Chapter 3: Into the Wilds

Leaves rustled and branches snapped as I made my way through the dense jungle. I'd entered this damned place about half a day ago! I hadn't even made the slightest bit of progress on finding literally anything, well anything that wasn't trees that is. All I'd discovered so far were bushes, ferns, streams, rocks, and more rocks... Needless to say, I wasn't making any progress.

I'd be awfully surprised if there was any sign of human interference whatsoever on this overgrown planet, who knows? Maybe that dig site was the only thing EVEN REMOTELY RELATED TO HUMAN CONTACT.

This jungle is driving me mad... I would've preferred that ghost town over this green hell! I can't even think straight anymore! The sounds of the jungle echo all day and night, I can't even think without being interrupted by the screeching of whatever horrifying creature could be out there! I have yet to see any of those creatures, excluding the insects but I'm certain they'd be somewhat, I dunno, EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!

I'd spent all day looking over my shoulder, and I can tell you, there have been one or two false alarms that nearly made me clear a city's block's worth of trees, those missiles really wrought some havoc... Speaking of destruction, I have yet to figure out the use of any of the other utilities, so far only those missiles have been used and I don't think I'll ever want to use them again, I mean there's barely any plating left on the side of my head!

Who knows what the others could do, especially that weird portal-looking utility, maybe it could summon a black hole, perhaps it summoned a gateway to hell, or it could just be your standard issue vortex shield with no customization whatsoever. WHO KNOWS!

The sun had already departed ages ago, leaving me in a near-complete darkness, the only light accompanying me being the soft glow of my body and weapons and the glow of the shattered moon. Wait, hold on... Why's the moon broken? I stopped dead in my tracks and gazed through the canopy, yep, the moon was well and truly wrecked. It had a massive chunk blasted straight out of it, and remnants of it circled it in a ring of sorts. I've gotta be honest, that sent my mind into a panicked frenzy, maybe I just wasn't mentally prepared after all the hell I'd been through.

I dropped my sword to the ground, and my pistol still held tight to my hip. I stumbled backward before tripping over a root and falling against a tree. My breathing grew frantic again, and I clutched my head in confusion. The mental toll this place was taking on me was absolutely skyrocketing, I mean through the roof, straight up verticle line, right up into space, and through the moon.

"Ohhhh what the fuck is going on..." I complained, "Why me...".

I kept my head down, completely shutting off my view of the moon, shunning it away. If I couldn't see it, it wasn't there, that was my current logic. I pushed myself to my feet and I looked about on the jungle floor for my sword, panic still lingering on my mind. It'd disappeared into the foliage somewhere, and it was very persistent in hiding away from me. I got down to my knees and looked about through the shrubbery, they weren't very tall need I say, they probably went up a quarter of the way up my leg, but they were tall enough to hide away probably my greatest tool yet.

I brushed through the ferns and shrubs hoping to find my beloved weapon before a giant lumbering wolf or something came over and tore me to pieces. Yet I wasn't lucky enough for that dream to be a reality. As I searched I heard a trio of growls emanating from behind me, bushed and ferns parting as whatever horrifying creatures lurked about behind me. Fear and panic overwhelmed me and I stumbled to my feet, before tripping over and falling on my back.

My heart would've been racing as the growls grew closer and closer. I lay frozen, hoping that they might not notice the extremely noticeable glowing lights in the shrubbery. But they certainly did find me. I heard a trio of barks and the pattering of paws before something bit down on my hand. I nearly screamed, yet, there was no pain. Well duh, Elijah, your hand has probably been torn off already, you're in shock you idiot.

But as it gnawed on my hand, I didn't quite feel any pain. So I broke through my fear and made a quick glance down at the beast. But instead of there being some giant insect or some sort of terrifying beast tearing away at my hand, there was some small wolf, lizard, cat thing, biting down onto the palm of my hand, barely scratching the plating. It was growling and barking and frothing at the mouth, all while ravaging away at the metal.

It was kind of cute actually, if I had to be honest if it wasn't actively trying to kill me. My fear completely vanished in the blink of an eye, simply gone without a trace, and my panic disappeared along with it too. I grabbed down onto the thing with the hand it was once scratching at, it writhed and growled, as it stayed immobile in my grasp. The thing was probably about teddy bear-sized, and luckily, small enough not to inflict much harm on me, well if you count tiny scratches as grievous wounds I wasn't at all harmed in the slightest.

Its buddies then decided, now would be the best to finally jump in and do something, biting down on my plating and scratching at it with reckless abandon, all to no avail. It was rather sad to watch actually, the weird lizard, cat dog things were foaming at the mouth, trying their hardest to inflict just the slightest wound, yet not making more than slight scratches along my hull. That was until one somehow jammed its teeth in between my thick plating, and down into my muscle. Yeah, I can definitely say that I'd felt that.

I yelled in pain and said muscles tensed up, causing my hand to slam shut, completely crushing the lizard thing like dough in an explosion of blood. I think just realized how badly they fucked up, backing away and fleeing. One of them managed to successfully escape my wrath, but the other one was stuck, its jaw was stuck, with its teeth sunk into my metal, and the more it tried to free itself, the more it hurt, for me that is, it kinda felt like being pricked with a pin, it wasn't pleasant to experience, yet it wasn't hard to deal with.

I got to my feet and I grabbed hold of the thing's neck, before pulling it free from my muscle, it writhed and squealed, trying to break free from my grasp.

"You just fucked up buddy," I said sternly. I pulled my pistol free from my hip and stared straight into the beast's eyes. "Bye-bye".

I chucked the beast straight up into the air, and it flailed about frantically, roaring in surprise. That at least gave me a vague idea of where it was. I aimed my pistol forwards and fired, a single bolt of plasma lit up the small region I occupied, and, luckily for me, it was headed straight toward the beast, and quickly. And in the blink of an eye, the beast was gone. Turned into a fine reddish-blueish mist, yeah, it might've been overkill but I gotta get my anxiety out one way or another right?

As I admired the firework that was the glowing element-infused mist that was once a beast, a sharp pain rang out through my arm. I clutched at the wound, groaning in pain. I slowly brought my hand away to reveal one of the things teeth was lodged pretty shallowly into my muscle, the wound was oozing a dark metallic semi-liquid blood of sorts. I knew for a fact that my bulky fingers wouldn't be able to remove it, but I did know one thing that might. It's going to be painful, but it'd get that thing out of my metal.

I shut off my visor, and it grayed out, dissipating hexagon by hexagon, till it revealed the interior of my skull. I tilted my head and let the strange golden key fall straight into the palm of my hand and I let the visor rebuild itself again, as it reformed the visor glowed a soft cyan like it always had. I looked back to the wound, studying it closely, the light from my visor being the only thing helping me locate it, not including the pain of course.

I looked over the wound, it was kind of like a tear, but with a giant fucking tooth down right dead center. I took a deep breath and readied myself for the pain I was about to experience, before stabbing the key in. And it fucking HURT, like a horrible burning insect bite, I almost fainted in sheer pain and shock as this new wave of pain washed over me. But I stayed focused and I levered the tooth out, sliding the key beneath it and flicking it out.

The moment the tooth left my muscle I immediately pulled the key out and nearly blacked out from the sheer, overwhelming pain. I collapsed against a nearby tree, almost toppling the thing over before screaming out in agony.

"What the fuck is this thing made of!" I yelled.

I sat there, leaning against the tree, recovering from the absolute pain of that removal. Alright, Elijah, rule number 1, don't stab yourself with golden keys.

After maybe a minute of panting and wincing the pain finally died down, leaving just a sore ache in my arm. I looked down at the blood-stained key if I could even call it blood, glowering at the thing, wondering whether I should throw the thing out or not. But hey, I inflicted the pain against myself, don't take it out on the weapon... Maybe this body didn't like gold very much.

After having a moment to think, I'd come up with my final decision, I'm keeping it. I mean, I've always been a bit fond of shiny things, but that wasn't the exact reason for my decision. It almost felt like I couldn't throw it away like I'd be losing the most important thing of all time, almost like throwing away an antidote to an incurable disease. It was a mixed bag, on one side I wanted to snap it in half for inflicting one of the most painful things I'd ever felt, yet the other side wanted to keep it, just to be safe. But my decision was final, I'm keeping it.

I shut down my visor and slotted the key back in, closing it back up afterward. Now, what was I doing before? Oh right, I needed my sword back. I felt around on the jungle floor for about half a minute till I finally got a grip on the thing. Luckily I hadn't grabbed it by the blade but by the handle, sparing me from chopping my own hand off. The moment I reunited with it, it lit up, burning away all the foliage that dared touch its blade.

I hauled the thing off the ground looking over the mighty weapon, hoping it hadn't been damaged in the fall. Luckily for me, it was completely untouched, with not a dent or a scratch on it. Now, onwards to my quest for human civilization!

After the encounter with the lizard things, my fear was almost non-existent, I understood that there may be bigger things out there, but now that I knew how easily those things died, and how small they were, I could walk with confidence, upright and strong, like a man. It's just how Saphire would've imagined me... My pride almost died immediately, replaced almost entirely by grief. The memory of everyone I knew, crying over my coffin entered my mind once more. What I'd give to see them one last time... I stared down at my hands, regretting the decisions I'd made so far.

I snapped out of my episode, lifting my head and walking onward, come on Elijah! You don't have time for this... I pressed on through the jungle, yet a massive weight of guilt dragged behind me. But yet I still pushed on, ignoring the heavy load that burdened my mind.

I trudged on through the darkness of the night, ignoring the howls that once froze me with fear, but yet I no longer showed any signs of hesitation, with my expressionless mask of a face. I trudged and trudged, through thickets of trees, and clusters of vines, cutting through any obstacle that stood in my way. Through streams and valleys, I continued on, even as the terrors of the night tried breaking my mind apart I ignored their calls and marched onward. Yet deep down, I was ridden with guilt, an unliftable burden that weighed me down no matter what.

I just felt like I wanted to curl up into a ball and hide away from my troubles, but I knew I couldn't, it wouldn't help me cope in the slightest, and thinking about it only added more to the weight. Like a donkey, who's forced to carry more and more, till it can't go on. That's exactly what'll happen to me if I can't move on, yet all I do is regret...

I snapped out of my thoughts just in time to save myself from what could have been a quite possibly deadly fall from a cliff, stumbling back and falling on my ass. Zoning out definitely wasn't something to adore either, ok I'll just stay away from both. Now, where's the way down? I scanned the area, looking for some sort of hill or ramp of sorts, but nope, not a single sign of any way down, excluding the sheer drop.

I sighed, as I peered over the edge, it went probably a hundred meters down till it reached the bottom, and that's something I don't want to experience. Well... what options do I have here...

I can climb down, and I might trip and fall I could jump down, and I'll 100% break my legs, I could turn back, what's the point of coming all this way just to turn back? Or I could try my luck with a utility... Well, I don't have any experience with climbing, and I'm not gonna risk taking a fall like that, so... only one option left.

I looked over my choices, hmm, missiles, thrusters, or the weird portal thing. Yeah, I think I know what I'm picking... Alright, fingers crossed. I pushed myself off the rocky ground and backed away, before taking a running jump, straight off the edge of the cliff, I hurriedly focused on the thruster icon, praying that'd work. And just like that my prayers were answered. I felt my legs rumble before two jets of flame burst from underfoot.

The sheer force those jets produced slowed my fall, till they shut off, sending me plummeting a few feet, till I landed with a thud, right in the middle of a clearing. I'd made sure to keep clear of the trees, after all, I didn't want to start an unstoppable forest fire now, oh how the guilt would pile up. Luckily for me it only lit some patches of dry grass alight, I was quick to stomp them out though, leaving only a few smoldering embers. Those wouldn't be a problem.

As I gazed over the soft glow of the embers, the sun began its march over the horizon, slowly bringing light back to the world. I can't tell you how sick I was of traversing the dark, my sword didn't act as the best glowstick after all.

As the sun rose over the faraway hills, it illuminated something of interest... A building. I nearly crapped my non-existent pants. I ran as fast as I could, pacing through the wide-open field. But as I got closer and closer, I came to realize it was abandoned, just like all the rest. The metal was rusted and the windows were fogged and dirty, with three bold letters printed out on the side, IMC. Great, just great...

The shelter was surrounded by cages, either opened or completely torn apart. It may seem like whatever those people were trapping may have fought back... Dang, tough luck, IMC.

I hadn't even noticed the deep claw marks on the building. Seems like a whole pack of them raided the place. The door was unhinged and dented, and the inside was stained with blood. I don't know for how long, I just knew those weren't gonna come out any time soon. And, there was a somewhat intact laptop inside, perhaps I could contact someone for help on that. I can't tell you how much I yearn for at least someone to talk to.

I balled my hand up into a fist and punched straight into the thick steel wall, heavily denting it with the first punch, then completely punching a hole in it on the second go. I reached about into the building, feeling about before grabbing the laptop, which I'd hoped I didn't smash to pieces with my size. As I pulled it out, luckily for me it was partially intact.

As I reached out to it, it automatically started up, and unluckily for me. It was but an audio log.

"Log 34#, Dr. Harry J Carlier. Funding for this project has been going down ever since the IMC found that stupid signal to the far east, I mean, where are they going to get their test subjects? I CANT TRAP PROWLERS FOR FREE YOU IMBECILES. *sigh* I swear that silly little project of theirs is going to crash and burn... mark. my. words." then static...

Well then... that was... interesting so to speak, well, rest in pieces Harry.

I placed the audio log down on top of the shelter, pondering what I'd just heard. I mean, was that dig site the project? If so I've gotta thank the guy, he may have just saved me from falling into the hands of an evil corporation.

I looked back into the interior of the shelter, it was all either emptied or destroyed, somehow that one audio log was the only thing that'd survived the massacre. I doubt the IMC's looking for this place, after all, they said they stopped funding his project, pushing it to the side for the bigger picture. Ain't nobody coming to pick me up.

So I reluctantly trudged on, leaving the building and its secrets behind me, a story left untold. The clearing eventually melted back into the jungle I'd grown so familiar with, and the one which I'd despised most. Goddamit, when is the Militia gonna show up?! The IMCs here, getting valuable information, and who knows, Rifleman Jack Cooper could be running around fucking around with BT and I wouldn't even know it!

I sighed and took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. Ok, just calm down Elijah, we'll think about it later.

And so I wandered, but I didn't walk alone... As I made my way through the endless bowels of the damp depressing jungle the sounds of growling emerged from all around me. "Can't catch a fucking break can I..." I sighed.

Then as I muttered, maybe 20 to 30 Wolf lizard cats jumped out, Man I've really gotta get a name for those things. They surrounded me, circling me and eyeing me up, probably confident in their numbers. Then they all rushed me all at once, scratching or gnawing away at my legs. I sighed, kicking one away into a tree, shattering its spinal cord. The others had yet to lose hope, and I didn't want to remove any more teeth from my wounds so I just started punting them, I kicked a group of them away, completely shattering their bones.

I then just started stamping down on the rest, each turning into a bloody paste beneath my weight. It wasn't very nice to experience on both ends. It just felt so wrong...

It took me killing about 24 of them for the rest of the pack to finally get the memo. They immediately turned tail and fled, whining like stray dogs. To be honest, in my eyes those things weren't as cute as they were before. If anything they were just annoying, through and through. Rats of the frontier those things. Now speaking of wounds, I looked down at my forearm, where I'd gotten bitten previously. The wound had entirely healed, with absolutely no sign of damage whatsoever, except for a slight color variation in the metal. It didn't even hurt as I applied pressure on it. As if it'd never even been there in the first place. Such are the miracles of machinery I guess.

Guess I gotta be a little bit more careful around these parts. Don't wanna be dislodging any more teeth with that key, just thinking about it sent shivers down my spine. I shook it off and continued forward. Step after step, farther and farther into the wilderness. Nothing of importance had happened this time. No abandoned facilities, no packs of lizard cat dog things, just jungle. Lots of jungle, for as far as the eye can see. An extremely vast and yet so empty jungle. I was lonely, so so lonely.

Oh, I did forget to mention one thing... it was storming like there was no tomorrow, dark clouds had blotted the skies, they were wild and loud, only brightening as brief flashes of lightning tore through the skies. It brought back some unwanted memories, and those horrible memories clouded my mind, building my anxiety higher and higher.

But then something had managed to just barely bring me from my mind. It was the boom of some faraway thing, it didn't quite sound like the lightning, it was just the slightest bit different. It was quite a bit louder actually.

I sprinted forward, eventually finding myself on a hill, the sky was wide open now, and now I got to see what it actually was. Blueish projectiles flew through the sky off in the distance, each rocketing from somewhere over the hills and piercing through the clouds. Like someone was firing cannons off into space. Each one brought a devastating explosion, so I thought, the sound definitely pierced the clouds, so that equaled power in my book.

But as I gazed as the 'missiles' of sorts soar through the sky, but soon I realized just what they were shooting at. Hundreds of balls of fire pierced through the clouds, falling to the earth, and lighting up the sky like an array of spotlights.

I know what's going on...

This is the second version of the chapter It's a little improved but there could be some gaps I'd forgotten to fill in. Leave a review if you catch anything you didn't quite like, and I'll make sure to fix it up for you.