Age of Monsters by John Schneider (a book to read txt) 📕

the mere thought of what might lurk out there in the inky blackness… never mind the reality of what actually existed there.

An eerie coalescence of silhouettes and shadows blanketed the scene around Mateo. As a result, it was almost impossible to decipher anything of any real significance. What’s more, the man wasn’t even sure he was headed in the right direction. As such, landmarks had little meaning. The way Hernandez saw it, the further he got from the gunfire and screams, the better. Or so he hoped anyway.

Lost and wandering, Mateo found himself muttering a prayer when a noise˗ one that belonged to neither bird nor bug˗ unexpectedly sounded somewhere behind him! At least that’s where he thought it came from. Sound travelled in peculiar ways in the jungle. Startled to attention, Hernandez’s heartrate spiked as he tried to both listen and make sense of what it belonged to.

Thump-thump-thump-thump! The man’s ears twitched like a hare’s, the noise growing louder with each beat.

Footsteps! Mateo quickly realized. Coming in fast!

Instinct told him that the footsteps were too heavy to belong to even the biggest of men. As this frightening realization sank in, Mr. Hernandez felt his panic increase ten-fold, his pulse skyrocketing.

They’ve found me… those things have found me! He shuddered at the thought.

Sadly, he was right. Although the poor man couldn’t see it just yet, Mateo’s pursuer was closing on him˗ and with ease. Crashing through the jungle, the dexterous animal bounded over felled trees and ducked beneath low-lying branches. Next came a shriek like nothing the Chilean had ever heard before. Ear-piercing and laced with hunger, the utter savagery of the cry was undeniable. And it was reserved entirely for him! Of that, Hernandez was convinced.

Chilled to his core, poor Mateo voided his bladder then. In that moment he was reduced to a frightened child. The adult˗ the father; the protector of, and the provider for, his family˗ was gone. Vanished in an instant. Still, he didn’t stop moving. Rather, the man’s terror quickly translated to reinvigoration.

Taking off once more, albeit soaked in a combination of piss and sweat, Mateo pressed on into the night, determined he would survive; that he would make it through this awful night of blood-soaked carnage. His motivation was simple: he wanted to return home to his loving family; Maria and the boys, Javier and Tomas. After all, Hernandez only accepted this job offer because of them. Providing them with a better life was the sole reason he was here in this leafy, Godforsaken shithole in the first place. Which ultimately begged the question: what kind of life would they have without him?

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Hot on the heels of its prey, the monster zeroed in on its quarry with a ruthless efficiency; its agile movements seemingly discordant with a creature of its size. In truth however, the animal and its kind, large as they may have been, were built not only for the kill but the chase too; their species molded by millions of years of evolution and thus finely attuned to their environment.

Nostrils flaring at the end of its elongated cranium, the hunter inhaled its would-be victim’s scent, eager to put an end to this hunt. Held aloft on two powerful legs, the excited creature hurtled onwards, salivate dripping over its craggy lips. The end was nigh, of that it was sure. In fact, the monster could practically taste it.

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Something in Mateo (a foolish sense of curiosity perhaps) made him sneak a look at the bipedal horror trailing after him. Needless to say, the young man immediately wished he hadn’t. What he found waiting for him could only be described as terror incarnate.

Bathed in moonlight˗ for only a second˗ he discovered a maw full of yellow, dagger-like teeth, alongside a pink, serpentine tongue dripping with spittle. Worst of all, it was waiting just for him. Added to this terrifying mien were the creature’s flexed talons, poised to strike!

“Jesucristo!” Hernandez gasped.

Too terrified to look for more than a second, Mateo snapped his neck back around. To his horror, Hernandez barely had time to decipher the second scale-laden figure waiting for him. Jaws cranked wide, the second monster barreled into Mateo, forcing him to the ground in a bloodied frenzy of slashing claws and gnashing teeth!

Knocked clean off his feet, the poor man landed with a bone-jarring thud! amidst the detritus, the last of the air torn from his already weary lungs! Winded now, stars danced before Mateo’s eyes, his world spinning horribly all the while. Pain filtered through the man’s abused body, coming in one huge, incapacitating surge. It was several seconds before Hernandez realized he had been disemboweled, the excruciating pain somehow managing to take him off-guard when his system finally registered it.

It was over, Mateo understood as he lay there, writhing helplessly like a newborn without its mother. Then again, he never stood a chance. Not against these… demons. None of his crew did. If truth be told, Hernandez was lucky to last as long as he did.

Thus, Mateo’s agonized screams came to fill the night. They reverberated throughout the rainforest for miles as the two frenzied beasts continued to eviscerate him. Using a combination of their curved teeth and claws, they gorged on his supple flesh, working vigorously to expose the precious organs buried beneath. In between the man’s pained screeching, Mateo thought of his wife and kids back home. Their loving faces would be the last thing his broken mind was able to conjure before the darkness finally claimed him.

The Valley of Tooth & Claw is available from Amazon HERE!

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