Survival by Chris Ryan Page A

saw the distance between her and the boys and was about to break into a jog to catch up when she saw a movement out of the corner of her eye.
    She came to a halt and stared closely at the large bush to the right of the trail just in front of her. She frowned. She was almost certain she had caught a movement from the far side of the bush, but now everything was still. In fact, everything was very still and absolutely silent. Li felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck as she realized that there was no bird noise in this part of the forest. Even the crickets had stopped their two-note song.
    Li swallowed and took a deep breath. As she did so, she caught a hint of a smell. A bad smell, like rotting meat. She hesitated, then cautiously took one step forward and bent to peer through the leafy branches.
    The smell was stronger nearer the bush and Li wrinkled her nose. There was definitely something there, behind the branches, but the rustling leaves were good camouflage and, at first, Li could not make sense of what she was seeing. Then a single, reptilian eye jumped into focus.
    It was looking right at her.

F IFTEEN
    Li leapt straight into the air from a standing start as a huge, dragon-like creature burst out of the undergrowth. It pounced onto the exact spot on the trail where Li had been standing a split second earlier, but she had already grabbed a tree branch and was swinging her legs up out of harm's way. She nearly didn't make it. The reptile reared up with amazing speed and she heard its razor-sharp claws scrabbling up the tree trunk towards her.
    Li screamed as she scrambled to reach the safety of the higher branches. For one awful moment, she thought the creature could climb trees. She looked down, and relief flooded through her as she saw that its hind legs were still on the ground. It was using its tail to balance as it reached up the tree trunk towards her and it stood taller than a man. Suddenly it lashed out with a powerful foreleg and Li screamed again as a three-inch-long, razor-sharp claw hooked through the hem of her shorts.
    There was a yell from further up the trail and Li nearly lost her grip on the branch as the creature dropped back to the ground, ripping its claw through her shorts as though the material was tissue paper.
    Alex and Hex were running back to Li and, for a second, the huge reptile stood still, looking up at her then back along the trail, as though it was choosing from a dinner menu. Its eyes were sunk into each side of its long, spade-shaped head. Thick, white ropes of saliva dripped from its jaws and a long, pink forked tongue slid in and out of its mouth. It had a mottled, brown scaly hide, which thickened into ridges at its neck and around the tops of its powerfully squat legs.
    'Komodo,' breathed Li and the dragon lifted its head to look at her, as though it recognized its own name. It opened its jaws wide, showing jagged teeth with shreds of meat hanging from them, and gave a hissing roar. A foul stench of rotting flesh rose through the humid air.
    Then the creature made its decision. It lowered its head and charged towards Alex and Hex, slinging its legs forward with a rolling gait and raking up the earth of the trail as its claws dug in. The boys came to a halt, then turned back, looking behind them as they ran.
    'Don't run! Climb!' shrieked Li. She knew that a large komodo dragon could outrun a human over short distances, and this giant was gaining on them fast. 'Climb a tree!' she shrieked again.
    Alex and Hex raced along the trail, trying to spot the branch or vine that would save their lives, but the trees and bushes were whizzing past too quickly. By the time their eyes had registered a likely branch, it was already gone. The komodo roared again as it thundered towards them, its powerful tail threshing from side to side.
    'That one!' yelled Alex, pointing to an overhanging branch a few metres ahead. Hex nodded. They jumped for the branch together. Hex swung out of the way