𝙎𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙨 𝙊𝙛 𝙎𝙠𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 [𝙍.𝙎.]

Choices

The group ran through the jungle, following James as he led them to where the explosions had been, following the sound of Kong's roar.

Sandra's lungs burned but she didn't pause. The adrenaline blocked the taste of blood from registering and the only thing on her mind was that specific soldier.

'I told him not to do anything stupid' She thought angrily as they sprinted through the forest.

The group made it to the clearing where the military boys stood, just as Sandra saw the Colonel click something.

'A detonator' she realized in horror. Sandra held back as everyone else made themselves, pacing around with her knife in hand. She didn't want to hurt any of the boys, just get Packard to see sense.

     "Packard!" Her brother yelled, pointing his gun at the Colonel. The military guys responded by raising their own to point at James, though as Sandra watched Slivko, she saw him hesitate, being far more unsure and hesitant as he raised his gun. "Don't do it"

At that moment Marlow decided to show up, surprising everyone as he put a blade to Reles' throat and aimed a pistol at Slivko.

     "I asked you fellas nice the first time" Marlow told them. As Packard surveyed what had become of his men, Sandra slipped behind him, wrapping an arm around him, she pressed her blade to his throat.

     "We don't want a fight here, Packard," James announced, though Sandra applied slight pressure to her blade.

'I do' She practically growled in her mind.

     "This thing brought us down! It killed my men!" Packard replied, though he was mindful of the knife pressed up against his throat.

     "No, you killed your men" Sandra hissed lowly.

     "Kong was just defending his territory," James told him.

     "We are soldiers" Packard argued "We do the dirty work, so our families and our countrymen don't have to be afraid! They shouldn't even know a thing like this exists"

     "You've lost your mind" James told him calmly. "Put that detonator down"

Packard stood in silence for a moment and Sandra thought he was considering it, but then she heard the click that made her head drop back in frustration.

     "Stop!" Mason yelled at him "The world is bigger than this" Packard breathed for a second before retaliating.

     "Bitch, please!" He yelled at her, causing Sandra to aggressively push her knife into his throat, she was so close to killing the man "Slivko, get the one behind me out of here!"

Slivko looked at his Colonel as if asking for him to find another way, before shifting his gaze to Sandra, who stared right back. Her head was tilted at him, as if she were curious about what he would do, but her posture didn't mask the hurt in her eyes.

It was at that moment it clicked in him, she thought he would do it. There was no question in her mind, despite what they had gone through together, she thought that he would obey that order, and that brought a revolting feeling to his stomach.

Slivko looked at Marlow as if begging him for an answer. He didn't know what to do, he couldn't kill Sandra, he knew that, but could he disobey a direct order while his Colonel was standing right there?

     "You know it's the wrong thing to do, son" Marlow told him solemnly. Slivko took a breath and sniffled slightly, before aiming at Packard.

    "Put it down, sire" He commanded. Sandra paused in shock, but at that she relaxed her hand, pulling away from the Colonel. She knew that would leave a nasty mark, but in her opinion, he deserved it.

Packard reached for something, but James stopped him once again.

     "Packard" He yelled at the out-of-control Colonel. Sandra looked at Slivko, who for once was holding his gun steadily, not questioning anything, unlike he usually did.

The other military men lowered their guns slowly, as did Marlow.

      "Come on" James coaxed him "It's over"

But at that moment, the water started bubbling and there was a splash from somewhere in the lake. Sandra's head snapped towards the sound and her eyes widened as a Skullcrawled over three times the size of any other she had ever seen emerged from the lake.It had to be nearly as big as Kong.

      "That's the big one," Marlow told them.

'Good' Sandra thought as she stared at it 'Cause if they get any bigger than that-'

Her thoughts trailed off as her brother gave a command.

     "Fall back" James called "Go!"

At that they all turned and ran into the jungle.

'We just can't seem to catch a break' Sandra thought numbly as they ran through the undergrowth, ducking to avoid getting hit by lowhanging branches. The Skullcrawler screeched in the background and Sandra started praying.

She paused though, when she realized that her brother wasn't with them. She turned back to the beach, debating going back for him, but suddenly an arm wrapped around her waist, hoisted her up and kept moving. Sandra let out a yelp and started to struggle against whoever was carrying her, though they were much stronger than her.

     "We need to go" She recognized Slivko's voice.

     "But Ja-"

     "He'll be fine" The soldier assured her as he loosened her grip so she could run on her own.