The first hints of dawn filtered softly through the thick canopy, brushing across Amelia's still form as she sat with her eyes narrowed in careful observation of the dense forest below. A makeshift spear of woven vines and stone rested across her lap.
Shifting slightly into a sitting position, I stifled a groan and stretched my back, relishing every pop and jolt that came from spending the night atop rough branches. "Were you the last on watch?" I croaked, my voice still rough with sleep.
Amelia started slightly at the sound of my voice, her shoulders tensing before she let out a soft breath and relaxed again. "Yeah," she murmured, though her eyes stayed fixed on the shifting shadows below.
Following her gaze, I nodded slowly as memories of the night before clicked back into place. "Did you see those creatures?"
She hesitated for a moment before nodding, her grip tightening around the makeshift spear. "Yes. Though I'm not exactly sure what they were. It was too dark to make out much."
I shivered despite myself, the memory still fresh. "Yeah, I saw them during my watch too."
One by one, the others began to stir, roused by the quiet murmur of our conversation. Ella let out a long, theatrical yawn as she stretched.
Henry was the last to sit up, groaning as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.
"So," Ella began with mock enthusiasm as she dug through our rations, "who's ready for another exciting day in paradise?" She held up a strip of dried bug meat with a grin. "Breakfast is served."
Henry groaned louder, slumping forward. "Bug meat…again? You've got to be kidding me."
Owen shrugged and grabbed his portion without complaint.
Benjamin settled beside Amelia, his expression tight with unease. He glanced around the group before asking quietly, "You both saw them clearly? How close did they get?"
"Close enough," I replied grimly, taking my share of the dried meat and digging in.
Ella and Henry exchanged puzzled glances, the shift in tone not lost on them.
"Wait…what creatures?" Ella asked, a bit curious as she scanned the trees around us.
"I'm not sure," I muttered. "But they kinda resembled reptilians from what I could make out through the darkness."
Ella's eyes widened slightly as she tightened her grip on the straps on her pack. "Why didn't you wake us?"
"They didn't stay long," I said. "So it didn't feel like an immediate threat. But we'd be stupid to assume they won't be back."
Emily, who had been quiet until now, glanced up toward the canopy, her expression tight. "Do you think they can climb?" she asked softly.
Benjamin hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't think so. Their bodies looked built for speed, not climbing. But…" His eyes drifted over the surrounding trees, his confidence not quite matching his words.
"Doesn't matter," Amelia cut in. "If they're tracking us, we keep moving."
Henry nodded. "Yeah. Let's not hang around and find out Benjamin was wrong."
Not long after, we packed up and got moving again, Amelia taking point with her handgun drawn, scanning the path ahead with steady focus.
As the hours passed without any sign of them, the tightness in our chests slowly began to ease, replaced by a dull, wary fatigue that settled over us.
"Okay," Henry muttered, brushing a vine off his shoulder, "I know we've been through hell, but… is it just me, or does this place actually look kind of nice when it's not trying to kill us?"
Smirking Owen crouched beside a moss-covered root, running a hand over its surface before standing again. "Still is," he said quietly, "Just not as active."
Ella gave a faint laugh. "Well… who's to say those creatures weren't social? You never know."
Henry snorted. "Yeah, I'll leave the befriending to you," he said. "Give it a few snacks, and maybe it'll want to cuddle."
Scoffing, Ella turned away just as Benjamin raised a hand for us to stop.
"It's about time we refilled our water," he said, nodding toward a thin veil of mist curling from behind a cluster of ferns. "Remember what I said?"
"Yes, yes, I know," Henry cut in quickly. "Test it with the cloth, check the heat, then use the runoff to refill. You've only said it, what, ten times now?"
Benjamin smiled faintly as he stepped forward, dipping the cloth into the steaming water and inspecting it carefully. "Good. I'm glad you remembered."
Rolling his eyes, Henry dipped his canteen into the hot—but not scalding—water.
"Don't forget the discoloration," Ella added.
"Oh, come on," Henry groaned. "I know."
Smirking at the exchange, I crouched down to refill my own canteen. Still, I couldn't help but keep an eye on the surrounding foliage, watching the way the wind moved through the leaves.
For a moment, I thought I saw something.
But when I turned, it turned out to be nothing but the release of built-up pressure from a nearby steam vent.
"Still feel like we're being watched?" Amelia whispered.
"Always," I breathed, my eyes fixed on the forest around us.
Still, regardless of my unease, time passed as we made our way through mile after mile of stubborn jungle, and with every step, something new revealed itself. From fungi pulsing faintly along the trunks of dying trees in muted greens and blues, to the far more unsettling sight of a massive insect-like creature dragging the hollowed remains of a colossal tree behind it, which Emily had so helpfully blurted, "looked like a crab using its shell," while we hid for our lives behind a tree no thicker than me.
On the other hand, after that, the discoveries became much less dramatic.
And along with those sights came new sounds, sharp hoots and rapid, chittering shrieks echoing from tree to tree.
But soon enough, hunger began to creep in as the hours dragged on. The bug meat from earlier was already fading into memory, and every colorful fruit we passed felt like a cruel tease when no one was willing to risk eating something toxic.
That only slowed us further. Exhaustion settled into our bones, and the jungle's humidity made every step feel heavier than the last. Finally, when the suns began to sink, we found a sloped patch of ground nestled between two thick roots. It was shaded and somewhat concealed, better than anything we'd found up until now.
But the moment I closed my eyes, it felt like the world had been waiting for exactly that moment to loose another horror on us.
I was on my feet in a flash, my hand gripping the hilt of my knife, as something heavy forced its way through the foliage straight toward us. Around me, the others stiffened, eyes wide as they searched the brush.
Then it emerged from the undergrowth.
A massive snail-like creature slid into view, its body rippling forward on thick, muscular folds of flesh. Its shell gleamed faintly in the filtered light, segmented and ridged, with sharp points jutting from each section like natural armor.
The thing was massive, nearly the size of a tire, but luckily, it didn't seem to care that we were there at all.
"Stay still," Amelia whispered.
Then another one followed.
And another.
Seven in total, each one slowly moving across the ground, utterly oblivious to us as they slimed their way through our camp like we weren't even there.
We didn't breathe.
Not until Benjamin slowly sat up. "If we're going to eat tonight," he murmured, "this is our chance."
Emily grimaced. "Are we seriously thinking about eating that? It's a snail. A giant snail. That just…feels wrong."
Benjamin hesitated, the uncertainty clear in his expression. "I'm not thrilled about it either," he admitted, glancing at the slow-moving creatures. "But unless we want to go hungry, this might be our best shot."
Before Emily could argue further, he cautiously stepped forward, all eyes on him as he approached one of the massive snails, carefully observing it.
Reaching out, he slowly grasped the edge of the shell.
Then, out of nowhere, the creature reacted. Its soft body recoiled, vanishing into the shell with a sharp snap as the segmented plates slammed shut — nearly catching his fingers in the process.
"Hell," he hissed, jerking his hand back. "Things like a bear trap."
"Well, that's an interesting defense," Henry muttered as he crouched beside it, inspecting the surface. "Looks like a spiky rock once it's sealed."
"No kidding," I said, eyeing the rough plates. "That's going to be a pain to crack open."
"Not necessarily," Amelia cut in. She stepped into the center of the clearing, kicking away bits of debris. "If we cook it in the shell, we won't have to crack it at all. It'll hold the heat and keep everything contained."
I blinked, then nodded. That's… actually a great idea. Surprised, I didn't think of that.
With a plan forming, we got to work. Benjamin and Henry helped lift the massive shell onto a makeshift furnace, wich consisted of a ring of stacked stone, just barely sturdy enough to withstand its massive weight, while we built a fire beneath it.
Even Emily, despite her reluctance, joined in with gathering twigs and dried leaves for kindling. Around us, the other snails slid away, uncaring that one of their buddies had been snatched up, their forms disappearing into the darkness of the jungle.
Minutes later, the fire crackled to life. Warm, orange light flickered over our faces as Benjamin prodded the flames. And as time passed, the plates began to shift with faint pops, until thin wisps of fragrant steam curled into the night air.
Henry leaned forward, sniffing exaggeratedly. "Smells... weird. But kind of good?"
"Almost done," Benjamin said, nudging the edge of the shell with a stick. "It's loosening up."
Ella sat cross-legged near the fire, sketchbook already open in her lap. Her pen scratched softly as she recorded the moment. "It's fascinating how the shell locks shut like armor, leaving not even a single gap for an attack," she mused, "probably had to adapt to survive being eaten by much larger prey."
"Adapted or not," Amelia said with a faint smirk, "it's dinner now."
Henry wandered over to the fire, slowly circling the now-cooked snail shells like a predator sizing up prey. "Let's see… too cracked… too small… Ah, you'll do," he muttered, stopping in front of one that had kept most of its shape. Steam still curled lazily off its surface.
He crouched down, cautiously reaching out, then yanked his hand back with a sharp hiss. "Still hot. Great." He blew on his fingers, then grabbed a folded cloth from his bag and wrapped it around his hand for protection.
"Second time's the charm," he muttered, gripping the edge of the shell. He tugged once… nothing. A second time, it shifted, but not enough. "Seriously?" he grumbled, bracing a foot against the edge of a rock and pulling harder.
With a strained grunt and a loud squelching sound, the shell popped free, sending Henry stumbling backward with it in his arms.
"Victory," he breathed dramatically, holding the shell aloft like a war prize.
Straightening, he slung it over his shoulder and turned to the others with a proud grin. "Alright, be honest. How do I look?"
Benjamin looked over from the fire and smirked. "Like a medieval salad bowl."
Henry puffed out his chest, adjusting the shell into a more dramatic pose. "Exactly the look I was going for."
Ella didn't even glance up from her sketchbook as she muttered, "Maybe the wildlife will think you're one of them and leave the rest of us alone."
"Alright," Amelia said, crouching by the fire and examining the steaming shell. "Looks ready. Let's try to get it open without burning ourselves."
Benjamin and I stepped in with care, using long sticks to pry apart the now-loosened segments. With some effort, a burst of fragrant steam hissed out as the shell cracked open, revealing a glistening, almost translucent white meat inside.
"Well," I said, blinking in surprise, "that looks a hell of a lot better than I expected."
Benjamin carved into it with ease, separating portions and setting them aside. Then, grabbing one of the cleaned shells, he poured in a bit of the filtered water we'd collected earlier and tossed in a handful of foraged greens and fibrous roots.
"There," he said, stirring it all together with a stick. "Not exactly gourmet, but it might actually be decent."
Amelia raised an eyebrow at him, a rare smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I never thought I'd see you cooking alien stew."
Benjamin chuckled. "Honestly? Neither did I. But I guess there's a first time for everything."
I knelt nearby, grabbed another large shell, and placed it firmly on the ground. Cutting into the center of the meat, I tried holding it steady with my fingertips…only to jerk my hand back with a hiss. "Ow! That's hot."
"Careful, Atlas," Ella said.
"Yeah, thanks," I muttered, shaking out my fingers. I slid the shell under the chunk of meat instead and pressed down, slicing off a thick slab of the white meat. Juices ran down the sides, pooling into the shell's bottom as I began cutting the meat into smaller cubes.
Henry leaned in beside me, sniffing the air dramatically. "Who knew snails could smell like roasted heaven?"
"Not roasted. Boiled with desperation," I said dryly.
"Still smells better than bug jerky," he grinned, clearly unbothered.
By now, the scent had drawn everyone in. Even Emily and Owen, who had kept their distance, drifted closer. Their eyes followed the slow bubbling of the stew in Benjamin's makeshift pan.
"Think it's ready?" Henry asked, practically vibrating with anticipation.
Benjamin nodded and began ladling portions into large leaves, passing them around like makeshift bowls. We all took hesitant bites, prepared for the worst.
And then…relief.
"This is actually really good," Ella murmured, surprised as she took another bite.
"Told you," Henry beamed. "Snail bisque. Five-star cuisine, jungle edition."
Emily took a slow bite, paused, then nodded. "It's... surprisingly edible," she admitted.
We ate together in a quiet circle, the fire casting its soft, flickering glow across our tired faces. No one said it aloud, but the silent glances we exchanged said enough—we needed this. Not just the food, but the stillness. The calm. The fragile illusion of normalcy in a world that had given us so little of it.
The sound of chewing, the occasional sip from a flask, and the low hum of the jungle filled the quiet around us. Slowly, the sky deepened to a dusky blue, then to a blanket of deep purple.
Emily's gaze lifted toward the trees above us. The branches arched like skeletal fingers against the darkening sky. "Should we start looking for a spot in the trees?"
I followed her gaze, noting that the trees in this area were far smaller than usual. "Doesn't look like these trees will hold us tonight," I murmured.
Amelia, crouched near the fire, and poked gently at the embers with a stick. The flames flared a little, throwing fresh light on her face. "We'll stay here," she said. "Keep the fire going, and the person on watch keeps the gun close."
We all nodded, quietly resigned. The forest pressed in around us, a living wall of noise and movement. Still, the fire felt like a barrier between us and the dark.
Henry leaned back against a tree trunk, adjusting the cracked shell he'd strapped to his shoulder. "Well, at least if something shows up, I'll look terrifying," he said, striking a pose.
Ella rolled her eyes and bumped him gently with her elbow. "Or delicious."
He gasped in feigned offense, exaggerating the motion as he polished the shell with the corner of his shirt. "Hey, this is premium armor. It'll protect me from everything… well, except your sarcasm."
Shaking my head from their bickering, I stood slowly, brushing dirt from my hands and stretching the stiffness from my shoulders. As I moved away from the firelight, Benjamin looked up from where he sat, his brow raised.
"Going somewhere?"
"Just thinking we should set some traps," I replied, glancing toward the trees. "Nothing fancy. Just something that might give us a heads-up if anything gets close."
He nodded and stood, grabbing a coil of cord from his bag. "Good thinking."
Together we moved along the edges of our camp, quietly working in tandem. We wedged sticks into the soil, strung twine between trees, and stacked dry branches that would crack loudly if disturbed. Nothing that would stop anything, but something that might buy us a second or two.
Benjamin paused as he tied a knot around a low limb. "You know, this reminds me of when I was a kid," he muttered beside me. "My brother and I used to make little snares for rabbits behind our house. Thought we were wilderness masters."
I looked up, curious. "You grew up in the woods?"
He smiled faintly, his fingers tugging on the line to test the tension. "More like on the edge of them. My brother Luke, though, was all in. Knew every trail, every trick. He'd drag me out with him even when I wanted to stay home. Taught me how to read animal tracks, how to fish without bait, how to sleep in the rain and still wake up dry." His smile faded slightly as his gaze drifted toward the firelight. "He passed away a few years ago. But everything I know started with him."
I nodded, returning to the trap in front of me. "Sounds like he left a hell of a legacy."
Benjamin's voice dropped slightly. "Yeah… he did."
He looked up after a beat, turning the question around. "What about you? Where'd you learn this kind of thing?"
I hesitated, focusing intently on tightening the cord. "Military," I finally answered. "Spent years learning survival techniques, setting traps and alarms far more dangerous than these."
Benjamin tilted his head, intrigued. "Sounds intense. Got any stories?"
"Plenty," I admitted with a slight smirk, recalling the countless creative contraptions I'd encountered. "I've seen guys rig up alarms from tin cans and rocks, traps from almost nothing at all. just whatever scraps we had lying around. Sometimes the simplest traps were the most effective."
Benjamin chuckled softly, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, Luke always said simplicity was key. Overcomplicating a trap meant it probably wouldn't work."
A comfortable silence settled between us as we continued our work. The sounds of the forest around us creating a gentle backdrop. After a few moments, Benjamin glanced at me again, curious. "What about the people you served with? You still keep in touch with any of them?"
My movements faltered slightly as cold emptiness settled in my chest, memories of faces and voices that I had long since buried.
"Not anymore," I replied quietly, my voice clipped.
Benjamin paused, clearly picking up on the shift in my mood. He just gave a quiet nod of understanding. "Okay."
We finished setting the last of the traps in silence, each of us retreating inward, thoughts swirling unspoken between the trees. When we returned to the camp, the fire was burning low, casting tired orange halos across the clearing. I sank with my back against the base of a tree, the bark rough against my shoulders, and let my eyes relax.
Benjamin lingered near the perimeter a moment longer, double-checking the traps. His silhouette flickered in and out of view, caught in the wavering light of the fire before he finally returned to the group, settling down without a word.
Sleep didn't come easily.
It crept in slowly, fragmented, like water leaking through cracks. My thoughts drifted as the warmth of the fire cradled me, the distant sounds of the jungle fading into a soft, rhythmic hum.
Then, in the haze of sleep, I saw it.
An endless field of impossible green rolled out to the edge of sight. The grass swayed in slow, lazy waves, stirred by a warm breeze that carried the scent of summer. Above, the sky stretched open, spattered with distant clouds that cast long shadows across the rolling hills.
At the heart of it all stood a single, colossal tree. Its roots, thick and gnarled, rose from the earth like the bones of the land itself, wide enough to serve as a path or shelter for any wanderer passing beneath its vast canopy, though shifting leaves painted the ground in pools of vibrant green and gold.
Laughter echoed across the field.
Children's voices, joyful and unburdened by the weight of life, drifted beneath the tree as they ran in circles, their shadows flickering like specks of sunlight slipping through the leaves.
But then the sky dimmed.
A dry wind swept through the grass, turning green to brown. Leaves shriveled, curling inward. The laughter grew faint, and then came the dust—rust-colored, like powdered blood—rising from the soil in slow, choking clouds. It swallowed the field, clouded the sky, and the tree, once vibrant and alive, began to wither.
And with it, so did my slumber.
I stirred, blinking awake with a sharp inhale. But when I looked around at the softly crackling fire, I saw nothing but trees hemming us in on all sides.
I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake the dream from my head, but when I lay back down, it returned, frayed at the edges but persistent.
The tree stood alone now, stripped of life, its bark cracked and weeping. The field was barren. The children were gone. Only the sound of wind remained, no longer warm, but hollow.
Then a faint giggle floated through the emptiness.
No… that wasn't right.
The sound didn't come from the dream.
My eyes snapped open again, and I wasn't even sure if I had truly fallen asleep. The giggle echoed through the camp, eerily like that of a child, but something about it was wrong. It drifted between the trees like a taunt, paired with the soft, almost hesitant footsteps of someone worried about being found.
Yet I couldn't quite make my body care. I hovered in that space between waking and dreaming, too sluggish to react, until I felt something lay a hand on me, jolting my already frayed mind.
Without a moment to think, I shot upright, halfway through drawing my knife before I saw her.
Emily knelt beside me, wide-eyed and trembling.
"Atlas," she whispered. "Something's coming."
Blinking hard, I forced the fog of sleep away as I pushed myself up, only to freeze when I saw Amelia's gun clutched in Emily's trembling hands, the barrel aimed toward the edge of the clearing.
For a second, all I could do was stare.
Then I followed her line of sight and caught a glimpse of something just beyond the firelight, its pale, chalk-like scales faintly lit by the flames at the center of the clearing. The fire crackled steadily, acting as a weak deterrent to whatever lurked in the underbrush.
Then a cackle echoed from our side, far closer this time.
Whipping to the side, I caught sight of another as it hesitantly pushed its head through the brush, revealing something deeply unsettling. Its head looked like two enclosed hands pressed together, each "finger" tipped with claw-like protrusions. Slowly, the shape began to open.
It unfolded.
A pitch-black maw yawned wide between the splitting halves, and a long, sinuous tongue slid free, tasting the air. It let out an almost childlike cry as it did.
Emily shivered beside me. I could feel her on the verge of pulling the trigger, but I placed a hand over the gun and gently lowered it.
The thing didn't have eyes.
When it stepped into the clearing, long, hair-like protrusions drifted around its neck, twitching as if they were testing the heat of the fire. As more of it came into view, I saw a warped, raptor-like body held low to the ground by four strong limbs. Beneath them was a smaller pair that twitched and reached forward, feeling blindly toward the flames.
Its ribs showed clearly beneath its skin, and a long tail swayed behind it, flicking with wary hesitation. Realizing they weren't here specifically for us, I let myself relax, if only a little. But from the look of them, they were badly malnourished, and if they got the chance, I doubted we'd be spared.
Then a low screech cut through the air.
Another slipped into the clearing.
Emily tensed beside me, and a second later, another followed, making my grip tighten ever so slightly as they began to close in.
What happens if they find us?
My eyes flicked around the clearing, and that was when I spotted Henry off to the side, still lying beneath his makeshift blanket while a far larger version of those things slowly crept in his direction.
Shit… if it stepped on Henry and woke him up, things were about to go wrong in all sorts of ways.
But then, just as the creature stretched toward the fire, a loud crack rang through the clearing from the direction of one of the traps I'd set earlier that night, something in the bushes having set it off. The sound startled not just us, but all five of the creatures, as they whipped toward it.
At the same time, Henry stirred with a groan, blearily lifting his head as he looked around in confusion. I waved at him frantically, trying to catch his attention without making a sound, and when his eyes finally found me, he frowned and muttered something under his breath, still only half awake.
But the noise was enough.
To my absolute horror, the things reacted instantly, snapping back around just as Henry opened his eyes fully and came face to face with the horror before him.
I tried to silence him, but it was too late. The moment his mouth opened to let out a cry, the largest among them lunged from the back before I could even stumble forward, its many razor-sharp protrusions sinking into Henry's shoulder as it latched on and dragged him backward with inhuman strength.
His scream of panic tore through the clearing, waking the others as he vanished into the brush. Yet my attempt to rush after him only revealed my position to the rest. One of them lunged at me with a high-pitched screech, its maw opening wide as it snapped for my arm.
Acting on instinct, I dove just as the thing soared past, and with the motion, I slid my knife free and slashed at the next one that lunged forward.
Catching it along the side of its mouth, I drove the blade hard enough for it to slide along its neck before tearing free and leaving behind a massive wound. The creature reeled, trying to hiss at me, but all that came out was an unintelligible garble as it choked on its own blood.
But I didn't have time to relish even that small victory. One of the things lunged at me from behind just as Emily cried out, a second later, it latched onto my leg, its many finger-like teeth digging into flesh and ripping through muscle.
Crying out in pain, I punted the thing in the face over and over as it shook violently, like it was trying to tear my leg clean off.
To the side, another lunged at me and clamped onto my shoulder, but before it could do more damage, a massive rock slammed into its head with enough force to make something crunch, whimpering as it stumbled backward while Benjamin let out a yell, trying to scare the thing off.
But the one latched onto my leg wasn't so easy. It only shook harder.
"Let. go. of. me!" I hissed, driving my blade down over and over into where I hoped its brain would be, until the thing finally reeled back and tried to scramble away.
Oh no, you don't.
Not about to let the bastard get away with tearing up my leg, I lunged forward and tackled it to the ground, locking it in a chokehold, which was absolutely insane considering I had no idea what this thing was really capable of. It thrashed wildly beneath me, its tiny arms twitching and clawing uselessly at me as I grabbed a fistful of its nerve-like hairs and ripped them free.
The thing went into absolute hysterics, thrashing as if it had been thrown into a seizure.
Unrelenting, I raised my knife, ready to drive it into its chest, but before I could, another one slammed me to the ground hard enough to knock the blade from my hand. It snapped for my face, but with my hands wrapped around its neck, it couldn't quite reach me.
Its smaller claws, though, were another matter entirely.
They tore into my stomach, turning flesh and clothing into ribbons.
Screaming out in pain, I nearly lost myself before I drove my head straight into its maw, breaking teeth, then did it again, stunning it long enough for me to seize a handful of its hair and rip them free. The thing staggered back shrieking, and I forced myself upright, blinking through the blur.
Benjamin, Amelia, and Emily were fighting one of the creatures off to the side, while Ella and Owen kept another back with a flaming stick. The two I had fought convulsed in the dirt behind me, their bodies still caught in violent seizures.
But Henry? Where was Henry?
I staggered toward the direction he had been dragged, but the blood pouring from my stomach seemed to take the warmth with it. Cold spread through me fast, sinking into my chest and limbs until my hands weakened and the world around me began to fade.
I tried to take one more step.
But my vision gave out, and I pitched forward, slamming face-first into the dirt as darkness swallowed me whole.
Amelia Grayson
Scrambling out of bed, the last thing I expected to see was Atlas nearly being mauled by two grotesque abominations at once, their bodies writhing around him as he fought to keep them off. Only for Benjamin to slam a large stone into the head of one of them with enough force to make it jerk back and turn on him instead.
For half a second, I just stared, my mind still dragging itself out of sleep, trying and failing to make sense of the chaos unfolding in front of me.
But with an all-out attack already on us, I didn't have the luxury of standing there. I grabbed my makeshift spear and lunged forward, driving it toward the creature going for Benjamin.
The spear sank into flesh, yet the moment I twisted it free, the thing let out a disturbing, childlike cry.
The sound hit me like a sledgehammer, momentarily replacing the horror in front of me with another.
No… no, not again.
But my mind couldn't have cared less what I wanted. Visions of stone flashed through my head. Between the immovable slabs, blood seeped out in thick, endless streams, coating my hands as I clawed at them with everything I had.
"No!" I screamed, tearing at the stone until my fingernails bent backward with each desperate scrape, but I might as well have been an ant trying to move a mountain.
Nothing could save them.
I can't… I can't save anyone. I—
Something slammed into me.
The world lurched sideways, ripping the memory away as I hit the ground hard. The thing looming over me came into focus all at once, its gaping maw hanging above my face, close enough that I could smell its rotten breath as it prepared to clamp down.
Then a sound like thunder cracked through the forest.
The creature jerked sideways and then collapsed lifeless across my chest, leaving nothing but the constant ringing within my ears.
Stunned, I stared up at it for a second before twisting enough to look past it.
Emily stood there with my gun still clutched in her shaking hands, her face pale and stricken, smoke curling from the barrel as her whole body trembled.
For a second, she only stared at me. Then her mouth opened. "I-I had to… Amelia, I'm sorry, I just—"
"You did good," I cut in, shoving both the corpse and the lingering visions from my mind as I forced myself back to my feet. "You did exactly what you needed to do."
Emily looked like she wanted to say more, but before she could, something massive came crashing through the underbrush.
I turned just in time to see it burst into the clearing.
It looked like the others, but bigger, far bigger, nearly twice the size of even the largest of the creatures that had attacked us so far. As it skidded to a stop, I caught sight of its mouth, slick with blood, and the green tinge radiating from somewhere inside it, casting a sickly glow across its jaws.
For a moment, the entire clearing seemed to hold still with it.
The creature didn't move right away. It stood there, tense and listening, as the strange hairs along its body slowly stirred and spread, testing the air and the space around it. As they brushed toward the two creatures still writhing in the dirt, they suddenly erupted into wild, whipping motions, as if the thing was taking in every detail of the chaos around it. Its head shifted slightly, its body following a moment later, and for one brief second, I thought it had noticed Atlas lying unconscious nearby.
But it passed over him.
Its attention drifted on until the one Emily had shot let out a low, pitiful sound as it struggled for breath.
The creature snapped toward it.
And in the very next moment, it lunged.
It moved so fast it became a blur. I tried to step aside, but it was already on me.
The force of its rush slammed me into the tree, and in the same instant its jaws drove for my shoulder, stopped only by the shaft of my spear jammed between us. Straining, I pushed back as its teeth scraped against the wood, each one stained with that same sickly glow, and a terrible certainty crawled through me that if they touched me, it would be the last thing I ever felt.
Gasping, I wrenched upward just enough to throw it off balance, then ducked as it slammed into the trunk behind me.
I barely had time to recover before Benjamin lunged in from the side and slammed a stone into its head hard enough to shatter on impact. But a moment later, its long tail snapped around his stomach and flung him backward into the darkness like a ragdoll.
"Benjamin!" I screamed.
Its strange hairs vibrated as it turned back toward me, and only then, as it locked onto me without ever truly looking, did the realization hit.
It was blind.
I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it sooner. The thing had no eyes.
But that realization did little for me when it lunged again.
I rolled out of the way just as it tore into the spot where I had been a second earlier, its claws ripping into the ground. It twisted and lashed out again, but I was already moving. Snatching up a rock, I flicked it toward one of the smaller creatures. The sound made it turn, and in that single moment of confusion, I dashed toward Emily with my arms outstretched.
Yet the thing was faster. Before I could even process what had happened, it clamped down on my shoe with enough force to make bone crack, then flung me backward. I rolled straight through the fire, scorching myself and sending flaming coals scattering across the ground, which, despite how badly they burned, ended up saving my life when the thing lunged again.
The instant its feet touched the coals, it reared back, almost afraid of the flames.
Good. That gave me a moment.
My eyes snapped toward Emily behind the behemoth, our gazes barely meeting through the darkness.
Come on… throw me the gun.
But the moment the smaller creature let out one last cry before falling still, the larger one bristled. Whatever fear it had of the fire vanished, and it lunged again, missing me by inches as I scrambled back toward Emily.
"Emily," I hissed. "Throw me the gun."
A second later, it slammed into me with enough force to make me think I'd cracked a rib. I twisted my head aside, barely avoiding its snapping jaws, and in the struggle my hand closed around a patch of its wiry hairs.
I yanked.
The reaction was instant. The thing went absolutely feral, slamming its face into the ground over and over as if trying to rid itself of the pain.
I didn't waste the opening.
Crawling out from under it, I scrambled forward, only to be met with the most beautiful sight I'd seen all night. There, half-lit by the fire, lay my gun, its sleek frame glinting in the dark like a promise.
God, I'm never letting anyone else hold it again.
I lunged for it, but before I could fully get away, the thing's smaller hands latched onto me and began dragging me back toward it. This time, though, I didn't fight the pull.
I turned with it, leveled the barrel, and with one steady breath, pulled the trigger.
The bullet tore through its open mouth and burst out through the top of its head, spraying gore across the ground. Just to be sure, I put two more rounds into its chest.
For a moment, I wasn't sure it was enough, but then it trembled and slumped forward, and I finally let out a breath of pure relief as I pushed myself upright. At the same time, the last of the smaller creatures bolted into the forest, scattering into the dark as if terrified by the death of their strongest.
With them gone, the clearing fell into a stunned kind of silence, the forest pressing in around us now that the chaos had passed. For a second, I just stood there, breathing hard, trying to catch up with everything that had happened.
And that was when it hit me.
Benjamin was here. Emily was here. Ella was here. Atlas was here.
But Henry…
Where was Henry?
My eyes dropped to the blood smeared across the thing's mouth, and my heart fell. Before I could stop myself, I pushed forward, grabbed Atlas's knife from where he had dropped it, and scrambled to the corpse of the behemoth. A thousand visions of Henry's desecrated body flashed through my mind as I cut into its stomach, dreading what I would find while I tore organ after organ loose, only to find nothing big enough to hold a person whole.
I was so frantic in the search that I barely noticed Benjamin coming up beside me until he said my name.
"Amelia…"
I shook my head and kept digging. "No! He's not dead—" I hissed, slashing into another organ as I searched deeper through the guts.
"Amelia," Benjamin said again, more firmly this time.
"He can't be…" I started, but then I noticed he wasn't even looking at me, but toward the forest.
I turned, and from the darkness, a figure staggered forward, clutching a mangled arm as he stepped into the clearing with a dazed, almost stunned look on his face.
Henry.
There he was, standing there staring at me in open disbelief, his eyes flicking over the gore covering me before he let out a weak, confused, "Uh… did I miss something?"
The knife slipped from my hand.
I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled toward him, throwing my arms around him in a rough, messy hug.
"Yeah," he let out a weak chuckle. "I'm alive."
For a second, that was enough.
Then he noticed something over my shoulder.
"Amelia…" he started, and when I pulled back and turned to follow his gaze, I finally saw it.
Atlas lay face down in the dirt, utterly motionless, and only then did I notice the blood still pouring from him in a steady river.