That roar didn't sound like a normal animal.
It sounded like a beast that had been hungry for a long time; the scream sent shivers down their bodies.
The roar came from their right side, where a dense fog could be seen, which made it hard to see what was inside it.
"What was that sound?" the accountant whispered, his eyes bulging behind his glasses.
"Something is behind the fog," Meriel whispered. "Something big and hungry."
CRUNCH.
The massive tree in the distance suddenly fell, breaking in half. From the dark surroundings, a pair of red lights became slowly visible when looking directly at their location.
"Fuck, run," Suho shouted.
His voice wasn't steady now; he was just screaming in front.
"Run!"
The team bolted forward. The coordination slowly collapsed.
The two men carrying the front of the statue sprinted, pushing the statue forward. Suho struggled to keep up at the back.
"Wait! Wait!" the Old Man screamed, his leg bleeding slowly.
The sudden burst of speed was too much for him. The Teenager was trying to drag him, but the Old Man's broken ankle caught on a muddy root again.
He fell hard on the ground.
"Get up!" the Teenager cried, pulling at Number 204's jumpsuit. "It's coming at us! Get up!"
The beast's growl got louder by the second.
It sounded like a machine revving up.
The red eyes in the fog came closer fast, sprinting toward them.
"The chain!" the woman screamed from the front. "That fucker is holding us back!"
The ghostly chain pulled them together. The ten prisoners were stretched out in a line, the tension on their necks choking them.
They were all anchored to the Old Man.
Suho roared, "Drag him on the ground! Just run!"
Everyone tried.
They pulled with all their might, dragging the screaming Old Man through the thorny grass. But the statue was heavy, and the mud was slippery. They were not moving at the needed pace.
The monster could finally be seen emerging from the mist.
It was a wolf, but it was the size of a bus. Its skin looked sharp, made of needles. Its jaws were filled with spinning saw blades.
It was fifty meters away from them.
Then forty.
"We're going to die!" the accountant screamed. "It's going to eat us!"
Meriel looked back at the beast. He then noticed the distance.
The chain was already stretched to the limit.
His gaze landed on the Teenager and the Old Man at the very back of the line.
The Teenager was struggling to move. He was pulling 204, trying to save him.
"Kid! Don't let me go!" the Old Man begged, clutching the boy's sleeve. "Please help me!"
The wolf roared, its sound piercing through everyone's ears. It was going to kill the stragglers first.
The Teenager looked at the wolf. Then he looked at the chain connecting him to the rest of the group.
As long as the Old Man was attached, nobody could run fast enough.
And he was closest to the Old Man. If the wolf attacked, it would eat 204 first... and 119 second.
Meriel saw the change in the boy's eyes. The 'good kid' mask simply dissolved.
"I'm sorry," the Teenager whispered.
He stopped pulling the Old Man.
The Teenager planted his feet in the mud and pushed the Old Man hard, right in the chest, toward the running monster.
"No!" the Old Man screamed as he tumbled backwards, sliding away from the group.
It didn't end there.
The boy turned and sprinted toward Suho and the others, diving forward to put as much distance between him and the Old Man as possible.
The chain stretched to his side.
The boy ran to one side while the Old Man was sliding away.
The distance hit five meters.
[WARNING.]
The collar around Prisoner 204's neck flashed red.
The Old Man looked up, his eyes meeting the Teenager's.
There was no anger, only total confusion. "You said... You would help..."
BOOM.
The explosion echoed throughout the forest.
The Old Man's head blasted apart in that moment, the inside particles covering the nearby plants in red.
SNAP.
The chain connecting the headless corpse to the Teenager shattered into pixels of blue light.
The sudden release of tension sent the Teenager stumbling forward, crashing into Meriel.
THUD.
[Player Eliminated.]
[Weight Reduced: 10kg.]
The statue suddenly felt lighter in Suho's hands, making him regain his balance.
"Move!" Suho screamed, not questioning the miracle. "Run!"
Freed from the anchor, the team ran forward. They ran with desperate energy to survive, tearing through the forest.
The Scrap Wolf stopped at the headless body.
It ignored the fleeing prisoners; its jaws began to tear into the corpse, the sound of wet chewing echoing behind them.
They didn't stop running for a full kilometre.
When they finally collapsed in a clearing, chests heaving, lungs burning, the silence returned.
The Teenager was sitting on the ground, hugging his knees, shaking violently.
He was covered in mud and specks of blood that weren't his.
"He... he slipped," the boy stammered, his eyes wide and watery. His gaze looked up at the group, pleading.
"I tried to hold him! I swear! The mud... he just slipped out of my hands!"
The woman, 550, looked at him with pity. "It's okay. At least you tried. You did your best."
Suho spat on the ground, grinning. "Who the fuck cares about him? He's gone. The statue is lighter. We might actually make it."
Meriel leaned against a tree, catching his breath. He looked at Number 119.
He had seen what happened just now.
The Teenager caught Meriel's gaze. For a split second, the crying stopped. The fear vanished from the boy's eyes, replaced by a cold, sharp warning.
Keep your mouth shut.
Then the mask returned, and the boy buried his face in his hands, sobbing loudly. "I'm sorry, grandfather! I'm so sorry!"
Meriel looked away, not caring for whatever business that was about.
Suho was a butcher, loud and obvious.
But this kid? This kid was even more dangerous.
"Nine left," Meriel whispered to himself, lifting his hand to check the weight of the chain.
It was going to be a long walk.