Survival Tips #2
OK – I’m back. Hope you enjoyed hearing from Eva and Will. I don’t have much time so I’ll get right to it.
There is increased monsters activity so it’s really important that you take extra care from here on out. Here are some key survival tips.
1) Create a protective perimeter. This is the first law of defense. You might be thinking of a fortress or a safe room, and these are obviously great to have, but it’s not feasible to lock yourself up for the next year until the Creach War is settled one way or the other. I’m talking about creating a defensive perimeter when you are out walking around. There shouldn’t be anything that gets within thirty feet of you that you aren’t scrutinizing for strange behavior. This includes teachers, family members, house pets, anything living. If you spot something odd, this gives you time to get ready. In order to survive the initial attack you should…
2) Learn hand-to-hand defense. You can’t very well walk around with a broadsword attached to your hip, now can you? You’d wind up in jail and then the Creach who have infiltrated the police would have you at their mercy. If you don’t have any experience, try signing up for a martial arts class in your area. Karate, boxing, wrestling, kickboxing, anything that’s going to get you in shape and teach you basic moves. The goal isn’t to win the fight at this point. The goal is to…
3) Escape. If a Creach attacks you, it means they have sized up the situation and figured out they have an advantage. And they probably do since they have the chosen the place of the fight and have the element of surprise. Your job is to get the heck out of there in one piece and live to fight another day, preferably when you chose the circumstances. To do that, you must…
4) Understand your enemy. Every Creach has a weakness. Even when you’re battling a twelve-foot tall mole monster with tusks like an elephant and claws the size of your arm, knowing they are basically blind but with an amazing sense of smell will give you the advantage you need. (Take off your clothes and leave them behind. The mole creature will be confused by the smell on the clothes and attack them, giving you time to get away.) How do you get to know all this? I have descriptions of the major Creach and their weaknesses on this website. But sometimes you just have to try to figure it out in the middle of the fight. Whatever you do…
5) Don’t ask for help from non-hunters. There are a couple of problems with this. First, often the people you ask for help from will not believe you. You might find yourself talking to doctors trying to find out what’s wrong with you. Second, the people you ask for help might be Creach monsters themselves. Don’t forget that they are literally everywhere. Not only lurking in the shadows, but they can be police officers, firemen, teachers…even your parents! Sorry, you have to figure how to survive on your own. The one exception is that you should always…
6) Band together with other hunters. There is safety in numbers. No way I would have survived my first night as a monster hunter without the help of T-Rex, Will, Eva and Hester. Find people who have either read my book or who have become hunters some other way. One simple way is to write “Do you duty,” in places where people might see it. If they finish the sentence with, “Come what may,” then you might have a good contact. Like everything else in this war though, approach everything cautiously. The Creach have been known to impersonate hunters to lure newbies in. Watch yourself.
I hope that helps. Even at the monster hunter academy, the first lesson we learn is that there’s no foolproof way to defeat all monsters. The life expectancy of a hunter is short. It’s rare to meet a hunter older than thirty. All you can do is try your best, be cautious, and fight the good fight.
Do your duty, come what may.
Jack
