I’d thought the multiple lifeforms that felt unthreatening was a good thing. Now, I realize it’s bad. If we fall in the water, there’s no telling just how many of the things are waiting for us.
I leap again, the log shifting the moment my feet touch it, curling back to snap at me with its large teeth. I’m already gone, refusing to linger where I’ll be eaten. No, thank you. If I move fast enough, they can’t get me. Maybe. Hopefully.
“Shit,” Locke growls as he has to redirect to another log. “Fuck!”
The one he lands on comes alive so fast, he almost loses his footing before he’s leaping again.
We’re three quarters across the river now, the shoreline in sight. If we can just keep going . . .
“There’s a path,” I point out. “Right there.”
“Go fast,” he breathes. “I’ll follow.”
Together, we move without words, leaping from one log to the next, avoiding teeth when they pop up. Around us, caimans break the surface, closing in on us as we move. I can sense them now, and there are dozens of them hungrily moving in, waiting for one of us to fall in. I land on a log and it rolls beneath my feet. It’s not a caiman, but it’s unstable enough that I flail my arms as my balance disappears. Locke lands on the log next to me, his weight steadying it even as he reaches out to steady me, keeping me from falling in.
“Thanks,” I pant, my legs starting to shake.
He nods and gestures for me to keep going. “Almost there. Don’t stop.”
The caimans all come closing in on us as we run and leap, run and leap, moving from log to log. The shoreline grows larger, within sight, and the river starts to slow again as the current sweeps past.
“We’re surrounded,” I croak as I leap again. Four more logs to cross. And then we’re on the shore.
“Just move!” Locke orders. “Keep going.”
Leaping to the next log, and then the next, hope flares in my chest. Two more logs and then the shore. I leap before I’ve fully studied the log. I realize it when I’m already in the air. Unfortunately for me, the creature has a sense of humor. It disappears beneath the water and the landing I’d been aiming for is gone.
“Fuck!” I shout, just before I hit the water.
It splashes around me violently as I hit it, sink, and realize it’s chest deep here. The moment I’m in the water is the moment I can pick pieces of my awareness from the buzz. The caimans are closing in, rushing toward me now that I’m in their domain.
I push toward the shore, knowing that there are caimans blocking my path, but if I can at least get to the log . . .
“Take my hand!” Locke orders, landing on the second log from the shore and stretching toward me.
I slap my hand into his, my foot kicking at something that moves dangerously close to my leg. I can feel it’s sharp boney teeth as I kick out, sending it back in annoyance. Locke yanks me up out of the water like I don’t weight anything, pulling me up with one arm until my feet can balance on the log. It’s slick now with the water running off of me, but I don’t worry about it. Instead, I face the last log and the shoreline.
“Come on,” Locke growls. “Together.”
With our hands intertwined, we leap together, our feet landing on the last log. Mine slips, but his hold keeps me upright, his muscles bulging as he straightens me and then we both tense again. Leaping for the shoreline, the water churns with bodies beneath us. Time slows as I look down and see gaping teeth and hungry mouths, launching themselves out of the water in an attempt to get us. The moment our feet touch the ground on the other side, we keep running, not bothering to stop now that we’d made it.
We can’t. Not when we’re being pursued by so many.
I’m breathing hard as we run, my lungs burning with each sawing breath I take. We don’t stop, not until the carnivorous plants start to thin. Only then do I stumble to a stop and bend over to gasp for air.
“That was a fucking nightmare,” Locke says, shaking his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe we survived that with all our limbs.” He waves his fingers at me and then flips me off. “I quite like these things. Be hard to tell people to fuck off if I was missing some.”
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
You just played a dangerous game of frogger and survived to tell the tale.
REWARD: you’re alive. Enjoy it.
I shake my head. “What even was the point in that?” I ask Cipher. I take my mask off and disappear it into my inventory, rubbing at my eyes. After wearing it for so long, my head has started to hurt. Apparently, I’m not a high enough Tier yet to not be effected by the strain. “Not all achievements reward you with loot,” Cipher replies. “But it does often reward you with XP at the very least. You gained twenty-five XP for this stunt. The Bone Breaker also received the same.”
“Well at least there’s that,” I grunt, straightening and rolling my shoulders. “We should keep going. I still don’t want to sleep in this zone at night again.”
There’s no way to know the other zones are going to be any safer, but at the very least, I’d rather not face the Killing Trees again. New threats are reassuring compared to that.
