Survive the Monsters and Breed 4 Chapter 1

I got this done just in time! I might take a day off. Wooo!

“Jesus fucking Christ, it’s cold!” Devonna said through chattering teeth. “I’m sorry, Lord. Forgive me for takin’ your name in vain. But damn, it’s colder than a witch’s tit in a brass bra out here.”

The beautiful, black-haired Southern woman shivered as she pulled her long, handmade coat around her. The large hood was up, so all I could see was the tanned skin of her face and a few strands of her black hair that had snuck their way out of the coat. Her beautiful, dark blue eyes squinted as they took in the snow covered land around us, and her tall frame shuddered once more as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“You knew we were heading into a tundra,” Sarah said with a roll of her eyes. “What did you expect?”

The redhead wore a coat similar to the one Devonna had on, but she wasn’t shivering quite as bad as her Southern counterpart. Sarah’s long red hair was pulled forward, and it hung down the front of her coat and accumulated flakes of snow that melted into the deep red strands. Her dark brown eyes and sharp features seemed even more striking against the white background around us, and her usually pale skin was flushed from the cold.

“I expected cold,” Devonna scoffed and gestured around. “But I didn’t expect to be stuck in a damn freezer for who knows how long.”

I sighed as I took in Devonna’s words. She was right, this wasn’t ideal. We’d originally planned on keeping the door open, but seeing huge footprints just inside the tundra had ruled that option out very quickly. Still, Randy was in the swamp waiting for us, and he promised to check the door every day to see if we moved the fabric that served as the signal that we eliminated whoever made the footprints.

But the vast white wilderness that surrounded us was downright unnerving. The jungle was dense, and it was difficult to see through the trees, but at least there had been some sort of color differentiation. In here, there was practically nothing.

The desert was all tawny colored, too, but at least we could see a good distance there. In the tundra, the snow made it impossible to make out anything. And it didn’t help that the ceiling of this room was painted a dull blue that reflected the white back and made it even more difficult to see.

Snow flurried around my feet, and little flakes landed on my cheeks and nose, but I turned my head from the wind and huddled in a circle with my team to keep the cold out as much as possible.

“Randy isn’t going to open that door until we kill those assholes who are lurking around in here.” Shanice pursed her full lips as she looked around with narrowed, serious eyes. “We better get moving if we don’t want to freeze to death.”

Shanice’s tight curls poked out from her hood, and her dark skin contrasted beautifully with the white snow around us. The ex-cop was all business, as usual. Her coat was tied tightly around her waist, and she continuously bounced from one foot to the other to keep herself moving and warm.

“Freeze to death?” Devonna squeaked, and she pulled her coat tighter around herself.

“You act as if this is new information.” Natasha smirked, but her teeth chattered all the same.

The petite Russian blonde had to be absolutely freezing. Her short, platinum blonde hair wouldn’t provide her any extra insulation like the other women had. But her small frame was built well, with an excess of curves that would hopefully afford her some added protection from the frigid temperatures around us. Her dark gray eyes studied the landscape as her teeth chattered behind her pillowy soft lips, and she clasped her hands together and held them against her chest in an effort to keep warm.

“That’s a real possibility,” Em said, and she bit her lip nervously. “But we have no idea where we’d be headed.”

The small Asian woman was even shorter than Natasha was, but she was an expert in martial arts, and for some reason, I felt less of a need to worry about her than the others. Em was always so calm and logical, I figured she had a plan to keep warm somehow. She grew up in the snow, just like Natasha and I did, but Em was also a college student, so I knew she was probably out and about in the cold weather more than Natasha, who already had an established career by the time she was taken.

It was easy for people to forget how much of a menace the snow was when they didn’t have to be out in it for long.

“We could find somewhere to set up camp,” Sarah suggested.

“What, are we gonna build a damn igloo?” Devonna snorted.

“We could.” The redhead shrugged. “It would probably be our best bet to keep warm.”

“Can’t we find a cave or something?” Devonna pouted.

“First of all, I think we should make sure nobody is injured,” I said as I looked at each of the women. “We did just fight a giant mutant crocodile after all.”

“I’ve got a couple scrapes on my arms,” Sarah admitted, and she held her arms out as if I could see through the thick coat she wore.

“I cut my leg on a branch,” Shanice added. “But it’s stopped bleeding already.”

“I’m good,” Devonna said.

“Of course you are.” Shanice rolled her eyes. “You were the bait.”

“Da,” Natasha agreed. “You called Humphrey ‘good boy’ as if he were dog. No wonder you are not injured. He probably expected treat.”

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?” Devonna glared and put her hands on her hips only to yank them off and pull her coat around her.

“You did good.” Em smiled at her friend.

“Em!” Shanice laughed.

“What?” the beautiful asian woman asked with a shrug. “It really was an important job.”

Devonna flashed Shanice an ‘I told you so’ smirk.

“Alright, ladies,” I interjected. “We need to figure out our plan. Things have changed some since we got in here.”

“Uh, yeah, we found giant footprints leading off to nowhere.” Devonna gestured to the huge prints in the snow. “I mean, good god, who’s feet are that size?”

“Randy did warn us that they were huge,” Shanice murmured. “I don’t think I fully understood just how large he meant until now.”

“Me, neither.” Em shook her head. “But the bottom line is that Randy isn’t going to open the door for us until they’re dead. I think we should follow the footprints.”

“I’m with Em,” Sarah agreed. “As unnerving as it is to see them, at least we have some indication of where they are in here. It’s better than having to wander around aimlessly to search for them.”

“True.” I nodded. “But if we’re going to follow the footprints, we need to get going  now before the snow covers them up.”

“Jake is right,” Em said. “We have no idea how much it snows here per day, but it could be enough to completely fill the footprints within a few hours. We should follow them while we can.”

“Da,” Natasha added. “I would assume it snows at least several inches per day. And it’s only morning.”

“Won’t there still be some sort of holes, though?” Sarah asked. “Even if it snows a lot, it won’t even out the tracks, will it?”

“Maybe not totally,” I said. “At least not for a while, but eventually it will make them really difficult to see.”

Natasha bent down and scooped up some of the snow. Then she rubbed it through her fingers before letting it fall to the ground.

“Is icy snow under top layer,” she explained. “But top is light and fluffy snow. The wind will move it and fill the prints if we do not move quickly.”

“Shit, I didn’t even think about that,” Sarah breathed.

“I would not expect you to,” Natasha chuckled. “You are not from place with true winters.”

“Natasha’s right,” I added. “The fluffy snow could easily fill the tracks and make it even out.”

“We should get moving.” Shanice looked at me with focused dark brown eyes. “Lead the way.”

“Alright,” I agreed, and I grabbed hold of the sled of supplies we brought with us. “Everyone stay close. Don’t step in the footprints, and try to keep your hood up and your head down so you can keep the snow out of your eyes.”

“As if I would ever take this damn hood down,” Devonna muttered as she pulled her jacket even tighter around her.

“Oh, come on, it’s not so bad,” Em encouraged as we started to follow the prints. “If you focus on your breathing, you can fill your belly and keep yourself warm. Monks do it all the time.”

“Seriously?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah.” Em smiled and nodded. “There was a study done. I remember reading about it when I was in college. Tibetan monks use this yoga breathing technique to sit out in the snow and meditate for extended periods of time. Scientists tested it in a cold room and put cold, wet sheets on the monk’s shoulders. Their bodies produced enough heat to dry the sheets. Isn’t that crazy?”

I couldn’t help but smile at Em’s excitement over her fun fact. The petite Asian woman was adorably brilliant, and I loved to see the spark in her eyes whenever she got to talk about her interests.

“That’s really cool,” Sarah said.

“So, what is this breathing technique?” Natasha asked, and her teeth chattered as she walked.

“I knew it!” Devonna said. “You’re just as cold as I am.”

“I figured you would be used to the snow,” Sarah said, and I could hear the frown in her voice.

“I am used to snow,” Natasha agreed. “But I am also used to being able to go indoors and sit near fire or take hot bath.”

“You’re probably so cold because of your size,” Sarah pointed out. “You’re pretty tiny.”

“I am not tiny.” Natasha glared at her friend.

“I didn’t mean it in a bad way,” Sarah laughed.

“I am perfectly sized for fun,” Natasha muttered.

“Do you mean you’re fun-sized?” Em chuckled.

“Da.” The Russian woman nodded. “Am fun-sized.”

“If you’re cold ‘cause you’re tiny, then what’s my excuse?” Devonna shivered. “I got nearly a foot on you.”

“Alright, let’s not pretend that we’re not all cold,” I said. “Em, Natasha, and I have lived through plenty of winters, but we’re still cold.”

“Da.” Natasha nodded. “This is frigid.”

“I can’t believe this is the first time I’m seeing snow.” Sarah shook her head.

“Yeah, no thank you,” Devonna blanched. “After this, I never want to see this white shit ever again.”

“We’ve been here all of five minutes,” I chuckled as I cautiously followed the footprints in the snow.

“Ten seconds was too long in here,” the Southern woman said. “I don’t even wanna think about seein’ this nasty stuff again. Let’s just find these giant people, take ‘em out, and get to the next door.”

“We’ve got to let Randy know when they’re dead,” I reminded her.

“Mhm,” Devonna mused. “All I know is that old man better not get himself eaten while we’re gone.”

“Why would you even say that?” Sarah scoffed.

“You saw the place we just came from.” Devonna pointed behind us. “That swamp was chock full of gators and snakes and slimy little critters we probably ain’t even seen. And that’s the first door we’ve closed behind us. If he gets eaten, we got no way of getting back.”

“Don’t wish that upon us,” Sarah said.

“I ain’t wishin’ that on anybody.” Devonna shook her head. “I’m just sayin’, he better not get himself killed. ‘Cause if I die in here, I’m gonna come back from the dead, bring him back from the dead, and then kill him myself.”

“That sounds like a great plan,” I laughed and shook my head.

“I thought so.” Devonna smiled. “But I gotta say, this walkin’ is helpin’ me feel a bit warmer. What about you, Natasha?”

“I do not share your sentiment quite yet,” the Russian woman said through chattering teeth.

“Try the breathing,” Devonna suggested.

“Em did not even explain it,” Natasha snapped.

“No need to get all feisty,” Devonna muttered. “Geez.”

“I may be cold, but I will still f-f-fight you,” Natasha shivered.

“Bring it on, pipsqueak,” Devonna teased.

“I’d rather be pipsqueak than giant.” Natasha glared playfully.

“Hey, I’m not a giant!” the Southern woman laughed and gestured to the footprints we were tracking. “Whoever made those, they’re a giant.”

“They are huge,” Shanice said with a shake of her head. “They’re like two of Jake’s footprints.”

“Yeah, and Jake’s footprints are pretty big.” Devonna grinned. “And you know what they say about a man with big feet.”

“Big shoes?” Shanice smirked.

“Among other things,” Devonna laughed.

“I didn’t think about it until now.” Sarah frowned. “But why is there only one set?”

“Hm.” I pursed my lips. “Randy did say there were three of these people, right?”

“Two men and a woman.” Em nodded.

“Perhaps they were trying to get back through door,” Natasha said.

“But that still doesn’t explain why there’s only one set of prints,” Sarah pointed out.

“True,” Natasha agreed. “Could be their camp is nearby and they sent someone to make sure door was still open.”

“If that’s the case, then whoever was there knows it’s not,” Sarah said. “I’m not sure that’s good.”

“No, probably not.” I shook my head. “I’d be pissed if someone closed the door behind us.”

“I agreed to it, and I’m pissed,” Devonna added.

“Their camp could be nearby,” Em said. “But it doesn’t quite make sense if they’ve been looking for the other door. Randy said they’ve been in here for a few months already, right?”

“I believe this is correct.” Natasha nodded.

“Then don’t you think they would have gotten further by now?” Em asked.

“Good point,” I sighed. “I’m not sure what to make of the one set of footprints here.”

“Maybe one of them left the group,” Shanice said quietly.

“Oh.” I frowned. “I hadn’t considered that.”

“They could have split up or something,” Sarah agreed.

“It makes more sense to stay together in a place like this,” I pointed out. “But anything is possible. Randy said these people were highly aggressive, so it’s not unlikely that they got into a squabble.”

“What if there’s only one of them left?” Sarah asked.

“Whatever the case, we need to keep moving,” I said as the snowfall picked up and the wind howled around us. “This storm looks like it’s gearing up to get worse.”

“I didn’t think that was possible.” Devonna shuddered. “Isn’t snow as bad as it can get?”

“Are you suggesting that snow is worse than a hurricane?” Sarah scoffed.

“Maybe not worse.” The Southern woman pursed her lips. “But at least as bad.”

“This has been light snow,” Natasha said. “You have not even seen real blizzard yet.”

“Ugh, all this snow just brought back memories of those stupid Christmas songs,” Devonna groaned. “I used to love them, but that was when it was eighty degrees in December. This is just gross.”

“Yeah, I imagine it’s easy to love Let It Snow when there is, in fact, no snow,” I chuckled.

“Exactly,” Devonna sighed. “You get me.”

“You are ridiculous,” I laughed.

Devonna always helped bring some humor to whatever situation we were in, but the further we walked, the less amused I found myself. The snow really picked up, and the wind was blowing like crazy. It was getting harder to see, and it was downright bitter out. On top of that, the tracks were beginning to fill, and some of them were already being washed away by the wind.

Still, I pushed on as long as I could. My body was moderately warm from the effort of walking, and my feet were decent, but I knew they’d probably just adapted to the cold by now. I kept my hands inside the sleeves of my polar bear jacket to try and keep them warm, but I had to pull the sled filled with supplies, too, so every now and then my hand slipped out and got a cold blast of wind. But overall, my face got the worst of it. The bitter wind hit it at all times since I had to keep my head up to look at the tracks, and after a while, it felt like my eyes were half frozen shut from how much they’d been watering from the wind.

We walked along for at least an hour, and in that time, I’d lost the tracks at least twice. The wind was so powerful it had completely gotten rid of them in a few areas, but luckily, I’d been able to pick them up just a few meters down. Finally, the tracks ran completely out, and I didn’t see more in any direction I looked.

“I think this is it,” I sighed as I stopped and looked around. “We’ve lost them.”

The women all gathered around, and we huddled together in a circle so we could see one another without the wind hitting our faces as much. Now that we stopped moving, the cold set in even more, and I shivered as I stood stationary and tried to keep as much of the warmth I’d built up in my body as I possibly could.

“Shit,” Shanice breathed. “I was worried about that.”

“I noticed they disappeared a few times already,” Sarah said. “Maybe there’s more up ahead.”

“I don’t see any more around.” I shook my head. “But it doesn’t hurt to look.”

“We should fan out,” Em suggested. “That’s the quickest way to see where they’re at.”

“You’re probably right,” I agreed. “But it’s also far more dangerous. We should stay together.”

“Wait,” Devonna said, and she squinted as she stared behind me. “Anybody see that back there?”

“You mean up ahead?” Sarah asked.

“Oh, forward, back, whatever,” Devonna scoffed and pointed. “There. There’s somethin’ up there, I’m sure of it.”

I spun around and squinted through the onslaught of snow to see what Devonna was talking about. At first, nothing caught my eye, but after a moment, I noticed something large in the distance. I had no idea what it was, it could have been an igloo, maybe someone crouched down, or possibly just a snow bank. Fuck, for all I knew, it could be a monster.

Whatever it was, we were about to find out.

“Shit,” I breathed, and I handed Devonna the rope for the supply sled and pulled my sword from my hip.

“What do you think it is?” Shanice asked, and she pulled her machete style knife from her hip.

“I have no idea,” I admitted. “But whatever it is, it can’t be good.”

“It kind of looks like an igloo,” Sarah pointed out.

“I thought that, too,” I agreed. “Whatever it is, we need to check it out.”

“What if it’s the huge people?” Devonna whispered. “They’ve probably already seen us.”

“If that was the case, then whispering wouldn’t really do anything, now would it?” Shanice asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, I suppose not.” Devonna pursed her lips and looked down. “But I’m just trying to be discreet, okay?”

“For once in your life.” Shanice rolled her eyes. “Just stay back, alright.”

“Are you tellin’ me to stay back because you think I can’t fight?” Devonna glared at the dark-skinned woman.

“No.” Shanice grinned. “I’m telling you to stay back because I know you can’t.”

Devonna’s jaw dropped. “Well, I never. How damn rude.”

“Ladies, focus,” I growled.

“I’m right next to you, Jake,” Shanice told me as she turned to face whatever mystery opponent we were up against.

“We’re right behind you, too,” Sarah assured me.

“Yes,” Em agreed.

“I will stay in back with Devonna,” Natasha sighed. “We will be distraction if needed.”

Part of me wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t exactly find anything funny when there was some huge creature on our path.

I nodded and led my team through the snow. My hand was already freezing from being out in the open holding my sword, but I pushed through and continued on.

Snow flurried around me and obstructed my vision, and for a second, my heart beat wildly as I lost sight of the massive beast I was headed toward. It didn’t take long for me to find it again, though, and I realized it hadn’t moved at all.

Maybe it was an igloo after all. But even if that were the case, igloos didn’t just appear in the snow on their own. Someone made it, and if I had to guess, I’d say that someone was whoever’s footprints we found by the door.

Even if that group of huge people had split up, that wouldn’t make our job any easier. Yes, we could fight them one by one, but then we’d have to go through the extra effort to find each of them. And once we found them, we’d still have to head back to the door and move the fabric up so Randy knew to open it for us again.

The old man said he’d check it a few times every day, and I believed him, which just gave me that much more incentive to get these assholes handled. Randy had done his part to try and get out of here, it was my time now. The old man had been through the tundra room and tried to get out, but he didn’t have the team I did, it was just him going at it alone.

And he’d gotten older since then. I wasn’t sure how many more times he’d be able to get away from Humphrey, let alone fight him off. I knew the old man was smart, and he’d probably stay as far back from the door as he could to check on the fabric, but just knowing he was in danger added to the fire that was already lit under me.

I’d survived three rooms so far, but I’d only been in the tundra for an hour or so, and already, I wanted to go back. I grew up in the snow, but this was something else entirely.

And yet again, I had to wonder just how advanced this building was. It housed a rainforest, a desert, a swamp, and now a fucking tundra. Each room had its own climate and humidity control, as well as its own water sources, artificial lights, animals, monsters, etc. Whoever made this place put a lot of effort into it, and I was starting to think the note we got might be true. Why else would someone go through this much trouble? Maybe we really did need to repopulate the Earth.

That didn’t explain the monsters, but I wasn’t sure what could really explain a crocodile the size of a damn semi truck.

As we got closer to the huge, unmoving object, I became more certain that it wasn’t a person or a monster.

“It hasn’t moved this whole time,” Shanice whispered from her position beside me. “Do you think it is an igloo?”

“Maybe.” I nodded. “We’re almost to it. On my signal, you go right, I’ll go left.”

“On it,” she said, and her face turned to pure determination.

The snow continued to flurry around us, and as soon as we were within ten feet of the mound in the snow, I sent Shanice to the right while I took the left.

The strange object was even larger now that we were up close, and I tried to figure out just what it could be. It was the size of a small car buried in the snow, and while it could just be a rock, that seemed unlikely given the landscape. The snow made it difficult to determine depth, but from what I could see, there weren’t a lot of large things jutting out from the snow around here.

My heart pounded in my chest as I made my way around the massive snow pile. If I’d learned one thing from the rooms, it was that it was impossible to know what I was going up against until I got to it, and this was no different.

Still, as I made my way around, I didn’t see any entrances to indicate that it was someone’s shelter. There was no blood to suggest that it was a body, either. Whatever it was, it was covered in a fresh sheet of snow, and I couldn’t see a damn thing that would tell me what it was.

“Jake,” Shanice said as we came around the back of the snow pile. “What should we do?”

“Poke it with a stick!” Devonna suggested with far too much enthusiasm.

Shanice opened her mouth as if she were going to protest, but then she sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, that’s probably our best bet.”

“Here, I’ll do it,” Devonna said, and she snatched Sarah’s spear from her and stabbed the snow pile.

My heart skipped a beat as I waited for the pile to move or scream in pain, but nothing happened.

“Well?” Sarah asked.

“Whatever it is, it ain’t alive, that’s for sure,” Devonna said. “But…”

“But what?” I pushed.

“The spear went into somethin’,” she explained.

“Let me see,” I said, and I carefully walked up to the pile and brushed the freshly fallen snow off.

Underneath was a strange, blue-tinted, fleshy-colored patch of something that looked and felt like the insides of something.

“What the hell is that?” Shanice whispered as she leaned down to get a better look.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, and I brushed off more snow.

The women gathered around and watched as I removed the snow bit by bit. My hand was freezing, but I had to know just what the hell I was looking at.

“Why is there no fur?” Sarah asked. “I mean, this has to be some sort of animal, right?”

“I think so.” I nodded and brushed more snow away.

“Has it been skinned?” Em asked.

“You think someone skinned something this big?” Devonna gasped. “That’d be a lot of work, wouldn’t it?”

“It definitely wouldn’t be easy,” Shanice murmured.

The next section I brushed off revealed a piece of exposed muscle and bone. It looked like the flesh had been ripped straight from the body instead of being cut, and I felt my face pull into a grimace at the sight of the dull red frozen muscles.

“What the fuck?” Devonna breathed.

“I guess that makes sense,” Shanice sighed.

“What about this makes sense?” the Southern woman scoffed.

“Well, if someone went through the trouble to skin it, it makes sense that they’d eat it,” Shanice explained.

“But why is only that chunk missing?” Em wondered. “There’s so much meat here that’s just gone to waste.”

“Couldn’t they still eat it?” Sarah asked. “I mean, it’s frozen, right? Like, we could just heat it up, couldn’t we?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “Typically, I would say yes, but we don’t know how or when this animal died. And we don’t even know what the hell it is.”

“It’s gotta be some kind of monster, right?” Devonna asked. “I mean, normal animals aren’t this big, are they?”

“Probably not,” I agreed.

“We need to find the face,” Shanice said, and she started to help me brush off the snow from the animal.

After a moment, we’d dug up most of the creature. It looked like a giant naked mole rat without its fur. It was built like a rodent, too, with huge thighs and feet, and massive claws on its toes and front paws.

“I think I found the… Oh, dear god,” Sarah blanched and turned away.

“What is it?” I asked as I rushed over to her.

“See for yourself.” She gestured to the creature’s head half buried in the snow.

The face of the beast was one of the most disgusting things I’d ever seen in my life. It had huge, floppy ears, and a pointed jaw that led down to a mouth full of razor sharp teeth with two huge buck style ones at the front. Massive whiskers stuck out of the side of its cheek, and a dark blue tongue hung out of its open mouth.

Still, the worst part was the all-black eyes staring right at me.