Sneak

Alice slowly got up, the pistol leveled at the beast. She slid one foot forward, then the other. She wanted to close her eyes for fear that the whites would be too bright in the darkened cavern. Alice saw that ahead, there was an opening that led back up to the top of the cliff. Fern-like plants wafted lazily in the darkness beyond. The thing about the jungle is that it could be mid-day in the shade or midnight with a moon and the light would look the same.

She held her breath as she crept along. It ripped a huge chunk of flesh from the leg and chewed loudly. She closed her eyes and edged along as silent as a kid stealing a cookie from the jar. The laser twitched as her ankle nearly twisted on a rock. She bit her lip. It ripped another chunk off of the leg, and tossed it backwards carelessly. The hoof hit her shoulder. She made herself wait, taking a slow, impossibly long breath as her heart exploded into a fury of drumbeats.

The stone axe slammed down again into another limb. She exhaled and opened her eyes over the course of three eternities. Its broad back was in front of her, no more than 3 meters. She could see the sweat run down its well-muscled shoulders and stain the leather braid that held its loin cloth. The sickening smack of stone on meat filled the cavern. She was only a meter from the cave entrance. It took everything to slide along the wall, silently.

She turned the corner, and felt the fern-like plants scrape her legs and the breeze hit her sweaty skin. Her ears were filled with the sounds of ripping flesh. Her eyes with a horror that she had never dreamed.

Alice screamed.