Forest of Savages by Rookie Burwick (nonfiction book recommendations TXT) 📕

door, and stepped out onto the dirt road. Taking one last look around to make sure he was safe, he slammed the door and began the long trek down the mountain.

 

***

 

John shifted into 4th gear, and sped up. The creatures behind him had vanished somewhere back there, in that now hell-bent place. He didn’t know why he’d been allowed to be put in the middle of this horror, but he no longer cared. He just kept driving.

 

Even though he didn’t see any of those monsters, he knew his life still depended on the squad car’s speed. The gas pedal was still nearly flat on the floor. His toes were beginning to hurt from the pressure he was forcing on them.

 

“Come on, come on,” he muttered to himself.

 

The next corner would get him out of the canon, and then he could get on a nice, flat road again. As he was about to round the corner, hope fell and rise all in one second. The engine suddenly sputtered, spit, and then died.

 

He tried to turn the key, but the engine didn’t even make a sound. He glanced all around trying to think through full-on panic. A glance to the left, a glance to the right, and he found his answer.

 

The gas gauge needle was on empty.

 

He sighed, and then slammed his elbows onto the steering wheel. He tensed his muscles, and listened.

 

It was only a matter of minutes before the howls started. At the sound of them, John sat up straight, and fought to keep his calm. His entire body began to tremble. He couldn’t stop it.

 

The howls grew closer with every second that ticked by. When the first Bigfoot emerged from the trees, John sprang out of the vehicle, and began running. It was his only chance. Every last ounce of knowledge he had told him staying in the vehicle just wouldn’t do enough, especially after seeing what the beasts could do.

 

His heart raced as he pumped his legs beneath his heavy body. He was the thinnest of everyone he knew, but he still had some weight on his bones. His breaths soon became ragged, sweat began pouring out of his skin.

 

But the howling had stopped. Keeping an ear out, John kept running. He entered the town at the next round of a corner. At the sight of it, John let out a scream.

 

Blood flooded the streets. Dead bodies lay on every single inch of asphalt. There was nothing but carnage left of the small town. John skidded to a halt, eyes wide and seeing more than wanted.

 

“My god. . .what happened?” he whispered to himself.

 

Even though he knew the answer, he still asked the question. Shock forced it right out of him. His legs gave out beneath him, and he went tumbling to the ground. Then, deep nausea swelled in his stomach. He only had to wait a few seconds before dry heaves came up and out his mouth.

 

He spat the rest of his fluids out, and sat there, down on all fours like a wild animal. But, he was far from a savage beast, as these creatures were.

 

When John lifted his head, a quick glimpse of movement caught his eye. It was as quick as a flash of light, but it had a dark brown tint to it. This got him to his feet. He stood there, glancing from left to right. Nothing moved. Yet.

 

“Hello? Someone there?” he ventured to ask.

 

The answer he got, much to his surprise, was a human voice.

 

“Yes? Hello?” the voice asked from an alleyway just a few feet from him.

 

He turned toward the voice, and saw Luigi, the Italian restaurant waiter, cowering against a fence at the very back of the alleyway.

 

“Luigi? Is that you?” he asked.

 

“Si senior, it is me,” Luigi responded.

 

John let out a sigh of relief, and then carefully started towards him. Luigi was a close friend of his, so he knew how relieved Luigi must be.

 

“Thank the good lord you’re here, senior John,” Luigi said, standing up.

 

“It’s good to see another human alive,” he replied, smiling darkly.

 

Luigi smiled weakly too, but it didn’t last long.

 

“What the hell happened?” John asked, raising an eyebrow for effect.

 

“Oh, John,” Luigi buried his face, and spoke through sobs. “It was horrible. These strange, hairy beasts came down from the mountain, slaughtering everyone.”

 

“Everyone, seriously?” he asked.

 

“Si John, you and I are the only ones left!”

 

John nodded slowly.

 

Luigi glanced up at him with tear-filled eyes, and noticed his seemingly distrusting eyes.

 

“You must believe me!”

 

“Oh no, I believe you.”

 

“You do?”

 

John nodded more certainly this time. Once Luigi saw that, he went back to sobbing, after giving him another weak smile. John turned toward the streets, and shook his head.

 

“Man, those things are really fast at killing.”

 

“You’ve seen them?!”

 

He turned back to Luigi.

 

“Afraid so. They nearly killed me twice.”

 

“Wow, you are very lucky!”

 

He snorted. “Yeah, no kidding.”

 

A loud banging sound interrupted Luigi’s next sentence. He spun toward the noise, and listened to it a little closer. It sounded like someone was beating a garbage can.

 

Luigi jumped to his feet, and stared wide-eyed into the gory small town turned graveyard.

 

“It’s them!” Luigi cried out.

 

“That’s the only thing it can be. . .”

 

The banging continued, much closer this time. Luigi gasped and nearly passed out when the Bigfoot emerged from the brick building the once hid it from their sight.

 

John prepared himself for an all-out war with the creature. It only glared at him with the same small, beady, and now blood red eyes. When he met those eyes, he let out a gasp himself.

 

“Dear God, those eyes. . .they’re. . .different. . .” he stuttered.

 

“Yes I know. . .” Luigi began to say.

 

Another one of the creatures dropped down from the railing that lined the side of the building, and landed in the gravel behind him. He spun around and let out a screech. Just before he could take a single step back, the Bigfoot grabbed his throat, and tore into it.

 

This Bigfoot, like the one now behind John, had piercing blood red eyes. It used them to stare right into what felt like his soul. The entire sight made him lose control of his bladder. A warm stream leaked down his jeans, and took its time in ending.

 

An angry battle roar made him turn around just in time to look right into the other Bigfoot’s eyes. It lifted its large arm span into the air, and aimed its extended claws right at him.

 

He ducked beneath the creature’s left armpit, and ran out onto the street. The slick blood gave way beneath his feet, and sent his slipping right onto his back. A loud crack sound erupted from his spine. The world around him became foggy.

 

Luckily, it only lasted for a few seconds.

 

When he came too again, the two Bigfoot were already headed for him. He got to his feet, still a little warbled but stable, turned toward the canon, and ran for his life.

 

***

 

Prine was just about to the end of the dirt road when he looked up, and saw the town from a great distance. He couldn’t quite make it all out, but there something odd about it. He didn’t see any traffic in the streets, or people on the sidewalks, as he usually could from this area.

 

He only shrugged, and pressed on. He’d half ran, half tumbled down the road, and had made a fairly good pace for being on foot. There had been no sign of the creatures, or any other living aspect of the forest.

 

His lungs were about to explode. He didn’t just think they were, he knew they were. His breath sounded like someone sliding a knife over a chalkboard. His blood pressure was rising so quickly, it was like water beginning to boil.

 

One more step, and he was at the highway. He bent over, hands on his knees, to catch his breath. Every breath he took in felt like heaven itself. He gave himself plenty of time to regain his strength. The hike, or run, had taken a major toll on him, and he knew that, if he survived this nightmare, he would be sleeping good tonight.

 

He kept his ears open for any passing cars in hopes of maybe catching a ride. He didn’t really want to have to walk all the way into town to get backup. But, if he had to, he would.

 

Something rustled through the trees behind him. He froze, but still took in smaller breaths.

 

Snap.

 

He wasn’t alone out here. The thing behind him didn’t waste time. It jumped from the trees, and came to a skidding halt right behind him. He could feel its hot breath on his neck.

 

He dared to glance over his shoulder. But, the glance wasn’t enough. There was something odd about this Bigfoot. He turned around fully, and gazed into the creature’s eyes. They were, unlike the other beasts he’d seen, a dark, blood red color.

 

“Oh my god!” he couldn’t help but scream the words.

 

The beast let out an angered roar at the sound of his loud cry, and raised its strong arms far over its head.

 

Prine spun around and ran out into the road, glancing to his sides to make sure no traffic was coming. Once in the center of the highway, he spun around and face the creature. It was standing just a few feet away from him, growling in a low tone.

 

He swallowed hard. The creature’s strange eyes were locked on him. Anger and hatred filled them. He could see it, even in this beast who was so different from him.

 

According to the things he’d been told, he’d evolved from apes. But he was having a hard time right now believing he evolved from this kind of animal. Man killed each other, sure. Men were definitely evil, but man just didn’t seem to match these monsters.

 

He lowered his eyes to the ground as a form of submission. The creature beat its chest, and snarled at him, eyes still locked on him. Once its snarl died into silence, its growl grew louder. Its deep throat was having a hard time with that, he could tell.

 

He glanced up at it a few times, letting his eyes head straight for those of the Bigfoot. He still couldn’t fathom why its eyes were so red, unlike the others. The horrible creature looked exactly the same as the others, except for those eyes.

 

The Bigfoot grunted in an odd, soft tone. He couldn’t help but lift his head and look up at it. The sound it had just made sounded more like a whimper than anything. When he looked into its eyes again, he saw something. This time, he saw something in the eyes of these beasts besides anger and hate.

 

What Prine saw was nothing other than pity. He was a good judge of expressions and body language, and he knew the looks of nearly everything, even deception and lust. He couldn’t help but stare at this pitiful look in the creature’s eyes. It didn’t seem to mind.

 

But the calmness didn’t last long. The Bigfoot grunted again, anger filling its tone. Prine threw his eyes back to the ground, and didn’t dare look up.

 

Then, silence took form in the air around him. The beast didn’t move, or even growl. The calmness seemed to return. Prine wanted to look back up, and see the pity in its eyes again, but he figured it wasn’t worth the possibility of the thing getting huffed up.

 

A moving object rounded the corner. He looked up to see a large, dark green RAM pickup slowing down. He could tell the driver was really shocked at the sight in front of him.

 

Prine jumped to his feet, and ran into the barrow pit. Ducking under the cover of some brush, he nestled down and watched the Bigfoot ran into the front of the truck. It all smashed in easily. The driver let out a scream and tried to open the door, but the horrid beast was already tearing it open.

 

The Bigfoot grabbed him