The sound of footsteps crunched rapidly over fallen leaves, accompanied by the faint rustle of friction.

  "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!"

  The man in the ghillie suit hissed under his breath, venting his frustration. On the other end of the headset, his partner’s voice crackled with a frantic attempt at comfort.

  "Calm down, Kirov. We’re almost at the gate. You’ve got the ghillie suit and the scent-masking kit on. It won’t find you."

  "Are you kidding me?! That thing can lock onto a deer from a hundred meters away! How the hell am I supposed to be calm?!"

  "Just keep moving... stay steady..."

  Kirov wove through the forest at a breakneck pace, his heart a frantic rhythm of prayers.

  Faster... just a little faster... Don’t see me... don't see me...

  "Kirov, you still have the dart rifle. Nothing can dodge a shot from that thing, right?"

  "Screw you, Christine! You were the one monitoring the dinosaurs! You said they were all sleeping! Slee! Ping!"

  "I... I definitely saw them fall asleep... unless the little one slipped away somehow..."

  "So you’re saying the little bastard could be right behind me right now?!"

  Kirov didn't stop cursing, but he kept his voice dangerously low. He didn't forget to scan his surroundings as he ran.

  The forest was silent, a heavy, suffocating silence, as if every living creature had been strangled into stillness. Only the sound of his own footsteps remained. In this quiet, he might as well have been a flare in the night, but he didn't dare stop.

  He had no confidence in out-skulking a predator, and he certainly didn't have the time to climb through the canopy if he wanted to make it out within the thirty-minute window. If he failed, the company would disown him, and that soulless corporation would just send his younger brother or sister to finish the job.

  He couldn't die. Not yet.

  He reached the entrance without incident. The moment he stopped, he spun around, rifle raised.

  Nothing.

  He let out a ragged sigh of relief and whispered into the mic, "Are you guys there...?"

  "We’re here, Kirov..." The man’s voice on the other end hesitated. "Kirov... because of the storm, the emergency override is locked. We don't have the reboot codes..."

  He quickly followed up: "But we can force the system. It’ll trigger the alarm, though. You know what that means."

  "Just open the damn door! Now!"

  Clang—!

  The sharp sound of metal striking metal echoed through the mountain woods.

  "Stop! Stop! Wait!" Kirov hissed into his headset. "Pick the lock first. That thing isn't nearby yet, and I don't want to draw it here."

  The line went quiet for a second. "Fine. Shout if things go south."

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  Of the three, only the woman knew how to pick a lock. The man inside the gate could only wait, listening to the outside world with mounting anxiety.

  "Need a light," the woman whispered. "I can't see the tumblers."

  "On it," the man replied.

  Kirov stood at the entrance, straining his ears. He heard a faint breath, like the snort of a horse. It felt as though a behemoth was coiled in the shadows, waiting for its moment.

  The sound came from the right. Kirov turned his head slowly, moving like a ghost.

  He saw nothing.

  Silvery moonlight spilled into the forest, illuminating a clearing before him. He scanned further out, seeing the moonlit redwoods, dense thickets, and low shrubs.

  Nothing else.

  He squinted, listening. The faint respiration was constant, softer than a breeze. But there was no breeze right now.

  Was there?

  A cold dread settled in Kirov’s gut. It felt like something was right in front of him, something he should be able to see, yet couldn't. He stared until his eyes burned, wondering if his vision was deceiving him. He thought he saw a tremor in the bushes to the right.

  The outlines of the leaves in the moonlight seemed to shift. They moved, then went still.

  He couldn't be sure.

  Kirov stared ahead, his pulse hammering against his ribs. He tried to steady his breathing while he watched.

  He realized he wasn't looking at a bush, but a wall of vines. The density was uneven, and several irregular diamond patterns were visible. But the patterns were strange, and the vines seemed to shimmer slightly, like ripples on a pond.

  Kirov rubbed his eyes. Maybe it was moving. Maybe something behind the vines was pushing them. But it didn't look like that.

  It was something else...

  Should he fire? He only had two tranquilizer darts left. If he guessed wrong...

  Beep— Beep—

  Suddenly, the alarm blared. Warning lights began to spin, bathing the area in a rhythmic, strobing red glow.

  "Holy sh—!"

  Kirov jumped, his finger twitching on the trigger. The dart hissed through the air, burying itself harmlessly in a distant tree.

  The red light hit the clearing, casting geometric shadows across the open ground and onto the shrubs at the edge of the woods.

  In that instant, Kirov saw the shape of the shrubs change. He scrambled to reload, finally letting his voice crack as he screamed into the headset.

  "Dammit! Why didn't you warn me before triggering the alarm?!"

  "Shut up! We’re almost through! Come on, Christine! Help me push this door!"

  With the alarm screaming, the voices on the other end stopped whispering. Their shouts could be heard even through the heavy gate.

  Kirov looked at the "shrub" again. Its shape had changed! It was growing taller!

  Thwip—

  He fired his second dart at the mass. But there was no sound of a needle hitting flesh.

  Kirov’s eyes went wide. His hands began to shake.

  Beep— Beep—

  The alarm wailed on. The red light pulsed, and the sound of the metal door groaning open filled his ears. He looked down, terrified to look around.

  Suddenly, Kirov noticed something. Every time the red light flashed, his shadow grew taller.

  But how could he be growing taller?

  He whipped his head around. A massive maw filled with serrated teeth lunged at him. Instinctively, he thrust his rifle up to block, his body toppling backward.

  Crunch.

  Something hit the ground. Kirov shook off the dizziness of the fall, only to realize... his rifle was gone.

  Then, something heavy slammed down onto his knee. A crushing force followed.

  Snap. Crack. Crunch.

  Something had broken, and it had definitely been shattered into splinters.

  "The door's open, Kirov! Where are you?!"

  The man from the other side squeezed through the gap in the gate and turned to pull it further open.

  "AAAAAAAGH—!"

  A blood-curdling scream erupted to the man's left, echoing through the trees. He froze, feeling his foot come down on something.

  He looked down and saw Kirov’s dart rifle. Then, his neck creaked as he turned slowly toward the source of the scream.

  Beep— Beep—

  As the alarm light strobed, he saw a two-meter-tall silhouette flickering in and out of the red glow. But what remained constant were the glowing yellow pupils glaring through the dark.

  It was watching him.

  The man felt the fabric of his trousers grow wet. He backed away, his voice a trembling whisper. "No... no..."

  His legs gave out, and he slumped onto the ground. The silhouette lifted its foot from Kirov’s shattered knee and turned slowly.

  "No... don't... please..."

  Thump... thump...

  The heavy footsteps approached.

  "Christine... right! Christine!" The man suddenly remembered his companion and screamed, looking back through the gate.

  But there was no one there.

  "Chris—ugh..."

  As if disgusted by his wet trousers, the figure slammed a foot onto his chest. He wheezed, his hands clawing at the creature’s outer toes, begging with the last of his strength.

  "Please... I don't want to die..."