furnishedstories

[furnishedstories]

The Brothers and the Hunted (Pt.1)

It was humid, dark, very early morning based on all the noises coming from the trees around me. I could hear birds rustling, small reptiles and insects retreated into the brush. The smell of trees and dew all around me. I was running, trying to find my brother, I know he was in these woods somewhere, he had to be. The hunters released us together but we quickly got separated. My eyes and brain trying to keep up with my feet, I had to find my bearings.

These trees were nothing like those in my village, these were large around, with many limbs coming from them, the bark so rough. The ones I was used to climbing were smooth and thin, great flexibility for balancing. I didn’t dare slow down while I was thinking, trying to come up with something. Of the brief interaction with the hunters they seemed very straight forward, they meant what they said about wanting nothing more than to hunt us down like animals. They called us savages, this was something I aimed to prove to the men I met just a few moments ago.

They said ten minutes was the lead we had. Charles can easily run over a miles distance in that time, maybe less in this terrain but I had faith in him. It has been about half the allotted time, I stopped and took a breath to examine my surroundings. A simple black t-shirt and black shorts, no shoes or tools of any kind. They dress us all in black for a hunt at night? The fools, they are overconfident in their abilities. I took the shirt off and quickly found a sharp stick to help me rip it into shreds. I wrapped small shreds around my feet to help overcome the terrain. I wasn't used to the rocks and roots of the jungle, how I missed my white sandy beaches.

My heart was pounding but my mind was clear. Behind me I could see the large mansion style house through an opening in the trees. We had been kept for the last day? I wasn’t sure how much time had passed while we were starved. I remember now they gave us water laced with something that made us sleep. When we awoke we were on an impressively large set of stairs that led into the thick jungle, four people standing in front of us.

The two men dressed in bright khaki colored clothing explained the nature of the “game”. We were only allowed to die by their firearms. If we tried to commit suicide, we would be brought back to life by their witch that was standing behind them, and if we tried to attack her we’d have to contend with the large mountain of a man that was her body guard. The only two means of escape were to reach the border of this harsh jungle alive where an abandoned car would be waiting for us, or to simply kill the two hunters.

If she really was a trained witch then she’d have a totem on her, something that allowed her to connect with the magic in the world. What these hunters don’t realize is how sorry I’m going to make them once I take out the witch and grab that totem. First thing, I had to catch up to Charles. He was the bigger of the two of us, strong and fast, but somewhat more forward thinking. He always wanted to solve things with a physical contest or fight, I was the more mindful brother.

It has most likely already been ten minutes, assuming those two shit stains kept their word and gave us a head’s start. I stopped running and looked around and quickly spotted what I was looking for, a massive tree. Even bigger than the ones around it, I hoped this tree was one of the taller in the area. I grabbed the lowest limb that would support my weight and hauled myself up. With my now wrapped feet, I made quick work leaping from branch to branch, were I quickly made it to the top.

It’s impossible, this jungle looks like it goes on for hundreds of miles in all directions. Assuming we could keep going east there’s no way we’d reach the end. There was some hope, the sky was brightening. I could see just how dense the jungle really was, no wonder it seemed like it was night, hardly any sunlight will get through all the trees even at its highest point. I gave up trying to find Charles from up here.

I turned around to face the house, but could see another structure up in some of the taller trees near the house. A hunter's blind, a small one meant for one person. I quickly ducked down behind the nearest full tree limb. The bark was so rough under my hands, but that gave me an idea. I took some of the extra ribbons of shirt I had left and took a large chunk of bark off and wrapped it around my left forearm. If it came to a physical confrontation even a small piece of armor like this would make the world of difference.

I focused again on the blind to see if anyone was occupying it but it seemed empty. Based on the distance between my hiding place and the house I’d say I was more than half a mile away so it would be difficult to see me from the blind at this distance, even with a rifle. I started to make my descent when I heard a very loud gunshot ring out, causing birds to take flight around me. The gunshot was some distance away and clearly not aimed at me. I tried to use my vantage point to see where other jungle activity was happening.

Not too far from where I was, maybe a quarter mile north, birds continued to fly away slowly. I might not be able to hear them but I was positive more gunshots were being fired. I descended so quickly, I practically fell out of that tree. I ran north as quickly as my feet would carry me. I quickly spotted a small clearing where I stopped just short to examine the scene. But there wasn’t one, I spotted the witch and her guard walking east. I also saw a small blood trail at their feet.

I couldn’t let her get away. I looked around and found a few palm sized rocks to help me go toe to toe with the giant. Then I slipped a few spare rocks in the pockets of shorts and climbed a nearby tree. Since the jungle was so thick I was easily able to leap from tree to tree and make my way around the clearing to ambush the pair.