Chapter 6 - Law of the Jungle

They began to leave one group at a time, with a ten-minute gap between each departure to allow for escape if the group ahead encountered something. Matthew was, unfortunately, placed in the first group. Parker had originally been in it as well, but he was moved to the third, along with Asha, to form their best team—strong load bearers and an actual trained cartographer, Asha, as their navigator.

The first group was meant to be the quickest. They didn't carry bottles or plates, leaving their paper, compasses, rulers, and other tools for map-making and marker-setting with the fifth group. However, they were armed. Some had hammers from their work in carpentry, others carried wrenches and pliers from Parker, and someone had a pipe wrench, a crowbar, and flashlights.

The other groups carried lighters and makeshift Molotovs—ethanol in glass Coke bottles. Some wore hard hats and steel-toed boots. Asha had a pair of wire cutters she would use to set and mark traps for an escape.

Matthew wasn't too familiar with his group members—except for Kirk. His hair was short and brown, and his small, jumpy eyes darted around, watching everything. The mapmaker was named Joey. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a perpetually gloomy vibe.

The load bearers were two guys Matthew hadn't bothered to learn much about.

They moved cautiously through the tunnel. It was massive—at least twenty feet high—with limestone walls and bright moss illuminating their path. The jagged ground made for dangerous footing. Matthew made mental notes on smoother escape routes if the giant ant appeared. Loose stones and pebbles littered the path, and he noticed deep imprints in the ground and lower walls—jagged strikes, possibly from mandibles.

Flowstone streaked the walls and ground.

Matthew caught Kirk as he slipped on some.

Kirk glared at the glossy, ice-like rock. "What is that?"

"Flowstone," Matthew replied. "Usually a sign that water passed through here."

"Close by?" Joey, the Navigator, asked.

"Not wet, but it shouldn't be far."

They continued in silence. One of the load bearers kept turning back, scratching his forearm. Kirk barely held himself together, jolting at every sudden noise. Matthew could barely hide his own fear—he fiddled with the strap of his bag, keeping his eyes constantly moving.

A sharp cracking sound echoed from ahead.

The jittery load bearer fell backward, shaking. Joey, who was also trembling, yanked him up, snarling, "Get a grip."

They held still for a few moments before the second, much calmer load bearer said, "Let's move. We can't let the second group catch up to us here."

Joey and Kirk nodded, pushing forward. Matthew patted the shaky load bearer on the back and nudged him along. It felt like a slow march toward inevitable death, something lurking just around the corner, waiting.

When they rounded the bend, they entered a massive clearing with an even higher ceiling. Signs of battle littered the area—jagged cuts on the ground, cracks in the walls from titanic blows, and patches of blue substance mixed with older, darker stains on the floor.

A sickly-sweet, rotting scent lingered in the air.

Matthew observed the scene carefully. Judging by the bloodstains—or what he assumed was blood—there hadn't been a major fight here recently. He studied the footprints in the dust and dried water stains. Three tunnel openings lay ahead—one had signs of water, another had fresh prints from something massive, and the last had almost no signs of activity.

He turned to Joey, direct and to the point. "Let's check out the middle one. There's not much activity there. We can use it as a safe point."

Joey hesitated, but Matthew didn't wait for a response. He strode forward with careful confidence.

The more composed load bearer caught up and grabbed his shoulder. "Slow the fuck down. We need to be careful."

Matthew didn't argue but continued toward the middle tunnel. They climbed over steep inclines and uneven ground, squeezing through cracks large enough to fit their bodies. The destruction around them hinted at monstrous creatures that had torn through the cavern all the while they planted Markers for the other groups.

They performed a controlled slide down a slope and finally reached the entrance. Before entering they went around again marking possible escape routes along the way and finding the best path too or from the safe point, they pressed into the cave. Unlike the others, this one was completely dark—no moss. Kirk flicked on their one flashlight.

Kirk stayed behind, raising the light to illuminate their path.

Then they saw it—a nearly human-sized hole in the rock.

Matthew grimaced. "This isn't natural."

The group exchanged wary glances before Joey picked up a rock and signaled to the confident load bearer. The latter took Blue Trick from Kirk—the sword was given to the first group, for now. He stepped onto more stable ground, bracing himself.

Joey threw the rock hard into the hole, then stepped back, gripping his pipe wrench.

It was silent for a short time.

Then, shuffling. Everyone tensed, breath hitching. Seconds stretched into eternity.

A clicking sound filled the dark silent cave. Finally, something emerged.

It was huge and caterpillar-like, had a brown outer shell with mottled green splotches. Its segmented, armor-like carapace resembled stone, and numerous soft-looking legs lined its underside.

It was sluggish, sniffing for whatever had thrown the rock. Roughly the size of a huge dog, but still unnatural and repulsive. The confident load bearer clenched his jaw, holding his breath.

Matthew whispered, "Between the gaps in the plate—"

The creature's neck plates suddenly clicked. It turned toward his voice.

It passed the load bearer carrying Blue Trick, its strange plates shifting with each move, producing unsettling clacking sounds.

Kirk's flashlight trembled in his grip making the light shake and quiver on the crawling monster. His hoarse breathing was the only sound in the cave, apart from the creature's eerie movements.

The load bearer raised Blue Trick, ready to strike—but his hands were shaking.

Then the creature stopped near Matthew and rose.

Its face was a spiral of teeth in a ragged maw. A deep horrible sound coming from its throat

Dirt and blue blood stained its underbelly, revealing deep, horrible cuts in the soft pink flesh. Rows upon rows of needle-like teeth surrounded a hollow center—designed to draw and drink blood.

Matthew's heart hammered in his chest. A suffocating wave of terror crashed over him, stealing the strength from his limbs, the creature's warm and disgusting breath washed over him.

His mind went blank.

It had happened once before—the day of the crash. The day his father died.

He bit his lip hard, forcing himself to move. He took slow, deliberate steps, circling the beast without making a sound. His limbs felt like lead, it felt like a heavy stone was in his chest.

The creature scanned the space where it had detected his voice. The plates on its neck shifted, the blood-chilling clicking began again.

Matthew turned to the still-hesitant load bearer, his expression urgent.

The man's red-rimmed eyes flickered with panic, his pupils trembling. Then, suddenly, his gaze hardened.

He drove the sword into the creature's back.

The beast let out a horrifying screech. A sharp, high-pitched resonance tore through their ears—Matthew clenched his jaw as his vision blurred and his ears felt like pins were being driven into them.

The sword pierced clean through, emerging from the creature's underside—a feat of incredible strength that shocked everyone, including the one who had wielded it.

The Loadbearer stumbled back, panting.

Matthew yanked him away, his head throbbing from the pain, as the creature writhed in agony.

The creature threw itself into the air and attempted to roll into a protective ball, slamming into the wall with such force that Matthew felt it in his bones. So heavy! If I was still there, it would have crushed me into a bloody pulp. There wouldn't even be a chance to retaliate.

The sword driven through its back prevented it from fully forming a ball and rolling around to crush them. Instead, it forced the creature to fall on its side, struggling to get up. It wiggled its soft, pink, bulbous arms and cried out in such a loud voice that Matthew could feel his head shaking. But he knew this wasn't enough to kill it.

He ran forward, ignoring Kirk's shout, and got behind it, grabbing the sword. He pushed it forward along the gap in its armor plates, twisting the hilt counterclockwise. The creature let out another outraged scream before throwing itself back off the ground with defiant strength. Matthew dived and rolled away just in time as the creature launched itself toward him again, crashing into the ground with enough force to send bits of stone flying.

Pebbles peppered his back, sharp pain stinging every inch of exposed skin. He clenched his teeth, holding back a cry before slowly putting distance between himself and the creature. With the wound had widened, and the sword's position preventing it from curling up, they were a lot safer.

Blue blood poured from its body in large spurts. Its cries grew more frantic as it desperately tried to roll up, only to feel more pain and lose more blood. It slammed itself against the wall and ground in a futile attempt to find its attacker. But it was too slow, too weak.

The group stood at a safe distance, breathing raggedly, drenched in sweat. Eventually, the creature began to slow down, its cries turning weak. It moved sluggishly, an obscene amount of blue blood pooling in a crevice beside it. It twitched a couple times… then finally, it was still. The moving plates on its neck became slack. Dead.

The load bearer who had stabbed it sucked in a loud, strong breath before letting out a triumphant cry and pumping his fist into the air. Kirk let out a whoop, slapping him on the back, while Joey collapsed to the ground, curling up with his face buried in his lap.

They heard footsteps. Everyone was tense.

A hesitant voice called out, "Hey?"

Kirk smiled weakly before announcing, "We're here. Still alive."

The second group emerged, taking in the scene—the load bearer struggling to retrieve the sword from the creature's body, Kirk grinning like an idiot, Joey and the other load bearer sitting on the ground looking like they'd aged ten years, and Matthew, covered in dust, nodding solemnly in greeting.

The second group's navigator grinned, stumped by what he was seeing. "Y'all are fucking insane."

Not long after, the other groups arrived. The fourth and fifth had come together, having spotted the giant ant and deciding to stop.

Parker patted Matthew on the back and muttered, "Don't ever try anything like that again."

Asha gave him a backhanded remark. "You didn't hear the 'don't try to be a hero' bit, huh?"

Matthew gave a crooked smile. "Had to be done. It was too loud. Might've called worse things over."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure." she could see it—Matthew was happy. This was something he couldn't hide well.

My body's still buzzing, like those teeth are right in front of me. I feel… alive? Happy? I can't say. But I don't regret that. Sorry, Asha.

They entered the smaller cave where the creature had emerged. It was a dead end—strangely conical and smooth in shape. The ground was littered with bones and a soft mound of sand, likely where the creature had been sleeping. Seeing sand here was bewildering, but it seemed like different environments existed within this underground world.

Why was it here? Recovering from injuries, maybe?

The group began sharing tools, bags, bottles, and weapons. The fourth and fifth groups described the giant ant, noting that it also used its neck plates to detect sound. It had traveled from the path with signs of water to the one that seemed to have more activity.

Parker nodded and made a decision. "Groups three and four will follow it—see what's there and if there's any prey we can hunt ourselves. The first and second will go get water. The fifth stays here and skins and harvests the beast. I'll take Blue Trick, and we'll try to record what we learned. We'll need more paper."

The First group load bearer, who had stabbed the creature, asked "shouldn't we be the one dealing with the more dangerous path, you know…" Joey and the other load bearer gave him a venomous glare

Parker chuckling "have a rest, if we need you we'll definitely call you there in a hour"

Asha nodded. "Messengers meet back here in an hour. In case we need to hide or retreat, we all shouldn't get caught entering here."

Everyone nodded and began to move.

As Parker left, he hit Matthew on the shoulder, giving him a look that said be careful.

But Matthew had been poisoned by what had happened here. He was still afraid, but there was something else hiding in his heart.

Excitement.