The next morning, the Romero family decided to forget about their previous fears and spend a day at the river. They planned on fishing, so they brought their rods and a new sense of courage. After all, they wouldn’t get attacked in broad daylight, the ranger was on his way, and Tony had set up traps in the woods, so they would be safe.

Halfway to the river, Tony remembered he forgot to bring the worms as bait. “I’ll go back and get them,” he told his family and started hiking back to the cabin. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.”

When he got to the cabin, he saw that the ranger’s green and black jeep was parked outside. He grabbed his bait inside the house and then went straight to the cabin that was wrecked the previous night by the creature. Sure enough, the ranger was there, examining the damage. Tony explained everything that had happened that night to the ranger. The ranger was eager to know more and make sure that all his visitors were safe, so he asked Tony to take him to his family.

In the meantime, the other Romeros were walking when they started to get tired. Debby complained, “Mom, if I keep walking any longer, I think I’m going to collapse right then and there. Can we stop?”

So, they decided to stop and rest for a while, but Debby startled everyone with a gasp.

“What? What is it, sweetie? Did you see something?”

“No,” she sobbed. “I think I broke a nail!”

“Oh, wow. That’s a real emergency,” Juan grumbled.

But then it was Juan who heard something. A familiar sound, the low growl of the predator…

“Oh, no! Did you guys hear that?”

“No. What? Are you trying to scare us again?” Clarissa turned to Debbie. “He probably just wants us to run so that we can get to the river faster.”

“No! I swear! I heard the creature again!” Juan argued.

“Ugh, give it up, little bro. I’m tired.”

“What do you mean!? We have to get out of here, now! I’m not kidding!” exclaimed Juan.

Juan’s suspicions were soon confirmed, though, as the beast once again exploded out of the woods. Debby screamed and all three of them immediately sprung up from their spots and started to run in the direction of the river. Each of them scrambled through the underbrush, jumping over roots and rocks. As Juan pushed away one of the branches in his path, he heard his sister’s exclamation of pain behind him: “Ouch!”

The branch had knocked Debbie over, and she was struggling to get back on her feet in the slippery damp moss. Finally she was upright again, although in a kind of daze, and she kept sprinting behind Juan even though her ankle protested sharply. Her brother was trying to gain ground so he could try shooting at the animal. Ahead, he slowed and got a good grip on the gun, then aimed and quickly took a shot.

🗡🗡🗡

The gunshot was heard by Tony and the ranger, who immediately ran, knowing that something was decidedly wrong. “That must be my family!” Tony told the ranger as they vaulted over logs. “We’ve got to hurry. They might have been ambushed again by that creature I told you about!”

           The ranger nodded in agreement and put his own hand on the smaller pistol on his belt. “We have to be ready for anything, Mr. Romero.”

🗡🗡🗡

Juan’s shot had only slightly skimmed the creature on its side, leaving a bloody mark, but that didn’t stop it. It only made it angrier. The tiger-like beast continued to chase after the family until they could hear the rushing, roaring water of the river’s rapids ahead of them.

They continued running and stumbling towards the source of the sound until they reached a rocky outcropping. They looked down and saw that it was a small cliff, and upon turning around, there was the animal, cornering them.

“What are we going to do?” asked Debbie frantically.

“What else? We have to jump!” exclaimed Juan in response.

“Jump!? Are you crazy!? We could get hurt!” yelled his mother anxiously.

Juan gestured to the creature, which was getting closer every second. “Does it look like we have a choice!?” he screamed back, but he didn’t wait for a response. The beast was too near, almost breathing on his face, so he grabbed the wrists of his mother and sister.

Together, the three jumped off the cliff and into the foaming waters below.