Path of Ranger: Volume 1

by RJ

  A bit later JB saw some animals and insects that had their own luminosity like plants, not as bright, maybe, but still noticeable. Most of them had light dots or stripes. Their eyes were glowing in the dark, the retinas had their unique pearly shade with a silver shine in it. Most of those creatures looked structurally similar; they had large rib cages, thick necks, big eyes, and nostrils. Also, they had long tails with a bare bone at the end. It seemed like a good instrument for defense and balancing while climbing. Overall most of the creatures looked like cat-lizard hybrids or something.

  The further JB ran, the more interested he was getting into studying those details. It was obvious that to live in such darkness, the animals had to have adjusted eyes, but they seemed to have special hearing as well. The ears were small on those hybrids. Mostly there was just a short outer part around the pinna, not bigger than a half inch or so. Those were predators.

  Herbivores, on the other hand, had excellent hearing. Their ears were enormous, the skin was thick and the legs – strong. They could hear JB from long distance, he thought so, since he barely could catch a glance at them before they ran off. The mutant had seen a lot of different creatures on his run. Yet, not a single one of them tried to attack him. It felt good being around all that life.

  Only when the halfway mark of the trip stayed behind did the doubts start to show up. It happened after Bridgers got hooked over a twig with his blindfold. It reminded him that his eyes were tightened during all that time. For a moment, JB realized that there might not be any self-illuminated forest at all. It was his own inner representation boosted up by a substantial dose of the drug that Gibson called LSD. The big guy took off the blindfold to open his eyes. The pepper spray still hurt. What he saw there confused him even more. He did stand around the glowing jungle, and everything was exactly as he imagined it.

  JB got confused altogether. He had no idea how he could see all that without actual vision. In case of blindly moving around the research center, the rooms were represented as made-up models in his mind, more intuitive, but certainly not visual. That moment the mutant realized what a dilemma was in front of him. Either his mutation kept developing and his inner vision got so precise that it duplicated the real one or Gibson’s drug was more powerful than he could imagine. Neither of those options was to his liking. But there was no time for philosophy, he had to keep running. JB put the blindfold back on and went back in motion.

  Being charmed by the surroundings the hunter rushed through the thicket. He didn’t need a bamboo stick to clean up the path anymore. He learned how to run without hurting the forest. JB acted very confidently, he avoided the twigs, skipped over shrubs, and did many sophisticated moves to pass the obstacles and not lose his speed. In some of the areas he had to go close to the canopy, above the ground. He didn’t like intruding there, but using hanging vines and tightened branches was a good way to move fast. The mutant wasn’t afraid to fall anymore. His skin, muscles, and bones were so strong that going from up to down and vice versa was a game to him. His intuitive vision became a scanner that searched for the most efficient path to follow.

  His perception changed. He felt every living thing around him. Every animal, every plant, their pain, intentions, living energy. Everything mixed together into one global force, where each being was a part of it. And JB was a part of it. He passed a pack of wolf-like beasts. Those predators were fierce and deadly, the mutant felt it, but he knew that they wouldn’t attack him. He was one of them, men couldn’t understand that. It was an animal thing.

  Along with that new harmony with nature, the mutant felt something else – an alertness. Local flora was balanced perfectly. But there was something disturbing that balance. As a black ink stain on a white piece of paper. It polluted that small world, a pure madness. The monsters. They were artificial, made by men. They didn’t have that unique connection to the rainforest, which the rest of the beings there had. They were aliens there, evil and destructive.

  Each following minute made JB feel better, his body had adjusted. The air wasn’t that thick anymore, and the heat stopped being a problem. He became a part of that small world. He wished the whole world would be like that jungle.

  A half hour afterwards JB almost reached his destination. He could feel a fresh ocean breeze there already. The closer the end of the jungle was, the more it changed. The trees were shorter there and there was a lot less light. No illumination coming from the plants, which were just a few miles back. It felt like an entirely different place, no more of that powerful life force.

  The other survivors’ camp was just a couple miles away. JB climbed the highest tree in the area to look around. He removed the blindfold. It was dark in there. Everything got dim and lost its coloration, yet he still could define the objects with his enhanced vision. The forest looked as usual, so once again JB couldn’t tell if this land was just different or the drug had lost its power.

  The mutant kept looking straight forward, in the camp’s direction. He was ready to jump from the branch and to go on running. When, suddenly, something hit a tree that he sat on. It climbed the trunk from below.

  Looking carefully JB noticed a movement on the lower branches. It was one of the monsters. It had a dark gray coloration, massive limbs, with the long sharp claws instead of fingers. After the first one, he saw another few on the nearby trees and on the ground. They seemed excited, but not because of him. The first instinct of his was to wait for them to pass, then to keep on moving.

  But the presence of those creatures felt more and more precise with the passing of time. In case of the forest, JB sensed something ancient, pure, refreshing. Now it was a scent of monstrosity, danger, and madness. He could see clearly their intentions. They were planning an attack on the camp.

  Keeping that leaned position, JB raised a bit in the knees and released the branch. He took out the knife slowly. The monster was right below him. He could see it. The hunter put the blindfold back on. Then he stepped back, straight into the air. There was no rustle or any kind of sound. Just a silent fall.

  The branch, which held the beast, was halfway toward the ground. JB flew along the trunk, time quickened for him. His right hand made an arcing stab in the air, but right when it reached its peak, the monster’s head was under the blade. It was quiet, a wisp, maybe. Affected by the speed of the fall and the force that was put into the strike, the knife cut straight through the creature's skull.

  Most of JB’s attention, though, was focused on a vine, which hung down from that very branch. Right after killing the beast, the hunter grabbed that vine with his left hand and redirected the fall, arcing back in the air.

  The body of the dead monster hadn’t even touched the ground yet when JB was flying for the next one, which sat on the nearby tree. The massive carcass fell down, making a crunching sound of its breaking neck. It was the first loud enough sound for other monsters to be alerted. The one that JB was aiming at turned its head towards him. But all he could see was a tip of the blade coming to his eye. The mutant put a knife in the skull straight to the handle. He knocked the creature down with his feet, still holding the knife inside. They both fell from the branch. Having that body close was essential to Bridgers, it fulfilled the role of a cushion.

  Other monsters caught up soon. They charged an attack. JB sensed about five of them around. On the first touch to the ground, he rolled forward, taking the knife out in the process. There was one beast coming from the front, two from the sides and two behind him. The killer, still keeping his speed, fiercely ran for his enemy. Being several feet away, the monster leaped forward, planning to hit the man from above. JB’s hand automatically changed the knife grip to set the blade pointing down. Just he had seen that leap’s intention, the hunter changed his trajectory accordingly. He came from the side and jumped in the air too, but turned his back towards the ground. This way JB was able to make a strike with his knife underneath the creature when they got close. The beast had its whole front cut open. It kept flying, then f
ell in speed, rolling over the ground with its insides scattering around. The dead body stopped right at another monster’s feet.

  As for the hunter, he fell pretty hard, but in a matter of moments he was already in a combat position. The grip on the bloody knife tightened. He marched straight at the beasts streaming at him without a second thought. Finally, he had a chance to try out his strength. It was titanic, he felt it. They had no chance against it.

  On the next attempt on him, he bent down dodging the swipe and stabbed an upcoming creature in the neck. Then JB instantly evaded a new hit from another one, and stabbed it under the jaw, upwards. The last swipe went really close, almost cut the mutant’s face.

  There were just two left. They kept behind others, so the hunter had some distance to go before getting to them. He sped up and used a rock in front of him as a ramp to leap up. Taking a hit from above, he hit the next creature in the head, from top to bottom. Avoiding an upcoming hit from the last one right away, JB instinctively stabbed it in the arm, somewhere around the humerus. The beast lost its coordination, then fell down tumbling. Just he was going to strike, JB outstripped him cutting off half of his left arm. The blood was everywhere, it flooded a half of JB’s face and made the knife’s handle slippery. So the mutant grabbed the creature by its neck to strangle it. The monster resisted for a few seconds, but soon he noticeably weakened and exhaled his last breath.

  The adrenaline went pumping. JB knew there was no one else to kill, but his body couldn’t stop. The muscles were tensed, his position still kept that braced manner, and his hand was squeezing the knife. The last kill felt different from the others. It had something to do with the touch. As if the mutant didn’t strangle the beast to death, but more absorbed its life, making him weak. The feeling was new and frustrating, some part of JB was afraid of it.

  After taking a few deep breaths, Bridgers cleaned the blade using the grass and put it away. He looked at the timer: fifty-one minutes passed since he had left the base. There was not much time left. But the worst part was that JB felt even more danger after killing that pack. Others were coming. He had to get to the beach as soon as possible.

  On arrival at the beach, JB didn’t rush to show up. He wanted to watch the camp first. To make sure it was still safe there.

  Something was going on. A fuss of some kind. People gathered in a circle around someone. It looked like that person was hurt. The mutant stayed quiet, he took his time to walk around the camp.

  Shortly after the wounded guy was put into one of the tents, the hunter got closer to where other had gathered. JB froze in listening, he tried to find out what had happened. The man stood in the middle of the crowd, they called him ‘Captain.’ JB recognized him from the flight. Then he saw a few other familiar people, the ones from Kiev.

  Being absolutely still the mutant fully deepened into the situation in the camp. Suddenly, he heard a rustle to the side. He removed the blindfold to look at the spot where the sound had come from. There was nothing. Then he looked higher to see as a monster was climbing on one of the palms. It seemed to be alone. JB wanted to get closer and kill it before others came.

  Dropping the watch, he went around the nearest thicket to that tree. His steps were slow and silent, he scanned the ground carefully to not accidently step on some twig or rock that might reveal him. After most of the path was done, JB took out the knife and got ready to launch. Suddenly, a woman’s shouting came from the camp. The mutant looked there. He had seen her before; it was a stewardess that he had flirted with. She walked away from the others and fell into hysterics. JB heard everything, but he didn’t care about the content. When he turned his head back to the monster, it had already leaped from the tree ahead, right after that woman. JB chased him right away.

  Not losing a second, he ran as hard as he could to intercept the beast. But it was useless, Bridgers knew it. Those creatures were fast, strong and fierce. And a woman like that – a perfect prey. She was already dead.

  ***

  Six hours later after leaving the camp...

  The night had lost its dark shades, the sky was getting brighter and brighter. Most of the people didn’t even notice that. For a long time, they were wading blindly in the water. They had to follow the man, who was a stranger to most of them. JB was in the head of the group, he tried to choose the most reliable path along the bottom surface.

  Since it was dark, and people weren’t able to keep visual track of each other, they took the ropes for tying themselves to it. In such way, each of them could be aware of his neighbor’s position. Whenever the rope was tightened up, it meant that someone lagged behind. The strongest of them, Skyman, Wash, Alex, and Vitaliy, were closing the group. Their mission was to look after everyone else and to pull the raft, with Vladimir inside. All three of the ropes were tied to JB’s belt so he could set up the speed. Tina and El walked right next to him.

  At first the girls tried to get some information out of their leader. Even struggling under water hadn't stopped them from asking questions. They wondered about everything; the monsters, the island, where JB had been all that time… But not a single answer followed. Moreover, since the very first step into the ocean, the mutant didn’t say a single word, not even turning around once to check on the others. Occasionally, when some of the ropes tightened, he pulled it to make them speed up.

  Of course, JB felt for them. It was hard wading there for so long, especially considering how much weaker they were. But it wasn’t the time for being soft, such an ignorance made them afraid. And they needed that fear to survive. The dawn had to come soon. With the first light, it would be much easier. The group might have a chance then to go out of the water and take a rest.

  There were couple times that night when JB had noticed a movement around the coastal line. He wasn’t sure, but it seemed that a few of the beasts were following them. Despite Gibson’s mentions about the monsters not hunting during the daylight, JB had a bad feeling of getting on the land.

  The horror which those people had to go through couldn’t stand in comparison with any other feeling that they had experienced. The fear before the hazard of death became an invisible glue that brought them together once. Things like that don't pass without scars. There’s nothing worse than helplessly watching as a friend dies.

  The first sunlight brought a new hope to the group. The night was behind and all of the terrors had left in those nightmares. There wasn’t that much of distance left, just halfway more to go.

  JB took off the blindfold. He looked back for the first time. There were all thirty-one survivors behind, not a single person lost. The mutant was a bit surprised by such an outcome. He untied the rope to pass it to El. Then he made a gesture with an open hand to tell others to stay. He went out of the water.

  After getting out, JB took a good look at the nearby jungle. Mostly he was interested in the closest thicket. He checked that nothing was hiding there. It seemed clear.

  Soon the mutant picked up a few rocks of average size. He glanced at the shrubs once more, before throwing the rocks. With the first one been launched, JB heard a knock on the tree that came from about fifty yards away. The next ones were thrown the same way, straight through the thicket, but in different directions. Bridgers wanted to check in such way if there were hiding any beasts. Nothing came of the jungle, just a few birds flew away. They were safe.

  Others were allowed to come out now. They felt much better after getting on the dry land. JB looked at the timer: about nine hours left. They had to go just ten more miles along the coast. There was a bit of time for a break.

  All of the passengers had left the water. The guys pulled out the raft. Ellison came closer to check on Vova’s health. He was still unconscious. Just laid there, on the raft, next to a stock of food and fresh water that people had managed to take from the camp. Ellison was surprised how the men carefully transported him, her patient hadn’t got wet much. The doctor tried to wake him up. She gently put a hand on his cheek to rub it with her thum
b. Vladimir mumbled something with his eyes closed. Then Ellison took a bottle of water to pour some on his lips. The student woke up. The doctor lifted his head a bit and tipped the bottle for him to drink.

  The others spread across the area. They were cold, exhausted, and it was hard to breathe. People were tired. The sun stayed hidden behind the clouds. There was no wind either, it was just like everything had stopped. Most of the people laid down to have some rest after a long trip. It was the first time they could appreciate such warm weather.

  Meanwhile, JB had brought from the forest a few logs and firewood for building a campfire. He put the logs together into a cone shape and spread the smaller twigs around them. Next he took a plastic bag from his pocket. Others were watching him carefully. There was a lighter in the bag, which he used right away. The campfire was ready.

  The mutant brought the big rock closer to the fire to sit on it. People watched him, but they still felt it odd to come closer. JB took off his wet t-shirt to squeeze water out of it, then he hung it on a stick not far from the heat source. After that he put the gumshoes and socks there to dry out as well. Seeing him finished, others started to get closer too.

  In just a few minutes most of the group was sitting around the fire, next to the mutant. They couldn’t stop exploring him. Those huge muscles of his covered in ink magnetized the attention. The tattoos were partially cut off with the scars. They recognized in him another victim of one of the monsters.

  When each of the survivors had been checked on, Skyman and Wash sat next to JB. One could tell how tired both of them were. Yet both of leading men tried to cover it by keeping their faces cheered and confident. It was necessary for them to keep the others calm. JB knew that the time would come for questions. So it came.