They all stood in silence, their eyes still fixed on the two paths that where stretching disarrayed in front of them. They all knew that picking the wrong path could mean getting even more lost in the jungle.
"Let's try the right path. If we don't find any sign of our tracks after a while, we'll turn back and take the left path." Jonas said, picking his backpack form wear he had dropped it.
"Yes! I knew it!" Mike clamored out, grinning at the path which they where about to follow.
"Alright mike, can you be more mature please, enough of this shit!" Zilia cried out, a bit of frustration in her voice.
Mike of course wanted to say something at Zilia statement, but Jonas quickly snapped, using his index finger, telling him to stay calm. Surely, he felt embarrassed again–actually, he always do.
Jerry sighed and looked down at the ground, gazing at the tiny tracker that had mysteriously stopped working. "Hmmm, too bad the tracker stopped working. It would have made this a lot easier."
"Well, no use dwelling on it now," Jonas said, trying to sound optimistic. "Let's just keep moving."
They moved down the left path, the tension began to fade, replaced by laughter and easy conversation.
The banter flowed naturally, as if they had known each other for years instead of just a few days.
They were still wary of their surroundings though, especially now that there was no tracker, but the camaraderie helped to ease their nerves.
As they continue, suddenly Jonas's hand shot up in a sharp "stop" signal, his eyes where fixed on the underbrush to their right.
He quickly put his finger to his lips and mouthed, "Shh!" As if he had heard something, maybe he actually did.
The rest of them immediately went silent at the posture of jonas, their eyes suddenly went wide and their hearts racing in anticipation, as they look around to see if anything was coming.
"Did you hear that?" Jonas whispered, his voice barely audible, as he glance around the dense bushes.
"Hear what?" Zilia whispered back, already feeling anxious, but she tries to look optimistic as possible.
"There was a rustling in the brush, I think something just passed us." Jonas replied, his eyes still fixed on the spot where he had heard some sort of noise.
Lily's eyes darted from the underbrush to Jonas's face, her fear growing by the second.
"What do you mean something passed us?" she whispered, her voice shaking, as she glared around the top trees and the dense bushes to see any sign of abnormality, but, everything seemed to be good as they where.
Jonas took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves, he exhaled and sighed in relief.
"I heard something move through the brush a few feet in front of us," he said, his voice getting low and steady. "Well, It could have just been an animal, but we need to be cautious anyway."
"But if actually it's, and it's some kind of monster something, what then do we do? Because, I mean, this is ramazon right? And anything like you said can be possible"
Serinal asked, her eyes where wide though and her voice wavering. She was obviously scared, but not going to make it known; that was mike specialty.
"It's probably nothing to worry about, girl" Jerry said, trying to sound confident."We're probably just hearing things."
After what seems like enternity, they look around but couldn't really trace any thing like: animals or monster, maybe Jerry was right, they where probably hearing things.
They continued down the path, their steps where slow and cautious this time. Every rustle of leaves or snap of a twig sent a jolt of fear through them, it was as if Jonas just enhanced the fear in them by saying he saw something rustling the leaves.
The air was heavy with tension, the silence before them broke only by their footsteps and the sounds of the jungle.
After walking some distance, they found themselves at the edge of a clearing, a dense thicket of bushes and some kind of brambles blocking their way forward.
The leaves of the bushes were quite thick and impenetrable, their thorns where glinting in the sunlight like swords.
The forest behind them was really dark and foreboding, but the thicket in front of them seemed just as impassable. Right! Mike "mini….mono….mana" was wrong.
"What now?" Jerry asked, his voice tight with frustration. "We are hell stuck now."
"I don't know," Zilia replied, her eyes scanning the thicket for any sign of a break in the bushes, but she couldn't really find any as she glanced through.
"Alright, magician mike, so tell us what next, because your stupid mini mini…. something lead us here!" serinal yelled, turning towards mike direction.
"It 'mini…mono..mana..' ser, and by the way no one is perfect, anyone can make mistake…. So….it-" before he could complete his statement, he was interrupted by Jonas.
"Is alright, let not blame anyone here, let just figure a way to get the hell out of this place" Jonas said, giving a frustrated sighing.
Minutes passed as they trek round the edge of the thick bush, trying their best to figure a way out, but it had been uneventful, until they heard a low roar, like a distant thunderstorm.
They stopped in their foot track and listened, straining to hear the sound again.
This time, they weren't just hearing things, everyone could pretty hear this, this time around. It came again, louder this time, and it felt like it shaked the ground beneath their feet.
"What is that?" Jerry whispered, his voice quivering, as he darted his eyes around in attempt of finding the source of the grunt.
"I don't know," Zilia replied, her own eyes already getting wide with fear. "But whatever it's, is definitely coming closer."
The roar grew louder and louder, the sound seemed to come from all around them at the same time.
They immediately huddled together as they couldn't help it, it was actually strange, their hearts started pounding in their chests like drums being played.
The roaring grew louder than before, a deep and guttural sound that seems to sent shivers down their spines.
Then suddenly, from the depths of the thicket, a huge black looking wolf emerged, its hackles raised and its eyes where glowing reddishly.
From the height, it could be tell that it was as taller than a bear; even though it was standing, its muscles rippling beneath its black fur.
They all stood, transfixed, as the wolf seemed to approached them at once, its roar echoing through the forest. The wolf walked sluggishly around, its paws making no sound on the ground.
Its gaze moved from one member of the team to the next, its ears twitching as it seemed to listened to their panicked breaths, they where as hell terrified as never before.
The wolf's tail twitched, the only sign of its agitation was the intense face that he had. It stopped a few feet away from them, gazing at them menacingly.
It muscles where tensed, like it was getting ready to sprang, it was almost as if the wolf was thinking of the best way to sprang at them.
Their fear became even more palpable as they gaze at it, their chests heaving at the moment and their eyes growing wider. No one dared to move, for fear of setting the wolf off.
"Don't move!" Jonas said, his voice shaking. "Just stay still and maybe it will lose interest on us, okay!"
"How can you say that, dad?" Jerry said, his voice incredulous. "We're face-to-face with an extinct predator! Ho…..how the hell can we just stay still?"
"We have to try," Jonas replied, his voice low and urgent, as he use his hand to adjust them in the hurdle. "Panicking will only make things worse, just be calm guys and no one should move an inch."
As they where yet still panicking, the wolf suddenly leapt at them, its fangs bared and its claws outstretched on them.
They screamed, some of them trying to run while others stood frozen in terror. Jonas, quick on his feet, grabbed a sniper from mike's arms who was frozen in shock and fired two shots at the wolf.
The wolf's momentum faltered, its eyes glazing over as it fell back to the ground.
The team stood there, stunned, as the wolf's body lay motionless on the ground.
Their hearts were still pounding, their breaths where coming in short, ragged in gasps, wondering if the wolf was actually dead. It was just two shot of a sniper.
But to their horror, the wolf began to stir. Its body twitched and then it rose to its feet again, as if it was a mutated wolf, its red eyes glowing with more intense fury now.
They all screamed in unison, well, apart from Jonas who was gloom with shock, as he wondered how the hell the wolf survive a sniper that can take down a lion.
Their voices where high-pitched and terrified, honestly speaking, the size of this wolf had never been seen, bigger than the previous bear they saw. What the hell was this?
"What do we do?" Lily screamed, her hands covering her mouth. "It's not dead! We are so finished"
No one had an answer. They were all frozen with fear, unable to think or move. The wolf took another step toward them, its teeth bared and its fur bristling.