As the shrieking from his chest grew increasingly piercing, a bang sounded behind Nick at the instant it finally stopped, and his parachute opened.
A tremendous force yanked at his back, and Nick's eyes snapped open. Before he could react, however, an even more dangerous sight confronted him.
The dense rainforest rushed toward him like a mass of sharp skewers. Nick kicked his legs desperately and hauled on the parachute lines, trying to control his angle of descent.
At this point, any tree branch inconsiderate enough to grow across his path would turn him into a living human kebab-the kind skewered straight through the ass.
Fortunately, Lady Luck finally lifted a corner of her skirt for him this time. His landing was ugly, but the thick layer of foul-smelling humus in the rainforest saved his sorry life.
Nick slammed almost flat onto his back. The tremendous impact nearly knocked him unconscious, and only after a long while did he let out a seemingly dying groan.
He tried wiggling his toes first. His legs seemed fine. Then he moved his fingers, but the feeling in his left arm was not promising. He could not put any strength into it at all.
He rolled over with difficulty and felt around his left shoulder for a moment, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. Thankfully, it was only a dislocation, not a potentially fatal fracture.
Adjusting his position again, he gave a sudden heave. A sharp crack sounded, stars burst before his eyes, and it took him a good while to recover.
Working his newly reset arm, Nick sat up, and the mission issued by the Movie Ticket appeared before his eyes.
"Mission objective: survive and leave the alien arena. Companions: 2/2."
"Where the hell have I ended up? An alien arena?