Survivor

Chapter 3

Persistent beeping woke Ruby up, making her groan.

It got louder with every second, before she eventually opened her eyes. Rolling over, she tiredly felt around for her phone on the nightstand. After Ruby switched off the alarm clock, she sat up on the edge of the mattress, blinking in the darkness of her room. The ocean noise she had put on to fall asleep to, was still playing when she stood up and switched on the light.

Yawning, Ruby rubbed her eyes, reminding herself that it was her, who had volunteered to feed the jaguar this evening. Now she somewhat regretted that decision. The tiredness clung to her, making it hard to keep her eyes open. Getting only three hours of sleep in two days obviously hadn't been her best idea. But she had wanted to take some work off her team, that had been so amazing in the planning and execution of the rescue. After they had gotten the anonymous tip about the fights, they had immediately gotten to work, trying to get the animals out as soon as possible. When they had finally arrived at the warehouse, they found only two jaguars. A dead male and the female that was currently in the enclosure outside.

Ruby's heart ached at the thought about the male. If they had managed to get there just a little earlier, he may have been still alive. At least, the female was safe now. They would care for her, making sure she was healthy, before handing her over to a suitable place where she would have a much bigger enclosure and space to roam. Sadly, they couldn't release her into the wild since she had been trained to kill and the risk of her attacking humans was simply too high.

Staying in her sleeping top and short pants, Ruby put on her shoes. It was still warm and humid outside, even after the sun set, so there was no need for a jacket. After getting her headlamp, she walked to the door of her Trailer and opened it. A strong gust of wind blew her hair back and made her face sting with raindrops that felt like tiny needles. Horrified, she stared out into the thunderstorm. It looked like the world was ending.

"Are you fucking kidding me?"

She hadn't noticed the sound of rain, too groggy from the lack of sleep. For a moment, she just stood there, considering her life choices. Then she sighed in resignation, before turning around and reaching for a raincoat. The wind was so strong, Ruby struggled to close the door.

through the rain towards the food truck, where the meat was stored. Mud was making the ground slippery, forcing her to run slower than she would have preferred. Opening the door of the food truck she immediately slammed it back shut before turning on the light. Goosebumps spread on the bare skin of her legs when she opened the refrigerator, to put the meat into a bucket. Even from the short distance from her Trailer to the food truck, her legs had already gotten wet. The rainwater was running down her thighs and calves.

Bracing herself she opened the door again and stepped outside into the rain. She left the bucket under the small canopy while she turned the lock so that no animals could get in their food storage. The heavy bucket slowed her down even more as she walked to the enclosure and she nearly slipped in the mud. She stopped in front of the gate and set the bucket down, stretching her fingers. Two of the metal bars next to the gate where a bit further away from each other than the rest, so they could push the meat through.

Bending down to get the first piece of meat, she suddenly heard a faint clashing sound, like metal hitting against metal. She had nearly missed it, the sound of the downpour drowning out almost everything. Listening intently, she waited if she heard it again, but then she shrugged her shoulders. It was probably the fences rattling. The meat nearly slipped between her wet finger as she picked it up, but then she stilled. Her eyes grew wide, as she let go of the meat and hastily felt around in her pocket but couldn't find her keys.

Immediately, Ruby lit up the ground in front of the fence with her headlamp. The sight of the keys blinking in the light made her breathe a sigh of relief. That was, until she realized that the keychain was on the wrong side of the fence. Cursing, she tried to think what to do. The rain boomed in her ears, and she jumped when thunder roared. Lighting flashed across the black sky, blinding her. Wiping the raindrops from her eyes, she only knew that she had to try to get the keys back.

Illuminating the enclosure behind the gate as best as she could, Ruby tried to see if she could spot the jaguar, but there was no trace of her. Maybe luck was still on her side after all. Ignoring the bad feeling that rose in her chest she walked to the control panel for the electric lock of the gate. She stared into the enclosure, trying to think of anything else she could do. But noting came to her mind. Everything would be fine, if she would just get the keys quickly.

The click of the opening lock was drowned out from the wind howling over the landscape. It seemed like the storm was apparently right over the camp, the thunder rumbled every few minutes. Lightning bathed the area in bright light when Ruby finally stepped through the gate.

She kneeled down, shining her headlamp on the wet grass as she was looking for the spot where her keys had landed. Momentarily, she feared that she had been mistaken and that they were actually outside the fence. Then lightning tore the darkness of the night apart once more. For a few seconds, everything was bathed in blindingly bright light. Squinting her eyes, she felt raindrops falling from her lashes to the ground. Wiping a hand over her wet face, she opened her eyes again, but instantly froze.

The panicked scream forced itself out of her throat as her heart spasmed with fear. The jaguar stood in front of the gate, soaking wet, with her teeth bared and her ears flat against her skull. Pure horror rushed through Ruby as she stared at the killer in front of her.

She was dead. She was so dead.

This jaguar had been tormented by humans for who knows how many years, it had certainly lost the fear of killing one. A blazing light made both Ruby and the jaguar flinch violently as lightning struck the fence just a few meters next to them. The jaguar jumped away from the gate, startled. Ruby blinked hard, as white streaks crossed her vision. She hadn't been fast enough to look away from the lightning and couldn't see much, but this was probably her only chance to get out of this situation alive.

She glanced at the jaguar, who rubbed a paw over her eyes. Ruby was still shaking with fear, but she couldn't waste the precious seconds she had. Digging her shoes into the softened earth, almost slipping, she sprinted towards the gate. Ruby's fingers slid off the wet metal as she reached for the handle. Horrified she remembered that she had closed the gate earlier, instead of leaving it ajar. She tore at the gate, throwing her whole weight against it frantically, when she heard the jaguar hiss behind her. A panicked scream left her lips at the noise, her shoulders aching from hard she was yanking, but the gate didn't budge in the slightest. Her heart slammed against her ribcage as she realized that she was trapped. She wasn't getting out.

The sharp smell of charred plastic reached Ruby's nose and she stared in horror at the control panel next to the gate. The light of her headlamp slithered over the pieces scattered in the wet grass. The panel must have been destroyed when the lightning struck the fence. Another deafening thunder tore the night apart. It almost swallowed the terrifying growls behind her. Not daring to turn around, Ruby didn't move a single muscle, sucking in shallow, trembling breaths.

Her heart was racing, and she could hear the blood rushing through her ears. She couldn't breathe, couldn't get enough air in, her chest tight with panic. Ruby's tears mingled with the rain the wind whipped against her face. Her whole body shook as she waited for the deadly attack. A flash of light bathed the entire area in brightness when lighting hit again. Startled, Ruby flinched a yelp tearing from her throat, but froze immediately when she heard the loud growl even through the roaring rain. A sob came over her quivering lips. She knew that she was about to die. Ripped to pieces by razor-sharp claws and teeth.

Slowly, very slowly, she turned her head to the side. Her breath caught as her gaze met the jaguars, standing less than a meter next to her. Her eyeshine was reflecting greenish when Ruby's headlamp lit up her face.

She looked like a demon with deadly teeth and glowing eyes.