Samuel stepped out from the place and he eyes quickly swiped the area scanning every inch of the surrounding landscape. His hand instinctively resting on the gun holstered at his back,his finger tracing the trigger.
"Clear!" he called back to Ryan.
Ryan emerged from the door with a shovel balanced on his shoulder and the sack slung across his arm. His eyes scanned the surroundings, mirroring Samuel's caution.
Aria's fingers flew across the button again, she pressed the button, and the iron door thundered shut, sealing her inside.
Aria slowly settled against the wall and sat down, her back straight, her eyes fixed on the remote.
Her ears were strained for the signal, her senses heightened. The silence enveloped her, a heavy blanket that wrapped around her.
Her thoughts drifting to the mission, to Ryan and Samuel, and to the success that hung in the balance. Her mind replayed their plan, every detail rehearsed. She knew the risks, the potential outcomes, and the consequences of failure.
Minutes ticked by, each one marked by the steady beat of her heart.
Meanwhile, outside, Samuel and Ryan moved through the rugged terrain, their boots kicking up clouds of dust that swirled around their ankles. The dry earth crunched beneath their feet as they maintained a cautious distance from the door, ensuring a safe buffer zone.
Ryan halted at some point, dropping the shovel from his shoulder to his hand with a soft clank. "Time to dig," he announced, focusing onto his chosen site.
Samuel nodded curtly and positioned on a guarded stance. His eyes scanning the area and he began very vigilant for signs of the creatures or any potential threat. His hand brought out his gun from its sleeping place and held the gun, ready to draw at a moment's notice.
Ryan opened the empty sack and he began scattering the leaves on the ground, carefully creating a boundary to bring the soil. The dry foliage crunched beneath his feet as he worked, raising up dirt around his feet.
As Ryan prepared the site, Samuel's focus never wavered. His eyes darted between the land and Ryan, monitoring the digging site. His ears strained for any unusual sound and his senses heightened.
Ryan's shovel bit into the earth for the first time with a satisfying crunch. He began digging and putting the soil into the sack.
The shovel rose and fell, each stroke biting deeper into the earth, sweats began to roll on Ryan's forehead, trickling down his temples as he worked. His muscles flexed with each shovel load he carried.
The soil flew outward as he scooped more of the dirt into the sack, making the sack bigger with the bulk. Ryan quickened his pace to quickly finish, his breathing was steady.
Time was crucial. The sack was large, but he knew they couldn't linger. Danger lurked in every corner of the forest.
Ryan's focus remained fixed on his task which was to dig with the shovel then fill the sack and repeat again.Each dig and fill brought them closer to the success.
Ryan's shovel was about to strike the earth once more, but before it could descend, a low and menacing growl reverberated through the air, sending a shiver down their spines.
"Grrrrrrr...." The sound seemed to vibrate through every cell in their body. Ryan's grip on the shovel tightened while Samuel's eyes snapped upwards, scanning every inch of the surrounding area, his gaze darting all over the place, searching for the source of the threat.
"Where is it?" Samuel mouthed silently to Ryan, his hand instinctively holding the gun with a tight grip, Ryan remained frozen, the shovel suspended mid-air, its weight suddenly feeling insignificant against the looming danger and threat.
"Grrrrrrrr....."The growl deepened and they could figure where it was sounding from, the sound seemed to come from all the directions at once.
The air was thick and heavy with anticipation, while the silence was oppressive with only Ryan's ragged breathing and the creature sound that was ceasing.
The sound abruptly stopped as if it had been severed by an unseen force. Ryan and Samuel exchanged a tense glance, before Ryan's shovel quickly plunged into the earth again with a renewed urgency. He digging was frenzy and speedy, scooping soil fastly into the sack before the sound, whatever it was returns.
Samuel's guard was on high alert, his eyes never leaving the horizon, scanning for signs of movement.
The sack grew heavier, from the constant soil that was dropped into it, Ryan's digging was quickened, his muscles burning and sweat dripping from his brow in effort.
"BAM!." A sharp claw suddenly struck the shovel, sending jarring vibrations through Ryan's hand. The metal trembled and threaten to shatter Ryan's poor hands.
Both their eyes widened in horror as they realized the claw reacting quickly and now shifting its aim directly at them. Samuel's head snapped toward the threat, his gaze locking onto a creature that looked exactly like the one they had blinded.
They looked at the creature and froze. The same creature that had been making that noise, It was blind but it had outsmarted them by attacking from their blind side, where they weren't facing.
The creature's claws were all stained with dark amd dried blood. Each claw was hooked and designed for tearing flesh.
The creature's claws swiped out with lightning speed, sticking into the earth mere inches from Ryan's face. The wind passes through Ryan face and his breath was taken away from him, the stench of damp earth and the creature's putrid breath, made Ryan's heart stuttered, skipping a beat as his mind processed the near-fatal strike. His eyes widened, locked onto the creature's twisted features:
Their sack that was partially filled with their precious soil, lay abandoned, its was not full but they knew they couldn't wait any longer.
Not with a creature like this, the creature was hungry, unrelenting and even though it was blinded it has a very high sense at picking sounds.
Ryan and Samuel exchanged a split-second glance and they knew it was time to flee, they had no other choice as their lives was depended on it.
They grabbed the sack slowly, full or not, it would have to do.