16 Enemies On A Narrow Path

Two hours passed and screams started ringing out from behind. Freezing in place, Cyrus heightened his senses to the extreme as his body tensed up ready to flee at a moments notice. Minutes crawled by and the frightening din only grew louder.

Cyrus and his group came to the realization that whatever creature Victor unleashed was freely prowling the forest now. Glancing at one another with fear etched on their faces, they moved a lot faster than their previous speed. Forget alerting any possible predators nearby, the space between them and the entrance was less than 8 miles. Before they had been cautious of beasts and other groups, but the current situation added a new found urgency to their pace.

Dashing through the forests and dodging the low hanging branches, exposed roots, and the wet moss, their speed was less than ideal. Only now they realized the great difficulty in traversing this cluttered forest. If they could not put some distance between them and those predators in the woods, their current predicament could go from bad to worse quickly.

"Those sounds are only getting closer, we need to have a change of plan." Jacob seemed more astute than the rest because while Cyrus was already pondering the issue, no one else mentioned a thing and was still panicking.

"Looks like my early assement was correct. He is undenaibly more dependable then the rest and could be useful later." Putting those thoughts aside and bringing the group to a halt, Cyrus mentioned the two possible choices he devised from their critical circumstances.

"Our first option is attempting to climb the crown of a few trees and hope whatever is chasing everyone doesn't discover us. However, doing that is leaving our life up to luck but could still be a last resort. The second choice, that I'm more inclined to follow, is finding a cave and collapsing the entrance. We might not run into one, so preparations for worst case scenario is a must."

Pausing to let his suggestions sink in, he continued "if anyone else has a plan you might as well say it now. We don't have much time and need to make some sort of choice!"

Contemplating, they assented to following Cyrus's lead and charged into the forest once again. As they were running Cyrus gave some simple instructions, "Everyone split up within visual distance from one another. Make sure to keep an eye out for any mounds or crevices and hope for the best, stay sharp."

....

Meanwhile, in closer proximity to the entrance, the ground began to rumble and sway as if the earth itself was splitting apart. This dramatic change from the quiet forest elecited a deep sense of fear from the nearby groups.

At first the vibrations were unoticable before the intensity shot up explosively. Now even the trees swayed in a chaotic manner, while the fog in the distance moved like a massive wave, unstoppable. A certain group nearby, startled, ran as if their lives depended on it.

"My god, is the ground shaking apart? Could it....hmmmm, wait....is that...THA....IT'S A MONSTER HORDE", Manny screamed out loud!

Turning to run in extreme fright, he noticed that Jared and Tina were already long gone. Screaming in indignation, "You guys actually left without me, Ahhhhhh! HELP! Those things are catching up!"

Jared not being the type of person to aid someone, yelled from a great distance ahead, "what the hell are you even waiting around for, run for your life dumbass!"

Jared truly wanted to just leave this liability behind and not even deal with him, however, he would need more sacrifices for the sake of guranteeing his future safety. This trial just went underway and losing allies now would be a blow to his future plans. One could not be greedy for present benefits. True, killing them off now would gurantee his escape but what about later?

Compared to that fool, Manny, Tina was much more adept. She had clearly been vigilant the entire time and reacted promptly to Jared's swift departure. From her quick response, one could tell that she was very observant and trusted no one. Based on those characteristics, she probably noticed a few important details concerning the wild beasts chasing them.

While pondering about that, his eyes flashed darkly a momemnt later. "Hmph, it seems this girl is a lot more capable than I expected. Guess I'll have to pay more attention to this variable in the future."

Storing that thought away, he called out to Tina, "Did you get a good look at what's chasing after us?"

Breathing heavily, Tina responded intermittently "It's... I think it has four limbs.....huff....and a long tail...with a sharp end. I cant see anything else....huff."

Jared turned his head around and studied her face in detail, scrutinizing every minute change in her facial expressions. If she was lying, her acting was borderline flawless and left little to pick at. Discovering no indications of dishonesty, Jared's suspicions were allayed. "Alright, forget that blockhead Manny, we need to find a hiding spot and fast. He may be stupid but he was right that we can't out run these beasts!"

Nodding her head in agreement they kept at a full sprint for another 5 minutes straight. By now they were all exahuasted and could only watch in despair as the distance shortened between them and certain death. Wails and shouts echoed throughout the dark and cold forest, reinforcing that all consuming fear of death.

"THIS ALL YOUR FAULT JARED! Instead...huff.....of trying to be a smart-ass and hiding near the entrance,we.....huff...should have just went into the forest!" Manny, physically stronger than the other two, had caught up by now and could not help realeasing his pent up frustration on Jared.

In truth they had collectively decided on waiting it out, but Manny selectively ignored that fact, too angry to care. "Complain all you want now you oaf because I promise it wont be so easy for you to come out of this forest with your life." Disdainng to waste any stamina replying to Manny's idiocy, Jared kept his thoughts to himself as his vicious expression slowly relaxed.

Doubling his efforts, that hawkish gaze scanned the surrouding landscape in hopes of finding a place to hide. Even though they had no luck so far, giving up was not a option. Picking up the pace for the final stretch, Tina matched his speed not wanting to be left behind.

Manny glanced towards the side and saw that both of them were ingoring his outburst. Scoffing, he started pulling ahead to remind them of his importance. With his speed, he could scout out the path ahead in hopes of finding a hiding place before leading them their.

Jared and Tina could put two and two togther, with Jared specifically reigning in his arrogance. No matter how much he disliked this guy, they needed him to find a lifeline. "Manny, can you please scout the path ahead and see if you find a safe place to rest? We barely have 20 minutes before we are dead for sure, so its up to you if we survive or not."

Flashing a smile filled with contempt, he took off towards the left to expand the ground they could cover. Staying within close distance, 10 minutes passed and their stamina was almost completely depleted. However, as if the heavens above were helping them out, a rocky cliff face laid right up ahead.

"Hahahaha, looks like we will survive another day ", Manny thought inwardly. Following his promise, he yelled over the thundering stampede in the distance. "Guys hurry over to my side, I think I found something good!" Manny, without waiting, rushed over toward the rock formation in hopes of finding a cave to conceal themselves.

.......

10 minutes earlier, inside a dimly lit cave, situated at that exact same craggy rock wall, "everyone should get comfortable, we could be here for awhile."

"We know Cyrus, no need to mention it again." A little annoyed from his constant pestering, Don muttered in a tiny whisper, "are you my dad or something?"

"I might as well be, so make sure to shut up, will ya?" Obviously hearing that sarcastic remark in the end he replied with one of his own. A few charming giggles soon rung out in the cave, lightening up the dreary mood.

"Little brother Cyrus is right. It would be really troublesome if a few baddies found our cave because of Don running his mouth too much." Sasha was not one to miss a chance praising her idol, even coming at the expense of the person who invited her to join the group.

James, one of the twins, concentrated fully as his left ear was pressed to the ground listening to the vibrations. While everyone was talking amiably, his body shuddered before lifting his head up quickly. Signaling to the group, they immediately stopped talking and waited. That time had finally come and their safety would depend on these next few minutes. Tense and anxious, they tried their best to relax.

However, before they could even settle in, their nervousness spiked again from the shouting voices outside. It sounded like multiple people arrived at their current hiding location and were also in need of a hiding place. Looking at one another in consternation, they were troubled with how to handle the situation. None of these people here was an especially cold blooded individual, so leaving others out for death was a tough decision to make.

Time was ticking and the hoarde would be arriving soon. With the need for a conclusion on the what to do about this other group, the voices outside became more audible.

"Hahahaha, so it's those people. Don it seem's we might be have a change in the first part of the plan." Cyrus could not help but chuckle at this seemingly lucky windfall.

Smiling in a wretched manner, Don replied just as happily. "Cyrus my brother, we might have a chance to get back at these punks. Also, me and Cyrus might need your help with a few things later." Trying to hold back his wretched smile and nefarious intentions, the group shivered in fear.