Stealthily creeping through the dense underbrush, I focused on the strange, otherworldly clicking noises resonating around me as I pushed the predicament of potentially having another heartbeat to the back of my mind.

-"Things to do, insect-like apes to kill. No time for that crap."

If I were honest with myself, the possibility of a parasite-like organism living inside of me was terrifying, especially if it was big enough for me to hear its heartbeat. So much so, that I started fantasising about the noise being another heart I had mysteriously grown, though I couldn't even start to logic where it would lay if that were the case.

After a minute of manoeuvring, surprised at how far the insect apes were from me when I had heard them, I moved forward as my face bloomed into a feral smile.

Somehow, as the distance between us shortened, I was able to not only vaguely guess their locations but also I could identify three unique sounds.

The lack of variation, as well as the separate locations they originated from, led me to believe that either I had three opponents or, that was what they wanted me to think and now I was walking into a trap while stalking the distraction.

-”Challenge accepted.”

I was still riding on the high of my earlier victory yet; I wasn't feeling as foolish as I sounded.

I had decided that the first option, that there was only three of them, fit with the details I had already gathered much better than the alternative.

From what I had seen in the clearing, the insect like apes liked to stick in small groups of around four. This concept was further aided by how they had left the clearing, at least the few small clusters that were still around when I woke up, in the same groups.

Of course, killing one of them could have brought them together as a species, but if they were anywhere near as intelligent as I thought they were, to do it in such a quick time without making any noise, would be a feat boarding on miraculous.

The soft, peaty ground felt wonderful against my bare feet as I twisted through the vegetation, my excitement growing with every step.

It wasn't long before I was forced to stop, sweat running down my back, even though the night was pretty chilly, as I silently skirted towards the edge of left most insect.

The creature passed within feet of me as I held my breath, laying on my stomach under a bush, causing my heart beats to increase in tempo.

I ground my teeth as I inadvertently reminded myself of the 'extra' heart before getting back to the task at hand.

Without the added weight of the body and with my uncanny ability to quickly improve my movements, I was able to move with a surreal grace that would have made any spec ops member green with envy, which, I noted, didn’t shock me as much as it should have.

Restraining a laugh at the thought of how easily I had side stepped the ape, passing like a shadow and barely leaving a sign as I got behind their search line, I got to my feet while maintaining a low crouch.

I licked my lips, an action that I vaguely considered not normal for me, as my grin continued to grow. The memory of the rush I had felt when I slaughtered their comrade earlier, almost as intoxicating as any drug, urging me forward.

However, even though I had a good the chance to surprise the ape, I held back.

If years of watching nature and war documentaries had taught me anything, it was the value of an ambush. Combine that with the fact that, unless they were stupid and couldn’t read the signs that their friend had been killed, they were not taking me seriously as they crashed through the dense foliage.

The grin on my face started to hurt as I imagined the perfect scenario.

The added shock value if I turned up behind them should be enough to unbalance them and, even if I am forced to retreat, they should be much slower in their search if they are always watching their backs.

The aim of the game wasn't necessarily to kill, though that is the best way to end a threat, but to instil a fear into them that, if they live, will pass onto others and hopefully, give me an advantage in the future.

OK, I was still looking at them as if they were animals, but they didn't seem too advanced so, unless proven otherwise, the theory should be good.

Using the large base of a tree, to avoid twigs or leave any noticeable marks in on the soft ground, just because I felt like I should, I shot forward and slid behind the next tree.

Making sure the clicks were still moving away from me, I started stalking towards the creature, now on my right, a sense of urgency building in my steps, as a plan began to form.

If the group continued to this path, the one in the centre would soon find the corpse of its kin, probably creating some noise while momentarily becoming distracted. The two on the flanks would probably move to investigate, becoming sidetracked and that would provide me with the perfect opportunity to strike.

-"Lots of probably's in there but its the best I have."

The only problem was my success depended on making the kill noiselessly and getting out of dodge before the others realised what had happened.

The ape was at a severe disadvantage earlier as I didn't play fair, but I could still perceive its strength in its limited struggles. It would be foolish attempting to take one on in a fair fight, let alone three.

Relief washed over me as I spotted the grey-black skin of the back of my targets head, inelegantly swaying, as it attempted to pick his way through the vegetation.

The creature's movements made one thing delightfully clear.

The insect apes were not natural forest dwellers, and while that fact confused me slightly, raising the question of why they were here, I once again felt that lady luck was on my side.

That or it was the best actor I had ever seen.

To be fair, even earlier tonight I would have said the same about myself, but unless I was tripping on the yellowy-green flesh I consumed earlier, even as I stalked forward, I saw myself improving with each step.

Though, I couldn't instantly dismiss that my mind wasn't compromised somehow.

Faint swirls of evaporating sweat, how I was generating so much heat or the fact I didn't feel like I was burning up was a complete mystery, rose into the cold night air as I watched the muscles beneath twist and bulge as they continuously shifted.

I momentarily wondered if the speed of my adaptations was increasing, seeing as this was the first visible evidence I had noticed, causing a knot of worry to appear.

The concern was fleeting as the incessant clicking noises, as well as a renewed hunger, redirected my attention.

My mouth salivated, the meat from earlier only having taken the edge off, and I paused, trying to work out if there was any way I could stop myself from making the same mistake as before.

Having your stomach give away your position twice in one night was beyond idiotic.

-"All I nee-"

*Crack*

The ape ahead of me stood on a twig, clicking a few times in what I assumed to be annoyance before kicking it to the side and carrying on.

Pulling myself off the floor and out of a very spiky bush, surprisingly uninjured, I centred myself and continued my crouching stalk, rapidly closing the gap as we approached where I believed the corpse should be.

I prepared to move at a moments notice, waiting for the sign that the body had been discovered but, as my target kept trudging on, I became confused.

Nothing happened.

The group carried on its slow, semi-cautious, advance, scanning their surroundings obviously looking for something.

-"Are they really looking for me or just out for a stroll?"

Frowning, I stopped, and when the ape was far enough away, I moved back and to the centre where I immediately saw the problem.

I had chosen a concealed spot to enjoy my foul looking meal, between an orange bush and a tree, which now looking at it, was almost invisible from the outside.

-”I could have just laid low and waited for them to pass. Fucking things can't even search properly. That blasted ape must have tripped on the corpse as he passed.”

My irritation confused me. The ineffective search party was moving on, oblivious to what had happened, which was by far, the best-case scenario for me. Unless it was a trap of course, but for some reason, even though common sense told me to eat what I had and run, thanking my lucky stars, I just couldn't let it go.

Heaving a defeated sigh at my stupidity, I quickly moved over to the body, pulled it out from its leafy cover and positioned it leaning against the trunk of the tree, facing the direction that the other had come from as if it had just sat down to take a rest.

After I did that, I wiped my hand across the wound and rubbed it over its chest and head, the yellow blood making the creature much more noticeable.

As I started to move away, I paused and looked at the insect ape's groin, finding nothing that could be used to establish a gender, before shrugging.

Shaking my head at the timing of my curiosity, I took a steadying breath, trying to remember every detail I could from the noises they had been making.

-”I’m going to get my self-killed one of these days."

A warped, mad idea, pretty much like all my thoughts these days, had somehow come to the forefront of my mind and, for some reason, I felt like it just might work.

I had managed to replicate, and in my own opinion, improve, the howl of a wolf as well as steal the blood-chilling hiss of Spike, so why couldn't I imitate a dull clicking noise.

Though it had not been very pressing, at the back of my mind, I had continuously been thinking about how I could communicate with others after the voice mentioned other, intelligent races. It might not be the best way, but maybe that was the driving motivator for me being able to fairly easily copy sounds.

It could be that this was my subconscious's answer to my problem.

“Cik”

Even with the ever oppressive silence that still hung heavy in the air, the noise painfully escaping my throat was barely audible, yet I could still tell it sounded wrong.

“Kkk, Tick.”

My next attempt, seemed like I was drowning at first, though the result at the end sounded much closer.

*Tlick*

Resisting the urge to hiss in anger, something I now considered to be a way of me releasing stress more than needing to, I cleared my throat a little too noisily, preparing to howl if this didn't work.

Taking a deep breath as I listened to clicking I was trying to imitate, noticing that it had become extremely faint in the distance.

-”Nothing but the pressure to do it right on the night.”

"CLICK!"

Making a last minute adjustment by placing the ape’s claw like hand over his leg, as if he was clutching a wound, I moved back to the left side and into a thick, concealing bush as I settled into watch my bait.

The one on the left had escaped me once. He wouldn't be so lucky a second time.

My throat hurt from just making the noise once but I ignored the pain.

"CLICK CLICK CLICK… CLICK."

I had no idea if what I was doing was right, or if it even made sense, so I just tried to replicate the noises in the patterns I could remember.

-"I could be singing a drinking song or advertising my willingness to mate for all I know."

Stifling a chuckled, I released another breath full of clicks before listening.

The silence was deafening, and I started to worry, mixed with a tiny bit of relief, that I had missed my chance.

-”Shit, maybe they got too far? Or know it's a trap?”

I held my breath as the seconds ticked by, a few insects occasionally making noise before muting again.

If they felt the same tingling dread, something I had been ignoring since I had paused while carrying the body, I didn't blame them for remaining silent.

“Click”

A single click, quickly followed by others gradually grew in volume, along with snapping twigs and rustling leaves, brought the smile back to my face.

-”Simple things for simple minds. Now be good little monkey, insect, fish things and take the bait, please. I am starving.”

I forced myself to stop shaking, clenching my left fist as I slowly raised my improvised weapon in a reverse knife grip and took slow, calming breaths.

Doubts tried to assault my mind, questioning if I had made the right decision and, looking back at it, I would have to agree that I was becoming more and more reckless.

It was scarily similar to like when you are drunk, and your sober friend keeps suggesting really foolish ideas that, at the time, sound like the best things since sliced bread.

The bushes rustled next to the tree before a black, beady eyed head pushed through the foliage, not stopping as its head swayed side to side, continuously surveyed its surroundings.

Clicks, somewhere behind me and further ahead, helped me locate his friends. However, my eyes bulged as the creature continued ambling forward before passing my hiding spot and disappearing into the forest.

-”Oh no, you don’t.”

“CLICK!”

My eye twitched as anger started to bubble in the depths of my gut.

-”Have I been overestimating these creatures this much? Surely they have enhanced senses as they are moving about at night and living in a predator infested clearing in the middle of nowhere? Eye sight might be useless with how dense this place is but what about the smell? Pheromones? Heat-vison?... bloody common sense.”

The loud rustle of leaves announced the return of, who I assumed to be, the leader, almost close enough for me to reach out and stab him with his own kin's dismembered appendage, which I will state, resisting was one of the hardest things I had ever had to do.

-"Don't spoil it by being too quick. Slow and steady."

I was so intent on the creature in front of me; I didn't even make an innuendo in my mind, something of a first for me.

“CLICK!, Click, click click.”

Just as I was about to move out and ‘educate’ my prey, something overriding my sense of self-preservation and cautiousness, the ape startled and shouted out as its head locked onto the body sitting by the tree.

I almost shouted out in joy.

I wouldn’t consider myself an expert in this sort of thing by a long shot, but I was seriously starting to get depressed with how badly my attempts at ambushing were failing. For a minute there, I started imagining myself as wile e coyote, doomed forever to fail at trying to catch his prey.

Closing my eyes for a moment, I took a deep breath as I wondered if the next part of my plan would come to fruition.

The new scheme was simple, and much riskier, Shock and Awe.

The centre ape would call out, drawing the other two to the corpse and when the left one passed me, ensuring my back and path of retreat was open, I would surprise it. Slicing its throat open as the others watched, hopefully in mute horror, before I disappeared quickly into the undergrowth.

With any luck, they would turn tail, but if not, I would attempt a guerrilla style battle as I made my way back to the, hopefully, neutral clearing.

I frowned at the incredibly flakey plan.

-”Actually, they might just be stupid enough to charge at me before I can retreat and set up another ambush. Or call for help. Or-”

The noise behind me, just to my right indicated that I needed to be ready, yet as I opened my eyes, my jaw nearly hit the floor.

-”Huh?"

The ape had bent down to the corpse and using its fingers, had ripped off the plate fragments I had pulled apart and... It was eating its own kind. Something that was completely outside of all my assumptions.

My mind struggled to comprehend what was happening when, just to make matters worse, the ape from the other side burst into view and without even waiting for a second, fell to its knees as it bit into the body's neck, tearing away a large chunk.

-"Cannibalistic tendencies?"

Without noticing its approach, a figure appeared beside me, shocking me from my stupor, before quickly passing as it neared the feeding frenzy.

Biting my cheek, which hurt a lot more than I thought it would, I jumped forward, not worried about being heard as quite frankly, the insect apes could put a swarm of starving orphans, who had just been thrown a chocolate bar to shame in terms of noise.

My left hand grasped the ape's shoulder, quickly yanking it back and putting it off balance as my right snaked around its head and, without meaning too, I released a deep, rumbling growl as I pulled the substitute knife across its throat.

Warm yellow liquid splashed over my hand as it sprayed outwards, with a lot more pressure than I would of ever have guessed, moments before the other two head’s snapped towards me.

-”If it isn’t my stomach, it's my fucking throat.”

My victim had made no noise when I killed it, but my growl, that seemed to vibrate the air around me, was more than enough to attract their attention.

Releasing a screech like a cry, enabling me to place the noise that I had heard earlier, they both leapt at me even as the body of my latest kill, at least when its heart had stopped pumping its life blood out of it, was falling to the floor.

It was at this moment; I noticed something I really wish I discovered before coming up with these retarded ideas.

On each of their wrists, there was a large bump that ran along the length of their forearm.

While it looked very insect-like, which is why I initially dismissed it as aesthetic, it turns out it was actually used to house a two foot long spikes that, apparently, could be extended at will.

It only got worse, the blade like spikes had lines of backwards facing barbs running their length and, even though they were the same dull grey colour as the rest of the insect apes, looked incredibly sharp.

My skin tingled, more intense than the feeling I had earlier, similar to being dropped into icy water, as I pushed the falling corpse towards the ape on my left.

I was trying to stop them both attacking me at the same time, staggering their attacks and hopefully their flow though, deep down, I knew I was staring death in the face.

This time, it was no one's fault but my own.

As the body crashed into the other ape, I ducked forward and leapt towards the other.

The arms, with spikes extended, were only just rising, giving me the opportunity to move between them.

Not that I had many options.

In fact, I could only see two, if I discarded running for my life, which I wasn't sure I could safely outrun them, or even turn around to, now I actually looked at the powerful muscles of their legs.

The first was to back off, trying to keep my distance while I tried to lose them without getting any new aeration holes in my body. Or I could get close, so close that those spikes became more of a hindrance than an advantage, kill one of them and level the playing field.

Well, that was the plan.

The problem was I had sorely underestimated how fast I could move.

Within the blink of an eye, I had smashed into the charging ape, sending us tumbling to the ground where, luckily for me, its arms were sprayed outwards, and I was on top.

The surprise of my speed, making me almost cry tears of blood now that I knew the option of running away was valid, did not stop me from trying to stab the beast in the chest as we fell.

However, this is where I came across my next problem.

Appart from weak spots like the neck, eyes or I guess mouth, the creatures plated skin was incredibly tough, causing my improvised weapon to slide off to the side.

The insect ape twisted, trying to add momentum to its rising arm as the spike retracted, meaning it wouldn't just slap me on the side or get in its way.

-”Oh”

Obviously, using it as a spear was only one of its uses.

I had not thought they would pull the spikes back in and with the speed that they could extend and retract, I was starting to believe that it would add one hell of a 'good night' to any punch.

Knowing that if it managed to line up a shot, I would be down for the count, I kicked off the floor, pushing up the ape's body and slamming my knee onto its arm, pinning it back to the ground as my left hand restrained the other.

A loud screech behind me, accompanied by a sickening thud, caused a shiver to run-up my spine but there was nothing I could do. Death from the front, or from behind.

-”At least make the score 3, 1.”

The twisted thought calmed me somewhat, and I raised my right hand, still grasping the mandible before slamming it down into the ape's black eye, putting too much force into it as my hand continued downwards, smashing into its head and spraying me with black and yellow goo.

My victory wasn’t priceless however as the creature used my shift in weight when I started to strike to free its arm which had retracted its spike and aim it at my chest.

Though my hit landed first, I must have been too late as the spike shot forward and, without even pausing, punched through my chest, and from the wetness running down my back, out the other side.

I coughed a mist of blood as my body tensed, the adrenaline numbing the pain enough that I didn't fall unconscious or scream, as I waited for the killing blow.

There was no way I was getting out of this one, and unlike all the other times, where I refused to give up because of the hand fate had played, I had done this to myself.

My grip relaxed, releasing the remains of my improvised weapon, deciding that it had found its permanent resting place as I waited.

I sucked in, as best as I could, a breath as the spear slowly retracted, the barbs causing extra damage as they left my body with a sickening squelch.

A crunching noise erupted behind me, causing me to jump slightly.

Gritting my teeth as I thought back the pain and impending darkness, I slowly turned.

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the sight that greeted my eyes.

The sound of the forest had returned, which was normal after the hunt was considered over, as I watched the Alpha wolf chewing on the leg of the last ape with a smug 'I thought you were going to show me?' look.

Each breath hurt, and pink, froth-like blood bubbled from my mouth yet, the spark of hope reignited. If I wasn't going to get snuffed out immediately, I had a chance.

I managed a weak smile and spoke through gritted teeth.

"So it was you scaring the everything. You could have helped out earlier you know?"

The wolf lifted its lips in a snarl like fashion, but I somehow knew it was a smirk.

My vision momentary dimmed, and I knew I didn't have long. Falling to the ground, I started crawling towards my first victim.

Its plate like armour had been 'helpfully' removed by his friends so I face planted into its fleshy chest and started eating as fast as I could.

Even on Earth, in the best of conditions, my wound would most likely be fatal, but here, with my increased healing and the adaptation stuff, I had a chance. At least that's what I told myself.

-"I will never die."

But for that to work, if it could, I needed energy. I needed to eat.

Unlike when I was back on Earth, where death didn't seem like too much of a big deal, the last few days was the first time I truly felt alive and, if I had even the smallest chance, I would fight tooth and nail for it.

I chided myself for my earlier weakness, of giving up without really fighting for it.

-"I will never die."

I muttered the mantra like words in my mind as I fought against the impending darkness.

-"I will never die."

My vision started to flicker as my head span yet still I chewed, vaguely sensing a cold but soothing liquid congealing around the hole in my chest, stemming the flow of blood, an almost unnoticeable sense of acceptance coming from it.

-"I will never die."

Time lost all meaning as I did nothing but eat yet, I knew it wasn't enough.

"I WILL NOT DIE!"

My shout, no roar, resonated through the trees, scattering the nearby bugs but instead of pride, I felt like it was my final shout of defiance, my body becoming cold as I started to lose feeling.

The feeling was all too familiar.

I was going into shock.