The Hangry Hunter

About the Story

When a group of tourists play the Hunt'n Eats app, it leads them, hot breaths ablazing, to find tasty food and valuable reward points in the forest.

That’s the same day Vanessa, a professional in creative and destructive arts, worked from her cavernous home. With her forest on fire, she must stop the beastly gamers before they destroy it, including her breakfast.

As they will learn, it’s never a good idea to make Vanessa hangry.

The Hangry Hunter is a side story that takes place during the events of Powered Personnel: The Big Startup.

It has around 13,200 words of sci-fi, aliens, heroics, drama, and lots of working-from-home action.

It also has scenes of violence, mature themes, and coarse language which may make this book unsuitable for younger and sensitive readers.

Seriously, Vanessa wants to eat people and uses a lot of f-bombs.

Key Elements

• Nature vs. Technology: The disruptive intrusion of gamified mobile apps and reckless tourists into pristine natural habitats.
• Instinctive Hunger: The raw, dangerous comedy of a creature whose survival and design work are fueled by an empty stomach.
• Creative Destruction: Balancing creative arts with pure physical power when protective instincts are triggered.

Excerpt:

The sea grew brighter as it became more shallow. It was at this point where the beast finished its journey on webbed foot and shifted itself into an upright position. The impact of its feet on floor whipped up waves and left a resounding thump with each step. The walk wasn’t long, and it approached a stone staircase that led out of the sea. The beast’s horns were the first to emerge out of the water, followed by charcoal colored hair, short with a distinctive fringe that parted at the front right side. Another step and its yellow eyes with narrow slit irises rose out of the water. It paused for a moment, scanning the area.

With the coast clear, it continued the ascent. The sea water washed over fine scales resembling tanned skin. Its broad shoulders flowed into strong upper arms, with the same golden-brown scales covering its forearms onto four-clawed webbed hands. Thick, solid muscles made up its torso and full, rounded breasts did nothing to soften her profile.

She glanced to her right, and her eyes caught the movement of a couple silhouettes moving with what looked like some sort of vision scopes. She took one more step, but this time, stomped on the stone riser. The impact sent a large wave out around her, and it crashed against the shoreline where the supposed intruders were. Her slanted, pointed ears picked up rustling from a couple trees. She growled, sharp teeth clenching into a sneer. Seconds later, the water that had been in her mouth turned into steam, which gave way to an orange glow. She took a breath in, opened her mouth wide and blasted a fireball the size of a large fruit towards the supposed hiding place. It slammed onto the ground, leaving a splash of flames in its wake. The clicking and rustling sounds vanished along with the trespassers. If they were smart, they’d keep running.