As soon as the kill was confirmed, they would get picked up by another helicopter and taken back home, where they could enjoy the two hundred million each of them would be getting as payment.

While the very vague details on the mission were somewhat concerning, Jacob’s greed got the better of him. A payment like this wasn’t going to come just about every day and the client was someone that he had done work for before. He had heard rumors that his client liked to host some sort of death matches on his private property as entertainment for the wealthy, so he simply assumed that this was all part of that.

Still, Jacob couldn’t understand why the client was willing to pay such a large sum of money to all members of his team. He could only guess that some people were just so filthy rich that throwing money around like that was no big deal.

The mercenary was currently riding a helicopter along with his four subordinates. They all worked for the same PMC and had been in the same team for years now. All of them had been molded by battles into precise killing machines that could take on just about anything the world had to offer. In their eyes, nothing could take them down.

At last, the pilot informed the group that they had arrived at their destination. Jacob signaled his team to get ready and they all prepared their equipment. Each one was armed up to the teeth with the latest weaponry a fighter could get. All of them had a powerful assault rifle, a couple of grenades, a powerful pistol as a sidearm, a combat knife that could even cut through steel, night-vision goggles and the latest bulletproof vest to offer protection. These five were ready for a war.

Little did they know that they should have been prepared for a nightmare.

Jacob’s team dropped down to the ground using wires to land safely and precisely, as they didn’t want to get blown away with the wind while using parachutes. As soon as each member had hit the ground, the helicopter flew away, leaving the mercenaries on their own.

Jacob used hand signals to tell his group to follow quietly behind him. As a professional, he wasn’t going to do any amateur mistakes, such as giving away his position by making noise. Even if their target in his eyes wasn’t anything dangerous, it was still best to play it safe.

It was nighttime, making the forest they were in into a field of darkness, but thanks to their night-vision goggles, the five mercenaries could clearly see where they were going. This type of landscape was very easy for seasoned fighters like them to travel through. The group skillfully and silently sneaked their way through the woods, like shadows.

After a while of traveling through the woods, Jacob started to feel like something was wrong. Despite his earlier confidence, he had begun to have doubts. For starters, the island they were on might not have been all that small, but it was still small enough that they should have seen some sort of a sign of another living being by now. Yet there had been no sight nor sound of anyone besides themselves here. Not only that, but Jacob couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched by someone.

Suddenly, a familiar scent hit Jacob’s nose. It was a smell the mercenary had become quite familiar with and could recognize anywhere. It was the smell of blood and there was a lot of it.

As soon as the smell hit his nose, Jacob signaled his squad to stop in their tracks. With only a quick glance at his subordinates, he was able to tell that they had noticed the smell as well. All of them were on edge now, as they were not expecting this. There had been a massacre nearby and none of them had heard anything. Anyone would be worried over that.

The mercenaries continued towards the source of the smell much more carefully, afraid to alert whoever it was that was responsible for the horrors ahead of them. With each step, the stench got worse. Jacob had to stop breathing through his nose, as the smell was far too much even for a seasoned warrior like himself.

It didn’t take long for them to finally reach a small clearing in the forest where the stench was coming from. Even though all five members of the squad had already imagined what they would find, not a single one of them had been prepared for what they were about to see.

The scene in front of them was like from hell itself. Several bodies lay all over the clearing, torn apart and with internal organs thrown everywhere. The grass had been dyed red from all the blood that had been spilled, and there were body parts and guts hanging from the nearby trees. The people who still had their faces left had expressions of pure terror frozen on them, showing everyone that saw them just how gruesome their deaths had been.

Jacob could hear one of his squad members throwing up behind him and couldn’t blame him. They had seen all sorts of horrifying sights throughout their careers, but this was on a new level of horror even for them. The sight on this one small clearing easily trumped all the battlefields they had seen in their lives and they had seen many of them.

As the five mercenaries stood still in silence of the terrifying sight before them, Jacob was trying to understand what had happened here. With just a quick glance, he could tell that the people slaughtered here were no ordinary people, but professional warriors like themselves. All of them had been armed well enough for a war and, judging by the logo of a rival mercenary group on their uniforms, had been more than capable of fighting one as well.

So what had happened here? What on Earth could do this to an armed group of well-trained mercenaries?

Whatever had happened here was something Jacob didn’t want to see. He had no idea who or what could do something this brutal and inhumane, but he knew one thing. They were now deeply in danger and needed to get out of here. The money might have been tempting, but it wasn’t worth this.

Jacob turned to his squad, ready to tell them that they were going to retreat, but noticed something that sent a cold shiver down his spine. He had four subordinates with him when they had arrived on this island. Now he could only see three of them.

The other three mercenaries soon realized what had frightened their leader, as they began to frantically look around for any signs of their missing comrade. While they were doing that, Jacob was looking for something else. It was obvious that whatever had caused the massacre before them was also most likely the one that had taken away their comrade. If that had happened, they shouldn’t worry about helping the missing mercenary, but where the thing that had taken the man was right now.

Panic began to take its place within Jacob, as every sound around him set off an alarm in his head. The thing that had caused the terrible sight in front of them could be anywhere, waiting for its moment to strike. The squad leader was desperately trying to make sure that it wouldn’t happen.

Something suddenly dropped in the middle of the group, causing all four remaining mercenaries to turn their sights towards it. Upon seeing what it was, their faces turned pale.

In the middle of their group was the head of their missing comrade. The left side of his face had been shredded down to the bone and there was also a hole in the back of his skull where you could see his brains. What remained of the dead man’s face had been twisted into an expression of pure terror.

Before any of the remaining four managed to break out of the shock over their comrade’s death, one of them was suddenly pulled from behind. Whatever had taken him had been incredibly strong, as the man was lifted up from the ground and practically flew into the woods behind him while screaming.

Upon seeing his comrade get taken away, Jacob didn’t hesitate at all to fire his weapon. He didn’t care if any of his bullets hit his comrade, as long as they hit the thing that had attacked them. The only thing in the squad leader’s mind was that he needed to quickly eliminate the threat or at least wound it, so they could escape.

Once Jacob stopped firing, he and his two subordinates could hear what was happening to their comrade. They heard how his flesh was being torn and bones were broken apart, which were accompanied by the screams of agony the doomed mercenary was making. The sounds were quickly followed by the sound of munching, which told the remaining mercenaries one horrifying thing about their attacker. Whatever it was, it ate human flesh.

Not wanting to meet with whatever it was that had already caused so much death and carnage, Jacob yelled at his remaining two subordinates that they needed to retreat now. None of them hesitated to turn around and start running as fast as they could, praying that whatever they had encountered wouldn’t catch them.

The scenery of the dark forest flew past the mercenaries as they were running for their lives. They had no idea where to go, but they just needed to run, to get away. Jacob kept looking around him for any signs of that thing following them, but didn’t find anything. Upon not finding any threats around them, he allowed himself a small amount of relief to pass through his body. Perhaps the creature had satisfied its hunger or had been wounded by the squad leader’s gunfire?

However, Jacob’s relief didn’t last long, as his ears picked up something. It was the sound of something moving up in the tress and very fast, too. The mercenary didn’t need to see what it was to realize it was the same thing that had just attacked them all. Whatever this monster was, it was fast and was quickly gaining up on them.

Knowing that they had no other choice but to fight, Jacob ordered his subordinates to aim up to the trees. The three mercenaries stopped, turned their guns towards the treetops and opened fire. None of them were really aiming at anything, but firing in panic in the hopes of at least one of their bullets to hit the thing chasing after them.

Their firing came to a sudden step, when in the blink of an eye something dropped down from the trees and ran up to one of Jacob’s remaining subordinates. Jacob himself couldn’t understand what had happened. Just a moment ago, he saw his comrade firing his gun and the next thing he knew was that the man’s upper body had suddenly been torn off, leaving only his lower half behind.

Jacob’s last remaining subordinate fired to the direction the creature had gone to, but it was no use. By the time he pulled the trigger on his gun, the monster had already moved away. The mercenary could do nothing to save himself, when the creature suddenly grabbed him by his head and pulled him up the tree. Jacob himself could only watch in horror as only the legs of his last subordinate could be seen with the leaves covering the rest of his body. The man was kicking and screaming with all his might as his body was being torn and eaten.

Seeing his whole squad get slaughtered in such a brutal manner seemed to break Jacob’s mind, as he threw away his gun and began to run away while screaming like a lunatic. Tears were freely flowing from his eyes and he had even wet his pants out of sheer terror. The broken man kept running aimlessly until he finally tripped on a rock and fell to the ground.

As Jacob got up, he saw a cave nearby. A smile made its way to his face, as he thought that he might have finally been saved. The mercenary quickly ran deep into the cave and hid himself there, his eyes fixed on the entrance. He had taken out his pistol and combat knife, and had readied himself for one last fight. If the thing that had killed his subordinates was going to come after him, it wouldn’t get him as easily as the others. Jacob was ready to face the creature with all of his might.

Nervous sweat slowly dripped down his face as the mercenary tightly gripped his weapons, waiting for any signs of an intruder. Time seemed to move at the pace of a snail, as he waited for the inevitable showdown.

“Hey,” a voice suddenly called from behind Jacob, causing him to freeze in place. “You should know there’s another entrance to this place.”

Jacob slowly turned around and felt his blood drain from his face upon seeing what was behind him. There in the darkness he could see two completely white and empty eyes staring at him, and below the eyes was a mouth twisted into a wide grin, filled with teeth that were as sharp as daggers.

Jacob barely had enough time to let out one final scream, before the creature behind him pounced on him and tore him apart.

Meanwhile, a man was sitting behind a large desk on a very high-quality chair while watching Jacob and his squad get slaughtered on his computer. The man smiled upon seeing how all of the well-trained mercenaries he had hired had been taken out so easily by the lone creature. The truth was that he had never hoped for any of the soldiers for hire to even scratch the monster they had been fighting. He had put way too much money, time and effort on that creature to have it damaged by some hired goons. However, it had been a necessary risk for him to take, as the profits he would get would be even more enormous.

The man got up from his seat and walked to the middle of his office. He took out a remote control from his pocket and pressed a single button on it. This caused the whole room to light up from monitors that were covering the walls to turn on. On these monitors were people that were staring at the man. The people themselves were all sorts of high-profile individuals of incredible wealth such as business moguls, rich politicians, royalty of their countries and even some celebrities.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I believe our demonstration was sufficient,” the man began to speak. “You have now witnessed what just one of my company’s creations is capable of, so just imagine what 16 of them can do! But that isn’t exactly necessary, as you are going to witness it with your very own eyes! Those 16 monsters of science are soon going to be fighting to the death for our amusement! This will be a show unlike anything you have ever seen and a first one even for us!”

The people on the monitors began to talk among themselves in excitedly, having been overtaken by the anticipation of what they would get to witness. This atmosphere made the man in the middle of the room smile widely, as he could already see the profits he would be making. All of these big name people with practically limitless riches would be betting on his monstrous gladiators, bringing him insane amounts of wealth in the process.

Pressing another button on his remote controller, a new screen opened. This one was much larger than the others and it had appeared on the screens of his audience as well. On that screen were 16 people standing next to each other while facing the camera. These were his mutant gladiators, the monsters that would soon fight each other to the death, including the one that had just murdered a small army of mercenaries as a demonstration.

“I, Robert Kartz, head of the Kartz Company, present to you all our very own gladiators!” the man declared proudly. “16 beasts born through the wonders of science! 16 monsters that have not even a shred of humanity within them! 16 warriors that will bring death and destruction, and will fight for our amusement!”

Cheers and applause were coming from the audience as their excitement began to rise. They had been given a brief description of each mutant’s personal abilities in order to place their bets. Already there were heated conversations going as the people watching began to place huge amounts of money on the fighters they were certain would win.

Meanwhile, the mutants themselves were standing in a large and empty room with lights over just them, so that the people watching could see them. Every mutant had shackles around their arms and legs, as well as explosive collars secured around their necks. They may be monsters in the eyes of most people, but they had at one point been human beings, and they were smart enough to know not to agitate their owner. If any of them were to make a move without permission, the collar would detonate, taking their head with it.

The mutants themselves were going through different emotions themselves. Some were obviously scared, not wanting to risk their lives on a game of death for someone’s amusement. Others weren’t feeling much, as they had gotten used to games like these already. Some, like the one that had slaughtered the mercenaries, were excited, hoping to get to hunt their own kind soon.

Among these creatures, there was one who wasn’t thinking about the battle ahead of him. Instead, he was focused on the man behind all of this, Robert Kartz. There was a large monitor in front of the mutants, which showed the company head to them, as he was speaking to his audience. As this was happening, the lone creature that was focused on him never looked away from the man responsible for all of this. His lone eye narrowed as he was making plans in his head.

“Now that we have our warriors ready, let’s go ahead and see their battleground!” Robert Kartz announced with a big smile. “For days now, my team has been making preparations so that you won’t miss a single second of the carnage ahead of us! Cameras, drones and even satellites have been set up so that everything will be seen by you!”

Suddenly, the screen showing the head of Kartz Company changed to show the sight of a city. The city was located near to a large lake with thick forests surrounding it as well. While it wasn’t a particularly large city, it was still rather impressive looking with several tall buildings and a large population.

“Some might say that it is a bad idea to have our show located here due to collateral damage, but do you know what I say?” Robert Kartz asked his audience. “I say that a battleground that doesn’t show destruction and mayhem is too dull of a place for what we have planned! If you want to make a good show, you better do your all to make it good!”

The company head’s audience cheered in excitement, as they would be getting exactly what they wanted from this show. Blood, death, destruction, carnage and chaos. These were the things they were craving for.

“Now that we have our players and their stage set, what say we get started then!?” Robert Kartz asked, hoping to raise the excitement of his viewers, which worked. “I can see that you are all eager to see some blood finally! So let’s load up our lovely freaks, send them to the game zone and get this show on the road! Next stop, Grand Lake City! LET THE GAMES BEGIN!”

It was time for the Freakshow to start.