Yulia's brain struggled to process what it was seeing. Questions blazed in her mind as she tried to calm herself down, but it was no use.
Where the fuck am I?
She once again gazed up into the alien sky, fixated on the reddish orb that hung above the ruddy clouds. If it wasn't for the third scream which bellowed through the sky, Yulia might have stared in disbelief for a while longer.
Hearing the awful noise again, Yulia snapped instantly into survival mode. Enough with the fact she was lost. Enough with the fact she was not in Guatemala, or even on Earth for that matter. As much as it was fucking with her brain, her training and basic instincts turned on, pushing most of the fear to the back of her mind. She took the safety off of her pistol, tied the remainder of her shirt around her waist and scanned the treeline. Following the river would be smart, but it would keep her out in the open where she could easily be seen. Seen by what? She didn't want to think about it...
Crouching with her pistol at her side, Yulia vaulted over a large rock and sprinted into the treeline. Not knowing what to do now, she decided that the first thing she should probably do it find out where she was. Overhead, the sun beat down but barely illuminated the ground beneath her feet. No where around her were there signs of any kind of human activity. No roads, no smells of pollution nor sounds of any type of movement. Just the quiet hum of the forest.
And screaming.
With another loud shriek, Yulia felt a wave of panic. The screams seemed louder, as if she were nearing the source of it. Frantically, she bolted deeper into the brush, hoping for cover. The canopies were blocking more and more of the sun the deeper she ran into the jungle. Within minutes, Yulia realized her mistake. She had run so deep into the woods, she could barely see a few feet in front of her. Fear paralyzed her as the air surrounding her went silent. No more rushing water. No more skittering insects. Nothing. The only thing she could hear was her heart racing in her chest; blood pumping through her ears. She tried to steady her breathing, to calm herself down. Slowly, she looked up into the canopy to try and get her bearings.
In the silence of the forest, she heard the slightest crunch of a tree branch snapping.
As if it was stepped upon by a foot.
Yulia plastered herself onto the forest floor, hoping it would camouflage her...then she silently cursed herself for wearing a white tank top instead of an olive-hued one. With her outer shirt no longer covering her, she stuck out against the dark forest colorings like a sore thumb. There was no way she would be hidden. Keeping as still as she could, she scanned the branches above her, looking for the source of the noise. The quiet of the forest was on her side now. If there was anything stalking her, its cover was blown now. The odds just got a bit more even.