Marie Lu - Wildcard

Its too damn cold of a day to be out on a hunt.

I shiver, tug my scarf up higher over my mouth, and wipe a few snowflakes from my lashes. Then I slam my boot down on my electric skateboard. The board is old and used, like everything else I own, its blue paint almost entirely scraped off to reveal cheap silver plastic underneathbut its not dead yet, and when I push my heel down harder, it finally responds, jerking me forward as I squeeze between two rows of cars. My bright, rainbow-dyed hair whips across my face.

Hey! a driver yells as I maneuver past his car. I glance over my shoulder to see him waving a fist at me through his open window. You almost clipped me!

I just turn around and ignore him. Usually, Im a nicer person than thisor, at least, I would have shouted an apology. But this morning, Id woken up to a yellow paper taped to the door of my apartment, its words printed in the largest font you can imagine.

72 HOURS TO PAY OR VACATE

Translation: Im almost three months behind on my rent. So, unless I can get my hands on $3,450, Ill be homeless and in the streets by the end of the week.

Thatd put a damper on anyones day.

My cheeks sting from the wind. The sky beyond the cut of skyscrapers is gray, turning grayer, and in a few hours this flurry of snow will become a steady fall. Cars jam the streets, a nonstop trail of brake lights and honking from here all the way to Times Square. The occasional scream of a traffic controllers whistle sounds above the chaos. The air is thick with the smell of exhaust, and steam billows from an open vent nearby. People swarm up and down the sidewalks. Students coming home from school are easy to spot, their backpacks and fat headphones dotting the crowds.

Technically, I should be one of them. This should have been my first year of college. But I started skipping classes after Dad died, and I dropped out entirely several years ago. (Okay, finetechnically, I was expelled. But I swear I wouldve quit anyway. More on that later.)

I look down at my phone again, my mind returning to the hunt. Two days ago, I had gotten the following text message:

New York Police Department ALERT!
Arrest warrant out for Martin Hamer.
Payment $5,000.

The police are so busy these days with the increasing crime in the streets that they dont have time to hunt for petty criminals on their ownpetty criminals like Martin Hamer, whos wanted for gambling on Warcross, stealing money, and allegedly selling drugs to fund his bets. So, about once a week, the cops send out a message like this, a promise to pay anyone who can catch the criminal in question.

Thats where I come in. Im a bounty hunter, one of many in Manhattan, and Im fighting to capture Martin Hamer before another hunter can.

Anyone whos ever fallen on hard times will understand the nearly constant stream of numbers that run through my mind. A months rent in the worst apartment in New York: $1,150. A months food: $180. Electricity and internet: $150. Boxes of macaroni, ramen, and Spam left in my pantry: 4. And so on. On top of that, I owe $3,450 in unpaid rent, and $6,000 in credit card debt.

The number of dollars left in my bank account: $13.

Not the normal things a girl my age worries about. I should be freaking out over exams. Turning in papers. Waking up on time.

But I havent exactly had a normal adolescence.

Five thousand dollars is easily the largest bounty in months. For me, it might as well be all the money in the world. So, for the last two days, Ive done nothing but track this guy. Ive lost four bounties in a row this month. If I lose this one, too, Im going to be in real trouble.

Tourists always clogging up the streets, I think as a detour forces me down a path right into Times Square, where I get stuck behind a cluster of auto-taxis jammed at a pedestrian walkway. I lean back on my board, pull myself to a halt, and start inching backward. As I go, I glance down at my phone again.

A couple of months ago, Id succeeded in hacking into the main directory of Warcross players in New York and synced it all up to my phones maps. Its not hard, not if you remember that everyone in the world is connected in some way to everyone else. Its just time-consuming. You worm your way into one account, then branch out to their friends, then their friends, and eventually, youre able to track the location of any player in New York City. Now Ive finally managed to place my targets physical location, but my phones a cracked, beat-up old thing, with an antique battery thats on its last legs. It keeps trying to sleep in order to save energy, and the screen is so dark I can barely see anything.

Wake up, I mutter, squinting at the pixels.

Finally, the poor phone lets out a pitiful buzz, and the red location marker updates on my map.

I make my way out of the taxi jam and push my heel down on my board. It protests for a moment, but then it speeds me forward, a dot in a sea of moving humanity.

Once I reach Times Square, screens tower above me, surrounding me in a world of neon and sound. Every spring, the official Warcross Championships kick off with a huge ceremony, and two teams of top-ranking players compete in an all-stars opening round of Warcross. This years opening ceremony happens tonight in Tokyoso all the screens are Warcross-related today, showing a frenzied rotation of famous players, commercials, and footage of last years highlights. Frankie Denas latest, craziest music video plays on the side of one building. Shes dressed like her Warcross avatarin a limited edition suit and webbed glitter capeand dancing with a bunch of businessmen in bright pink suits. Underneath the screen, a group of excited tourists stop to pose for photos with some guy dressed in fake Warcross gear.