The old bastard had always been insufferable, but this time, it had really hit a nerve. Theo wasn’t going to sit around waiting for someone else to hand him the keys to survival—he’d make his own way. This was, of course, slightly ironic considering he was happy enough to keep the armor mesh and ocular implant that would ensure he could actually survive—if only slightly—in the world, but that was neither here nor there.

  The problem was that he had no idea where the hell he was going—let alone how to survive.

  The air was thick with humidity, carrying a scent that was both floral and metallic, like nature itself had been rewritten. The trees—if they could be called that—twisted unnaturally, their bark rippling as if alive. The biome he had stepped into was unfamiliar, dense with foliage and eerie, glowing plant life.

  Theo had watched enough TV and reality shows to know the most integral part of survival: finding food and water.

  The first thing Theo learned about the wilderness was that it hated him.

  The trees dripped with something sticky—at first, Theo thought it was sap, but when he accidentally brushed against it, the substance twitched and reached out like it had a mind of its own.

  He recoiled in disgust, shaking off the substance before it could do… whatever alien goo did in this godforsaken hellhole.

  After collecting a few sizable rocks and placing them in his backpack, he searched for anything remotely edible, but most plants looked either toxic, aggressive, or both.

  Theo vaguely recalled something about rubbing a berry against his gums, but he wasn’t sure if he’d made it up or seen it in a fantasy movie. Either way, he wasn’t about to trust it.

  At one point, he spotted a cluster of berries, glowing a soft amber. They looked edible. But the moment he reached for them, the bush shuddered and hissed at him.

  "Yeah, that’s a big ol’ ‘nope’ from me." He backed away slowly.

  Water wasn’t any easier. Streams of shimmering liquid flowed through the land, but the water had an oily consistency, shifting colours under the light.

  When he crouched to inspect it, tiny, eel-like creatures surfaced, their translucent bodies pulsating with faint, bioluminescent veins. Theo decided dehydration sounded preferable to whatever in tarnation that was.

  Worse still, he sensed he wasn’t alone.

  From the moment he’d left Erasmus’s hideout, he’d had the distinct sensation of being watched. At first, he thought it was paranoia, the aftershock of suddenly being without Erasmus’s endless precautions and security of the sanctuary. But as night approached, the feeling didn’t fade.

  There was something out there.

  The first attack came when he tried to set up camp.

  Theo didn’t quite grasp the enormity of the wilds, under the illusion he would walk a few miles and find a nearby settlement. Night had already fully set in and his delusions hadn’t shown any signs of materializing.

  With visibility low, even with his ocular implant, and energy levels even lower, he decided to formulate a plan for making it through the night.

  As the evening progressed, an ever-increasing sense of fear crept into Theo. Not taking things seriously was his usual method of dealing with things, but it was increasingly harder to do as the realization that he truly was on his own again. On top of that, he hadn’t trained for survival with Erasmus. Combat, sure, he felt he was comfortable enough if an angry cat decided to start some shit, but the elements? Not so much.

  He was surrounded by dense trees and foliage now. These trees lacked the personal-space-invading goop he had found earlier, however, and seemed to be ordinary—ish.

  Theo decided he wanted to be high up, so nothing could just walk up and snack on his limbs without at least making an effort to climb for it.

  As he settled down on a relatively high and particularly thick branch, exhaustion weighing him down, he heard it—a low, chittering sound.

  He barely had time to move before something lunged at him from the darkness.

  A shadowy figure, too fast to fully register, lashed out with a blur of motion. Theo twisted on instinct, rolling backwards as something sliced through the air where he had just been lying. He scrambled to his feet, fists clenched, eyes darting through the darkness.

  That’s when he saw them.

  Six pairs of glowing, insectile eyes blinked at him from the treetops. They moved erratically, their bodies flickering in and out of visibility like they were slipping between dimensions.

  Theo had no weapons. No backup. No plan.

  "Oh, for fu—"

  The creatures attacked again.

  Fear shot through Theo’s whole body, but he forced himself to focus.

  Panicking wouldn’t help but he was tempted anyway. Running? Probably worse. He needed to think.

  His enhanced vision ensured he wasn’t completely blind, tracking the creatures’ movements. They flickered in and out of the visible spectrum—almost like the stealth drones Erasmus had trained him against.

  They weren’t truly invisible—just operating on some kind of frequency his eyes couldn’t fully process and working with the darkness.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  He clenched his teeth as adrenaline shot through him far more than any fight he’d had before. "Come on then, you creepy slags."

  Theo came to the conclusion he needed to get on the floor and find more stable footing. He opened himself up to more opponents joining in, but just wasn’t sure he could fend off three opponents whilst balancing like a gymnast.

  He slowly reached into his bag and grabbed one of the stones he collected earlier, his timing had to be precise.

  He gripped the stone tight, his fingers twitching as he gauged the erratic movements of the creatures above him. His brain screamed, RUN! But where? The jungle was a nightmare buffet of things that wanted him dead. At least here, he could see the enemy. Running blind meant running into something worse.

  No, running wasn’t an option.

  But fighting them here, in the trees? That was suicide. The flickering creatures had the advantage in the branches, moving with an unnatural agility. If he stayed, it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed him due to his limited footwork. He had to get to the ground—but not as prey. He had to control the descent, set the terms of the fight.

  He took a slow breath. You’ve got one shot at this, Theo. Make it count.

  The lead creature lunged again. Theo didn’t wait for impact. He threw the rock—hard.

  It wasn’t meant to kill. It was meant to disrupt.

  The stone collided with the creature mid-flicker, striking its top with a crack. The impact sent it spiralling off-course, crashing through a tangle of vines below. The other two recoiled, their own flickering stuttering as their companion fell.

  That was his window.

  Theo kicked off the branch, using his momentum to grab another vine and swing downward. The ground was coming up fast—too fast—but his enhanced vision mapped out the perfect landing trajectory, tracing a predictive line in his vision.

  He let go.

  Theo landed in a crouch, his mesh absorbing the impact and storing the energy. He immediately sprang to his feet, scanning for his attackers.

  The injured one was still tangled in vines, thrashing wildly. The other two had dropped from the trees, their bodies still flickering between visibility. But now, they were in his domain.

  The jungle floor was spacious, open enough that they couldn’t rely as much on ambush tactics. The moment they tried to charge, he’d see them coming. He clenched his fists, adjusting his stance.

  "Alright, ya twitchy bastards," he muttered. "Let’s go."

  The first one lunged.

  Theo’s vision locked onto its trajectory. His implant calculated the angle of approach, tracing a faint, red predictive arc in his vision. He would use this to form a counter offensive, one of the key tactics he found during his training.

  He sidestepped, barely an inch from its sweeping claw.

  The creature’s momentum carried it forward—right into Theo’s counterstrike.

  His foot slammed into its middle, discharging stored kinetic energy from his earlier landing. The force launched it backward, sending it crashing into a tree with a sickening crunch.

  One down.

  The second creature didn’t hesitate. It flickered, vanishing for a fraction of a second before reappearing at his left flank.

  Theo had been waiting for that. The implant managed to gauge the body position and initial force to quickly ascertain the movement vector, rendering the stealth flicker useless.

  He twisted mid-step, grabbing a broken branch from the ground and swinging it like a bat.

  The branch capitulated instantly, dealing almost no damage at all.

  That was pretty goddamn stupid, wasn’t it, Theo? he thought, grimacing.

  The impact did manage to startle the insectoid creature to the floor, however, with Theo capitalizing quickly enough to deliver a powerful axe kick, crushing its core. It let out a garbled shriek, limbs spasming as black ichor seeped from the wound.

  Two down.

  Theo exhaled, chest heaving. His fingers were buzzing with adrenaline, his body wired for movement, but the fight wasn’t over yet.

  The last creature—the one that had been tangled in vines—was free now. And it was pissed.

  It didn’t attack immediately. Instead, it stalked in a slow, predatory circle, its flickering more erratic now. It was watching him as it darted around. Learning.

  Theo tightened his fists. His vision locked onto the subtle twitches of the creature’s body. It was going to attack—but from where?

  There was no help from his implant, not having a starting point to predict from. He felt the air shift behind him.

  Too late.

  The moment the creature lunged, it slammed a sharp pincer straight into his back. The mesh took a heavy impact, causing genuine pain but no lasting wounds.

  Theo stumbled forward, losing his balance.

  As the bug landed, Theo pivoted on his knee and threw a wild punch.

  The impact connected right with the base of what Theo assumed was the head, sending a shockwave of kinetic energy through his arm. The force snapped the creature’s head forward, its body collapsing in a twitching heap.

  Theo stood over it, panting, his muscles trembling. He stared at the unmoving forms of the creatures around him.

  They were dead.

  And he was still standing.

  Theo wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking around. The jungle was eerily silent now, like the fight had startled the night itself into stillness.

  His heart was still pounding, but a slow realization began to creep in.

  I won.

  For the first time, he wasn’t just another guy trying to scrape by. He had fought. He had won. And, most shocking of all—he wanted more.

  He wasn’t just prey anymore.

  Theo took a slow breath, then glanced back at the makeshift nest he had abandoned in the trees.

  Stay or move?

  His first instinct was to leave—find a better spot, put as much distance between himself and whatever else was out here.

  But then he thought about what he’d just accomplished.

  He had killed these things. This was his spot now.

  If he ran, he’d just be chased by something worse. By staying, he felt more secure. He knew the area slightly and any large predators would likely have pounced whilst he was fighting off the bugs.

  Theo cracked his neck, stepping over the insectoid bodies as he climbed back up to his original perch.

  The jungle might be trying to kill him, but he wasn’t going down easy.

  Tomorrow, he’d find food. Water.

  Theo settled into a resting position. His heart was still racing, his eyes alert as he scanned for threats. For hours, he remained on edge—until exhaustion finally pulled him into sleep.

  He was still here. And that was enough.