Hostile - Part 1

Rana quickly got up on his feet and scanned his surroundings. The bushes continued to rustle. He took hold of a wooden torch that he had placed beside the tent to get a clearer view and he thought he could wave the torch around as defense if it was an animal. The noise of the rustling got louder and whatever it was, it was approaching them fast. Rana suddenly dropped the torch and picked up his rifle and shouted out.

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"RUDRAA !! WAKE UP !! WE GOT PROBLEMS !!"

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Rudra got up in an instant, grabbing his handgun which he had kept close by. He jumped out of the tent and looked at his superior. Rana's finger was on the trigger already and he was ready to shoot at anything that moved. He was visibly in a state of panic and at the same time trying to calm himself down.

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"PUT SOME DISTANCE BETWEEN US !! THESE FOOTSTEPS, IT IS A TIGER !", Rana instructed.

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Rana and Rudra made very quick steps creating distance between them. The tiger is a single enemy, it will be unwise to stick together now. One of them will definitely be attacked. All of this was happening in a tiny fraction of time. Upon noticing the threat, Rana was able to judge it, prepare himself, and his subordinate, and came up with a plan to deal with the perilous situation in mere seconds.

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"ARROOOOOAAAARRRR !!!!"

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The animal had made itself visible. A tiger has jumped into their view with a loud roar. And there was someone riding on it. The tiger started to pounce on Rudra.

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"BANGGG !!"

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Rana's rifle went off. Instantly, the man riding the tiger flew off from the top of the tiger. The bullet had pierced the shoulder of the man and blood was dripping all around him. The man looked like someone from horror stories. Standing 6 feet tall, his hair covered his face and reached below his waist. In pain, he roared like an animal. The tiger has stopped in its tracks seeing its master on the floor. Under the dim light, Rudra saw the man's face and body covered in scars. He could not understand if it was a human or an animal. But being able to command a dominant wild animal, definitely was not something normal. Whatever that was in front of them was a danger to them. They both felt it on their bones.

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The injured assailant stood up and pointed his fist toward Rana. They felt the ground tremble from underneath. The tall trees swayed and their leaves chattered. They picked up a looming noise that was approaching them from the top. Seemingly understanding the source of the noise, Rana immediately dropped his gun and picked up the still-lit wooden torch. Holding on to the torch, Rana extended himself towards his rucksack which was also lying nearby. Seeing Rana's quick movements, the assailant roared again, commanding the Tiger to launch an attack. But by then Rana was back on his foot. The Tiger had lunged itself toward Rana.

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From a distance, Rudra saw a swarm of hornets flying towards Rana at incredible speed. The assailant was commanding a swarm of hornets and a tiger. Rudra was stunned for a moment. He came back to his senses as he watched the assailant turn back, looking at him. Rudra fired off his handgun. One of the bullets grazed the left ear of the assailant and another one which headed right towards his head was suddenly blocked by a bat. Rudra continued to fire until he emptied the clip. None of them had managed to cause any further damage. A dozen bats had suddenly appeared in front of him and covered him from the bullets, like armor.

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Rana, holding his life in hand, threw what he had picked up from the rucksack towards the tiger. The sound of glass breaking was heard. The tiger lost its footing as blood sprayed out of its eyes and its head was engulfed in flames. The tiger writhed in pain and agony. But he was not done yet. He picked up a bottle from his rucksack as he saw the swarm approaching.

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In an instant, a huge part of the swarm got incinerated. And more of them were getting burnt to crisps. A number of trees were lit on fire, smoke began to rise up around Rana. His hands were burned and he was stung a number of times. With fatigue building up, Rana pulled out his Kukri Knife which was hanging on his waist. He leaped towards the blinded tiger which was still on the ground and forced his knife down its neck, killing it.

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Upon hearing the looming voice, Rana immediately understood what was coming. Upon getting engaged by two incredible threats, Rana immediately thought of a defense that he could use. It was Fire. It could even cause a huge forest fire and turn into a disaster. But this was the only way he could cheat death. He had dropped the gun to pick up the torch. He reached towards his rucksack to pick up something that he never thought he would use as a weapon. It was a small petrol lamp. Rana lit the lamp using the wooden torch before throwing it. It had smashed onto the tiger's face. The glass pierced its eyes and the petrol exploded like a bomb incapacitating the tiger.

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For the next enemy, he picked up a bottle of petrol that he had kept to fill up the lamp. He took a mouthful of petrol and sprayed it out over the torch he was holding. The swarm which approached head-on had no chance. As the swarm got separated. Rana began to continue his fire breathing in random directions while setting some trees on fire. It had created a smokescreen. The swarm dissolved as it had lost its target. Rana had dealt with both targets. He retched out some petrol that he had filled his mouth with while limping towards where Rudra was.