>>85890
The forester studies th animal.

"Armstrong" he replies in an absent minded air. "I think it should be fine...It looks a bit like a rabbit. I wonder if it fills the same sort of niche..."

"I hope so, cause right now that niche is my stomach"

Nodding Andrew quickly procures a knife and guts the animal leaving a small pile of entrails next to where it had fell.

"We should try to find a few more of these. Hey, Armstromg, Bronson can you take this back to camp and round up some people to finish this up? I'll keep looking for food and a water supply with these guys."

"Alright"

I don't remember if I said this before or not, but im telling you now. I always carry my sheathed knife with me.

>>86024
(fair enough)

As you two wind your way through the woods back along the path the herd had cleared. occasionally a small animal darts through your path. Armstrong seems lost in trying to figure out the mysteries of the forest around him.

However, he pauses as something catches his attention.

"Stop!" he hisses looking around."Something's here..."

Stop, pull knife, look and listen.

As you stop you can just faintly hear some rustling amongst the trees. Its almost impossible to hear. It could be the wind for all you know. Armstrong seems certain however. The dead hoof-rabbit-thing in his hands trembling slightly...

Ah right...we have a dead animal...and we are in the 'untamed wilderness'

"Armstrong, I thing we should ditch the rabbit"

"Can you give me a position on this thing?"

Nodding he chucks the 'rabbit towards some bushes. The rustling momentarily stops and with the sound of something like a sack of bricks hitting the ground it resumes in the general direction that hte rabbit landed. You briefly glimpse something covered in mottled fur moving towards. IT easily looks bigger than a person.

Holy...
O.K then back away slowly. I don't think my knife will be of much use here.
Which way would be easier to go with out attracting its attention, back to camp or to the fallen tree?

>>86217

Armstrong motions for back towards the camp. Carefully he takes slow steps. Almost, imperceptibly moving. As he places his foot down with a soft crunch you hear a far louder noise in the background.

A low growling noise followed by the sound of bones being eaten.

That thing wont keep its attention forever.....
We need to move.
I really hope it doesn't attack those guys getting the tree... I need to go warn them while Armstrong goes to camp...

You begin to work your ways back towards Andrew. Armstrong lets out a stifled sound of shock and horror as you leave him behind. Each step you take sounds like thunder in your ears.

The hulking shape in the brush seems to still be dining upon the rabbit. The sounds of bones being chewed like crunchy candies makes your inside knot with fear.

You thankfully make a get away from the animal and reach Andrew without further issue. Back towards the way you came you hear a low howl. Its distinctly different from anything you've ever heard and the eerie sound makes your skin crawl.

THe rest of the group seems to be oblivious as they hack apart the fallen tree.

First off, have a seat and breathe deeply. I'm very glad to be alive now.
"Hey Andrew, we need to get out of here... NOW!!"

Andrew stops as mid-circuit, it would seem he was the one on watch right now. Most likely a good thing given his M-16 is currently at ready.

"What's going on?" he asks with no humor. Your voice and the fact you hurried back setting him on edge."Where's Armstrong?"

The rest of your group has stopped working. They are are all ears as something a little too close for comfort lets out a low howl. In the brush you cna hear somehting moving. Something large is moving within the thick tangle of bramble...

"That is whats wrong, Andrew. I think its following the sent of the dead rabbit-thing-whatever. I left Armstrong to go back to camp, Its likely he made it unless he attracted too much attention. Seeing as this is where the thing was killed, the sent is most likely strongest here. Whatever you do DON'T aggravate it. I think we can just slip by."

Andrew nods, the movement of his head is almost imperceptible. He turns back to the group and whispers a series of brief orders, telling them to grab their gear and what wood they can. Andrew grabs a large block hefting it so that it was it does not slow him to much.

The group begins to slowly move. Their pace is slow and purposeful. Each step is set to Andrews. His gun is over his shoulder and his eyes are moving steadily back and forth looking for any sign of danger as he leads.

Might as well keep the knife drawn

>>87127
You make your way through the forest. Every rustle in the brush setting you on edge. Something seems to be following you but...its hard to tell. Any sounds you hear are just to hard to discern from the rest.

Andrew seems almost serene in comparison. His movements are purposeful, his steps a steady rhythm. The trip seems to drag on for hours. By the time you reach the edge of the woods you, and the rest of the group are covered in sweat and insects buzz around the entire group.

Whew. I guess I can breath a little easier now, but only a little. New rule, screw the forest. Im not going back unless I have a shotgun and 2 armed meat-shields. Ok maybe not meat-shields but armed people anyway.
Back to camp, see if Armstrong made it.

>>87152
AS you reach the camp you see several people looking more than a little shocked. Something has them spooked. In the crowd you see a pale faced Armstrong.

His left arm is bloodied and he's at the edge of a circle of people gathered around something.

Dammit Armstrong. Go and see whats up.

I sure as hell hope there a re people here with first aid experience or at the very least that survival book I have has some stuff in it.

Castaways Castaways 2009/12/06(Sun)20:18 No. 87225 ID: a2b8d0
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>>87188

He turns towards you. His face is a ghastly shade and his arm has a long gash carved into it.

"It shouldn't have come out of the woods..."He says almost to himself. "Why did it follow me all that way back..."

In the center of the circle you see a large brown mass. Something almost the size of a bear lays on the ground, thick blood oozes from a series of gunshot wounds. Its long arms covered in thick fur and its short almost feline like face gaping open, revealing massive canines. Its back legs are only a little shorter and if possible even more massive.

A few mutters of what the hell fill the air and several people are whispering prayers at its sight. From behind you you hear a brief jesus christ come from what sounds like Andrew.

Just great, we have big cats.
Apart from my camping experience I doubt that I've a lot of serious wounds, so I turn away and try to control any nausea, got to pull myself together.
"Is there a doctor around!?! Anyone with medical experience?!"

>>87255
Even as you speak Adrian has led Armstrong off to a nearby tent. A few people have started trying to set up watches and Andrew is slowly getting another party organized.

This time around he seems to be taking at least ten people into the forest to finish the job you had helped to start. His face is set like a stone mask as he does so.

Screw this, they are not leaving me back here. I feel mostly responsible for leaving him alone.
"Give me the shotgun"

>>87275
Andrew looks at you for a moment debating.

"Take my nine mill. It's a safer bet you can handle that." He says with a voice that all too well shows his military skill. "We're taking that fucking thing back as well.I don't want more of whatever the hell that thing is showing up thanks to us being careless.

without much fanfare they use a mass of rope to drag the beasts body back to whence it came. As you near the wood. The sense of exploratory excitement is replaced by a sense of dread. A fear of the unknown. A fear of what might be lurking within its depths.

I can live with the nine mil. So much danger just to get some bloody wood. Bah. I need to get organized.

>>87341
Andrew leads the march actually dragging the thing as well. Most of the other members of the party are more than a little skittish.

"Hold up!" Someone whimpers as they come near the woods."I thought I saw something..."

"Do you THINK you saw something or did you actually see something"
I'm quite pissed right now and I doubt that the adrenalin will wear off anytime soon.

>>87356

"I'm....not sure..." He mumbled.

The man looks at the woods clearly spooked. I never wanted to be here...it's like we're in hell..."

"Hell? HELL?!? You haven't seen hell yet, this is just the tip of the flaming iceberg."
Crap gotta calm down. *sigh*
"I'm sorry, I'm just kind of pissed. Even if you didn't want to be here, you're here now so you'll have to deal with it."
Maybe we should start screening the guys on the expedition teams for 'how-easily-spooked' and weapon-skills.

>>87387
From up front you hear Andrew laugh.

"He's right you know. Charlie, maybe you should be running drills."

As you finally reach the edge of the woods Andrew manages to get the group to lug the beast into an obvious spot. Propping its massive form against a tree.

"Id kill this bastard if he wasn't already dead."

Later man Ive gotta jet.

>>87396
"Most of us would."Andrew begins giving the beast a kick.""It followed Armstrong. He never realized it. By the time he did it was moving so damn fast no one really had time to react. It took him down and got his arm. By luck of the draw that old farmer got the thing with a shotgun"

"As much as id like to hunt these guys, I don't think im equipped for the job, now anyway. Lets just get the wood and get out."

>>87511
"agreed" Andrew replied, staring at the corpse. "Hopefully this will scare them off for a bit."

time to get to business

Castaways Castaways 2009/12/08(Tue)15:28 No. 88403 ID: aa6ecb
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You once more enter the woods. Following the trail as fast as you safely can. The air is thick and oppressive now. The heat of the day making your clothes stick to you like tar. You find the blasted tree hopefully for the last time without even trying. Overhead birds are calling out across the forest and you cna just barely see the tufts of darkening clouds. It looks like it might be rain...

behind you hear the sound of axes colliding with wood with extreme speed the men are spooked now. Working as fast as they can to get the firewood they'll need for later. You see more than a few red faced and covered with sweat. Most are loathe to remove their shirts due to the small swarms of insects that now eagerly buzz around looking for a snack.

Andrew hands his axe off to an a woman who seems as burly as any man here and walks over to you.

"We need water. Did you bring any with you?"

>>88403<Did I bring my water skin?>

>>88766
You did but you've been drinking off of it through most of the trip.

"Yea, but I only have a little, want me to get more?"

Andrew nods.

"It would be appreciated. Take a few others with you and try to find a water source. I thought I heard a stream coming into here." He says with a tired look.

OK then I'll take 3 people. I don't want to go back to camp, so we will probably make a few trips filling the water skin. If anyone else brought a water bottle of something like that, ask them to hand it over.

He nods and yells to three grunts working at the log.

"Hey get over here! I've got work for you."

"Bring weapons"