Brave New World Chapter 24: Scattered 👽

[Almost a couple of months ago]

"O Lord, the merciful and caring. The great Almighty." I was muttering in the dark, sitting half-frozen in the tree terrified and hopeless, "If there is any God, please get me out of here. I'm done. I don't know why I have to go through this. But if make it, I promise to go to church with Mom, every Sunday."

A howl pierced the night air and the words froze on my tongue. That howl turned to many more.

I spent the whole night listening to massive predators ripping their prey and eating it alive right at the roots of the tree I had chosen to seek refuge in. The sounds of tearing flesh and broken bones rang through my ears for a long time after the beasts were done with their meal and had scattered away.

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[Present Time]

My panic was setting in quickly and I was not in the mood for an argument.

The flashes of the aftereffects of those creatures were still burnt in my memory. The sounds of tearing flesh, broken bones, and the pitiful cries of the victim still haunted my nightmares.

Everything in me was telling me to drop everything and run to save myself and the only thing more important than than that was making sure that most number of people survived tonight. I knew I wasn't a savior but I knew what these creatures were capable of and was probably the only one who had ever encountered these beasts. I was then, that the beasts were extra-terrestrial, or at least some parts of them were.

I wiped around enraged, "I'm not taking charge. I didn't want it, I still don't. But I have faced these creatures. They don't leave much behind, and definitely not alive. You can stay and enjoy the show when they come for you, because they will. I have a tree to climb." I had spoken deliberately loud so everyone could hear how important it was that they moved their asses right away and how panicked I felt.

Caroline and Kiera emerged from the tent and were ready to pack the tent too before I told them, "Leave it, it's not more important than our lives."

But Nora wasn't done yet and most people were still looking at her for directions. Old habits die hard. "Just cuz Mark isn't here doesn't give you the right to spread panic, just to assert your dominance. Some of us are tired and have had a long day."

I got my bag-pack from Caroline, which she was kind enough to pack for me, and ignoring Nora told everyone one last time, "It's not about taking charge or spreading panic. Those howls are real and are headed our way. It's a life-and-death situation. Do what yall feel is right cuz time isn't on our side and those things are too damn fast."

"Run!" I shouted at them, which finally made them rush around in fresh panic.

"Look what you've done. Does it feel good?" Nora mocked.

"Yes, actually, it does. One hundred percent." I replied in an infuriatingly satisfied tone, "It feels very nice to know that some people still have some self-preservation instinct and common sense in them, despite having to spend more than a month stuck with you." She got on my nerves no matter how hard I tried not to let her.

So, before she could reply, which she was ready to, I turned and asked Caroline to point at potentially climbable trees, as mountainous terrain was kind of her specialty. Not all pine trees are easily climbable, especially for first timers, in a state of panic, and after a tiring day.

Some of us were better climbers than others and it showed.

"Drop the bags, save yourselves first!" I screamed over the panicking crowd at the people who were either too weak to carry their bags or simply looked like first-timers.

I knew it was risky to stay on the ground as the howls were becoming louder, but the idea of letting even a single of these people die such an awful death when I could have helped made me want to help each person as much as I could.

When everyone seemed to have found a tree, I took to climbing the one nearest to me where a junior was on her way up. The sounds of paws hitting the ground were becoming too clear, our hustle had taken their attention.

My days in the jungle had allowed me the thigh strength needed to hoist me up but first were different and difficult. The junior above me was struggling.

"Let the bag go, we can get it later." I encouraged.

The first of the beasts emerged through the trees and headed straight to the tents.

I urged the junior whose name I wasn't yet familiar with, to be quicker. She almost lost her grip as she tried to stay up and still take off her bag.

"Keep climbing! Focus!" I screamed as loud as could so that those within the beasts' reach would resume climbing as they had paused in shock, seeing the first huge predator.

Suddenly there was a scream, someone fell from the tree, and then with familiar guttural growls, more beasts emerged and headed for the tents.

A boy suddenly ran out of one of the tents. Looks like he had chosen to hide instead of climbing. One of the animals launched itself at the boy who had come out crying for help and caught him at the waist. Another animal joined him and began tearing the boy to shreds alive.

"Don't look! Keep going!" It was frustrating how I had to keep urging these people to save themselves and not stare at the hell being raised around them.

I resumed my climb and was about to reach the junior above me when the animals pulled someone out of a tent and dragged them to invite others. The animals were plundering when the junior above me decided it was the best time to drop her bag.

She dropped the bag and slipped herself, right on top of me. It took all I had to hold on and not fall myself since we weren't at a safe height yet.

She screamed and it invited the beasts to look in our direction.

And, I saw Herbert.

I looked down at the girl and at the scattered mounds of flesh and blood and the night Herbert died came back to me.

I had only one thought in mind that I was not going to have another Herbert.

I jumped down and faced the snarling beasts while simultaneously placing the sobbing panicked junior behind me, our backs to the tree trunk.

"Are you an idiot?" Someone called from above us, so maybe there was someone else who had made it up the same tree we were trying to climb.

I felt like I had tunnel vision because all I could see was the beasts ready to pounce and kill us both, and I remembered seeing a flare in our stuff. With blood pumping in my ears, blocking most of the sounds, I reached around the tiny pocket that was supposed to hold the three emergency flares. I took out one just as one of the beasts got ready to charge and instantly lit it up.

That is when we heard the most unlikely sound, gunshots, and not too far away.

**Author's note:

What do you guys think about Anara's character growth so far? And Can you guess who might've access to arms and weapons on such a terrain? Share your ideas in the comments with me.