Ferocity

Chapter 1

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Chapter 1: Well Fuck...

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"Where am I?" I mutter to myself. What the hell... What is going on?

I look around at the detached branches of fallen trees that look to have been there a while and were perfectly alive- weirdly enough.

What I thought was private property or something- had disappeared- like completely.

I look back towards where I was supposed to have parked my car just a few seconds ago. It was just off the side of the dirt road.

Except it wasn't. The road had vanished, and so did my messy bootprints against the mud leading up to me.

Not to mention- Wait... These were not even the same trees as what I stepped into!

I just wanted to get some gas- is that too much to ask? Driving all the way up here for a damn university tour only because it waived the fee for application.

I knew I should have just taken the bullet. That gut feeling was there for a reason, I guess...

"What the FUCK?!" I question the world, pissed off at its bullshit.

I gesture wildly around me like a madman. Motioning several middle fingers to the sky.

Dramatically an animated rain cloud flies in very quickly. I watch in shock. As it strikes lightning down at a tree near to me, comically charring it instantly. Almost exactly like something out of a cartoon.

I panic. Throwing myself like ten feet in the air. The electricity around the tree fizzles, sparking in arcs similar to a tesla coil.

I look back up. The sky is clear again. What. The. Fuck.

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I'm clearly not in Ohio anymore- though I can't say I'm too upset about that. I like to think anyone from Ohio would agree.

Everything seems more dramatic here- the trees seem taller, the hills more vast, even the bugs seem smarter.

I spotted a beetle I hadn't seen ever before. It was just casually wandering up a tree before dodging what looked to be a praying mantis that seemed to have been hunting it at unprecedented speeds. It was gone quicker than my eyes could track.

I had taken out my phone. It seemed to be acting funny. I expected no signal, and I got that. The problem is that it kept rebooting randomly every few minutes.

I may be an aspiring engineer, but that doesn't mean I know shit about phones.

Well, I've read enough- more like watched enough survival guides to know what to do. Time to find water! Humming to myself 'Follow the Yellow Brick Road' from the Wizard of Oz, I begin to trek in the direction of what once was my shitty car and set out.

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I can't say I've ever enjoyed walking places, but I damn sure love being in the middle of nowhere. I think I could get used to this.

"Thunk." Nevermind. Why are all these tree branches all at head height? Well, guess ill be doing the crouching walk. A lot of the trees are pretty cleared, at least on their top branches.

The brush on the ground is getting very thick. I keep having to unstick tagalong-like needles from my jeans and out of the laces of my boots.

I am so glad I always wear boots they definitely come in handy. Though I never expected this to be when they are needed most.

I begin humming again to get my mind off panicking and decide Queen is a good bet.

"I want to ride my bicycle- I want to ride it-" I get interrupted by a strange weapon getting thrown at me. It misses me only by a millimeter.

"What the hell!" I screech, scrambling away, yanking my almost stabbed arm towards myself. My baggy clothes have a hole in them, and the tree behind me has a kunai in its bark about halfway.

Panicking, I shove myself behind the tree and am greeted by a man.

I scream, jumping and immediately going to kick the shins. Before I could do anything, my foot is grabbed. Suddenly I am hanging upside down- BY MY FEET.

"What the fuck- dude!?" The guy begins shaking me side to side and up and down. How the hell is he holding me up? I am not a small woman by any means.

"What is your problem, man!" He tilts his head down towards my face. He has a bandana of some kind on, but it is hidden by a hood that overlaps his eyes.

I hear movement in the trees behind me and turn my head towards the sound. Several people jump down from trees looking around at me warily and curiously.

He talks very harshly to me. I have no clue what he is saying for a moment before a translation seems to filter through my head.

What? I definitely did not know any language other than English and the few german classes I was forced to take for electives. What is going on?

I zone back in after a minute. The dude seems to be talking to the other people shaking me from side to side every now and then, seemingly arguing with a girl from the other group.

I am suddenly dropped from his hands and onto my head. My neck and shoulder squish too close for comfort. I grunt in pain and immediately begin rubbing my neck. What the-

"Who are you?" The dude demands, the translation thing seems to have calibrated or something. Because he speaks and English is said on top of his voice.

"Uhhh. What is going on?" A higher-pitched voice speaks up, and another person shows up out of nowhere. By now, I have gathered a crowd of weirdly dressed people with bandanas. All I can wonder is...

What is this shitty convention?