I kept running deeper into the forest one direction. When there was a loud explosion coming from behind me I jumped onto the trunk of a tree a climbed it easily to the top in a short amount of time. Once I got passed the tree canopy I could see smoke rising in the distance the strange male must have been busy in covering his tracks.
That male he had a mask like what was found with that male in the tank he must be the same as him. Why would he take my prize he could have got his own? I may be part human but that part was very small the scientists made sure of that so why would he want to pursue me. Once I got an idea of this place I would retrieve my prize until then I need to avoid him if he's like me he will have a good sense of smell so I need to keep to the trees or I could over load the area with my scent which should prevent the male locating me in a specific area. Before I pick my area to claim I need to get far enough away from the male. I jump tree to tree following one particular star to keep going in one direction until I heard a loud inhuman roar that echoed through the trees he had begun his hunt. I continued running in the same direction on the ground this time until I reached a river then I doubled back using the trees that should throw him off the scent.
I carried on running till the rain started to fall it was a heavy downpour my thin body covering were now soaked and see through I was getting cold my movement was now growing slow I needed to find shelter and soon. I climbed the current tree I was in to survey the forest. It was too dark to see in human vision so I had to use infrared which was useless as everything was too cold although there seemed to be a river. Rivers meant water and food there may be shelter there too it was my best chance so I headed there.
It was an easy journey, once I reached the river I found that further along the river was a waterfall I investigated this area and found it very suitable to stay behind the water was a large network of caves and tunnels which would provide good shelter and the pool below the waterfall was full of fish. I would explore further but I needed my strength and I entered the cave just as dawn approached.
…
Her head start was now up and I let out a battle cry in warning then followed her scent she had no prior training so this should be quick. After an hour of tracking I soon found that the scent was strange it appeared then disappeared in different locations the ground was damp and should hold the scent well leaving a solid trail for me to follow.
The scent lead me to a fast running river but then ended suddenly across the river her scent not there I wondered if she had floated down river but seeing that the river had some large predators called crocodiles lurking below the surface of the water.
She had evaded me longer than I had expected. I climb the near tree to look for possible areas she would head to as she should be growing tired by now it had been an hours since the rains started and she would be cold without proper clothing the humans had given her thin cotton which would be useless by now. I began to worry, if she continued to push herself in this weather her body will fail her. I got halfway up the tree when I found claw marks I inhaled deeply and found her scent fresh and strong. Clever she had tried to throw me off her scent and used the existing scent trail to hide her change in direction for a hunter this kind of thinking takes decades to master. Interesting she was a fast learner a can think like both prey in avoiding capture and in thinking like a predator. I would continue the hunt when the sun raises so I called for the small craft I came down in. it took five minutes to reach me it would provide shelter for the night and would I had some food stashed away. As I began to drift into sleep I had an idea on how to get close to her without my strong musk alerting her. I got a small hunting kit from under the control panel and found I had been looking a small bottle of pills. Two a day will lower my scent enough for me to get close without her running. I took two, ate then went to sleep.
I woke to the noon sun I had over slept and had a hard on making my loin cloth tent upwards this hadn't happened in a very long time it must be that female I had stuck in my mind. I took a deep inhale and knew the pills had worked as my musk was very faint. It was time to find the female her claw marks in the trees left a solid trail through the forest until it became so intoxicatingly strong in a five mile radius I wouldn't be able to use her scent trails here again she was proving to be a challenge hunting this kind of scent she had used was used normally to call large groups of males to find a potential mate but she was using it to hide in a chosen area she had obviously claimed as her own.
Before I had a chance to investigate the area further a large group of heavily armed males I followed them the one in front seemed to have a tracker in hand. They stopped at a large waterfall and I took a seat in a tree overlooking the entire area. What would the female do to the intruders this would be a chance to see what the female could do and to observe her behaviour.
I watched the humans' edge closer to the cave mouth when I saw that there were many cave openings behind the water fall higher than they reach. I saw the female head out of the cave above going head first down one of the many vines cascading down she was silent and slow as the men got into formation a one by one entered the cave but was unaware of the female above them the last one to enter was quickly grabbed round the head with both hands her feet holding her still on the vine and gave a sharp twist snapping the neck of the human quietly she then dragged the dead human up into her cave above. She came back down and hid in the shallows of the pools when the humans came back from the cave she went under the water but her heat showed she stayed very still.
"Where's Eddie he was right behind me?" One of the humans said panicked.
"Spread out and search the area she's here, fingers on triggers boys shoot to kill the facility is lost we're the clean-up crew she doesn't get away." The leader shouted.
They separated into pairs and the female moved in the water targeting the far pair taking them out quietly. Within half an hour only the leader was left and the human was terrified as she leapt from the water pinning the human to the wall by his neck.
"Where is my tracker?" she shouted. The human didn't answer so she snapped his arm making him scream in pain. She continued to twist the broken arm, I could hear the two broken bones grind together unnaturally.
"YOUR ARM, IT'S IN YOUR ARM!" He screamed thrashing around.
"Point to where in my arm." She snarled her mandibles twitching in anger. The male raised his uninjured arm and pointed to the place. She ended its life quickly his body slumped to the ground. She was a good hunter she hunted with agility and stealth all her kills were made without being detected by the other humans even when they were close together.
The female sat in the sun retrieving a knife from one of the humans then begun to feel around her arm stopping over part of the skin before pinching the area then proceeded to use the knife to cut into the skin, digging out what looked like a small mass of tissue that must hold the tracker that the humans were using to locate her. She hissed in pain as blood poured out of the wound she instinctively moved away from the water's edge and back to her cave away from potential predators and out of sight.