A Hike Gone Wrong Ch. 04

She could feel dozens of insects and other bugs crawl all over her body. Some moved slowly and cautiously, others slithered hastily on her skin, poking her with their hundreds of spiky legs. Even when not seeing them, she was horrified at the thought of hundreds of disgusting critters freely roaming her body. In fact, it was made worse by not seeing them. "Stay calm... You must stay calm otherwise this situation will go from bad to life-threatening," she whispered internally in the hopes of reassuring herself. Considering what type of insects could live here, this situation may already be quite dangerous.

At long last, the unknown beasts arrived at the intersection. The first of them stepped right in front of Phoebe's face, only a few centimeters away. She could see all the details of the creature's paw; its three sharp, bloody claws, belonging to scaly, gray toes. Its rugged surface was covered in fresh blood and differed completely from the mysterious reptile she encountered earlier. These were predators, and clearly didn't belong to the same species; they walked on two legs, unlike the reptile. Another threat added to the list.

She didn't examine the paw very long, as the creature was only passing through. Members of the pack were making an ear-piercing sound, a mix between a caw and a bray. This cacophony had replaced the almost soothing sounds of critters; there really wasn't an accurate way of describing this abomination. One of the beasts jumped on another, making them both fall on the ferns. From the roars and biting sounds they made, the girl couldn't tell if they were playing or fighting. "The more distracted they are, the less likely they are to notice me," she thought. Some of the creatures had a black, stripped pattern on their legs, while others didn't. Maybe was it a sex-specific characteristic?

When the final beast had passed and the pack finally went through the airlock, Phoebe stopped holding her breath. She hurriedly left her hiding spot. Instantly after standing up, she violently wiggled her whole body. From a distance, it could be mistaken for a dance. Dozens of insects of all shapes and sizes were flung into the air, but some stayed attached to her skin with their tiny mandibles. Soon the strange dance was accompanied by sounds of pain as she frantically flicked every invader off her body. "Those fuckers made me bleed!" the young woman furiously said. And indeed, most of the bugs who had bitten her did it hard enough to pierce her skin. But at least now, no bugs were crawling on her. She only hoped none had made their way into her hair.

Bloody and appalled by this terrible experience, Phoebe swore she would never hide under the ferns again, whatever the situation was. No matter how irrational this sounded, her mind had been made up. Still shivering from remembering the sensations, she left the room and went exploring the rest of the floor.

Unluckily, the first place she went led nowhere. Inside a small, insignificant room, she turned on her heels and walked away. However, hardly visible, hidden between the ferns, she spotted a tunnel, dug in one of the walls. This meant there could be more. She examined the room again and found additional ones. They weren't large enough to stand inside, but thanks to her petite figure she could easily crawl on all fours inside of it.

With caution, she creeped inside the one in front of her. Not far, obviously. The black slime had taken the shape of the walls, even the deep, circular dig marks, probably left by the creature who made it. "Rather suspicious that it doesn't live inside..." But as this thought crossed her mind, a disk-shaped mouth filled with rows of sharp little teeth appeared from one of the tunnel's many passageways. Taken aback by this sudden and monstrous sight, Phoebe loudly gasped and messily turned around, restricted by the narrow tunnel. Constantly screaming and swearing internally, the blonde girl got out without a second to spare. Back in the room, she looked back at the tunnel's entrance, only to see the massive worm's head sticking out as it tried to follow her.

Not wanting to face the wrath of this hideous creature, the young woman ran as fast as she could towards the intersection. "I should have seen this coming..." she thought while catching her breath. Well, now she had only one way to go. Under the bougainvillea sky, she continued her exploration of the area. Room after room, she started to think nothing of value had survived here. The vegetation had covered every centimeter of space available; she couldn't even tell what each room's function was. If not for the paths, she wouldn't have even gone there.

After many uneventful room explorations, she stepped inside what she could only call a slaughterhouse. Dozens of half-eaten animal bodies, all belonging to the same species. It was hard to tell, but judging from their overall shape and feathers, they looked like birds. Huge birds, though. Seemed to be close to her size, even in length. However, these looked more like flightless birds, akin to ostriches or emus. Or maybe dodos, which would make sense, considering the fauna of this place. In the end, what they were didn't matter. "No odor, the bodies are still warm..." From these hints Phoebe deduced they must have been killed recently, maybe even by the beasts she hid from earlier. "Good thing I crawled under the ferns," the girl thought, thankful for having followed her instinct.

Small rodents and insects had already invaded the carcasses and started eating the leftover meat and organs. This visceral sight made her feel unwell, on the brink of passing out. She had seen her fair share of roadkill and other dead animals while hiking, but seeing so many viciously mutilated corpses in the same room... Her face became pale as she turned around and walked towards the exit. Let's hope she doesn't cross paths with that pack again, or else... She'd rather get raped by an octopus once more than be the dinner of those creatures.

Feeling lightheaded and on the verge of fainting, nothing could have prepared her for what she was faced with next. A nightmarish insect, larger than her head. It hovered right in front of her face, almost touching her nose. Its chitinous, rugged black body and legs, covered in innumerable hairs. Its awful whirring noise made her hair stand as she forgot how to think. It looked straight into her soul with its compound eyes, so big she could see her reflection in each of its cells. Her forehead was soaked in sweat. It felt like an eternity before the bug finally flew over her and landed on a carcass. It wasn't interested in her presence? No way to know. She couldn't be more relieved learning it wouldn't attack her. At least for now. Phoebe took a deep, long breath.

Still weak and trembling, she continued farther into uncharted territory. Unfortunately, her exploration soon came to an end when she found holes eerily similar to the worm's. This time though, a low droning was coming from each of them. She didn't need to spend more time here to know what was inside. But as she began walking back, the droning became louder and louder, eventually filling the whole room. Suddenly, dozens of flying insects came bursting out of the holes. They surrounded her before she could start running away. Her screams of panic couldn't be heard through the deafening buzzing. No one was here to help her anyway.

The terrified girl felt like she was about to die. In her mind, they would start shredding her to pieces any minute now. On the ground in fetal position, screaming and crying uncontrollably, protecting her head with her arms, she awaited death. But the reaper never came. The whir got quieter as it moved away from her. She carefully reopened her eyes, not knowing what to expect. Not a bug in sight. Panting, Phoebe slowly got up. Her thoughts were a mess; she couldn't think coherently with how terror-struck she was. Her knees felt weak, and her legs were shaking like never before. All her body was, in fact. A sudden noise behind her startled her enough for the adrenaline to kick in. In an instant the blonde girl took her heels and sprinted in the opposite direction.

Phoebe didn't have the time to regain her composure. She ran as far and fast as she could. Back at the first intersection, she was still not thinking straight. She dashed to the staircase, but something stood between her and it, blocking the entrance. A live member of the flightless bird species? It suddenly jolted back as it saw Phoebe frantically run towards it. Suffice to say, no matter how harmless this large bird was, its sudden reaction and movements convinced her to not force her way through. She fled back into the first room she explored, where her irrational thoughts made her run through the airlock. Only a few seconds after did she realize where she was. She stopped to look around her. "This can't be real..."