In Earth's ruins, the Hunter Jake is running. His lungs are on fire, but he doesn't slow down. The beast is still chasing him. Jake has been running from it for a long time. Yet he is tired. His body is exhausted. He's sick of fleeing the beast. He knows it wants to kill him. After all, in Hunter Hunted, it's kill or be killed. To the Masters’ delight, the aliens who have decimated humanity.
The Masters kept only the strongest and most clever men to force them into the Hunter Hunted game. For their entertainment, of course. Hunter Hunted is like the Hunger Games, but it's all men, all adults. There are no sponsors and no promise for the final survivor if there will be any left at all.
Men are not the only ones who have to play this sadistic game. The beasts, from the planet Kulrathe, are also in the picture. Jake thinks that their planet must be in the same state as the Earth. Destroyed, in ruins. None of the Hunters, the name given to the participants of the Hunter Hunted, have seen the face of the Masters. They used machines to interact with their prisoners. Now only their voices are heard to intimidate, to provoke the Hunters.
"So, human, are you going to give up?" Suddenly says a deep, somewhat beastly voice.
It is one of them, one of the Masters.
"Fuck... you…" manages to say Jake, and he stops running.
He doesn't want to run away anymore. If he's going to die, he might as well be done with the beast. Jake prepares himself for what looks like his last fight. He looks at the ammunition he has for his pistol and rifle, if he has any grenades, any healing kits. Jake has a few bullets, no grenades, no healing items. He's not going to last long. He knows it, but he's going to fight to the very end.
Jake takes his rifle and waits for the beast to arrive. He soon hears the heavy sound of its footsteps. The Kulrathe inhabitants walk like humans. They look like Minotaurs, they are very muscular, they have more stamina than humans and their jaws have long, powerful teeth. Powerful enough to crush human flesh and bone. Jake has heard other Hunters say that a starving beast once devoured a man. He hopes he doesn't end up that way.
As soon as the beast is in range, Jake empties his rifle. A single bullet hit the beast and it didn't slow it down. It didn't even flinch! Jake grabs his gun and fires the remaining bullets as the beast charges him. Two of them hit it in the chest as the beast slams Jake to the ground. Jake feels bones breaking, but he can't scream. His body will fail him soon. Gasping for breath, Jake tells the beast to end his life.
The beast, rather than killing him, sniffs him and starts talking.
"You strong smell. You alpha male?"
"Wh...What...?" Jake manages to say in a whisper.
The inhabitants of Kulrathe aren't supposed to speak. Their language is limited to grunts and groans.
"You alpha male? I, Garathe Den, Kulrathe."
"How can you talk?" Jake whispers.
"Me listen Hunters talk."
"Okay..."
These beasts are definitely smarter than Jake thought.
"Then why don't you finish me off? I'm dying, Garathe Den."
"Because I desire. Female Kulrathe heat period."
"Uh... but you're a male."
"But still desire. Want to give. Thing to female."
"I understand, but I'm a male too."
"Yes, but alpha male. You want too. Name?"
Jake says his name and Garathe Den asks again if he wants to be intimate with him. Jake isn't attracted to men. Jake likes women, but there are no women since the Masters invaded. Have they been exterminated or are the Masters keeping them for themselves? No one knows. Despite all this, Jake still has his libido and he has wanted sex for so long. Masturbation has its limits, and he doesn't have long to live, so he might as well get some pleasure before the end.
"All right, Garathe Den. Pleasure yourself and please me too."
The beast wastes no time. He releases Jake from his grip and has an intimate moment with him. It was difficult, because Jake's body refused to move and Garathe Den was so strong that he often hurt the man rather than give him pleasure. Still, they both manage to feel some pleasure. But the pain in Jake's body is too much and he has no energy left. He passes out.
He never thought he would wake up, but Jake opens his eyes. Garathe Den is lying next to him. His fur gives him warmth. Jake looks at himself. He’s covered with the beast’s slime.
"Yuck!"
He wants to take it off when Garathe Den growls.
"Keep. Help healing."
"Really?"
"Yes. Body healing fast. You safe. You alive."
Indeed, Jake feels alive. Full of energy.
"There's still hope, then. Look, I have a plan to escape Earth. We have to warn someone about the Masters. I'm trying to build a space vehicle out of an old car’s wreckage. Will you help me find the missing parts?"
"I not get it."
"Escape. Flight. Freedom. Do you understand? I didn't trust anyone with this plan, but you saved my life when you were hunting me for so long."
"Order from Masters. Chase you."
"Fuck them! So, will you help me?"
Garathe Den nods his head. Freedom, for him and his people. He would be a fool not to help Jake and his plan.
"Great. I'm going to get some rest and then the hunts will resume."
"Hunts?"
"Hunting for the vehicle parts and hunting for the Hunter Hunted. I hope there are no other Hunters after us."
"Come on, what have we here?" Said suddenly the voice of a Master. "A human and a beast who had sex? What a disgusting sight."
"Fuck you, fucking Master!" Jake retorts.
Garathe Den growls in displeasure.
"Go back to hunting!" Orders the voice. "The Hunter Hunted game never stops."
"Yeah, yeah, right." Said Jake in a nonchalant tone.
He gets up, although he would have liked to rest, and the human and the beast set off. Soon other Hunters arrive to take them on. Both humans and beasts. Jake takes his rocket launcher, Garathe Den his whip which fires a plasma ball that then splits into smaller projectiles.
"Ready?" Jake asks his hunting partner.
"Ready." Replies Garathe Den.
They fired at the same time and bodies fell.