A new find

As the small party were creeping through the quiet wood, they didn’t want to be heard.  They wanted to see the wildlife in its natural habitat. Unexplored and uninvited they would be the first.  Holding on to each other they knew that one slip or cry could disturb and warn the new habitat.

Woodland

The woodland largely un-investigated, is home to bats and wild birds.  They had been observing the animals on cameras but today they had been informed by a casual bird watcher about an unwritten about bird and they needed to see it.  It must be photographed and monitored.  Their trackers had not picked it up and things had seemed unusually quiet but it’s not often that new discoveries like this was made and Robert Smith was absolutely convinced that this was new.

Fear

Joining the small party he led them, creeping  to where he had seen it. What was it? What had he seen? The wood was eerily quiet, there was no bird song and the only noise was being made by the humans. Leading the party, Paul could feel something was very wrong. The familiar feeling of something about to happen, where were the animals?  The description of this creature had definitely been a bird. He looked around at his team and he could see they were all thinking the same.  Were they safe stood here? Robert seemed more interested in staring at the trees around him, oblivious that things were not as they should be. Nodding to his team member, knowingly, Paul announced that maybe they should be leaving and walk back to the meet point, quietly and calmly.

The Wild

Paul knew that messing with the wild does not always go as expected,  In this case they were dealing with reports of a new wild creature and all the other animals appeared to be in hiding.  He didn’t want to find out why, or read about it later.  He knew that his teams safety  was paramount and they needed to get back now.  As Robert stubbornly sat down and refused to leave, Paul gave him an ultimatum and then left, creeping again, with his small troop.  He was not about to be killed for some insane bird watcher.

Run

After leaving, Paul wondered if his actions had been necessary. Had he seen too many horror films? listening to his crew talking quietly around him, they had all felt it too, something had happened, and they weren’t prepared to find out.  As if answering Pauls thoughts there was a sudden crashing on the path behind him and a loud terrified scream.  Paul shouted at everyone to jump down the nearby bank. He knew that nothing could be outrun, not out here. Touching his back pack, he found his sleepy gun that he rarely used, but on this occasion, was needed, no one was being eaten today.

Robert

A keen twitcher, Robert wanted to see his find again.  He was not leaving until he had photographed it,  His name alone would go down in history, a new species, his chance for fame and fortune. Annoyed that the researchers had given up he sat and waited. Hearing something rustling in the  bushes he got his camera out.  As a rabbit shot out, he felt excited then suddenly terrified.  The creature that appeared was not what he thought it was, certainly not just a  bird, birds don’t usually chase rabbits.

The bird

No one was expecting what came racing out of the wood,  It was certainly new and undiscovered, first Robert and then maybe a cross between a bird and a wolf, whatever it was did not make sense.  As the wolf bird jumped at Robert, Paul fired his gun, missing Robert by inches. With the man in his mouth, the animal shook hard as it stumbled and fell to the floor.

Pulling Robert from its jaws, Paul could see his wounds were fatal but what was this new predator?  He didn’t want to think about the mechanics of how this monstrosity had come to be, but it was here scaring the wildlife and potentially killing. Phoning for medical help, they needed to get everyone back.  Finding two stretchers in his pack they loaded up Robert and the bird.  The bird  needed to be investigated, a new creation and one  certainly mis- reported by the bird watcher.

An Investigation

As Robert left in a flurry of blue lights, the team got the sedated animal to their lab.  Important to keep it sedated but also to keep it in a large cage.  Looking at the woodland trackers, they could see an increase in activity.  Surely there wasn’t just one of these beasts.  If so how? Their job was to track where this had come from.  Keep themselves alive and deal with the moral question of whether they should they kill it.  There was now a man on his way to the hospital and possibly other creatures deceased. Paul knew they would need to put more cameras in the wood. Monstrosities like this were against nature and shouldn’t happen, his job now was to investigate!

Written for Blog Battle – Creep

For more see written for Blog Battle – Provoke