Raised From The Wild-Chapter 128: Screams In The Night

Marx heard the soldier’s shout. He lifted his head and looked at the direction where the shout came from. He saw Amaya holding a small bow and had released the arrow toward him. He heard a whooshing sound above him, then a thud as the arrow pierced the nearby tree.

Marx stood up and followed the arrow. In a blink, Amaya and the rest was standing beside him, staring at a fist size black widow.

"Holy shit! This is a black widow. I didn’t know that black widows could grow this big." Dave exclaimed. He took his cell phone and take a video and photo.

Amaya frowned. How could a spider grew to such size? She pulled the arrow and examined the spider’s end of palps.

"Is it a female?" Dave asked and Amaya nodded.

"Do you think that there can be more of them here? If this is a female then she might have hatched a lot of eggs." Julienne asked worriedly. She felt a little worried.

"You can check if there are cobwebs. If there are, then there should be more of them."

Dave took a resealable plastic from his backpack. Then he snapped the arrow and put the dead spider inside the plastic. He would study the spider in the lab.

"We need more firewood. Fire can ward off insects and other animals." Amaya glanced at the bonfire.

"Everyone, let’s gather more wood and let’s make four bonfires." Marx’s authoritative voice rang in the air.

"How did you know there is a spider?"

"It is pure luck. I turned my eyes on you at the right time. It looks like I am destined to be your guardian angel." Amaya teased him.

Marx engulfed her in a big hug. "I am so honored."

"This place is dangerous. I can feel that there are many eyes watching us."

After gathering a lot of dry woods, the group had their supper then they formed groups to alternately stay awake to keep watch during the night.

Amaya took out what looked like incense sticks from her backpack. "The scent of these sticks can ward off most bugs and even big animals. Who ever will be on duty, make sure to keep one burning."

Amaya and Julienne retreated to their tents. They were exempted from the nighttime duty so they prepared to sleep early. Amaya made sure that her weapons were beside her.

Marx’s tent was just beside her. She heard him come inside and lay down on his sleeping bag.

Amaya has slept for two hours when she suddenly woke up. Khalil and Strata who were sleeping with their mates beside her tent growled. She took her quiver and bow and stuffed the two knives in the sheath wrapped around her thighs.

"Marx, wake everyone up and ready their weapon. Something is coming and they are fast." Amaya shouted.

"What happened?" Julienne groggily went out of her tent.

"Julienne get your gun and stand behind the soldiers." Marx ordered her.

"Everyone, hurry put more firewood on the bonfire."

The soldiers and the mountaineers moved quickly. They heard growls and roars and the sound of thumping, like a stampede.

The group formed a circle. It was a defensive formation so all areas were covered regardless where the attacker came from.

It happened so fast. Something black with green shiny eyes jumped on them from different direction. The sound of gunshots and roars and growls pierced the silence of the night. Amaya released her arrows as fast as she could hitting her targets in between their eyes.

When one of the soldiers ran out of bullets and was reloading, a black wolf jumped at him. Julienne who was beside him was taken off guard. She screamed but managed to shot the wolf. Then she pulled the soldier and brought him near the fire.

"There are too many of them, Marx." Amaya’s voice was anxious. They needed to be smart in fighting.

Amaya took a burning wood and throw it to the three mutts who were advancing. They yelped and retreated. Amaya was hesitating. She did not want to use fire because it was very risky and might burn the entire forest.

Amaya noticed that there were three types of animals attacking them. The wolves, the mutts and the boars. They were extremely smart and not the usual animals that Amaya encountered in Miraga.

A few more wolves were about to pounce on them when suddenly they started yelping. Amaya looked up and saw Kong and a few monkeys throwing fruits at the animals. The fruits were still green and round and hard. It was like a stone were being thrown at them. The monkeys were throwing randomly targeting the heads of the animals.

It was a breather for the soldiers and even for Marx and Amaya. Marx reloaded the magazine of his gun while Amaya took the opportunity to check on her surroundings. Julienne was tending to two soldiers who were injured. Her two tigers and two wolves were still fighting and the monkeys continued to throw fruits from above. A few more gunshots were heard before the animals that attacked them finally retreated.

Valdez, Drake and the soldiers who were not injured continued to keep watch.

"Amaya, Sandro is seriously injured. I can’t stop the bleeding." Julienne said worriedly. Sandro was the soldier who protected her when she was attacked by a wolf. In the end he was the one who was bitten.

Amaya approached the soldier. He lost a lot of blood and was very pale. She hurriedly took milagrosa leaves from her backpack. She used the blunt end of her knives to pound the leaves until the green sap came out. She let the sap drip on the wound on his arm before covering them with the leaves.

She gently patted the leaves so they stuck on his wound. The bleeding finally stopped.

She checked on Marx and saw that he has three long wounds on his left hand. He was scratched by a mutt. Amaya used a few milagrosa leaves to treat his wound.

"Does it hurt?" Amaya looked concerned.

"Heh, this is nothing. Check on Khalil, I think he is seriously injured."