Simian Encounter (Draft)

Author's Note: I had this sitting on the shelf for some time so I've decided to post what I have so far. Should I continue it? Let me know what you guys think!

Erica struggled to draw pinpoints of her map as the jeep she sat in bounced and wobbled on an obscure dirt road leading into the deep jungle somewhere in central Africa. Letting out an annoyed sigh, she put her map down and looked ahead. 

“Are we getting close to my destination?” Erica asked, grasping the grab handle above her. 

“We’re almost there, ma’am. Maybe in a half hour, this road isn’t exactly drivable,” her driver-guide replied with a thick African accent. 

Pinching the bridge of her nose, she retrieved her journal and reviewed her notes. Erica was an explorer and Zoologist. From a young age, she was always interested in animals of all species. Her interest in animals animal appeal to being outdoors ultimately led her to this career.

Erica found it more fulfilling being in the field studying animals in person, rather than being cooped up in some lab. At 23, she was revered as a prodigy in her scientific community. She had managed to discover several new species in her first year being a zoologist which gained her a great deal of notoriety amongst her peers. 

Aside from her achievements, Erica was also known to be a very attractive woman. Standing at a modest 5’7”, she donned a head of wavy brown hair. That, paired with her D-cup bust, slim yet curvaceous athletic figure, and lightly tanned white skin, Erica was every man’s dream woman.

The reason why Erica found herself in the deep jungles of central Africa was that she was fascinated with local folktales and rumors about an allusive primate that existed in the area. Most of her colleagues just summed it up as a myth, some tale that villagers would tell their children to make them behave. But Erica suspected that there was more to the tales than most would believe. 

She had traveled in between man towns and villages, asking about this mysterious primate. Although the locals gave it different names, they all shared the same story, which compelled Erica that she was truly onto something. 

Sifting her notes about the description of the animal. From what she gathered, this primate was akin to a large ape. It apparently stood at around 5’6” when standing upright and sightings of it only occurred in the deep jungle where she was heading. According to everyone she interviewed, the animal had distinctive orange fur, like an orangutan, but was more similar to a chimpanzee. Much of the other details were vague and unclear, but on all accounts, the descriptions of the primate were all the same; she even had some photos that had captured the animal’s likeness. But most of them were blurry and low-quality. 

Soon enough, Erica had finally reached her destination. The location was fairly remote, from a lead she got from a local tribesman who had sworn they saw the elusive animal. 

“Are you sure you’ll be okay out here alone, ma’am? There won’t be any help for many miles,” her driver expressed his concern. Erica smiled and shook her head as she exited the vehicle.

“I’ll be fine, Amani. I’m very experienced in surviving out in the wild. If worse comes to worse, I have my satellite phone on me. So I’ll be okay,” the keen brunette assured. 

Unloading her survival equipment and supplies from the trunk, she waved her guide goodbye as he circled back to where they had come from. As the jeep disappeared into the deep brush, Erica took a deep breath and composed herself. She would effectively be on her own for five days until Amani returned to pick her up on schedule.

Making quick adjustments to her boots, cargo shorts-shorts, explorer shirt jacket, and bucket hat, she lugged her gear onto her back and delved into the brush. 

After a few hours' worth of navigating through the thick jungle, Erica checked her map and recognized that she had made it to the area where her mini base of operations would be established. 

Choosing a river to set up camp, it served as a source of fresh water and a recognizable landmark that can be easily remembered and followed. Erica made quick work setting up her tent and other important equipment. 

Erica wiped the sweat off her forehead with her arm as she finally finished making the last of her preparations. “Jeez, it’s hot…” she muttered to herself as she braced her hands on her hips, observing her work. “All that’s left to do is search for that ape now…” 

Glancing over to the river, Erica couldn’t help but feel allured by its brisk essence. The stickiness of her skin and her moist clothes suddenly became palpable. She had been rigorously traveling through the jungle for some time. Perhaps she needed a good rest before proceeding with her plans. 

Stripping out of all of her clothes, Erica stretched her arms up and released a liberated exhale. Since there were other people for miles, she had no fear of being butt naked out in the open. Hell, it almost felt natural, as if she were meant to be like this like nature intended.

Stepping into the river, Erica purred in relief feeling the cool water wash over her. Fully submerging herself, she emerged back out feeling as fresh as ever. “Ahh, that hits the spot,” Erica cheered contently. Returning to the riverbank, she grabbed some soap and began to bathe herself. 

Her feminine hands traced her perfect curves, around her shapely boobs, before bending over and scrubbing her long-toned legs. Reaching down, she cleaned her clean-shaven nether regions, eliciting an involuntary moan from her lips; she always found it more comfortable being smooth down there with the amount of extracurricular activities she did.

But as she rinsed the soap off her body, she couldn't help but shake this odd feeling that she was being watched. But that was normal. Considering she was deep in the jungle, there were bound to be some curious animals cautiously observing her. 

But then, the sudden sound of sifting leaves and crunching branching caused Erica to jolt. Instinctually turning her attention to the source of the sound, she was met with nothing. It was easily concluded that it was just a random animal happening to pass by. 

Finishing up, she left the river and dried off. Putting her clothes back on, Erica glanced up at the sky and checked her watch. “Hmm, I still have some sunlight. Maybe I should just map out the surrounding area before it gets dark,” the brunette spoke to herself. 

Retrieving her drone, Erica flew it around her camp’s perimeter to see if there were any points of interest worth checking out. But there wasn’t much to see since most of the terrain was covered in thick trees. Other than some monkeys and birds, Erica saw nothing. 

But a particular cliffside not too far from her location did spark interest in her. It appeared to have some cave entrances alongside it. Although she knew that apes in general didn’t use caves as primary habitats, she figured that it would be a good place to explore just in case all her other options came out fruitless. 

Trying to get a close look at the cliffside, Erica annoyingly pursed her lips seeing that she was getting out of range of her drone, so she had to turn back. Landing her drone, she gathered her survival equipment and proceeded into the brush to check off likely areas where this ape might be. 

Cutting through the vegetation with her machete, Erica pushed onward until she stumbled upon some wild African mangos on the ground. Noting that she was near a food source, she trekked further until she came across a clearing under the clutter of trees. 

Her hazel eyes carefully scanned the area. Walking over to some fruit lying about, she found that some of them were half eaten. Bending down, Erica picked up one of the fruit and examined it for distinctive bite marks. Her brows arched to see that it had a rather big bite mark. Far bigger than any smaller monkey or bird. And Erica was certain that there were no accounts of any other large apes in this particular region. 

“Yes! I’m on the right track,” she happily cheered. 

Doing a deeper investigation, Erica searched for any signs of evidence. She searched for footprints, droppings, or fur. But as she did this, that strange feeling of being watched loomed over her again. She instinctively watched the surrounding brush as she continued her search, constantly looking over her shoulder. 

After almost a half hour of exploring the clearing, Erica sighed to see that there were no other leads besides that bitten fruit lying about. But she did not fret about her situation. The half-eaten mangos were enough evidence that there was definitely something out there. 

Again, there was a subtle ruffle in the brush nearby, causing Erica to jolt. “Gah? What was that?” the brunette explorer gasped. She viewed where the source of the noise and carefully approached it. Erica knew what she was doing was a bit stupid since she was venturing into the unknown, she could be running into a predator for all she knows. But, her inquisitive nature couldn’t help it. She was close to making a groundbreaking discovery. This may be a big lead in her search!

But just in case, Erica withdrew her pistol that she carried at all times for self-defense. Steeping closer to the bushes where the commotion came from, her ears perked up hearing faint heavy breathing. Erica’s hazel eyes widened and immediately stepped back. 

Her heart raced with anxiety and anticipation. For all she knew, this could be a leopard preparing to pounce on her. Even if it wasn’t, and she managed to find the primate out of sheer luck, she didn’t know how it would react to her human presence. Would it be curious or violent? But Erica figured that given its evasiveness, it might be docile. 

Taking a step forward again, Erica flinched to witness that whatever was ahead of her retreated deeper into the brush. “Ugh, dammit. I must have spooked it,” she hissed to herself. But going over to where the animal was, she cut away the vegetation to find any evidence. 

Glancing at the ground, her eyes widened with elation to see an outline of footprints before her. They were very primate in nature. The size of the prints matched the stature of what the ape was described as. “This is amazing!” Erica gushed, taking her camera and snapping this irrefutable evidence. 

But as she finished taking the last of her photos, her mind contemplated what just happened. This ape was right next to her, a mere few feet from where she stood not too long ago. The gratification and anticipation of being so close to achieving her goals this early in her expedition was blood pumping. However, at the same time, she recalled the times she felt this eerie feeling of being watched. What she had just witnessed could be easily connected to what happened earlier at the river. 

“Was this thing watching me?” Erica muttered in deep thought. Rubbing her chin, she felt a bit creeped out that this mysterious ape was actively watching her. Many questions conjured in her mind asking what its intentions might be. Was it curious? Or stalking her like prey: some primates are known to be omnivores. But given the way it scurried away from her, it was likely the former. 

Noticing that it was starting to get dark, Erica decided that it was a good time to call it quits. She had exceeded all her objectives for the day, so she could rest easy to know that all this traveling wasn’t for nothing. Retrieving her map, she jotted down the general location of this clearing. 

Knowing that this ape went here to eat, she set up a trail camera in a key area that got a full view of the clearing before returning to camp. Once back, Erica could hardly contain a delighted grin. She was considerably lucky that she made such huge strides on the first day of her expedition. But it begged to question of why no one else was able to get proper documentation of this primate. The most likely answer was that this region was very remote and not many people came here except hunters or foragers from tribes and villages. So word of this rare animal must have been hard to come by. Hell, Erica only learned of its existence through some conversation she happened to overhear during one of her last expeditions in central Africa. 

Nonetheless, she put these thoughts aside and focused on her objective; getting concrete evidence of the animal. 

Preparing for bed in her tent, Erica took her tablet and checked on the trail camera. But there wasn’t anything of interest to find, however. Just some wild hogs and other nocturnal animals foraging the wild mangos. 

Putting her tablet down, Erica planned to search the surrounding area near the clearing. Lying on her sleeping pad, she confidently smiled to herself knowing that it would only be a matter of time before she found that ape.

-

Waking up from her slumber, the first thing Erica did was to check the trail cameras again. To her shock, it showed that the feeds were out. “What the… that can’t be right…” she uneasily mumbled. 

She tried resetting the cameras remotely but to no avail. Shaking her head, Erica wondered what happened. She was certain that it was charged. Sighing, she was going to have to go check on the trail camera to see what happened to them, which wasn’t a big deal since she was heading back there anyway. 

Once back at the familiar clearing, Erica went over the trail cameras. She gasped to discover the camera was in a state of disrepair. “What the hell??” she uttered in shock. It appeared that it was ripped from its placement and its lens was shattered. 

“Fuck! This thing was expensive!” Erica spat, grabbing the bridge of her nose. 

Luckily, the SD card inside was still intact. So sitting on the ground, she crossed her legs and pulled out her tablet from her backpack. Inserting the SD card, she reviewed the footage from the night. For many hours there was nothing, she sped up the recording until the footage was cut off. 

Playing back before those very moments. Although there was nothing on the screen, the camera subtly shook, like something was examining it. Then, the camera began to be tugged at rather violently before suddenly stopping. Whatever was fiddling with her camera was annoyingly positioned out of view of the camera. Several more minutes passed of nothing before suddenly, she saw a primate-like hand across the camera. 

A gratified grin formed on Erica’s face. The camera was then ripped from its placement. Spinning the camera around, she was met with her first true sighting of the ape’s face as it curiously peered into the lens. 

As expected, it had very primate features with its prominent brow ridge, large eyes, and broad flat nose. But strangely, it had some homosapien likeness. Its eyes were very expressive like a person's and its overall facial structure was similar, but still, it was more akin to an ape. This was groundbreaking! Has Erica discovered a completely new species of primate? 

As she continued to watch the recording, the ape stared at the camera for a few more seconds before abruptly slamming it into the tree. 

Erica shook her head finding out the reason for her camera’s disrepair. But on a high note, she came for what she was looking for. Well, mostly. The footage was in night-vision and didn’t show the animal in its full likeness. Given its distinctive features specific to its color and size, the footage wasn’t enough. Many would consider it just another species. Erica needed more.

As she returned her tablet and broken trail camera to her backpack, Erica stood up to continue her exploration. Slicing deeper into the jungle, she wondered what she would name this new species. She could hardly contain her gratification, this would make her famous! Not that Erica sought out fame or fortune, but this discovery was worth sharing with the world!

But as her search continued, Erica came out empty-handed. Removing her bucket hat, she wiped the sweat on her brow and let out an annoyed sigh. This animal was more elusive than she thought. As she sipped on her cantine, that familiar sensation of being watched loomed over her again, although she was aware of what might be observing her this time.

Taking a more unassuming stance, she carefully watched the treeline and bushes for any sign of the ape. A subtle unnatural movement in the brush caught the corner of her eye. But instead of noticing, she pretended she didn’t see it. 

There was no point in exploring deeper into the jungle since the ape was close. Erica needed to figure out a way to lure it out. It was obvious that it was curious about her. If it was predatory or scared, it would have done something by now. 

Testing how far it would follow her, Erica returned to her camp. She was happy to find that it followed her right until the treeline near the river. With the vegetation not as thick here, she was able to get better glimpses of the primate. She recognized its orange fur, cementing the discovery she had made.