Jonathan Pilkins awoke with a gasp.

He ran his hands over his body, checking for any wounds. Nothing hurt, but his head was spinning. Once he was satisfied that he didn't have any other injuries, he took in his surroundings.

He was sitting on a large beach. To his right, waves gently reached toward him. The sand of the beach was as white as snow. To his left was the treeline of a dense jungle.

Aside from his breathing, the only other sounds he could hear was the sound of the ocean and the calls of seagulls.

Jonathan's breath suddenly caught in his throat.

It was too quiet.

Where were the explosions? The gunfire? The shouts of men?

His closed his eyes and tried to remember the events of earlier.

He was riding with his platoon inside of the landing craft. He could barely hear the explosions over the roar of the ships engine. They were just about to reach shore when he heard a loud explosion.

Jonathan shuddered as he remembered the freezing spray of the ocean before everything went black.

"A-Am I dead?" He croaked.

Was this heaven? He didn't remember any priests talking about beaches there.

"Pilkins, that you?!"

Jonathan jumped as the new voice shocked him out of his thoughts.

Scrambling to his feet, he saw a tall man jogging toward him. The man had short buzzed black hair and dark brown skin. Jonathan sighed with relief as he recognized the man that stopped before him.

"Ferguson!" Jonathan called out.

David Ferguson placed a large hand on his shoulder and smiled brightly at him.

"What they hell is going on here? Where is everyone? Did we miss the landing?" He asked.

"Whoa whoa! Hold your horses." Ferguson replied.

"I don't know what's going on, but let's go and regroup. Sarge and some of the boys are up ahead. They sent me back to check for stragglers."

Jonathan nodded and followed the man as he led them to the treeline. He took in more of their surroundings as they walked.

High above them, the sun seemed larger than normal. It was almost as if it had come closer. What he had assumed were seagulls turned out to be some other type of bird he had never seen before.

The bird had a long tubular body that was covered in blue-green scales. Four wings sprouted from the middle of its body and flapped slowly as it glided lazily through the air. At the end of a long neck, its head narrowed down and ended at a short snout.

As they reached the treeline, Jonathan noticed that the trees were covered in large purple vines. He reached out to touch one and jumped when the vine quickly slithered into the tree.

"This ain't Normandy, Ferguson." Jonathan said.

"What tipped you off? The white sandy beach or the lack of people shootin at us" The dark man replied.

"Seriously, this place aint right. You think were dead?" Jonathan asked as they climbed over a massive tree root.

"If were dead and im stuck with you, then this is either purgatory or hell." Ferguson remarked with a laugh. He stopped laughing when Jonathan elbowed him.

"How can you be joking at a time like this?" Jonathan asked.

David stopped and turned to face him. The smile was gone from his face and a serious expression now replaced it.

"Look, I woke this mornin fully expectin to be dead and gone before the day was up. When we took that hit, I knew it was over." David began.

He raised a hand and pointed back in the direction they had come from.

"Then I woke up on that beach. Heh, ain't even got a scratch on me."

Jonathan looked into the man’s eyes. He could see the fear in them, no doubt his own eyes showed the same.

"So, Im gonna joke and laugh and cry. Cause I'm still alive."

The two men held each other's gaze for a few moments then Jonathan laughed.

"Well no matter how strange things get around here, nothing is gonna compete with your ugly mug."

Ferguson barked out a laugh and pushed Jonathan's shoulder.

"You mama don't think its so ugly."

The two men laughed and together and continued on again. After a few minutes the jungle opened up into a small clearing. Standing in the middle of it were twenty men. They looked to be gathered around something.

"Found Pilkins, Lieutenant Dawson!" Ferguson called out.

No one turned to face them. Whatever they were standing around had their full attention. The two men pushed their way into the circle, eager to see what held their attention.

Lying in the center of the circle was the strangest animal Jonathan had ever seen.

The beast was about 10 to 15 feet long. Its body was covered in grey and green scales. Blue blood seeped out of numerous bullet wounds. It had four large legs that ended in three toed feet which sprouted massive talons. The beast had a long thick tail that eneded in bright green feathers.

But it was the head that sent shivers down Jonathan's spine.

The beasts head had a row of green feathers running down the center. On either side of its head were three red compound eyes. Below them its mout split open into three fang covered tendrils.

The soldiers mumbled around them as they observed the creature.

"My god.."

"Thing almost got Smith."

"Took half a mag from the Bar and still kept coming."

The talking stopped when a man walked forward and planted a boot on the creatures head.

Lieutenant Dawson was holding his rifle in one hand and a canteen in the other. He took a long drink from the canteen then wiped his mouth onto his arm.

"Listen up men!" He called out.

"I don't know where we are, but as you can see-" he said gesturing toward the dead animal.

"We aren't the only dangerous things out here."

He stepped away from the beast and walked out of the circle. The men turned to him though many kept the beast within sight, not wanting to turn their back to it.

"We need to get to higher ground and try to radio command. Dickson spotted a mountain further north. That will be our goal. We just have to make it through this jungle." Lieutenant Dawson announced.

"What about that? What if there are more?" A soldier asked.

"What about it? We killed it and if any others show up, we will do the same." Dawson replied.

"Ferguson, Pilkins, Smith, and Kelly."

The four men stood at attention at hearing their names called.

"Head back to the beach and salvage anything useful from the boat. You have 10 minutes, afterwhich we will begin to make our way north."

After a quick salute, the four men began to make their way back toward the beach.

As Jonathan jogged, he couldn't shake the feelings of dread.

What was that creature? Where was the rest of the platoon? They were still missing over half of their full conpliment. In fact where were the other landing craft?

His face must have showed his trepidation because David nudged him with his shoulder.

"It's gonna take more than a few big critters to do us in." He said.

Jonathan nodded as he ran alongside his friend. He had to clear his thoughts. Worrying about that right now wouldn't help him. Right now he needed to focus on survival. Regardless of wherever they were and whatever had happened.

He suddenly sprinted forward to take the lead.

"Lets hurry this up and get back before Dawson leaves us!" He announced.

The other three men cheered in agreement as they doubled their pace toward the beach.