Temple Run Book One Run for Your Life: Jungle Trek Read online

  You are dropped off at your birthday party. You see your best friends swarming toward the helicopter, waving and shouting. It’s a great sight. Soon, the jungle is all but forgotten as you enjoy the company of your friends, the amazing food, the swimming, and the sunshine.

  You never hear of the idol again. You can only hope its strange magic won’t cause any problems in the outside world … You can’t help but think that maybe you should have kept hold of it. Where did Karma go? And whatever happened to Guy?

  RUN AGAIN?

  OR JUST GO BACK?

  You work your way slowly around the outside of the base camp, trying to be as stealthy as you can. Next moment, klaxons blare and searchlights blaze all around you. The corporate army is back from the temple early! You and Karma freeze as people come running from all sides. Suddenly, it seems this is the most populated part of the jungle.

  “Stay where you are!” yells Scarlett Fox, running in from one direction. A group of corporate roughnecks in combat uniforms come with her. They all look ready to rumble. This isn’t good.

  Then Guy Dangerous comes running from the opposite side, with a torn rag tied around his head and a machete in his hand. “Back off, Scarlett!” he shouts. “Leave the kid alone. If you want your precious idol, you’re going to have to bargain for it.”

  “What if I just take it by force?” says Scarlett, cocking her head.

  “Then you’ve got to go through me,” Guy says, coming to join you.

  “And me,” says Karma. She leaps into a fighting stance. Suddenly, the guards don’t look as ready to rumble as they did a second ago.

  Scarlett sighs heavily and face-palms. “Why does everything have to be so complicated …”

  A roar from the trees nearby tells you that things are about to get a lot more complicated.

  All around, skull-headed demon monkeys begin to drop out of the tree branches. First one, then two, then ten, then hundreds. They creep closer and closer, surrounding you, Guy, Karma, Scarlett, and the corporate guards.

  A row of dark-eyed skull faces stares at you. You’ll see it in your nightmares for a long time to come—if you ever make it out of here alive. Which doesn’t look very likely.

  “This changes things,” says Karma.

  “Yup,” says Guy. “Out of the frying pan …”

  “I guess we’re all on the same side now?” you tell Scarlett.

  Scarlett holds her empty hands up and shouts to the demon monkeys: “I haven’t got your idol, understand? I didn’t steal it! It’s not me you want, it’s them!”

  The demon monkeys don’t seem to care. They just keep advancing. You’re almost completely hemmed in now. Everywhere you look, you see a tide of the hideous things. There’s only one gap in the circle, and it’s closing fast.

  “The idol is the key,” Karma says to you urgently. “You must decide what to do!”

  Do you throw the idol to the demon monkeys? Turn to this page.

  Do you give it to Scarlett? Turn to this page.

  Or do you keep the idol and run for your life through the gap? Turn to this page.

  You count one, two, three … and then you run, shoving Scarlett aside like an American football player.

  Her disbelieving cry rings out. “You are KIDDING me!”

  You run through the camp. Guards look at you, bewildered, as you run past. Scarlett chases after you, yelling at the top of her voice. “You idiot! Where do you think you’re going to go?”

  You don’t bother to answer her. You just keep running, away from the spotlights, back into the confusing darkness of the jungle. Behind you, you hear Scarlett yelling at her goons to get after you, stop you, get that blasted idol back!

  “Come on, Karma!” you gasp, still running hard. “I need you!”

  The sun’s starting to come up. You’ve slept a little and the food you’ve had has given you energy. Up ahead, on a ridge, is a standing figure. Karma? No—it’s Guy! Nothing for it but to trust him.

  “This way!” he shouts. “Down to the river!”

  With the idol safe under your arm, you follow. The guards are chasing you now. You hear one of them gasp as he runs into a low-hanging branch. Trees hurt! Another guard, faster than the others, is gaining on you. You could go faster if you drop the idol … but you just can’t bring yourself to do it.

  Then there’s a familiar shout, a sharp crack, and the guard goes tumbling to the ground, unconscious. Karma Lee runs up alongside you. “Better late than never!” she puffs.

  Guy leads you both down to the river, where he’s hidden a stolen motor dinghy. The engine starts on the first try. Together, you all make it out of the jungle, leaving Scarlett empty-handed and furious on the riverbank.

  You did it! But how did Scarlett’s story end, you wonder? You’ll have to run again if you want to find out.

  RUN AGAIN?

  OR JUST GO BACK?

  “OK. Let’s hope this works.”

  You swing your arms back, then fling the idol as hard as you can. The demon monkeys swarm around it and hoist it on to their furry little shoulders like football players celebrating a touchdown. They make an excited squeaking, hissing noise.

  “Run!” Guy yells. “They’re distracted!”

  You make a break for it. Scarlett, Guy, and Karma lead the way, followed by you, with the corporate goons bringing up the rear. Some of them trip and fall, and some tumble into pits, but you don’t have time to see if they make it. You have to get out of this jungle alive.

  Eventually, you reach a clearing where a black helicopter is parked. Scarlett fires it up, grumbling under her breath about that “stupid idol” and how her boss is going to kill her for coming back empty-handed.

  “Not so fast,” Guy tells her. “Your meeting with your boss can wait. You have a party to take us to first, remember?”

  Scarlett stares. “You can’t be serious. That was just part of the cover story!”

  “Fine. Move over and let me drive.”

  And drive he does. Well, fly. Guy insists on flying you all the way to Palomar Beach, so you’ll arrive in plenty of time for your party.

  Thinking it over, you’ve done pretty well. You may be leaving the jungle without the idol, but your party has an extra guest in the form of Karma Lee. She gets involved with everything, from smashing the piñata to pieces with a single kick to taking you on an awesome treasure hunt—and luckily, this one has no demon monkeys.

  RUN AGAIN?

  OR JUST GO BACK?

  With the idol under your arm, you run. And you never, ever stop.

  You run through the jungle, weaving in and out of the trees. You reach a stone path, jump up on to it, and run along that. When the path branches, you choose a direction and swerve off, running down a new path.

  You leap over traps, duck out of the way of whizzing blades, and skid under stone barriers. Sometimes you swing over broken sections, sometimes you jump. Soon, you forget how long it’s been since you ate or drank.

  The sun sets. You keep running. The sun rises. You keep running. The next day, the same thing happens. Where is this energy coming from? Perhaps the idol’s magic is keeping you going. You know one thing for sure—if you stop, or slow down, then it will get you. You’re not sure if it’s one big demon monkey or lots of little ones, but it picked up your trail a long time ago, and it will not stop chasing you.

  You have no way to keep track of time. Eventually, it all merges into one. You have the idol, and you run. That’s all that matters.

  Sometimes, on the long, lonely stretches of stone path, you think you remember someone you used to be. Something about a party? People called Guy and Scarlett? A plane crash … then, just as quickly, you forget again.

  Turn to this page.

 

 

 
nter>