Chapter 4

Never before was Marcie so grateful for the existence of pillow moss for cushioning and making her feat of dragging herself across a forest floor a less painful one, preventing things like sharp rocks and sticks from jabbing and digging in. But at the same time, it made it more difficult as her arms trembled from increased fatigue.

Marcie tried to keep herself as low to the ground as possible and tried to stay as close to the overhanging ferns in hopes they would help hide her body. She could move her legs only a little bit and with great effort and used it as a way to hasten herself over to the tree. 

Glancing up to the tree again, it looked like she was almost there. She only had maybe ten more feet to go before she could reach out and touch the roots.

Upon realizing her breaths had turned into pants, she paused to take a break and catch it again. 

When she wasn't so focused on moving forward, she heard the echo of a branch breaking nearby. Did the people change their minds and were coming to help her?

The sound of movement began to grow as it got closer and Marcie realized that there were more sounds of masses moving in the forest surrounding her, moving slowly towards the group of people. 

Her eyes went wide and she completely suspended her breath. She could feel panic rush over her and the only thing she could do in that moment, was to hide herself even more. Shaking hands slowly reached to the side of the plants and as quietly as she could muster, she tried to wiggle herself more amongst the thick patches of ferns and prayed that dragging herself on the ground covered her scent with that of soil.

Marcie could still hear the faint chatter of the group of people behind her who had just begun their trek in another direction. Should she call out to them? No, not only would that give away her hiding spot and lead to her death, but it sounded like there were a lot of the creatures, would shouting really change anything? 

They had makeshift weapons and should already be on guard. They were in a much better position to survive than she was after all. Marcie battled with herself over whether to shout a warning or not but her thoughts were immediately cut off when a large blackish paw met the ground right next to her. 

The creature was hairless and looked like some sort of quadruped. Each foot had a set of long sharp claws that looked like they could pluck out prey organs like skewers. Marcie held her hand firmly over her mouth and tears began to roll down her face. 

Warning the others? Who was she kidding! She was so petrified that she wouldn't dare make a single noise. She could hear the creature taking in deep whiffs of air right next to her. Did it smell her? She closed her eyes tightly like a child trying to hide from the boogeyman.

The creature let out a grunt when it was called by the others and continued forward past Marcie towards the still unsuspecting group of people who had now managed to put quite a bit more distance between them as she could no longer hear the sounds of their chatting.

Marcie waited a few more minutes after the sounds of the beasts had long passed her. She needed to get to the tree and fast. No longer did fatigue or the pain in her spine seem to matter. Her fear and adrenaline dulled them as she dragged her body towards the large entanglement of roots, some being as large as her own body.

It was only moments that went by and as Marcie reached the roots, she paused. The sounds of people screaming and shouting off in the distance behind her chilled her to the bone. Marcie let out a tiny whimper while choking back the streams coming from her eyes. 

Marcie knew exactly what was happening over there. The creatures attacked, likely picking off the group in a complete massacre. They were loud and chatty the whole time, Marcie wasn't surprised that a group of predators found them so quickly. It was the first time in her life that she was glad she was abandoned.

Reaching the roots gave Marcie some sense of relief for perhaps just a moment and the sounds of the slaughter only motivated her hastiness. Smaller roots tickled and pulled at her clothes and hair while she squeezed herself between some larger roots. 

It was more shallow than she hoped but she might be able to get further in if she could widen the crack between the next large root and the ground. 

Marcie tried a stick that was laying on the ground nearby. It kind of worked but it had begun to rot so it was also breaking apart while she dug. This root system must have been partially dug out by a small animal at one point, but the signs of moss that had begun to take over was more telling that it had been left a long time ago. 

With how desperately she was to get further down, she had almost forgotten about the fact that the screams of the others had now been long snuffed out. It didn't matter to her anymore now. She figured she would have at least a little bit of time to finish hiding while those things snacked on her kind. Maybe she would get lucky and they would be too full to try for her next. What a morbid thought.