Brutaka's Game Ch. 4

Mr. Petrik, Mackenzie, and Kyle walked through a large expanse of grassland. A few hundred yards ahead stood a forest.
"I'm hungry." murmured Kyle.
"We all are." Petrik replied exhaustingly. "I'm sure we'll find wild berries or something."
After a few more minutes of walking, Mackenzie thought she heard something coming up from behind. She spun around and noticed a small speck coming towards them and fast.
"Mr. Petrik!" she cried.
The teacher turned around and saw the foreign object approaching. From what he could make out, it looked just like the robotic creature they saw yesterday.
"Run!" he shouted.
They all sprinted toward the forest. A faint hum began to surround them. As it grew, the creature flew right past them and planted its feet on the ground, cutting them off. The Humans stopped and took several steps back, startled. It stared them down before opening its head armor and screeching.
Suddenly a shot rang out and the creature fell to its side dead. Mr. Petrik and his students frantically looked around for the source.
"H-Hello?!" shouted Mr. Petrik.
A man came out from the shrubbery, holding a M-16 rifle. "Are you all right?" he asked.
Mr. Petrik nodded. "Yeah, thanks."
The stranger approached them. "I'm glad to see more survivors. I'm B.J. by the way."
"Frank Petrik. These are my students: Mackenzie and Kyle." Mr. Petrik and B. J. shook hands.
"So, how far did you guys travel before coming here?" the pilot asked.
"At least a day," replied Mackenzie. "Ever since we saw creatures like those battling other robots, we kind of went on double time."
"I can relate," said B. J. "I've seen a few other weird, robotic animals, but nothing like this." He then looked around. "We should probably get going. No telling what else is out here."
Mr. Petrik and his students followed B.J. into the forest.
"By the way, where did you get that gun?" asked Mackenzie.
"It's hard to explain," he replied. "Shortly after washing up on shore I went into the forest and found a large pile of supplies. With it I built a shelter, found food and began to 'collect' survivors."
"Really?" asked Mr. Petrik. "How many have you found so far?"
"With you guys, at least fifteen. I plan on doing daily patrols to find more. If you want to help that would be great."
"I'll do what I can." Petrik replied, and then flinched as he heard the erratic squawking of a bird. "But maybe I should first learn how to use a gun."

Sarah was growing more frustrated by the minute. Two days of searching along the shore and she hardly found anything useful. Instead she found three corpses, one of which was the pilot. When found she would drag them close to the jungle, dig a grave and burry them. The process took well over an hour and was exhausting. The only benefit to doing this was that it kept her away from Janet.
Yet on her searches she pondered over Janet's idea of staying for a while. She was right in the sense that they had to get off sooner or later, jet Janet's idea of an adult-free paradise was more than enticing. Just thinking of all the adventures she could embark on got her heart racing.
It was getting late and once again she found herself walking back to the camp. When she arrived she noticed two strangers around the fire.
"Why is it that every time I go looking for survivors you guys always find them?" Sarah asked.
Ashley shrugged. "They found us."
One of the strangers was a flight attendant; the other wore black slacks and a dress shirt.
"I'm Bryan." He pointed to the flight attendant. "And this is Takara."
Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"My parents got the name in their travels through Africa." said Takara.
"Ah." Sarah pulled a granola bar form the crate and sat down. She noticed Janet was not pleased with their presence. She figured Janet had to relinquish control and authority to them. Just to be sure, she spoke to Bryan.
"So, have any plans to get off this rock?"
"Still working on that," he replied. "But for now we'll need everyone's cooperation."
Janet's eyes narrowed, just the sign Sarah was looking for.
"Did they tell you about Mr. Brute?"
The girls looked at Sarah nervously.
"No." replied Takara. "Never heard of him."
"Well, we met a strange man who claims we're on an alien world," said Catlin.
"Alien world huh?" Bryan chuckled. "And how could you tell he wasn't lying?"
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Have you seen the wildlife?"
The question made Bryan silent, as he had a blank face.
"Exactly."

The next morning Bryan had the girls get to work. Janet, Caitlin and Ashley gathered firewood, while he and Takara worked on another shelter. Sarah was tasked with hunting. Despite the food in the crates, it was only enough for a few more days. She spent most of the day searching the canopy. When she found a large bird she aimed and fired a shot. It grazed the bird and if flew off, squawking wildly. Disappointed, she slowly walked back to camp. She didn't reach the site until sunset. When everyone saw that she had nothing they frowned.
"Way to go." Janet said sarcastically.
Sarah ignored her and placed her gun against a tree.
"It's alright." said Bryan. "I'll go hunt tomorrow. You want to patrol the shores?"
Sarah thought about it, and then nodded. She walked to the crate and opened it, only to be disappointed. "Who ate the last pack of Oreos?"
"Sorry, was that yours?" Janet mocked.
Sarah gave her a dirty look. "I told you to save me some."
"I didn't see your name on it."
"Girls," butted Bryan. "Enough. Sarah, there's a few left in the other crate."
Sarah looked inside and found three cookies sitting in the corner. She took them and sat down. As she ate she thought over the possibility of leaving the group. Being stuck on an island is one thing, but there was no way she would ever spend this much time with Janet, even if her life depended on it.
To do so she would have to gather supplies for a long trek. But there was still one question left to answer: should she tell the others she's leaving or not?

Once again Sarah found herself patrolling the shores. She decided to travel farther than her past searches and sped past any luggage and bodies she came across. By noon she had covered more than twenty miles. The soft sand made it possible for her feet to bear the long walk. There was a change in climate traveling north. The jungle became less dense and rockier.
The forest was thin enough for her to see some of the mountainous terrain several miles inland. What stood out the most was a massive volcano. She could tell it was far away, yet knew that if she could reach the summit she would know just how large the island is. Then it occurred to her that she didn't need to sneak away. She just had to convince everyone that she should embark on this mission. After all, she was overdue for an adventure.

"What do you mean no?" asked Sarah.
"What do you think?" retorted Bryan. "It's a volcano. You could get lost, eaten, or hurt."
"I'll be fine. I've been on mountains before."
"But you never climbed one." reminded Janet. "I remember when our families went on a joined outdoor trip. You were too scared to repel down a small cliff and even more scared going back up."
"Hey, that was back in middle school." Sarah snapped.
Janet smirked. "And did you go on any rock climbing trips since?"
Sarah stared at her. "No."
Ashley then spoke. "Well, what if one of us went with her?"
"It doesn't matter," said Bryan. "You're all kids remember?"
Sarah crossed her arms. "We're sophomores."
Bryan almost stuttered in his response. "There's not much difference. Being stranded on an island doesn't make you experienced outdoorsmen."
The reply ticked Sarah off. She went to the shelter and laid on her sleeping bag. She had enough of adults telling her what she couldn't do, saying that she's too young and what rules to follow. Tomorrow morning everyone will wake up to find her gone.

Brutaka was starting to get impatient. For over four days survivors washed ashore, regrouped and even established a few camps, but there was no contact between them and the natives. If there is to be a confrontation he would have to drive them into an encounter.
A portal opened and he walked through and found himself in another super store. A large blue sign hung above with the word Walmart. The store was closed which made walking around more convenient. He grabbed the first strangest, most foreign object he found and opened another portal. He threw the object in and walked back though his own portal. Hopefully once found it would get the Toa's attention, and he made sure it would get their attention.

Sarah awoke in a jolt. Without moving she looked around. To her relief it was only a nightmare. It was dawn and everyone was still asleep. Quietly, she got out of bed and packed whatever she could into a backpack. Once set, she put it on and entered the jungle.
She followed the trail leading to the pile of supplies they found. When there she swapped her backpack for a hiking pack. After searching through the crates she found most of what she needed: Matches, a compass, a tarp, rope, machete and water.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Sarah jumped and spun around and found Janet with her arms crossed. "What does it look like?"
"You're going to that volcano aren't you?"
"What does it matter?" snapped Sarah.
"I'm telling on you."
Sarah rolled her eyes. "I don't really care." She put on her pack. "Besides, by the time you tell them I'll be long gone," she smiled.
Janet was not too happy with the answer. "Then I'll go with you."
Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
"That's right, I'm joining your little 'adventure'."
"I don't think so. There are more of those giant bugs and who knows what else."
"Exactly." Janet sneered as Sarah realized she just pitted the argument against herself.
"Fine." Sarah grumbled. "But if we get lost you're on your own."

"So where's this volcano?" murmured Janet.
Sarah sighed in frustration. "It might take a few days."
"A few days? We don't have enough food for a few days."
"Which is why it would've been better if I went alone." Sarah then scanned the canopy and observed the vivid colors of yellow and orange. "We're stopping for today."
"Finally." Janet huffed and dropped her pack.
Sarah found a suitable spot and began to set up shelter and placed her tarp on the ground. With Janet's tarp, she used rope and tied each corner to a tree, with one side slanted downward, forming a makeshift roof. Janet came with an armful of firewood.
Once the fire was lit, the girls sat on opposite sides of the tarp and didn't make eye contact. They stared at the fire, listening to its crackles that were accompanied by the calls of the local wildlife, until it became dark.
"Well," yawned Sarah. "I'm going to bed."
As she rolled up in her sleeping bag Janet had a worried look on her face.
"What about predators?"
"I'll just shoot them." Sarah said flatly. "Good night." she said sarcastically.
Janet looked nervously into the dark before getting into her sleeping bag.

Inside Lewa's home, Takanuva lay in bed and stared at the night sky. The door squeaked and looked to see Lewa coming in.
"Oh what a week." he yawned. "Now that your fight-training here is done, where are you going-travel to next?'
"I think I'm supposed to visit Kopaka."
"Have joy-fun with that." he chuckled.
Takanuva couldn't help but give a smirk. "Yeah, that'll be fun." he said cynically.
A commotion was growing outside and got the Toa's attention. They went to the window and saw Matoran gathered around the village center. They ran out of the hut and swung to the crowd.
"Matoran," said Lewa "What's all the loud-talk about?"
The Matoran took several steps back as Kongu approached the Toa. In his hands was a chromed box-shaped object. It had two large, rectangular openings along its width and a long, black chord coming out form one end. The Toa weren't sure what to make of it.
Takanuva picked up the object and examined it. "Is this one of Nuparu's new inventions?"
Kongu shook his head. "I don't think so. I was seek-patrolling deep-wood when this thing ground-bounded from the sky."
Takanuva and Lewa gave each other puzzled looks.
"So what is it?" asked the Toa of light.
Lewa shrugged.
Turaga Matau entered the group and walked towards the Toa. "I find it odd that this thing appeared out of nowhere, just like the Rahi-beast."
"You think they're connected?" asked Lewa.
The Turaga nodded. "Quite possibly." He then faced Takanuva. "If I were you I'd take precaution foot-walking to Ko-koro. There's no telling what trouble-danger will randomly appear next."
"Yes Turaga." bowed Takanuva.
The two Toa then made their way back to the hut; Takanuva carrying the toaster in his arm.
"What do you make of this?" asked Takanuva.
"If what Turaga-elder says it true then this is dark-serious. I will have to air-fly to our Toa-brothers and think-talk with them. But for now we rest. You have a long ground-walk ahead."

The air was wet and smelled of morning dew. Sarah was awake, but stayed in her bag with eyes closed, hoping she would fall back to sleep. She heard something move through the vegetation. With Janet still asleep they should avoid detection. But the unknown object moved closer. She heard wet, heavy breaths and opened her eyes. Several yards away, barely visible, stood a large, yellow metallic bear.
Her eyes widened. She could use her gun, but there's no telling if the bullet would actually hurt it. Instead she slowly leaned over to Janet and placed a hand on her mouth. Janet's eyes shot wide open and she flinched and started to scream.
"Shhh." hushed Sarah. "Don't look now, but there's a bear over there."
Janet looked over and saw the creature. Her eyes widened.
"Just don't move and stay quiet." Sarah whispered.
For several minutes they stood frozen as the bear sniffed around their campsite. It dug into Janet's backpack and found some strips of beef jerky. After eating, it searched the rest of their supplies and lumbered off. The girls didn't move for several more minutes, until Janet shook her off.
"You can let go of me now." Janet snapped.
"You're welcome." Sarah replied sarcastically.
"What kind of island is this?!"
"A robotic kind?"
"Outside the obvious." said Janet. She got up and checked on her pack. "Stupid bear ate my jerky. You should've shot it."
"What if I can't kill it? If it survived we'd be dead already."
"You should've at least tried." Janet grumbled as a side note.
Suddenly a green coconut-like fruit fell from the canopy. When it landed next to Janet it exploded and let out a foul odor that coated her. Janet coughed and staggered away. Sarah looked at her with surprise. Then she smelled the horrible odor.
Sarah held her nose. "Well, congratulations." she smirked. "Consider yourself bear repellent."
Janet gave her a dirty look. "You better hope this washes off."
The two packed their gear and headed northward, with Sarah leading the way. For several hours they cut through the dense jungle.
"Shouldn't we be there by now?" murmured Janet.
"Considering the pace we've been going at: no."
"I bet we're lost."
Sarah took a look at her compass. "No. We're moving north."
"And west. Face it, we passed it."
Sarah realized she was right. They had been moving northwest. Chances were that the jungle stretched on for several more miles on the other side.
"Well, maybe we'll head northeast then."
"Or maybe we'll just go back the way we came." scolded Janet.
"No, we're too far into this." Sarah cut another large fern and stopped in her tracks. "Do you hear that?" she whispered.
"Hear what?" Janet barked.
"Shh!"
They were both silent and listened. In the distance they heard movement, followed by hissing.
"Run!" whispered Sarah.
The girls sprinted; pushing bushes and ferns away.
"Can you go any slower?" barked Janet.
"I'm not an athlete remember!" Sarah hushed. She then tripped over something and fell. Janet couldn't stop herself and tripped over Sarah. The two lay on the ground and moaned. Sarah looked behind her to see what she tripped on and was stumped. Underneath her legs was a pair of skis. She stood up and picked them off the ground.
"What are skis doing in the middle of the jungle?" asked Janet.
Sarah shrugged. Something caught the corner of her eye and she found another pile of supplies. The two ran over to the pile and began looking through to see if anything could be used. The contents were strange and made no sense. There were toys, kitchen appliances, a microwave and more ski gear.
Sarah found a military crate and looked inside. She smiled at the sight of guns of all shapes and sizes. She recognized one of the guns and pulled the pistol out. She looked around for some ammunition and loaded her new pistol. She also found a silencer and a scope and attached it to her riffle. When done, she stood up and was about to tell Janet to get moving again, when a strange feeling came over her.
She noticed how quiet the jungle had become. A slight sense of fear began to grow on her as she looked around. Part of her began to think she was being watched.
"Hey Janet," Sarah tried to hide her growing worries. "We should get moving."
"I was thinking the same thing. I'm starting to get a little creped out."
As Sarah was about to cut another path through the vegetation, a nine foot tall red being came out in front of her. She gasped and stepped back as the monster slowly came closer with its staff, glowing red, aimed right at her.
Sarah's back went against a tree trunk while the monster stood between her and the supplies and Janet. She looked over to Janet, who stood still with horror easily read in her face
"Don't just stand there, help me!" Sarah pleaded in a shaky voice.
Janet was still standing like a statue. The monster turned to look at her. She stepped back, startled. It wasn't until its head split into three directions and screeched loudly that Janet ran off into the forest.
"Thanks." Sarah growled between her teeth.
The creature turned and looked down on Sarah again. She couldn't stop herself from looking at its beady, yellow eyes. She wanted to draw her riffle and fire, but she couldn't move her arms. In fact, she couldn't move at all. Her breath became shorter and deeper and her heart felt like it was going to jump out her chest. She felt the adrenaline rushing through her as the monster raised its staff in the air.
As it did, something inside her kicked in. Two words echoed through her mind: fight back. In instinct she drew her pistol and pointed it at the creature. Her hands shook as she aimed for its head and fired. The first shot missed. She fired again, but still missed. Right as the monster swung its staff she fired again and hit it straight on the head. The creature fell on the ground with a thud and she ducked away from the staff.
The sense of fear suddenly disappeared, as if killing it had cured her. There was a moment of shock until the adrenaline rush began to settle down and took its toll. She collapsed on her knees and cried. She had never felt so scared in her life. She then looked around and called out for Janet. There was no reply.

"Ignorant fools! They're supposed to believe that I'm dead!"
"Calm down Teridax." said Mutran "We only came to check on the progress of The Plan."
"The Plan will be complete when it's complete." Teridax barked. Inside the crushed protosteel armor his essence floated around. "As for you. Why did you send Rahkshi after Onua and Pohatu?"
"Haven't you seen the new visitors?" asked a third Makuta. "They were supposed to investigate them, but found the Toa instead."
"I'm well aware of them. What you did was reckless."
"No, it's opportunistic." defended Mutran. "These unusual creatures aren't affiliated with the Toa or the Matoran Yet."
"So?" asked Teridax.
"Did you see how quickly they killed two Rahkshi? Imagine if we turned them against the Toa."
The third Makuta smiled. "And maybe send a few to Destral for... 'Research'."
Mutran raised an eyebrow and smiled. "I like the sound of that." He then faced Teridax's broken body. "And don't worry if we fail. We'll make sure the Toa know it was our doing. They won't even know you're still alive. What do you think?"
There was a long period of silence. "Go ahead."