Mai staggered along, putting as much distance between herself and the scene of her last battle. Scanning her retinal monitor as she did, she looked for the nearest place she could try to get the supplies or BIO-BOOST she so desperately needed.

Not a chance I’m going to risk capture the flag again. Too many people have wised up to that!

The only other thing she could see which would help was a supply drop. And, just like in the holodoc which showed animals from myth and legend gathering at watering holes, she could be certain that there would be predators happy to take her down.

I’m going to get back home to Li, I am! She vowed, more to keep herself moving than anything else. The likelihood of her surviving the Culling seemed to be decreasing by the second.

No matter how many of her fellow cullers she killed, there were still hundreds of thousands more ready to take their place and have a go at her. And she couldn’t even hide out since the rules would force her to keep going.

Her body still remembered the intense pain she’d just suffered, as if it was punishing her for putting it in that position, or as if it couldn’t really believe that the nanites had truly wiped away the damage as if it had never really happened.

The streets were emptier, the civilians rightfully having decided that perhaps they weren’t the safest place to be with cullers like a Rhino charging about.

Mai paused for a second to think about that. Culling rules were clear, don’t kill civilians. However, as Rhino had demonstrated, there was nothing technically wrong with injuring them. Morally it was utterly wrong, but so long as they didn’t die, there was no risk of censure.

Fucking what does it matter? She thought, angry at herself for being distracted by such pointless thoughts. Still, somewhere, a new Mai, a different Mai tucked that little fact away.

***

Wrinkling her nose at a faintly acrid smell, Mai made her way silently down a narrow pedway. Having activated SNEAK and STREET SMARTS she proceeded as carefully and as quietly as she could. The pedway ended in a communal play park.

Normally it would be filled with families, the children leaping about the various obstacles whilst the parents either sat at tables and chatted or worked out on the weights machines dotted around. At the far end there was even a ropes course, with a climbing wall stretching hundreds of paces into the air.

Staying well back from the exit of the pedway, Mai realised what the smell was. Marker smoke. Lowering herself to the floor she saw that the buildings surrounding this park were stepped with each successive floor moving further and further back. She couldn’t actually work out whether the park was covered by a level a few miles up, or if it was actually open to the mythical sky.

The marker smoke would have risen level after level, letting all and sundry know that the supply drop had been made. It was redundant considering the fact that the supply drops were always marked on their retinal monitors, but sometimes the smoke would provide cover to those that got there early enough. Checking her display, she saw that indeed the area was marked as having a supply drop. I really need to keep better track of these kinds of things. No need for walking into a potential ambush.

From what she could see, it hadn’t worked. Bodies were draped over a number of the obstacles, thrown into poses only death would allow. Stepping to the side of the narrow pedway, she tried to work out if there was a pattern to the way the bodies were lying.

From what I can see, it’s pretty much a circle. Someone shot them as they made their way to the supply drop.

It was impossible to see if the corpses nearer to her had been shot in the front or back.

Would have been nice to see where the sniper was, she thought as she stepped further back into the pedway before dropping onto her haunches, using the last few remaining seconds of STREET SMARTS. Nothing. She activated SPOT HIDDEN and spent the whole of the skill’s activation period trying to see if she could see the hidden sniper.

Dammit, they’re either really good at hiding, or they’re somewhere I can’t see, she sighed and cursed her luck. Hang on though.

She started to count as many of the bodies as she could. There were at least ten, a sizeable number. Opening up her menu, she went to the scoreboard.

And there it was, CULLER 392839, CHAP MAN. 12 kills, and currently the leader.

It’s always possible that some of these idiots killed each other, but I don’t think so.

Some of the bodies were out in the open, cut down before they even realised there was a threat. Others had clearly died behind cover. Some had the tops of their skulls blown off, whilst yet more were on their fronts as if they’d been looking around their cover to spot the hidden assassin.

And all the time it had happened, they had been within a few paces of the supplies they needed.

Sick fucker! But then she realised that she couldn’t blame the sniper. Unless they’d decided to join the Culling out of some perverse need. No, the ones to blame were the ones she was actually trying to join, the Celestial Court.

It took her back for a moment. Every Culling saw one hundred survivors of the Culling ascending to become members of the Celestial Court.

They know what it’s like to slaughter each other, and yet they still allow it to happen! Her palm stung and she slowly opened her clenched hand, looking at where the nails had dug into the flesh. I just want to make life better for myself and Li.

And yet, to do that, she’d need to join those who were still allowing this sort of thing to happen. Spitting, she tried to clear her mouth of the sour taste that thought brought about.

Back to the matter at hand. Get supplies. Keep alive. Ascend. Deal with assholes later.

And the keeping part alive was going to be a challenge. From the layout of the bodies that she could see, none of them had made it to within five paces of the supply crates.

Moving closer to the entrance to the play park she took a look at the edges, trying to spot possible exits. On one side were a number of shuttered-up shops, the owners clearly not wanting to risk their windows. Each step up of the building was another layer of shops.

Directly opposite her were shops on the ground level, but then apartments on each tier following that.

Perfect spot for a sniper, but so are the shop tiers as they could just be hiding behind the tier walls, moving back and forth along them to take their shots.

She swore softly, it was just like the first flag she captured. The feeling of eyes upon her even though she was most likely invisible to anyone looking, being so far back in the pedway as she was.

Activating FREERUNNING, she got down into a sprinter’s position, took a couple of deep breaths and sprinted towards the entrance to the play park, keeping one eye closed so that she wouldn’t be blinded as she entered the changed light. An old trick learnt whilst running with her friends in places she shouldn’t.

As soon as she entered the play park she cut left towards a large obstacle of large pipes and slides. It had a combination of climbing walls and ladders and she threw herself into them.

Crack! A bullet smashed its way through one of the climbing walls. Whilst they might have concealed her from the sniper’s sight, they were too thin to protect her against a fusillade of fire. A point proven as another shot showered her with splinters, forcing her to duck down.

Got you, she thought with grim satisfaction. Her opponent was directly opposite, up on the tier of shops. Spinning, she charged out of her cover back the way she had come.

Safety chippings kicked up at her heel as the sniper’s third shot missed her by less than a hand’s span. Changing direction she ran towards a climbing frame, flinging herself over the top of it just as the sniper’s fourth shot cracked past her ear.

Dammit! They’re getting faster.

She lay low, tight to the side of the climbing frame, trying to bring her breathing back under control, licking her dry lips as she gasped like a fish out of water.

Checking her FREERUNNING skill she saw that it had only been ten seconds since she entered the park. Opposite her, she saw that several of the shops didn’t have actual shutters, just temporary boarding.

She fired three shots, three different windows. Now she only had seven shells, and no BIO-MASS to make any more unless she wanted to lower her own health.

Before she could second-guess herself she was up and running, angling back and forth before she threw her back into cover, her opponent’s bullet’s cracking passed her ear, each one getting closer and closer until.

DAMAGE! 10%

BURN! 5%

HEALTH 85%

Shocked, she tumbled into the next obstacle, screaming at the pain in her shoulder, the smell of her own burnt flesh filling her nostrils.

DAMAGE! 1%

STUNNED!

HEALTH 84%

The notification wasn’t appreciated as stars exploded in her eyes and her nose felt as though a hammer had hit it. Legs shaking, thoughts woolly she still managed to have enough wits about her to roll from her original landing spot.

Another shot blew one of the frame’s supports to flinders, showering her with splinters.

“Fucking just fuck off!” she screamed, dashing away the tears that filled her eyes from the punishment her body was taking. Less than four paces away lay the nearest of the shattered windows.

A follow-up shot cracked over the top of her cover, the smell of ozone filling the air. Looking at the wall it had struck, she could see wisps of smoke.

What the Hells is that shitting arsehole firing at me? Should I be grateful I’m not bleeding to death?

She didn’t feel at all grateful to the sniper. But at least the bullet was finished damaging her. Bleeding out behind a children’s obstacle in a play park really wasn’t something she wanted to do.

Get through the damned window, heal enough to stop the pain, she thought. Fixing on a plan did nothing to distract from the pain.

Gathering her knees under her she pushed hard, took four stuttering steps, and fell through into the shop.

Rolling behind a stack of shelves. She caught her breath while she realized that her FREERUNNING time had expired. That was close. Too close. Seven shells, and anything more will come out of my health. Best make sure I kill the fucker, and with that the hunt was on.