Free Web NovelChapter 129: Chapter 129: Escape Game
"BLEGH... COUGH COUGH... COUGH COUGH COUGH... UGH..."
The moment the man opened his eyes, he was hit by the stress reaction of waking from long-term hibernation. His whole body spasmed and convulsed, and he arched his back like a shrimp as he began to cough and retch violently.
But he couldn’t bring anything up. The last remnants of food had been completely digested by his body long ago.
The last time he’d eaten was at least fifty years ago.
His muscles had also atrophied to a certain degree, leaving him utterly weak.
Fortunately, the Hibernation Pods had also undergone some sort of modification. This allowed the occupants to maintain basic bodily functions and become active without a long recovery period.
"UGH... cough cough... Where... Where is this place?" The man’s face was a mask of confusion. He turned weakly to look at the people around him.
Another side effect of long-term hibernation was temporary short-term amnesia upon waking. One might even forget their own identity, though it usually returned quickly.
"THUD!" Skinny kicked the newly awakened man in the stomach, making him curl up in pain again.
"Get the fuck up, don’t play dead! You’re Boss Mike’s pet now!"
"What... What are you doing!? I... I want to see... see my lawyer!" the newly-awakened man wailed in agony, as if he had just remembered the word "lawyer." "This is... this is prisoner abuse! I’m going to report you! I’m going to sue!"
Hearing this, the crowd looked at each other, then burst into uproarious laughter, as if they had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
A vicious smile spread across Skinny’s face. He bent down, grabbed the man’s hair, and dragged him back to the Hibernation Pod he had just left. He slammed the man’s head down against the line of text on it and said grimly:
"A lawyer? Sue me? You tell me which Hibernation Pod your lawyer’s in, and I’ll go eat him later... Not bad, you remember who you are. Just a goddamn prisoner."
Then he read out, enunciating every word: "Cleopatra Gates, male, ID# NY-23487, 60 years."
"What kind of garbage name is that? Why’s it so long!" Skinny said, viciously slamming Gates’s head against the Hibernation Pod. Blood immediately burst from the wound, and his nose began to gush.
Then, Skinny’s face changed to a kind expression as he said to Gates:
"My dear Gates, it is my honor to inform you that you are now a free man, no longer a prisoner. So, could you tell me what exactly you did to get sentenced to 60 years of hibernated imprisonment?"
Gates was now completely bewildered by the man’s actions. He shrank back in fear, but then a hint of joy appeared on his face. He said:
"I... I’m really free? But... have sixty years really passed? I was framed, though. My boss said I illegally used my position to disrupt the financial order and caused several major companies to go bankrupt, but he was the one who did it..." ƒгeewebnovёl.com
Skinny winked and gestured to the crowd, his tone exaggerated and feigning surprise.
"So you’re one of those elites who manipulates stocks and money. Who would’ve thought we’d get to chat with a gentleman from high society."
The crowd roared with laughter again. This kind of ritual was one of their only forms of entertainment, not to be missed.
Gates put on a fawning smile and asked cautiously:
"Excuse me, where is this place, exactly? Is it Clinton Correctional Facility, New York? I remember I was serving my sentence at Clinton Prison... Can I go?"
"No, this isn’t Clinton Prison." The strong, black man who hadn’t spoken yet, Mike, suddenly spoke up. He looked at Gates with a meaningful expression and said slowly:
"This is New York. Welcome to the future, kid... Now, run."
"New York? The future? Why... Why run?" Gates struggled to his feet, still completely lost. "Are you... were you sent by my boss to silence me?"
The way these people were dressed, their savage appearances... they didn’t look like prison guards at all. They looked more like a gang of killers.
Skinny snorted, slashing Gates’s shoulder with a knife. He said viciously:
"We’re telling you to run to make the hunt more interesting for everyone, of course... Run. As is tradition, we’ll give you..."
He glanced at Mike, who held up three fingers.
Skinny immediately continued, "As is tradition, we’ll give you three minutes. Now run!"
With that, he lunged as if to stab Gates again.
Face filled with terror, Gates cried out, turned, and ran. After about a few dozen yards, he glanced back, then immediately spurred himself to run faster.
"Run, Forrest, run!"
"Hahahaha, he runs like a girl!"
"Our little financier is pretty fast."
The crowd laughed and jeered. As they watched Gates’s figure shrink into the distance, their expressions turned savage, their eyes gleaming with excitement.
Mike tossed an arm-length metal bar up and down in his hand and said nonchalantly:
"Let’s go. Kill him."
The moment he finished speaking, the crowd lunged forward like a pack of wild beasts, chasing after Gates, who hadn’t gotten far!
This was the most enjoyable entertainment of their day!
Just then, Gates happened to look back. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and began to flee frantically.
He suddenly realized this place wasn’t a prison or a hospital. It looked more like a factory floor, one with no end in sight!
No exit!
Only endless corridors and winding paths. One wrong turn, and you’d hit a dead end!
The massive metal structures looked nothing like the Earth he remembered. It was more like an installation art exhibit.
’What... what is this place?’
Along the way, he passed many more Hibernation Pods scattered about, and he also saw bones—a truly shocking sight.
’Oh God... Have I not woken up at all? Am I already dead and cast into Hell?’
’Only Hell... only Hell could look like this!’
Gates wailed inwardly. He wanted to run with all his might, but he just couldn’t pick up speed.
He was simply too weak.
All he wanted now was to eat, but there was no food anywhere.
Before him, there was only cold, hard metal.
’Is this a metal Hell?’
Just as Gates was thinking this, a dark figure flashed around the corner of the corridor ahead. A metal rod struck him hard on the head, knocking him face-first to the ground.
"AGHH—" Gates screamed and fell hard. He looked up to see one of his pursuers standing before him with a vicious grin.
He immediately scrambled and crawled away with his last ounce of strength, bolting in another direction. The pursuer behind him wasn’t in a hurry, just dragging the metal rod with a smile as he followed.
Suddenly, two more figures darted out from the shadows at the side, slashing Gates’s arm with homemade metal knives.
Gates clutched his wound, not daring to even pause as he continued to sprint forward.
But just as he ran in front of a square metal structure, Skinny suddenly leaped down from on top of it, shouting with a twisted grin, "Surprise!"
Then he kicked Gates hard, sending him sprawling to the ground.
Gates cried out in pain. Dazed from the fall, he writhed and struggled on the ground, unable to get up.
A crowd of hunters rushed over and surrounded Gates, their faces filled with cruel smiles. freeweɓnøvel.com
Mike arrived as well. He looked down at Gates on the ground with an expression of disgust.
This prey was utterly uninteresting.
"Don’t... don’t kill me..." Gates whimpered, curled up on the ground. "I didn’t commit any crime, I was framed... I didn’t do it..."
Skinny glanced at Mike’s expression, then walked up to Gates with his knife, licking the blood from the blade. He said:
"You idiot. You don’t even know how to run away properly. Getting caught so easily... you’ve made Boss Mike unhappy. So just be good food. I hope you taste decent..."
With another vicious grin, he raised the dagger in his hand.
"BANG!" A single, crisp gunshot rang out, and Skinny’s knife-wielding arm instantly shattered at the elbow!
