ULAM. -- The Escaped Version

ULAM PROJECT
You are to reach POS BROOKE by 8 am Tuesday morning. A guide will be waiting for
you at the location (see map) and from there, you will start a 3 hour jungle trekking.The path you will take will lead you to your final destination which is THE SITE where you will find your next instruction. With this instruction, each of you will receive a sealed envelope. You are NOT ALLOWED to open this envelope until you reach your final destination.

For the 100th time, Rizal read and reread the piece of paper that was in his hand.The document bag given to him and Man contained this piece of paper, 4 sealed envelopes with their names written on it and a handphone which Prof Z told them to keep in case they are to be contacted.This is bullshit, thought Rizal.This was THE explanation Prof Z could give them?This was nothing.Just a piece of paper that gives them NOTHING.

"Rizal, are you ok?You seem reallly quite today," Ayin asked Rizal who was in the front seat with Man driving his dad's Land Cruiser heading to Pos Brooke.

They've been on the road for 8 hours and estimated another 2 hours to go before they reach Pos Brooke.Each of them had took turns driving.Zack was snoring at the back while Ayin was struggling to sleep but the off road they took was so bumpy she felt it was more than impossible to even take a nap.But for Zack, throw him in the swimming pool,he'd still be asleep.

"I'm going to kill Papa if I see him!!" Ayin said trying to keep herself steady. "First is this dumb project, then the Pos Brooke, then this and later..the jungle trekking!!!!!!" Ayin complained.

"Yeah, I guess it's Prof's way of torturing his only daughter," Rizal replied smiling.He tried his best to act normal but sometimes he did not realize that his mind kept wandering off by its own that he was taken off guard by Ayin or Zack.

"It'll be only a couple of hours and we'll be there," Man tried reassuring Ayin although deep inside he had the urge to turn the 4 wheeler back to where they came from.

"Yeah,yeah.Whatever,"Ayin put on a smug.

"Are we there yet?"Zack woke up and looked outside the window seeing nothing but darkness and trees.

"No Zack.Go back to sleep,"Rizal responded. He himself had not slept a wink during the whole trip.He can't get his head off the whole thing that had happened to him and Man.

"You know what guys.I'm starting to feel that there's something going on. I mean, first is this dumb project.Then the location Papa assigned us.That doesn't include Seth and Nadia missing.Have you guys tried calling them.All I got was their voice messages.It's as if they've dissapeared from this earth.Oh yeah, and Papa, he's been really wierd today since you guys met him.It's just so not like him.Plus of course the sudden accident Man had with his head.Don't you guys feel anything.Like something is happening?A bad feeling maybe" Ayin asked directing her thoughts to no one in particular but at the same time hoping any of her friends would respond.

"Oh yeah, you and your feelings Ayin.They were never right before and why should they be right now?"Zack replied drowsily.

Man and Rizal shifted a little from their seat feeling uncomfortable.

"I'm sure it's nothinglah Ayin.Stop worrying boleh tak?"Man said from the driver's seat.

"Takde la.Takkan you guys tak rasa ape.Guys..memang tak boleh harap.You just don't have the instincts we women posses,"Ayin crossed her arms sulking.

"Hehe,"Zack chuckled.He was now wide awake."Oh, now you're saying you're a woman??Woman instinctlah..selama ni perasan macam jantan.Hey Ayin, woman dress up like a woman, behave like a woman.But you, I thought you're one of the guys!Mane datang all this woman instinct crap?Hehe."

"Shut up!!!" Ayin turned away from Zack and pretending to sleep although she knew she wouldn't be able to as long as they're still on the bumpy road.Meanwhile, Zack continued laughing which was then followed by Man and Rizal and they started to tease Ayin knowing she'll be listening to their conversation anyway.

************************************
"At last!"Zack opened his door and started stretching once he stepped out from the 4 wheeler.Man, Rizal and Ayin started towards the back of the Land Cruiser to retreive their duffle bags.

Suddenly out of no where a man appeared in front of them.Ayin gave a startled scream and all four stared at the stranger. The stranger was wearing a pair of loose shorts and a t-shirt which seemed more like a piece of rag and no shoes or slippers covering his feet. Not feeling intimidated by the arrival of the four youngsters, the stranger introduced himself to them,"Saya Sipuok.Bawak kamu ke tempat.Ikut sekarang," and turned towards the jungle.

Still startled, Ayin gave her friends the who-the hell-is-this-guy look.

"I bet he's the guide Prof Z wrote in his instruction.He doesn't seem to bother to wait for us.Tired or not, I guess we just have to follow him," Man gestured his friends to the guy who called himself Sipuok.

All four started to follow Sipuok and in a few minutes they realised they were already deep in the jungle. Sipuok hadn't talk much.All they knew was that he couldn't speak melayu well and they assumed he was part of the Orang Asli in the area.He didn't make things anything easier for them either.By the second hour, all four of them where exhausted. They tried to slow down but Sipuok insisted them to continue the trekking.Only after the fifth time they asked Sipuok to stop for a breather did Sipuok stopped.They rested for 10 minutes and Sipuok eagerly told them to follow him or he'll leave them in the jungle by themselves. Seeing they had no option at all, they followed.

By noon, after approximately 3 hours of walking into the deep jungle, Sipuok slowed down his pace and abruptly stopped.

"Ada apa-apa ke kat depan tu Sipuok?Kena berenti tiba-tiba?"Zack asked.

"Saya hantar sini saja.Kamu sendiri jalan.Depan sana lagi 20 minit.Terus.Jangan bengkok-bengkok.Terus dan sampai,"Sipuok said and started turning towards the path they went through earlier.

Dumbfounded by Sipuok's action, Man grabbed Sipuok by the arm,"Jangan main-main.Takkan nak tinggalkan kami kat sini.Ikut jelah sampai tempat tu."

Sipuok's expression suddenly change and what they saw was fear.Nothing else but fear."Tak.Tak ikut.Sendiri pergi.Tempat nenek moyang.Dewa dewi marah.Sipuok bahaya.Kamu tak bahaya.Sendiri pergi.Bila balik Sipuok sini tunggu," with those final words he yanked his arm from Man and quickly ran towards the oppposite way.

"What the....," Rizal couldn't find any other words to express his disbelief.

All four of them sat on the jungle floor and nothing were said.Only silence.Not knowing where they were and why Sipuok acted that way, they tried to digest the whole situation.

"Hey guys,"Zack broke the silence."I guess we'd better continue wherever this path is leading us.We're only 20 minutes away and if we want to turn back, there's no way for us to get out of the jungle alone.Maybe Prof's waiting for us at the site, huh?"

Not really reassured by Zack's word Rizal stood up anyway and spoke to the group,"I guess Zack's right.We have not other choice anyway."

Ayin felt like crying for she felt like she was too exhausted to continue their journey and frustrated since she had no idea where they were.

"Ayin, you ok?Hey, kalau penat, cakap.We're all here.We'll help you.Just don't give up ok.20 minutes to go and you'll see that your dad's waiting for you somewhere at the site,"Man tried to comfort Ayin.

Ayin held her tears., not wanting to break down in front of her friends, she forced herself to stand up and gave a weak smile to Man,"Thanks Man.Thanks you guys.Anybody care to carry me to the site?"

All three of them grunted and started walking towards the direction Sipuok showed them earlier ignoring Ayin. "Hey, it's a joke you guys!!!Don't leave me alone!!"

*********************************************

"Oh my God!!!"

All four of them stood at their track. Disbelief and astounded with what they were seeing.

"This must be a joke!"

"Are we in a movie set or something"

"This is so wierd..too wierd"

"Are we still in Malaysia..or are we dead?"

What stood in front of them was the most amazing sight anybody could have set their eyes upon.

As far as the eyes could see, there were structures.Man made structures with distance of few hundred metres between each other stood upright.Looked something between Egyptian Pyramids and Mayan Temples, instead of located in the middle of a desert or on top of a mountain or hill, this was in the middle of jungle. This was obviously a historical site.But no written history had mentioned about this place.So out of place.Here, the trees acted like canopies, covering most of the site.Covering the site from any airplanes that crosses its path, casting shadows on the jungle floor.Where did this place come from?Did Prof Z found it?

"Hey you guys," Rizal's eyes still glued on the amazing site"This kinda look like the Mayan Temples right?And why is it in the middle of nowhere?And these structures could easily be older than our own history right?Am I actually seeing what I'm seeing or this is all a dream?Tell me I'm dreaming," Rizal still could not believe what he was seeing.

"I don't think its a dream.Not anymore,"Man replied.

Zack turned to Man,"What do you mean not anymore.You dreamt about this place before ke Man?"

"Huh...mm..well, I thought it looked familiar.I've been having these weird dreams for a couple of days now.I mean, it's as if I've been here before.I've seen this site before," Man said to Zack.

Zack gave Man a strange look,"Seriously Man.You're not kidding right?"

"Why should I Zack?You look like you've seen a ghost!You alright,"Man raised his concern.Man now turned to face Ayin and Rizal.Not only Zack but both of them were giving him the same look."Hey you guys?Is there something we all should know?"

"Man, I've beeen having the same dreams too.This place.It's like deja vu,"Zack explained slowly trying hard not to choke his own words.

"Oh my.....Man, Zack.This is really weird.Include me in.I've dreamt about this place too,"Rizal cut in, feeling more dumbfounded than ever.

"I did say before about my feelings right.Like there's something really wrong with this whole thing.You guys can count me in.Now there's four of us who had the same dream and now we're all here.What the hell is going on??!!"Ayin asked, suddenly feeling terrified.

Not just Ayin but Man, Rizal and Zack are asking the same question, what the hell is going on?????