I woke up not really expecting the tiny reptile to still be on my chest. I could no longer feel it there, and when I reached for it, there wasn't anything there.
Sitting up, I searched the tent for it. I didn't find any sign of it.
I shrugged and crawled out. Being the last one out, after finishing cooking and eating my breakfast I had to do the dishes.
After I had finished with the dishes I asked, "Where did you get all this? There wasn't this much in the packs."
A crew member I didn't know answered. "A few of us went back to the Viper. To see if there was anything salvageable. Death Bush was... inactive. You and Sam had better go see it. Come with me." I got up and followed him. Sam wasn't far behind.
We arrived in the clearing. The entire place was covered in white frost. The vines were frozen in the act of ripping apart the Viper. Sam reached out and touched one of them. It dissolved into a grayish - green powder. Flakes floated in the air. It really was truly horrifying. It gave me chills. Then I realized that the temperature was lower here.
"Do you hear anything?" A crew member asked.
"No," I said. "I don't like it."
Then the jungle erupted into pandemonium. Animals flew in every direction, and smaller things ran across the forest floor.
"Quickly, to camp!" The man who led us here said. We dashed to camp.
By the time we got there, it wasn't as loud. There were still things running. In the same direction. Like they were trying to escape something.
The earth rumbled. A duck - like creature trampled through the camp, flattening tents. The beast was about 40 feet tall. It was yellow-tan. Instead of wings, it had legs ending in bony stumps. It looked back and ran away. The ground had started to tremble.
Someone yelled, "Get behind something!"
Everyone ducked behind trees as a herd of the animals charged through. Two of them bumbed into one another.
They stopped, eyeing each other up. All the other swerved around them. I was about to see why. The two backed away from each other. Then they rammed their bony heads together with a CRACK! They shoved until they were both on their hind legs, pummeling each other with their hooves. They dropped back on all fours. With surprising agility, they leaped onto each other. The darker one opened its mouth impossibly wide and chomped on the other's neck. The bitten one let out a strangled honk.
Suddenly, the scuffle stopped and they ran. The lighter - colored one wheezed and limped away.
"Are- are we safe then?" Sam asked.
Sorka looked round. Her eyes widened. "No."
