Chereads / ROAR OF TIME & WHISPER OF SPACE / Chapter 3 - Do or die

Chapter 3 - Do or die

A tiger was tearing through a freshly killed wolf with his sharp incisors and canines as I turned around to see. His face and body are covered in cuts. It appears that the tiger and wolf engaged in a furious battle before my arrival, with the tiger emerging as the apparent victor.

"Thank goodness he's in the middle of eating." I'm getting out of here before he even knows I'm here. Keeping that in mind, I dipped my finger in water, held it a few feet in the air, and looked to see which way the wind was blowing.

Apparently, fortune is on my side. The tiger won't be able to smell me because the wind is blowing the opposite direction. With quick, light steps, I headed away from the tiger. My strategy is to head straight ahead until I am out of the tiger's line of sight, and then I will turn around and head back toward the settlement.

After five minutes, I was only a quarter of a mile away from the tiger. Considering a tiger can see up to 10 metres, that's quite a ways off.

But I need to be careful since tigers can hear up to 3 kilometres away.

''CRACK''

I warned you, and right when I did, something bad happened. I think I just snapped a tree branch, which is the worst thing that could happen right now. As far as I could tell, the branch had been laid on the ground on purpose to cause a disturbance in the otherwise peaceful woodland and potentially endanger someone's life.

''ROAR''

The tiger let out a ferocious roar to alert its victim to its arrival. I made a mad rush, knowing the tiger would be upon me in a matter of seconds and that I stood no chance against it in terms of speed or power.

SHAME ON THAT TREE I hope insects and termites move in there and rot it away. While desperately trying to outrun my pursuers, I muttered those words.

In only three minutes, the tiger had already closed the gap between us.

As soon as I entered its field of vision, it leaped forward and swiped its claws at my neck. My left shoulder took a serious beating in battle, but thankfully I was able to quickly spin around and survive the hit.

There was a lot of blood coming from my left shoulder. As quickly as I could, I made my way out of there and hid behind the rocks. The tiger found me thanks to the blood on my shoulder, but it was helpless to hurt me here.

I reached into my luggage and pulled out a water bottle as well as a little first aid kit, where I was able to wash the cut, apply some antibacterial, and finally, carefully bandage it. My wound was being treated with ointment while the tiger made fruitless attempts to scale the granite wall.

At some point, Tiger's roar faded away. The tiger was waiting for me outside the cave when I peered through the crack in the rock structure.

That lowered my mood a lot. There is no way for me to get out of here. I begged God to save me, told my parents they had raised a useless child, and swore at myself for being so foolish as to enter the jungle at night.

In other words, "Be bold, Ark. Only you have a shot at making it out of this alive, and you have what it takes. DON'T DOUBT YOURSELF

A lighter, wind-like sensation filled my ears.

I don't know if I'm hallucinating or if this person actually stated this, but...

In other words, "I am not going to die today." I felt inspired and determined to make it through this ordeal after reading these words.

Let's have a look in my bag and see if there's anything useful in there. As I rummaged through my bag, I came upon a number of intriguing and potentially useful items.

"All right, I'll use this to distract the tiger, and with this I'll have something to ward off its approaches," he thought.

I grabbed some canned beef out of the package. With the use of a lighter, I'll turn this into a torch that will scare the tiger away from the exit.

When asked where the twigs in question were located, the speaker said, "Now where are those idiotic branches?" I explored the area in search of suitable torch branches.

Oh, there they are, and in large numbers to boot.

"Good, I can put these to good use," I thought. I selected the group and shaped them like a torch.

"What kind of knots should I make now?"

Since the tiger has already messed up my shirt, it's the one I should utilize.

Carefully, I cut off my T-left shirt's shoulder and looped it around the tree's limbs.

It's showtime, and everything is ready to go. I'm not going to be at the tiger's lunch today. In the beginning of the strategy, I placed the meat in front of him and the other food items further behind. The tiger finished off the meat first, then came back for more.

Excellent work as intended. I need to get out of here quickly before it returns. I emerged from my hiding spot as the tiger moved away and confronted it.

The initial stage of the plan is finished.

A new stage has begun.

When it detected my approach, the tiger pounced, but I was ready for it. I set fire to the limbs with a lighter and let out the loudest scream I could muster.

Suddenly, the tiger froze in place. At that moment, we locked gazes with one another. Its eyes gleamed with murderous intent, but I won't back down this time.

Gradually, I turned around and began to walk backward. Tiger kept pace with me the whole way.

If everything is going according to plan, that's great. The problem with this strategy, though, is that I can't see where I've been. The GPS isn't working, and neither is this path on the map I brought from the village. No matter where I point the compass, it won't tell me where I am. Wow, this is a real nightmare.

The timer went off after 20 minutes. Already, I feel my strength ebbing. I'm dehydrated, but I can't drink water because of the tiger. For the sake of my hydration, I must find a diversion.

As I came to a halt, the tiger likewise halted its rearward progress. I turned around and saw that I had lost all of the ground I had been on. There is a massive waterfall behind me, with water plunging down from a considerable height at a rapid rate of speed.

"My legs were trembling as I inched my way closer the cliff." As my toes wrapped around the edge in a last, hopeless attempt to escape, I could feel the chill of the granite beneath them. My heart was beating like a frantic bird that couldn't get out of a cage. The steep descent caused me to nearly pass out; it was as if my entire existence flashed before my eyes. In the distance, I could hear rocks crashing and tumbling down the hillside, eventually plunging into the harsh black water below. When I looked back and saw the cliff, I felt like this.

''ROAR''

Since there was nowhere for me to go, the tiger was aware of this fact as well. The beast walked slowly and menacingly toward me while it roared loudly to scare me off.

There's no time to think things over because the tiger is closing the distance between us slowly but surely.

If I don't do something, will the tiger eat me first?

My mind began racing with the urgency of a race against time to come up with a plan of action for getting out of this potentially fatal scenario.

As the saying goes, "Don't worry; have faith." It's up to you to do what has to be done.

The same hushed utterance

Whatever it is, I know what to do with it now.

The tiger foresaw my next move, but by then it was too late. Before leaping down the cliff, I tossed the torch at the tiger's head.

The tiger halted at the precipice, its forehead blackened from the sun.

That's what you get for hurting a helpless creature like me, I say. After yelling at the tiger in this manner, I began to freefall toward the waterfall.