Alieya was awaken by the freezing cold of the morning. She patted her crumpled dress and stood up. The sun was already peering above the treetops and for the first time, she got a good look at their location.
She was indeed inside a plane wreck. She was now standing at the midsection of its broken body. Some parts of its wings and tail were sticking out from the ground, partially buried. She looked around, trying so search for Fox.
"Surely he didn't flee and left me here." She mumbled to herself.
She stepped outside and scanned the vicinity. There were tall trees everywhere and a small footpath leading somewhere. It was where they came from last night. She strolled around until she heard the steady sound of running water.
'It was the stream that Fox said to me last night.' She thought and walked towards it.
"Hey, you're here. I was about to go and wake you up when I finish this up." Fox was sitting on a piece of rock. In front of him was a big fish that he caught in the stream. He was cooking it in a small fire in front of him.
"Ah--Yes, I was already awake for some time. I just looked around the area before coming here. I heard the sound of the stream." She said looking awkwardly to the ground.
Fox looked fresh and rested already. His lean body was still slightly wet from the water as he was cooking the fish. She awkwardly combed her messy and sticky hair with her fingers. She felt very dirty and not presentable at the moment.
Fox noticed her action and smiled at her.
"You can wash yourself over there. There is a spot that I think would be deep enough for you. I won't look." He said chuckling.
Alieya nodded awkwardly and headed to the direction.
She quickly stripped all her clothing and dipped herself in the water.
She let out a small gasp of surprise when the icy water wrapped her skin. She washed herself thoroughly and as fast as she could.
She stole quick glances at Fox'es direction from time to time to make sure that he wasn't looking at her.
"What I am doing, We don't even like each other that way. I'm definitely not attracted to him. " She said to herself, shaking her head wildly.
After some more time of convincing herself about trivial things, She finally finished up and put on her clothes back.
"Here, This is all yours." Fox offered her the roasted fish and some fruits as soon as she walked back to him.
"No, Let's share--" She quickly responded.
"This is your share. I have already eaten my part. Let's not stay here any longer, we have to move on." Fox said, cutting her off.
Alieya just accepted the food and ate quietly. Flashbacks of what happened the day before came back to her again all of a sudden. She clenched her fist and hold back her threatening tears.
"Do you have any weapons in your bag? how many of those cubes do you have?" Fox asked after a few moment of silence. He remembered that she has one of those exploding cubes.
"I only have two. These are called a Quantum sirens." She said, pulling the cubes out from her bag and showing it to him.
"Quantum what? What can it do?" Fox asked. He reached out his hand and took the cubes from her.
"These are called Quantums. I guess because whatever's inside is compressed to quantum sizes, so small that it fits in this tiny box. Quantum siren activates a loud alarm sound. A siren. It can only be used once. We can rearm it if we go to a weapon shop in the city once it's used." She explained.
"All it does is sound an alarm? It doesn't explode or shoot anything?" He asked in surprise.
Fox can't believe it. He clearly remembered that she threatened him with this same cubes just the day before. She even declared that she was armed. What can an alarming device do?
Fox pondered to himself quietly for a moment. He was not trained in any form of combat or self defense. All he could do was run and stay far away from the people that were looking for them. He was really depending on the cubes that Alieya have on her bag. He could at least use it to protect themselves. Then he just found out that all these cubes can do was to sound an alarm.
"I have- I also have a small folding knife here." Alieya said, offering him the small knife about ten centimeters long.
"I think this is better that nothing." Fox sighed and accepted the knife.
Fox was discussing his plans and routes when he heard a distinct sound of steady footsteps on the distance.
"They are here, I can hear them. Finish your food, we are leaving this place." He said in a serious tone.
"What, where? I don't hear anything." Alieya said but she did not argue. She quickly finished up her food and drank her water in a loud gulp.
Fox splashed off the small fire in front of them and pulled Alieya towards the shallow part of the stream. They crossed it and continued forward, heading deeper into the trees.
They were just a few hundred meters away when they heard a loud growl ahead of them.
Alieya quickly grabbed his arms and hid her small body behind him.
"Just how unlucky can we get?" Fox said as they slowed down their steps and tried to scan the area where the growl came from?"
"Was it the beast that you once captured?" Alieya asked with shaking voice.
"I can't see it yet, but the sound is different. I wish it doesn't attack us." He said, unfolding the small knife in his hand.
Around 20 meters in front of them, a beast that resembled an overlarge dog appeared. It was crouching and walking slowly towards them.
The dog has greenish brown fur, making it blend well in the background. It has a mane that looks like sea urchin's thorns. It bared its fangs on them and made another low growl.
"Let's move back a little, maybe we are moving into its protected territory. We will take another way around here." Fox said, nudging Alieya to move back.
Alieya nodded obediently and let herself be guided by Fox as they retraced their steps backwards.
Fox didn't take his eyes away from the big dog as they slowly walk backwards, when all of the sudden the dog leaped at them.
The big dog moved so fast but somehow, Fox was able to follow its jump with his eyes. He quickly grabbed Alieya's waist and leaped out of the way.
The dog landed with a force that it made a small crater on the ground where they were standing just a second ago.
It growled at them again. It's eyes full of aggression and anger.
"It's going to eat us." Alieya said. The fear in her voice very apparent.
"I'm sure it has its plans." Fox said as they took another step back.
'This is bad.' He thought. Sweat started to wet his forehead.
He only has a small knife. Looking at the beast in front of them, he's sure that it would be hard to even get through its thick fur. He was even more certain that those Quantum Sirens would be more useless.
"Can you stand back? I will try to stab its legs or paws. Then we will run once it's crippled." He said.
There was no way he could kill this beast. Outrunning it will be impossible too since he can't leave Alieya behind. She was wearing such fancy dress from yesterday that running was hard for her.
He felt Alieya's grip on his arms loosen.
"Be careful, Okey." She whispered.
He nodded and took a step forward. The big dog snarled at him loudly. It walked from side to side, like it was stalking him. Then it lunged forward once more.
Fox saw all its movement as if the time has slowed down. From the time the dog charged forward, the ripples on its leg muscles and its spiky mane, flying in the air.
His mind somehow processed it all in that single instant. He rolled his body out of the way, and did a backward tumble to avoid the spikes that the dog launched from its mane. He was surprised by his own reflexes.
He didn't have time to think much about it as his adrenaline began to rush. He focused all his attention as the dog growled at him once more.
Alieya's knees has lost all its strength and she fell to the ground at the moment the big dog attacked Fox. She was scared that a single attack would kill him instantly.
Now she was watching with her mouth open as Fox duels the beast almost at equal footing. He didn't know that this man could fight.
After a few more minutes, she witnessed what she feared. Fox was finally hit on the shoulder by one of the flying spikes. He was thrown backwards and hit the ground. Blood quickly seeped out from the open wound as Fox pulled out the spike from his flesh. He was already running out of his breath.
What happened after that surprised Alieya. Instead of finishing off its injured prey, the big dog snarled for a few times, then slowly backed away. As if a bigger predator just showed up and intimidated it.
She watched silently as the dog finally disappeared on the trees. Alieya quickly ran towards Fox.
"What happened? Why did it run away?" She asked in complete bewilderment.
"I don't know, I'm just glad it didn't kill me." Fox answered in a heavy voice, catching his breath.
"Maybe there is a bigger and more dangerous beast coming for us?" She asked again as she help him stand up.
"If that's the case, let's get out of here." He said as he ripped his clothes and made thin strips to wrap around his bleeding wound.
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Jagen has 14 men on his disposal. He divided his men into five units, partners of two person. He then let three men stay close to him. They all carried a handheld radio for communication to easily sweep off the forest.
"Boss, Unit 5 reported some signs of activity near their area. It's roughly two kilometers to our right." One of his men reported to him.
"Tell them to scan the area and wait for us. Order Unit 4 and Unit 3 to flank around the location, we will go there." He said quickly.
All of his men was trekking the mountainous forest on foot. The terrain was rocky and unstable with thick vegetation. Using vehicles was out of the question. Not only would it slow them down, but the loud sound of its engines would only alert their target.
Jagen need his men to sweep the forest silently and only open radio contact to update their situation.
He and the three men with him jogged steadily towards the location on the report. They are all armed with explosives and guns. Jagen had already expected that they might encounter wild beasts or other rabid animals so he didn't limit his men the amount of load out weapons they want to carry.
His orders were simple. If his men encounter a beast, they should try to steer away from it. If the beast was territorial or aggressive, they could shoot and kill it.
Jagen glanced at the compass and map in his hand. They are less than a kilometer away from the area.
It took them few more minutes until they finally arrived at the location.
Jagen saw the dilapidated remains of the plane and quickly summoned Unit 5.
"Tell me what you found." He ordered.
"Boss, We found disturbance inside the plane, they must have slept there last night. Then over there was a trace of bonfire. I think they crossed the stream and headed deeper into the forest. I can still make out the footprints they left." His tracker explained.
"Good. Radio all the other units, we are going deeper in this direction." He barked at the man holding the radio.
Soon, all of his men were in the area and they all moved out.
Jagen was closely on the front of the search, walking side by side with his tracker as they followed their targets.
They reached a clearing in the woods that has signs irregularities. After a few moments of investigating, his tracker said that a fight happened in the area. A wild beast attacked a human. Although the human managed to escape, the blood in the ground concludes that he was injured. He must not be very far from this place, more than one kilometer or less.
Jagen didn't need to identify who the human was. He was Foxtrot-5, Their target. His tracker was able to follow them up to this point. Now with blood as a new trail, their hunt would be much easier.
'It's still early. Once I capture him, I will skin him alive for causing me this much trouble. Maybe I'll have some fun with the gorgeous girl. Then I will kill them both. The client doesn't require a living body anyway.' He sneered, thinking to himself.
"Let's hurry up and catch up with them. Whoever catch them first will be allowed to have the girl after I'm done with her." He said, encouraging his men.
His men quickly howled to themselves in excitement.
They continued moving forward. They did not bother with minimizing their noise anymore. Their target was already injured so stealth is no longer needed. They just have to locate their target fast, and capture it.
"Boss. There is movement on our side, maybe 100 meters to the left. It's moving parallel to us." One of his men said, breaking his thoughts.
"Wild beasts? Let's just keep pushing forward. Those beasts are just curious." He said, not bothered in any way.
Jagen and his men were heavily armed. Even if the same beast attack them, It would be shredded with bullets before it reached him. He was more concerned that the target might be killed and eaten by some other beast.
It would be a big trouble for him if that happened.
He spat on the ground and urged his men to hasten their steps.