Blackout On The Devil's Playground

Day two, I am eight days before the destruction of my path.

"Gregory.....Gregory" Whispered a crewman, shaking me slightly.

"What?" I asked as my eyes latched onto a dark silhouette.

"It's your shift, get up," said the crewman, walking away from my make-shift bed. It was made out of leaves and a few other soft plants I could find. It wasn't comfortable, but at least it worked for the night. I yawned and stretched my legs as I got up, walking towards the yellow-orangey light.

As I sat on one of the logs near the fire, I rubbed my hands together, hoping that it would warm me. I turned my head to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, and there wasn't; so I returned to staring blankly into the open flame.

Before me, six other crewmen did watch, and it was only five in the morning. The shifts lasted one hour, and then the next person must be woken up; that's what we agreed on. As my turn went by, the sun started to rise. A very faint light painted the sky. It began turning the stars an opaque colour.

But as the light breached the jungle, so did the noises. I heard something that sounded like a lion combined with a bear. I couldn't fully make out what creature it was, so I kept watch on everything around me.

The sound got closer as I heard it breach the private area. My heart pumped as I jerked my head in every direction, trying to spot this perplexing creature. I held my gun tighter as I heard the sound once more. I placed my jittery finger on the trigger, waiting to let a round fly. I looked behind me to see the belly of some beast. Long black fur was all I could see before the blackout.

I was knocked out cold. It felt like an intense headache at first, and then it drifted into unconsciousness, rendering me unable to warn the crew.

I woke up after some time. I was being dragged my something away from the campfire and towards the darkness. I attempted to struggle my way out of the tight grip, hoping that I could run away from the ferocious soul. But I couldn't.

The beast grabbed the collar of my shirt and pounded me on the ground. Its roar filled my veins with fear, and its swipes weakened my body. I kept trying to free myself, but to no avail I gave up, letting the beast's paws swipe my face until I was knocked out.

As I was out cold, I had a dream. It was about those men that were devoured. I dreamt that maybe the creature was the same, and was only here to eat us, and I couldn't let that happen. "Was it a creature? Or was it the tribe?" I asked myself in the dream, questioning what attacked them.

As the dream continued, I saw the events that had just occurred: me being knocked down twice in my efforts to warn the crew. In this alternate dimension, though, I managed to escape the second time, and notify the team. I then killed this beast, and we could finally continue resting. It felt like I did that, and for a while, I believed. But I knew that the events were just a different reality and that now, I had to return to mine.

I awoke, breathing heavily as blood poured from my head. My heart pumped faster as I rose from the red ground beneath me. I shifted my gaze behind me to see where I was, and I didn't recognize the place. As I stood up, I heard the roars of the creature and the sound of a gunshot; the crew was fighting the beast, and I had to help.

I walked towards the sound as I felt a sudden pain in my leg. I looked down to see a gaping wound on my left limb. I was seeping blood, and I knew that soon I would pass out. I limped towards the sound, hoping that maybe I could make it in time.

I walked as fast as I could when I heard more gunshots. I listened to some of the crew screaming as I sped up. I approached the private area, and I saw the shadow of the beast. It was a giant creature with black fur. I attempted to run, but my leg wouldn't allow it. I pulled out my knife and went straight for the beast.

I jumped with the one working leg, and stuck my dagger through the thick coat of black fur, straight into the creature's back. It roared in pain as it threw me off and ran away. I was in shock as I sat still on the mossy floor, looking at the disappearing stars. "Will I survive?" I asked myself, hoping that the answer was yes.

"Gregory! Are you okay?" asked the medic while looking at the gaping injuries across my body.

"I...I don't know," I said, while slowly drifting into a deep sleep.

"You were hit pretty hard. I'm going to put some alcohol on your cuts to clean them. This will hurt. Are you ready?" said the medical crewman with the bottle of alcohol in his hand.

I nodded as he started to pour the liquid onto my cuts. "AAAHHHHHHH," I screamed, as the pain suddenly jumped from a five to a ten.

"Okay, Okay...it's clean, your done Gregory," said the medic, wrapping my wound in some bandages.

A sigh of relief came out as I started to drift back into unconsciousness. I lost too much blood, meaning that my body would be forced to pass out. Even though the medic patched me up, it was too late.

I closed my eyes, knowing that this incident was over, and finally, I could finish my night's rest. But as I let my eyes shut, I remembered the images in which I saw- scattered limbs across the open field. Blood stained the green grass a deep red. I felt sorry for all the souls that were lost as I let the medic do his job.

Half the crew was gone, meaning that something was targetting us, waiting in the bush until nightfall, to devour our innocent souls.