Man Hunt

Chapter Two - The Blue Team

I follow Aaron out of the tiny room with my backpack secured over my shoulders with my supplies and anorak tucked safely inside. He leads me from the room and I enter the hall. The other teenagers that will be fighting alongside us as members of the blue team have poked their heads outside their rooms, the noise of Aaron’s chuckling obviously making them feel safer, more positive.

I quickly glance around at the others, two boys and two girls. The gender division is equal. The group of teenagers around me share the same expression as I do; a mixture of fear, uncertainty, excitement and anxiousness. None of us know what to expect. None of us know what the day will bring. The others seem just as speechless as myself.

‘’I’m Aaron,’’ he introduces.

‘’Alice,’’ I add.

The first person to speak up is a tall and slender, olive-skinned girl. She has brown hair that is quite long and frizzy. It is curly but it is completely natural. She has hazelnut brown eyes that seem to reflect intelligence far beyond her age may initially indicate. She is beautiful, although her face is completely free from makeup. She is of an effortless beauty, completely natural.

‘’Kate,’’ she answers, nodding her head slightly as a sign of respect perhaps.

‘’What’s going on here?’’ questions one of the boys, the taller of the two – although not quite as lofty as Aaron.

He has short brown hair and his skin is a similar colour to Kate’s. He is muscular and looks quite fit, although something about his face makes me think he is quite dull or dopey – after six years in secondary school I’m used to his kind. He looks like the typical guy that would go out partying every chance he gets and drink until he’s sickly.

‘’Didn’t you read the letter?’’ asks the final girl among us obnoxiously, as soon as I hear her voice I can identify the type of person she is.

Her tone is aristocratic, she is of high-born and due to her social status she thinks she’s superior to everyone. As she questions the boy, her noise wrinkles as though he disgusts her. She seems to me to be the type of girl that has been fed with a silver spoon her entire life; her hair – which is looking more than perfect – hangs in neat tufts as far as her shoulder blades. Her face has a delicate layer of makeup across it that makes her cheeks seem thinner and her eyes seem brighter. She manages to look fashionable though in the clothes she has been provided with – she wears the bandana around her neck like Aaron does.

‘’Can you even read?’’ she questions again, before he can get another word in – she rolls her eyes as she speaks.

I glance at Aaron and her smiles slightly at me, revealing his perfectly white teeth. He winks and turns back to the two bickering teens that we’re going to have to put up with for the next while if we want the prize money.

‘’Enough!’’ Aaron finally utters and the two quieten. Although it is unofficial, it is clear Aaron has stepped forward as our leader. We have all just met and already he is able to silence the group. ‘’ What are your names?’’

‘’Eve,’’ introduces the callous, posh girl, smiling at Aaron and curling a tuft of her blonde hair between her fingers – painted a luscious shade of red.

‘’Robbie,’’ replies the apparently dim-witted boy that Eve already clearly can’t stand.

‘’How common,’’ mutters Eve and rolls her eyes once more.

‘’What about you?’’ I question, glancing at the final boy among us.

He avoids making eye contact; instead he stares at the floor. In a quick glance I take him in; he has quite pale skin – especially standing next to Kate – and he has curly auburn hair. He is quite slender, with a defined face and prominent jawbones. He is quite small and looks as though he would be the type of kid that would get pushed around in the playground.