Sam was laying beside a fire in a clearing free of trees. It was night now, and he had been walking the whole day. He spent a lot of time stitching himself back up. The rest, he spent staring at the starlit sky with empty eyes.
Even now, as he watches the stars he can feel her hand in his as they lay underneath these stars. Sam could only feel lonely staring at them and shuts his eyes closed.
He wants to just roll over and die. Zola saved him. Gave him his personality back. Made him feel human again. And when he thought they were going to get through it together, she was taken.
Sam felt tears falling out again. While traveling, he would just start to cry whenever his thoughts wandered. It was hard for him to come to terms with her death, but what else could he do?
Sam knew that in order to fulfill his promise to her, he had to survive. He had to get out of Africa.
'If I'm correct, the closest accessible port that can go out of the continent is in Tanzania. But I need to stay out of sight. Pale Hand has eyes everywhere in Africa. I'll stay in the Nyungwe forest, cross into Burundi's lackluster borders, avoid Bujumbura at all costs. And carefully escape into Tanzania, and then find a port, find a ship out of Africa and get away.'
Sam thought about the plan in his head as he layed on the grassy floor. Only the crackling of burning wood could be heard as he tries to put all his thoughts of Zola out of his mind. Grieving can come later. He had a promise to fulfill.
With that, his determination became stronger and he resolved himself in escaping.
'I'm getting out of this hellhole.'
———
The next morning, he packed up, made sure the fire was completely extinguished and got ready. It was another blazing hot day in Africa, but Sam was made of sterner stuff. He suffered worse conditions before. Although he doesn't know why, as most his past was forgotten.
He stops for a moment as he feels an ache on his finger tips. Also, he feels like he had something attached to him, desperate to hold on to it.
'*Hang in there! We are almost there!*'
Sam grabbed his head as he heard a familiar voice in his mind.
'What the fuck? Was that… a memory?'
He shook his head. It wasn't the time to look at the past. It was time to live in the present and move towards the future. For Zola.
Sam left the clearing, packed and ready. Belly full of edible plants and boiled water.
———
After another full day of travel, Sam came across a suspicious situation. Right now, he was into the depths of Nyungwe. He had seen many different types of animals so far, but now, as he entered into this area of the forest, he felt it was too silent.
Sam was not as sensitive as Zola was, due to her quirk. But he was definitely a different breed from the average human as his danger sense was outstanding.
Right now, his instincts were not telling him anything. While that may sound like a good thing, Sam could only think of it as Ominous.
"There should be something in the forest here. Anything. Even a mouse. But nothing. Almost as if… I entered someone's turf."
Sam narrowed his eyes.
'I'm going to have to pick up the pace. I have a really bad feeling about this place.'
Sam hurried off. Not rushing, however, as he is on high alert.
As he got farther away from his past position, a dark figure with sharp yellow eyes narrowed on the direction Sam left.
Sam didn't know it yet, but he was not alone.
———
Sam was carefully speed-walking through the area of Nyungwe he was currently in. He believes that in a day or two, he should be able to reach the border of Rwanda and cross into Burundi. But that might not work out as he hoped it would.
Sam didn't know why, but he could feel something glaring at him. It wasn't like normal though. This presence was invisible. It was so well hidden that even veteran soldiers wouldn't have caught it, but Sam did. He felt a slight murderous intent. Whatever was out there was hunting him.
He was on guard. He decided to avoid hunting for food that day as he traversed this dangerous territory. He was hungry, but he knew the moment he let his guard down, he might die.
It wasn't long until he started to feel his head ache and his stomach growl for food. He carefully decided to approach an open area. Finally he went into a makeshift bag he made out of leaves and took out some edible berries he scavenged. They tasted sour as hell but were edible. That's all that mattered.
Despite eating, his guard wasn't lowered. He knew that it was waiting for its chance.
Sam decided he ate enough. He got up and got ready to keep moving. However, he heard a twig snap. He swiftly got ready for an attack.
But to his shock, it was only a monkey. As soon as Sam saw it, it instantly bolts away.
"A dumb monkey. It was looking at me then it just darts away. But why did it bolt so swiftly? Don't tell me…"
Suddenly Sam feels in his bones that if he doesn't move a bit to the left, he would be a goner. He moves a bit, but he wasn't quick enough.
*CHOMP!*
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Sam felt an unbearable pain on his shoulder. Along with an incredibly heavy weight. He looked behind him, and saw what he presumed to be a giant leopard.
Its claws were digging into Sam's back as well. Each claw feeling like a knife against him.
"Fuck!"
Sam tries to keep standing as he hears his flesh ripping under those monstrous claws and that giant maw.
It's was clawing his back up as he could feel the warm liquid of life flowing out of his back.
Sam used all his strength to keep himself from falling. He knew it would go for his neck and that would be it.
He remained standing with the massive leopard clawing and biting into him. He backs up as he sees that behind him is a large tree. He backs right into the tree and the leopard lets go and backs off.
Sam also backs off the moment it lets go.
Finally, they both stare at each other. Sam can feel that the wounds were severe but he knew he needed to win this fight today.
"You have no intention of ending your hunt, do you?"
Sam tiredly asked. To which the leopard begins to circle around Sam.
He sighed.
"Thought so."
Sam took out a knife. Zola's knife. He found it in his belt. She put it on him before she…
His knife was obliterated by the three eyed man.
'I'm counting on you Zola.'
Sam got ready and made sure his torn up back wasn't visible to the leopard.
Sam remains strong. But as he feels the blood leave his body, he understands that the leopard is waiting for him to bleed out, or weaken. Then it will go for the neck.
Sam is shocked by the intelligence of this leopard.
'It's bad enough that a leopard can be even more dangerous than a lion, but it also has the mind of an aged survivor of the wild. This beast… it's the old king isn't it?'
Sam recalled an urban legend the locals of Rwanda around the Nyungwe forest. They told tale about the king of Nyungwe. Something that would kill anything that enters its territory. A supposed survivor said that he was lucky to survive only because the beast was busy with his comrades.
And now, it seems the king seeks to destroy the trespasser.
"Alright… old king… I'm going to end your reign."
Sam gave it an unhinged smirk. This enraged the leopard as in lunged at Sam and Sam held up his arm and with a chomp, it broke it.
But that's what Sam was going for. Before it could tear his arm off, he slashed with his knife and took an eye from the beast.
ROAR!!
Sam backed up, assessing the damage. Seeing a clean break in his arm and the still bleeding back and shoulder.
'I need to finish this quick.'
Sam saw the pure rage on the leopards remaining eye.
Sam got ready for another charge and it did just that. However, before Sam could get a hit, it backed off. Now it was going to use its claws to swipe at Sam's guts and kill him that way.
It planned to just kill him by letting him bleed to death, but Sam angered it. Anyone who dares to mock it in its own territory deserves a cruel and painful death. However, Sam was ready for this. He was ready to take severe damage as this leopard surpasses an adult male lion. It was quite possibly the largest and most dangerous leopard in the world.
Sam was feeling dizzy. He didn't have much time left. So he made one last ditch attempt to end this.
He feigned weakness. The leopard knows that any being that loses as much blood as Sam does wouldn't last long. So it wasn't unusual for it to see Sam starting to weaken, but this crazy human was the one who allowed his arm to be bitten and nearly torn off just to get a hit. It had to proceed with caution.
Sam saw this and gritted his teeth.
He then made one last ditch plan. He rushed the leopard who backed up and Sam used his bleeding and broken arm that the leopard bit, to throw blood into its remaining eye.
Then Sam held up his knife as if to kill the leopard as he continues to charge at it…
But he trips…
The leopard was not blind. Its nose and hearing are incredible so the loss of sight was an inconvenience at worst. It acted like it couldn't see to trick Sam into getting close, but it seems Sam was doomed to die today as he tripped.
The Leopard rushes forward maw and paws reared back and it lunges at him ready to feast on the insolent human that entered its territory.
Sam, who tripped… smirked.
'Gotcha.'
He catches his footing and thrusts his knife right into the approaching leopard. Because it was mid-attack, it could only watch as the knife went right into its throat.
ROAR!!!
*gurgle*
It gave a mighty roar as it crashed into Sam who couldn't fully stop its charge and it rammed into him. However it was still alive and began to do whatever it takes to take Sam with him.
It tries to claw his guts out but Sam backs up quickly. But the damage was too severe as he was weakening. The claws went right across his chest.
"Ahhhh!!"
Sam still had his knife in the leopards throat and it kept swiping at him. Next, it tried to decapitate Sam. But Sam moved his neck away from its claws, but he fell to a knee and the claw was able to go right onto the side of his face. 4 long claw marks right down his face.
"Gahhh!!!"
He felt the pain of these cuts and it seems the old king liked hearing Sam scream in pain as it finally started to still. Finally after a bit more gurgling. All that remained was a kneeling Sam, holding onto a knife lodged into a giant leopard that was laying on him.
"…that was a great fight."
Sam could only respect the old leopard. But now it was his victory.
*cough*
He coughed and tasted some blood.
'Fuck.'
Sam forgot how fucked up his body was. Even as he felt the white hot pain in his bones.