"Dear citizens, it has been determined that Humans are no longer an endangered species. Earth is no longer a restricted zone, and open hunting may begin."

The voice blared across every corner of the galaxy. It was a voice people had grown accustomed to, always delivering updates with sterile efficiency. It didn't matter what species you belonged to or where you were in the galaxy---you heard it.

That day, however, the announcement sent ripples of excitement, dread, and confusion across the stars. Earth, once a forbidden planet, was now open for hunting.

I was one of the few humans who heard it, hiding out in the decaying ruins of New Chicago. We hadn't seen a clear sky in years. Earth had become a wasteland---pollution, war, and the climate collapse had left us with little more than rubble. I thought we were forgotten, just a relic of a dying world. But the announcement changed everything.

They were coming for us.

It started about fifty years ago. We had already been facing extinction for decades when the Galactic Confederation showed up. I remember the day the sky cracked open and strange ships descended. They didn't speak to us at first, just watched, observed.

Most of the people on Earth believed it was the end---aliens were here to wipe us out. But then, the Confederation made contact and delivered the strangest news: Humans were declared an endangered species.

The wars that had ravaged our planet, combined with plagues and starvation, had reduced our numbers to mere millions, scattered across what remained of civilization.

The Confederation, a vast assembly of different species, governed the galaxy and had strict laws about endangered species. We were placed under protection, and Earth was declared a restricted zone.

For a time, there was hope. The Confederation provided us with technology, resources, and even diplomatic support. It wasn't charity---they had their own agenda---but it saved us. And yet, even with their help, humanity never quite recovered.

We were a shadow of our former selves, living in ruins, forgotten by the rest of the galaxy.

Until now.

***

The day after the announcement, the skies above New Chicago darkened with the shapes of unfamiliar ships. Some were sleek and predatory, others bulky and utilitarian. All of them had one purpose: to hunt.

My breath caught in my throat as I watched from my hiding spot. The ships descended in waves, discharging hunters of all shapes and sizes. They moved with terrifying grace, stalking the streets, their eyes glowing with excitement. They were here for us, for sport.

I hadn't seen a human in weeks, but now I wished I had never seen another living soul again. The hunters moved with ruthless efficiency, tracking down the few survivors who remained in the city. I heard screams echo through the streets, the sound of blaster shots, and strange, alien growls.

It was chaos.

I ran.

It wasn't the first time I had run for my life, but this time felt different. This wasn't just survival---this was a game, and I was the prey. I weaved through the ruined streets, my heart pounding in my chest, my mind racing. I couldn't fight them. I couldn't even hide properly.

All I could do was run and hope that someone, somewhere, would put a stop to this madness.

But deep down, I knew that wouldn't happen. The Confederation had made their decision. Humans were no longer endangered.

We were fair game.

***

After hours of running, I found shelter in the basement of an old hospital. The smell of decay clung to the air, but it was better than being out there with the hunters. As I sat in the dark, trying to catch my breath, I heard a voice---a whisper, almost.

"Hey, you there?"

I froze. It had been so long since I'd heard another human voice. For a moment, I thought I was hallucinating. But then the voice came again, clearer this time.

"Don't move. I'm coming to you."

A figure emerged from the shadows---a man, dirty and ragged like me, but very much alive. His face was worn, scarred, but his eyes were sharp. He had a rifle slung over his back, one of the few pieces of old tech still working.

"Name's Tobias," he said, crouching beside me. "You're lucky I found you before they did."

I stared at him, still in shock. "How ... how are you still alive?"

He smirked, but it wasn’t a happy expression. "Same way you're still alive---by being smarter than them." He glanced at the door, as if expecting the hunters to burst in at any moment. "We don't have much time. There's a group of us, a resistance. We’ve been planning for this. You want to live, you come with me."

I didn't have much of a choice.

We moved quickly, avoiding the streets, sticking to the tunnels beneath the city. Tobias led me to a small group of survivors holed up in an old subway station. They were ragged, hungry, but they had weapons, and more importantly, they had a plan.

"We knew this day would come," one of them explained. Her name was Sarah, and she was the leader of the resistance. "The Confederation doesn't care about us. They only protected us because we were rare. Now that we've hit their magic number, we're expendable."

"What are we supposed to do?" I asked, my voice shaking. "There’s no way we can fight them."

Sarah's eyes were hard, determined. "We can't fight them head-on, no. But we know this city. We know the terrain. And most importantly, we know what they're after."

"They're after us," I said bitterly.

She nodded. "Exactly. We're the prize. So we turn the tables. We make the hunt harder. We draw them in, lead them into traps, make them pay for every inch of ground they take."

It was a long shot, but it was all we had.

***

The resistance wasn't large, maybe thirty of us in total. But we were smart, and we knew the city better than the hunters. Over the next few days, we set traps, sabotaged their equipment, and picked off lone hunters whenever we could. It wasn't enough to stop them, but it slowed them down.

The hunters weren't just in it for the kill---they wanted the thrill, the challenge. And when we started fighting back, it became more than just a slaughter.

It became a game.

I learned to move like a ghost through the ruins, to blend into the shadows and strike when they least expected it. Tobias taught me how to use a rifle, how to set traps. But no matter how many hunters we killed, more kept coming.

I lost track of time. Every day was a blur of violence and fear. We were holding our own, but only just. And every time one of us fell, the hunters grew bolder, more aggressive.

But there was something else happening too---something none of us had expected. The hunters were starting to turn on each other.

It was subtle at first---arguments over kills, fights breaking out between different hunting parties. But then it escalated. One night, we watched from the shadows as two groups of hunters fought over a kill, tearing each other apart in the process.

"They're competing," Sarah whispered, her eyes wide. "They're so caught up in the hunt, they're turning on each other."

It was a small victory, but it gave us hope. Maybe, just maybe, we could outlast them.

***

Weeks passed, and the resistance’s numbers dwindled. We were running out of food, ammunition, and hope. The hunters were closing in, tightening the noose around New Chicago.

One night, as we huddled in our underground hideout, Tobias pulled me aside. "We can't keep this up much longer," he said quietly. "We need to make a move."

"What kind of move?" I asked, my voice hollow.

"We hit them where it hurts," he said. "Their command ship. It's orbiting the planet, coordinating the hunts. If we can take it out, we might buy ourselves some time."

It was a suicide mission, and we both knew it. But there was no other option.

The next day, we made our move.

With the last of our strength, we fought our way to the surface, past the hunters, past the chaos, and reached the ship's landing zone. Tobias and I led the charge, our hearts pounding in our chests as we boarded the ship.

The battle that followed was a blur of violence and desperation. We fought with everything we had, but the hunters were relentless. One by one, the resistance fell, until it was just Tobias and me, cornered in the ship’s command center.

"Go," Tobias said, shoving me toward the controls. "Take them down."

I didn't have time to argue. With shaking hands, I activated the ship's self-destruct sequence.

The ship shuddered, alarms blaring as the countdown began.

"Let’s end this," Tobias said, a grim smile on his face.

And then, with a deafening roar, the ship exploded, taking us---and the hunters---with it.

***

I don't know how I survived.

Maybe it was luck, or maybe something more. But when I woke up, the sky above was clear, and the hunters were gone. The resistance was gone too---just a memory now.

The announcement had been made, the hunt had begun, and humanity had fought back. But in the end, we were still just prey, surviving on borrowed time.

The stars above were cold and distant, indifferent to the carnage that had unfolded below. I lay there for what felt like hours, staring up at the night sky, trying to make sense of it all. The hunters were gone, the resistance was gone, and yet somehow, I remained.

I forced myself to sit up, my body aching from the blast. The wreckage of the command ship lay scattered around me, still smoldering. There were no signs of life---no hunters, no resistance fighters, nothing. I was alone.

For a brief moment, I allowed myself to hope that it was over. That the hunters had been driven off, that humanity had won a small, fleeting victory. But deep down, I knew the truth. The Confederation wouldn't stop. Earth was no longer protected, and we were no longer special. They would send more hunters, more ships, and it would only get worse.

I stood up, wincing as pain shot through my leg. I had no weapons, no supplies, and no plan. But I was still alive, and as long as I was breathing, I would keep fighting.

As I began to limp back toward the ruins of New Chicago, the silence was broken by the faint hum of engines in the distance. I looked up and saw them---more ships, descending from the sky, like vultures circling a dying animal.

The hunt was far from over.

***

It didn't take long for the next wave of hunters to arrive. They were more organized this time, more methodical. They knew what had happened to the first wave, and they were determined not to make the same mistakes.

I had no choice but to go back into hiding. I found refuge in an old subway station, the same one where the resistance had once gathered. But this time, I was alone. The tunnels were empty, the air thick with the scent of decay and despair.

For weeks, I stayed underground, venturing out only when necessary to scavenge for food and supplies. I avoided the hunters as best I could, but they were everywhere. Their ships patrolled the skies, their foot soldiers combed the ruins, and their drones scoured the streets for any signs of life.

I became a ghost, moving silently through the shadows, always one step ahead of them. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was only a matter of time before they found me.

And then, one day, they did.

It happened in the dead of night. I was resting in the back of an old grocery store, hidden behind a pile of rubble, when I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps approaching. I held my breath, my heart pounding in my chest, as the footsteps grew closer.

A figure appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the moonlight. It was one of the hunters---a tall, armored figure, its eyes glowing a sickly green. It scanned the room, its head turning slowly from side to side, searching for any signs of movement.

I stayed perfectly still, hoping against hope that it would pass me by.

But then, its gaze locked onto me.

In an instant, I was on my feet, sprinting toward the back exit. The hunter let out a roar and gave chase, its heavy footsteps thundering behind me. I burst through the door and into the alley, my lungs burning as I ran for my life.

The streets were a maze of debris and destruction, but I knew them better than the hunter. I ducked down side streets, leaped over collapsed buildings, and squeezed through narrow gaps in the rubble. But no matter how fast I ran, the hunter was always right behind me.

Finally, I reached the edge of the city. Ahead of me was a wide open plain, stretching out into the horizon. There was nowhere left to hide.

I turned to face the hunter, my chest heaving, my hands shaking. I had no weapons, no way to defend myself. But I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

The hunter stopped a few feet away, its glowing eyes fixed on me. For a moment, we stood there in silence, the tension thick in the air.

Then, without warning, the hunter raised its weapon and fired.

I braced myself for the impact, but it never came. Instead, there was a loud thunk, followed by a metallic clatter as the hunter's weapon hit the ground.

I looked up in shock to see the hunter standing there, its body trembling, its weapon forgotten. Its glowing eyes flickered and dimmed, and for the first time, I saw something strange---hesitation, fear.

"What are you?" the hunter growled, its voice low and distorted.

I didn't know how to answer. I wasn't special. I was just a survivor, like the rest of humanity. But something had changed. The hunters weren't just after us for sport anymore. They were afraid of us.

Before I could say anything, the hunter turned and fled, disappearing into the night.

I stood there, alone once again, trying to make sense of what had just happened.

The hunter had spared me.

Why?

***

Over the next few days, I began to notice strange things happening. The hunters seemed less organized, more erratic. They fought amongst themselves, turned on each other. Some of them even abandoned the hunt altogether, fleeing back to their ships in panic.

And then, the dreams started.

They were vivid, haunting dreams of a vast, ancient power---something older than the Confederation, older than the galaxy itself. In my dreams, I saw a figure, shrouded in darkness, watching over the Earth with cold, unblinking eyes.

It wasn't long before I realized what was happening. The Earth wasn't just a hunting ground.

It was a prison.

The hunters had come here seeking sport, but they had stumbled upon something far more dangerous. Something they couldn't control.

The figure in my dreams was a god---an ancient, forgotten god that had been trapped on Earth for millennia. And now, it was waking up.

The hunters weren't afraid of humanity. They were afraid of the god within us.

As the days passed, the dreams grew stronger, more intense. The god's presence was everywhere, seeping into my thoughts, my memories, my very soul. It spoke to me in whispers, telling me of the power that lay dormant within me, the power that had been passed down through generations of humans.

"We are the last," the god said. "The final remnants of a once-great civilization. The hunters seek to destroy us, but they cannot. For we are the chosen ones. We are the vessels of the ancient power, the guardians of the Earth."

I didn't understand what it meant at first. But as the hunters continued to fall, as their ships retreated one by one, I began to see the truth.

Humanity wasn't just a prey species. We were something far more dangerous.

In the end, it wasn't the resistance that saved us. It wasn't our weapons or our traps or our cunning. It was the god within us---the ancient, forgotten power that had been lying dormant for so long.

The hunters fled, abandoning the Earth to its fate. The Confederation declared the planet off-limits once again, but this time, it wasn't out of pity.

It was out of fear.

I never saw Tobias again. I never found out what happened to the rest of the resistance. But I knew, deep down, that we had won. Not through strength or numbers, but through something far greater.

The Earth was ours again. And this time, we would protect it.

As I stood on the edge of the ruins of New Chicago, staring up at the stars, I felt a sense of peace. The hunt was over. The hunters were gone. And humanity, for the first time in centuries, was free.

But as I turned to leave, I felt a strange sensation---a whisper in the back of my mind, a reminder of the power that still lingered within me.

The god was still there, watching, waiting.

And I knew, in that moment, that our fight was far from over.

The galaxy had forgotten us once, but they would remember soon enough.

We were no longer prey.

We were the hunters now.

***

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