Primeval

Chapter 1 ~ An Unlikely Meeting

Each footstep seemed to echoed in the eerie silence that filled the forest. Autumn leaves crunched underneath her every step as she plunged deeper into the woodland. In time, Anna came to a stream, running fast with fresh water. She filled her flask to the brim and fastened to lid tight, placing it back in her rucksack.

The day was clear, spouting flowers were dotted around the base of trees and thick green moss winded its way up to the branches. In time, Anna came to a large pine tree, sat in the centre of a clearing. Enormous it was, its branches like arms reaching out in all directions and it's twigs were like fingers.

Anna climbed up until she reached a friendly looking branch and perched herself on it. After eating a handful of freshly picked berries, she placed her bag between her legs and stared into the forest.

It had now been a year since the anomaly closed of her. Not once in that time had she met another human being, Not Danny, Abby, Connor or even Helen Cutter. She had now predicted them to be dead. She tried her best to focus on the real problems, instead of making her self angry when she thought of how far she was from home. Her life consisted of walking, finding food and occasionally practising her skills with her dagger. Nothing happened there, the forest she concealed herself in was endless. For a whole year she had tried to find the end of this woodland.

Her weapons included a knife, that was all, sometimes the occasional tree branch but other than that her knife was her only source of protection. Every night she would camp in her own little, homemade house. It, like the one she was sat in, was built on the base of a pine tree. Not that Anna ever slept of course. If Abby and Connor were alive, then they would most probably be together. This, therefore gave one a chance to sleep whilst the other kept watch. But Anna was alone and rarely slept in case of an attack. If she ever did fall into slumber, it was very lightly.

Anna's anomaly detector had stopped working the day after the accident, so everyday she would walk for miles looking for a source of hope. Sometimes, she would not return to her camp, but she would search for any signs of anomaly activities, hoping to see a team of soldiers, returning a lost creature or something of that sort.

A year had changed Anna; she once had hair that sat a few inches beneath her shoulders, but not it was past half way down her back. She was pale and scared, her shoulder consisted of a mark from where Helen stabbed her.

After a short while, Anna shook these thoughts of home out of her head and clambered down from the tree. The crisp Autumn leaves coated the ground like an amber blanket and most trees were bare. Removing thoughts of home was a challenge, though. She began to think of the ARC and what had become of it. Anna's job was investigating Anomalies and she wondered if Lester, her boss, had replaced the team or had completely shut down the operation. She thought of Becker. Of how he and Sarah had lost their friends. Anna remembered when Becker joined the team. It was a few months before Nick Cutter was murdered. Becker was interviewed and immediately signed up for the job, due to his outstanding military background. He was brilliant with guns, the best in fact. Becker had risked his life too many times to protect the team but that was his job.

Anna began to walk once more. She made her way in a direction she had not taken before, every so often marking a tree with her knife so she could find her way back to the old tree. In time, the trees seemed to close in and thick vines swung from the boughs of them. She picked up a stone and began to sharpen her knife, this was plainly to help her cut through the broad trailing plants that blocked her once untouched path.

When the blade was salient, Anna made her way through the twisted labyrinth until finally reaching the last vine which cut her off from daylight. It took a few attempts to cut the plant but she finally ripped it apart.