A buzzing sound... that's what brought him out of the dark depths of his slumber. An annoying high pitched whining in his ear. A slight pinch on the left side of his neck. On instinct Tom slapped his neck. He opened his eyes and looked at his hand. A crushed mosquito spread across the heel of his palm.
He looked around. It was morning. Sunlight creeped through the thick treetop foliage. Tom had slept sitting up on a branch in a oak tree fifteen feet in the air. He had found himself in the middle of the forest around two a.m after a long day of walking. He had tied a rope around his torso to the trunk of the tree he sat in to stop himself from falling. He stretched his arms. Working his muscles to get the blood flowing again. That's when he heard it
A branch snap.
Now most people would think it's normal to hear a twig snap in the middle of the forest. The only problem is there hasn't been any wildlife in the area for the past ten years. Everything changed when they showed up. The wildlife literally disappeared. Another twig snapped to Toms left about fifty meters out. Something was off. Tom knew it was. "There shouldn't be one out this far" he thought.
Another snap... It's getting closer
Something caught his eye in his peripheral vision. It looked like a boar. Only problem was it was too big. About ten feet long and seven feet tall on all four hooves. It's tusks to large for its mouth. Pieces of it's hide missing, exposing an unnatural cluster of metal mechanics and muscles underneath . These things showed up on earth just over a decade ago.
First arriving on a meteorite, they looked like metal worms no bigger than an inch-worm . By the time the world had had fully comprehended the threat, it was already too late. The worms reproduced unnervingly fast, going from a few hundred to tens of thousands within twenty-four hours. The things acted like ants. They burrowed into the skin of any animal or human they came in contact with and colonized the victims body. When the colony got too big they would break the bones and form metallic extensions and artificial muscle, this lead to exponential growth in the host.
Any human who was infected went mad within three hours after being bit. Acting completely unhinged from there logical and civil side. The infected would continue to try to consume anything not infected, acting deranged, feral even. Either to spread the colony or to keep the host alive. If the victim of an attack survives but has been bit, they become infected due to the microscopic metallic eggs in the saliva.
If it had been a regular boar, Tom wouldn't need to worry; but a regular boar isn't the size of an SUV. He tried not to make a noise. The piercing black eyes of the boar seemed empty of life. It sent chills up his spine. This thing would kill him if he wasn't cautious. Boars are originally omnivorous which means they aren't picky, but if they got to choose between veggies or meat, meat is what they went for first and they are always hungry which meant this boar is no different. If it gets him, it will proceed to tear him limb from limb.
The Boar is getting closer. Tom reached down to untie the rope. That's when he realized it. He must have been tossing and turning the night before because the the knot had slid from in front of his chest around to the opposite side of the tree he was perched in, bringing it out of his reach. He very slowly checked each pocket never taking his eyes off the boar. He felt something hard in his vest pocket. Slowly he brought out his six inch folding knife. Very slowly he started to open it. The board ears twitched and Tom froze. Slowly the head of the beast swivelled left to right. It had heard him.
The blades pin was jammed. Stoping the blade from opening. He had to get it open. The boar was now no more than twenty meters away now. It was closing in. He grabbed the spine of the blade with one hand an the back of the handle with the other, and started to pull it open. It was really jammed. With one last effort he gave it a jerk and the blade flicked open in a blur, the sharpened blade missed slicing his palm by mere millimetres.
He very quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He brought his hand up to wipe the sweat off his forehead. When he brought it back to look his lungs turned to stone. Blood. A tiny bubble formed on his thumb. When he had opened it the blade may have missed his palm but it pricked his finger. Not enough to gush, but still enough.
Boars have incredibly acute senses of smell and can smell a drop of blood up to seven miles away and twenty-five feet underground. The replicator boars sense of smell will be nearly three times as intense, and it's standing twenty feet from the tree he's in.
He watched in horror as the boars head rose to an unnatural angel for a swine and looked dead at him. The boar let out a noise that was a cross between a squeal and a diesel truck engine starting. The boar charged the tree and hit it with a force that shook the tree violently. The Tree was just over two feet in diameter but the Boar is the size of a SUV. Tom covered his head as branches fell around him.
The boar hit the tree again and something gave and the tree leaned a little but held fast. The movement was so sudden, the inertia would've thrown Tom from the tree if he hadn't been tied to it. The replicator stopped ramming the tree and backed up. It seemed to be studying the tree.
Tom broke his paralyzed state and started using his knife and started to cut at the rope. The Boar noticed and rammed the tree again. Tom dropped the knife as the tree shook. He was now helpless. The boar started to circle the tree. Seeming to survey it again. The monstrosity showing obvious intelligence. The boar made its way to the opposite side of the tree of Tom. Tom could only listen as he heard a terrible ripping and cracking from behind him. Tom tried to look over his shoulder.
That's when he realized in horror. It was ripping up the roots. He struggled and thrashed against the rope but to no prevail. Tom started to panic and started screaming. The screaming made the boar excited seeming to give it pleasure. Tom looked back and saw the boar had backed up about thirty meters. Tom could only watched as the Boar let out that unnatural scream as it charged and hit the tree. A thunder like crack echoed throughout the forest.
Tom felt himself grow cold inside. For he knew there was nothing he could do. If he did survive, he'd be eaten alive. He simply sat there as he and the tree fell forward, hitting the ground at thirty miles an hour with eight tons of oak wood strapped to him, crushing him like an ant under a boot.
END
Thanks for reading guys.This is my first time posting any of my writings ever so I would love some positive feedback on how to better my work and to here your thoughts. I am fully expecting there to be some stuck up dill-holes who comment but that's fine.
