Nina woke up feeling stiff and sore. She cracked her eyes open, expecting to see ceiling and then only facing greyish, cold metal with some air holes drilled through it. Now fully alert, with memories of last night-at least, she thought it was last night- pouring in, she quickly stood up, wondering if she should be thankful to be alive.
She was in some type of cage that was large enough for her to stand or lie down in, but narrow in width. A black pack lay on the floor, as did an AK-47 Semi-Automatic Assault Rifle complete with a removable scope and sling, machete, and an AN/PEQ-14 Pistol. Both guns were fully loaded, polished, and military issue. Rummaging through the pack, Nina found a standard med kit, rations, a large, dark blanket that looked to be cut from the same material parachutes were made of, a magnesium fire-starter, hunting knife, wire, rope, liquid iodine, and a filled to the brim canteen. There was also plenty of ammo in reachable and easy to get to pouches. Whoever had placed her here seemed to have planned to give her a fighting chance.
For the first time, she took a good, long look at herself. Her dog tag was still securely fastened around her neck; however that majority of her outfit was entirely different than before. The only thing that remained from her old outfit was her combat boots. Now she was wearing an insulated black, lightweight jacket, a dark brown tank with special reinforcements covering her vital areas, and a pair of simple camouflage cargo pants. There was also a holster on her left thigh for the pistol and a sheath for the machete on her other side. For a moment, she felt bashful, embarrassed, and upset at the thought of someone she didn't know seeing her stark naked, until she quickly realized it wasn't her main concern at the moment.
As she undid the bun in her hair and instead put it in a tight, low ponytail, Nina felt around the corners and edges of the cage to find an exit. Nothing; the thing was sealed tight. Next she placed one ear on what she believed to be the entrance of the cage and knocked on it, trying to hear the vibration. The cage walls were too thick to attempt to blast her way out. After putting on the pack and gathering the weapons, she decided to try one last thing before completely giving up.
Nina backed up to the other side of the space, and concentrated, knowing she would have to use all her brute strength and hard-headedness if this was going to even slightly have a chance of working. Taking off at full speed, she slammed herself into the adjacent wall, only to fall back down to the ground feeling sore and cursing herself.
She sat up, gripping tightly to the rifle and waiting impatiently for some sign. After what she assumed to be an hour, the cage finally opened. Light from the outside world poured in and she shielded her eyes as she got up. Poking the gun out ahead of her, she walked out; heart pounding from adrenaline of not knowing what was to come next.
And what came next didn't please her in the slightest. In a matter of seconds, she turned to her left to come face to face with the barrel of a shotgun. Who was behind it made her smirk though.
"Mind pointing that thing somewhere else?" she asked, relaxing her muscles.
Mike laughed, still nervous, but glad to see a friendly face. He lowered his weapon. He wasn't wearing his cadet uniform either, but something that looked like what mercenaries or bounty hunters would wear. It was a little big for him, but fit well enough.
Two other boys stood behind him; Chase and Colton, a pair of boys who were two the strongest and quickest on the track and field. They both wore military Special Forces combat uniforms. Three cages stood open, exact to the one Nina had been in, and all were lined up in a row in front of a huge, electrified fence that had metal plates at the bottom. There would be no way to get over or under it without getting fried. The rest of the area, as far as the eye could see, was jungle, but the plants were unrecognizable.
The four heard a thud coming from behind them, and turned to see yet another unopened cage. The thuds were continuous until finally the cage door opened up and out ran Jarred, wearing a brown vest over top a camo, long-sleeve shirt and pair of matching pants. He carried a pair of Beretta M9 pistols and had a holstered Colt Anaconda Revolver. When he saw them, he ran over and said, "Just what the heck is going on?"
No one answered as cage after cage opened in the row. One by one, other cadets appeared, and with each, equipment, attire, and weaponry varied. Once all of the cages had opened, there were a total of two girls and eight boys. Nina didn't recognize three of them because one was a year younger than her and the other two were going to graduate this year. However, the girl she knew.
For being at a military school, Tessera Fultz had to be one of the preppiest girls Nina had ever known. She was always the one in the middle of gossip and drama, yet never managed to get into any trouble from her peers; a pure natural snake charmer. She had green eyes and dirty-blonde hair cropped short that ended just past her chin, barely touching her neck. She was the one Nina had seen sneak out the night she saw the Predator.
Once it seemed no one else would be joining them, the group quietly looked at one another. Tessera moved closer to one of the older guys and took his hand. "This is probably just a test by the trainers to see who can make it in a situation like this. I'll bet there are cameras watching us right now."
Nina said nothing, knowing better than that. Apparently, so did some of the other guys, because Colton spoke up, "We were knocked out. There's no way they'd do that. And we saw something that attacked us." His words became more rushed, "We don't know what it was, but it was something. And then there was a bright light and now we're here."
Eyes widened. "Same here, but I didn't see what attacked me. I was going to get my watch that I had left in the gym when it happened," the youngest boy said. Others nodded in agreement.
Nina's face turned hard and serious, she spun on one heel and walked off. Someone would need to take control, even if she wasn't the leader type. She stopped and looked back at the others. "Come on, our first objective would be to find a source of water. What we have won't last too long,"
"Just why should we listen to you?" She heard Tessera demand as Mike, Corin, Chase, and Colton followed without question, knowing they could trust her abilities.
Nina's eyes narrowed, "No reason, really, considering we're all on equal ground without a clue where were are or what we're facing. If you'd rather be on your own with just your boyfriend to protect you, than fine. Other than that, do you have any better ideas?"
Not being able to come up with a good comeback, Tessera followed, and finally so did the others.
They had trudged for hours on end, leaving behind the last signs of civilization and unable to find another. They were completely surrounded by woods, with trees that seemed to have been there since the beginning of time. They couldn't spot the sun when they looked up, just never ending sky and odd, occasional streaks of purple or orange.
It had been awhile before they stopped to rest, sitting on fallen logs and boulders, sweating and tired. They seemed to be walking up a steady slope. Nina yanked off her jacket and tied it around her waist, feeling a much appreciated cool breeze on her arms. Like the others, she ate a small bit of her rations and took tiny, careful sips of water. None of them knew when they would be able to find an edible source of food or a clean water supply.
Strange, yet lovely flowers grew alongside a large tree, twisting themselves with vines and bark. They had needle-like points growing around the edges of their funnels. Tessera reached out to pick one just as Nina saw one snap shut after a fly-like insect landed on it.
"Don't touch that," she warned, Tessera looked at her questioningly. Nina nodded to the one now sealed closed, "If they eat insects, who knows what else they might also have a taste for. Not all plants are for decoration, and see those spikes? Might be poisonous." She glared at Nina, but moved her hand away from the flowers carefully.
No one was in much of a mood for talking, so for the most part they sat there and closed their eyes, resting. The ground seemed to rumble slightly, as if there was a stampede, and everyone's eyes few open. They reached out for their weapons and stood up; looking around frantically for what might've caused the tremor. All was deadly still for a moment, then a large creature that looked like something from a horror movie broke through the trees and tackled Chase before he could react. He screamed and at first tried to shove the creature off. No one fired in fear of shooting him as well. The thing clawed at him as he yanked on the hilt of his sword, desperately trying to dislodge it from its sheath. Once he had succeeded in that, he stabbed it clean through the thing's gut.
It still didn't die. Nina was just about to lift up her rifle to shoot the thing through the skull before a blue light zoomed past them and struck the thing in the forehead. Chase crawled away backwards as the corpse fell on top of him. He was bleeding heavily from one arm and has a series of other cuts. The rest of the cadets aimed the weapons around, but whatever it was that had killed the creature seemed to have vanished.
They rushed over to Chase, some taking aim and watching the surrounding woods in case more of those things attacked. None came. Nina and Corin hurriedly cleansed and bound up Chase's cuts, having him drink a bit more water and calm down. He was in a state of shock, shivering uncontrollably and moving with jerky motions.
With Corin and Colton to look after Chase, Nina slung her rifle up one arm and examined the creature. It wasn't like the Predator Dutch had told her from his stories, although it did have mandibles. It seemed to have exoskeletal skin. Four, long fingers came from its now still hands. Small, cockroach like bugs moved around its wounds, working on healing the dead thing. It had two powerful legs, suitable for running at amazing speed. Other than that, it was much humanoid in shape and physic.
Nina stood up, "Let's get out of here," she pointed at the body, "He seems too sentient to be a wild animal and he might have some friends after us as well."
No one hesitated to get going. Colton helped Chase stand up and walk. Jarred piped up as they moved, "What about whatever shot it?" Nina didn't look at him or answer. He then walked right in front of her, "Nina, whatever it was could kill us just as easily! You know something! What is it?"
Everyone looked at her, everyone so badly wanting an answer to all of this. She signed and looked down, "Some of you know the story of my dad and his squad that my Uncle Dutch led. How they were killed off by Guerrillas in Val Verde. Well, I lied. Yes, that was the mission, but their killer was more deadly than you can imagine."
Corin looked at her, stunned, "Killer?"
She nodded, "That's right, just one. A Predator. A trophy hunter. This is the same kind of technology and stealth that that thing used on them that they're using on us. I won't be surprised if they're the same species."
The other oldest boy, who had been silent until now, spoke, "So this is all a game to them then…"
The youngest boy slumped down, cupping his face in his hands, "We're dead. We're so dead."
Jarred looked at him and frowned, picking him up by one arm, a mix of panic and anger in his voice, "Will you calm down already? If you're so sure that we're all going to die then I say we go down with a fight!"
Nina shook her head, "Bad idea. This isn't the type of guy you can just walk up and pick a fight with. Their born to kill, and now, we're their targets." She started walking again. "As I said, we need to find water. Not just to get us hydrated, but keep us hidden as well. Water means mud. Those things see us by our heat, and we can help ourselves using the mud for camouflage."
They took off again, more in a hurry now than ever to make as much distance as they could.
Once the human adolescents had gone, a Yautja Youngblood named Sain'ja climbed down from a tree, examining his kill. He hated the fact that that human male had damaged the River Ghost far more than his blaster would've done, but at least the skull was skill in decent condition save for the one shot. He marked it in his memory to make the male one of his targets, but to wait until he was in better condition. There was no point in hunting someone who was in such a wreck.
After quickly and cleanly decapitating the corpse, Sain'ja carried the head off to the side to remove the insides and clean it.