The Scent of Pure Gold 1

Bird calls gently roused Ace from his slumber. Flashes of last night's events ran through his mind, and he instantly jumped to his feet, his mind fully alert. His body was flooded with adrenaline, confusing the bird calls with the screams seared into his memory. The frightened screams resounded fresh inside his mind, and it took him an entire minute to realize those various sources of despair were long since snuffed out. 

He patted his body, relieved to find himself neither skewered nor maimed and finally allowed himself the luxury to assess his surroundings. It looked like any other piece of this forest, with the same massive trees stretching towards the sky as if they were trying to devour it. He didn't know how far or how long he'd need to walk to return to their previous campsite, but he immediately abandoned the idea. Those guys were on their won as far as Ace was concerned. Whoever could survive would survive, and to him it really didn't matter if they did. 

He looked up and caught glimpses of the sun through gaps in the canopy above, estimating it was late morning. He instinctively tried pulling on his sleeve to check the countdown but smiled ruefully when he saw he was bare-chested. The countdown displayed seventeen hours. 

He surveyed his surroundings one last time and then hid back in the underbrush to collect his thoughts. His legs were sore, a constant reminder of last night's ordeal. He realized his survival instinct had pushed him to run to complete exhaustion, a dangerous gamble that could have sent him to his doom. He estimated he'd been asleep for ten hours at least and counted his blessings that no creature had stumbled upon him during that window of time. 

Even in a foreign world, his instincts still held him prisoner, he thought. As past memories began flooding back, he shook his head and forcefully returned to the present. He had to figure out his current situation and plan accordingly, promising himself he would survive this hellish world. 

He didn't mind dying; in fact, he wished for it, but it had to be his choice, not the decision of some random creature in a foreign world. 

Growl! 

Hearing his stomach roar, his hair stood on end as the image of Riley transformed into compost flashed in his mind. He immediately imagined the worst, thinking he'd ingested the fruit while unconscious, but upon further analysis, he realized it was an overwhelming hunger deep inside him, as if he'd just run a thousand miles and could eat an entire restaurant's worth of food. 

He raised himself above the vegetation and perked his ears, trying to figure out which direction he'd come from, but he couldn't tell even after spending five minutes trying. He gave up and resolved to not finding the food stash at their old campsite, figuring the ants had likely taken it anyway. He didn't want to risk meeting them again without decoys to aid his escape. 

His stomach growled again, and a torpor overwhelmed his body. He felt as if every ounce of strength in his body was sapping away, and he quickly arrived on the shores of unconsciousness. Confused about how he'd acquired this condition, he knew there was no time to figure it out. He chose a random direction and began walking. 

There was only one thing on his mind: food. 

He walked and walked, and the only things that seemed remotely edible were random fruits from the forest, including the purple ones that turned Riley into fertilizer. As much as he hungered, he wouldn't eat anything unless someone else tested it first. 

Just as he was about to fall to the ground, his nose caught a whiff of a smell that sent his body into a frenzy. His body felt instantly energized, and he ran in the direction of the scent. 

Surprisingly, Ace ran for a whole five minutes, covering several miles with his enhanced physique in during this time. It was as if his previous fatigue was nowhere to be found. Eventually, he stopped as he caught sight of a large furry mound in the distance. 

Since the large sparse trees were the only actual trees in this forest besides the ground vegetation, he spotted the curiosity from afar. As soon as his eyes caught sight of it, Ace could feel his mind go into a frenzy, but he forced himself to slow down as he got closer. 

He noticed small black creatures scurrying around the fur mound, but the closer he got, the more rabid his mind became. By the time he was a hundred feet away, Ace found himself roaring at the creatures, delighting in their dispersal into the tall undergrowth. He waited a few moments to ensure they wouldn't return before jumping forward. 

Upon reaching the fur mound, he frantically searched for the source of the intoxicating smell. Eventually, he found a large gash from which red liquid flowed, staining the ground a deep crimson. 

He saw a huge trail of blood leading away from the gash, stretching far into the horizon. But Ace didn't care; his eyes caught sight of a strip of meat hanging by the edge of the gash. He immediately pounced on it and began wolfing it down. 

The blaring alarm in his mind did nothing to dissuade his hunger, and he ignored every thought that warned him this was a bad idea. He chewed on the tough meat but when he realized his teeth wouldn't be able cut through it, he began swallowing entire chunks of it. He saw a stream of blood coming from the large fleshy cave, and he slammed his mouth in its path, gulping like a crazed man the flowing blood. 

Only when his stomach threatened to burst did Ace come back to his senses. He pulled away with a frightened look, wiping the blood from his hands onto a patch of grass with disgust. 

Before his mind could reel itself back to normality, a warm feeling spread from his stomach and seeped into his whole body. His muscles bulged, filled with fresh energy, and the soreness in his legs instantly vanished. 

He stood there in shock for a couple of minutes before finally calming down. Although still afraid something might suddenly grow out of his stomach, he carefully analyzed what was happening to his body. 

He knew his body was growing stronger and realized it made sense that an increase in strength should be followed by an increase in energy intake. He assumed his body was so starved of energy that he'd gone crazy with hunger and eaten raw meat without realizing it. 

He shook his head, trying to figure out what kind of animal had such meat that seemed to soothe his body like a well crafted medicine. When he moved to the front of the fur mound, he saw a large head sporting a long snout lined with palm-sized fangs. All the hairs on his body stood on end as he swiveled his head, fearing that whatever killed this creature might still be around. 

Norman's words of caution—that the wolves might not be the largest creatures in this forest—quickly resurfaced. It seemed his conjecture was correct; this was not the apex predator. Ace looked at the blood trail leading off into the distance and prayed that whatever had injured the beast wouldn't follow it back. He did not wish to meet the creature capable of fighting an elephant-sized wolf. 

With the situation as stable as it could be given the circumstances, he calmed down and thought about the hunger he felt mere minutes ago. He wondered what would happen if the same hunger appeared back on Earth and if this meat could be substituted with the normal meat available back on earth. 

The image of the wolf pack running at sports car speeds flashed through his mind. He shook his head, knowing there was no way normal meat would be this nutritious. He thought of what would happen if he was deprived of this source of food, and he was assaulted by a wave of fear. For some reason, he felt it was imperative that he secured a supply of this meat as soon as possible. He also didn't wish to feel that weakness that he had experienced ever again. He didn't dare imagine what would have happened if he hadn't encountered this carcass. 

Ace thought of bringing some wolf meat back with him when the countdown ended. He knew his father's hunting knife had traveled with him to this planet, but not the gun. He remembered falling unconscious that night with them in his hands, but only the knife had traveled with him.