Jared’s day was going terribly. He had somehow been transported to who knows where, separated from his squad, and now he was being chased by something from some twisted psycho’s nightmares. It had started as he continued his trek through the forest on his way to the target location. His spotter, Sergeant Kevin Halverson, led the way through the underbrush. They were approaching the target, staying low and moving slowly. Jared had crawled underneath an arch formed by a couple of intertwined branches, and suddenly, his surroundings had completely changed. He was still in a forest, but it was mostly composed of evergreens, rather than the deciduous forest he had previously been in.

He glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Halverson was nowhere to be seen, and the animal calls and birdsong that he could hear were unfamiliar. Possibilities raced through his mind, but before he could consider any of them, he had to take stock.

He still had his pack with a few days’ worth of supplies, his rifle and four extra magazines, his sidearm with three extra magazines, various tools to aid in survival and creating and taking down a hide site, and his radio with extra batteries. The first thing he did was grab his radio. Ensuring it was set to the correct channel, he spoke.

“Halverson, this is Moore. Acknowledge. Over.”

He waited a moment for a response, but when none came, he tried again.

“Echo 2-3, do you read? Over.”

Again, there was no response. He stowed his radio in its pocket on his vest, and then started examining the foliage that surrounded him. As he had noticed before, most of the trees he could see were evergreens, but now he saw that most of the undergrowth was as well. The needles were a blue-green color rather than the deep green he was used to, and the air smelled like a mix between cedar wood and mint. The color and type of vegetation made his ghillie suit, which was covered in deep green leafy branches, stand out instead of letting him blend in.

He quickly pulled it off and grabbed his second suit from his pack, along with his pruning shears. Taking pieces of several nearby plants, he attached them to his suit to break up his silhouette and help him fade into the background. He didn’t know where he was or what kinds of dangers there might be, so being able to move around undetected could be a major factor in staying alive. Donning his newly camouflaged ghillie suit, he stowed the other in his pack, and chose a direction to move.

He started heading slightly downhill, towards the southeast. The reasons he chose this direction were threefold: it would use less energy than going uphill, he was more likely to find water going downhill, and the last time he had recognized his location, this was the direction to the closest town.

He hiked through the unfamiliar terrain for several hours, taking note of the different plants and small animals he saw. He recognized none of them, which was somewhat concerning, considering he had hiked through big forests like this on most continents. He should have recognized at least some of the plant and animal life.

Around midafternoon, he heard running water, and following the sound, he discovered a small stream. It was traveling roughly parallel to his course, but going slightly more to the south. Hoping it would lead to a larger body of water and maybe civilization, he adjusted his course to match the stream’s. He used the thicker vegetation along the sides of the stream for cover as he continued downstream, eyes and ears constantly scanning his surroundings for anything unusual. That was why he immediately noticed the strange creature drinking from the large pond that the stream emptied into.

It had the general shape and size of a rabbit, with two major additions. It had large, feathered wings sprouting from its back, and a set of antlers any buck would be proud of crowning its head. It looked around warily as it drank, never relaxing. Its vigilance didn’t even give it a chance. As Jared watched, a large brown…thing appeared right behind the rabbit-creature, moving so fast that Jared only saw a blur before its long, wickedly sharp claws stabbed down.

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The new creature must have been around three meters tall, roughly humanoid, but built like a gorilla, with large, bulging muscles. Its skin was gray-brown, and it had shaggy fur covering its shoulders and upper back. Where its neck should have been, was a large purple eye that glowed with a faint light.

It lifted the skewered rabbit, which still struggled, despite having claws going straight through its body. Electricity started to crackle around its antlers, growing blindingly bright in less than a second, then discharging into its captor’s chest. The larger beast took a couple steps backward on its gorilla-like legs, a small scorch mark on its leathery skin from the blast.

Then its belly split open in a vertical line, from just below its sternum, all the way to its pelvis, revealing a horrifying mouth filled with needle-like teeth. A long, serpentine tongue emerged, wrapping around its prey, then pulled it in. It chewed a few times, then seemed to swallow. It turned, looking around for more prey, and its large eye locked onto Jared.

Jared caught his breath, moving less than a stone statue. It’s around three hundred meters away, and I’m well camouflaged. As long as I don’t move, it shouldn’t be able to see me.

The creature proved him wrong as it started loping towards him, its eye never wavering from his position as its long legs ate up the distance. Jared cursed, then pulled out his 1911. He would have preferred his rifle, but at the speed the creature was moving, he wouldn’t have time to get set up before it arrived. His pistol would have to do.

As the beast got within range, he aimed for its center of mass and squeezed off five shots. They seemed to have little impact, barely slowing the creature. And then it was on him, claws swinging down like the headsman’s ax. Jared dove to the side, barely avoiding the strike as the claws shattered a tree next to him. He stared, dumbstruck at the devastation that one hit caused. If he was hit by that, there wouldn’t be much of him left. His mind raced as he tried to think of a way out of the situation.

Run? No, it’s substantially faster than me, I’ll never be able to lose it. Fight? My bullets didn’t seem to do much. Maybe if I hit it in the eye, I’ll be able to blind it and sneak away. Unless it has another sense that it used to find me.

It was the best plan he could think of, and he was out of time. The creature whirled on him, bringing its claws down for another vicious strike. He wasn’t fully able to evade this time, and its claws tore four bright lines of pain down his left side and leg. He turned, aiming his pistol straight at its eye and squeezed off the last two shots in the magazine, then turned and ran. The creature bellowed in pain, then took off towards where he had last been, wildly swinging its arms. Luckily, Jared had had the foresight to go in a different direction, bringing him clear of the monster’s rampage.

Taking the chance, he began stalking away from the monster, but the instant he moved, it must have noticed him somehow, because it whipped around and charged straight at him. He rolled to the side, stowing his sidearm and slipping out of his pack straps. It seemed like the creature was not going to make it easy on him, and he needed more firepower to be able to take it down. Making as little noise as possible, he unstrapped his rifle from his pack, folded out the stock, and took aim at the monster, which was now flailing around itself wildly, and charging in random directions. He took a deep breath in, held it for a second, then let it out. Leaving his lungs empty to steady his aim, he lined up his shot with the monster’s giant eye, which was now leaking purple fluid, then squeezed the trigger.

A tremendous boom shook the forest, and the rifle recoiled as it discharged its payload, a .300 Winchester Magnum bullet. He pulled the bolt back, ejecting the spent bullet case and chambered another bullet as he watched the beast. It had reeled back, screaming in pain, its eye nothing but a puddle of purple pulp. It turned toward where the bullet had come from and started charging. Jared shifted his aim down, firing another bullet straight into its open mouth.

There was an eruption of red mist and gore as the bullet tore through the creature’s back, leaving a gaping hole straight through it. It stumbled back a few steps, then kept running forward. He reloaded and fired again, shifting his aim slightly once again. Another hole was blasted through the creature, and after another two steps, it crumpled to the ground, unmoving, only. Jared took in a shaky breath, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. The creature, whatever it was, had gotten to within fifty meters of him, way too close.

Then he blinked as something unfamiliar appeared before his eyes. That’s it, I’ve finally snapped. The stress of the mission was too much. I must be hallucinating.

Before his eyes, text had written itself in blue light, staying in the center of his vision no matter where he looked.

System Unlocked. Congratulations New User: Jared Moore!