by Teo Xue Shen
“No,” I reply honestly. “I’d rather stay out of trouble.”
“But it might…” Rick begins.
“Trust me on this.” I stare him in the eye. “I get the feeling this isn’t something we should be messing with.”
Raine stares back at me, then glances up sharply.
“It’s gone,” she frowns. “In just that moment…”
She’s right. The shadowy shape has disappeared. Reluctantly, I follow them over to the spot where it once was. The leaves on the ground have been stirred up. That’s it. There’s no other indication that something was there just moments ago. There isn’t even a trail to follow.
“It’s a Savage,” Rick insists. “There’s no other explanation for that.”
“Give it a rest, will you?”
Raine sounds irritated. I can’t blame her. We’ve been handed mystery after mystery since we entered this jungle. Heck, I wouldn’t even be surprised if Idphor’s next instructions are to hunt down Bigfoot.
“Maybe we should call for an extraction,” Sean says nervously. “I mean, before things get out of hand.”
“There is no way, even if Idphor threatens to make me lick his boots, that I’m gonna repeat this damn course,” says Raine, glaring at him. “We’re just a couple of kilometres away from our extraction point anyway.”
“I think we should push on too,” April seconds.
“Well then, me too. Anything for the ladies,” Rick laughs.
How he manages to say stuff like that in almost any kind of situation never ceases to amaze me. Especially given that it never ends well. Raine gives him the finger.
“Ren?” she asks.
“Calling for help would be the safest thing,” I say carefully. “But you’re right. I’m not doing this shit again.”
Sean knows he’s been overruled. I think he’s secretly relieved. Amongst us all, he’s probably the one who hates this jungle survival course the most. Night descends once more, shrouding the entire place in inky darkness. This time, it’s Rick’s turn to be on watch with me.
“Fire?”
“No,” I shake my head. “We don’t know what’s out there.”
“Figures,” he sighs ruefully. “I thought you’d say that.”
I can’t tell if he’s smiling. It’s too dark. We stand in silence, listening to the tremulous warbling hoots of the owls weaving through the canopy. It would’ve been a relaxing way to spend the night if not for the dangerous creature on the prowl somewhere in this damn jungle. Every cracking of a branch, every rustle of leaves trumpets unseen dangers. The hairs on my arms are standing on end.
“Ren?”
I jump.
“Yeah?”
“Tell me about yourself.”
“What?”
“Come on,” he urges. “Talk to me. I’m scared.”
“You’re scared? Weren’t you all excited over seeing the creature earlier?”
“I’m not scared of the Savage…creature…whatever. I’m scared of the dark. The way things are, I wouldn’t even know if an owl decides to take a shit on my head until it completely ruins Raine’s impression of me tomorrow morning.”
“What’s left to ruin?”
“Hey!”
I can hear the smile in his voice.
“There’s not much to tell, really,” I relent. “Once upon a time, I lost my parents when I was very young. Don’t know much about them. The military took me in. I didn’t live happily ever after. End of story.”
There’s a short pause, filled in by the cricket opera surrounding our makeshift campsite.
“I…I don’t really have parents too,” he finally says, his voice cracking slightly for the first time since I’ve known him. “My dad… I never knew him. They had me out of wedlock. He left when I was born. My mum…well…she took to alcohol and gambling. She’d bring a different man home each night. Eventually, on my eighth birthday, she sold me to the military.”
He’s saying way more than he usually does about himself. I guess it’s something to do with the darkness surrounding us. It’s suffocating, yet comforting at the same time. Kind of like an assurance that whatever’s said here will stay here for all eternity.
“Say, what do you think the Savages are?” Rick suddenly changes the topic. “That thing we saw earlier today?”
“I don’t know,” I reply. “There’s too much I don’t know. I’ve never even seen the outside world, the one within the walls where civilians live. Everything I’ve heard about the Savages points to them being completely feral.”
“Feral, huh?” he mutters. “I guess some humans aren’t so far off.”
He sounds uncharacteristically acrimonious. Our conversation continues until I feel a poke on my shoulder hours later. It’s Raine. She’s on next shift with Sean. Her face, even in the darkness, clearly displays disdain.
“Care to stay for another shift?” she asks pointedly.
“Go easy on him,” I tell her. “He’s trying his best.”
“Whatever.”
We push on the next day. When we finally arrive at the designated place a day and a half later, our water containers are nearly empty.
“What now?” April frowns. “I’m pretty sure this is the right place.”
“And that this is the last checkpoint,” Rick adds.
“Maybe there’s more,” Raine shrugs diffidently. “I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s that bald bastard who’s planning this thing anyway.”
A rustle in the bushes to my left, right beside Sean. Something’s wrong. Very wrong. A shadow moves. Within that split second, I draw my knife and lunge. A massive arm coated in black fur. I bowl Sean over and slash upwards, slicing at it. To my surprise, the fur turns my blade away. It doesn’t even cut through. A second fist sails in from my right, faster than my eye can follow. I drop to the ground, kicking savagely at my opponent’s shin. I connect and it falls. Or rather, it almost falls. One of the arms shoots skywards, grabbing on to a tree branch. And just like that, it swings itself up into the air like a monkey. As it sails through the air, I get a clear view of its body. Two grotesque, gorilla-like arms protrude from its lower back, covered in thick black fur. Other than that, the rest of the body is that of a normal human male’s. Savage. We have to get the hell out of here. There’s a scream to my left as something rams into April. Rick goes to help her, but is flung into a tree.
“Sean! Help Ren!” Raine roars, her switchblade in hand. “I’ll…”
Her opponent lashes out with a claw, forcing her back. It’s crazy. It has humungous crab claws instead of arms. It lunges, crushing a small tree where Raine once was. Distracted, I notice too late as my enemy lets go of the tree branch. Somersaulting through the air, it cannonballs into me, knocking the wind from my lungs. I don’t even have time to catch my breath. It leaps towards me. Time blurs. I grab my knife and turn its blade upwards.
“STOP!”
I freeze. Everyone freezes. The black blade of my butterfly knife is centimetres away from my opponent’s right eye. Wait…that voice isn’t familiar. Savages can’t talk, can they?
“Stop!”
This time, I see it clearly. The thing in front of me spoke.
“Who…who’re you?” I ask, tightening my grip on the knife.
Astonishingly, the gorilla-like arms begin retracting into its body. In seconds, there’s no trace of them ever existing.
“Dave, stand down,” he orders.
His partner, Dave, nods and steps back. His arms slowly morph back into human ones.
“I’m Ling Xue. I’m a soldier, just like you guys, I presume,” the man smiles a little. “But unlike you, my partner, Dave, and I have been modified, as you’ve seen.”
“Uh…uh…okay.” I blink, unsure how to respond. “We’re Squad 72. We’re here on an exercise. I’m Ren. That’s Rick, April, Raine and Sean.”
“I see. Nice to meet you, I guess. I apologise for causing you distress.”
His smile doesn’t quite reach his
eyes.
“What’re people like you doing here?” Rick challenges. “Shouldn’t you be outside the eighteen walls dealing with the Savages?”
“Well, we’re hunting…” Dave begins.
“We’re on an exercise too,” Ling Xue interrupts loudly. “It’s dangerous here. We’ll escort you to a new evacuation point. We’ll charter your transport back to camp as well.”
“Now, now, hold on just one moment,” says Raine, holding up a hand. “We’re on our exercise. Hell if I’m just gonna fail it now and go back just cause you said it’s dangerous.”
“This is no place for people without Extensions like you, girlie,” Dave frowns. “Trust us. It’s not safe.”
“Shut up, crabman,” she snaps.
“Crab?” He looks genuinely insulted. “Homarus gammarus. My Extension comes from that of a lobster, I’ll have you know.”
“Dave.” A warning tone enters Ling Xue’s voice. “Enough.”
He walks over to a startled Rick and begins fiddling with the device on Rick’s arm. Beep. The figure on the device changes. Outlined on it is now a route to our new extraction point, nestled snugly between the ninth and the tenth walls.
“There,” he says. “All settled. Your trainer will be informed of the change in plans by my superiors. And Raine? Don’t worry. You’ll all pass the exercise. Now, if you please, follow me.”
“How did you…” April frowns.
“Secret,” he winks. “Now come on. We need to go.”
“All right,” I say. “Let’s go.”
“Ren?” Rick objects. “How can we trust them to…”
“If they wanted to kill us, they’d have done so already. You felt it for yourself, the power in those Extensions. Whatever they wanted to do, they could’ve done by force. We’re out of our depth here.”
“He’s right,” Raine seconds reluctantly. “I also think we should go.”
We follow the soldiers, Ling Xue is at the front, with Dave bringing up the rear. The hike back is as onerous as ever and would’ve proved near impossible if not for the fact that Ling Xue is more talkative than I had made him out to be.
“You’ll get your Extensions soon enough,” he says over his shoulder as he walks. “This is your first time seeing Extensions up close, right? When you get them, you’ll see what a difference they make. They’re bulletproof too. Without them, it’s near impossible to fight against the Savages. Trust me on this. Still, I can’t wait for the day I’ll finally retire and…”
“You said this place was dangerous,” Raine questions. “How so?”
“Well,” he hesitates. “Since we’re training in this area, we could mistake people like you guys for our targets and attack, much like what happened earlier.”
“Your partner mentioned a hunt?” she presses. “What kind of hunt. A creature? A Savage?”
“Ah, it’s nothing like that. You see, Dave…uh…he likes to make things sound…you know…cool.”
“So what do you guys do on your exercises?”
“Unfortunately, that’s classified. But you’ll find out soon, after you get your Extensions.”
I fall back, losing track of their conversation. Sean’s lagging at the very rear, stumbling along as though his soul has just possessed a new body and is still getting used to it.
“You okay?”
“I’m sorry,” he mutters.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ll get stronger eventually.”
“No, not that. For earlier. I couldn’t help you. And back at the training room. I couldn’t do anything either. They looked too…human.”
“Nah, I think it’s a good thing that you…wait, what? Human?”
A small silence descends. He’s deciding if he should speak.
“Do you know why I ended up in the military?” he finally asks quietly.
“Why?”
“I was from a wealthy household.” He bites his lip and takes a deep breath. “I have a family. My parents and a brother. It would have been the perfect life except for the fact that I couldn’t study. The pressure built up, the crushing weight of everyone’s expectations on me… I couldn’t handle it. There was no outlet for release. Not for me, at least. And as a result, I failed most of my classes in school. It was like a dead end for me.”
“But that’s not all, is it?” I prompt gently. “I’ll listen, whatever it is.”
“Some perceptive powers you got there,” he comments. “Well, yes. There’s another part to it.”
I wait.
“My brother. He was my polar opposite. He excelled in everything he did. Academic achievements, sports, club activities, arts, music and more. I lived in his shadow. Everyone would praise him while I sat in the same room, bearing sceptical glances of unconcealed disappointment. But despite everything, he was still my brother. I loved him all the same, even if I couldn’t live up to his name. And I always wondered how he dealt with all the pressure, the pressure I couldn’t release, the pressure which destroyed me. Until that night.”
I can see the pain in his eyes, a pain whose source isn’t the sweltering sun or the laborious hike back to camp.
“That night,” he repeats, pushing his hair out of his eyes. “I woke up in the middle of the night, feeling thirsty as heck. So I went downstairs to get myself a glass of water. We were rich enough to hire a live-in housekeeper who slept in a small room behind the kitchen. I was in the kitchen when I realised something strange. The lights in the housekeeper’s room were on.”
“They set you up?” I guess. “Your brother and your housekeeper? They drove you away?”
“I take back my words on perceptive power.”
“What?”
“No. They didn’t. Out of concern, I decided to take a look. And inside that room, I saw my brother, holding a clothes iron to the housekeeper’s forearm. She was struggling, tears flowing down her cheeks as she screamed into the flesh of his palm. He then released the iron and kicked her in the ribs, all the while grinning like a crazed beast. Stress relief.” He smiles bitterly. “I should’ve known. And to make things worse, she caught my eye, that housekeeper. She saw me standing at the doorway. Her eyes…”
He breaks off, turning away.
“And?”
“And I ran away,” his voice a hollow whisper. “I ran. I couldn’t do anything. He was my brother. I decided that I couldn’t stay in that household any longer. So I joined the military. I’m a horrible person. A coward. And I still visit them each Christmas, pretending that everything’s all right. I’m despicable.”
I don’t know what to say to him. I don’t know what he’s going through. I can’t bring myself to comment. It’d be too irresponsible of me.
“I guess it all came from that night. I can’t bring myself to hurt anyone else since then. I don’t even know if I’d be okay fighting against Savages. I mean, shouldn’t our sentience count for something?”
“You’ll be fine,” I assure him, aware that my words are flimsy as toilet paper. “I believe you’ll be.”
“Yeah,” he sounds unconvinced. “Thanks…”
I nod encouragingly.
“Oh, Ren?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t tell anyone, okay? Especially not Raine. The last thing I need is sympathy.”
“I won’t.”
Soon, we find ourselves standing in a row outside our room. Ling Xue and Dave left us outside the camp gates, warning us not to speak about our encounter with them. That didn’t sit well with any of us, but since they did technically help get us out of that jungle, we agreed to their terms.
Idphor’s walking around in front of us, looking clearly disturbed. He walks in one direction, pauses abruptly, then turns around and walks in another, stopping now and then to eye us suspiciously.
“Did anything happen out there?” he asks after a moment of awkward silence.
“Like what?” Raine demands before any of us can speak. “Don’t we clear the course if we get to the checkpoints alive? Or w
as there another objective we had to meet?”
She’s smart. She wants to hear what Idphor has to say before telling him anything. Or if he knows anything about what we saw in the jungle.
“Anything unusual,” Idphor replies, tugging on his earlobe. “Anything out of place.”
“We…” Sean begins, clearly with the intention to spill the beans.
Raine discreetly elbows him in the back, shutting him up. Idphor doesn’t notice.
“We saw nothing out of the ordinary,” I say quickly. “The new instructions just appeared on Rick’s device and we followed them back here. Why? Should we have seen something? Did something happen?”
“No. Just checking. If there’s nothing, then get out of my face. Your next training begins tomorrow morning.”
He leaves.
“Something’s definitely wrong,” Raine says the moment we enter our room. “Or, at the very least, there’s something he isn’t telling us. And it’s definitely related to that creature we saw and the two soldiers.”
No disagreement there.
“Why didn’t you tell him?” Sean asks. “It might have helped.”
“Helped? Him or us?” Raine shoots back. “What if it was something we shouldn’t have seen? What if they decide to do something to us because of it?”
“You mean like, silence us?”
“Yes.”
“How can that…” Sean’s voice trails off.
The truth is, he doesn’t know enough to counter Raine’s statement. None of us do. It is a possibility. In fact, we’ve all known about it right from the start. The only difference between now and then is that Raine has put it into words. To the military, we’re mere assets, pawns in the greater game of chess. Losing a couple of soldiers wouldn’t mean much, especially if it meant keeping an important matter a secret. In their shoes, I, too, would do the same.
“Maybe we’re being a little paranoid here?” April suggests. “It could be a breach in security leading to a Savage somehow entering the eighteen walls. I’m sure they’ll take care of it in no time.”
“That is, assuming what we saw was indeed a Savage,” Raine says.
No one argues either. It could be anything. For all we know, maybe Idphor’s genuinely just curious. Maybe that’s under his job scope, you know, asking soldiers about their time in the jungle.