The Jungle of Terror - A Choose Your Own Adventure Story

You approach the bushes and have just enough time to react as the leopard pounces at you, claws slashing at you, knocking you down. Not wasting any time the cat pins you down, claws digging into your chest as it goes to bite down on your neck to land a fatal killing bite.

Struggling you lash out with your knife slashing across the leopard’s nose and up through its right eye causing it to scream in pain before backing off. Echoing that scream with a painful groan you get to your feet and hold your knife out ready to defend yourself.

Roaring in anger the leopard leaps at you again knocking you backwards and sending the pair of you tumbling down a scree slope, small boulders following in your wake. As you reach the bottom you crawl away and get to your feet as the leopard emerges, its right eye dripping vitreous fluid, and bolts back into the rainforest.

Looking around you see a small cave with stalactites that resemble leopard fangs about a hundred meters to your left and a small path that leads you up and out of the gulley you’ve fallen into.

To investigate the cave, head to Page 14.

If you want to head away from the bottom of the scree slope, head to Page 24.

The statue while durable can’t withstand the onslaught of a rising lava tide. As the statue rocks, volcanic gas rises in two massive plumes and you see a massive shape, equal in size to the statue rise from the lava. Your eyes narrow, it looks like a humanoid hippopotamus made of cooled lava, a volcanic glow emanating from its mouth. Looking down at the diamond in your hand and then back at the figure you realise the god has come to collect what was stolen from it.

Screaming you throw the diamond towards the lava, the gemstone detonating in a blue explosion as you begin to feel lightheaded. Looking at the maw of the divine figure you see it open and a draconic burst of flame emerge, engulfing you in a wave of painful heat. Toppling off the statue you fall into the god’s palm, the last thing you see is a burning wall of rock before you are immolated to cinders.

You slip into the armoury, scoffing that the rebels haven’t bothered to lock the door to avoid their weapons from being stolen. Once inside you gawk, the sheer weight of firearms and ammunition behind held inside the room is beyond belief. You could easily take an AK47 from the box of rifles without anyone noticing it was missing. While you aren’t particularly versed in using the weapon you can pocket enough ammunition to make this lack of training moot.

You are unsure whether you could safely use the RPGs stored here, and don’t have the pockets to load up on both ammo and grenades, so you chose the former to improve your chances at getting out of here. if you're going to take a weapon at all.

Do you want to take an AK to defend yourself? If so, head to Page 84.

If you would rather look outside and try another building, head to Page 77

You enter the code into vault lock, and use all your strength to wrench open the vault door, flakes of rust radiating off the

You enter the code into the padlock and use all your strength to wrench open the vault door, flakes of rust radiating off the door. As you see the contents, you see eight bodies lying on the floor, slash marks spread across the steel plating of the vault interior. Carefully you step inside, you see that the bodies are skeletal and look like they are humans with leopard like claws and cat like skulls, seemingly some kind of hybrid.

Whoever these people were, they were entombed alive and tried to break their way out before they succumbed to a lack of oxygen. As you contemplate their fate, you hear a screech as the vault door is pushed shut from the outside. Turns out you won’t have to contemplate the death of these people, looks like you’ll be sharing their fate. Head back to Page 0 to undertake a breath-taking new adventure.

You back up and run to the edge of the temple before leaping for the rope ladder dangling from the helicopter. You look up and your eyes go wide as you fall, the helicopter getting increasingly small as you fall to the forest floor below, the branches slashing at you as you plummet through the canopy and a thicket of vines, the thickest one wrapping round your neck before coming to a sudden stop, the sudden inertia breaking your neck immediately.

From here its best you head to Page 0 and start the adventure again.

You emerge from the bamboo thicket and see the temple and the ziggurat carved from black stones, some of which are coated by a thin layer of sulphur, a massive humanoid hippopotamus engraved into the spire that breaks out of the forest canopy. The hippo god is a chthonic entity for the people of ‘Z’, and was responsible for earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and showers of boiling mud. He was apparently quite popular with a sect of people who became head-hunters, looking to placate the god by bringing him an orchard of skull but you suspect that is hyperbole.

A massive reflecting pool flanked by columns with twisting yellow flowered vines sits at the entrance of the temple, the surface clear of plant growth as if some force regularly maintains the pond to keep it open and accessible. You suddenly realise you haven’t drunk or eaten since crashing in the late morning, and that the sun is about to set.

Keep going, the ziggurat is tall enough for to get above the rainforest canopy. Head onto Page 79.

You’re thirsty, bend down to get a drink from the reflecting pool on Page 12.

Cut a vine and take a drink from that on Page 57.

You head along the path looking at the forest, a myriad of new species gracing your journey but not causing too much distress for you. Eventually you see a blue glow on the horizon and head that way, one that draws you to the edge of a massive mining pit, a series of buildings present jutting out of the mine wall.

The glow itself is a double row of massive rib bones encrusted with blue diamond crystals that flank a slope down into the pit. At first you think the place is abandoned but then you see a human dressed in a loincloth shuffle from one of the huts, its skin bleached pale and weird antler like protrusions seemingly sprouting from its head.

Make first contact with the people down here on Page 49.

You slide out into the corridor and look at the medical equipment that has been tossed around by the earthquakes. Pacing barefoot you feel the ceramic floor beginning to burn your toes as the heat in the lab increases. Stopping at a nurse station you find a pair of blue scrubs that fit you as well as a pair of shoes you can squeeze your feet into. You also find a ventilator mask hooked up to a five-inch-long vial of oxygen which you can take if you so choose, although you have no idea why you would need it. A few vials of anaesthetic are being synthesized which could be fitted into the mask in place of the oxygen vial.

After getting dressed you head back into the corridor and study an illuminated map, light blinking red to represent damaged areas of the facility. Crucially the bridge to a hanger is intact and there may be a plane to escape in present.

Time to escape, head to Page 36.

You kneel and bow your head knowing you have lost. Trenton smiles and takes your head before pulling you up and pushing you onto the Stork before climbing in himself. As the plane takes off you feel the last little bit of self-die in your brain, you are no longer a person, you are a puppet compliant to your master’s command.

“Did you really think you could do anything but comply?” Trenton asks from the pilot seat as his voice echoes through your head. “I’ve been giving you orders of where to go since the beginning, sure you had some choices, but you never were out of my control.” He adds as the sky flashes white, and you jolt upwards your eyes taking in the medical ward of Outpost Alpha in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“I am ready to comply.” You state flatly as Lansing and Trenton look down at you.

“Good, the G20 are moving at Davos in five days, you know your objective operative.” Trenton orders as you nod. You are who the CIA tells you to be, you do what the CIA tells you to do, you are compliant now and forever.”

You swing right, grazing your left arm as you make the turn at the fork. The pit props may be straining, but they don’t give as you pass, and the slide gently keeps swinging round until you are deposited on the leaf litter at the base of the limestone tunnel.

The first thing you notice is the light, the cave should be dark but looking up you see what appears to be a dull orange sun suspended in the sky.

But that’s impossible and yet there is light enough to see, light enough to support a forest of gnarled and ugly looking trees and massive fungal spires. You know the people of ‘Z’ believed in an underworld, but the only thing you remember about it is that their god of death, a black and red rotting husk of a giant beetle dwells there.

Getting to your feet you see a path of flagstones embedded in the mud leads away from the end of the limestone chute.

Do you follow the path deeper into the cave and Page 7.

Do you go and inspect the weird forest that’s somehow growing down here? Head to Page 56.

You climb back into the crashed helicopter, splashing spilt fuel all over yourself. Once inside you look up to see the warning sign for both explosives and flammable material in a box to the right of the pilot’s door. Reaching up you grab the flares but decided to keep the box closed until you’ve left the helicopter. Swirling around you crawl out on all fours, dramatically leaping to the ground as your clear the burning aircraft as the electrical panel in the cockpit sparks igniting the airframe with a massive orange fireball, sending thick smoke into the air. Opening the flare box, you see that the launcher is intact but all but one of the flare canisters have been ruptured, leaving you with a single shot.

If you want to head into the rainforest to look for a better place to call in rescue head to Page 27

If you want to signal help right here and now with your one flare, head to Page 81

You bend down next to the reflecting pool and gasp as you see your reflection, seemingly burnt alive, magma like veins present across your skin holding a blue diamond, one that gleams with an unnatural light. You blink and almost immediately your odd reflection fades, replaced by a familiar, if slightly beaten face.

Taking a deep breath, you contemplate if drinking the water is really a good idea.

Take the risk and have a drink. Head to Page 86.

Stand back up and head into the Temple on Page 79.

You enter the courtyard and look up at the totems and realise maybe the talk of head-hunting was not so farfetched. The totems looked like they were crafted from wood from a distance but up close they are quite clearly constructed from hippo bones. Within the columns, human skulls have been set into the bones, their mouths open and the eye sockets filled with cat’s eye gems that gleam in the moonlight.

At the back of the orchard of skulls a massive statue of the hippo god carved of ebony looms over the totems, its tusks carved from cat’s eye, dried blood staining the bejewelled tooth. As you turn back to look at where you came from, you see two hippopotamus skeletons flanking the steps you just came down, the tail of the one on the left raised slightly as if it were a lever or switch.

Do you want to walk through the orchard towards the statue? If so, head to Page 42.

Do you want to risk pulling the lever of the hippopotamus tail. If so, head to Page 67.

You eye the pile of bones and see something shiny glisten at the bottom of the pile of the bones. Perhaps it is some keepsake from one of the humans the leopard dragged her and fed upon. If so maybe it can provide some clues about the people of this region.

Take a risk and grab the item within the pile of bones, head to Page 66.

Find a long bone and fish the item out of the pile of bones, head to Page 48.

Do you want to look inside the urns in the cave? If so, investigate Page 39.

Do you want to disengage and inspect the cave? If so, head to Page 58.

Or if you think you should get out of the cave, head to Page 24.

“Water, you gasp.” As you set your eyes on the plastic cup. Getting to his feet Trenton picks up the cup and puts it to your lips, warm water sloshing down your throat.

“So why are you here?” Trenton asks as he wanders over to the door, his eyes fixed on you.

“The helicopter taking us into…jungle…shot…shot down.” You slur as you begin to fill dizzy, your head aching and a pain stabbing into your gut. “What…happ…” You gasp before falling unconscious, your head slumping onto the gore encrusted worktop.

Oof, looks like you have been drugged by Trenton, head to Page 61 to continue your adventure.

The church has seen better days, the stained-glass windows shattered by the wind, or pushed out by plant growth. The pews have rotted down, the only sign they were ever here is the rot marks left behind. The alter and font are made of stone are largely intact, but the artwork and figure holding the later have transformed. Where once Christian iconography surrounded the rim, much older symbols of a language long since forgotten are present, and the stone statue of Jesus Christ has mutated, resembling the leopard goddess of the people of ‘Z’ who now holds court in this place of worship. Only one skeleton is present in the room, clutching an old bolt action rifle with an attached rusting bayonet as it made a last stand against a formidable enemy.

On the alter your eyes dart over to a golden diadem with an intact mane of white hair attached to it. You recognise it as the headpiece akin to the ones seen in the images of the leopard goddess. The longer you look at the diadem the more obsessed you are with the crown, as smooth invisible fingers caress your cheek. Eventually you snap to and realise you are holding the diadem in your hands above your head.

If you wish to place the diadem on your head, crown yourself on Page 40.

Or if you wish to drown the cursed item in the holy water contained in the font, head to Page 21.

Thirty minutes after firing the flare you hear engines getting closer, and two armoured UAZ jeeps and a transport truck break out of the rainforest. In the glare of the headlights, you see armed men deploy, all of them armed with AK rifles, some of them also toting RPG launchers, others lugging a mortar out of the back of the vehicles.

This is not a rescue, that much is clear, you muse as men armed with assault rifles charge past the reflecting pool and into the area where the totems were present, screams radiating from the orchard of skulls as they trigger the boobytrap set by the ancient people of ‘Z’.

After a minute you hear a loud thud, a shrill whistle and then an explosion as the besieging rebels fire the mortar, the shell smashing into the statue of the hippo god. Your heart sinks, these people will level the historic site and kill you in one fell swoop. That’s when the thunder of rotors sounds, and a spotlight passes over you as a rescue helicopter begins to descend. From down below the rebels shout, and an RPG streaks up forcing the helicopter away from the temple, but doesn’t go too far.

Above you someone throws a rope ladder down that you’ll need to jump for.

Leap from where you are currently standing to Page 5.

Climb up to where the diamond is and leap from there to Page 100.

You surge forward, confident that there the river is shallow enough to ford without threat or notable danger. You suddenly find something clamp onto your leg as a powerful force drags you under before that force begins spinning, ripping off your leg. Surfacing briefly, you see an armoured tail break the surface before you are dragged under the water and back to Page 0 by the submerged crocodile.

You sneak up behind the guard on the radio, take one deep breath before getting to work. You’ve never killed before, and the guard struggles but you got the jump on him, and adrenaline and desperation give you all the strength you need to end this poor man’s life. Pushing the body out of the chair you sit down and place the headphones over your ears.

“Henri, Henri are you there, over?” The voice on the other end of the radio asks.

You gasp, the voice on the other end not only speaks English, but it also has an American accent. Were the rebels calling in a ransom, simply holding you until the embassy could pick you up, are they the good guys?

You banish the thoughts from your mind and slip Henri’s pistol from the desk into your waistband and turn to the exit, ready to leave the radio room and head to Page 77.

You run, picking up speed despite the stairs literally being shaken to smithereens beneath you. As you reach the crack you trip over a piece of rock, falling face first into the molten magma below, your body incinerating before it even impacts with the rock. The diamond floats on the surface for a few seconds before detonating in a blue explosion. Whatever it was, it’s now gone, and your adventure is over unless you head back to Page 0.

With a roar equal to any leopard, you bring the diadem down and push it under the water held in the font, steam rising from the crown. At first the diadem doesn’t react but then it begins to shudder and vibrate, a female scream raising from the water as a spectral hand reaches out to try and force you back, to give it breathing room to escape the destruction at hand.

Only when whatever force contained within the diadem lets out a death rattle do you lift the diadem out. Taking a deep breath, you hear a feline snarl and turn to the door to see a leopard crouched in the door, a slash across its right eye from your earlier tussle with the big cat. This is clearly the final showdown between the pair of you.

Escape, run to the broken door to the cloisters and Page 87.

Grab the bolt action rifle that the fallen defender clutches. Head to Page 55.

Stand in shock from what you have witnessed until you reach Page 92.

You turn to see a massive beetle, one the size of a small rhinoceros, with a growth of weird antler like fungal growths running growing out of its back. With a screech, the beetle breathes a rancid torrent of vile chemicals that cause you to wretch as it engulfs you. This must be what inspired the people of ‘Z’s underworld beetle god.

Balling your fists, you get ready for a fight, one that you are uncertain you may not win, especially with no weapons. The only other option is to try and evade the beetle and try to tire it out. You don’t want to get to close to it, that much you are clear.

Get ready to throw a punch, even if it’s your last. Head to Page 94.

Run a ring around the beetle to Page 75.

You don’t have a choice; the beetle is in charge here. Head to Page 32.

You refuse to stand down, these people don’t have good intentions, and this won’t end well. Angrily the rebels grab you and drag you round the side of the armour building and throw you down to the ground, the impact causing blood to ooze from your head wound.

One of the rebels, this one wearing a red beret yell, “Prêt, viser, feu!!” His men levelling their rifles at your head before opening fire, rifle rounds ripping through your body.

Head back to Page 0 if you want to restart the adventure.

You head up the trail, happy to have the scree slope and leopard to your back. As you head higher and higher up the slope you see the abandoned nests of gorillas and see more rustling bushes. Excitement rushes through your brain, gorillas aren’t usually encountered in this area of the Congo and would definitely by a sight to see.

Slowing your progress, you begin to hear the great apes grunting and farting as they recline in the late afternoon sun, while the juveniles play and generally cause mischief. You smile slightly, this is indeed a memory you will cherish.

Suddenly a roar sounds and you see the massive silverback gorilla charge down the slope towards you. You only have seconds to respond.

Stand tall, beat your chest, and maintain eye contact, after all you are the greater ape by heading to Page 53.

Slowly lower yourself into a crouch, avoid eye contact and looks as disinterested as humanly possible by heading to Page 73.

The stairs shake and rumble as you walk up them, but for the most part they remain stable enough for you to climb to the top of the ziggurat. Little boulders and chunks of masonry roll down the stairs as you turn around the edge of the ziggurat and continue your climb. Rounding the second corner of the spire you find yourself above the canopy, the stars and moon almost blinding you after hours trapped in the dark jungle.

In the distance a hellish red glow radiated off of Mount Nyiragongo, a worrying sign that the volcano is close to erupting. A brighter light, one bright blue provides the majority of the visible light, radiated from the top of the ziggurat, inspiring you to climb ever higher.

Climb up to Page 43.

Greed fills your soul, and you grab the diamond off of its pedestal, a dull blue light glowing from your palm. Scoffing you begin to decide how you will get back to civilization when the entire temple shakes, masonry from the crumbling stairs rolling down to the base of the hippopotamus god’s statue. Huffing you look down to see a spray of lava erupt out of the skull totem orchard, melting the bones pillars down while further afield toxic steam rises from the reflecting pool.

Of course, the diamond was in the temple of the people of ‘Z’s chthonic god; one who caused volcanos and earthquakes. If you want to enjoy your ill-gotten gains you will have to escape the temple.

Heading down the stairs you see a large crack forming on the path, one with vents of volcanic steam already emanating out of it. You may be able to outrun the formation of geothermal obstacle or could take a risk and jump the forming crack.

Put your sprint skills to use and outrun the eruption by heading to Page 20.

Make a leap of faith and cross your fingers by heading to Page 63.

The game trail is narrow, and the forest is claustrophobic, but you continue onwards, branches scratching at you, cutting into your arms and legs. Not so silently you curse your luck that you ended up in this circumstance, and that you decided to move away from the clearing the helicopter crash had created.

After an about an hour, you stop for a breather on a rise overlooking a small river that runs through the forest, the game trail continuing up the other side. As you regain your stamina you hear the bushes behind you rustle slightly. Drawing your knife, you get ready to make a choice regarding whatever seems to be hunting you.

Head for the river, its best to get some distance between you and your stalker on Page 46

Investigate the bushes and deal with whoever this is on Page 1

You spend the night in this repugnant room with no human contact and no comfort whatsoever. The smell is overpowering and the flies buzzing around the room keep landing on your wrists and anywhere blood has dried on your skin, likely laying eggs in your wounds. You manage to get little sleep but are awoken by the sound of the door opening.

“Wakey, wakey princess.” A voice states causing you to jolt upright to see a man dressed in a black two-piece suit, alligator skin shoes and a fedora covering the few whisps of blonde hair he has left. Following him in, two of the rebels drag a chair in, while the guards present drag the worktable over, removing any the cleaver stabbed into the wood to prevent you from using it as a weapon.

“Not quite the Hilton, is it?” The man in the fedora jokes as another guard brings a plastic cup of water, before all three of the rebels leave the room closing the door behind them. “I’m Trenton, the only friend you have in this place.” He states as he removes a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket as well as a lighter.

“Are you here to get me out of here?” You ask, your words hoarse due to the creeping dehydration in your throat.

“Of course…” Trenton states with a smile. “…but first what can I do to make you feel a little more comfortable?”

You are parched, a drink would make you feel better and take you to Page 15.

A cigarette would help you calm down until you get to Page 37.

Stay quiet and see what is going on by going to Page 74.

“Very good.” Lansing purrs as she sees you trace your name on the screen. “Still, that may be an anomalous result, especially considering the limited time the agent has had to metabolise.

As she finishes the ground shakes and Trenton puts his head back out of the door for a second, hushed whispers emanating from the corridor. After a minute he heads back inside and whispers something to Lansing, her face screwing up in annoyance before putting her hands in surrender.

“All personnel,” Trenton states into the wristwatch he is wearing, the voice carried to the PA system across the base. “Have Site Echo prepared, movement of biological agent is priority, followed by essential personnel and then non-essential personnel and test subjects. I want evacuation completed by 19:00 hours.” He adds as the ground shakes again nearly knocking Lansing off her feet.

“Doctor you need to evacuate, as for you Mr Fenton, we’ll come for you when you’re ready.” Trenton states as he leads Lansing out of the room. After a minute you realise the UV drip is the only thing keeping you restrained in the room. Through gritted teeth you remove it from your arm, an alarm blaring almost immediately. You wait a minute, two minutes before realising the alarm is for the base, and that nobody is coming for you.

Something bad is happening, best to move onto Page 8.

You clutch your blade ready for battle swinging it wildly as the dwellers advance towards you, cutting down the leading edge of the group, allowing you to grab a spear. Engrossed in battle you quickly find yourself surrounded by dwellers, spears jabbing you, knifes slashing shallow cuts and clubs smashing your limbs.

The attackers aren’t a group, they are a hive, a swarm that appears never-ending. You continue the fight as long as you can, but you are outnumbered. Head back to Page 0 and hope to get better odds next time.

You begin climbing the tree only to feel a trunk snake round your waste and begin dragging you off the tree. Gripping the branch with all your power, you feel the bones in your arms break as you are slammed into the ground with enough force to knock you unconscious. This is a blessing; feeling and witnessing an elephant attack is not pretty, and really doesn’t need description. Head back to Page 0 and hope you don’t run into this brutal behemoth in your next adventure.

The beetle lets out another rancid breath, the smell engulfing you and forcing you to your knees. Groaning you try and get back to your feet only for the beetle to loom over you, the fungal growths pulsing and convulsing across its body.

Looking up you realised that the beetle just a husk, and that the fungus is the one controlling the massive insect. Each breath was shooting out spore that you’ve been breathing in. Getting to your feet, you turn and head to the edge of the pit, the dwellers helping you up and out. The crowd disperses and you follow, eager to get back to work at the command of your new master. Head back to Page 0 if you want to start another adventure.

It takes a while, but you slide the chair over to the workstation and begin rubbing the cleaver against the zip-ties, the plastic snapping but not before you cut yourself on the blade. With your hands free its child’s play to remove the rope and you get to your feet, blood dripping from your hands. Assuming you get out of here you’ll need a whole swathe of inoculations and blood tests to fight whatever infection you caught from your escape. While you don’t particularly want to take a knife to a gun fight, the cleaver may be useful, and you may take it if you like.

After a few moments to clear your head, you open the door just a crack and see that the rebels are all sleeping save for one sitting on the guard tower reading a comic-book. You also see two buildings, one labelled with the symbol for a radio, the other with a sign that reads ‘Armes’, and even with your absent knowledge of the French language you know that this must be an armoury. Beyond them is the dark and foreboding rainforest.

If you want to head to the Radio Room to try and call for help, head to Page 51

If you want to try and steal a better weapon from the armoury, head to Page 3

Or if you want to make a run to the camp perimeter, head to Page 72

You enter what was once the heart of the community, the trading post that connected the town with the outside world. Whatever produce the store once held is rotted away, succumbing to the jungle’s unending hunger. At some point this store once acted as a bank, as a rusted vault door is set into the back of the building. The vault is locked and seemingly requires a six-figure code to open.

If you have the engraving plate, then you can use the code on the back to open the vault to Page 4

If you wish to seek shelter in the jail head to Page 89.

If you want to seek salvation in the Church by heading to Page 16.

Heading through the forests of totems you advance on the massive statue of the hippopotamus god, the mouth open in an earth-shattering roar. Behind the mouth of the statue is a portcullis of skulls that blocks any access to the main ziggurat of the temple. Running your hand across the maw of the statue you come to the tusk sticking out of the mouth at a weird angle and see a small black lens concealed below the tip of the tooth.

You knew the people of ‘Z’ were advanced, but you didn’t realise that they were this advanced. With a sigh you realise that somebody has already got to the temple first and that they likely are aware of your presence within the temple complex. Focusing back on the portcullis you crawl through the mouth of the hippopotamus god and wrench the gate up, ducking under before it slams down behind you, trapping you at the base of the ziggurat that looms above you.

There are crumbling stairs leading up to the apex of the ziggurat, something blue glinting in the night sky. Additionally, well anchored vines climbing up the side of the steps are also present and may be a slower, but less safe way to reach the glowing beacon.

If you dare to take the stairs, head to Page 25.

If you wish to climb the vines to the top, head to Page 82.

You head through the base to a bridge that crosses an area where the mountain has been shattered open and molten lava is pouring down the sides. You must be on Mount Nyiragongo which was showing signs of erupting when you were shot down just days earlier. As you look across the bridge you see Trenton step out only to see you standing there. Cheerfully waving he heads back into the hanger looking to make good his escape.

Knowing time, it limited you charge across the bridge. If you picked up the ventilator mask and kept the oxygen vial attached head to Page 90, if not you collapse choking as the volcanic gases overtake you, forcing you to collapse choking and coughing as your lungs are burnt alive, forcing you to head back to Page 0 to start the adventure again.

“I could use a smoke.” You gasp as the smell of tobacco fills the air, somewhat masking the smell of blood and gore of the room. Trenton nods and slips a cigarette into your lips before lighting it for you.

After a puff you fill your nerves calm a little.

“Well, we should get moving, these boys should have finished unloading those stinger missiles by now.” Trenton states as he stands up and goes to knock on the door of the room. It takes you a moment to realise that Trenton is in league with the rebels, and that your chances of escape are as slim as they were before he arrived.

“Who are you?” You gasp as the door opens and a guard walks in armed with an AK and another burlap sack.

“We’re the Company kid, these rebels hand over people lost in the forest in exchange for funding and arms to use against the government.” Trenton replies as the guard strikes the back of your head with his rifle and slips the sack over your head, plunging you into darkness again.

Uh oh, you’re now in the clutches of the CIA, head to Page 61 to continue the adventure.

You swing left, the limestone scratching your right arm as you make the turn. The light begins to get brighter as you head along the slide until you see the source, massive blue diamond like crystals hanging from the roof. Your rich, well you are if you can get out of the cave let alone the rainforest its situated in. You are so preoccupied looking up you only barely register the slide getting steeper and don’t notice the palisade of diamonds sticking out until it’s too later, your body sliced into pieces by the precious stones. Head back to Page 0 to slide into another adventure.

You edge over to the urns, hesitant to disturb anything inside. While the cave is illuminated enough you have to jostle the container slightly to see the contents, but when you do, you see the mummified remains of a human creature inside.

Gasping in equal parts shock and excitement you realise that you’ve discovered a burial cave of the ‘Z’ people, the very group you came to find evidence of. Looking in the other urns, you notice each of the bodies seems to have protruding canine teeth, almost as if the people mummified were wearing the skulls of some predatory creature.

In one of the urns you find an engraving plate causing your heart to drop. The plate is akin to those used by the Belgians to mint francs in the early 20^th century and is evidence that someone found this cave before you. Turning the plate, you see a six-digit code scratched on the back. You can take the plate with you if you so choose.

Do you want to explore the midden of bones in the cave? If so, head to Page 14.

Do you want to inspect the artwork at the back of the cave? If so, head to Page 58.

Or if you think you should get out of the cave, head to Page 24.

You cannot resist the power emanating from the diadem and place it over your head. Almost immediately pain radiates through your skull as the crown fuses to your skull, your hair falling out as the white hair digs into your scalp. Your body begins morphing from masculine to feminine as your clothes unravel and reform into the golden silk robes worn by the leopard goddess and her priestesses. Not that you care, you are no longer Drake Fenton you are Queen La’ ruler of the ancient empire of Zia, released from the curse binding you to your diadem.

Stepping out to the entrance of the church you see multiple leopards crouched in the graveyard, their heads bowed in respect, the first to serve their goddess and queen. You smile, you once were a dark shadow that commanded and initiated an entire continent to the point where every tribe across Africa joined forces and rebelled against her.

She had been so close to awakening almost a hundred years ago, had seen the ‘progress’ the barbarians to the north had made and had plans to humble them. The second rising of La’ was at hand and the world would bow to their eternal queen.

You push through the bamboo to see a massive bull elephant towering over you, its eyes bloodshot and saliva dripping from its mouth. With a thunderous bellow, the elephant charges towards you, causing you to turn tail and run towards a massive tree rising out of the bamboo thicket. The elephant is clearly in musth and is essentially a berserk juggernaut that doesn’t care that you are a threat.

Reaching the tree, you see that there is a hollow below the roots large enough for you to squeeze into, but deep enough that the elephant can’t reach you with its trunk. The tree itself seems easy enough to climb as well, although it may not be durable enough to withstand an onslaught from a wrathful bull elephant.

Do you take shelter under the tree? If so, head to Page 85.

Do you climb the tree and hope it holds? If so, head to Page 31.

You stride out into the orchard walking past the rows of totems. As you pass the skulls set in the bones you hear a hiss and a thud as a dart is fired from a launcher hidden in the skull and has thudded into the totem opposite.

You suddenly realise that the floor is boobytrapped and need to run towards the statue. You make it halfway across the floor before three or four darts thud into your back. Staggering you make it onto the steps up to the statue and pull out the dart, its black tip gleaming in the fading life. The needle is likely smeared by a toxin, gathered from local toad and flower species, to kill animals and intruders.

You are doomed to a painful death from an ancient but incredibly well stocked boobytrap. Head back to Page 0 and restart your adventure.

You reach the spire of the ziggurat and look out across the rainforest that stretches as far as the eye can see. Looking up you see the source of the blue light, a fist sized diamond glowing with an unearthly energy. You know that the people of ‘Z’ mined gemstones, mostly cat’s-eye jewels, gold ore and jade, but not diamonds, especially not diamonds like this. In fact, you aren’t even sure that this is a diamond, all you know is that if you took it, you’d be rich.

Still escaping the rainforest may be difficult, although you are in a location where if you were to fire a flare gun, someone would definitely see it, and that rescue from this clearing may be relatively easy.

Greed is part of human nature. Take the diamond and head to Page 26.

If you have a flare gun, fire a shot to signal for rescue, and head to Page 80.

If you cannot do either head to Page 96.

After what seems like an age you are placed in a truck, and after yet more time has passed you feel yourself dragged out and blink as the harsh illumination of a floodlight fills your vision as the bag is removed. Groaning you see someone gesturing for you to stand up and hear more orders in French. Following orders, you stand up, only to be knocked down again as a fist impact with your gut, guttural laughing filling the area. Stunned you feel dirt scraping against your scalp as you are dragged into a building and roughly bound with a hempen rope to a chair.

Free of the glare of the floodlight you see two of the rebels leaving the room, slamming a wooden door shut. The whole room smells like death, with dried blood caking the worktop in the corner of the room, a rusted butcher’s cleaver embedded into the wood. This room wasn’t designed to be a prison, it’s a food preparation room, but are you destined to be a meal or is this just the best place for the rebels to hold you. And if it’s the later, what do they plan to do?

If you want to wait it out and see what the rebels have in store, head to Page 28

If you want to edge over to the cleaver and try and cut your bindings, head to Page 33

“Qasang?” You cautiously ask, your words causing the dwellers to get excited. Far quicker than you realise, the dwellers grab you and drag you into the mine tool, your struggles doing nothing to help free you.

You remember Qasang means stinking insect, but you are not sure why that would mean anything species to these people. As you head through the town you come to a shallow pit with a cave that is embedded in a massive orange root like structure. Before you can attempt an escape, you are pushed down into the shallow pit, landing with a thud.

Getting to your feet you turn to yell curse words at the dwellers, multiple members of the community standing passively around the rim. You go to climb out when you here a buzzing roar behind you.

Don’t look, just climb, in this case up to Page 75.

Turn to see what is stalking you on Page 22.

The rustling bushes stop as you approach the river, something that doesn’t put your nerves at ease. As with any waterbody there are signs of both prey and predator coming down to the water to drink, but the most significant trace is a large drag mark, as if something large and heavy slipped into the water. The water itself is dark, clogged with sediment due to the overhanging trees and lazy current, debris such as pebbles, sticks and leaves forming a brown and yellow tideline.

At least, you muse, the water isn’t deep enough for hippos to live here.

Do you ‘er on the side of caution and throw something into the water before you cross? If so, head to Page 70.

Or do you charge the water hoping to cross as quickly as possible? If so, head to Page 18.

You don’t hesitate to jump onto the totem, pain radiating from your twisted ankle, your brain working on autopilot to take you on what it deems the easiest route. One pillar, two pillars, whoa the third pillar rocks and falls as you leap to the fourth sending it crashing into the lava. Your pace slows as you jump to the fifth totem, the pillar snapping and crashing down onto the temple wall on the opposite side of the new volcanic cone growing out of the ziggurat.

Still, you have almost escaped the volcanic eruption behind you, you just need to get off the wall and past the reflecting pool, but the jump will cripple you if not downright kill you. The reflecting pool is in jumping range as its rocked by massive waves caused by the earthquake accompanying the eruption.

All the choices are bad, so you jump splashing into the searingly hot water of the reflecting pool. Screaming in pain you thrash to the surface pull yourself up whimpering at the pain radiating out of your body as you run into the rainforest, cursing the people of ‘Z’ under your breath, your former good looks burnt off.

Hatred and greed keeps you alive despite the immense pain you're suffering from. You may be hideous but the jeweller in Rotterdam makes your day when he appraises the diamond as being a rare industrial grade rock worth millions of Euros. That amount of money will buy you a new face with a virtual king’s ransom leftover once the work is done.

You grab the largest bone you can see, the thigh bone of a lowland anoa and begin to shuffle the bones away from the item they are buried upon. After moving some of the bigger bones you see something shift slightly and utter a hiss. Glancing down at the pile you see an albino rhinoceros viper sliding off to the back of the pile away from the item, angry at being disturbed.

You let out a sigh of relief, had you placed your hand in the midden the snake would almost certainly have struck, causing you to have a swift if painful end. Once the snake is clear you remove a tarnished gold pendent of a sunbird with ruby eyes. You recall that the sunbird considered the herald of fate by the ‘Z’ people, whether fate be fair or ill. You slip it on, after all only three of these pendants have ever been catalogued by historians. While not the find of the century it would certainly bolster your reputation in academic circle.

Do you want to look inside the urns in the cave? If so, investigate Page 39.

Do you want to disengage and inspect the cave? If so, head to Page 58.

Or if you think you should get out of the cave, head to Page 24.

You study the person below as it shuffles deeper down into the mine town, others emerging from their buildings as if they have been called onto shift by an unseen force. You decide you want to follow them when you hear a clicking sound behind you. Spinning round, you see three figures standing behind them armed with spears and hooked knives, their eyes covered with a translucent layer of skin, and chitin insectile antenna spouting from their heads.

Clearly, they were human once. Getting to your feet you wonder if they would respond to one of the few words you know in the language the people of ‘Z’ used to speak. Or if fighting will be inevitable and you will have to cross blades with them.

‘Zisa?’ Head to Page 52.

‘Keveek?’ Head to Page 60.

‘Qasang?’ Head to Page 45.

Okay let’s fight. Head to Page 93.

You looked at this page even though you weren't directed to...I suppose you want a reward? You do well here is a nice image of a Guinea worm emerging from a man's foot. See what happens when you don't do things you're not meant to?

In all honesty thanks for exploring and I hope you enjoyed this story

You silently cross the compound to the radio room, one eye trained on the guard tower overlooking the camp. Opening the door, you see a single guard sitting at an old radio, headphones on and his sidearm lying on the table. He is obviously talking to someone as he occasionally speaks in French in response to unheard questions.

Clearly, he is distracted, but is also in between you and the radio and is unlikely to move anytime soon.

If you want to use the radio, you’ll need to kill or incapacitate him. A pistol shot is too loud, you’ll have to use your bare hands or a knife to overpower him.

If you want to intercept the radio call, head to Page 19

If you want to head back outside and try elsewhere, head to Page 77

“Zisa!” You gasp as you try and remember what the word means.

The three dwellers tilt their heads before as one, plunge their spears into your chest, before walking past you down into the mine village.

As you bleed out you remember that Zisa roughly translates to ‘killing’, which essentially means you asked them to kill you. You smile, it’s ironic that the civilisation you though was dead has survived in some form, but you are now dead, and have to head back to Page 0.

You stand tall, beat your chest, and stare the silverback down. The gorilla’s enraged roar is all you need to know you chose wrong, even before it starts beating you to a blood pulp. Head back to Page 0 and try again.

You start climbing the shaft upwards, the adrenaline you got from your fight with the beetle draining quickly, causing the climb to sap your energy. Fortunately you don’t have to climb all that far, at one point a spiralling stair case was built into the rock of the shaft. Taking a breather you sit down and look up at the still small mote of light and look down to try and determine where the bottom is. After about five minutes you get ready to resume your climb when you see movement on the pit wall. In the dim light provided by the crystals you see a beetle, as large as the largest land crabs clinging to the wall, a patches of mould growing on the carapace of the insect. As you continue looking around the pit wall you see an entire army of the giant insects all looking up at the light, some of them slowly crawling towards the light.

You realise that the beetles are making there way to the surface, and if they do they may spread the fungus across the forest and the continent. The potential loss of biodiversity could be catastrophic, and you have a sneaking suspicion that the fungus has the ability to control people, if the behaviour of the dwellers is anything to go by.

There is a large pit prop holding back some rocks that could at least temporarily block the entrance of the shaft, or you could climb up and warn the world of the menace below.

Look to block the shaft with whatever you have, head to Page 97.

Climb as fast as you can, people need to be warned of what’s coming, head to Page 83.

When humans get an adrenaline boost, they fly, fight or freeze.

Rage fills your heart, and you grab the bolt action rifle from the dead priest, level it at the leopard and fire as it charges. The leopard is not so consumed by anger that its wits are gone and it freezes, waiting for the click and bang of a bullet. One that doesn’t come, whoever fired this weapon emptied the rounds.

With a roar the leopard bounces but you are not defenceless, not if you can act in time.

Act quickly! Use the rifle as a spear as the leopard pounces towards you and head to Page 99.

You walk over to one of the gnarled and twisted trees and you notice that they are wooden statues of people all looking up in reverence at the fungal spire looming above them. The statues are all dressed in the garb associated with colonial forces in this area of Africa suggesting that someone else came down here but never came back. Looking at the fungus you see snake like tentacles slithering down from the tip of the fungal spire.

Do you head the odd statues warning and head back to the path on Page 7.

Do you investigate the fungus. Head to Page 78.

You cut one of the vines and see it ooze a thick white sap, one that looks thoroughly unappetising. Still, you are thirsty, and you’ve drunk worse so you poor the liquid into your mouth, choking and coughing immediately.

That’s not good, your body tries to vomit the sap up but its already constricting your oesophagus and trachea making every breath a gasp, and every gasp a death rattle. If you want, you can restart the adventure on Page 0.

You look at the image painted with ceramic paints of a brown skinned woman dressed in golden silk robes, a golden diadem with an attached mane of white hair sitting on her head. On either hand she wears rings of polished cat’s-eye and had a necklace with two cats eye leopard fangs handing from the chain. Behind the woman stand two half human-half leopard guards armed with hooked spears, their fangs bared creating a dichotomy between the savage predators and their human looking monarch.

You can barely hold your excitement; this cave art resembles either the ‘Z’ goddess of rulership or one of her most devout followers. Studying this piece could cement your reputation as the number one expert in the ‘Z’ people’s culture. That is if you can get out of here…

Do you want to explore the midden of bones in the cave? If so, head to Page 14.

Do you want to look inside the urns in the cave? If so, investigate Page 39.

Or if you think you should get out of the cave, head to Page 24.

Slipping into the cave you see the dwellers stop at the entrance, obviously afraid of what had once lurked in the dull blue glow of the cavern. Touching the wall, you realise that water is trickling down the sides and that a pin prick of light can be seen far above you. This cave is an escape back to the surface, and the strange jagged crystals sprouting out of the wall look durable enough to at least partially support your weight.

Stepping back you bump into something round and slimy causing you to turn round and look down at the rancid smelling egg sacks recessed into the wall looking like something out of a Sci-Fi horror movie. A large recess at the back of the room appears to lead down to another cavern and perhaps an easy way to lose the dwellers.

Cut open the eggs, prevent the ‘god’ of the underworld from returning from the dead. Head to Page 69.

Begin climbing the shaft up to the surface, head to Page 54.

Drop down into the caverns, head to Page 95.

“Keveek.” You squeak as the dwellers advance on you, your brain searching for the meaning of the word.

“Keveek.” One of the dwellers coughs as it pulls its spear up and removes a vial made of crystals filled with a vile green liquid. The other two dwellers grab your hands while the dweller with the vial forces your mouth open and pouring the liquid down your throat.

Coughing and spitting you remember that keveek translates to worker, although the context is likely more akin to slave. You don’t know what the vial contained but you fill your mind burning as memories and thoughts are eroded by the chemical you drank. Eventually you stop struggling, you are part of Z’rixen’s, the Zia god of the underworld, hive. He commands you, and you can do nothing but comply to his orders. If you want to retry the adventure head back to Page 0.

Time passes and you wake up in a small sterile room, your bloody and torn clothes replaced by a hospital gown, an IV stabbed into your left arm. Looking up you see electronic apparatus on standby connected to a conveyer belt running in a loop around the bed. Despite having been unconscious for hours your body doesn’t feel rested and as you watch the door you feel a sense of dread run through you as Trenton enters followed by a red-haired woman, dressed in green surgical scrubs her face covered in a mask.

“Finally, you’re awake.” Trenton snarls as she removed a clipboard from one of the surgical trolleys in the corner of the room. “You are Drake Fenton MSc, graduated from Yale in 2002 and currently working for the New York Museum of Art.”

You do everything in your power to avoid nodding as Trenton continues rattling off facts like date of birth, medical records, parental history, even the last three items your purchased from Amazon. If you had any doubts, he worked for the CIA those are long since quashed.

“This is Lansing, you give her any problems and you’ll wish you were back in that rebel hellhole.” Trenton threatens as he hands the woman the clipboard. “You’re about to be an American hero, that is if anybody learnt what you’re going to help us do. You see the world is a place with a mind of its own, minds that may go against our interests. Well thanks to a discovery made not too far from where you were found, we can control and shape minds. But first…”

“First we need to modify the agent.” Lansing butts in as she puts the clipboard down and replaces the IV bag injected into your arm. “You’ve already been exposed so let’s test your resistance.” She adds as she pulls a screen down in front of you. “Now Mr Fenton please trace your name on the screen.” She ordered as Trenton leans back on the door looking on with amusement.

My name is Darke Fenton, I must advance to Page 29

That is not my name, or if it is I’m not telling. Head to Page 88

You head straight on passing the fork and on into the darkness and the increasingly loud sound of running water. You suddenly realise this may not be an underground river but an underground waterfall and flail your arms to slow your descent all to no avail. Skidding out of the mouth of the cave you find yourself free-falling towards the plunge pool. At least, you think, I’ll land in water and survive.

The impact with the water kills you instantly and the plunge pool grinds you to a smooth flesh and bone pebble. Float back to Page 0 if you want to restart you adventure.

The crack opens wide like the gaping maw of a hippopotamus, foul smelling volcanic gas and acris steam raising up from the bowels of the earth. At the last moment you leap soaring elegantly over the crevasse although you land hard twisting your ankle. Still adrenaline pushes you on down towards a rapidly forming lake of lava that is flowing through the portcullis cutting off your escape.

Scanning the temple you see a fallen ladder that allows you with some difficult to cross to the head of the hippopotamus god statue. At this point only one avenue of escape is available, jumping from totem to totem to the other side. But perhaps if the lava raises high enough, the statue you are on will collapse and could form a nice bridge to the other side.

I dare not tarry here, jump to Page 47.

Wait, let nature provide a path by heading to Page 2.

As you move away from the river you enter a thick picket of bamboo, tall enough to hide an elephant. Progress is slow going and every time you nudge against the bamboo you risk cutting yourself, and your leave behind a trail of blood behind you.

As you continue heading up the hill, you see a stone ziggurat rise above the sea of grasses. You also hear something move not too far to your left.

Do you head onto the ziggurat, if so, head to Page 6.

If you want to check out what is causing the bamboo to shake, head to Page 41.

You enter the cave and are relieved when you see that the cave only goes back fifty meters, enough that the sun illuminates the interior. As you walk you notice how warm the ground is, little vents of steam erupting from the ground.

The cave contains a pile of bones in the back right hand corner, indicating that is likely the leopard’s lair where it drags and dispatches its victims. As an anthropologist you recognise human bones among those of dik-dik, red river hog, colobus monkey and shoebill stork. Against the opposite wall, three large ceramic urns are arranged, the chipped copper lids long since oxidised by the jungle’s oppressive nature. At the back of the cave, you think you spot some kind of artwork that while faded may still be decipherable.

Check the pile of bones, go to Page 14

Cautiously open the baskets to check the contents, head to Page 39

Look at the artwork on the back of the cave, head to Page 58

You dive right into the pile digging through the bones to find a tarnished gold sunbird pendent with ruby eyes on the cave floor. The sunbird, herald of fate, according to the folklore of the ‘Z’ people. Reaching out to grab it you see movement a second too late as an albino rhinoceros viper lashes out sinking its massive fangs into your hand.

Pulling away your hopes that it was just a dry bite are quashed as you see droplets of venom drip over your hand. Death is sure to come quickly as the snake’s hemotoxic and neurotoxic venom starts destroying your body. You can start another adventure again on Page 0.

You walk over to the hippopotamus and lean on the lever, using all your weight to push it down, the mechanism eventually closing with a loud crunch. After a second, a rumbling sound fills the courtyard and the jaws of the skulls set into the totems close. You don’t know what you’ve done but you suspect you may have just avoided death from some kind of trap hidden within the courtyard.

With that done, you can cautiously advance to the hippo god statue on Page 35.

You slide for what feels like ages before coming to a three-way fork in the slide. The left fork is glowing with an odd blue light, while the one to the right seems to have more of the rock pit props you saw earlier struggling to keep the ceiling supported. The path straight on sounds like water is running through it, perhaps leading to an underground water.

Swing left towards the glow and slide to Page 38.

Head straight on towards the sounds of water on Page 62.

Swing to the right and hope the ceiling holds as you head to Page 10.

You cut open the first egg expecting to see a giant larva only to find a gooey mass of organic material and a half formed giant beetle. These eggs are pupae, you need to act quickly less one of the fully formed giant beetles emerge. One by one you slash open the pupae killing the developing beetles before they can emerge.

The dwellers have yet to move, seemingly afraid to enter this cave. With the extermination over you still have to make a choice about how to escape.

Begin climbing the shaft up to the surface, head to Page 54.

Drop down into the caverns, head to Page 95.

You know better than to simply charge in and scoop up a stick from the bank and slap the water. In less than a second a massive Nile crocodile explodes out of the water forcing you to back up to avoid being grabbed. Now out of the water the crocodile stalls, hissing, its mouth open seemingly unaware or unable to attempt to grab you. Cautiously you step into the water, your stick probing for anymore hidden crocodiles, crossing the deepest part of the river before climbing out onto the opposite bank. Turning back you see the crocodile has already slid back into the river, ready to ambush new prey.

You decide it’s not sensible to remain on the bank and head back into the rainforest and onto Page 64.

No way are you backing down, especially because of the snake above you. Hand over hand you ascend, first reaching level with the mamba, then passing it with your body and then the snake is level with your crotch. That’s when the snake makes its move, but not the move you feared it would. Slipping out of hiding, the mamba slithers over your belt and down your trouser legs, likely looking for something warm to snuggle up with.

Screaming you let go of the vine, and then suddenly realise the mistake you’ve made. Reaching out to grab the vine only to slip and fall the twelve feet to the ground, landing back first at the base of the ziggurat. Screaming in pain you realise that you are paralyzed, unable to move. If you want to try the adventure again, head back to Page 0.

There are no guards on patrol, this may be your only chance to escape, every second spent here is one second closer to death. As such you bolt for it, heading past the radio room and the armour straight into the spotlight mounted on the tower. The guard situated up there yells something in French and jumps on the mounted PK machine gun, countless hours of drills and practice finally ready to be used. You get so close to safety before a hail of bullets smash through your body, sending blood and gore everywhere.

You are dead, return to Page 0 if you want to start your adventure again.

As you lower yourself the silverback stops and grunts, seemingly satisfied that you are not a threat to him or his troop. After a few tense seconds the gorilla heads back up the hill and sits down to enjoy a well-deserved scratch from one of the females of the group.

Keeping low you creep up the hill, cresting it as the sun begins to go down over the forest, the infernal volcanic glow of Mount Nyiragongo the only significant light as clouds roll in and a chilling rain begins to fall. You need shelter and silently wish you’d stayed in the cave when you see the rotting corpse of a building before you. Descending you see that it’s a colonial town established by the Belgians in the late 1940s, one that has been reclaimed by the rainforest. Only three buildings appear to be structurally sound; a long low stone building with bars on the windows, a wooden shack with barrels outside and the stone steepled church surrounded by broken tombstones.

Shelter in the jail by heading to Page 89.

Duck into the General Store by heading to Page 34.

Seek salvation in the Church by heading to Page 16.

You stay silent despite your dry throat and the smell of tobacco filling the air causing your old cravings to return.

“Tough guy huh?” Trenton asks as he smiles a wide unnerving smile. “Let’s see how brave you are back at the base.” He sneers as he gets up from his chair and knocks on the door. Seconds later two guards walk in armed with rifles, one holding a burlap sack. You avoid the sack swooping down towards your head, feeling like you have achieved some small victory.

Enraged Trenton removes a stun gun from his belt and stabs the prongs into your neck, electricity arching through your body and knocking you unconscious.

After this shocking development, continue your adventure on Page 61.

You run away from the beetle, the lumbering insect edging around as it tries to get a lock on you, occasionally lunging at you. Desperately you begin to look for anything you can use for a weapon or something to fend the beetle away. That’s when you trip over salvation, the fungified body of a former dweller its hand clutched around a curved dagger. While its not enough to defeat the bug it’s a start.

As you grab your weapon, the beetle advances, the rotten breath on the back of your neck. Bracing yourself you swing the blade down into the beetle’s head, parts of the fungal growths snapping off causing the beetle to back off screeching and buzzing. You press the attack, hacking and slashing at the insect, each flow smashing parts of its armour. Whatever infected the beetle had made it less durable then it should, and with one last swipe the beetle collapses, its body oozing thick green blood.

You’ve won the battle and up on the ledge the dwellers clutch their heads before staggering down into the pit, weird green fluids oozing from their mouths. A fight is about to ensue, one you may not win, but the only place to go is through the dwellers or into the cave the beetle crawled out of.

You killed their god; you can beat the dwellers. Head to Page 30.

Retreat into the cave, with any luck you can outrun the dwellers. Head to Page 59.

You try and climb out of the pit only for the dwellers at the top of the pit jab at you with their spears knocking you back down to the bottom. There is nothing left to do but turn and face whatever is stalking you on Page 22.

As you step outside you are greeted by the muzzles of at least five AK47s held by very annoyed rebels. They yell at you in French, gesturing for you to raise your hands. While you don’t speak their language, they are no longer going to tolerate any disobedience from you.

It is best you surrender. If that is the course of action you want to take, head to Page 91

If you want to remain defiant head to Page 23.

You advance and look up at the fungal spire to see one of the tendrils twitches, thick spores filling the air easing your tension. The fungus is a Medusa cap, a species never seen on the surface and that only grows in the deep underground spaces of the world. Its most sinister behaviour is to replace spores that make its victims compliant, unable to escape. From their tendrils inject hyphae into the new host that desiccate the skin and consume the muscles, fat even bones of the body. This leaves the host resembling a wooden statue until a new mature Medusa cap bursts out of the body. Head back to Page 0 to retry the adventure.

The temple interior is surprisingly clean save for the waft of sulphur on the breeze. The floor is warm underfoot, heated by geothermal energy from the volcano the temple is located on the slopes of. The centre of the courtyard contains a literal forest of totems arranged in concentric circles around a path leading up to the ziggurat itself. Walking around the entire perimeter of the courtyard you catch glimpses of ebony wall carvings of the hippo god and the amazing feats the people of ‘Z’ associated with it.

While enlightening, the wings of the temple are abandoned, ransacked by whoever forced the worshipers out and covered in sulphur fumaroles, foul smelling smoke engulfing the corridors.

The only way forward is to head down into the courtyard on Page 13.

You fire a flare up into the air, the red glow far brighter then stars, volcanic glow or even the diamond above you. You grit your teeth, the diamond can wait, besides to you the temple is a far greater treasure to an archaeologist like you. Far off in the distance you see a flare shoot up to the north of you, someone must have seen your signal, now all you have to hope is that the diamond is bright enough for people to find you.

To the south west you see floodlights flick on, and here the distant rumble of vehicles in the distance. You hope that this mobilisation won’t complicate any rescue attempt that may be coming for you.

Complications to your rescue arise on Page 17.

You shoot the flare up, aware that in the late afternoon sun it’s unlikely that anyone will see it. And indeed, would you want the people in the area to show up; the Congolese Army is currently engaged in warfare with several native and rebel groups, and are likely to think you’re a spy or worse, and it’s not like the rebels would treat you any better. After all someone fired the missile that shot down your helicopter…

You’re almost certain that perhaps you’ve made a bad mistake when the foliage parts and an eleven-man team of men armed with AK47s and RPG launchers walks into the clearing, their weapons trained on you. At first you see they are wearing the fatigues of the Congolese Army, but something about the sinister skull insignia convinces you that these are not government forces.

One of the men yells something in French, too bad you didn’t take that language in high school, an annoyed at your lack of response orders one of his men to strike you with the butt of his rifle. Lying on the floor dizzy you see one of the rebels remove a burlap sack that he places over your head and feel plastic zip ties bind your hands.

I know this is a choose your own adventure book but look like you have no choice, go to Page 44

Pah, vines you used to climb rope in college and can scale anything.

This thought was the first misleading thought about the situation as you begin climbing the vines. Getting off the ground, you climb up six feet before you spot a concealed green mamba coiled in a crevice of the stairs, its reptilian eyes glowering down at you.

You gulp and consider sliding back down the vine, better to take the stairs than risk a bite from a venomous snake.

Swallow your pride and slide down to the ground, then take the stairs on Page 25.

Stake your life on the fact you can outpace the snake lurking in Page 71.

You climb up the stairs of the pit, jumping over areas where the ground has collapsed and scrambling up some of the areas were no path remains, the light getting brighter and brighter until you clamber out into the outside world. Taking a deep breath you laugh at being free of the confines of the shaft and the world below. You only realise that the lights are floodlights and that multiple people are standing around the entrance armed with flamethrowers and machine guns.

“Control we have another of those sub humans breaching the surface.” One of the people states as you push yourself into a standing position, safeties clicking on the weapons as they are trained on you. “Okay I understand. Tag it and cage it, we can carry out the biopsy later.”

“Hey wait…” You gasp before they can take a shot, causing them to surprise.

“Change in plan, take it to interrogation.” The man orders as a tranquilizer dart stabs into your flank causing you to drift off to sleep.

You have a long conversation about what you see. The threat is exposed and military teams head down the shaft, the sound of gunfire echoing from the pit, insectile buzzing and choking human screams echoing up from underground. The extermination is covered up and you head back to work, knowing that one wrong word could destroy your career.

You grab the AK, load up on ammunition and get ready to shoot your way out of the compound. Bursting out of the armoury you open fire, catching one of the rebels off guard. As soon as the sound of bullets echoes around the compound, rebels and insurgents burst out of the buildings, running to your position. You manage to down two more rebels before the sheer weight of fire arrayed against you cuts you down in a hail of bullets.

You are dead if you want to retry this adventure head back to Page 0.

You squeeze under the roots, almost swimming through the soil to the deepest chamber you can find, the elephant’s trunk snaking in as it blindly gropes for you. When it doesn’t find you, the persistent pachyderm begins trying to uproot the tree, the earth shaking as the roots pitch and roll as if caught by an ocean storm. While you’re not going to be beaten to death, you know risk being buried.

All the vibrations suddenly cause the ground to crack and you to fall onto a limestone slide in a chamber under the tree, the space kept open by stone pit props. Sliding down you see the tree buckle and collapse as you slide down to Page 68.

You drink from the reflecting pool. You may suffer from dysentery, or some nasty water borne parasite but it’s better than dying from dehydration in the rainforest. Now you feel refreshed what don’t you head onto Page 79.

When humans get an adrenaline boost, they fly, fight or freeze.

You run this is too much for you, squeezing through the broken door to the cloisters you suddenly realise your mistake, part of the church has collapsed, and you fall down hitting your head on a stone at the bottom of a six foot drop.

Fading in and out on consciousness you see the leopard drop down with ease and deliver a bite to your neck. After that the world goes black, If you want to retry the adventure head back to Page 0.

You sign your name and lay back a smirk on your face. It takes Lansing a second to realise what you have done.

“Oh, so it’s Miss Elizabeth Holland?” Lansing questions as Trenton stirs ready to follow up on his threat, only for the doctor to hold her hand out to stop him. “Your files never said anything about gender dissociative disorder but then we don’t know everything. I will start the initial surgery immediately.” She chimes with glee before pushing the screen up and out of the way.

You go to protest, but it falls on deaf ears as Lansing lowers an anaesthetic mask, gas pouring from the canister and knocking you unconscious again. When you awake you feel pain in your groin, throat and chest, your hands reaching to the former to inspect the doctor’s surgery. As you reach for your crotch the earth moves and an alarm starts blaring, a clear indication of worse things happening around you.

Groaning you get to your feet but catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. From the looks of it your Adam’s apple has been surgically removed, your hair cut into a more feminine style and breast implants surgically inserted into your chest. Anger fills your heart, they can’t do this to you, not without your permission.

Then the earth shakes even more violently, and you realise you need to move onto Page 8.

You enter the jail building that is squat and made of stone, vines and succulents growing across the walls. Passing the now abandoned guard post you find the cells that were all vacant save for one containing the skeleton of a human there fingernails growing into their skull. Entering the cell you see that whoever was locked on here had gone mad, scratching symbols and petroglyphs that resembles leopards and humanoid leopards on the wall.

Centred at the back of the jail cell is an image of a woman with wicked features and quasi-feline features as if it was a human becoming a leopard. You see some similarity between the etching at the back of the cell and the images shown of the ‘Z’ culture’s leopard goddess of rulership.

You back away from the cell and consider where you will go next.

If you want to check out the general store, head to Page 34.

If you want to seek sanctuary in the church, head to Page 16.

Even with the ventilator mask clamped to your face you arrive in the hanger coughing and choking, eyes watering from the volcanic gas exposure. In the middle of the hanger a battered PL-9 Stork monoplane is prepped ready for take-off, the doors creaking open as Trenton turns the crank more and more desperately to make his escape.

Heading to the plane you hear the doors clunk, now fully open followed by a shot fired into the air as Trenton advances on you.

“Listen you, I’m leaving with or without you, I don’t care if your dead or alive, there will always be more folks lost in the jungle to experiment on.” Trenton growls through gritted teeth as he levels his pistol at your forehead. “Now get down on your knees, show me you can comply with my orders and we both get out of here unscathed.”

Comply? Go to Page 9

Do not Comply? Go to Page 98

The rebel forces drag you back to the butcher’s room and tie you back down to the chair as roughly as they can. This time two guards remain posted, their eyes glowering at you, just begging for you to give them an excuse to act. As dawn breaks the thundering roar of a helicopter can be heard landing in the compound not too far from where you are being kept.

As the roar of the rotors dies down, the door opens and a pale skinned man dressed in a black two piece suit, alligator skin shoes and a fedora covering the few whisps of blonde hair he has left. Following him in, two of the rebels drag a chair in, while the guards present drag the worktable over, removing any of the knives attached that could be used as a weapon.

“I see your hosts have been keeping you well.” The man in the fedora jokes as another guard brings a plastic cup of water, before all five of the rebels leave the room closing the door behind them. “I’m Trenton, the only friend you have in this place.” He states as he removes a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket as well as a lighter.

“Are you here to get me out of here?” You ask, your words hoarse due to the creeping dehydration in your throat.

“Of course…” Trenton states with a smile. “…but first what can I do to make you feel a little more comfortable?”

You are parched, a drink would make you feel better and take you to Page 15.

A cigarette would help you calm down until you get to Page 37.

Stay quiet and see what’s going on by heading to Page 74.

When humans get an adrenaline boost, they fly, fight or freeze.

You freeze, the diadem, the earlier fight with the leopard, even the crash has taken their toll on your mentality.

The leopard has no such weakness, it wants two things from you: food and revenge for taking its eyes. All caution is replaced by a reckless charge and pounce as the big cat wrestles you to the ground and delivers the bite to the throat it attempted earlier that day. Head back to Page 0 if you want to retry this advanture.

You decided to fight against armed dwellers with nothing but your bare hands. You don’t know if these people are warriors, guards or simply people armed with sharp sticks. It doesn’t matter these troglodytes are durable, aggressive and go for the shins crippling you. Once you go down the dwellers cut off your hands before walking away, leaving you where you lay. As you bleed out you wonder if communication could have saved your life. Head back to Page 0, and retry this adventure to find out.

You throw a punch at the giant beetle, fists meeting the rotting carapace of the giant insect. Disgusted you pull back only to see a massive pair of mandibles snap around your arm lopping it off with a thick spray of blood. Feeling faint you drop to your knees as the giant beetle pushes you to the ground, its rancid breath causing your eyes to sting.

Not that it matters, as the giant beetle begins to rip apart your body, the dwellers leave and head back to their tasks, their momentary excitement over. For more excitement head to Page 0 to restart your adventure.

You decide to head down the small pit in the cave, the daunting climb likely to leave you dead or dying from a fall. Almost immediately you feel yourself sliding downwards once again, the now familiar feeling of a limestone chute under your body. The fall is longer than the one you took from the surface, and rather than getting colder, things are warming up with light radiating from deep below.

With a thud you slid out of a cavern, the light blinding you as you step out into another rainforest full of odd plants. You hear strange sounds around you as well as odd smells, ones that you don’t recognise. Taking three steps from the base of the cliff face you hear something rustle from the undergrowth causing you to tense out ready for an attack. Your attacker is surprising, a bipedal dinosaur with feathery quills running along its back, long arms swiping at you as the head comes down and begins rocking your head back and forth with its jaws, snapping your neck.

Apparently, you have been killed by a Deltadromeus, a predator that went extinct 95 million years ago.

You get your bearings, spotting a hint of skyglow from the city of Kinshasa in the distance. Taking one last look at the diamond you head down the stairs, hoping that you can find this place again, if just for the historic importance this temple represents. As you head into the jungle you hope you can find someone to help you.

You are never seen again; the jungle is well known for swallowing unprepared people. Head back to Page 0 to retry the adventure.

You reach the pit props and begin kicking at the support looking to dislodge the rocks it holds back. Eventually the stone shifts, and the rocks start rolling, falling down the shaft knocking beetles off the walls and eventually forming a stony plug across the entrance. Buoyed by your success you continue climbing up to the surface and emerge in the firebombed remains of a camp. Looking around you see vehicle tracks leading away suggesting someone left in a hurry.

You have a bad feeling about this but decided you have a duty to warn the world about the fungus and beetles living underground. Following the vehicle tracks you get to the road but are struggling to stay out in the daylight, doing far better at night. A voice compels you to head forward, to spread…spread something. The order commands you and you must comply with whatever is pulling your puppet strings.

With an inhuman scream you lunge towards Trenton with a strength and power you didn’t think you could muster. Trenton’s fingers thumb the trigger of his pistol, but the heat has caused the bullet to expand, jamming in the barrel making the weapon useless.

Almost useless.

As you tackle the CIA Agent to the ground you grab his pistol and begin to bludgeon him with his own weapon. Everything that has happened to you is his fault; he sold the stingers that shot you down to the rebels, he arranged the trade for you, violated your body with whatever he and Lansing pumped into you, maybe even watched as your body was mutilated (at this point all remember is pain and rage). As blood covers your hands you stop and look down in horror, Trenton is dead by your hands.

Coughing and spluttering you turn to the Stork, and limp over to the plane. You don’t know how to fly this particular model, but anything is better than staying here. Crossing your fingers you push the throttle up, taking off from the runway jutting out of the volcano and pulling upwards, just as lava begins to leak out of the hanger you just departed from.

A silent cheer leaves your lips as you head towards Kinshasa and hopefully time to rest before heading onto your next adventure.

Adrenaline courses through your veins and you swing the rifle up, the bayonet thrusting into the base of the leopard’s skull, the rusted blade snapping off from sheer age and force of the blow. The leopard’s pounce pins you down, but its jaws are jammed shut from the bayonet and the beast is panicking unsure of what you have done. Thrashing around, your able to avoid the blind swipes of the leopard and get back to your feet, swinging the rifle down onto the big cat’s neck, the weapon shattering.

Screaming in pain the leopard spasms on the floor looking to retreat from an enemy to powerful for it to overcome. As it does anger subsides and pity fills your heart, the animal was just being an animal, and with its current injuries it won’t survive long in the rainforest. Grabbing a piece of shattered stained glass, you advance on the leopard and bring the glass blade down slitting the cats jugular vein causing it to collapse, blood loss overtaking the predator ending its suffering.

Unleashing a primal cry, you head back inside and grab the diadem and head out into the rainforest, looking for civilisation. Three days later you emerge on a road and a farmer drives you to the nearest town. From there you get a train to Kinshasa, but by the time you arrive in the city, your legend has reached far and wide. A wealth of riches and fame awaits you, as do further adventures.

You clamber up the diamond chamber with some effort, the mortar fire causing the temple to shake as another round smashes into the building. Steadying yourself on the top of the ziggurat you look at the helicopter, take one deep breath and leap, your foot kicking the diamond out of its container sending it spiralling to the ground below.

You don’t see that loss, triumph fills your heart as you grab onto the rope ladder and scramble up to the helicopter, the member of the Congolese rescue team reaching down to help pull you into the aircraft. Safe and sound you look down to see gouts of steam erupt from the temple, and fountains of lava spraying up from the reflecting pool.

The hippopotamus god was considered a chthonic god by the people of ‘Z’ and now you can see why they thought that. As the helicopter climbs away and heads north, you feel disappointed, the find of the century, a diamond worth a fortune was lost. Then again you are alive, and your testimony is worth something, maybe even enough to fund another expedition to find more ruins of the lost civilization of ‘Z’.