ZERO (Complete)

Chapter Fifteen

As a general rule, people were advised not to wander off into the woods on their own. A few people preferred to have more privacy, Emily being one of those people, and so in the morning she set off to have some alone time. She was about a hundred yards away from camp and was slowly making her way up a hill. Once she reached the top and came down the other side, she was completely on her own and was secluded from the rest of the group.

Squatting behind a bush, some movement in the distance caught her eye. Thinking it could potentially be someone out to harm her, or a predatory animal, she grew concerned. Posturing up, she saw that it was just the Professor. He appeared to be working on some sort of contraption. There was a vine and a rock that was connected to a pulley system — an animal trap no doubt. Emily was just about to call out to him when the mood changed.

Thinking he was alone, the Professor took a moment of silence before placing the noose around his neck. Emily quickly stood up and called out to the Professor.

"Professor!" she shouted, hobbling through the forest and making her way over to him.

The Professor quickly turned around and looked startled as if he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"Whatcha working on?" she asked.

"Nothing, just... uh... checking my traps."

"Catch anything?"

"Not yet."

Without warning, a ravenous mountain lion lunged out of a bush and attacked Emily. The cougar knocked her to the ground and proceeded to thrash around. The Professor wasted no time jumping into action. He leaped on the cougar and began hitting it. The cougar shrugged him off and then turned its focus on the Professor, who was now on his back and breathing heavily.

The cougar stalked forward, his glaring eyes narrowed on to its prey. Emily frantically screamed at the cougar, unsure what to do. She looked at the cougar with fear in her eyes, then she looked at the Professor. He did not share the same fear. He was smiling. Perhaps it would be a more noble death. That's when she noticed the noose around the cougar's neck. It took one step too many, which tripped a switch. The counter weight in a nearby tree came hurling toward the ground, hoisting the mountain lion high in the air. The sudden jerk of the vine-made rope was enough to snap its neck. The cougar's lifeless body dangled freely, swaying back and forth, ten feet off the ground.

"Have you ever had cougar meat before?" the Professor asked. "I hear it's awful."

Professor and Emily made it back to camp suffering only minor injuries. A few of their group members noticed the scratches and ripped clothing, and rushed over to see what happened and if everyone was okay. Most of the attention naturally fell on the pregnant woman. The Professor wasn't much for calling attention to himself so he was happy to slink off and deal with his wounds on his own.