They searched for what seemed like forever, watching out for wild animals and traps. They ran into a few violent monkeys but managed to flee with only minor scrapes and scratches.
They found card after card, some trees holding as much as 4 for each member but there was no sign of theirs.
Even though they saw no sign of Anna, they ran into other players, questioning them about the cards they had found but most of them had no idea what was happening or what to do.
Sintra tried to decipher what the numbers could mean and why they had only been seeing even numbers thus far ever since taking off into a different direction than Anna.
Tripping over a tree root, she winced as her knees hit the ground.
"Are you alright?" Vante asked, concern lacing his voice.
"No, I'm not alright!" Sintra exclaimed. "Why did this have to happen huh? Why to us? All I wanted to do was help people and instead I'm stuck in some stupid game with the person trying to control my company searching for verification cards so that aliens can ship us off to some other God forsaken
pla— Wait a minute," Sintra cut herself off.
Her mind flashed to the journey to the rainforest as the elevator zipped through the shaft. She had glanced at the display panel which showed the numbers her employees had hit this morning and they were still alight indicating that they were enroute to each floor. When they had arrived in the rainforest however, the number 5 dimmed.
"Number 19," Sintra said lowly, turning to Vante who just stared at her in confusion.
"Number 19! Our cards are on a tree with the number 19," She cheered.
"How do you know?"
"When the elevator went berserk, the numbers that were pressed were still alight. When we arrived in the rainforest, the number 5 went dim meaning that we arrived at that number floor or whatever this place is. The next number that the elevator would go to would be—"
"Number 19," Vante finished, a dazzling smile spreading across his face. "Brilliant, Ms. Magnus!"
Sintra's insides warmed at the compliment. She returned said smile, looking away as she held her arm shyly.
"We've only been seeing even numbers thus far so that means the odd numbers are probably in the other direction." Vante informed.
"Good thinking," Sintra commended. "Let's go."
As they journeyed off towards the other direction, Sintra tried to work out how much time had past since they arrived. They had taken about 3 minutes in the elevator to get here and another 15 or so when the instructions were being read. Looking for their cards was about 5 hours so if time worked the same way here, it was about 2pm at the moment.
Sintra gave a silent thanks to Vante for marking the trees as they had finally arrived on the path they had been before the black panther appeared.
Heading in the next direction, they started to see odd numbers, even running into a couple of 19s that held verification cards for different people.
"This is impossible! The rainforest is huge. How the hell are we suppose to find the cards with the little time we have left?" Sintra stressed.
"Wait, Ms. Magnus." Vante said as he grabbed her hand. "Listen."
Piercing screams echoed in the distance as Sintra squinted at 3 figures running towards them. Frightened, she turned to Vante just in time as an arrow zipped past her head, hitting the large tree trunk next to her.
Sintra was caught off guard as Vante grabbed her to hide behind the tree, placing her infront of him to allow the people to run past as arrows rained down on them.
Terror sprinted up Sintra's throat as she tried to imagine the source of their fright but as her curiosity battled her fear, it was ultimately defeated by shock as a woman with the height of a basketball post walked past them, a bow and arrow in each hand respectively.
A gasp slipped from Sintra's mouth but Vante quickly covered it. She found herself leaning further into him as her back pressed against his chest, his rough hands holding her while she shook violently.
Sintra held her breath as she watched the woman take aim, the arrow flying shortly after. Her eyes watered as an ear-splitting shrill followed the monstrous woman's attack, terror skating back down her throat as she tried to swallow the lump it had formed.
Only a loin cloth covered the tall woman's abdomen and her breasts were exposed but painted by something resembling that of black tar. Her skin was covered in mud and her hair hung in long black strands with only a head band made of straw to keep it from her falling into her face. Though Sintra could only see her profile, she knew the woman was beautiful and that made her all the more terrifying.
She thanked God that she did not see them as she focused on the targets ahead of her, taking off into a sprint to catch her prey.
As soon as she left, Vante took her hand and started running.
They ran from tree trunk to tree trunk, hiding incase the monstrous woman returned or there were more of her. As they hid behind another large trunk, cries could be heard in the distance once more.
Sure enough, Anna ran past them, crying out for help as she raced through the forest.
Sintra's limbs moved instinctively but Vante held her in place, covering her mouth once again before draping his other arm across her chest and whispering in her ear.
"Don't die a hero, Ms. Magnus." He said, his breath causing goosebumps to emerge from her skin.
As they stayed there like that, another freakishly tall woman ran past them, her skin the color of Sintra's.
Sintra had not even realized that it was raining until it began pelting her face since Vante's hold gripped not only her body but her mind.
"Let's go, I see a 19." He said, letting her go but still holding onto her hand as they hid from tree to tree until they arrived at the one engraved with the number 19.
Plucking the cards from their holder, hope enveloped Sintra as Vante smiled at the pieces of plastic.
"They're ours," he said but Sintra could already tell as he squeezed her hand a little tighter when he saw them.
"Time to head back," he said.
"But Anna—"
"You can't help anyone if you die here, Ms. Magnus."
"Sintra," she corrected, "Call me, Sintra."
"You can't help everyone, Sintra." He said, smiling as he finished her name and at that moment Sintra wondered how it tasted it to him.
The rain was pouring even harder now, beating down roughly against the leaves of the rainforests' plants to form small puddles atop the earth.
Sintra's silk pressed ponytail had reverted into a kinky puff while Vante's hair now laid in wet strands atop his forehead, complimenting his chiseled torso that was now visible by his wet dress shirt that clung to his body for dear life.
"We can't leave her," Sintra argued.
"We have to," Vante replied, nodding his head towards something behind her.
Sintra's mouth hung ajar as she followed his gaze towards the monstrous woman with whom she shared similar complexion with walking towards the direction she had originally come from, pulling Anna's lifeless body by her hair.
Her knees buckled but Vante caught her, holding her up as she rested her head against his chest. She had seen death too many times today and though she tried to be brave, she had reached her limit.
"I'm sorry," he said to her. "Can you stand? We have to go."
Sintra did not know if it was out of instinct but the monstrous woman's eyes suddenly turned in their direction, her fierce gaze igniting her red irises to look even more inhuman.
"Oh no," Vante said, setting Sintra to stand before pulling her away. "Run!"
And just like that Sintra was running again, this time, Vante held on to her hand as he pulled her along with him while they blazed through the forest a second time. Sintra could not see as the rain had begun to obscure her vision, seeping into her eyes to prompt her to only discern foggy blends of green as they zipped through the rainforest.
Sintra thought arrows were flying past them but she was unsure, her mind exhausted from the trials of the day as the heavy rain hammered her skin and trickled into her ears. They ran and ran until Sintra could finally see the blurry outline of gray metal in the distance, pushing her to run a little faster.
An arrow zipped past them again, landing near the elevator but Vante didn't stop. He pulled Sintra straight into the compartment, scanning the cards against facial recognition scanner before repeatedly hitting the number 12.
"Duck, Sintra!" he shouted, pulling her down anyways as a arrow skidded off the metal wall of the compartment. The door finally began to close just before the giant woman neared the entrance and Sintra passed out as soon as the elevator zipped off to God knows where.
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