The Dark Continent Jurassic World

NIGHT DEMONS

Decay wafted through the air.

A curved path snaked through the jungle with dense foliage on either side. In the distance, the soft rumble of a vehicle's engine gradually approached the small central village of Yabaima. An army green jeep appeared from behind the compact jungle vegetation and slowed to a stop near an enormous embankment. A large, wooden sign read, "BIENVENUE À YABAIMA (WELCOME TO YABAIMA)".

To the right of the bank, twenty yellow-painted huts were situated vertically in fashion. It was a simple village; to the left of the cottages were multiple timber-fenced animal enclosures, and in the middle stood a rusted brick well. On the opposite side was a plowed field with amply-supplied crops of sorghum, corn, and wheat. However, what lay behind the terrain was the source of death and decay. Lying in the thick flora, was the darkened silhouette of an animal. Vultures roosted atop the carcass, slowly picking at the exposed muscle, as hundreds of flies swarmed the surrounding area, buzzing furiously in the air.

Atop the hillside, the doors of the jeep sat ajar. The body of it was covered in small raindrops which ran down the hood of the light utility vehicle. The relentless, unending rain had finally subsided as Sam and Miles stepped out into the gleaming sunlight which originated from a crack in the tree line. Sam quickly raised his hand to shield the bright rays of light from his eyes, before handing Miles a black hand-held radio.

"I'm on channel two," Sam said, clipping his radio onto his belt strap. Miles proceeded to switch onto the same frequency as Sam before attaching the radio to his belt as well. Sam hadn't expected this much death when he joined the A.S.R. Twice as many animals had been slaughtered in this week alone compared to all of the previous weeks, and then the deaths of David and Harlow had put him over the edge.

"I'm telling you Miles, that creature was right there," Sam insisted, loosening his black tie and tossing it into the back seat of the vehicle. His suit was still damp from the storm which had come through earlier. 

"I believe you Sam," Miles said, twisting the bottom of his white undershirt to remove some of the excess water soaked within it. "You don't have a reason to lie," he said, glancing down into the worker village below them before looking over at Sam. "Why'd you stop here?"

"You smell that?" Sam asked, pointing in the direction of the stench.

"Nope, I've been a little under the weather lately and my nose is stuffed up. Why, what is it?" Miles asked, turning to look in the direction that Sam was pointing.

"Something's died. I want to go down and see what it is. Maybe ask the folks if they've seen anything strange lately," Sam said, kicking some mud off of his black dress shoes. Miles agreed, removing his black ray-band sunglasses and wiping them off onto his undershirt before placing them back on the bridge of his nose. He then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small black cigar case and removed a stick from the container. Reaching into a small pouch in the case he removed a silver zippo with the continent of Africa engraved into the metal. Flicking it open he caused a small flame to burst to life. Miles quickly lit the cigar before flicking the lighter closed and placing it back into its pouch, he then closed the case and rested it inside his moist dress pants once more. Miles placed the cigar in between the crack of his lips, inhaling the toxic fumes of the stick before exhaling the excess smoke.  

"It's gonna be dark soon," Miles said, beginning to walk down the steep cliff to the village. "So, let's hurry this up." Sam nodded, shutting the back door of the car and locking it as he began to maneuver his way down the embankment to catch up with Miles.

"We shouldn't be here long," Sam said, walking alongside Miles. "I've got to get back to the kids anyway, I had Adam look after them back at the rescue center and I'm sure he's ready to go home." Miles took another puff from his cigar before looking over at Sam and cracking a wide smile.