by Peter John
I grabbed the two stabbing sticks from my belt and charged. In for a penny, in for a pound. My next brave action was completely unexpected as I face-planted deep into the muck. The muddy snowshoes had reached their breaking point and stuck fast. I only had time to take a breath as I fell face-first into the mud. Both sticks stabbing deep into the useless stinking bog. Spluttering and spitting out the foul soup, I sat up gasping. I couldn’t just sit here, the woman was going to be killed. I cleaned the muck from my eyes and to my surprise saw the cat had released the woman and was now spitting and coughing and most importantly retreating.
When I fell, the huge splash of mud and water had hit the feline directly in the face. Some must have gotten into its airway and eyes. I got to my feet and charged again, waving my arms and trying to look as intimidating as possible. It was already retreating, but my charge seemed to hurry it along. I moved forward to the woman. The jaguar meanwhile scampered off into the trees, injured pride and all, and left me standing panting alongside the extremely irate woman.
She was cradling her injured arm and it appeared to be broken from the jaguar's bite. Her leg was also twisted and swollen with deep gouges all along the calf and ankle. She was bleeding, but not too badly. Although it was hard to tell with everything covered in mud. I knelt next to her and asked,
“Are you all right?”
“No, you asshole, I am not all right!” her reply was full of pain and hurt. “God! What is going on!” she shouted, “and who the fuck are you?”
I tried to help her calm down, but frankly, I had no answer for her.
“What’s your name?” I asked to distract her from her plight.
Between her panting and wincing, she replied, “Sarah Wilson. Yours?”
I smiled, “I’m Petros Arkansas.”
CHAPTER 4
A Friendship Forged
It turns out Sarah was an abductee too. This was her first simulation, and she had been overcome with despair when placed in this hostile swamp. She also had the blinking internal light to the north in her vision, but had not moved forward as yet. I used some bark strips to bind her arm against her chest, allowing her arm to cover her breasts. I could see she was a little uneasy about her nudity but I just continued as if it didn’t matter. I collected my staff from the dead alligator’s carcass and gave it to her to use as a crutch.
I wanted to get us away from here as soon as possible. Figuring that the big cat would be back soon, I hoped the alligator carcass would be enough food for it, and it would leave us off the menu for the time being. Sarah was in full agreement and we stumbled off. This time I gave in to our overlords wishes and headed towards the blinking beacon. If nothing else, it was something to cling to, I guess. As human beings, we need goals. I was hoping the goal was something we wanted. As we shuffled along in the mud and slime.
I found out that Sarah was also from the United States, but from Florida, whereas I was from the Midwest. She was also ex-military. A Marine Force Recon with an honorable discharge after a two-year stint in the Afghanistan fiasco. Her active service was spent manning the gun-mounts on troop transport birds. When a rocket propelled grenade took her bird out of the sky near Kandahar, she miraculously survived unscathed, and they gave her the option to stay on for another year and join one of the ground pounder units or quit while she was ahead and go home. With none of her regular crew surviving the fateful helicopter crash, she tried to leave all the madness behind and make a living as a civilian. Sarah was also an orphan, living alone when the aliens came for her. She had a small ranch out in the middle of nowhere. According to her, there was no-one who would check in on her soon and when they found her gone, they would not be worried. The aliens it seemed had been very thorough and selective in who they took. I certainly wasn’t going to be missed either. It was hard to see what she looked like clearly with all the mud, but she insisted her hair was blonde. She was easily 1.8 meters tall. I was just a few centimeters taller at 1.9 meters. Her athletic figure was heavy though as my shoulder supporting her twinged in protest. She was lean and trim though, so it must be heavy bones or else I was just not as strong and fit as I once had been. Without the snowshoes, we were making slow progress. Her stumbling limbs pressing her deep into the mud and making it harder and harder with each step.
We were both exhausted especially after that adrenaline-filled fight. We needed food and rest soon.
After a few hours of crashing and bumbling our way through the swamp, I noticed it was getting dark. This simulation was taking much longer than the previous one, so I assumed it would continue until we achieved some kind of goal or were killed in the process. Remembering all the box prompts I had minimized, I decided to have a look at what they were saying.
You have struck a swamp alligator a stunning blow. 7% damage. Additional Critical Damage of 10%, The Alligator is stunned.
You have struck a swamp alligator. 1% damage.
You have struck a swamp alligator. 2% damage.
You have struck a swamp alligator. 1% damage.
You have struck a swamp alligator. 0.5% damage.
You have struck a swamp alligator. 1% damage.
You have struck a critical death blow. Your staff has pierced the eye and brain causing critical damage. Swamp alligator dies.
Experience gained. You have gained experience.
Keep trying. Keep building. Keep on surviving.
You have temporarily blinded Swamp Jaguar. Jaguar is blind for 10 seconds. You have caused a Swamp jaguar to choke. 1% damage.
Becoming more accustomed to controlling the pop-ups, I closed the boxes and asked Sarah if she knew about them. “What do you mean?” Sarah asked. “Are you saying this isn’t real?” I looked at her haggard, drawn face, splattered with mud streaks. There were splotches through her hair, and her body was covered in grime.
I nodded, “Yes, all of this…” I showed us, and all around us with a gesture from my hand, “... doesn’t really exist. We are being given challenges, a kind of test and as we kill things we get experience points or those things kill us. I’m not sure what happens if we make it through this simulation, but from my experience of computer games, it means we will power up. We will gain new abilities and be stronger, smarter, faster, and so on for the next game.”
Sarah paused in her limping and pushed me away from her. “What are you talking about Petros? How can this not be real?” “Have you noticed a distortion in your vision? strange colors and blocks? Remember, you said you saw the blinking directional beacon?” I asked pointedly. She paused then and looked at me intently.
“Now that you mention it…” She murmured thoughtfully and from her faraway look, I could see she was finally noting the pop-up translucent boxes in her vision. There must have been a lot. I waited until she came back to the now.
“Oh! My! God! You are right Petros. It lists all the damage I have taken. It says I will have to wait for my health to regenerate or take something to boost it. Do you have something that could boost my health?”
I looked around and shushed her. “Not so loud, there is still danger here. We have to figure a way to survive and get to the blinking beacon. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do. If we get there, I don’t know if we will be safe, but at least we will have achieved a goal. Perhaps get experience points and get stronger. Regarding your health boost, from the Roleplaying games I have played, you usually gain health by eating something or resting.“
“But we also have to be smart.” I continued, “I think we weren’t supposed to meet, but now we have met, the aliens are letting us continue to see what we do. My controller is named Grant. He told me I’m being tested and trained.”
“Mine’s Oscar, and he told me nothing about this. I was just injected with something in my stomach and couldn’t do anything about it. I passed out after and woke up in this swamp. I thought they had discarded me back on Earth i
n a random place.” We continued on while chatting.
It was nice to think of something else besides our situation. I noticed a small clearing, a great place for resting up overnight. Whether we would get any sleep was another matter altogether. Time was hard to predict, but at a guess, I would say we had been in the simulation just over six hours.
The area appeared to be getting darker as if dusk was settling in. The sun was low on the horizon, so it would be roughly two hours before full dark would blanket us. As we moved into the flattened area, with relatively compact mud, and a barrier of tree roots surrounding on three sides I asked Sarah what she knew about survival out in the wilds.
“As a marine, surely you have survival skills? What do you suggest we do in this clearing?” Stumbling in, Sarah looked around, “Well, if this was a training situation, I would have some way to make a fire, but everything is wet. We don’t even have basic equipment to use. With nothing but my loincloth, it makes it difficult to think of what to contribute. I am feeling warm though. The exercise and mud that is covering me kept a lot of the heat in. I’m not sure how cold it will get during the night, or how the bugs will bother us. Perhaps we should put another layer of mud on before we set up for the night?” She looked at me expectantly and I shrugged taking my time to reply.
“Yep, that’s what I was thinking. Although I am worried about your wounds. Those cuts on your arm and leg won’t be doing well with all that muck on them. But the rest of you could do with another layer of mud. Be warned, I found a leech on my… um scrotum earlier, so if you itch anywhere it's most likely one of them.” Sarah’s face blanched as she took that in, “Yuck! Leeches are my worst nightmare. How did you get rid of it or is it still… you know, attached?” The conversation was getting awkward and I might even have blushed if our situation wasn’t so precarious.
“Actually, it fell off when I scratched the area, they usually fall off after gorging themselves. Hopefully, there are not so many that we wake up as dried out husks. I’m not sure if this simulation will make us into zombies, but I doubt it.” My attempt at levity brought a pained smile out from her, and we both continued to the edge of the clearing to get some mud. Sarah just plopped down and using her one free hand scooped clumps of mud on her hair, face, and body. I helped by scooping mud to her. Then added some to myself. The lower half of me had been getting a consistent supply of mud during our laborious hike so it didn’t take long. Then, using a pool of relatively clearer water, I cleaned her ankle and bite marks.
The alligator had done more damage than I originally thought, and it amazed me how strong her mind had to be to walk with that wound for as long as we did. After cleaning away most of the muck, I chewed some leaves and pith from bark and placed the pulp on the open wounds. I didn’t think the plants had healing properties, but I figured that the enzymes in my spit would be better for her cuts than the mud.
After applying the pasty results, I wrapped them with leaves and then used strips of wet bark as a bandage. To top it off, I applied a mud layer. Her wound hadn’t looked good and if we remained in this swamp for much longer, she would get very sick and infected.
Leaving Sarah to make her own way back to the central clearing with my handy staff, I tried to get more vegetation from the surrounding trees. Using my hands I tore small saplings, leaves, and branches off, the greener the better. Then gathering all the material together, I took it back to the campsite. This would be our bedding.
A thought struck me then. Wait a minute, we are in a swamp. There are smaller dangers here besides alligators and jaguars. What about snakes? With extra vigilance, I headed out again to get more vegetation. The thought was now playing on my mind, and I thoroughly inspected every branch or clump of leaves I stooped to collect. I found lots of frogs and insects, some worm creatures too. Then I heard a slow hissing, like a kettle on the boil with the steam hissing out the spout.
Looking down and to my left, I found what was causing it. Yep. It was a snake all right. It was easily about five meters long, and had a large muscular body with beady black eyes. The forked tongue was flicking at me in annoyance. It was a constrictor snake for sure. Maybe a python? Too small to be an anaconda, or maybe it was a baby one of those? Whatever it was, it was looking at me with suspicious eyes as it glided sinuously through the swamp. Gently swishing through the muddy waters. What made it especially unusual was that it had a very large bulge in its body about one-third of the length down.
Sighing with relief I realized it had recently had a meal and was just looking for a safe place to hang out. It was not interested in eating me at all. I made some threatening gestures, and this seemed to dissuade it from coming closer. Instead, it turned around, still hissing threateningly and headed back to where it had come from. Deciding not to tell Sarah, I headed back to the encampment with the new haul of vegetation. I then spent the good part of an hour creating a barricade in addition to the natural one of the trees surrounding us. I didn’t believe for one second that things would be easy during the night.
Resting up here was our best option. It made little sense to be stumbling around in the dark. As much of a simulation as this was, it felt real, and so I would treat it as a real life and death situation as much as possible. I didn’t want to experience death again and the blinking light in the distance was a beacon of hope that kept my goals focused.
CHAPTER 5
Alligator Alley
It was fully dark, and the jungle came alive with the nocturnal denizens. Frogs, insects and other critters croaked, screeched and chittered in a cacophony of noise. Sarah and I were back-to-back in our little clearing. It had cooled down a lot from the humidity of the day, and I think we both derived comfort from our proximity. The back-to-back contact gave me a sense of having my six covered. Being ex-military, I am sure Sarah felt the same. I could feel her shivering from time-to-time, whether it was from her wounds, the stress or because she was feeling cold, I could not tell.
We had said little, each deep in our own thoughts. I eventually broke the silence. “I’m hungry,” I said. “pass some of that pizza?”
This brought a snort of amusement from Sarah. She leaned her head back against me and said, “Why are you named after a state?” It was my turn to laugh. “After everything that’s happened, you want to know about my name?” “Well, according to you, this is a simulation, right? So it’s not real. I would rather focus on what IS real,” she replied. I sighed. “It’s quite a long story, and I haven’t told it to many. Government secrets and all that.” Again she laughed, but it was a hollow laugh.
“Petros, I have lots of government secrets in my head, but one thing I am certain of, is that you are not a US government secret, I can tell by your accent you aren’t even from the US.”
My shoulders stiffened, maybe she felt it. “Well, on that score you would be wrong. I think I am at least three governments’ secret, but I haven’t remained anonymous and out of harm's way by mouthing off to everyone I meet.” Now it was her turn to stiffen. She turned her head.
“You are serious, aren’t you?”
After a few moments of indecision, I replied, “As serious as a hurricane, although where I originally come from we don’t call them hurricanes, we call them cyclones.”
She mused for a moment then replied, “That is interesting, it means you come from the southern hemisphere, but you don’t have an Australian accent, and you definitely are not Latino, so that cuts out South America too. But okay fine, you keep your secrets for now. Do me a favor though and tell me where you learned all this bushcraft? You seem quite at home in this place. I have had some survival training, but nothing that could have prepared me for our current situation. You seem to take it all in stride.” “Quiet!” I hissed at her.
“Damn I wasn’t meaning to…” I turned and placed my hand in front of her face to stop her finishing what she was saying. During ou
r conversation, I had noticed that the area around our camp had become deathly quiet. Hardly a bug or frog was making a noise. It was as if someone had thrown a blanket over our heads. All you could hear was the trickle of water and the swish of vegetation. Sarah realized the urgency and cut off what she was saying and pushed my hand firmly away. It was dark now and I could hardly see anything.
My ears became instruments of detection and I closed my eyes, trying to hear what was approaching us. Softly, almost delicately, I could hear a gentle movement just outside our perimeter. The swish, creak and crack of vegetation being moved deliberately, the squelch of mud as a paw was placed carefully. It moved lightly, but with deadly purpose. I could sense its presence. Something was right there just outside our little clearing, just beyond the barrier. Staring at us through the vegetation. It had stopped moving and as I listened I could hear a rasping rumble of harsh breathing.
Abruptly I jumped to my feet, screamed as loudly as I could. Smashing my staff into the leaves and branches above and around me, I created as much noise and snarling menace as my adrenalin filled body could produce. Sarah who had been straining her ears to listen was equally as startled as the predator outside our campsite and she shouted too. It ended quickly with a crash of underbrush and a squelching of mud as whatever it was fled the scene as fast as it could manage. Thankfully, it had chosen the flight mode instead of fight mode.
“I think it’s gone now, you can stop shouting.”