//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Fear 
// Story: The Lost 
// by Immortan Joe 
//------------------------------//

I cried loudly as my back slammed into the hard, matted ground beneath me, my body luckily only landing centimeters away from a jagged tree root jutting from the ground. I breathed heavily into the ground, kicking up the various dirt and grime around my face as pain flared throughout my entire body. It felt as if hot needles were pricking me from all angles, driving beneath my skin and scratching at my very bones.

I cursed and moaned as I planted my palm into the black dirt and pushed myself up into the very snout of a wooden canine monster. I stared into the sap green eyes on the best before me, the fantasy creatures snorting fresh air into my face. My body froze, bladder clenching heavily as fear petrified my very being, I could feel a cold sweat forming on my brow and I dared not move a muscle.

Behind the creature in my face I could see movement as two more wooden monsters began to pace around me. If these things were like wolves back home in Michigan, they were preparing for an attack, or maybe a duel. I had no clue, but what I did know was, pardon my French, I was morally fucked.

I survived a plane crash, parachuted ten thousand feet, and was now about to be eaten alive by planks of walking wood. Fucking great.

Admittedly, I began to weep. Slowly closing my eyes, tears began to flow as I slumped down and began to cry, the wolf like creature snarling as I quietly begged and prayed as the creature knelt down and sniffed at my carbon dioxide I released between sobs of fear. My body slowly losing control as I begged for any god to spare me and feared even more that I was going to soil myself like a coward. Ah fuck it, I was being a total coward as it was.

Yet as I lay there wallowing in pathetic despair, my predators surrounding my repulsive existence. A beastial roar bellowed not too far off in the distance; like something out of a Godzilla film howling aggressively over the treetops, shook me to my very core and cried loudly as even my soon to be killers whined loudly and fled.

As the distant howling faded and my flesh eaters now gone. I whimpered and lifted my head and was filled with relief as it seemed my pathetic begging had spared me my life. Yet I knew deep down that would not work next time. Though I wouldn’t take this moment for granted, not wasting any time, I whined and groaned as my aching body pushed itself to its feet and I glanced around my wooded surroundings.

I was in a small clearing, around me was thick underbrush and an uncountable amount of massive tree trunks spanning meters in width and diameter. Past the brush, the forest around me was nearly pitch black despite it being mid morning. Hopefully, if anything here was similar to Earth, than that met the sun rose in the east and would presumably set in the west. Or so I hoped. If not, I’m more screwed than I thought.

So I proceeded on foot in the direction away from the massive beast I could hear howling in the distance. From what I guessed, I thought I was heading south, because water, from what I read, normally traveled downward and the key to surviving was water. The pack I had came with my camera, had also had a canteen and if rationed correctly, I could maybe make it last a good while. Maybe even the day or so. Yet knowing me, it would maybe last a couple hours.

As I walked through the humid forest underbrush, I was halted when I heard the sound of small arm gunfire. Rapid shots in quick succession followed by another beastial roar which shook my very core alerted me to nearby survivors. I  had only been walking for roughly thirty minutes and at about a good five mile per hour walk. Though that wasn’t taking into account the amount of underbrush I had to clear. From what I could tell the shots and howls were coming from the east, maybe even south east.

The gun shots sounded like M16s and the monster I heard sounded awfully familiar to that Godzilla bastard who unintentionally saved my hide. I sat and waited, listening to the shots and I could distinctly make out the possible that there were two defenders, at least...I hoped these bastards were defending themselves. Though I hadn’t seen it, whatever was making those horrific screams sounded like nothing I wanted to take on. Then again, I wasn’t a U.S. paratrooper. Some of these bastards were crazy.

The monster howled again and I gritted my teeth. I wouldn’t be much help to any soldier, I had no weapon, yet...I couldn’t survive out here alone. Facing my fear of death, I bit my lip and pushed off the tree and began to rush towards the direction of combat. If I’d die, I’d rather die around another human being.

___

It was massive and fucking hideous.

Whatever the heck it was it stood at nearly half the size of the forest’s trees, maybe fifteen meters with three snake like heads. Its jaws filled with angler like teeth and it walked on two massive legs with two tails which thrashed about which bashed into trees and ripped up nearby underbrush. Each head howled madly as the sound of small arms fire sounded off and miniscule bullets tore into its scaley form, shredding its natural armor yet only enough to sting its flesh.

I ducked into the bushes as the monster howed in anger and I could hear the soldiers shout in surprise as one of its massive tails crashed into the nearby tree line. I heard one man scream in horror as a massive evergreen came smashing into the ground and the other yelling for him to run. With horrified curiosity I poked my head out from the bush and saw two desert camouflage paratroopers bolting from the tree line and sprinting over a nearby stream. To my left, about ten meters away, was the massive hydra like monster that howled once more upon seeing the men, which I then nearly shat myself, as it suddenly began to drag itself towards them at ludicrous speed!

The two paratroopers cried out in fear as they glanced over their shoulders and saw the beast charging them, raising their weapons they pathetically fired and ran. Yet that action would cost them greatly as the trooper on the left slipped on a wet rock in the stream and twisted his ankle! Screaming out loud, the man toppled over, his gun trapped beneath his own body weight, the man shifted over and tried to raise his weapon.

Now I don’t know if I was stupid, or brave, or even both. Hell it could have been anything, maybe I was suicidal or something. Or maybe I just didn’t want to see that poor bastard out in the stream being eaten alive. Yet what I did was maybe the stupidest idea anyone or anything could have ever had. This King Kong sized mother F’er was about to eat a man and I had no weapons, not even a stick or a rock. No. However, what I did have was my Canon camera, with a very, very bright flash on it.

What my idea, if you could call it one. Was that I was going to sprint as fast as I could towards the monster, which was only about a dozen meters ahead, its side facing me, and take the best profile picture I could of its ugly fricken face. I didn’t put any thought into it, no variables had been accounted for, threats or even longistics. None of that bullshit. Fuck I didn’t even think of how the thing would react, or even the soldiers for that matter.

What I thought was simple.

Fuck it.

I snatched my camera from its protective bag and immediately dove from the underbrush, my clothes snagging and tearing on the thorns and branches. Yet the adrenaline pumping through me didn’t care, and I sprinted for that massive lizard friggin thing. Waving my arms and screaming like a freaking banshee, I nearly pissed myself when its furthest right nasty looking face turned to look at me. Stupid enough, I even slowed as the monster itself began to lose speed and stop before the man on the ground.

I bit my lip and shouted at the stupid thing. “Hey, Lizzy!” Its right head cocked slightly as I raised the camera, its flash on its highest setting. “Smile!” I snapped the picture and the white light of my camera flashed brightly in the dim forest. The hydra head yelped and jerked back, its whole body shifting to one side, buying the one healthy trooper to pull his buddy with the sprained ankle to his feet.

And at that one moment I learned something. Something that everyone in their life has may be experienced at least one time, y’know. Like the moment after you had finished looking something up online on your computer and you decide to let your buddy search something up and he or she types the letter “P” into the computer and all that browser history appears? Oh c’mon, it's that kinda feeling.

What I realized was that I just fucked up.

Like royally fucked up. FUBAR.

Yeah I may have just helped those soldiers, but what I didn’t take into consideration was that I had just pissed off a multiton, three headed, fantastical abomination. I realized this when all three of its head and all six of its eyes trained right on me. That’s when I wet myself and began to run faster than I ever had since my high school track career.

Its roars would haunt my nightmares till the day I died.