The instant Blake touched the cube there was a hissing noise and he instinctively jumped back dropping the cube on the floor. There was a click and the cube unfolded itself flat exposing its contents. There was just a small black rucksack sitting on top of it. What is this? He stepped closer and took a look. On top of the bag was a small note, it simply said. “Help yourself.” He wondered for a moment if it could be some kind of trap, but soon decided that was stupid and unzipped the bag. Inside were four small clear bottles of what looked to be water, several bars that seemed to be food rations of some kind, a rectangular black object he couldn’t place and a very large looking combat knife. What is all this?
His stomach gurgled again. I wonder if this stuff is safe to eat? His head ached a little and his mouth was dry from drinking the night before. If he was stuck out here for much longer, he wasn’t going to have any choice but to try it. He pulled out one of the water bottles and twisted the lid open. He held it up to his nose. No smell. He dipped his finger inside and tasted one of the droplets of water from it. Tastes just like water. His desire to drink overruled his caution, the bottles were sealed after all. He decided to take a gulp. The cool water soothed his dry throat and begun to quench his thirst a little. After drinking his fill, he eyed the ration bars. He took one out of the bag and looked it over. There was no writing or description on the packet anywhere, the only way to tell was to open the packet and check the contents.
He tore open the wrapper, inside it looked like any health bar you’d find in a shop. He held the bar up to his nose. Berries, it smelt good and by this point he was pretty hungry. He could have decided to wait until things became desperate before he began eating random things out of a bag he found in the woods, but he didn’t. The bar was a mixed berry flavour and despite the obvious concern, he enjoyed having something to eat. The thing that worried him most now, was that large knife, why was it there? Has someone used this and hidden it here? But it was hardly well hidden, left inside a box right out in the open and from the looks of things, it had never been used. Either way, he decided not to touch and get his fingerprints all over it for now. Feeling somewhat refreshed after a little food and drink he decided to carry on trying to find his way out. He slung the rucksack on his back and continued on in the same direction as before, quickly crossing the clearing and entering the forest on the opposite side from where he’d come.
Blake was determined to press on and find his way back, he still wasn’t going to accept that he had been sent somewhere unknown. He ignored the inconsistencies like, no signal, this huge forest and the fact that it was strangely warm here, despite it being the middle of winter. He didn’t want to believe the incident in the void with the doorway was anything more than a drunken dream. So, he pressed on, walking deeper and deeper into the forest. He was going to keep walking until he found civilisation again.
The next stoppage came much sooner than that.
It wasn’t tiredness or hunger that stopped him, it was a sudden and overwhelmingly strong smell that brought him to a halt. What is that? It’s almost as if… something has died nearby. He wondered if he should just ignore it and continue heading away from the smell, but in the end his curiosity got the better of him and he went to investigate the source.
After pinning down the origin of the smell, he knelt as he pulled back the undergrowth to reveal the source. As soon as his eyes fell on the corpse he fell backwards and tried to back away. He was desperately trying to hold back the reflex to empty his stomach from the sight. Before him, decaying in the undergrowth was a young man, who from the looks of things had been dead for days. The scary part was that they had clearly met a violent end. Was that where this knife came from? No… Even a layperson like Blake could tell these injuries weren’t inflicted with a blade. The man’s throat had been torn out, his trachea was half hanging out of the gaping hole. His clothes were torn all over the place and heavily stained with blood from the deep wounds underneath. Then it dawned on Blake, whatever did this is probably still out here with me! He broke out in a cold sweat and grabbed his rucksack, hurriedly opened it, pulled out the knife from within and clutched it tightly. He was no longer concerned about getting his fingerprints all over it, all he could think was that he didn’t want to end up like that.
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He pushed his back up to the nearest tree and stood there, his eyes dancing from side to side peering into the woods around him. He could feel his heart pounding away inside his chest. Several minutes passed before he managed to calm himself enough to move away from the tree.
He attached the knife to his belt, so it was close to hand and slung the rucksack back on his back. He wasn’t going to hang around here any longer, there was a chance that the creature that had done this was still close by. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a small black rucksack next to the body. It was exactly the same as the one he was wearing, that he’d found inside the cube. He took in a deep breath and then holding his nose, opened the bag. It was empty inside, apart from a couple of wrappers from the ration bars and an empty water bottle. No weapon, it looked as if this man had no means of defending himself from whatever had attacked him. Now satisfied that he’d seen much more than he’d ever wanted, he turned and hurried away.
As he made his way through the woods, he was now paying far more attention to his surroundings. The slightest noise had him on edge and scouring the area around him for its source. He walked as fast as he could, without breaking into a run. He wanted to get out of the forest and hopefully find another clearing as quickly as possible. At least then he would have a clearer view of what was around him, even if he doubted it would make the situation any safer. Finally, he saw a clearing up ahead, he broke into a run, not stopping until he reached the centre. Once there flinging himself down. He was heavily panting and coated in sweat. For the first time he was starting to seriously contemplate that he had been sent somewhere altogether different than his home. What were those wounds? It almost looked as if he’d been torn open by a big cat! But there was nothing that could inflict those types of injuries in the country he came from. Either something had escaped from a zoo, or he was a long way from home. The points were starting to add up in favour of the latter.
Sitting in the centre of the clearing, Blake was trying to weigh up his options. It was no longer certain that just pressing forward was his best course of action. For all he knew he could be walking closer to danger. Am I the only person here? Just as that thought crossed his mind, his eyes were drawn to the side, something flittered in between the shadows under the trees at the edge of the forest. He was gripped by panic for a moment, until he recognised the silhouette was that of a person. I’m not alone! He was too elated by the sudden development to give it any further thought before calling out to the figure.
“Hey, hey, over here!” He yelled loudly.
The figure stopped moving, then awkwardly turned to face him. The figure was still too far away to make out any details, but Blake was certain that it was another human being that he was calling out to.
The figure moved to the edge of the trees.
Blake called out once again.
“Yes, over here! Are you lost too?”
The person didn’t shout back. Instead, there was a blood curdling noise somewhere in between a scream and roar of a beast. He’d never heard anything as terrifying in his life. Blake quickly tried to get to his feet, but his legs were wobbling like mad and were slowing him down. He almost flopped back down twice before finally managing to stand properly.
The figure bent forward and ran towards him, letting out another fear inducing cry. As soon as it entered the light of the clearing, he could tell that thing wasn’t human, even if the scream hadn’t alerted him to that fact already. Its skin was grey and warped, he could see the large claws on the ends of its fingers reflecting the light. He instinctively knew that this was what had killed the other person back in the woods. What the fuck is that thing?
The creature was frighteningly fast, while Blake had been fighting his legs to stand it had covered a quarter of the distance between them. He finally got to his feet and turned to run, but his jelly legs gave way under the force of the sudden sprint, and he hit the ground much faster than he’d gotten up before. He rolled over to face his attacker, just in time for it to pounce on its prey.