Part 7!

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“Well, folks, it seems that Vera’s been taken for a ride. At least she’ll be with her departed beau in heaven – and our archives. Meanwhile, it looks like things are about to get exciting over in the forest, where several of our Babes are closing in on the pylons even as we speak.”

The camera shows a deep forest, where Marie is stuck in a thorny bush, trying to pull herself free. There is a line of blood running down the young whore’s side, and her bikini is stained and in tatters. “Marie is not doing so well. I guess the concrete jungle of LA just isn’t the same as the real thing.” A scream echoes across the valley, and Maria starts and redoubles her efforts. “That was Vera, of course, but Marie doesn’t know it. She looks pretty scared, huh? Hope Charlton comes to put her out of her misery soon.”

The camera cuts to a forest clearing. A long golden pylon is lying there, tilted against a fallen tree as though it has just fallen over itself. Slipping silently out of the underbrush, Rachel smirks as she wipes her sandals against a tree. “Our little IDF soldier is doing well. She’s bypassed spike traps, avoided bramble bushes, and managed to dodge the several tiny pits scattered across the area to catch the ankles of would-be runners.” Rachel glances around the clearing, crosses it in three quick strides, and taps the golden pylon. It flashes once, and she’s off across the clearing again. “Charlton won’t be thrilled about that, I gotta say. Or… wait.”

There is a flash of motion, and a bolo slams through the underbrush. Rachel’s smirk falls away as she leaps for cover, the bolo wrapping around a tree just behind her. In that pause, Charlton is crossing ground towards her, sidestepping his own traps with practiced ease, and he flashes out a knife as he closes in. Rachel rolls to her feet and starts to run, as the knife flashes out. A moment later, a green-and-black bikini top falls to the ground, letting the girl’s breasts spill out. Fortunately for her, they’re small enough that they don’t bounce around much, and Rachel begins to put on speed again. “That girl is fast on a straightaway, and she has an edge – it’s only a few minutes to the border of the carnival zone, where Charlton can’t follow. But Charlton’s right behind her, and he knows the ground – can she really get away?”

The clearing is silent for several moments as the sound of crashing bushes subsides. Then, Sonja stumbles out of the underbrush. The young clerk is covered in tiny scratches, and her bikini is more mud-brown than rock-grey now, but the shades help her blend into the scenery, and she seems to have added some mud to her face and skin for extra camoflage. She is limping slightly but noticeably, favoring her left foot, as she enters the clearing.

Almost simultaneously, Miko appears from the opposite direction. She doesn’t look to be in as good shape as Sonja. The Japanese gambler’s dress is in shreds, and her left breast is almost hanging free. “Miko got caught in a tangler bush, looks like. That can’t have been pleasant, but she’s still trying.” Miko and Sonja watch each other suspiciously. Then, carefully, Miko says, “You touch that end. I touch this one. We go away that way and this way.”

Sonja considers, looking over her opponent, and then nods once. The two babes approach the pylon, tap it at the same moment, and turn. As they do, Miko explodes into flight, clearly expecting Sonja to try something the instant that her back is turned. Sonja, for her part, is backing away cautiously, and very nearly puts her foot in another small pit snare as she does so. She freezes, and very carefully slips out of the clearing.

Meanwhile, Charlton is still giving pursuit, staying almost exactly ten feet behind Rachel as she tries to run. Rachel changes her path several times, sliding through the very edge of thickets or pausing long enough to throw rocks behind her at her pursuer, to no avail. She’s beginning to breathe heavily, but is used to pushing through the exertion. Charlton looks barely winded, and very amused.

“Naughty Charlton’s going for the ‘faint hope’ approach. Rachel still thinks that she has a chance, but he’s holding back – and the bolo launcher is ready to fire. I don’t think she’s going to last much longer…”

Seeing a gap in the treeline ahead, Charlton decides to stop playing around. He picks up speed, gaining rapidly as he prepares to fire. As the launcher rises, however, there is a sudden sound of crashing from the bushes. Marie stumbles out of the bushes, looking over her shoulder at an imaginary pursuer, and doesn’t see the almost-hidden hunter until she’s right on top of him. The launcher fires into her at almost point-blank range, wrapping around her left arm with the sound of cracking bones, and she screams as she spills into Charlton. The hunter trips over her, rolls to his feet, and starts to run again. He breaks the treeline and fires his taser directly at Rachel. She screams, desperately flinging herself forwards as the electricity surges through her body, and collapses sprawled face-first on the dirt.

Charlton watches the Babe for a moment with a slim frown. He looks at the perfect line in front of him where the forest meadow meets the dirt of the Carnival, and his jaw clences as he sees that Rachel is now across it. Turning, he storms back into the forest.

“Ooh. Tough luck, Charlton – and tougher luck to Marie, I guess.”

“You bitch!” Charlton roars. Marie is in the process of trying to stagger to her feet, sobbing weakly. Charlton’s boot catches her in the ribs, sending her flipping over to crash down on the forest floor. He grabs her bun of hair, pulling it loose as he drags her to her feet with it. She starts to raise her good arm, and he grabs it with his free hand and pulls. She screams in agony as her arm is dislocated, and he responds by slamming his fist into her stomach, then dropping her to land face-first on the grass as she vomits up her last meal. As she tries to roll onto her side, he rolls her back, forcing her head into the vomit, and growls at her. “You cost me a hunt!” He lets go of her head, delivering another punishing kick that breaks ribs, and then grabs her arms with his, pulling her to her feet as she lets out another piercing scream and tearing her bikini from her chest. He roughly shoves her against a tree, and ruthlessly pummels her, raining blows onto her breasts as she screams and tries vainly to push him aside, her arms hanging uselessly at her side. Another blow slams her to the ground, where another kick flattens her nose against her face and yet another shatters her teeth. Urine stains the ground around her as her bladder releases, but Charlton doesn’t even notice.

“Run.” He hisses. Marie’s face is stained with tears, and she tries to push herself to her feet. Charlton doesn’t pause. As she reaches her knees, he kicks down again, snapping her leg and causing her to drop to the ground with another scream. He reaches to each side of her other leg, and pushes with sharp force, shattering her kneecap, at which point he sees her pass out.

Dragging her up, Charlton leans Marie against a tree, looking the young whore over. Her skin ranges from brown to purple, as burst blood vessels begin to bleed inside her, and her breath is rattling as she whimpers in unconsciousness. He slaps her swollen, broken face until she blinks one eye vaguely open, and leans in to look at her. She whimpers, tries to scream but can’t. Charlton grabs a rope from his pack, loops it over the tree, and ties one end tightly to Marie’s hair. Pulling on it, he drags the girl up against, as she lets out a fresh round of soft moans. Once she’s been forced into the air, her limbs hanging uselessly, he cracks his knuckles and smiles darkly. “Good night, girl.”

With that, he slams another fist into her chest. As Marie tries to double over and vomit again, he hits her over and over, until his own knuckles are scraped almost raw and her ribs have collapsed inwards, puncturing her lungs. He keeps beating her until over a minute after she fails to respond, then leaves the corpse hanging by its hair as he stalks away.