Unfit For Survival (Ark Fanfic.)

*Sneak Peek* Chapter 9: Unraveling

I was tired. I had been walking for about three hours according to my implant and I felt like I made no progress. The obelisk was no closer and stayed in the air mocking me. At least my exhaustion was keeping my mind distracted from the... corpses. I still didn't know what happened at the compound but I was trying to put it out of my mind for the time being. Surprisingly easy to do as I kept my eyes open for predators. 

The area I was in didn't seem too hostile but I knew how quickly that could change. On top of that there was fog. I didn't like fog before I got to the island and I liked it even less now. It was weirdly thick and made me incredibly jumpy. 

"Not crap...Good." I got lucky on my walk. A supply drop had appeared near me and it didn't end up somewhere out of my reach. There was enough stuff to make a crude wooden house that would serve as a shelter until morning or until the fog let up. 

The Twin Suns had prepared me, well, prepared everyone for survival. Though the walls the supply drops produced weren't nearly as sturdy as the ones we built from scratch, we learned how to put them together properly. It made my earlier attempts with thatch look like child's play. In the end it only took me about twenty minutes to set up the small house between a cluster of close-knit trees and a large boulder. There wasn't really an opening to get to the small hut for a large creature but smaller ones were still able to cause problems. So I began collecting large sticks. I sharpened them to a point with the knife and stuck them into the ground to form a stabby perimeter. But it didn't matter how many sticks I set up. I wouldn't feel safe until I was back home. 

When I was satisfied with the three dozen or so sticks I set up, I covered the with tree branches, making sure the leafs matched the ones of the surrounding trees. Then I was done. It wasn't perfect, but it would do. 

I placed a bunch of thick leafs on the floor inside and laid the blanket on top of them to make it softer. Once I settled on the middle of it, I began digging through Mickael's bag. My bag. I folded the clothes properly and set the to the side next to the knife and gun. Next I pulled out a few jars of medicine and rolls of gauze. There were even some small pliers, a small pair of scissors, a comb, and a couple packs of salted jerky he normally chewed on. The pieces were tough but it was something to chew on so I wasn't too huffy about it. The things in the bottom of the bag made my eyebrow raise. Books. Six in total. One I recognized as the one he used to write down symptoms when he checked my injuries. The entire book seemed to be filled with patient information. It had probably everyone in the entire compound written in it except one: Friedrich. If he had an illness or injury, it wasn't in this book. 

Two books had names written on the front, Helena and Sir Edmund Rockwell. I recognized both. Sacniete had a couple journals by the two of them in her small hut. I didn't know much about them except that they were survivors. Helena knew a bunch about the creatures on the island and wrote the dossiers on them which I found super helpful and Rockwell was a scientist or something. I wasn't too interested in him but the tribe's cook, Leslie, used his recipes. To be honest, I liked her original ones more. But the books that Mickael had seemed to have a bunch of the journal entries copied into them. Reading them was... confusing. Helena believed that the island was being controlled somehow due to the fact that there were more predators than prey and that apparently wasn't a natural way for life to be. This entire island wasn't natural. There also seemed to be a lot of gaps in the information as if he hadn't collected all the journals before writing them down. But there was one thing that I couldn't make sense of. Well, most of it confused me but this one thing was beyond anything I could have imagined. 

Helena Journal: 30

'A horrifying scene awaited us. All of Nerva's men lay dead amongst the shards of a mysterious metal, but Nerva's body was missing. Forgetting my present company, I suggested a peaceful approach if we encountered him. That earned me one hell of a knockout punch.

When I came to, I searched the whole station, but the only signs of Mei-Yin and Nerva were a few ounces of dried blood. No bodies, and no victor.

There, floating outside the window and surrounded by machinery, was the very island that I had been living on, and it too was orbiting high above the Earth along with countless other stations just like it. The ecosystem on the Island wasn't just curated, it was completely artificial from the ground up!'

I knew what it said but I found it nearly impossible to understand. With all the missing information, I had no idea where the station she mention was. I didn't even know if it was real. It couldn't be. This wasn't outer space. The trees, the dirt, the AIR, all of it was from Earth. It had to be and believing anything else was pointless and stupid. Sure, I couldn't explain the dinosaurs or anything, but they were on Earth once before. That's where they still were. That's where I was. 

I closed Helena's book and shoved it to the bottom of the bag. Casting a glance towards Rockwell's journal, I couldn't fight my curiosity. I couldn't stop myself from flipping to the last page with writing on it. Of course it made my head hurt.

Rockwell Journal: 30

'In all my life, I have never seen so magnificent a sight! Mister Nerva may be bemoaning the loss of his men, but I would sacrifice them a thousand times over to witness such majesty!

I have never seen a night sky so beautiful. Somehow, this place looks down upon the world from on high, as though it stands upon the peak of Olympus itself! And my word, the exquisite metal this place is made out of, not to mention that bizarre creature! It reminds me of the material that lines the obelisks, yet somehow more...alive. The very walls of this place seem to hum with power and possibility. 

I must find more information on this material. Perhaps one of these consoles will have something I could use. I am not familiar with the technology, but I am sure a scientist of my caliber could get something out of them with a little educated fiddling.' 

They were both crazy. Space travel was advanced but not to the extent they were talking about. This island made them crazy. I wouldn't let it do the same to me. I'd get off it. I'd be just fine. I would not lose myself.