The air smelled like leaves and damp earth. Grass grew in clusters on either side of a narrow trail snaking between huge trees. Posts hammered into the earth every few hundred meters pointed out the right direction.
The trail was remote. The nearest cabin staffed by a park ranger was half a day's hike away. Alex's stride was fast and fluid, he looked about the trees and foliage as he ran. He'd falsified a convincing redness on his cheeks in case he happened to encounter any hikers.
The leaves above stored hundreds of litres of captured water droplets. The breeze blew about the branches and sent occasional showers falling to the leaf-covered earth. Alex didn't mind getting wet.
The towering trees in the forest had stood for hundreds of years. There was something magical about them that Alex never got bored of. His footsteps were the only manmade sound in the forest.
'I can go faster.'
Time slowed, or at least to Alex it appeared to. The modified cells in his eyes began capturing images faster than the human eye ever naturally could. It had been two weeks since he turned his idea of increasing his perception of time into reality. Since then he'd begun work on a new project.
His right foot struck the earth. Then, in a blur of motion Alex pushed off. His speed climbed beyond that of what any human could achieve. Unique nodules in his nervous system fired off in rapid bursts, carrying impulses from his brain to his muscles at lightning like speed.
The nodules in his nervous system were the product of Alex's innovation. Or more accurately, the innovation of his powers. Under the reality-altering power of his will, his powers had mutated the cells in his nervous system again and again. Alex observed the mutations, discarding the harmful and ineffective and capturing those that were revolutionary.
After two weeks of focused changes, Alex had been able to stabilise the mutations and partially spread them throughout his nervous system. He estimated that within two months he'd be able to raise his speed from the current 21 meters/second to a staggering 50 meters per second. That was faster than most domestic cars ever drove.
The metabolic demand of accelerating his movement, even just to the present two times speed, was considerable. Alex had tinkered with his fat storage mechanisms to make them more efficient, allowing him to burn down stored fat instead of the free glucose in his blood. He had enough fat stored to maintain his current speed for twenty or so minutes.
Although he was moving twice as fast as earth's best sprinter, the striking of his feet against the ground and the rustling leaves still seemed to flow in slow motion. Alex concentrated and willed his powers to match his perception of time to the speed he was running at. The process was challenging and at points his vision was entirely out of sync with his body. Every mistake honed his control, Alex determinedly kept trying.
"Help!" The scream pierced the tranquil birdsong.
Alex's head whipped back at breakneck speed. He gritted his teeth and sprinted towards the voice. The densely packed trees slowed his advance, but he didn't turn off his accelerated speed.
If it was a hoax, he'd call the rangers on them and report it to the police. If it wasn't a hoax and someone really was in danger...
The thought made Alex's jaw clench tighter. He focused his attention on the uneven ground at his feet and pushed himself to run faster.
"Help, please! Help us!" The voice cried out desperately again.
Alex heard a dozen other people sobbing and crying out as well. Their voices were quieter and higher-pitched. Children. The louder voice he'd heard first was feminine and older.
The trees parted and he rushed out and into a clearing. He was moving faster than an ordinary person was ever supposed to, his calmer rational side told him to slow down and not expose that kind of speed to strangers, but the fear and panic in the group's voices but him disregard the thought.
A group of teenagers stood trembling, their faces were streaked with tears. They were all dressed uniformly in hiking clothes and raincoats with a school logo. In front of the group, a young woman stood shaking and holding a gun.
The gun was large and bright red. It wasn't the sort of gun that fired bullets, a red flare poked out from the barrel.
The woman's raincoat said teacher in bold orange letters. The group was facing away from him, but hearing something rush out of the clearing they shrieked and turned to face the new threat.
Alex stood, panting, this time his heavy breathing wasn't fake. Moving at accelerated speed placed a heavier burden on the other systems in his body. His powers worked frantically to repair the damage to his cardiovascular and respiratory system. The building of the unique nodule clusters had been the focus of his attention, he hadn't had yet had the time to think about doing any larger scale upgrades to his heart and lungs. He relied on his powers to kick his body's healing processes into overdrive, repairing the damage his accelerated state did as it occured.
The teacher's terror at hearing the bushes rustling and something unknown burst out shifted into joy. Her eyes lit up and she cried out, "Yes! Please, help us!"
The class of teenagers echoed her words, begging Alex to help them and subconciously moving closer to him.
The teacher was short and slim, she wore earrings shaped like mountain ranges and her hair was tied up with a scrunchie. Everything about her appearance, including her bulging rucksack, screamed enthusiastic middle-school teacher.
Alex was nearly a head taller than her and his shoulders were broader and well-defined, obvious even underneath the coat he was wearing. His hair was cut short and his eyes were fiery. Just by standing he exuded a large presence.
The teenagers stumbled to him, first one and then another. Their terrified brains didn't think about looking cool or appearing tough. Alex was an adult and looked physically strong, all they could think about was hiding behind him.
Alex didn't even glance at the children. His attention was focused on something else entirely.
A tall older man lay on the grass. The parks service logo on his back had three deep slashes cut into it. Alex saw the bright whiteness of his ribs. The soil around the man was stained bright red. A notebook and a handful of cards with drawings of local fauna and wildlife were scattered around him.
"Keep your eyes on it, don't look at me. Kids stay behind us." Alex said, his voice was steady.
He stepped forwards slowly. The teacher's shoulders shook and her hands tightened around the gun. She could've argued, tried to disagree with Alex's instruction, but she didn't. The teacher didn't know the stranger who'd appeared out from the bushes, he could've been an axe-murderer wandering around looking for a victim. She didn't care who he was or why he was there. The only thing she cared about was the steadiness of his voice and the composed look in his eyes.
In dangerous situations most people panicked. Panic created errors and errors cost lives. The teacher had done well to prevent the class from running after their guide was killed. Now Alex took control of the situation.
The ranger's hand clutched a small pistol, Alex took it from his hand, silently noting the fading body heat when his fingers brushed the man's skin.
The pistol was hot, it had already been fired and more than once. Four of the six chambers were empty. The weapon was light and small calibre, a well-placed shot could kill a person. But the thing they were facing wasn't human.
Alex held the gun. With his other hand he reached into the pocket of his rucsack and pulled out a compact rectangle resembling the early models of phone.
His eyes never left the danger. He placed the satellite phone on the ground. His voice remained steady, "Kids, one of you call the GDA. 666, they'll know where we are. Just one of you speak, describe the creature as best you can."
He didn't look back to see if one of the teenagers listened. He kept advancing, withdrawing a long knife from his bag while taking measured steps forward.
Alex fell in line with the teacher. The woman's eyes flickered towards him.
"What-what do we do?" She asked in a quivering voice.
Alex noticed that the fabric around her crotch was wet. The smell of urine was fresh.
Alex's command over the group was absolute. His voice sounded calmly again, "Everyone is doing good. We're going to get through this."
The satellite phone beeped. Alex heard fingers touching the keys. He had no doubt the teenager's hands were shaking, but it didn't matter. They'd done as he asked.
The call connected immediately and a voice came out from the phone, "Global Defense Agency. Armed troops are being dispatched to your location, estimated arrival time sixteen minutes. Describe your emergency."
The child's voice was tearful and she struggled to hold back sobs, "A-a-thing. It-it look's like a wolf but-but it's not. It's-it's like-"
The person on the satellite phone interrupted as the child's description faltered, "Think carefully Miss, does it look like a hybrid, can you identify any other animal features?"
"Yes! A-a fox and-and a moose maybe!" The child stammered.
The line was silent for a moment. Then the voice spoke, "Help will arrive in fifteen minutes."
The beast snarled and dragged its front limbs through the damp soil. It wasn't just one creature, it was a horrid and pained fusion of multiple. Thin fur stretched over the beast's skeleton, at points on its deformed skull the fur failed to hide the uneven bone beneath.
It was the size of a gray wolf, its tail was long just like that of the actual creature, but everything else was wrong. Dozens of legs dangled from it's stomach, some were covered in pulsating tumours and didn't touch the ground, while others looked healthy but clearly belonged to a different species. A bear's paw was stitched crudely onto its back, the claws constantly twitched and contorted to unnatural angles.
The creature had two bullet holes to its head, but it didn't exhibit any signs of pain. Alex didn't know how long the beast had been in a standoff with the teacher. Despite it's horrific appearance, it was aware enough to recognise the danger of the strange rock held by the urine-smelling woman.
Two of the ranger's shots had missed. The bullet holes in the trees were obvious. The other two had found their mark. The beast didn't know that the flare gun in the woman's hands was incapable of hurting it. Its wariness towards the weapon was the only thing stopping it from giving into its desire to slaughter the prey.
The creature's patience finally snapped. It howled and charged, bounding forwards with a tumbling gate. Its speed was faster than it's uneven proportions should've allowed.
Alex sprinted, meeting the beast before it could get close to the teacher or students. His perception of time was slowed to the maximum and he accelerated his reaction speeds by twenty percent. He couldn't risk showing his twice accelerated state, not with so many witnesses and the GDA on their way.
The last time he'd held a gun was when an uncle had taught him to shoot at his twelfth birthday party. Man and beast were less than a meter away, skill didn't matter when the distance was that close.
Alex pulled the trigger. The gun spat out a bullet that burrowed straight into the beast's eye. The momentum behind the bullet threw the beast off-balance and it thudded back into the trunk of a redwood.
The beast shook its head dazedly. Its eyes were bright red and overflowing with rage and hunger. Its poorly coordinated limbs pushed off and it got back to its feet with a furious howl.
Another gunshot. Alex heard bone splinter as the bullet pierced through the creature's skull. The impact slammed the beast's head into the redwood trunk. Blood poured out from its snarling lips. The creature's vitality appeared limitless. And now Alex was out of bullets.
Alex threw the gun at the creature's face. The small chrome-coloured weapon bounced off harmlessly. He hadn't expected the throw to injure it, he only wanted to distract it for a moment. His plan had worked.
He hurled himself at the creature. His fist blurred, an uppercut delivered at twice acceleration snapped the creature's jaw upwards. The risk of exposure was small, surging adrenaline was a logical explanation for a feat of incredible strength.
The long knife in his hand slashed at the creature's face. The beast had seven eyes, none of the irises matched. Alex's blade turned the fragile corneas and ocular tissue to a bloodied paste. The beast was blinded.
The teacher watched on with horror, her heart pounded like cannon-fire in her chest. Her hands shook so violently that the flare gun slipped from her sweat-drenched palms. The gun tumbled across the earth and bashed against a rock. The trigger flicked. A flare leapt out of the gun, hissing wildly and sending up spiralling plumes of bright red smoke.
The beast howled with fury, driven-mad by blindness and bloodlust it writhed and twisted. The beast's aimless bucking and biting send Alex tumbling back, the damp ground gave way beneath his feet and he fell backwards. His head hit the ground and his hand struck a rock, pain shot through him.
Alex roared and snatched up the rock. He charged towards the beast and struck it in the head. Bone splintered and pungent blood that reeked of rot covered his hands.
The stone was raised up again. Alex's expression was contorted into something old and cruel, he brought the stone down on the beast's skull once more.
The creature's teeth sank into Alex's forearm. Pain lanced up his shoulder. Ape-like fury filled his muscles with strength, he pushed aside the pain and struck with the stone again.
And again. And again.
The creature's struggles weakened. Whatever demonic force empowered its body faded, overwhelmed by the sheer violence inflicted upon it. Its thrashing became weaker and weaker.
Now its limbs only twitched when the rock struck down on its mangled and broken skull.
Alex's chest heaved up and down like bellows. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the beast's corpse and rolled to the side. He leant against the redwood's trunk, sap oozed out onto his clothes from where the beast's claws had raked through the bark.
The teacher stumbled towards him, falling as she walked. Blood stained through the fabric on her knees. The pain didn't seem to register.
"Are-are you okay?" She asked.
The children crept forwards, most of them were weeping openly. Their wracked sobs couldn't hide their joy.
Alex looked up at the teacher, "I'll be fine."