Shriek

As the stars filled the night sky, Liam-31 and Judas-12 continued to walk towards the trail of smoke they had seen off in the distance. Walking with a steady pace, instead of reaching the camp in 30 minutes they would get there in half the time. 

"Don't you think it's been a little too quiet since we've been in the woods?" Judas-12 asked Liam-31.

"Yes. Let's hope it stays that way." Liam-31 said, continuing to walk.

Judas-12 began to look around the area they were in, the abundant trees and bushes in the area were like that of a forest, and you weren't able to see anything past the trees as it was all darkness.

As dead silence was the only thing the two bastions heard except for the sounds of grass being stepped on, Judas-12 began to feel more and more inclined as to though they were being watched by something. 

"Are you sure you haven't felt like something is watching us?" Judas-12 asked.

"No, I would be aware if something was staring at me." Liam-31 simply stated. 

Concerned whether or not Liam-31 was correct, Judas-12 decided to go with his instincts. 

"ANTI, highlight surroundings in my area." Judas-12 said, as his visor began to outline everything in its view white. 

With the white outlining, Judas-12 was able to see past the darkness of the trees, and noticed just how far into the forest they traveled into, as rows of trees spanned seemingly endlessly. 

Looking around the trees, Judas-12 was unable to notice the outline of any creatures that might have been stalking them.

"Guess it was just my imagination..." Judas-12 sighed, turning off the outlining from his visor. "Being out here for so long has really messed up my mind..." 

"Don't worry, We are almost to the campsite." Liam-31 reassured Judas-12. "We are almost there."

"I hope so, I can't wait to eat some damn food." Judas-12 said, before stopping himself from moving any further.

In the distance, he thought he heard the faint sounds of twigs snapping.

"Did you hear that?" Judas-12 slowly asked Liam-31, who was still walking as Judas-12 stopped.

"I didn't hear anything, it's just your mind playing tricks on you. You're tired, we'll rest soon." Liam-31 continued walking.

Rather than listening to Liam-31's reassurance, Judas-12 continued to look around the forest, he knew well enough that a forest this large wouldn't have any creature living in it.

"ANTI, increase audio output to maximum. Activate night vision." Liam-31 said, as his visor turned green, and he was able to hear the direction the wind was going. 

Still motionless in his steps, Judas-12 did not hear any strange sounds for a while, as he noticed Liam-31 had created distance between them. 

As Judas-12 was about to deactivate his night vision and audio output, he heard the sounds of twigs snapping repeatedly, as he turned towards the direction where the sound was being created.

Noticing nothing in the form of a creature, Judas-12 took out his sniper rifle, ready to aim at whatever would try and attack him.

Suddenly, a loud shriek echoed through the forest. As Judas-12's audio output was so high, the shriek was so loud that he temporarily became deaf, as a ringing sound was the only thing he could hear as he gripped his helmet, screaming in agony and pain from the sound he could no longer hear. 

Not noticing the rapid sounds of large footsteps coming his way, Judas-12 squatted down as he continued to writhe in pain, his eyes shut and unable to observe his surroundings for whatever made the sound.

The footsteps got louder, and soon enough it felt like small earthquakes were closing in on Judas-12. Thumps so loud as if a lumbering giant would appear from the shadows, rapidly coming towards Judas-12 like an ocean wave. 

Through the shadows, the creature shrieked once more, as a massive frame emerged from darkness, revealing the body of a savage, it's large arms aiming to strike at Judas-12.

As the savage's arm nearly sliced Judas-12's body into small bits, a grenade landed next to its body, causing it to explode and send both the savage and Judas-12 back. 

"Ugh.. Damn! What was that..?" Judas-12 opened his eyes to see Liam-31 standing in front of him, with his shotgun in hand he held his arm out.

"I need you to get behind me, now."

Grabbing Liam-31's arm, Judas-12 pushed himself up, as the ringing in his ear continued to be the only thing he could hear. 

"I can't hear anything!" Judas-12 said loudly, not able to determine the sound of his voice.

Recognizing Judas-12's deafness, he simply ran towards the savage, who had gotten up from the blast, looking directly at Liam-31.

Judas-12 didn't know what to do. He wouldn't be able to assist Liam-31 with sniper support because of his injury, and he couldn't hear anything for the matter. 

Instead of watching Liam-31 fight the savage, Judas-12 looked towards the sky and noticed the smoke trails. Doing the only thing he could do to support Liam-31, he began to run towards the camp, searching for support from the people.