chapter 2

Breaking through the overwhelming and deadly flora expecting a safe place to hide aboard the ship the group was instead met with an empty clearing. And if that wasn't bad enough to make half of them drop to their knees the other half surely would when they saw the two other teams fighting some kind of alien monsters. Bodies shaped like a rabit's, red bumpy skin like a toads and its head was more like some kind of dog or bear. There was some variations among them however but they were all horrifying.

A load boom alerted them to the missing ship that was now in the sky as it broke through the sound barrier unfortunately for it, it was shot down shortly after. No one could tell what had shot the ship out of the sky only that it had come from high up in the atmosphere so there must be another ship up there somewhere. Everyone was in shock but secretly they were happy that those who left them for dead had died before them. They were also sinking into despair knowing that whatever had shot their ship down didn't want them to leave and that them coming to this hostile planet was no accident. If it was like this, would anyone come to their aid?

Shaden watched as the soldiers and new recruits banded together to fend off the attacking creatures. Another tremor and a girl near Shaden screamed and pointed at something over the treeline. His gaze followed. Pure terror unlike anything he had felt before raked through his body as he trembled in fear. Above them not far off there were two mountains. They had seen many as they'd flown over the land but now the two mountains were not where they were supposed to be and what's more the mountains not only had a face but legs too. The monstrous thing was standing up and baring its pointed teeth in their direction.

Shaden just wanted to break down and cry and scream, to give up. They were all going to die anyway so what did it matter.

"Bang!" The sound of an old novelty gun going off, not the kinds used by the U.E.D, those were energy guns, but the kind of gun a normal person would have with regular bullets.

Shaden's eyes couldn't help but look towards the loud sound to find a falling man with said weapon in his hand. He had shot himself. The moment his body hit the ground it was already being devoured by the beasts as they lept on top of him. Someone screamed while someone else cried out. Another step taken by the massive mountain beast, the ground shook once more under the monsters weight.

A roar just like the first one they had heard sounded just past the treeline. Shaden hadn't been paying much attention to the girl he was carrying but he did when she stopped. Stopped moving, stopped screaming and hitting, kicking and biting, she just stopped. Shaden laid her down on the ground as gently as he could as if in a trance. Her eyes were still open but she wasn't moving. He checked her pulse and her breathing but he already knew she was dead. They were truly in Hell.

"Snap...snap, snap!" Sounds of trees being broken as a large animal broke through and out into the clearing. It roard again sending spittle flying everywhere. Just when Shaden was wondering if he could borrow someone's gun the mountain beast blocked out the sun, it's head swooping down, it's maw gaping as it snatched up the smaller beast that was at least the size of a house or two back on their planet.

Thankfully the mountain beast went back to it's resting place shortly thereafter, yet Shaden didn't feel any kind of relief. The fear lingers inside him as the soldiers around them spend the next few hours fending off the creatures. Unfortunately there was so many dead in the clearing now that they were forced to relocate. They all knew of the dangers of the jungle but it wasn't so bad to stay in one area if you could kill off the dangerous plant life, or so the soldiers said. Shaden wasn't so sure but he wasn't given much of a say in the matter as the group of thirty or so marched into the unknown hacking away at the greenery in front of them.

That night after many long hours of clearing out a spot to set up camp the group sat around a fire in the dense jungle and ate from their packs. Shaden couldn't take the silence any longer, silence drove him absolutely mad in times of distress, and he started to sing a tune into the night, hoping to lift up the dark and depressing atmosphere. No one said anything and his voice wasn't so loud but it was pretty decent, not amazing or anything but not bad either, it was a happy distraction.

After a minute someone else joined in as well. Shaden look to the boy who was probably sixteen too and smiled he had help him forget for a moment. The song came to an end and they were once again left in an oppressive silence.

"Could you... maybe sing another one?" Asked a girl looking at Shaden with inconsolable eyes. Shaden didn't know her name but he hadn't really made an effort to learn any of their names. Why would he? Most Ueds died in combat anyway so there was no point in making friends when they would just die on you or you on them...

Thinking of what song to sing next another girl beat him to it. Her melodic voice broke the dense silence once more. It was a beautiful sound much better then Shaden's voice had been. That soothing voice was broken as it turned into a piercing screech. The girl lept up pointing frantically at something behind Shaden.

Shaden heard the familar sound of leaves being crunched indicating someone or in this case something approaching. They were fast, however, too fast. Shaden didn't have the time to turn around but thankfully one of the soldiers sprung forward just in time, blocking the beast from attacking Shaden.

Shaden was shaking again and pulled his small knife from his boot but hesitated, couldn't the actual soldier just take care of it? Did he even need to fight? He had never acutely fought something for real. His feelings were written plainly on his face. But no one was paying it any attention. Everyone else was also frozen, just watching but could he not act when the beast had attacked him? When this man had saved him at the risk of his own life?

"Rwowwwl!"

A noise that resembled a howl was the only indication of another beast before it shot through the thicket headed straight for the already fighting soldier. Shaden didn't think then, he used that fear coursing through him to attack. He had yet to fight, leaving everything to the older and more experienced but he couldn't do that now, at least he couldn't live with himself if he did.

The beast was in midair when Shaden took his blade and raked it across the beast's body, from the top of its front leg to its hind one. This was Shaden's first time attacking anything alive and its skin was tougher then any simulation he ever been in not to mention the bone, because of this his knife had only gone an inch deep, creating a flesh wound. Not impressive considering it's size.

Roaring in outrage the beast set it's sights on Shaden, whipping its head back to try and snap at his fingers but Shaden had already moved. A high pitched whimper ensued soon after as the boys knife once again slid across the beast's body. It was taking damage but not enough.

Shaden seemed to go crazy as he let lose on the monster creating cut after cut after cut until finally the beast seemed to shake and stumble, only then did Shaden go in for the kill. Taking his knife and bringing it down into the eye of his enemy. The beast didn't cry out as it died only a brief huff of air as it exited its lungs for the last time could be heard.

The Soldier was still fighting only it looked like this one was new as the other's body laid sprawled out and bloodied on the ground just a few feet away. It wasn't too long before the new one was dead as well. Shaden was sweating profusely and he felt a tingling feeling all over before it slowly faded to exhaustion.

"What's your name?" The soldier looked him in the eyes and asked.

"Shaden, sir."

The soldier patted him on the back, "Chehk, nice to meet you."

The excitement soon died down and the group was split up into three to take shifts while sleeping but nobody really rested. They were all too scared to sleep. Every little buzz or chirp every snap or rustle of the leaves sent everyone into a panic. Only thirty two people had come out of the day's ordeal. A sad number but not surprising after all they had been through.

The morning came quickly and while no one felt rested they can't say they didn't sleep because they had clearly missed something. The soldiers had all vanished along with their own packs. Aside from the few soldiers who now appeared dead from wounds and were having their insides gorged on by bugs. There were no solders. Only a the new recruits were left and even then it seemed the stronger ones had fled with the others. They had been left for dead. They weren't stupid enough to not know that they were dead weight but they didn't think the soliders would abandon them. What a burden they must be.

Worse still was that there were a few dead on the ground. They hadn't been wounded the previous day but they had been on watch the first night. It was obvious that they had been ruthlessly killed in order to not alert the others. Their total was now seventeen. There had been at least six healthy soldiers and three of the new recruits were missing. That meant that those nine bastards had betrayed them. How Shaden wished he could make them pay.

Shaden tried not to think about the night before and how even that guy had abandoned them. It only put him in a worse mood, at least he still had his knife on him. It was more then he could say for the others.

All sorts of arguments broke out then, in the end five people went off in search of a source of water. A day passed and only three of those five came back with nothing to show for it. Shaden was already looking at alternatives by that point. A ripe looking yellow fruit to his left had peaked his interest. There were only a few on the one tree but many grew in the area. He knew it was stupid but at this point he would take the risk. Either he will die or he won't. He honestly thought it would be a better way to go then being eaten by something or another.

With a shrug Shaden walked over to the tree, ignoring the others who had yet to sies bickering and plucked a juicy looking fruit from the tree. Taking a big bite he found it quite sweet. It had fuzzy skin but reminded him more of a plum then a peach.

"No! Are you an idiot?" Someone screamed at him. It was the girl who had sung a song the first night. Shaden wasn't the only idiot around it would seem as another boy reached out and ate one of the fruits as well before anyone could stop him.

"..." Shaden stared at the boy for a moment in astonishment.

"You are dumb." It was all he could say. He had chosen this path hopping to test the fruit incase no water source could be found. But the boy didn't even want to wait to see the outcome?

They didn't have the tools to aid them in gathering water now and going around sucking on plants could be deadly in more ways then one but if the fruits were safe then they could survive a little bit longer. It would of course been smarter for Shaden to wait a day at least to see if other sources of water could be found but he didn't care to wait.

The group kept shifting their eyes to the two boys, waiting to see but their eyes held no sympathy only hopefulness. It was only after a few hours had pasted that the two started to feel the effects. Around the same time they both grew cumbersome and shaky. They started to burn up with a fever and then went into a comatose state.

Two days passed, during this timeframe, a total of five day on the god forsaken planet. Their little camp had been attacked multiple times in the meantime but fortunately the fresh recruits had still been there. It wasn't too much for them to handle although they did lose three people one green soldier and two trainees. As the numbers dwindled their little camp was down to only twelve measly people now.

Everyone was forced to pull their weight and no one was to leave the premises unless in a group of five. They had to fight for their survival and if they couldn't keep up they were left behind.

On the morning of the third day Shaden woke to something cool and wet on his forehead. Eyes fluttering open he saw a familiar face.

"Eeeek, your awake!" The girl looked surprised but delighted at the same time, as if she hadn't expected him to wake up. It didn't take long for Shaden to find out why. Shaden had been sleeping for days while the other boy who ate the fruit after him had died last night.

Shaden felt like crap, rubbing his face to try and wake up a little more. The girl passed him a... bowl? A wooden bowl that appeared to be hand carved. Shaden saluted the fool who would actually go and chop up one of those monstrous trees. The bowl was filled with water and Shaden didn't stand on ceremony, snatching the bowl and taking large gulps of fresh water. It tasted really good.

"Don't eat that fruit!" Shaden gasped out after coming up for air.

A sharp pain erupted in the back of Shaden's head as a small fist rapped against his skull, "Owwww!" He cried out in pain.

"You stupid idiot! Who do you think had to take care of your sorry ass? No one else would. Don't pull that crap again, you're lucky to be alive right now." She ranted for a long time and Shaden tried to listen for awhile for his own benefit but quickly got distracted by the smell of something cooking.

Looking over he could see some of the others holding sticks with something green on the end over a fire. Others were sitting down and eating something crunchy, infact everyone seemed to be eating something crunchy. Shaden looked to the girl for answers. Everyone seemed to be doing fine now, it wasn't that simple though.

"The vines that attack us get cooked and any others nearby but they don't have many calories it seems. You can starve to death if you're not constantly eating some." The girl explained.

"What about the monster meat?" Khyon curiously asked.

She sighed and shoved some of the charred plant into his hands. "The flesh melts for some reason when it comes into contact with fire or intense heat. In short it's impossible, unless of course you're willing to eat it raw." A bad idea...worse then trying fruits.

The only problem was that the plants weren't so easy to obtain. They lashed out when they realized they were being eaten. They were getting harder to deal with and everyone looked exhausted with dark circles under their eyes. They had started to lose weight too. With the lack of energy it was getting harder and harder to defend themselves from the many dangers of the jungle.

Shaden found the cooked plant crispy on the outside but watery on the inside as he bit into it. The taste was rather bitter but not unbearable by any means.

More time passed and their little party became more adapt at fighting in that time however, due to the lack of nutrients they grew leaner and thinner then they should be. After another week they started to drop, fainting one after the other from lack of sustenance. The jungle seemed to grow stronger by the day but they were growing weaker.

On the first day of the third week on the planet F3a1A or as they had dubbed it, Beelz, the group had grown far too weak and one boy decided that there was only one way. With the next attack of the wild beasts that roamed Beelz, the boy didn't burn it's body in order to not attract more but instead took his knife and cut out a peice of it's flesh. The boy then shoved the meat into his mouth and nearly swallowed it whole. That boy was Shaden.

The meat didn't go down easily. He threw up more then once but every time he did he would just eat more again until he could keep it down. The meat tasted rancid and of bloody metal but it filled his stomach nicely, giving him energy. After a few more days of their weakness and losing yet another person the others finally caved eating and tasting the raw meat for themselves. It was tough for them but it was also nesscisary.

Another week and another, stronger and stronger they grew. Months passed turning into years. The plants no longer attacked this group of seven similarly the fruits and vegetables that grew there no longer had any negative effects as they had all grown a resistance to them. After spending two years together they had grown very close, similar to a family. Constantly looking out for each other and sparing amongst themselves to appease their boredom.

The seven spent those two years fighting and doing nothing else because they knew that if they let themselves grow weak or stopped progressing they would quickly be overtaken by the stronger inhabitants of Beelz. It was very different now. Nothing on that planet could touch them with their level of strength yet they never stopped reaching for greater heights, perhaps it was just habbit at this point or maybe it kept them entertained regardless those seven's power could no longer be rivaled.