The Milestone Protocol, Ernest Dempsey [100 best novels of all time txt] 📗

“Some kind of—” The door slammed shut behind him, and he heard the chilling sound of the door locks clicking.

He whirled around, a chill shooting through his body and pebbling his skin. He rushed to the door and pulled the latch. “Hey! What are you doing? What is the meaning of this?”

He banged on the door with his fist, but no response followed. “Let me out of here!” he demanded. The answer was still the same. “Hey! Open the door!”

His knocking slowed. The hand he’d been using throbbed from the beating, and he eventually stopped. No one was going to open the door. He was trapped.

“Please! Let me out!” His shouts echoed through the life-size terrarium.

The cries for help fell silent. He slammed his fist one last time against the door and then resigned himself to the fact that the guards weren’t going to respond. The only way out was through the private jungle. He hoped.

Then Buri heard it.

A low growl came from somewhere behind him. He didn’t want to turn around and resisted with all his might. When he heard something rustle in the bushes and tall grass, he could no longer fight it and spun around to meet his fate.

He exhaled, relieved that there was nothing in sight. His mind was playing tricks on him. Fear gripped him, but he took a step forward, following the path worn into the grass and undergrowth. Looking out into the huge jungle space again, he could see through it to the other side, where another door stood closed in the opposite wall. It was easily sixty yards away. If there were a dangerous predator lurking in the vegetation, it would be a long run to reach the exit. Even if he made it, the fear that it, too, would be locked simmered in his mind.

Buri swallowed and made up his mind. He couldn’t stay here. He had to try the other door. Maybe this was just one of Odin’s tests. Buri had been a loyal follower and a strong leader for many under the man’s organization. He wouldn’t put Buri in harm’s way. Buri told himself that over and over again as he took a step forward, venturing into the artificial biome.

He heard the rustling sound again and froze in place. He’d only managed to get ten feet into the jungle. His eyes darted around the space, checking every tree and shrub for signs of life. He noted one of the monkeys up in a tall tree that nearly reached the ceiling. The creature’s lightly tanned fur stood out against the dark green vegetation surrounding it, though it blended nicely with the tree trunk and branches. The monkey stared at Buri with cautious curiosity.

Buri offered a meek smile at the animal and waved his hand. “Hello there, little fellow. Were you the one making all that—”

A roar from Buri’s right cut him off, and he swiveled in time to see fierce eyes staring back at him from the folds of giant leaves hanging low over the ground. The animal’s unmistakable stripes camouflaged its orange-and-white fur, blending the huge cat with its surroundings.

Buri felt his stomach turn as the tiger took a prowling step toward him. The massive paw crushed grass underfoot as it approached its prey, causing Buri to tremble like a child at a haunted house.

His lips quivered, and his muscles locked up in terrified paralysis.

Run, his mind ordered, but he couldn’t make himself move. Some deep-rooted subconscious theory told him that running would only make things worse. Do I play dead? The thought flashed in his mind, but he thought that was probably not the correct course of action, either. Perhaps with some bears, but he’d never heard of that working on a tiger—not that he had heard much about tiger attacks on humans.

It’s just a big cat, he told himself. “Hey there, big kitty,” Buri said in his most soothing voice. “Good kitty.”

The tiger took another threatening step forward.

Cats like to play, Buri thought. He glanced to his right and noted a tree branch that had fallen to the ground. “Good kitty,” Buri whispered and slowly bent his knees. He hoped the subtle movement would appear unthreatening to the huge cat. The beast stared at him through flaming yellow eyes, almost as though the creature wanted to see what the man would do next.

Nearly thirty seconds had passed before Buri felt the wood brush against his skin. He dipped a little lower and wrapped his fingers around the stick, then gradually raised up again, this time faster than his initial movement.

“Kitty want to play?” Buri asked in a voice he might have used to speak to an infant.

He waved the stick one direction, then the other, careful not to do it too fast. He recalled hearing that cats enjoyed playing with string or chasing lasers and hoped that the tiger possessed the same playful instincts.

His theory proved correct. The tiger’s eyes danced back and forth as Buri waved the branch around. Then the cat leaped forward, its focus locked on the stick. Buri tossed it toward the door he’d come through before.

The animal bound to the left to give chase. The second it did, Buri took off toward what he believed to be the exit.

His legs pumped as hard as they could, and his feet pounded the soil. Monkeys screamed from the treetops. Birds chirped and squawked and whistled. The cacophony filled the jungle room, piercing Buri’s ears with the deafening sound as he drew closer to the exit with every desperate step.

Then he heard the growl again. It overwhelmed all other noise, and it came from somewhere behind him.

The door was only another twenty yards away. He was nearly there.

He felt his hamstrings pulling harder, his thighs burning with every push. Heavy, pawed steps thumped behind him as the beast stormed closer, narrowing the gap with every passing second.

The temptation to look back pulled at Buri’s mind like a ship drawing an anchor, but he didn’t dare