Lone Chance

Lone Chance is a copyright science fiction story being written by Whiteout172. Please do not edit this story without the writer's permission.

1
Avak trudged through the dense landscape of a thick forest, crunching his feet on various twigs strewn about the damp, muddy ground. A slick black pistol hung from his waist and clung to his leg, resting in its dark, leather holster. He continued to walk forward, keeping his eyes on guard of everything ahead of him. So far, he'd seen no signs of what he was supposed to be looking for, but that didn't tempt him to give up. Minute by minute, he progressed forward, hopping over patches of colorful flora and curving around towering trees which met in the sky and formed a green canopy-like roof.

"Still no sign of anything important," Avak muttered to himself, hoping he'd spot something that resembled what he was searching for. All of a sudden, an echoing sound interrupted his thoughts. He froze, remaining silent. He waited for something to appear from the depths of the forest. When he heard nothing but the sound of his heavy breathing for almost a minute, he decided to keep walking.

Avak couldn't help but wonder what produced the noise. "Probably one of those things," he decided broadly. "I think they're called...animals." Avak shuddered at the very thought. He had learned about animals before, and from the knowledge he'd gained, they were vicious beasts. He tapped his holster with his hand, reassuring himself that the gun was still there.

Another sound came from behind him, louder than before. The noise resembled a chunk of metal shattering rocks. In one swift move, Avak swiveled around and whipped out the pistol, unsteadily pointing it outwards.

"Shoo," Avak warned, believing that the sound was created by a fierce, mangy animal. "Get away!" Without moving his line of vision, he knelt down and grasped a small rock about the size of his palm. He quickly stood back up, ready to hurl the rock forward as a warning to whatever was threatening him. He propelled it many feet ahead of him, watching it as it landed and rolled into a collection of bushes.

Avak lowered his pistol when nothing happened. He wasn't sure whether the creature was hiding from him, or if it had simply left. Avak kept himself cautious.

"I think it's gone," he said to himself. "Now back to my task." He pulled a tattered piece of folded paper from his left pocket. He unfolded it, smoothing over the wrinkled creases. His eyes skimmed over the paper, examining a collection of illustrations. The pictures consisted of cave-like drawings depicting strange symbols and structures. Each symbol was the same: two curved lines surrounded by six circles with lines in the center of them. This symbol is what he was supposed to find.

Just as Avak lifted his head, a spear shot by his face, missing by an inch as it whizzed by. "What the hell?!" Avak said, pulling his pistol back out of its holster. He fired three bullets in the direction from which the spear came. Now he knew it wasn't an animal. It had to be a person.

"Show yourself!" Avak ordered. He fired another warning bullet, watching it chip the edge of a thick tree trunk. Immediately following the shot, a shadowed figure slipped from one tree to another, almost completely being avoided of sight.

"HEY!" Avak cried. "Come here!" He shot once again, and a helpless groan and spurt of blood came in return. "Gotcha," Avak hissed in victory, wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead. But suddenly, another battle cry and a flurry of pointy spears emerged from beyond.

"There's more of them," Avak said, squeezing his pistol.

2
As Avak braced himself for more of the figures to attack, he glanced over at the dead body laying lifeless on the cold ground, its blood mixing with the mud. The male was dressed in primitive clothing that resembled a loin cloth. When Avak looked at the body again, something didn't seem right. The pale, silent corpse seemed to taunt him.

A fierce hiss echoed from his left. He held the pistol out as he did before, ready to blast the guts out of whatever other savage would come to attack him next.

Instead of being attacked from his left, Avak was taken by extreme surprise as a jagged arrow shot from behind, darting past trees and slicing the edge of his arm. The sharp stone blade dug its way underneath each layer of skin, leaving muscle exposed and squirting a blast of blood from his arm.

"Damn!!" he screamed in agony, involuntarily dropping his pistol on the floor and clenching his arm. As the strong stinging sensation overwhelmed his muscles, he desperately tried to prevent any more blood loss. Chunks of flesh dangled from the surrounding skin. His eyes began watering, almost on the point of releasing tears from the multiple rushes of pain.

Another one of the strange natives crawled across the ground, trying to act inconspicuous and sneak up on Avak. He felt the thick material of Avak's baggy pants, ruffling the fabric. Then something else caught his eye: a shiny object on the ground, seeming to beckon out for him. He grasped the pistol with his grubby hands, overlooking its surface. After it seemed as if the gun was safe, he murmured a grunt of satisfaction and crawled away with his prize.

chapter unfinished