Hide and Seek: The Mad Girl Sees All novel Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The three of them had finished hers too. The opening was layered with crossed branches, then a thick mat of leaves, ther loose soil on top, leaving only a narrow entry near the tree root, just big enough to slip through

Lyra hit the edge without hesitation. Feet first, body curling, she slid into the pit. Her right hand dragged the cover back over, branches and clods of dirt sliding into place behind her.

The light dimmed. Above her: layered branches, leaves, soil. Only a single reed stalk poked through the cover, its mouth hidden under the leaves outside. She closed her lips around the other end and steadied her breathing.

Inhale. Exhale. Slow as she could make it.

Out there, the rustling came again. The ice tree had caught up.

Lyra held the reed in her mouth and didn’t move.

Closer. Closer.

Close enough to hear roots scraping over leaves, close enough that the dirt above her trembled faintly.

The scraping stopped. Above her head, branches swept through the air, searching.

One second.

Two.

Three.

No heat. No target. The branches withdrew. The rustling started again, roots shifting-southeast. Farther and farther away.

The corner of Lyra’s mouth ticked up.

From under the mound next to hers came a muffled voice. “Lyra?” It was Lina.

Lyra moved a finger and tapped twice on the wall of her pit. Tap. Tap.

“I’m here.”

Silence on the other side.

Two seconds later, two soft taps answered from the wall of Lina’s pit.

Tap. Tap.

Lyra closed her eyes, the reed still in her mouth. The cold of the dirt seeped through her back, and her mind started working.

Ten ice trees, scattered across the whole forest. They tracked people by heat.

Their bark was too hard for Wraithslayer to cut. Fire could slow them down, but couldn’t hurt them.

That was everything she knew.

A muffled scream drifted in from far off. She couldn’t tell who. Another one down.

Static crackled in her ear.

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TUE

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Chapter 41

“Lyra.” Lana’s voice came through.

“Here.”

“Twenty-eight players still alive in the forest. Twenty-five minutes in, more than half are out.”

Lyra blinked. Twenty-five minutes. Thirty-four dead.

Ꮢ

“We cross-checked the ice trees’ positions using broadcast feeds from every country,” Lana said, picking up speed.

“There’s one about two hundred feet northeast of your position, two about two hundred and sixty feet southwest, one four hundred feet due north. The other six are clustered on the west side of the forest, well away from you.”

Lyra kept her eyes shut and pinned the coordinates onto a map in her head.

Lyra said, “Got it.”

Lana paused. “One more thing.”

“Mm?”

“There’s a natural pond at the southeast edge of the forest, about a thousand feet from your pit. Two players are hiding in it. An ice tree has passed by three times and missed them. If your position gets compromised, head there.”

Lyra nodded. “Okay. Noted.”

“Lyra.”

“Mm?”

“Stay safe.”

“Mm-hm.”

The line went dead.

In the command center, Lana set the comm unit back on the desk. The moment she turned around, Garrett was on her

heels.

Garrett said, “Chief.”

Lana said, “Go.”

“Why didn’t you tell her about the treasure boxes?”

Lana didn’t slow down, heading for the main screen.

Garrett quickened his pace to catch up. “Our model projects a high probability that boxes will spawn around the thirty- minute mark.”

“Projects.”

“High probability.”

“Intel we don’t even believe ourselves.”

Lana stopped in front of the main screen. It showed Lyra lying in the pit.

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Chapter 41

SSEA

Lana asked, “Lyra just sprinted back from under an ice tree. She burned through most of her stamina and hasn’t recovered You tell her boxes are about to spawn-you really think she’d stay in that pit?”

Garrett opened his mouth.

Lana said, “She’d go.”

Lana tugged at her cuff. “Not just climb out. She’d be the first one charging in to grab one.”

Garrett lowered his head. Two seconds later he looked back up. “She has Decoy Dolls.”

Lana turned around and locked eyes with him.

A chill ran down Garrett’s spine.

“Nine lives. Is that a lot?” Lana’s voice stayed low, but the pace picked up.

“This is Round Forty-six. They’ve already cut the time in half. The difficulty is climbing.

“What about Forty-seven? Fifty? Sixty?

“Can anyone tell me how many rounds this game is going to run?

“Can anyone tell me how strong the next Wraiths will be?”

Garrett’s lips moved, but nothing came out.

“The Decoy Dolls are her trump card. Trump cards get saved for the moment that matters. You don’t burn them gambling on treasure boxes.”

Lana rapped her finger once on the desk. “Go write a self-reflection report. Three thousand words. On my desk tomorrow.”

Garrett snapped to attention. “Yes, ma’am.”

Down in the pit, Lyra lay still for a while until her breathing evened out. Eyes open, she listened to what was happening outside. The distant screams were getting rarer.

Not because there were fewer ice trees. Because there were fewer people left to run.

Twenty-eight. The number circled in her head.

Twenty-five minutes in and only twenty-eight left. By the time the full hour and a half was over, how many would make it?

If the ice trees cleared every runner above ground and ran out of heat sources, what then?

Would they stop?

No.

Buried in the dirt, she could hide for a while. Not for the whole round.

Drag this out long enough, and the rules might shift. She needed a plan first.

Lyra braced both hands against the wall of the pit and pushed her body slowly upward, prying a crack in the cover.

Light leaked in. She poked half her head out and swept her eyes around. No ice tree. She flipped out of the pit and dragged the cover back into place.

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