THE PATH
"Hey, Fred?"
Fed turn in his chair, the collective light of the bank of monitors reflected in his thick glasses. "Yeah, what's up?"
"I'm going over to the maintenance garage."
"Checking on those power surges we've been having?"
"That and the new shipment is in. We have to replace those switches today or else the boss says everything will go to shit."
"Everything is already going to shit." Fred slugged back the rest of his Coca-Cola and released a satisfying belch. "Two maintenance workers were injured yesterday checking the power relays at OBSP one. The animals are showing more and more unpredictable behavior, like they are waking up and just now realizing they don't belong here. Not to mention..."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Hold the fort, I'll be back in a minute."
"Whatever you say, Oscar. Just be careful on the Path, it runs pretty close to the fence...ooooo!" Fred held up his hands like claws and slashed them down repeatedly.
Oscar rolled his eyes and waved him off. Fred was full of shit, a cynic if ever there was one. Oscar knew the geothermal power plant never went offline, so the fences were always hot. Nothing was getting through them without being fried. Fred had just been on the island for too long without a break.
Oscar pushed through the door into the hall and waited to hear the electric lock click into place before starting for the stairs. The light went from red to green, stop and go. Security protocols were enhanced and there were cameras almost everywhere in the facility. He did not want to lose his job for leaving a door unlocked.
The hall was empty at this time of day; the majority of the admin staff had already left for the village and their after-work daiquiris. Oscar passed more sealed doors and large glass windows that peered into dark rooms with a variety of flashing LED lights. Each room was carefully climate controlled to protect the delicate and immensely expensive equipment housed within them. He shook his head, thinking about the computing power housed withing the concrete walls of this building. No to mention the amount of money spent on it.
At the end of the hall, Oscar swiped his badge to exit into the stair well and started up the steel steps. His boots rang of the steps and echoed up the cavernous concrete tunnel. The air grew musty and more humid as he ascended, the stair wells were not worth the energy to completely air condition them.
Sweat beaded on his forehead after jogging up the couple flights to ground level. When Oscar exited the side entrance the sweat intensified and dripped down his face. The humidity was near one hundred percent on the island after the storm had ripped through the day before. Unfortunately, the main compound with inland from the coast and did not receive the cooling breeze from the sea. Oscar was now more envious of his coworkers sitting by pool as he started onto the path between the admin building and the maintenance garage.
The island was draped in low hanging clouds, still laden with tropical moisture. Drapes of mist hung down and enveloped the patch of jungle that stood between the buildings. The gravel path was just wide enough for a jeep to travel through, but dense foliage pressed in from either side, forming a dark tunnel.
Oscar started walking, his boots crunching on the gravel. He wanted to take one of the Jeeps parked out front, but the Path had several trees down and he did not know when the maintenance crews would get to them. Even on foot, it was still the quickest way.
Entering the jungle transported Oscar into a lost world. The massive trees cut out most of the already dim light. Huge ferns pressed up from the perpetually damp ground, reaching for the diffuse light. Insects buzzed from every direction and birds chirped and cawed from the canopy. It was beautiful and haunting at the same time. He still marveled at the natural beauty, not being nearly as jaded as Fred.
Flashes of steel cut through the natural verdure as the path cut closer to the main perimeter fence. For all the voltage flowing through those wires, Oscar thought it would have been louder. It was the only sign that Oscar was still in the modern world. It was also the only thing keeping out the prehistoric one.
The thought made Oscar shiver in the humid heat.
The air grew more and more dense the further he stepped along the road. Was it growing darker as well? They really needed to install lights along the path. He would have to put in a request with the facilities team when he got back.
Something moved in the jungle mist, stirring the wisps of fog laden air. Oscar jerked his head to the left, trying to see whatever it was. Did he imagine it?
A branch snapped to his right, further up the trail.
The air grew still and the sounds of the birds and insects receded.
Oscar wiped sweat from his eyes.
Something darted across the road was he took his hand away from his face.
His heart began to beat faster. He knew what happened to people when these animals attacked. Visions of ragged, bloody wounds flash through his mind. His breathing became short and shallow, his muscles tensed. The deep primitive instinct of fight or flight welled up from a forgotten corner of his mind.
Oscar stood perfectly still.
He listened.
Nothing.
No insects. No birds. No wind.
Just the faint, electrical hum of the perimeter fence somewhere off to his left—steady, reassuring.
Safe.
He swallowed, forcing himself to move. One step. Then another. His boots crunched loudly on the gravel, the sound unnaturally sharp in the silence.
He told himself it was nothing. A bird. A monkey. Something small. There had been a lot of other normal animals on the island, some were probably trapped within the perimeter fences.
Then he heard it.
A click.
Bird-like, but more resonant and harsh.
Deliberate.
Oscar froze again.
The sound came from the jungle to his right—just beyond the wall of ferns and hanging vines.
Another click answered it.
This one from the opposite side of the path.
Oscar’s eyes widened.
“No…” he whispered.
A shape moved in the mist ahead low to the ground, slipping between the vegetation with unnatural smoothness. For a brief moment, he saw the outline: a narrow head, a long tail held rigid for balance.
Then it was gone.
Oscar took a slow step backward.
The gravel shifted under his boot.
And the jungle came alive.
One of them burst from the foliage on his left—fast, impossibly fast. A blur of mottled hide and sinew. Oscar barely had time to register the sickle-shaped claw before it slashed across his thigh, tearing through fabric and flesh in a single, clean motion.
He screamed, collapsing to one knee. His hand instinctively grasped the wound. Hot blood seeped through his fingers.
The creature didn’t stay. It darted back into the mist as quickly as it had appeared, disappearing like a wraith.
A test.
Oscar clutched his wound, blood already soaking through his pants and running down his leg. His vision tunneled. A wave of nausea washed across him.
“They’re… herding…” he gasped.
Another shape crossed the path ahead. Then another behind him.
Always just out of reach. Always moving.
The clicking started again—faster now.
Communication.
Oscar staggered to his feet and ran.
He didn’t think. Didn’t plan. He just ran—back the way he came, boots slipping on wet gravel, lungs burning as the humid air refused to give him oxygen.
Something paced him in the jungle to his right.
He could hear it—branches snapping in rhythm with his stride.
Another to his left.
Oscar’s foot caught on something—a fallen branch—and he pitched forward hard, slamming into the gravel. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs. He wheezed, struggling for air, fighting exhaustion. How much blood had he lost?
He rolled onto his back—
—and saw them.
Three of them now, stepping silently onto the path, accompanied by the carrion stink of a predator.
They were smaller than he expected. Lean. Built for speed. Their bodies were covered in a patchwork of scales and fine, filament-like feathers that quivered in the humid air.
Their dark eyes were fixed on him.
Bright. Intelligent.
Calculating.
One tilted its head slightly, studying him. It knew that Oscar couldn't run any more.
Then it clicked.
The others answered.
And they rushed him all at once.
Oscar tried to scream, but the sound never fully formed as razor sharp jaws fixed themselves around his neck.
ADDENDUM: SYSTEM LOG – PERIMETER FAILURE
ARGOS CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION NODE
FACILITY: CENTRAL VALLEY COMPLEX
DATE: [REDACTED]
TIME (LOCAL): 18:42:11
ALERT: PERIMETER GRID FLUCTUATION DETECTED
18:42:13
Voltage Drop Detected – 98% → 61%18:42:14
Automated Compensation Engaged18:42:16
CRITICAL ANOMALY – Non-linear electromagnetic interference detected
18:42:17
Fence Output: 0%Duration of Failure: 7.2 seconds
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE:
Signal distortion consistent with previously recorded Ionite field fluctuations.
Frequency spike falls outside expected parameters
Pattern does not match natural geomagnetic activity
Source triangulation inconclusive
18:42:24
Fence Output Restored – 100%
18:42:26
System Status: STABLE
SECURITY CAMERA FEED – PATH CORRIDOR (P-3)
18:42:15
18:42:17
18:42:19
18:42:21
18:42:23
Subject falls from frame
18:42:25
Fence reactivation visible (arc discharge)
18:42:26
Entities no longer visible
INTERNAL MEMO – EYES ONLY
FROM: Director Jonathan Mercer
TO: Senior Operations Staff
We are not logging this as a containment failure.
The fence did not fail. The system experienced a momentary fluctuation. That distinction matters.
Effective immediately:
All personnel are to avoid perimeter corridors during peak interference windows Asset management and security teams have contained the "breach".
Ionite fluctuation data is to be restricted to Level 4 clearance
No mention of “breach” is to appear in official reports We are too close to lose control of this narrative.
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