Masks
By Peter Sutton, first published in The Alchemy Press Book of Horror
A stranded group from a shipwreck don masks and hunt people in order to survive.
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Plot Summary
A man stands on the beach as morning comes and cool fog surrounds him. He holds a mask made of wood and bone that is in the shape of a hare. He looks at the remnants of the wrecked ship around him and then makes his way back to camp where the other survivors live. He finds his partner, Shana, sitting inside a tent and he tells her that it is probably time to start a hunt. They are waiting for a group of fishers to get back to them as well as a group of explorers on the cliffs. They go to the council, a group of people formed by the survivors, and the council authorizes a hunt for the group. They all gather and draw bones from a bag, some white and some blackened. Those who pick the blackened bones begin to run, and the rest of the survivors don various masks shaped like animals and begin to pursue their prey. A loud bell stops them all as they see a ship struggling close to shore and lifeboats begin to come crashing towards shore. All of the former survivors wait for the people to wash up on the beach and then they attack them.