She grabbed a fistful of the shredded chicken and shoved it into her mouth, growling as she chewed like the wild animal they thought she was. The roasted potatoes were dry, overcooked, and she choked twice as she tried to swallow them down, but she didn’t stop until there was nothing left in the dish.
The paper cup of water was small, barely more than a drink or two, but she tilted it to her lips, downing the contents in one long swallow. It was the best meal she’d had in longer than she could remember, but it still hadn’t been enough to satiate.
She’d been too hungry to question the quality of the food. Now, however, she couldn’t help but wonder what fresh hell awaited her come morning. Decent food was always followed by some new, inventive torture. Goddess, she was so stupid.
“Ugh!” Disappointed in herself, frustrated with her situation, she grabbed the bowl and flung it at the door of the cage.
It bounced off the steel bars with a loud clang that echoed around the room and made her ears throb. That wasn’t what stole her breath and made her pulse double, though. It had been the barest movement, possibly a trick of the light, but she swore she’d seen the door move from the force of the blow.
Trying to keep her expectations to a minimum, she crawled forward, stretching out her fingers toward the bars. Her hand trembled, her entire body vibrated, but she couldn’t bring herself to actually touch the steel. She couldn’t bring herself to hope.
Seconds ticked by as her resolve faltered. The recruit, as green as he might be, wouldn’t be that careless. He wouldn’t have forgotten to lock the gate. The automatic locks on the cage doors had been replaced after a few of the Hunters had accidentally locked themselves inside with their prisoners.
It had taken days to clean up all the blood.
Now, the door had to be manually locked with a keypad on the outside of the cell. Had the new guard punched in the code? She didn’t remember hearing the beeps, but then again, she’d been distracted by the food that had been so tantalizingly close.
Heart hammering, she wound her fingers around the center bar, paused to take a deep breath, then pushed.
The door swung outward a few inches, the motion smooth and soundless. Mackenna bit down on her bottom lip to muffle her sob of pure joy. The chances of her making it out of the compound, let alone getting far enough away to find help, were slim at best. Still, she had to try. There might never be another opportunity like this, and she’d rather die trying to escape than spend another second locked within those walls.
She needed a plan, and she needed it fast.
Inching closer to the gate, she pushed it open just far enough to squeeze through it, then closed it quietly behind her. Glancing at the camera in the corner over the main exit, she scrambled across the room to the surgical table where the cruelest of atrocities were committed.
She could only hope the Hunters were too preoccupied to be monitoring the footage closely.
Searching through the instruments on a nearby metal cart, she found what she was looking for almost instantly. Gripping the bloodstained scalpel, she ducked beneath the surgical table, pressing herself as far as she could into the shadows. She didn’t fear pain. She’d certainly endured worse, but that didn’t mean she looked forward to what had to be done.
Holding the scalpel to the side of her neck, she took a deep breath for courage, then drew the blade across her skin, scoring the flesh. Blood seeped from the wound, spilling from the cut and trickling down to pool in the hollow above her collarbone. In her weakened state, it would take much longer for the injury to heal, but really, it was just one more among dozens of others.
The pain was fleeting, barely more than a sting, but that had been the easy part. Now, came the real fun.
Pressing her opposite fist against her mouth to muffle the cries, she parted her skin and pressed her index finger into the open wound. The pain was electric, searing, and it set every nerve ending in her body on fire. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, rolling over her cheeks and down her neck to mingle with the fresh river of crimson.
Her temples pounded in time with her racing pulse, and every muscle in her body tightened. One canine pierced the back of her hand when she bit into the flesh, but even that wasn’t enough to distract her from the agony.
Finally, just when she feared she’d pass out from the self-inflicted torture, her pointed claw caught on something hard and smooth embedded within the muscle. Squeezing her eyes closed, she crooked her finger, gasping when the tracking chip slipped from the gash and fell into her palm.
Funny how the burden of something so small could be so substantial. The tracker was nothing more than a tiny glass capsule, no bigger than a grain of rice, but when it rolled off her palm and tumbled to the tiled floor, she swore the world trembled from the impact.
There was no time to celebrate. Removing the device wouldn’t mean anything if she couldn’t get free of the camp. If the Hunters caught her, it would have all been for nothing.
Now, she just had to find a way out of the room. The main door wasn’t an option. Even if it hadn’t been locked, it was too risky. Unlike in the movies, the vents in the ceiling were too small, and the three windows at the top of the back wall wouldn’t accommodate a human body.
That left only one option.
In her time at the compound, she’d
