To Hunt Like a Human
They were surrounded by ant-wolves.
We're still fine. The beasts were closing their perimeter from so far away that even Chester had barely noticed them. That meant they still had a bit of time. Chester acted as if he had no idea they were surrounded, careful not to provoke the ant-wolves into a sudden, desperate charge.
"Monia."
"Yes?"
"We're surrounded."
"What? Surrounded?"
Before Monia could instinctively look around, Chester grabbed her head and pulled her tight against his chest, blocking her view. To anyone else, it would have looked like a passionate embrace.
"Mmph."
"Listen to me carefully. Now that we're surrounded, we can't outrun them. No matter how fast we run, we're slower than they are."
"..."
"They're planning to hunt us, and there's no way out. So, what do we do?"
Keeping an eye on the slowly advancing ant-wolves, Chester released Monia from his embrace and began to walk. He moved slowly, casually, taking utmost care to ensure nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Trembling with anxiety, Monia instinctively clutched the hem of his shirt and followed close behind.
Chester's target was a tree about twenty paces away. It was the closest and reasonably tall tree in the immediate area.
"We're climbing that tree."
"What? I'm still not very good at climbing trees."
"I'll help you. It'll be fine."
"...Okay."
Monia couldn't hide her anxiety. It was only natural. How could anyone remain as calm and collected as Chester when a pack of ferocious predators was closing in on them?
She couldn't help but imagine it: the ant-wolves glaring at her from the shadows of the forest, drooling. She imagined them hunting her down, tearing her flesh apart, and devouring her greedily.
"...!"
A cold, unpleasant sweat broke out, entirely different from the perspiration of their hike. Tension, anxiety, dread. Her heart began to hammer violently against her ribs, and her limbs stiffened.
She could almost see the Grim Reaper placing a pale, bony hand upon her thread of life, stroking it gently before raising his scythe to sever it. She was terrified.
Chester, however, was thinking about something else. What happens once we get up the tree? Will they give up? Unlikely. If the changing weather had driven them to hoard food, they wouldn't let Chester and Monia go easily. After all, humans were "massive" organisms compared to most of the island's wildlife. It was hard to believe the ant-wolves would just walk away from such a massive bounty of meat.
Considering they ruined my traps just to spite us, they're nasty and incredibly persistent. Those were the worst kind of beasts to deal with. Wild animals were supposed to act rationally, but the world rarely operated on pure logic. When pushed to the brink, both humans and beasts alike were prone to throwing reason out the window.
"Monia."
"Y-yes?"
Chester noticed the thick layer of fear coating her voice.
"I'm going to climb up first."
At those words, Monia gripped his shirt even tighter.
"Then I'll pull you up from above. Just grab my hand and climb. Got it?"
"..."
Monia didn't answer. She simply trembled, her knuckles white as she clung to his clothes.
"Don't worry."
Chester turned back around, pulling her into his arms and patting her back.
"I told you, didn't I? I won't abandon you. I'll stay right by your side."
Those were the same words she had heard on that stormy night. Fearing she was being abandoned when he said he would climb first, tears welled in Monia's eyes. She buried her face in his chest and nodded.
"I trust you."
Her voice shook with tears and terror. Chester answered by holding her tighter and gently patting her back. Meanwhile, the ant-wolves had closed the distance enough to be clearly visible even to Monia.
"...Here I go!"
Chester released her and immediately began scaling the tree. Sensing his sudden movement, the ant-wolves burst into a sprint.
—Bark! Bark!
—Grrrrr!
Startled by the savage growls and barks of the ant-wolves, Monia clamped her hands over her ears. They were charging. They were coming right for her. The beastly silhouettes that had seemed so small in the distance grew larger by the millisecond, closing the gap in the blink of an eye. Just then, a hand reached down from above.
"Monia!"
At the sound of Chester's voice, Monia grabbed his hand with both of hers. And then, she experienced something extraordinary.
"Wh-whoa?!"
It felt as if all weight had suddenly vanished from her body as she was yanked upward.
"Push off the trunk!"
Startled by the sensation, Monia scrambled to plant her feet against the bark and push herself up as Chester instructed. Her body soared even higher, and before she knew it, she was nestled safely in Chester's arms as he sat perched on a thick branch.
Having narrowly missed her, an ant-wolf that had managed only to snap at the sole of her shoe let out a frustrated howl.
"Wow."
But Monia paid the beast's howling no mind. The experience had been that breathtaking. It was a world apart from struggling to climb a ladder or a tree on her own—it felt as though she had literally flown through the air.
"Wow, oh my gosh!"
"Calm down a bit."
"Ah, right."
Holding Monia, Chester used his free arm and legs to climb to a higher position. Once he had wedged them securely between a thicker branch and the main trunk, he relaxed his grip on her. Yet, Monia remained tightly clung to him of her own accord.
"What are you doing? Sit next to me."
"Well, it's just..."
Chester shifted his body to make room for her to move over, but Monia still didn't budge. Looking down at her, Chester sighed.
"Can't be helped, I guess. I used to freeze up from fear all the time back in the day."
He patted her back, showing his understanding.
However, the real reason Monia clung to him wasn't because she was frozen in fear. It was because being pressed against him like this made her feel infinitely safer, banishing the terror that had gripped her moments ago.
"..."
"What is it?"
Monia snuggled a fraction closer to him, then quietly changed the subject.
"By the way... what are you going to do about them?"
Monia pointed down at the ant-wolves quietly staring up at them. They had settled onto the forest floor, resting while they waited for Chester and Monia to come down. Incredibly, while a few kept watch, two or three others actually wandered off to forage and hunt for food nearby.
Clever bastards. They seemed to be omnivorous, occasionally munching on fallen berries or chewing on the surrounding shrubbery. It wasn't entirely unusual; even lions ate grass from time to time.
Let's see... there are nine of them in total. Four of them were larger than the others—the scouts, so to speak. The remaining five were standard ant-wolves. They clearly had no intention of letting their prey go, and with no other trees close enough, escaping from branch to branch was out of the question.
So, what's the plan? What else could it be?
We fight. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but sometimes, a man had to do what he had to do. To survive.
Chester checked his basket. Inside, along with the few animals he had retrieved from the traps, were several tools he carried daily. His only hunting weapons were a bow and a sling. The bow and sling are out. They were too awkward to use in a tree surrounded by dense branches. I'll have to use something else.
Chester pulled his machete from the basket, then hung the basket on a nearby branch.
"Chester...?"
Seeing him move in silence, Monia looked up at his face. His eyes were slightly narrowed, his nose scrunched, and his lips pressed into a tight line. It was the expression he always wore when lost in deep thought. Knowing he wouldn't easily respond until he finished thinking, Monia simply watched him quietly.
It's fine. I can do this. Chester analyzed the difference in their combat power. In a straight fight, the odds of his death were a hundred percent. But that was fine.
No problem at all. He could never win a fair, head-on fight, but since he had absolutely no intention of fighting fair, it didn't matter. So, how should he fight?
I'll hunt like a human.
Hunting like a human. Chester tilted the machete he had taken from the basket, catching his reflection in the flat of the blade. Though he had dirtied it with soil to prevent it from reflecting sunlight, it still offered a faint, blurry reflection of his face. Chester wiped a bit of the dirt off the blade with his finger, then used it to draw simple lines on his face. It was a ritual his father had learned from remote tribes during his travels. The fearsome markings painted on the face were said to instill courage in the heart, banish fear, and bring victory and good fortune.
Using the dirt from the other side of the blade to finish the markings, Chester quietly stood up.
"Kyaah!"
As Monia gasped, nearly losing her balance, Chester wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to steady her.
"Ah, thank you."
"Don't mention it."
After carefully helping Monia stand on the branch, he quietly looked down at the ant-wolves. Holding his machete, he swung it downward. A branch in front of him snapped cleanly, falling right into his palm.
"Alright. Shall we begin?"