Into the forest again

Everything went well after agreeing to Mr Johnson's request.

Mr Johnson was thrilled to send the unsuspecting Alan into the mouth of a man-eating beast. So, he quickly did the paper works. Specifying that Alan can't go outside of the compound until the investigation by the research team is done. He was also compelled to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

With all done and taken care of Alan was ready to report to duty with the researcher's team.

Alan knew that this will not be an easy mission. So, he was preoccupied with collecting information. He wanted to know everything about the forest.

Besides, how can one make informed decisions without any information?

According to the info he got. The death of the guard was not a simple incident. The corpse was mutilated beyond recognition. His legs had many cuts that seem to have been made from a very sharp claw. There was also the head which showed bite marks on the face and neck. And the cause of death was severe blood loss.

Everything pointed to a large animal with claws and teeth.

But, he was sure that no animal like that was seen near this part of the forest.

Nothing in this part of the forest could take down a grown man, but it still happened. The only animal that he could remotely relate to the shown attack pattern is a bear. But there were no wild bears in this area of the forest. So, it might be a mutated animal.

But how could he be sure of that? Alan was not an animal expert nor was he a detective. The only thing he can do was to try and find data that correlate with the incident. Even though the internet is almighty, it still had its limitation. So, he could only get a few useful bits of information from it.

So he prepared the necessary tools and packed them for the expedition.

***

Next day morning.

Alan was ready, waiting for the others to come in front of the forest entrance.

Rather than what he expected, the one who came first was not the Manager and the research team. The one who came after Alan was Uncle Ben. He walked confidently towards Alan with firm steps.

Although Uncle Ben is almost fifty this year. He has a firm and muscular body. He was not a protein gobbling giant, nor was he someone that regularly visited the gym to gain muscle. His muscles were forged by the hard work he put in all his life. Many were envious of him for that exact reason.

Today seeing uncle Ben with a bag near the forest, Alan was perplexed. He was happy to see a familiar face. But why was he here? Shouldn't he be working on the poultry farm?

In the early days of Alan's work on the fields. The only one who helped him willingly was uncle Ben. So, Uncle Ben actually is like an uncle to him. Someone that he cared about.

Most of the time, Uncle Ben was very dependable. He was like a shade in the scorching sun that gave brief relief to Alan when needed.

On other days, uncle Ben would pour his heart out in front of Alan. So, Alan knew much about the family situation of uncle Ben.

Although uncle Ben looked calm and composed on the surface. He too was a bearer of great responsibilities.

Working day and night for his family was all that he did. Just like everyone else, uncle Ben was also a human with hopes and dreams. And his ultimate goal was to make enough money for his daughter's eye surgery.

To let her see the world once more like any other normal kid and to let her enjoy her life. He would always say how cute his daughter was and how he could not help her even after saving up money for years.

Last year, Uncle Ben had surgery to remove a tumour on his intestine. It cost him half the savings that he had accumulated for his daughter's eye surgery. It was one of his biggest regrets.

Knowing all those things about uncle Ben, Alan was more attached to him. He even wanted to help, but he too was powerless.

At first, seeing uncle Ben may have startled Alan. But he knew why. So, everything he wanted to say to prevent uncle Ben from taking the risk just got stuck in his throat.

Besides, with his experience as a hunter, he was more than qualified to take the job. And he had a more pressing need for money.

Alan waited with uncle Ben near the forest entrance while making small talks with him.

Soon four specially fitted off-road SUV's came blazing to a stop just before the duo. There was not much talking. Asking them to get it, they moved towards the forest quickly.

***

It took Alan two hours to walk to the hilltop when he came the other night. But it only took the vehicles, forty minutes to reach there even when they had to go through a longer more convoluted path.

The researchers camped just outside the hill of wilted trees. Ironically, the sole reason for the wilted tree came along with them to find answers to these mysterious phenomenons.

The researchers only numbered around six, the other ten was the bodyguards that came with the researchers. Including Alan and uncle Ben, there were eighteen people in total.

In the group of researchers, some were young and some were old. The extremely noticeable one among them was a young woman in her twenties and an old senior with an air of mystery around him.

The young woman with beautiful long black hair tied in a ponytail was wearing a sombre look. She was aloof from the rest. The other two young men in the group fawned over the woman, but they were mercilessly ignored by her.

Although Alan took a few glances at the women. He knew that the woman was way out of his league. So, without any change in his expression, he continued his work.

The remaining two were two middle-aged men. They were already busy with their work, setting up the different machines and collecting samples.

The bodyguards were also busy setting up camp and watching the perimeter for anything unusual. They were doing things like professional with no lag in their movement. They kept to themselves and began looking around.

While all these were happening Alan and uncle Ben set up their camp. They even graciously helped others with setting up camp and transporting heavy objects.

After everything was done, they waited for further instructions.