GODLESS

Ben crashed through the suffocating jungle like a madman, his mind consumed by primal terror as he careened blindly between towering trees. Branches tore at his clothes and flesh while he stumbled over hidden roots and slipped on the treacherous carpet of decay that covered the forest floor. The dense canopy above formed an impenetrable ceiling of interwoven branches and leaves, blocking what little moonlight might offer guidance, leaving only the frantic, stuttering beams of flashlights to illuminate the treacherous path forward.

“MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!” he screamed over his shoulder, his voice cracking with raw panic as branches whipped across his face, leaving stinging welts on his cheeks.

Behind him, Sarah and Kate crashed through the undergrowth like wounded animals. Sarah’s expensive Gore-Tex jacket hung in tatters from her sweat-soaked frame, her tactical gear reduced to useless weight. Kate’s smaller form struggled against hanging vines that seemed to grab at her with malicious intent, her designer hiking boots slipping on the slick vegetation with each desperate step.

Sarah’s breath came in controlled bursts—even in terror, her military training showed. Kate whimpered with each stride, her voice higher and more fragile than the others.

“Ben, wait up!” Kate called out between panicked gasps, her words ending in a slight whine.

But Ben couldn’t stop. Wouldn’t stop. The image of Professor Williams being torn apart burned in his mind like acid, while the knowledge that something moved with predatory purpose through the darkness behind them—gaining ground with each passing second—drove him forward with mindless, all-consuming terror.

“Keep moving, Kate!” Sarah barked, her voice sharp with authority despite her fear. The humid air clung to her olive skin like a suffocating shroud, her dark hair plastered to her skull with perspiration.

The beam of her tactical flashlight bounced wildly off ancient cecropia trees, their bark scarred by decades of insect boring. The erratic light made solid ground indistinguishable from the deceptive carpet of decomposing leaves beneath he hiking boots.

Then Sarah’s foot caught on nothing—a void where earth should have been.

She plummeted downward with a sharp intake of breath, realizing too late that she’d found a carefully constructed pit.

“AGHHH!!” The scream tore from her throat as pain exploded through her right leg.

Backward-facing bamboo spikes drove deep into her flesh with surgical precision. The trap’s opening had been disguised with branches and rotting vegetation, its bamboo jaws designed to prevent escape. Any struggle would only drive the spikes deeper.

“Help me!” Sarah’s voice broke with desperation, all her military composure shattered as blood seeped through her khaki pants in dark, spreading stains.

Ben and Kate skidded to a halt, their flashlights swinging back to find Sarah partially swallowed by the earth. Her face contorted as she tested the trap’s cruel embrace, her hands clawing at the pit’s rim.

“I’m trapped.” Sarah said through gritted teeth, her tactical mind still working despite the agony.

Ben’s gaze darted into the impenetrable darkness behind them, his flashlight beam trembling. Deep lines of terror etched themselves around his green eyes as the weight of their situation crashed over him.

“We can’t stop,” he whispered, the words carrying the weight of a decision he never thought he’d have to make.

Kate’s brown eyes widened in disbelief. “We can’t just leave her!” Her voice rose to a near-shriek, panic making her sound younger, more vulnerable. She gestured frantically between Sarah and the darkness. “There has to be something we can—”

“You can stay. I’m going.” Ben’s declaration cut through her protests.

The words hung in the humid air for a heartbeat before something else pierced the night—the high, clear sound of a bell ringing somewhere beyond their torchlight. Mechanical and deliberate, like a dinner bell calling the faithful to feast.

All three froze. The bell tolled again, closer this time, its metallic voice carrying unmistakable anticipation.

Ben turned without another word and began to run, his footsteps heavy as he crashed through the undergrowth.

“BEN!” Sarah’s shout carried military authority even in desperation. “Don’t leave me!”

But Ben was already gone, his flashlight beam jerking and swaying as it grew smaller.

Kate stood torn between the retreating light and her trapped friend, her slight frame trembling with indecision.

Sarah’s eyes locked onto Kate’s. Tears cut clean tracks through the dirt on her cheeks. “Kate…” Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. “Please. Don’t leave me here”.

Kate hesitated, looking back and forth between Sarah’s outstretched hand and Ben’s fading glow. Her breathing came in short, sharp gasps.

“KATIE!!” Sarah’s scream rose to an inhuman pitch that seemed to shake the very leaves around them.

The sound broke Kate’s paralysis. With one last agonized look at her friend, she turned and fled into the darkness, her flashlight beam dancing erratically.

“You fucking bitch!” Sarah’s cry of betrayal echoed through the trees, chasing Kate into the night.

Alone in absolute darkness, Sarah tugged at her trapped leg. Each movement sent fresh waves of agony through her as the spikes scraped against bone. The silence around her felt oppressive, broken only by her labored breathing and the distant drip of moisture from above.

Then she heard it—something moving through the undergrowth with deliberate purpose.

Sarah went still, turning her head toward the sound. Her breath caught as the rustling grew louder, accompanied by the panting grunts of something closing in for the kill.

In the distance, Kate and Ben heard Sarah’s final pleas for mercy, followed by a blood-curdling scream that cut through the night before being suddenly, terribly silenced.

Kate let out a stifled sob, tears streaming down her face as the reality of their abandonment crashed over her. The guilt was immediate and overwhelming.

“BEN!” she called out, her voice thick with tears.

“Don’t stop, Katie. Just run.” Ben’s response floated back from somewhere ahead, already growing distant.

Blinded by tears, Kate struggled to navigate the treacherous ground. Her foot caught on an exposed root and she went down hard, her flashlight spinning away like a dying star.

She scrambled desperately to retrieve it, her manicured fingers digging into the loam. She closed around the aluminum cylinder just as something approached from behind.

Kate raised the light as a figure leaped at her from the shadows.

Up ahead, Ben stopped and turned his flashlight back. The beam caught Kate being violently dragged backward into the razor grass, her fingers clawing desperately at the ground.

“BEN! Help me!” The terror in her voice was absolute.

Ben stood frozen for a heartbeat before primal fear took over. He turned and ran with renewed desperation, his breath transforming into hysterical sobs. Behind him, Kate’s screams turned to wet, gagging cries before falling silent.

In his blind panic, Ben missed the snare hidden among hanging vines. His foot triggered the mechanism and suddenly he was hoisted upward by his ankle, his body swinging wildly as he lost his grip on the flashlight. It landed on the ground below with a dull thud, just inches from his desperately reaching fingertips, the plastic housing split but still functional.

The light flickered once, twice, as the battery began to fail. Ben watched in mounting horror as the LED beam grew weaker and more orange, then died completely, plunging the jungle into pitch blackness.

“NO!!!” His cry echoed uselessly through the darkness, swallowed by the vast indifference of the jungle.

In the absolute black, Ben hung suspended, whimpering as blood rushed to his head. His breath came in shaky gasps that suddenly halted as he heard something approaching—slow, deliberate steps crushing vegetation with methodical precision.

“No, please, no, no, no—I have money, I can pay you, please—” Ben’s pleas grew increasingly hysterical before they transformed into screams of pure agony as something heavy struck him across the ribs with a wet crack. His terrified shrieks gradually diminished to muffled moans and blood-soaked whimpers as the wet, striking sound continued relentlessly, accompanied now by the primal grunts of someone who was enjoying reaping the fruits of their hunt.

Then Ben fell silent, his body going limp on the rope.

All that remained was the wet, sloppy sounds of blood, flesh, and entrails being methodically hacked apart in the absolute darkness of a jungle that held no mercy for those who trespassed within its ancient embrace.—and beneath it all, barely audible, came the sound of laughter. Cheerful, almost childlike glee that suggested this was just another day’s work for whatever called this hell home.