Monster

Chapter Eighteen--The Jungle

I love you so much, Drew."

His last sentence made me choke and my heartbeat stop momentarily. He hadn't said he loved me yet; at least in my current memories. We had only been together for about two weeks and yet I knew it had to be right. WE had to be right.

Smiling a bit, I folded the note up and stuck it in my shirt. Then I frowned. Alex had said to stay here, but I wouldn't. Not with him gone North with Dr. Nile.

I'm coming for you, Alex. Just hold on.

~~

One hour later I had fashioned a spear out of an old tree trunk. It wasn't very sharp, but it was enough to mark the trees so that I wouldn't get lost. Sun was filtering through the tops of the trees, but it felt like I was walking through muggy water. Mosquitoes buzzed around me and the heat made my skin sticky.

My hut was off in the distance when I started seeing monkeys: dozens, in the treetops laughing and screeching out. I smiled at the wildlife; it wasn't everyday you found yourself staring at monkeys.

Taking the map out, I looked at the compass embedded into it. It was pointed North, and the small dotted line I had to follow was almost a straight line. Looking at it again, though, it said I had to walk twenty miles.

Shit.

I was already hot, dripping with sweat and covered in bug bites. For some odd reason, I wasn't tired (probably due to that surgery I apparently received) but after twenty miles I would be.

"I love you so much, Drew."

Thinking of Alex, I moved on, humming occasionally but also thinking of a battle plan for saving Alex.

If I was correct, Dr. Nile was expecting me. He was probably watching me right now, taking notes in his little notebook on me. How I moved, reacted, looked. But I needed to do something unexpected to get Alex.

Looking up at the trees, I didn't see any hidden cameras, albeit I swear I heard little mechanical movements here and there. I thought of it: go above! If there were cameras, they were probably aimed toward the ground. But if I went above the treeline by climbing, I could avoid all cameras.

That's when I heard the low, guttural growl. It was coming from my left, but when I swiveled around nothing was there. There was a noise again, coming from the trees. The hairs on the back of my neck raised and I bared my teeth. I felt strong; strong enough to take on whatever was in the tree.

Then it pounced.

I saw a flash of orange and dark brown, gnashing teeth and spit.

A tiger.

It flew onto me, throwing me onto the damp ground, it's claws cutting deep into my leg. Screaming out, I took ahold of it's ear and poked each of it's glowing eyes. It roared and back up, then came at me again.

This time I was ready. I took my arms and as the beast came down on me, I catapaulted it in back of me. I then stood up, my leg throbbing in pain and my arm bleeding from another clawing.

The tiger skidded into the forest and pounced at me again, the smell of blood fueling it. As it came to me I took ahold of its head and SWUNG. With a sharp crack and a whimper, it was dead.

Gasping for breath, I moved closer to the tiger. Something hadn't been right about it; now that I looked at it I realized it was mechanical. A robot tiger. There were wires ripped from its broken neck and its eyes were fading red.

Then I looked at my leg. The beasts claws had made three long cuts, going vertically up to my hip on my left leg. Blood was pouring out, making my leg hot and sticky. It was too red--I felt like puking. I knew that I should be healing faster than a normal human, but the tiger had gotten me deep. It would be at least a few days before it was halfway healed.