While walking towards the mountain, I saw a glimpse of what looked like a human. Though it was quite large. Without thinking further, I screamed at the top of my lungs.
"HEY!!!!!! YOU!!!!!! WHERE IS THIS!!!!!!!!!?"
I then realized my mistake.
When I stopped paying attention to my surroundings, something larger than a human snuck up me from behind and roared at me.
"RAWRR!!!!!"
I was surprised and fired two consecutive bullets from my pistol at the creature's head as a reflex.
"What the fuck is that?!? I'm quite certain that this creature does not look like a human."
I said while backing up, as the creature drop dead to the ground. Three more of it sprang out of nowhere and rushed over to me crazily.
I shot ten more bullets at the other two.
"Ahh!! Back off you damn monsters!!!"
The last monster threw me unto the tree line as though he was casually throwing a tiny stone. I broke a few of my ribs upon impact. I even heard a crack.
Despite my injuries, I tried standing up and ran into the forest.
"Huff. . . huff. . . ." I struggled to breathe, my hand tightened to my chest.
I have to get outta here. . .
That's the only thing I repeated to myself while running aimlessly until I stumbled onto a big crater. I didn't know what to do, so I just hid behind one of the big rocks inside it.
Then I noticed something strange. The rock that I was using as a cover, suddenly opened several holes where eyes were situated.
The creature that I thought to be a big rock, rose from the ground with a big set of wings and breathed fire into the air. Floundered, I realize that this creature came from myths and legends…it was fucking dragon!
"What the f-"
I couldn't think of anything. I just ran away from that crater.
"Damn it! Even Marine training wasn't this hard" I thought while running away as fast as I could.
"AGHH! FUCK YOU GOD! THIS IS WHY I'M AN ATHEIST!"
In a fit of rage, I cursed god loudly.
I ran into the wilderness for approximately an hour and found a large hollow tree trunk.
I stopped running and closed the hole with my ghillie suit. I desperately needed a breather.
"At least I could rest up a bit, this day is nothing but a nightmare. . ."
It was quite a difficult days to get through since I did not know anything about this strange new place. For a while I questioned my mind regarding what I saw out there. Was I hallucinating when I saw that dragon?
So I rested up for about an hour and a half.
2 hours later!
I started walking to the opposite direction of the crater. In this type of forest, needing to walk endlessly without any source of water was problematic because I didn't know anything in regard to this forest and its contents, etc.
"Agh! This sucks so much. . ."
After walking for about 3 to 4 more hours, I heard something from the distance.
It was the faint sound of a stream, and it made me excited.
"Hell yeah, finally some water! I can refill my canteen and probably take a bath too, I reek like a rotting carcass"
And so, I made a small tent using my ghillie suit as a roof and some stern sticks I collected. I built a fire with my lighter and settled after checking for any open wounds.
After a couple of hours, the sun settled down and gave attempt to sleep.
"Ah, finally. I can get proper rest for real this time. Too bad I wasn't able to find my way to the LZ in time. I'll have to try and call for help once I get hold of a signal…"
The sun completely disappeared as I opened my eyes once more. It was a weird feeling just now. Something that I have never felt before.
"Ahh... I see. So this is what is called to fear for your own life…scary."
I was thinking about what I should do next when I said that.
"Maybe I should try finding a town or a village? Well, there's no guarantee that there would be an actual settlement since this is still pretty close to where that dragon resides…"
The mere thought of the creature gave me shudders.
Maybe I should try searching for some food first. MREs won't last for long.
North-East from my campsite.
"Hmm. . . I can't see any familiar animals so far. Damn it, how am I supposed to know if they're even edible or not."
Speak of the devil…just as I said that, a deer bounced into my line of sight. It was unaware of my presence fortunately.
"Oh…perfect timing."
I raised the rifle to my shoulder and shot the deer square in its heart. Instant kill though it's a waste of bullet since I didn't know when I would encounter another beast like yesterday. But it's a food so I can't really complain.
I quickly searched for the spot where I killed the deer.
"Hehe. There you are. I thought some other monster snatched my prey"
Skinning animals was already a part of the survival training we were enlisted in before entering the Marine Corps. It's one of the hardest trainings a Marine can go through. You had to eat whatever it is to stay alive, even if it meant munching on disgusting roaches.
"Well it's none of my concern since I still have my trusty rifle."
After I was done cleaning the deer's carcass, I packed the meat and made my way back towards the campsite.
"This place was just used, boss. Fire's still warm" one guy was hunched over the fire pit and twirled through the dying embers.
That was the voice I heard while walking back the campsite. I was nearby when I heard a low conversation.
"What's that?"
I put on my ghillie suit and hid in the bushes silently, pointing my rifle at the one who was called boss.
"Could it be the Imperial army?" the one called boss asked his tracker.
"Not possible boss" he ushered to the single fire and the traces I left behind. "This camp is too small for the Imperial's expedition force"
Imperial army? Expedition force? Who the fuck is the Imperial army? I never heard of that unit before. What country was it from?
"Bring him here"
"Yes, boss!!"
Two of them went to the back and came back while dragging a person by his hair...
"Hey, you. Speak! Did you send the Imperial army our location??"
The Boss asked menacingly.
"N-no sir. Please have mercy. Please let me go, I don't know anything—"
The guy suddenly slapped the person on the ground.
"I told you to only speak if you know or not. Take him back and kill him."
The guy screamed as he was being dragged away.
"PLEASE!!! HAVE MERCYY!!!! PLE- AAARGGHH"
That's just too cruel. Should I kill them? There's only ten of em...easy for the picking.
Ugh, if I don't kill them here, they will soon find out about me because of the deer's blood. They might smell it.
"Ah! Fuck it right. I'm going to take them out one by one…"
Gear Equipped:
Sniper Rifle: M1-24A3 (39 bullets left).
Pistol: M9 9mm (60 bullets left).
Bulletproof Vest.
Ghillie suit: Forest Camo.
Hunting Knife.