Survive the Monsters and Breed 2 Chapter 1

The sight before me was nothing like I’d expected to find when we’d finally barreled through the hidden door of the jungle.

There were three women staring at us with wide, horrified eyes. One laid on the ground, and the other two crouched over her.

Behind the women was a desert with little more than boulders strewn around it for miles and miles. And unlike the jungle we’d just come from, where rain was still pouring down, this place was dry as a bone. Even the dirt around my feet sent up clouds of dust as I came to a screeching halt.

As I stared at the women in front of me, a million questions raced through my mind. Why did they have on the same jumpsuits as we did? Were they brought here for this experiment, too? And if we’d just come from a room that was a jungle, why were they in a desert? This had to be a room, too. Just how many rooms were there?

I looked over to my left and saw Sarah, the beautiful redheaded athlete, staring ahead with utter confusion plastered on her face. She held her spear out in front of her as her chest rose and fell wildly with her ragged breaths.

Natasha was just behind me, and the beautiful blonde’s dark gray eyes flashed to mine. She wasn’t one to become easily frightened, but I could tell she was on edge. Her entire body was tense, and she gripped my bicep so hard that her nails dug into my flesh.

Devonna, the black-haired Southern woman was just behind me on the right, and her slack jaw was nearly on the floor as she stared at the women in front of us.

“Lyudy!” the woman on the ground breathed, but her voice was quickly overtaken by a fit of coughing.

Immediately, I could tell she wasn’t doing well. She was pale as a ghost, and she looked like she was on the Grim Reaper’s doorstep.

Even in her frail state, she was absolutely stunning, and my stomach dropped as I wondered what had happened to her. All the women behind me were absolutely beautiful, but this woman was something else entirely. She was, quite frankly, the most gorgeous creature I’d ever seen. Her long, voluminous hair was a beautiful honey color that looked lovely with her slightly tanned skin. Her dark green eyes sat above a perfectly straight, upturned nose, full and pouty pink lips, and a sharp, angular chin. Her high cheekbones protruded even further than they should have due to her sunken cheeks, but she was still gorgeous.

Not only was her face stunning, but she had full breasts, a slender waist, and wide hips that fit her height and weight incredibly well. If she wasn’t so pale and gaunt, I’d think she looked like a Greek goddess.

“Ty ukrayinetsʹ?” Natasha asked, and I suddenly realized the sick woman had spoken a different language.

Was she Russian, too? It sounded like Natasha had just said something about the Ukraine, so could she be from there?

The blonde drew in a couple of shaky breaths, but it seemed like she wasn’t able to get a good lungful of air, which then sent her into another coughing fit. The other two women crowded over her and looked around nervously as they tried to figure out a way to help.

What had we stumbled upon here? This woman was clearly dying, but from what? She had no visible injuries. Could she have gotten bit by a snake or something? The desert was notorious for rattlesnakes and other venomous creatures.

I turned around only to realize we’d come out through a cave. A huge rock formation extended out in both directions from where we stood, and I was suddenly aware it was hot as hell. My soaking wet clothes clung to my body and dripped onto the ground around me. After the torrential downpour my team and I had just come from, stepping into this dry heat was almost like stepping into a sauna. There was no rain here, and no mutant otter-walrus-komodo dragon creatures, either.

Not yet, at least.

The beasts behind us screeched again, but they couldn’t get through the hole in the tree my team had come through. I didn’t think that would stop them from trying, though, and I feared that eventually they would find their way in.

“Who the hell are you?” another woman asked as she stood up and pointed a home-made spear directly at my chest.

She was a beautiful black woman with a curvy, voluptuous figure and dark brown hair that hung down to her shoulders in tight ringlets. Her dark brown eyes narrowed on me, and her full lips pulled back into a snarl to reveal pearly-white teeth.

She had to be at least a foot shorter than me. And while she had a highly feminine figure with wide hips, large breasts, and a hell of an ass, there was plenty of muscle definition to her arms, so I had no doubt she would be a formidable opponent if she wanted to be.

Only when she pointed her spear at me did I realize that I still had my knife held at the ready.

“Excuse the hell outta me,” Devonna said, and she stepped up beside me. “But we’re just tryin’ to survive here, ain’t no need to get all huffy about it.”

“You just walked into my camp,” the woman growled. “Now, who the fuck are you, and where did you come from?”

“Listen here, missy--”

“Whoaaaaa, there, girl.” I caught Devonna by the waist as she walked toward the armed stranger. Then I shuffled her back behind me before turning to the hostile woman. “I’m sorry about that, let’s all just calm down.”

Devonna let out a little huff, but she didn’t say anything else.

I lowered my knife by my side to show the woman we had no intentions of harming her, but I didn’t let go of it completely. She was clearly combative, and while I understood her desire to protect herself and the women behind her, I couldn’t disarm myself completely. I’d be a fool to take a risk like that.

We didn’t know each other, and while we meant her no harm, she made a good point. We’d just wandered into her camp out of nowhere. I’d be startled as hell, too, if I was her.

As I lowered my knife, I became acutely aware of the injuries I’d sustained in the battle with the mutant otters. The entire front of my jumpsuit was wet, and while it all sort of blended together from the rain, I knew a good bit of it was blood from both me and the otter creatures.

There were also three large tears near my left hip, and my right arm was scratched all to hell. My jumpsuit was in disarray, and I didn’t even want to know how bad I looked at the moment. All the color had probably drained from my body from lack of blood, and while my wounds had most likely already begun to heal from the enhanced healing abilities I’d apparently gained since I woke up here, they still hurt like a motherfucker.

I took a deep breath to steady myself, pushed the pain to the back of my mind, and forced a smile.

“We aren’t here to harm anyone or cause trouble,” I continued. “If we all just calm--”

“Don’t tell me to calm down,” the beautiful dark-skinned woman spat. “You four show up here out of nowhere and expect us to greet you with open arms? You’ve got to be kidding. You’re soaking wet, the guy here is bloody as all hell, and every last one of you looks like you just got run over by a damn semi. Somebody better start talking. Now.”

“Shanice, maybe we should do what he said,” a petite, black-haired woman said from behind the woman with the spear. “Let’s all just take a deep breath.”

The woman appeared to be of Asian descent. Her lovely, monolid eyes were a deep brown, and they were paired with a rounded face, full lips, and small nose. She was short, probably even shorter than Natasha, but she was fit and toned under her formfitting dark green jumpsuit.

“Em, we can’t trust them,” the woman said without taking her eyes off of me. “I’m not going to calm down until I know exactly what is going on here. Now, somebody please start talking so I don’t have to use this damn thing.”

Em, as Shanice had called her, locked eyes with me and pulled her full bottom lip between her teeth. Then she gave a little shrug to let me know that while she wanted to help pacify the situation, she also knew her comrade had a point.

And I knew it, too.

Shanice was absolutely right. She was the only one of the three women who was armed, and the one on the ground was in absolutely no condition to fight. This woman was doing everything she could to protect the two women behind her, and I understood her hesitance to lower her weapon given the situation. It wasn’t the least bit unreasonable of her to want to know what was going on, either.

I just hoped my explanation wouldn’t sound batshit crazy.

“I’m sorry we startled you,” I apologized sincerely. “We just came through a door at the back of this cave. Since your fire is just outside, I’m guessing the three of you have been staying in there. I know this must be a shock, but understand we didn’t know we’d come into another room when we went through the door.”

“Yeah,” Sarah agreed. “We thought we were getting out of there for good.”

“Getting out of where?” Shanice asked, and her eyes narrowed as she looked my team up and down.

She had to realize we were in the same jumpsuits as they were, and I was sure she had just as many questions as I did. The last thing I’d expected to see on the other side of that door was a damn desert.

“We were in a jungle room,” Sarah explained.

“A jungle room?” Shanice scoffed. “What the hell are you two talking about? You’re not making any damn sense. Now, somebody better start being honest here.”

“Listen, lady, you need--” Devonna started, but I shot her a look to cut her off.

The Southern woman’s dark blue eyes met mine, and she pursed her plump lips. Then she eyed Shanice up and down before cocking a hip out to the side and crossing her arms over her chest. She clearly wasn’t happy that I was keeping her at bay, but at least she was willing to do as I said.

These women we’d just run into had every right to be suspicious and surprised. And as much as I wished the one in charge would realize we weren’t a threat, I understood she was only trying to keep her group safe.

Sarah glanced over at me with uncertainty in her dark brown eyes, but I nodded for her to continue.

“We came through a door we found,” the redhead explained. “We were just trying to get out of the jungle.”

“What fucking jungle?” the woman asked, and her hands tightened on the spear as she became visibly exasperated.

“I’m sure it doesn’t really make sense,” I said. “We didn’t know there was a desert here until just now, so of course you wouldn’t know about the jungle room.”

“Jungle room?” she asked. “You didn’t know there was a desert? Boy, not a damn thing you’re saying is making sense. Just what the hell kind of drugs are you on, anyway?”

“Drugs?” I repeated with a shake of my head. “No, I--”

“Jake,” Sarah whispered and cut me off. “I don’t think they know.”

The redhead nodded to the left, and I noticed the large open area of desert had a bunch of rocks lined up deliberately in the sand. After a second of trying to put it together, I realized it was an SOS for a helicopter or plane.

They didn’t know they were in a room.

If they knew, they never would have put up an SOS for an aerial rescue that would never come. But how could they not know? How long had they been here? A million questions ran through my mind, but I shook my head and focused on the task at hand. I was going to need to deliver this news delicately.

“I think you’re right,” I told the redhead.

“What are you two talking about?” Shanice demanded, and the anger and fear on her face told me she understood we had information she didn’t.

“Um, where do you think you are?” Sarah asked.

“I’d answer that, but it seems like you already know.” Shanice glared.

“I don’t know where you think you are,” Sarah replied in a low voice. “I don’t even know where we are. I’m just trying to figure out how to put this… nicely.”

I knew that by nicely she meant ‘in a way that isn’t going to blow your fucking minds and give you mental breakdowns.’ But ‘nicely’ sounded a lot less scary.

“Alright, I’ll bite.” Shanice lifted her chin slightly, but her body was still tense and defensive. “Given the time frame, we’ve got to be somewhere outside of Vegas.”

“Vegas?” I asked. “Nevada?”

“You know of another Las Vegas?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, but I can see why you might have thought that,” I said. “Being in a desert, I mean.”

“Well, it sounds like you think I’m wrong,” she said, and her dark brown eyes narrowed on me as her full lips pressed together. “Which means you know something I don’t know. Is that right?”

“Uh, yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck nervously. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you all this, but wherever we are, we’re not near Las Vegas. We’re not even in Nevada. Well, I guess we could be, but I don’t think--”

“Spit it out,” Shanice sighed.

“You’re in a room,” I said softly. “Whoever brought us here locked us in these rooms. You’re in a desert room, we were in a jungle room.”

“Is true,” Natasha said from behind me.

“How… how is that possible?” Em asked, and her dark eyes were full of confusion and sadness as they locked on mine again.

“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “We were trying to get out when we wound up here.”

“You’re lying,” Shanice said, but her head cocked to the side, and her voice was low so it sounded more like a question than a statement.

“I’m afraid not.” I shook my head.

“If we’re in a building, then how do you explain the fucking sun in the sky?” She gestured up to the ceiling.

“There’s no s--” Sarah cut herself off when she looked up.

I followed her lead and found that there actually was a sun. Or at least, something that looked like one. There was a bright light in the sky, but as I squinted to try and get a better view, it became clear it wasn’t the sun. There was no definition to it whatsoever, it was just a bright glow that seemed to come out of nowhere.

We’d already seen how incredibly intricate the workings of the jungle room were, but it seemed the desert room was just as intricate, too. Maybe even more so. There was clearly some sort of screen on the ceiling that was projecting this makeshift sun, and it had to be moving like a typical sun would do as well. Otherwise, I had to believe these women would have caught on by now.

“What in the Sam Hill is that?” Devonna breathed, and she nudged me with her elbow. “Jakey, are we really outside?”

“It’s not a real sun,” Sarah said before I could.

“What you mean not real sun?” the woman on the ground asked in a low, raspy voice, and her beautiful lips pulled into a frown.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But if you look closely, you’ll see there’s no definition to it. It’s just… light.”

“Is that not all the sun is?” the sickly blonde asked, and she shivered as sweat dripped down her face and neck.

“Not exactly,” Natasha answered, and hearing them speak one right after the other made me aware of just how similar their accents were.

“You are Russian?” the blonde asked her, and then she went into another coughing fit.

“Da.” Natasha nodded once she was done. “Ukrainian?”

“Tak.” The blonde woman smiled, and if she didn’t look so fragile and gaunt, it would have been the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

“That can’t be right.” Shanice shook her head vehemently. “I would have noticed if the damn sun wasn’t real. How could the sun not be real?”

At that moment, I felt incredibly sorry for this beautiful woman. The pain that flashed across her face made my chest tighten, and I wanted to reach out to her and tell her it was all going to be okay.

But she kinda looked like she’d bite my damn head off if I tried.

The news we’d just delivered would shatter anyone’s sense of reality, but I thought it might be even worse for the women here. My team and I had figured out we were in a room because there wasn’t a sun at all, but these women had woken up to this realistic faux-sun. It made absolute sense that they wouldn’t question it. The sun was a universal constant that all creatures on this planet knew. It would have only been strange if there hadn’t been one like in the jungle room.

“You can’t blame yourself,” I told her gently. “I mean, who would think to question the sun?”

“No, no.” Shanice continued to shake her head and lick her lips nervously. “This can’t be right. You… are you trying to fuck with us? Because if you are--”

“Is true,” Natasha said. “We were in jungle room with mutant predators. We figured there had to be a way out of here, and when we found door, it led to you.”

“You guys haven’t found any walls or doors yet?” Sarah asked. “Nothing that would have indicated that you weren’t actually in the desert?”

“No.” Em bit her lip. “We haven’t been very far from camp. Are there… Are there really walls here? How could we not be in the desert?”

“We are in the desert,” Shanice insisted with a newfound determination of denial. “They’ve got to be lying. This is a sick joke, isn’t it? Who put you up to this, huh? Was it Cooper? Or maybe Delmonte? Huh? Who? You tell those sick fucks this isn’t funny.”

“I don’t know who those people are,” I said, and I stared right into the woman’s dark brown eyes. “You don’t have to believe us. You can use your own eyes. The sun up there isn’t actually the sun. Just look at it for a few seconds and you’ll see.”

“So, I’m an idiot now because I haven’t stared directly at the sun?” Shanice scoffed. “You show up here looking like a fucking horror movie extra and expect us to believe anything you say?”

“I mean, you do kinda look like a horror movie extra,” Devonna giggled. Then I shot her a raised eyebrow, and she bit her lip and turned back to Shanice. “But he really is injured from those otter critters he just fought.”

“Otter critters?” Shanice questioned. “Good lord, this is getting ridiculous.”

“You’re tellin’ me,” Devonna snorted.

“There’s no otters,” Shanice said. “We’re in the damn desert. Whatever prank you all are tryin’ to pull here, it’s not funny. Now, you better tell us the truth. Now, damnit!”

“Just listen,” Sarah said. “You can hear them right now.”

Tensions grew even higher as we all went quiet for a moment. The woman stared straight at me, but I saw her eyes widen slightly when the mutant otter creatures on the other side of the door screeched loud enough for us to hear them more clearly.

By the sounds of it, there were at least three or four of them now, and I figured whoever released them or designed this place hadn’t intended for us to find the door. The creatures had come one right after another, which was obviously meant to deter us from escaping. It was too much of a coincidence. Someone, or something, had to be letting them out of cages and sending them after us.

I just hoped the hole we’d come down held up to them trying to get through it. If not, we were all going to be fucked.

“What is that?” Em asked, and she stepped toward the cave entrance.

“Stay back,” Shanice warned, and she put her arm out to keep Em behind her. Then she leveled her gaze on me. “What the hell is that?”

“Monsters,” Sarah said. “Didn’t you guys get the note?”

“Tak,” the blonde woman on the ground said, and she sat up and coughed so much blood into her hands that it dripped through the cracks in her fingers. She wiped the bright red liquid from around her mouth and then continued. “There was note in my pocket when I woke up here.”

Whatever happened to this woman, her health was deteriorating fast. If she didn’t get medical attention, I wasn’t sure she was going to make it.

“Don’t tell them that,” Shanice hissed, and she turned to Sarah. “What the hell do you mean those are monsters?”

“I don’t know how else to say it,” Sarah said with a shake of her head. “They’re monsters. You guys don’t have them here?”

“Da,” Natasha added. “We’ve only been here four days and already fought numerous monsters. There was flying jaguar--”

“Don’t forget the snake,” Devonna said with a point of her finger. “That was the first one.”

“Snake, then jaguar,” Natasha corrected. “Gorilla-crocodile.”

“And those weird snake-cheetah-birds.” Sarah shuddered.

“Da.” Natasha nodded. “And otter-walrus-komodo dragon beast we just fought.”

“I don’t know who put you all up to this,” Shanice said as she looked at us like we were crazy. “But whatever ‘monsters’ you’re making up, it isn’t funny. What is that, some kind of recording or something? Are the boys back there waiting for their moment? Alright, you can come on out, you assholes. Real fucking funny.”

“Who the hell are you talkin’ to, sweetie?” Devonna cocked her hip to the side and raised an eyebrow at the woman.

“Da,” Natasha said. “We just told you what screeches are. Otter-walrus-komodo dragon.”

“Or, at least, that’s what we think it was, anyway,” Devonna said with a small shrug. “There could be other things thrown in there. We don’t really know how it all works yet. You know, I was thinkin’--”

“Whatever it is,” Shanice interjected as the screeches continued. “You led it right to us.”

“Well, we didn’t exactly know we were gonna wind up in here, now did we?” Devonna put her hand on her hip and glared at the dark-skinned woman.

“There is no need to worry,” Natasha said with a small shrug. “Creature cannot get through hole in tree.”

“Hole in tree?” the blonde on the ground asked, and she tried to sit up only to go into another coughing fit. “What hole?”

“Yeah, I thought you just said you came through a door?” Em asked, and her dark eyebrows pulled together as she crouched down next to the woman on the ground.

“We did,” I agreed. “But the door was underneath a tree.”

“Yeah, I kinda fell through by accident.” Devonna shrugged.

“A door under a tree,” Em repeated in a low voice, and she lowered her eyes and cocked her head to the side slightly.

The woman on the ground began to cough up blood again, and the sight of her entire body forcing the crimson liquid out in such horrific gushes made me shudder. The entire front of her jumpsuit was stained red, and her hair was stringy around her face from the amount of sweat she was producing.

“Your friend seems really sick,” I said seriously. “What’s wrong with her? Maybe we can help.”

“Yeah.” Sarah frowned. “She looks really bad. I have some first aid training. I’m no doctor or anything, but I can take a look. Is she injured somehow?”

“Don’t you worry about her,” Shanice told us with narrowed eyes. “We’re taking care of her. What we need to be worried about is whatever the hell is making that screeching sound.”

“How many times do we gotta tell you?” Devonna rolled her eyes. “It’s some crazy mutant otter critter. I mean, damn, I know it’s a mouthful, but try to follow along, will ya?”

“I’m following,” Shanice snapped, and she looked Devonna up and down. “I’m just not sure I speak liar.”

“Who you callin’ a liar, honey?” Devonna scoffed.

“You just said you came through a door,” Shanice reminded her. “There’s no doors in a desert. Do you think we’re stupid?”

“We don’t think you’re stupid,” I said.

“Just stubborn as hell,” Devonna muttered.

I sent her a side-eyed glance before I continued. “You can walk ten feet behind us and see the door. It’s right there.”

“I’m not walking anywhere,” Shanice said, and a bead of sweat dripped down her forehead and made me realize she’d been in the same defensive stance this entire conversation.

She had to be getting tired of holding it, but the fact that she kept it up showed me that she was bound and determined to survive here. That was a good attribute, but I wished she’d lighten up some. It was obvious she was in charge of protecting the other two women, but the sooner she realized we weren’t a threat, the sooner we could actually start making some progress in this discussion.

“Seriously,” Sarah said. “We can all--”

Suddenly, the ground started to shake. My feet wobbled as the Earth underneath vibrated, and I held my arms out to steady myself.

“What is this?” the woman on the ground asked in a shaky voice.

“An earthquake?” Em asked as she rocked back and forth with the motion of the ground below us.

“No.” I shook my head as I realized the ground had moved just like this before we got here. “The door is closing.”

“Again with the fucking door!” Shanice yelled and threw her head back with exasperation.

“He’s right,” Sarah said quickly. “The ground vibrated like this just before it opened.”

“Go!” I hollered, and before Shanice could open her mouth to try and stop us, my team and I rushed back the way we’d come from.

Shanice was right behind us, and as soon as we made it deep enough into the cave, the large door came into view. It was covered with rocks on this side instead of metal like the opposite side, but it was clearly the place we’d come through.

And it was closing us in.