Welcome To The Jungle

It stood on the lone track, its black fur glimmering darkly in the shaded sun, its striped tail swinging side to side aggressively, low growls escaped the creature’s throat, wanting me to back off, but I wasn’t going anywhere, I was going to finish this mission whether I lived or died.

My name is Xavier Landon, I am a naturalist who treks the unknown Jungles of Peru along with me is my team of four: Abbi Hawkins, Rick Marshall, Alexis Buck and Jackson Thomas.

My team and I are have been involved in many missions and each of them a success and I was planning for this mission to be as well. My geologist Alexis Buck has been researching our mission over the week and so far the undiscovered animal had made its moves every kilometre, but why was this animal being so precise?

3 days earlier....

I sat in the cool plastic chair, fidgeting in my seat, waiting for the lieutenant to arrive. Abbi sat next to me writing notes on the mysterious animal that was appearing in different places on the Peruvian Track, this was the reason I was here sitting in Area 5, a secret army camp, location: UNKNOWN.

The lieutenant walked in professionally and took a seat in front of his antique desk. He flicked on the TV without saying a word and slid a video into the video player. A news report surged onto the TV, a male reporter was standing at the beginning of the Peruvian track, his face looked worried but he looked determined to finish the report. I watched the reporter’s actions, it was at that moment I noticed its alien eyes glowing darkly behind a thick palm tree, its claws stretched with anticipation and at that moment the animal lunged at the young man from behind, he gurgled, shrieked and screamed but nothing could stop this animal, it grasped the man’s thin neck and with that he was dead.

The lieutenant switched the television off and returned to his seat, he placed his hands on the desk and then spoke, “Professor Landon, as you just saw, an alien animal has been found in the vast jungle of Peru, the reason I bought you here? Well your mission is to find this animal and research it from a distance, try not to kill yourself and your team, if we don’t hear from you in 56 hours we are claiming that you are dead.”

I watched the animal; it was crazy, murderous, psychotic even! We were face to face, it’s breath stunk of rotting flesh and its fangs were dripping with fresh saliva and blood.  All I could do is hope that my trusty hand knife would be enough to kill it. We circled each other for 2 minutes; I needed to think of a plan fast!

At that moment, it leaped onto my body, battling me, wanting my blood. How did I stop this animal? Well that is for another time...

Authors Notes - One of my short stories from awhile ago, hehe