Page 126 of The Most Dangerous Games

It’s not as if they don’t trust everyone still left, Ant Tipton and Carlos Lopez being the clear exceptions. It’s more basic than that: After the hospital, after the grenade, they’ve learned trust has to be earned every hour.

When they are far enough away from the main house, near an old fire pit almost entirely surrounded by trees, Jack checks the woods one more time, then uses his phone to call Jimmy.

Jimmy answers right away. Jack puts the call on speaker so the others can hear.

“Do you still have scrambling capability?” Jack asks.

“I do,” Jimmy says. “But I’m done acting like I’m hiding. If he’s listening, good. Let him hear it.”

Alek leans in. “Is this a bad time?”

“There really isn’t a good time for me,” Jimmy says. “I’m still on the run.”

Jack hears it—the edge in his voice that wasn’t there before. Not fear. Focus.

“Are you closer?” Jack asks.

“I am,” Jimmy says. “This has been a grind, but I suspected it would be once I took off. This is . . . bigger than I thought. More layers. More people. And they don’t play like normal people. I just keep reminding myself how much you guys are going through. And that keeps me going.”

There’s a brief silence before Jimmy says, “If you’re calling me, this must be important.”

“It is,” Alek says.

Wyatt says, “We need you to hear something.”

Alek tells him what they know about the upcoming duels.

There’s a beat of silence.

“He really talked about guns and knives?” Jimmy asks.

“Yeah,” Wyatt says. “He did.”

“Okay,” Jimmy says finally. “That’s . . . not a test. That’s him trying to turn you into him.”

“He said guns,” Wyatt adds. “Real guns.”

Jimmy exhales. “It was out of control a long time ago, but this is beyond anything we thought they’d ever get to.”

Hannah’s voice is small but steady. “Can you stop it?”

“I’m trying,” Jimmy says. “And I’m not telling you to be heroes here. I’m telling you to survive.”

Silence.

“I know you don’t want to hear this,” Jimmy says. “But you could walk away.”

Jack says, “We already decided we’re not walking away.”

The members of the A Team all look at each other. It is Alek who speaks for the group now.

“But also, Saad is back,” she started, “and we learned getting out doesn’t always lead you out.”

“They’re in control no matter what,” Jack says. “He wanted us to know that right at this point. To know there are no rules. Only him and what he wants. Down to what the red button means, or doesn’t.”

“And you?” Alek looks at the others. “Are you prepared to walk away?”

“You know the answer to that,” Jimmy says over the speaker.