“Oh god! did we kill people? Does that make us murderers?” JuneBug720 began. She was immediately interrupted by the justifiable retching that circled the car.

  “We can’t… no, this isn’t on us. It wasn’t our fault!” Chodely Whipplespurt added. He had adopted a fully defensive posture and seemed ready to throw fists at the first enforcement official that popped out of the jungle to arrest him. “At worst it’s manslaughter, but even then we could probably plea down.”

  “People died. Are you really that self-centered?” Gary’s voice, though the quietest in the room, cut through all of us. “No one’s responsible for this. Everyone shut up and calm down.”

  No one argued. Morrighan stretched my jumpsuit over the exposed glass to hide the scene for now, and we all sat in that weight for a while. Choked-back tears and the occasional gagging sounds – either from the two squished figures or from the worsening smell in the car – were the only sounds for a while. Even the jungle had been shamed to temporary silence by Gary’s imposing admonishment.

  “We should get cleaned up and rest.” Kade finally insisted again. “We can’t do anything about them now. Maybe try to find some ID or something on our way out if we can get to it so we can notify someone. But we need to get cleaned up and get ready to move out of here. Roane and Chodely, can you help me out?”

  “Umm. Sure. How do you want to do this? Try to lift you out through the door?” I asked.

  “No, you’d only have to help me back in then back out again when we’re ready to leave.” He answered. I saw where he was going. “If you can just take my clothes to the stream and clean them out best you can. Sorry, I know I’ve been a bigger burden than boon to everyone. But I’ll make it up to you.” without waiting for confirmation he started stripping down. He'd managed 80% of it himself and I helped with the rest. He bundled up his heavily soiled underpants and undershirt and used his bottoms to clean himself off as best he could, then wrapped it all up in his sweatshirt.

  “Ok.” I looked at Chodely Whipplespurt. “I guess we go to the stream first and wash, then we take turns from there.” I chucked the filthy clothes up out of the doorway before getting a boost outside and sliding off the car towards the river.

  We’d been roasting in the mag-line car for so long in the shit and filth that I almost forgot what normal air smelled like. Even in the sweltering heat and humidity of the jungle, it was far more comfortable than that claustrophobic confinement. But that comfort last only a second. It was unclear which hit us faster; the bugs or the paranoia.

  I’ve seen loads of pictures of jungles. The Hildrun had its own jungle biome as well, though I’d never visited it. It wasn’t really meant to be explored there, but rather a habitat for Earth species making the journey through the stars with us. But the pictures always looked so comforting. The greens were so rich and full. Even the mist had a green tinge to it. Anywhere the brown of the dirt or a tree showed through it looked whole to me. The browns were just as colorful as the greens of the plant life and the blue in the sky. Jungles always seemed so welcoming, like everything could thrive. Even the mossy stones on the ground looked like velvet cushions. There just wasn’t any harshness to images I had seen.

  The real jungle is a hellscape. The sounds distort everything while enhancing every uneasy feeling a hundred fold. It feels like everything, even the leaves, are looking at you, waiting for you to look away for just a moment so they can slash and sting. Bugs aren’t just trying to bite, but they look for any hole or soft spot to try and burrow in under your flesh and carve out a new home. There’s a heaviness to everything made worse by the constant wetness, most of it somehow coming from your own body. Even the rocks are a trap. Place your foot squarely on a stone but with your weight just slightly off center and you’re in the ground where the non-flying bugs can get you now. And that’s all before you account for the larger animals that see you as an easy meal. It’s awful.

  We didn’t have a choice, but we made sure to get the experience over as quickly as possible. The stream was only a few feet from the car thankfully, and shallow enough to not be any danger. We stripped down, scrubbed up, smacked the shit out of our clothes on the rocks, and raced back to the safety of the capsule taking special care not to look towards our accidental victims.

  Lending our machetes to teams who didn’t have them, everyone got their turn at the stream without incident, much to the relief of everyone’s olfactory senses. The capsule car was still oppressively muggy, and tensions were high of course, but stress adds up. Each of us claimed a spot against the sloping walls as far from my now mostly clean jumpsuit that covered the “scene” and let exhaustion take over.

  I woke along with everyone else a couple hours later to a distinct “psst pssst psssssst” sound. I didn’t know if I could take many more surprises. Even with the rest, I was on edge. JuneBug720 was staring at me wide-eyed across the car desperately trying to get mine or someone’s attention without being too loud. When I met her eyes, she waved frantically for me to scooch over to her side by the little window she’d cleared in the yellow slime.

  Try as I might, I couldn’t see what she was so worked up about. Though to be fair I couldn’t make out much outside the window. I thought maybe night had fallen or the artificial light was casting this side of the car in deep shadow, but soon it became apparent my eyes weren’t working right. Or at least not how I was used to. I squinted hard and rubbed at them, and within a few moments they began to adjust. And not just that, but I could see noticeably better than before. I didn’t have eagle vision or anything, but it was definitely improved. With the sleep draining out of me, I finally realized my levels must have taken hold.

  I stole a quick glance at my stats.

  ROANE MORIZU.....................................................................................ANIMAL CONTROL SPECIALIST

  LEVEL - 5

  INTELLECT - 15 ......................................................................................................................................................PRIMARY EQUIPMENT:

  CHARM - 20 ...............................................................................................................................................................ACS UNIFORM

  BODY - 18 ...................................................................................................................................................................MACHETE

  AGILITY - 23................................................................................................................................................................________________

  DURABILITY - +2......................................................................................................................................................

  HEALTH - 38/41........................................................................................................................................................CURRENCY

  UNASSIGNED POINTS - 0 ................................................................................................................................REV - 2441

  EXPERIENCE REQUIRED - 433..........................................................................................................................

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  I also noticed I had a new achievement, but that could wait until I figured out what JuneBug720 was upset about. At first there was nothing. It was just more jungle covered by broken branches, vines, and other foliage from the crash. There were few spaces to even see through. But then I caught it, clear as day, and it shattered me.

  “What’s the deal?” Morrighan asked groggily. Her expression, one of annoyance, was matched by the rest of the passengers. Even JuneBug720’s flashed to frustration momentarily presumably for the raised volume. We both silently shushed the group, and I made my way to the center, waving everyone to towards me.

  “Don’t freak out. We saw a couple people out there near the car.” I said to heightened faces.

  “We’re saved! Why would we freak out! They probably know how to get us out of here!” Oryx exclaimed, way too loud.

  “Shhhhhhut. The fuck. Up.” Morrighan chastised her. “They’re in the jungle. They can probably kill all of us. They probably saw the crash and are looking for easy loot.”

  “I don’t know about that. But you’re right. Or worse, they were with the people we... the car landed on. We need to be careful.” I said, nods of agreement all around. “I didn’t see what they were carrying. But they looked smaller. I could only make out two of them, and barely. There’s too much stuff in the way. I could only make out they’re wearing like hiking shoes and probably shorts or something.”

  “That doesn’t sound like opportunistic killers, but you never know.” Kade added. “Maybe rangers of some kind? Or scientists?”

  “Could be. But we should still be cautious.” I said.

  “Agreed. Everyone spr-” Kade was interrupted

  knock knock knock.

  We all sat motionless. Frozen.

  knock knock knock. knock knock knock. There were two distinct sets of knocks spaced a few feet apart, tapping on the debris against the car.

  “Hello?” Oryx called out. The most hateful looks shot at her from every direction. Kade leaned hard in her direction and swung a fist hard right in to her jaw, knocking her unconscious. Fear, confusion, and panic were near bubbling over in the group.

  KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK. They came frantically now, but with no call in response.

  We all looked to Kade who rolled his eyes in exasperation before shouting, “We’re armed! We don’t want a fight!”

  KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

  “Wellllllll shit. The longer we wait the worse this is gonna get.” Kade said. “We don’t know if this is all of them, or they can call for friends. I think you’ll have to take the fight to them. Luckily the door is on the top so you’ll at least have the high ground.”

  “Fuck. Okay. Chodely, Blaze, Morrighan, are you up for this?” I asked. “We have four machetes.”

  “I can give us some cover. I have the components for smoke powder. It doesn’t last long, but at least we won’t be sitting ducks crawling up and out one by one.” Blaze Firestalker volunteered. “I can also make fire blasts.”

  “Great! Gary, can you take the fourth machete then?” He agreed immediately.

  With what could barely be called a plan and a redistribution of machetes we moved in to action. Gary boosted me up to push the door and chutes off the entry, then the two of us cheerleader tossed Blaze Firestalker up through the door.

  He flopped on to the top of the car and blindly threw his packet of smoke powder in the direction of the knocks. It was better than I’d hoped, creating a dense cloud that covered the entire car and an extra 15 feet or so beyond. We snatched the opportunity and the four of us scrambled up and out of the car as fast as possible. Unfortunately we couldn’t see our attackers, but we at least had a general idea of where they were.

  Gary was the first to dive in. Or rather; slide. He scooted down the left side of the car in to the smoke, machete swinging before he passed out of view. The rest of us followed suit, spacing out enough that we could swing blind with minimal risk of decapitating each other. Blaze Firestalker to the far right end so he could do his fire blasts without crowding.

  “AHHH! Help! Help! Get off! He-” Blaze Firestalker's screams started as soon as he passed in to the smoke and were cut short within seconds. That silence filled the cloud.

  No Gunfire. No metal slashing. Just rapid footsteps followed by screaming and the sound of blood splashing the forest floor.

  I closed my eyes and slashed harder, nearly knocking myself to the ground with the momentum. I wasn’t used to my adjusted strength, but it wouldn’t have made much difference. I only chopped air, and I had no idea how to actually fight with a machete.

  “Run!” Morrighan shouted from the cloud, raw fear pouring from the word.

  I bolted from the smoke hoping I was still facing away from the car. I passed from the blanket of smoke at the same time as my compatriots, joining them to move in to the tree cover. But our attackers pursued right behind.

  “What. The fuck.” Chodely Whipplespurt said before sending himself ass over tea-kettle on a branch.

  Three monstrosities took a pause just outside the smoke. Each had eight human legs tipped with what were clearly hiking shoes. But the upper leg and thigh joined with a kind of fleshy headless torso that was easily four feet off the ground. At least a dozen gigantic human eyes stared at us from the “front” of the torso just above a lip-less maw. A pair of 12 inch pincers, more resembling rhino horns, wiggled in front of their mouths. Short cropped curly hair topped the horrors, completing the human flesh/giant spider hybrid disaster.

  “They’re spidaurs!” Morrighan shouted at us, as if that made anything better. “Young ones. Don’t let them bite you!” again, as if that were helpful in any way.

  The three spidaurs attacked in unison, rapidly skittering at us on their human legs. They closed the distance lightning fast with their pincers splayed ready to skewer us. Two came at Morrighan, Gary and I while the third went for the easy prey on the ground.

  Chodely Whipplespurt screamed and slashed with his machete while trying to right himself with his other hand. It wasn’t enough. The spidaur lunged and ran a pincer through his thigh pinning him back to the ground. He swung again frantically, screaming in agony, and managed to cut a leg clean off but remained pinned. Pink blood flowed from the stump that now showed a very meaty interior.

  The three of us did our best to hold a defensive ready position. When they got close we slashed towards them driving them back for a moment, only to have them lunge again. We were in a standoff, forced to listen helplessly to the pleading screams of our ally.

  Morrighan shifted left using my swipes for quick cover before raising her machete over her head in a downward chop. It caught one of the spidaurs in its knee, splitting it open and getting stuck for half a moment. The spidaur retreated almost taking the machete with it, but Morrighan found enough footing on the roots below us to wrench it free.

  Chodely, to his credit, kept his fight alive. No form or finesse, but it was effective. With raw swings driven only by the desire for survival he chopped off another leg above the ankle before bashing the spidaur above its mouth. It pulled back, retracting the pincer but opening the wound. A thick stream of blood started spewing from the opening.

  I continued my tried and true strategy of swinging at whatever came close. I came dangerously close to slashing Morrighan before over-correcting catching a thick wooden vine. Just when I thought we were being toyed with, the spidaur overextended just as I was in the middle of my swing and impaled itself on my machete. It wasn’t enough to kill it, but I did take several of its eyes causing it to retreat back towards the now dissipated smoke. Its legs pulled in towards its body in defense. Slivers of flesh clung to my blade briefly before falling to the jungle floor. I barely noticed the small gash in my forearm but knew full well that pain would hit me later.

  We used that opportunity to help Gary, who was doing an admiral job maintaining the standoff. Morrighan and I attempted to flank it, but its multiple eyes gave us away. It turned to head us off, only for Gary to perform a fencing lunge and drive his machete in to the side of its torso clear to the hilt. The spidaur let out an all-too-human scream and dropped. It rolled on to its back (head?) and its legs pulled in towards its underbelly.

  With one down, Gary ran to assist Chodely Whipplespurt who was now struggling to remain conscious. He put himself between Chodely and the spidaur keeping it from biting again. With two legs out of action, Gary was able to land several more slashes. Deep cuts opened up in the spidaurs legs slowing it further, enough for him to chop down on it, killing it. Without hesitating he reeled around and dove on Chodely’s leg pressing hard to try and slow the bleeding.

  Morrighan and I didn’t press our scared opponent. We stayed side by side in our improvised formation until it came back at us. It bluff charged a few times before making one last dash at us, legs flailing and pincers aimed. I dove away swinging behind me catching one of its legs while Morrighan stood her ground and thrust her machete forward. The force of the spidaur impaling itself was significant. I clearly heard a snap and shout as Morrighan’s wrist was broken by the impact. But the thing was dead. Morrighan flashed for a moment, looking ready to keel over from the pain and shock but steeled herself.

  We rushed to Chodely and Gary’s side to help. “Does anyone have a belt?!” Gary asked urgently. We didn’t. My toolbelt was too chunky for this. His calm controlling demeanor was starting to break. “Roane! Go ask the others! Morrighan, tear his pant-leg off.”

  We did as instructed. I shimmied up the car to the open door and asked for a belt. Unfortunately no one had received one in their starter gear. I shouted that back to Gary who took in the information and refocused on Morrighan and Chodely. Sliding back down the car I finally saw Blaze Firestalker's body. He had be impaled directly down through his collar bone. He lay there in a massive pool of blood.

  But his robes had a rope cincture around the waist. I hesitated for a moment before going to remove it from him. His eyes were still open, his eyes and cheekbones wet with tears. Suddenly I remembered my dislike of the guy and guilt washed over me. He’d been helpful. Self serving, sure, but helpful. I couldn’t deal with this now. I tried to shut it out and take the rope from him. It came off easily and I hurried back to Gary.

  By now Morrighan had torn Chodely’s pant-leg off and been instructed to cut off one of the spider pincers. The bleeding had slowed. Gary took the rope and tied it above the hole in Chodely’s leg. He then tied the pincer in to the rope's securing knot with another knot, and twisted it round. He tightened the makeshift tourniquet until the bleeding had stopped. Thankfully, Chodely had lost consciousness or this would have been agony.

  “We need to go now. He’s lost a lot of blood. We might not have gotten it stopped in time.” Gary said, still hurriedly. “Get the others. Get the parachutes. We’re going right now.”