Day 3:
The hunger and the thirst was starting to get to me. It was getting harder to move. Harder to think about anything but food and water.
My stomach ached and my head hurt, and I felt like I was already dying.
It was evening by the time I woke up and I could barely stand. There was a pain in my skull like a jackhammer and I felt completely drained.
But I knew I had to fight through that. This was it. I needed to work hard now or I was going to die.
I looked up at the sky. It was gray and overcast. That constant heat I’d suffered from the past two days was finally starting to cool.
Once again I stumbled into the woods. In one hand I had a dagger. In my other hand I had the result of my night of labor. Three wooden bowls. If I did end up finding a water source I was to take as much as I could.
I went further than I had before into the wilderness. I passed interesting terrain as I walked. Ravines that led to sheer drops, trees much larger than they should be. More and more berry bushes scattered around.
These weren’t like the berries from before, though. One resembled a raspberry except it was a pale turquoise color. Another was white with colorful spots all across it, and it was perfectly round. It looked like some strange candy.
The third bush I saw was growing along the surface of a tree like a parasite. Its berries were all different colors and they were shaped like perfect little pyramids.
I tested each of them like before. The only one that caused irritation was the turquoise berry which burned my skin on contact. Once again I avoided eating the berries out of fear and uncertainty. Not only had I never seen these kinds of berries before, I was not sure these kinds of berries were natural at all.
Despite walking for what felt like forever I still found no trace of water. I sat down on a large nearby stone and stared up at the sky above through the trees. The clouds were getting thicker, darker.
I stumbled back to my field, and I set my bowls out on the flattest surfaces I could find on the nearby rock pile. I had made eleven of the things from the single tree. They were large and thick, and as smooth as I could manage. I hoped they would hold water.
I gathered up more branches and spent the day sharpening my knife.
A sense of dread filled me as the sun went down and my whole world became darker than it had been since I got here. No starlight shined through the thick black clouds above. A lightning flash hit one of the massive trees in the distance. Thunder rumbled through the field.
I could feel the ground beneath me shake. I could see the tree in the distance begin to glow with a reddish orange, and the wind throughout the field was blowing wildly.
I felt the first of the water droplets on my shirt. Tiny pinpricks that I barely noticed. They flicked against my scalp, and then became more frequent.
By the time the rain picked up the wind had already blown my small fire away. My clothes were soaked and stuck uncomfortably to my skin.
I lifted my head up to the sky and took a grateful mouthful of water. It was refreshing after two days of dehydration. I spent a long time with my mouth hanging open, drinking as much as I could.
I sat holding my legs, and watching the forest around me. I scanned every angle. I was ready to move at a moment’s notice. The fire in the distance spread. I idly wondered if the whole massive tree would go up in flames, and what would happen if it did.
I sat in pitch black darkness for hours. Illuminated only by the sudden flashes of lightning. But I knew they were out there. And tonight the light from my fire wouldn’t hold them at bay.
The wind began to pick up and threatened to blow me away. The rain began to fall at an angle. And when the lightning flashed I saw a silhouette moving in the trees, at the other side of the field.
Tall and gangly, with long thin legs. It moved quickly with long strides. I didn’t hear its movement at all. Another lightning flash and I saw two of them. The flash lingered for over a second. The figures stood still, one hiding itself behind a tree.
Taller than a man and moving on all fours. They were staring at me.
I stood up to my feet and held my makeshift knife. My leg wobbled as I stood. It would only take a single bite to my leg to incapacitate me completely.
When the lightning flashed again all three of them were moving slowly into the field. They stalked with slow deliberate movements. Their heads were held low.
I got a better look at them. Tan wrinkled skin, heads like dogs, and glowing eyes. Two adults and a pup.
A sound like a gunshot went off and I jumped back. Then another one. And a third. Their slow approach turned into a run, and they began to circle me. They ran quickly, moving into position. One circled around behind me, another to my front.
The pup was at my side. The smallest of the three by far but he was still taller than me.
They moved swiftly and got into their positions. More sounds like gunshots, this time punctuated by what sounded like a cross between a cough and a laugh. Then they started slowly approaching once more.
It was the one behind me that pounced first. I rolled to my side as it leapt at me. Those long legs didn’t do it any favors as it landed on the ground. Lightning flashed again and I could clearly see the monsters once more.
I moved quickly to the one on the ground and stuck my knife into its throat before it had the chance to recover.
It climbed to its feet and wailed an awful sound. Utterly unlike the noise it made to draw me out, this was a high pitched squealing. It sounded like a human toddler. It wailed and thrashed violently, throwing its neck about trying to dislodge the knife.
The pup growled and lunged at me next. It took me by surprise and I was not fast enough to move out of the way. The creature’s paws landed on my chest with a heavy thud. I fell to the ground hard.
I looked up at its gaping maw as it snarled at me. It growled and bared its long white teeth. They were perfect cones, made glistening by saliva.
I shattered a few when I smashed the rock against its head. It did not kill the thing, only caused it to let out a whine and back off of my chest.
My leg gave out completely before I could pull myself to my feet.
Lightning flashed once more, and thunder filled the field as the largest of the three approached me. It growled and bared its teeth, inches from my face. It was a deep guttural sound.
Its eyes glowed inches from my own. Its teeth were stained red. I could feel the warm steamy breath from its nose. A twin pair of tongues slithered from its mouth, one from the roof and one from the bottom. They collided together quickly.
A loud noise like a gunshot, inches from my face. And the creature opened its mouth and lunged. I bashed the rock against its open mouth and it clamped down hard. Its teeth caught my right hand and stuck in deep enough to draw blood.
I tore my hand free and shoved hard. Then I forced myself to my feet despite the pain. My leg was on fire, I could feel the aching all the way to the inside of the bone. Yet I sprinted faster than I had ever sprinted before as I made my way to the dead creature.
The knife did not come cleanly from its throat. I had to twist and pull and tear through flesh. All the while the largest of the creatures recovered behind me.
My body moved in a single motion. The knife came free and I twisted around, right as the creature collided with me from behind.
Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. The field shook. The knife went cleanly between its ribs. Its teeth tried to wrap themselves around my throat. I could feel the sharp edge scraping the skin of my neck.
The creature roared out in pain. It bucked and thrashed. Then it thrashed its head, and charged once more. It was slower. Even with my limp I managed to get out of the way. Its jaws clicked shut with a snap as I moved aside.
I tried limping away. Limping towards the woodline. In the direction of the massive burning tree. The rain had put it out and it was now a smoldering silhouette in the distance.
Behind me the creature charged. My leg was on fire. It gave out on me mid run. I stumbled and fell. I tripped and rolled.
Covered in mud I bled. I bled from my leg, from the scratches along my throat and the deep cuts on my hand.
The creatures glowing white eyes approached in the darkness. It growled above me as its long legs bounded forward.
It came in close and once again went for my throat.
I pulled the knife in its ribs free as it bit into my neck. My scratches became wounds. Deep bleeding wounds.
The creature tried lifting me off the ground by my neck. It began to pull and the muscles in its jaw went taut.
The knife went cleanly into its eye. All the way in. I slammed it down hard with my fist until I could feel it scrape against bone.
The creature let go. It thrashed violently. It pawed at its eye, as blood and watery fluid leaked from the wound. It roared out and squealed like a child. It bled from the wound on its chest.
It collapsed in a heap and so did I.
I looked up and drank quietly from the rain. I felt at my throat and felt the blood. I lay completely still flat on my back.
If the pup came to finish me off, I’d have no more fight left to give.
I laid there in the rain and bled until I fell asleep.