Chapter Five - Encroaching Green

“The hell do you mean the forest is growing?” Blake hissed. He looked at the treeline, searching for whatever Jaricko and Jack seemed to notice.

“Watch it closely. Use the pole for reference,” Jack pointed towards a wooden shaft that had been impaled in the ground in the past. The five students watched with unblinking eyes as the foliage slowly crept forward. It was hardly noticeable but after a minute they could notice it had moved an inch closer.

Jaricko’s curiosity got the better of him and he stepped towards the edge of the camp. Jack followed close beside him, along with Timothy. Blake muttered something under his breath and joined.

The young man leaned down and examined the wriggling plants. Leaves and stems were growing at a visible pace from this close. Jaricko observed as slender roots tunneled through the soil, displacing dirt and stone.

A sudden urge overtook Jaricko and he snapped off one of the leaves. His eyebrows shot upwards when the plant seemed to retreat at the injury. It soon resumed its expansion, the wounded stem starting to regrow another leaf.

He plucked another, and then another until there was a small pile of verdant green under him. No matter how much he damaged it, the plant still tried to come closer.

The experience left Jaricko unsettled. Giant spiders were a stretch of the imagination, but possible in a deranged Austrailian sort of way. A rapidly growing forest that might overtake them? His heart skipped a beat and he let out a strangled gasp.

“We need to tell someone,” Blake admitted after a moment. The rest nodded and he went over to Clair. Jaricko watched as the smaller woman seemed to take the information with ease. The young man imagined that she had simply given up on being surprised. The professor talked with the other counselors for a moment before she walked towards the totem pole in the center of the camp.

The students watched her like dehydrated people stranded in a desert, and she was their only hope of salvation. She got their attention and began to talk.

“Okay, folks. I know everyone is worried about what’s happening, and since you’re all adults, I’m going to be completely honest with you. We have no clue what's going on. Our phone and radio aren’t working and the bus won’t start no matter what we do. In an effort to keep you all safe, I’m instructing us to create a night watch for tonight.

“Alexis, Peter, and Beck will stay awake and remain out here near the fire and sound the alarm if something happens.” Clar pointed towards a small bell that Jaricko hadn’t noticed before. It was at the very top of the totem pole and was connected to a long corded rope that traveled down the side.

“If you hear this bell then, calmly investigate to make sure it is safe. Your group leader, if not on night watch, will be staying in the cabin with their group. I have given them a gun.” The professor watched for any disgruntlement. Jaricko saw a few individuals slouch slightly at the prospect of the weapon.

Jaricko didn’t like guns either. They made him feel nervous when someone else wielded them, but at this moment he realized he couldn’t be picky. Someone having a gun would be leagues better at dealing with threats. Although, Jaricko did wonder where the guns had come from. Was there some safe that only the professor could access? He watched with narrowed eyes as he saw the upperclassmen holding what appeared to be hunting rifles.

The thought of someone like Briar holding a gun left him wary. He frowned when he realized that Briar would be sleeping in the cabin with them too. Jaricko considered trying to find the key or safe or wherever the guns had come from, but he didn’t want to risk outing himself that way. People were already giving him strange looks after he set fire to the spider, and he didn’t want to make them think he was deranged by requesting a gun.

“Those that want to can remain outside and stay awake with the night watch. I completely understand any trepidation that you may be experiencing, but I swear that I’m going to try my best to find out what’s going on,” Clair declared and was met with mixed responses.

“So are we just staying here? Why don’t we try to hike back down the road?” A feminine voice questioned. Clair raised an eyebrow in response.

“While I won’t force you to stay, I would caution you that venturing along the road, at dark, in these circumstances, would be the height of foolishness. We’ll plan out a better response to the situation tomorrow, but we’ve all had a long day. I suggest getting whatever sleep you can.”

The professor dismissed the students. A few attempted to talk with her but left with dissatisfied expressions. Jaricko didn’t blame Clair for not knowing what was going on. It wasn’t fair to expect a college wilderness professor to know why there was suddenly a second moon in the sky. Or why everyone was seeing strange words in front of them.

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“We need to loot that spider,” Timothy admitted to the others. Jaricko looked at him in confusion.

“It’s a burnt husk. I doubt there’s anything that could be scavenged from it,” Jaricko replied. Timothy shook his head.

“Call it a hunch. I just hope no one else has gotten the same idea.” Jaricko followed the other boy toward the blackened spider. The rest of the students had given it a wide berth, the stench of the cooked meat caused Jaricko to gag. His eyes watered in response.

“Well?” Jaricko asked. Timothy furrowed his brows and moved closer to the creature. He ran a small hand across the chitin.

“I’m not getting anything, but maybe you try? Doesn’t hurt to check.” Timothy said with hope. He seemed to be expecting something to happen.

Jaricko was no stranger to games, often playing many in his free time when he locked himself in his room. But this was no game. The spider was very much real and had even dealt actual harm to Tatum.

The teenager took a hesitant step toward the corpse. It seemed much smaller now that it was dead. It had curled up on itself within its dying throes, changing from the size of a van to a commuter car.

Jaricko touched the shell of the spider, recoiling at the still-present warmth. His mind flashed with the terrified shrieks of the creature as it burned to death. He shook his head. Jack was right. It had tried to kill Tatum. Eat or be eaten. Jaricko had simply chosen to be the one that survived. He was pulled from his inner thoughts by a sudden string of words appearing in his vision.

Juvenile Mountain Forest Arachnid [Tier 0] Corpse - Essence [5/72]

Jaricko could feel a small pool of something inside the corpse. He felt the urge to pull at it, and with a yank, the liquid rushed into his core. He gasped in surprise. He felt what could only be described as his spirit filling up with this strange energy. Jaricko touched the corpse again but was only met with the name and an empty essence reading.

“What happened?” Timothy questioned. Jaricko explained how he pulled some of the essence in the body into his being. He described the feeling of his chest expanding and how he could tell there was essence in himself.

Timothy placed a hand on his chin and contemplated.

“So when you killed the spider you got some of the essence, but a little bit remained in the corpse. You have to actively suck out the remainder. I bet the rest of the essence has already dissipated while we were busy trying to come to terms with what was going on.

“Is there an option to loot the corpse?” Timothy inquired.

"Like a game menu?"

"Yeah, anything besides the essence popping up?"

Jaricko mentally tried to bring up an option that would allow him to loot the corpse, but nothing happened. He shook his head in Timothy’s direction and the smaller boy grimaced.

“A man can hope. Would have made things so much easier.” The mousey boy got on his knees and inspected one of the razor-sharp claws on the forelimbs.

“What are you doing?” Jaricko asked. He already had an idea of what Timothy was doing but wanted confirmation.

“We can’t think of this just as a game or just as the life we once knew. We need to start taking steps toward our survival. I didn’t bring a knife, and I’m already regretting that. I’m not going to be defenseless when everything goes to shit.” Timothy’s eyes were narrowed and he growled a bit at the end. Jaricko watched as the boy finagled the claw out of the spider’s corpse. The weapon was the size of a knife, around six inches, and curved at the end.

Timothy gingerly carried it, careful not to touch the edge. He clumsily moved to the other claw and removed it too. He offered it to Jaricko.

“A sign of a potential partnership.” He declared. Jaricko grinned and took the claw. The two boys made their way to the cabin, holding their spoils.

Jaricko followed Timothy into cabin number four. The door opened with a creek that set Jaricko’s nerves on edge. He briefly saw Briar looking their way before turning to chat with a similarly aged girl. Jack closed the door behind them, he had ushered Tatum along and had led him towards his bed. The journalist instantly fell asleep when his face touched the pillow, and soft snores could be heard.

“I hope he feels better in the morning,” Timothy commented. The others nodded in agreement.

“Are none of you going to stay up?” Blake asked. He had cooled down from his earlier outburst and moved lethargically.

“Sleep is needed. Maintain your strength,” Jack stated. Out of the five, Jack was probably the one that was handling the situation the best out of the others. He hadn’t seen the man waver in the face of the spider or the fact that they were stuck away from civilization.

“How do you do it?” Jaricko wondered. He reddened when Jack’s eyes settled on him. He hadn’t realized he had said his thoughts aloud. A small smile played on Jack’s lips. The man’s light brown eyes flickered in the light of a small lantern they had been given.

“I do not worry about what I cannot change.” There was a conviction in his voice that had Jaricko feeling moved.

“Big guy is just simply built differently,” Jaricko heard Blake say. A ripple of laughter spread through the cabin. Everyone settled into their beds, the events of the day quickly caught up to them.

Jaricko cradled his phone in his hand, willing the device to turn on or even flicker with light. He let out a sigh of disappointment, nothing had happened. He huddled under the blanket; the cabin was cold and Jaricko grasped for any form of warmth.

He hoped that his family was okay. He felt relieved that at least his brother would be there, along with his father’s brother nearby. They would take care of each other. Jaricko was assured of that.

He couldn’t help but think of his last words to his mother, and hoped he would see them again. Jaricko had left them to attend a college across the country to get away, and now he was regretting it.

Jaricko fell asleep to the sound of the old clock ticking overhead.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick tick.