BS: Okay, got this up last minute and couldn't sleep until I did. Took some convincing on my part to be able to get it done, but its done and next chapter you get to meet Mc. Hot Hot. No, I'm not talking about Kieth sadly, but I hope you guys will like him. Now, I don't own Far Cry 3 or any recognizable characters. Just ChelseaLidell.

SharpAngels: you're only stalking a little bit, but it's cool. Appreciate that you enjoy this story to some extent, cause' thats mainly why I posted it. Hope you like this chapter better though, even if it was a bit rushed...

Chapter Five: Survival Of The Fittest

This night was nothing like the last one. Perhaps it was because I was so exhausted yesterday I didn't notice, but now the island jungle seemed like a whole other place. Where in the day there were birds cheerfully singing their tune to cut through the silence, now almost constant gunfire, predator calls, and screeches of dieing animals took it's place.

This made sleep practically non-existent, leaving me yet again with my tired and foggy thoughts. It took a good while to finally find a spot for the night,and I don't think I've ever been as homesick as I was right now. I missed my bed and how the smell of linen and Keith's cologne mixed together just right, making me completely fine with just staying there for the whole day.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, resting my head on them as I stared outside the cave. It seemed all my thoughts were either on my fiancé, what I was going to do next, or my life back in New York.

I sighed and lean my head back against the wall, my eyes starting to come to a slow close, cutting off my worrying thoughts. The noises around me slowly started to drown themselves out more and more as I eased into sleep. All I really knew was tomorrow I needed to get closer to finding Keith and my friends. Even if it only got me slightly closer to getting them out, or it seemed impossible, I refused to selfish and let my fears keep me from helping...

In the morning I awoke from the grunting of boars. I couldn't place the noise at first, but as I gradually came back to consciousness I realized what it was and could only stare at the mass of brown fur grazing in front of me. I had obviously never seen one before, but still I frowned a bit at it as my mind turned back to my food situation.

The low rumbling growl of my needy stomach brought the boars attention towards me, still chewing a mouthful of the berry bush it was feasting from as its dark brown eyes watched me warily. It's long brown tail gave a few flicks before it grunted and trotted away to the rest of its group, letting me get up out of my resting place and figure out what to do. I was hungry, that was obvious and now becoming an issue. I spotted the bush the boar was grazing from, briefly wondering how different it's digestive system was from mine and if it was, was it enough that I could die from eating what it did?
I felt my stomach give another growl, pushing me to eat it even if I would probably suffer some sort of horrible after effects later. If I only ate a small amount I should be fine right?
With a sigh, I bent down and looked at the plant. Like everything else its leaves were a healthy dark green, holding small ridges and jagged edges. The berries were plump, looking as if the small dark blue oval shaped fruit was about to fall right off the branch at even the slightest touch. My mouth watered as I finally plucked a berry off, examining it for a moment before plopping it in my mouth and hesitantly chewing. The flavor was foreign, the taste bursting across my tastebuds and making me crave more. Before I knew it was was eating more and more of them, throwing caution out the window as I ate my fill. Only when my fingers were stained a dark violet and my hunger was curbed did I stop, my tongue now tasting slightly metallic, like I had bitten into the center of a black berry.
After wiping any leftover juice from my mouth I stood up, wincing a bit as my thigh burned in protest. Heat radiated through the bandana, and the nagging thought that it had already gotten infected kept prodding at my mind though I tried hard not to accept that. If that was the case, if the infection was left untreated my immune system would falter and there was no telling what sort of sickness I could catch.
There was no question where my next stop would be then. At least the waterfalls cold water could at least numb and sooth it for awhile, and without feeling much from the wound I could cover more ground and be that much closer to finding my friends.
Carefully, I made my way back down to the water, having to cautiously slide down a small hill, my feet hitting the ground with a small thump. The area hadn't changed since yesterday, but for some reason it felt...off. I brushed off the feeling along with some dust that settled onto my jeans, skillfully avoiding my injury before limping over to the pool. I undid my bandana, wadding into the shallow water just until it rose above the wound. It quickly numbed the pain away almost completely, leaving me just standing in the middle of the water to carefully listen for anything approaching.
I don't know how I didn't hear it, or what made me look back, but I did. Perhaps I did hear something without realizing it, or maybe it was the feeling that something was watching me that made me turn. Whatever the alert was, it gave me little to no time to react to what happened next.
Orange, black, and white streaked across my vision before a heavy weight pounced on me, pinning me against the pools shallow shore as the animal tried to tear out my jugular. Musk and blood assaulted my nose as I pushed against the beast, almost letting out a scream when I got full confirmation of what was trying to kill me.
A set of ferocious sharp teeth bared down at me, the tiger's large slitted amber eyes narrowed and its face scrunched up, lettings its jaws open wide enough to fit around my head. Black stripes swiped across the animals rich orange fur, while a few blood stains marred the small patches of white it had on its face and powerful paws.
I had one of my hands pushed to its own throat while the other was at the side of its face, keeping its jaws away from me as I struggled under its weight. With nothing else to do I brought my leg up and kicked as hard as I could to it's abdomen, successfully knocking it off of me and into the more deeper water. I didn't wait for it to get up to start running, staggering to my feet before bolting further into the jungle. I stumbled through the bushes and swerved around the trees, almost able to feel the tiger breathing down my neck and hear it chasing after me. I pushed myself to go faster, feeling like I was running from the pirates all over again, though this time more seemed to be on the line as I fled. I couldn't fool it like I had the pirate, I had to outrun it or kill it, and I had no weapon to do the latter.
Just when I reached the edge of the vegetation, I came to an abrupt halt, only able to look down below the cliff I had almost ran off of. A raging river flowed through the two cliff sides, the fast paced water roaring as it swept by. I took a few steps back, about to look behind me before I was tackled again. I rolled once, the tiger on top of me again as we were right by the cliffs edge. Pain erupted from my forearm as the beast latched on to the only form of protection I had used, the beast shaking its head a bit as it tried to stare me down and give a killing blow. Blood splattered everywhere and I kept trying to push it off, soon only able to make a split second decision before I put all my weight in flipping to the right. The ground disappeared under me and the tiger followed suit, though I could have sworn it's jaws tightened on my already mauled arm.
The drop wasn't as large as it seemed considering I had over a hundred pounds pulling me down with it, and I kept above the tiger as it still tried to kill me. Only at the last second did I get free, crying out in pain as we both hit the water at a brutally fast pace.
The rivers current was rough, dragging me back down into it's depths every time I tried to get up for air. I fought and fought to get to the surface, only able to take a large gulp before being viciously tugged back down. My lungs screamed at me for air, my head feeling as if it was about to explode while I fought to get to the surface and make the pain stop. The reflex to not let the water in gave me just enough time to take another breath of air, though like the other it didn't last long.
Just when I thought I would drown, the rivers current seemed to slowly die down, the riverbank starting to narrow and I pulled my exhausted body up to the surface once more. My limbs ached in protest as I swam over towards the shore, collapsing onto the sandy bank and coughing up the water which burned at my throat. I laid on my back, looking up at the sky through the gaps in the treetops as I was slowly feeling the energy drain out of me.
I looked at my left forearm which was sprawled next to me, the new wound looking worse than the last as it lie spurting out blood from the four deep gashes left by the tigers teeth. I immediately knew it would scar, but the thought was soon brushed away as I couldn't find myself caring anymore as surprisingly enough I felt no pain.
Silently I looked back at the sky as black started creeping up into my eyesight, tears welling up and adding to my already blurring vision. Was this what death felt like? Painless and cold? There was no white light people liked to boast about and there was nothing heavenly or special about it. It was just depressing and weary, almost like you were finally falling asleep after being awake for a few days, but you were covered in snow and were obnoxiously afraid.
I closed my eyes as I tried to imagine at least something happy, maybe the last happy moment I had or one I wanted. An image of Keith immediately came to mind, particularly the one where he had proposed. I would never get married, have kids, or make any more happy memories for myself ever again... I wouldn't be able to see Liza and Jason or Daisy and Grant ever get married and start a family, or even go to Riley's pilot ceremony-if they made it out of this anyway...
I was going to die, and the fact I was leaving everyone I knew behind was the last realization that flew through my head before my world went completely black.

Wonder how she'll survive this hm? Anyways, I was wondering if you guys would be interested if at the end of every chapter I kinda put a small sneak peak into the next one, like a tiny part of a scene. It'll be epic of course, and a evil little cliffy, but I was just wondering if you were interested at all.

Just leave your comment in the reviews, and if I get a few yes' I'll probably do it. And review in general, cause' it's interesting to see what you guys think :)

Tatty Bye~

-BS