A Dangerous Encounter

It was a cold and quiet night once again. The whisper of the cold mountain breeze was soothing like a mother singing to her child. The feeling of peace immediately visited my mind, slowly drifting me to a darker place, a familiar scenery, where everything was normal. I saw myself and my friends having lunch at a local restaurant, laughing and having fun. A waitress serving her regular costumers. The old man that always watered his plants at exactly 12:08 in the afternoon, but the scenery suddenly shifted to a more disturbing image. A mountain of bodies scattered everywhere; the smell of rotting flesh surrounded the air around me. I felt nauseous and weak. It feels like I could collapse anytime from the stench.

From a distance, loud explosions could be heard, as if there was a war happening. Suddenly everything fell into silence; no wind, birds, or anything; just the rhythmic pattern of my breathing. Then I felt trembling as if there was a stampede . I heard soft groans from the distance, but as the trembles began to get stronger, the groans grew louder. I could barely see the source of this mini-quake. I was too focused on this that I wasn't aware of the things that were near to me. The pile of corpses around me all began to move; some were already standing up. I tried to run away, but my feet were to heavy to lift; it felt like something was restricting me from moving. I glanced beneath me and saw these creatures grabbing and pulling me to my demise.

I suddenly woke up drenched in sweat and catching my breath, everyday seemed like hell to me ever since that day happened. Each day more and more chaos is happening around me, but the important thing is that I'm alive and still have some spare energy to survive this apocalypse.

The food supply that I currently have will only last me for 3 days, so I packed my equipment and was ready to resupply up until next week. Then there I heard, rustling 6 ft. away from me.

I went to check it out to see if this was something that could appease my hunger. As soon as I peeked, standing there was a reincarnation of death itself. A creature 8 ft. tall with multiple openings in its face that shifts every time something makes a sound, large arms that it drags when it walks, and a torso that is split open with multiple fangs surrounding it.

I kept my distance and continued to observe it. I couldn't do anything in this kind of situation, one wrong move, and I'd end up dead. The only option is to wait for it to pass by. A couple of minutes passed, I heard gunshots in the distance; this caught the creatures attention and started to sprint towards the sound of gunfire; it was gone in just a blink of an eye.

"I should hurry and leave before I stumble upon something even worse." I muttered to myself.

While I was navigating through the opposite direction of the forest where the creature ran, I saw smoke from the distance. I ran in that direction hoping I could bump into some survivors, from afar it looks like a normal campsite but as I came closer, all that run into me were dead bodies. It looked like a massacre; torn limbs, decapitated people, and some bodies were squashed as if it was smashed by a rock. I began investigating the scene, hoping to find out what had happened.

Based on my observations, this was not a normal dispute between survivors. Five bodies were people, but two were creatures that I hadn't encountered yet during my travels. It was at least 3 ft. tall, had a thin body; a sharp singular claw on both arms, and its pointed shoulders surpasses its acute triangular head.

My conclusion was, these two creatures were strolling by the forest and noticed the camp. By instinct; the survivors defended their camp but ended up being surrounded by the creature's group; it was unreasonable for a creature this small to wipeout five fully equipped men and crush one of them.

I continued investigating. This time I went to check out the tents; to salvage some equipment that will be beneficial for me in the future. While I was scanning through one of the tents, there, I saw a woman not that far from my age holding a kid hiding behind the bags and sheets .

"Hey. Are you both okay? Don't worry, I'm not here to harm you." While slowly approaching them.

"We're both fine. Is it safe outside?" Her voice was very soothing, but its obvious that she's scared and hesitant.

"Things aren't looking good outside, but I think it's safe for now." Her scared face turned into misery when she heard what I said.

I handed them some spare food I have that I salvaged from a convenience store last week, hoping that it would somehow lift their spirits just a little bit. I wanted to ask her about what exactly happened here, but I think now is not the time for that. It would be dark soon, so I left and went to the forest to gather some materials to make a fire. I had no choice but to stay for the night; it's dangerous to travel during that dark, who knows what I might encounter.

I made it back to camp; everything seemed to be organized. Some of the dead bodies were already buried and some were covered in blankets. I went to the fireplace and placed the basic materials needed to start a fire. It wasn't that dark yet, so I hurriedly placed what I had gathered in the middle of camp. I started to carve a small curve on the flat surface of the wood, and another for a smaller piece. This will help me put my straight branch in place while I use the bow drill I made to create friction to make an ember. After this I placed the ember into the tinder ball made from dry leaves and grass. Then I slowly blew it to start the fire and placed it inside the stacked twigs and branches.

"Heh. I guess watching all those survival videos at 3 am really paid off." And I reached out for the can of soup from my backpack.

While I was waiting for the soup to be ready, I went to check on the woman and the kid inside the tent. The kid was asleep while the woman was organizing their belongings. I invited her over for dinner and she just nodded. I went back outside, and prepared some bowls for them to use; it took some time before both of them came out of the tent.

"Thank you for doing this for us even though we've just met."

It seemed that she's slowly coming back to her senses.

"Its no big deal. I couldn't just leave the both of you here in the wilderness." I replied while pouring soup on their bowls.

"Anyway, my name is Catherine and his name is El. It's kind of rude that we haven't introduced ourselves amid the help you have provided for us."

"It's nice to meet both of you; my name is Mal. Compassion is what we need during times like these, don't you think?"

She nodded and continued eating.

I asked her about what had happened here and where they were heading . But she only told me the full details of the incident but evaded my second question. All she knew was that the two men were arguing about their guarding schedule; that's when they stumbled upon the 3 ft. tall creature. One of the assigned lookouts shot the creature; it screeched and wailed like crazy. After this, the men went back to their usual routines. It wasn't long before the whole camp was surrounded by at least 30 similar creatures.

They were outnumbered, but this was the least of their worries. Trees started to fall from the distance; they knew whatever this thing was, it was headed towards them. The trembles became stronger as the battle continued. Some of the creatures started to flee the scene; fearing the creature headed at the camp; they managed to kill another small creature while they were escaping. Catherine was watching from inside the tents as this commotion was happening, together with El and their mother.

The shaking halted; silence filled the whole forest. Catherine could see the guard's faces of despair; they dropped their weapons and fell to their knees. A thunder-like roar broke the silence of the forest. The creature started rampaging and killing everything that was within its vicinity. This made Catherine and the rest take cover behind the stacked bags and sheets, hoping that they wouldn't be discovered by the creature. But the creature came closer and closer; heading towards their tent.

"I have only one request from you, Cathy. Find a safe place for you and your brother, where you can enjoy your life." Tears fell from Cathy's mom as she bid farewell to the both of them.

She ran outside; drawing the creatures attention towards her. Before she went inside the forest, she said something, but no voice reached them due to the creature's roar, but the movement of her lips was already familiar to Cathy, "I love you. Goodbye."

I can feel the trauma from Catherine as she tells me everything that had happened. I patted her back and silence yet again devoured the forest. After dinner, both of them headed straight to bed. Meanwhile, I, took out my journal and recorded my observations from the forest and the creature that I had encountered earlier.

Journal Entry Update:

Classification:

[ ♥ ] - These creatures are friendly and is safe to approach.

[ ♦ ] - Docile creatures. Can somehow be kept as pets.

[ ♣ ] -Take caution in approaching these creatures. They might be territorial.

[ ♠ ] - Life - Threatening. Must be avoided at all cost.

[ ○ ] - Unclassified. Not enough information is available.

► Entry #1: Gammu [ ♠ ] - An 8 ft. creature that must be avoided if possible, blind but sensitive to sound, fast, destructive, and the amount of destruction that it can cause is still unknown. Further observation is needed.

► Entry #2: Jockey/s [ ○ ] - A 3 ft. creature that has a singular claw in each arm, with pointy shoulders and a flat triangular head. Behavior hasn't been observed yet.

► Entry #3: Unknown [ ○ / ♠ ] - Very destructive and dangerous. More information is needed to accurately classify.

"This journal will provide me with the necessary information to deal with these creatures. Naming them will make them easier to identify." After documenting the information that I've gathered. I extinguished the fire to prevent us from attracting other creatures while we're asleep.

As Mal and the others rest, nocturnal creatures roam the forest hunting for prey. For some to appease their hunger. For others, to provide entertainment.