Jonas and Kemalia are the only survivors from the beach. They are lost and separated in a dangerous jungle, pursued by a terrible sea monster. who knows what new dangers they may face?

Jonas Jupiter, scientist and urbanite, had never been more horrified in his life. He had spent the last twenty years in sterilized labs, relatively clean bars, and the occasional elite gala so he could pander to wealthy donors and board members. That life was a far cry from this nightmare jungle on a foreign world. He was lost, alone, exhausted and with every step he discovered some new, alien horror.

First it was the bulbous, mushroom-like sacs of fluid that exploded with a wet pop as he stepped on them. They sprouted from the ground seemingly at random, well camouflaged by the layer of detritus on the ground. Then there were the countless hanging vines covered in leaves as sticky as glue. They stuck to him as he brushed past, so that Jonas himself had begun to look like a tree. Something thick and legless had wriggled across his path several times like a fat, furry snake.

The sounds of the jungle were completely alien as well. It was filled with chittering, popping, bubbling, and the occasional scream that almost sounded human. At one point he had heard an birdsong that could only be described as a metallic warbling, like a thin sheet of aluminum being shook. Acting as a static background to the horrifying symphony was an eerie but beautiful chorus that sounded like dozens of men singing an extended chord in falsetto. Jonas was pretty sure it was coming from beetles. He had paused to lean against a tree for a moment and had accidentally crushed an unnoticed beetle. Coincidentally, the closest sounding voice had stopped.

He was just as uncomfortable physically as he was mentally. He was sweating a lot, but he chalked that up to being out of shape. However, he was also shaking a little, which brought to mind the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal. Or nerves, he thought. Probably just nerves.

Just then, the professor felt something rub against his legs. He was almost afraid to look down, worried he might discover some new, disgusting alien lifeform. When he did look down, he saw a white cat with two perky tails winding around his legs.

“Oh, it’s you! Hello . . . cat.” Jonas knelt down to pet its back and scratch its neck gently. He could feel it purring heavily.

“We’re up to three survivors, I guess, although I have no idea where the girl got to. Say, you don’t know how hunt do you, little guy? I sure could use some food.”

The cat meowed then trotted away.

“Hey!” Jonas chased after the feline, but in just a few steps it had disappeared into the dense foliage. He looked around wildly, then heard a meow above him.

The cat was perched on a branch of a tree covered in leafy bulbs. The cat reached down and batted at one of the bulbs until it fell. Jonas caught it in his hands.

“What’s this?” he said. It felt solid beneath its leafy sheath, like wood. He peeled back the layer of leaves and uncovered something that looked a lot like a football-shaped coconut.

He pressed a button on his vambrace, the unique device he wore on his right wrist, and a six-inch knife blade appeared. He called it the bayonet. He used the bayonet to saw off the top of the alien fruit, revealing a frothy, blue-white liquid inside. He gave it a light sniff. It smelled sweet but with a slightly acrid undertone, almost like a strong cocktail. Then, despite being a scientist, he took a sip of the completely unknown, untested liquid. His eyes lit up and he smiled at the cat, who was crouched on the branch, swishing its tails nonchalantly back and forth.

“Hey, that’s the stuff! You’re pretty clever, huh? I think I’ll call you Coconut.”

While Jonas was discovering jungle delicacies with his new friend, Coconut, Kemalia was running through the jungle as fast as she dared. She couldn’t risk injuring herself on the unfamiliar terrain but the persistent and horrific sea monster was always close behind.

She could hear it pushing through the foliage, pausing only to emit its low, buzzy clicking sound. Was it using echolocation to track her?

The hunt had gone on for over an hour. I can’t run forever! I have to shake this thing, she thought.

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She decided to climb as high as she could and wait for the monster to pass her by, then slip away so she could reunite with Jonas, who—so far—was the only other confirmed survivor. If we really are the last two, we may be each other’s only chance for survival.

In a few agile moments, Kemalia found herself in the upper branches of a nearby tree. The sea monster appeared soon after.

It crawled through the foliage like a tank, crushing everything in its path. It stopped just beneath Kemalia’s tree.

The beast swiveled its wide, alligator-like head back and forth. She could hear it sniffing after her scent. From above she could see the top of its turtle-like shell and the swirl of ridges that decorated it. Its fat tail was lined with blunt spines.

It seemed to have lost her trail and turned to investigate a different direction. When it did, its massive tail severed the trunk of a nearby tree that was almost the same size as Kemalia’s. She heard the tree give way with a loud crack and watched it fall with a mighty crash. She let out a little shriek of surprise then covered her mouth, but it was too late.

The monster jerked back in her direction. It looked up as much as it could but its thick neck and shell blocked it from looking straight up at her. It instead sniffed the trunk of the tree, then chuffed. It had found her hiding place.

The thing turned sideways and rammed the edge of its shell into the trunk of the tree like a dull axe. Kemalia shrieked. Another hit and the tree was felled. Kemalia clutched the trunk of the tree as hard as she could, hoping the branches would stay strong and keep the trunk from flattening her against the ground.

Her whole world tilted wildly, then she was tumbling on the jungle floor. She expected the monster to lurch towards as she caught her breath. It stayed in place, swaying its head back and forth, looking vaguely in her direction.

What she did not know was that the creature, called a gargura by the ‘locals’, had evolved to hunt most of its prey underwater. Its eyes were almost useless, only able to see general shapes in grayscale. It usually lunged at whatever was moving the most. Its echolocation made it a deadly stalker underwater. On land, its nose was its best tool.

Kemalia on her hands and knees stared into the eyes of the gargura and the beast stared back dimly. She imagined it sizing her up, predicting her next move so it could snatch her up in its jaws before she escaped. In actuality, the gargura was trying to figure out if any of the gray shapes in front of it were edible.

“Kimmy?!” Jonas’s voice came from somewhere nearby. “Hellooo? Kimmy?!”

“Professor! I’m here! I’m here!” There was a commotion nearby. “Professor, the monster is here!”

The professor fought his way through a stubborn fern and stumbled into the clearing. Coconut the cat was on his shoulder, clinging tightly to the unstable man. He held two of the alien fruits in his hands. Both of them were half empty.

“Kimmy! Kimmy, I founded you. Whyareyouontheground?” he mumbled. Coconut hissed at the gargura and jumped off Jonas’s shoulder. “Where ya goin’? Come back, kitty! Kittykittykittykitty—”

“Professor, behind you!” she pointed at the gargura.

Jonas turned and looked at the monster but didn’t seem to register it for a second. He blinked and squinted at the monster.

“Shit!” He chucked one of the coconuts as hard as he could at the beast. It bounced off its shell and rolled away.

The gargura turned toward Jonas with its mouth open, revealing rows of uneven, jagged teeth. It lunged at him.

“Aaaahhh!” Jonas yelled as he rolled—fell, really—out of the beast’s reach.

“What do we do?” yelled Kemalia.

“‘mgonkillit!” Jonas pressed a button on his vambrace and the bayonet appeared. He lunged toward the beast. The only reason he wasn’t instantly devoured was because Kemalia, worried for Jonas and shocked by his stupidity, screamed again. The practically-blind gargura turned toward the sound, leaving Jonas an opening to scramble up its shell and straddle its thick neck.

The beast thrashed its head back and forth but Jonas was safely out of reach. He stabbed it in the neck at the base of its skull, expecting the creature to die instantly or perhaps run for its life. Instead, it began to thrash even harder and Jonas was tossed off. He rolled a few meters, then scrambled across the remaining distance to Kemalia.

“Oh, professor! I thought you were a goner!”

“Oh, hey you.” he said to her.

Her nose wrinkled, “You reek of alcohol! Are you drunk?!”

“What? No. It’s the coconuts.”

“Coconut?” she asked.

“My cat?” he answered.

“Ugh. Professor, we have to run again. Can you manage it?” she asked.

Before he could answer a third voice rang out, “Ho there!”

A tall man with a blonde hair, broad shoulders, and a handsome face leaped out of the foliage and tuck-rolled into position beneath the gargura’s left flank. He gripped the bottom lip of its shell with both hands and pushed up as hard as he could. Within seconds the beasts was on its back. Its legs wiggled in the air, helpless.

The man pulled a coil of sticky vine from his shoulder and suddenly he was on the beast like a cowboy at work in the corral. He lassoed the vine twice around the beast’s snout, then pulled it tight and knotted it. The gargura, trapped on its back and muzzled, had been completely and totally wrangled.

The hero turned to Jonas and Kemalia and nodded. “Are you okay?”

Jonas pumped his fists in the air triumphantly and shouted, “Mango!”