All Chapters of The Manhunt : Chapter 1 - Chapter 5

5 Chapters

Meet The Prey

O N EThe scraping branches accidentally touched the man's cold sweat. The man was so consumed with the idea of escaping that he almost did not feel the rock caught in his feet. Even barely heard the crunching and breaking of dead leaves and twigs against his boots. Almost did not see the tall trees rising out of the earth to touch the sky, not even aware of the creaking and groaning sounds they made as they swayed. They were not important to him after all. What he needed to pay attention to was the energy and strength inside his body to escape from his adversaries. He pumped his legs as fast as he could. Dodged trees and jumped over logs and rocks and ponds, covering behind a tree as bullets came following him. Adrenaline had kicked inside his veins long before he could even start sweating. His heart pounded so hard that it almost sounded like it was about to get out of his chest. His throat felt dry and so was his tongue. But none of them bothered him, nothing ever will if a group

The Nightmare Begins

The Manhunt /Josh Poe

T W OThe water glistens in the bright luminous light produced by the sun. The sky, mid-afternoon, a beautiful canvas with hints of blue skies and pure milky whites. The sun was beating mercilessly on his back and Jacob could feel his perspiration trickling down his spine, and in order to get rid of his predicament, he disturbed the sea, plunging himself intentionally into the water—headfirst. His figure went smoothly through the warm and salty water. He dissolved together with the sea, floating freely. He immediately felt the calmness and peacefulness the place was giving. It was as though he disappeared somewhere away from the buzzing world of New York. Freediving has always been exciting to him. It has always filled his life with the greatest of joy. Being under the water just feels like morphing into an aquatic paradise and discovering a new world. The adrenaline, the risk, the danger, and uncertainty. The joy of the journey of diving down to another world is something he would a

Face To Face With Death

The Manhunt /Josh Poe

J A C O BHas anyone also noticed that when you start waking up—or when you start rising back from a deep sleep, you almost always feel bewildered? Like what happened? Where am I? What's going on? Who am I? Why is the world spinning? When did I even feel conscious? Those are some of the questions that raced to my mind when I start to open my eyes. I am half-conscious, and by that, also half-asleep. Consciousness creeps over me and it is that moment when confusion starts to turn into distress, mounting over my shoulders. Everything is spinning, everything is nothing but a blur. The unfamiliar cement is a blur, the surrounding is a blur and even the men staring down at me are nothing but a blur. I feel a throbbing sensation on my temples. At first I was tempted to rub my head, and attempted to do so a couple of times. But when I begin to realize that I am handcuffed, my body pauses very suddenly. I look up at them. All of their gazes are menacing. It's as if their eyes, nose and mouth

First Blood

The Manhunt /Josh Poe

J A C O BI can hear their footsteps now even though I'm far away. The sounds their boots make as it crunches the twigs and dead leaves only serve to further fortify my will to run. I pump my legs as hard as I can, jump over boulders and rugs, slide down under fallen trees and remain my figure hidden among the trees. I hear one of them shout, “Hurry!”And the other shouts, “He's getting away! He's quick!”And another goes, “Is he quicker than a bullet?”The first shot pierces through the tree bark just several meters away from me. The rest follows and before I can even comprehend, they are firing rains of bullets at me. I maintain a low figure, ducking at the same time as I am running. The rifles roar like consecutive rumbles of thunder. Countless bullets follow me, tearing through barks and trees and rocks. Dust bursts like steam exploding from the underground in my trail, like a snake following every step I make. Branches snap, rocks splinter, and bullets pierce through tall tree

We Got Company

The Manhunt /Josh Poe

J A C O BLike my father used to tell me before, “Death is something only nature should execute.”It was these unforgettable words that have put me in an oath to never take someone's life. He also told me that humans should be compassionate, kind and have empathy for another human's pain. But now I broke that promise. I killed somebody. When I looked down at him that time, I could see nothing but my innocence drifting away from me. I felt regret immediately. I was blocked after. And now I'm in distress, but I'm also satisfied. But the rational part of my brain chimed in saying,“What's wrong with you? It's either you kill someone or you get killed. They're criminals. They get paid to do it. There's no way he will be empathetic after killing you.”Killing him was something that needed to be done, and I have done it. I have done it or else I could be the one laying down there lifelessly. Fate favors the bold, and it favored me when I had the courage to eliminate those two.I head down t