Day 6
I woke up to Dingo on the radio, "Goood morning. It is now 6:30 on the island, and looks like today is going to be another beautiful day. The Maize has been cooking up something new, but they have not released what it is yet. Hopefully it is some kind of plant instead of a new monster.
Speaking of monsters, yesterday Dinocroc got out of his pen again. He ended up chasing one of the green horns, Mr. Anderson, all the way to Home Tree. I don't know about you, but I have to give him props on that one. Thankfully, Rich put big D down, before it could reach the fences. Go Rich! On a unrelated note, Rich is looking for some people to undergo some special training. If you are a security guy and want a promotion, go ask Rich for more details…" I turned off the radio.
That guy does get on my nerves after a little while, but I would rather have something wake me up in the morning. I was very surprised to see that Lisa had not come down yet. I went back up to check her room, and it was devoid of Lisa. Figuring Lisa had gone off earlier then normal, I started breakfast without her. Cold coffee sucks. Since I had to wait around till 9, I felt like I was skipping work.
I wonder how long it will take for Mrs. Sanchez to realize I won't be coming in today. I was more tentative rather then excited. Kind of like you are a few hours away from a big performance or something like that. I did grunge down a little big. I knew the jungle did not care if I wore a tie or not.
Getting kind of board I decided to head out early. There Barney was at the gate all ready. "I thought you said to meet here at 8," I said. "8, 9. What's the difference?" he said back. I just shook my head. "Anyways, I got our weapons of mass pissing off," Barney told me handing over a machine gun looking thing, "these things are just like the regular tranq pistols, but they shoot out a lot more shots. Just point and hold down the trigger, but don't over do it. The clips don't have all that much in them." He then showed me how to reload a clip to the tranq machine gun.
He started pushing me along the road, after he got me prepped on the guns. "The big question you probably have on your mind is what are we going to be hunting today?" Barney gave me a question. I had not actually thought about that in particular, but I pretended to just to humor him.
"We are going after little buggers called blood monkeys. There are five of them. Don't let the name fool you. They go down pretty easy, especially since they recently got out and they don't know the area. They are ridiculously smart, and they can be pretty nasty. The good news is all the creations here have been chipped, so we know where they are. Also they know better then to run through the enclosures, and they are trapped in an area of jungle," Barney ran through his own question without even conferring with me. We traveled through the jungle without using any paths. If Barney decided to leave me here for a minute I would be so lost. I think we went further into the jungle then I have ever gone before, which is not saying that much. It was scary I had no where to run. I could not even find the beach if I wanted to.
The machine gun made me feel a little more secure, but only a little. Suddenly Barney motioned for me to stop. "They should be very close to here. In this case shoot first and ask questions later," Barney whispered to me. He crept along with his eye on the gun site. I did the same even though I had no idea what I was doing.
Something rustled in the trees. I was so panicky I shot off a few rounds at whatever the source was. "Good you managed to down a little lizard," Barney said almost sarcastically. I had the strange feeling I was being watched. "What are we…" I was cut off my Barney. "SHH! They are around here. I can feel it," Barney commented. He whipped around and shot at the trees. The place rustled for a second and it was quite once again. "Dang nicked him. Well, that wont work again," Barney said.
"What exactly is your plan now?" I asked. "The biggest problem is that blood monkeys are some smart buggers, but they have massive instincts. We can't trap them, only bait them," Barney explained. "What is the bait, then?" I wished I had not asked. He gave me a funny look. "We are the bait aren't we," I figured it out and why he wanted to bring me long, another bag of meat.
He kept walking through the trees. I was more nervous then ever. Then one just jumped down from the trees only a few yards away. It looked like a chimp with a mouth that could befit a baboon, patches of brown fur like it had mange, and small red eyes. I immediately pointed my gun at it, but Barney stopped me.
"It's a trap. Notice the vines at our feet," Barney said. I looked down and saw loops of vines around the forest floor like a net. "We could jump away," I suggested. The monkey started throwing a fit. It was screeching like crazy and pounding the ground with its fists. "No, that is just what they want us to do. These guns are our only ace. My guess is they set another trap behind us. If we move to the sides our visibility is point blank, and if we move forward they could easily overcome us from behind. Shooting this wanker would be a out right mistake in the time it would take to shoot off another round they would spring the trap, and we would be in a pickle. That's the reason why we are not hanging in the trees right now," Barney explained.
I thought about this. These are smart monkeys they already thought this through, but one thing they forgot is to take into account for all possibilities. They just considered what we would do, not what we could do. "Hey, Barney I got it. Do something random," I suggested. Barney smiled. "The worst move just might be the best one, ready?" Barney agreed.
I yelled and charged at the monkey in front of us, swinging my gun like a bat. Barney grabbed the vine net on the floor and flicked it like a whip. The first money was so surprised at my actions the only thing it could think of doing was to climb up a tree. I shot at it a few times hitting it in the but. It quickly fell to the floor.
They monkeys sprung the trap, which thanks to Barney only partially worked. Barney caught his feet in the net and was hanging in the slightly slack net. Three more monkeys just like the first came down not from behind as Barney had predicted, but from the sides. Waving in the air, Barney took aim. He shot and downed one, but another started clawing at his back.
I charged again attempting to use my superior weight to my advantage like a football line backer. I tried to give the only monkey on the ground a shoulder blast, but missed. Luckily, I forced the monkey to go off kilter enough for Barney to kick it in the jaw. The blow was hard enough for it to go unconscious. I flung my gun at Barney, who managed to snatch it out of the air. He used what was left of both of the guns to reach behind him and pump the last monkey full of whatever are in those tranqs. The monkey went down easily.
"Nice one, unpredictable action. I like the sound of that, but I don't think it will work on them next time," Barney told me, and tossed my gun back to me. I caught it, after fumbling a bit. Barney reloaded and gave the monkey he kicked a few shots, better to be safe then sorry. "That makes, 1, 2, 3, 4. We are missing one more. Where are you?" Barney said, and took out a GPS device, "there you are."
He took out some nets, so that we could carry around the sleeping monkeys. He lead the trail once more, walking a good half mile before we finally found the final monkey. It was hidden in the undergrowth and flies swarmed all around it. It had been dead for sometime. The oddest thing was that its skin had been nearly disintegrated, and it was covered in a thick layer of clear slime. Barney simply frowned at the sight of an animal, who's brethren had just attacked us a bit earlier.
He waved his hat to shoo away the flies, and said, "we are gonna have to bring this one back as well." There was another reason why Barney brought me along, these monkeys are heavy. It turned out that Barney set up a rondevu with some of the staff from the monkey enclosure and would be meeting them on the docks of Crocodile River, which did not have any crocs in it.
The river is not very large a person could easily swim the distance. I would call it more of a stream then a river, but I'm not the person to make those decisions. I suppose they called it a river to make it sound grander then it really is. We made it to the docks. I was exhausted. I don't usually travel around the jungle with a hundred pounds on my back, but I could make that excuse back in my college days.
Barney on the other had was fine, even though he carried the most monkeys including the dead one and has a bleeding back, which I insisted on disinfecting with bottled water. I am going to carry around a first aid, after this. The place is just too weird. The docks are a deep drown wood and edge off the river. I could have been in better condition, but I have been on worse.
We walked to the furthest point on the docks. "Don't take a swim in these waters," Barney warned me. "Why?" I slowly said with a bit of concern. He put down his prize, and took off his shirt. He then dunked his bloody and sweaty shirt in the river and swirled it around. It only took a moment, but bunches of big black fish with teeth started gnawing at Barney's shirt, and he was forced to give it to them. "Big ol' piranhas. They just about infest the waterways around here. They are not some experiment. I know that. I have seen some of these buggers back in Africa, but I don't know how they got here," Barney explained. "Okay, don't go in the water or I will be fish food. Good advice," I added.
Our ride came soon it was a airboat, the ones with the fan in the back. It moved pretty fast, but slowed to a halt on the docks. There were two guys on it with extra casual cloths on. We handed over the netted monkeys to them. They gave us a stern frown, when they saw the dead monkey. "Sorry about that one. Found him like that, just be lucky you have one at all. I found him near the snake enclosure, and you can probably guess what got him," Barney told them.
"It's my fault they got out in the first place. They should not have been around there in the first place," one of the airboat men admitted. They made their short goodbyes and left. Barney lead us back to Home Tree. The little trip took most of the day out. The sun was low on the horizon, but won't set for another hour or so. Barney really wanted to treat me to supper, which really is not saying much cause the food is free anyway.
After he got back from snatching another shirt from his house. He got me a large burrito, which I had my doubts about. "It was nice to have you out today. Good to have somebody help with the heavy lifting," Barney said between bites of food. "I am not going to say I had fun, but it was not so bad either," I told him. "That's the spirit, but don't be getting a big head. Those blood monkeys aren't worth much, when it comes down to it," Barney said.
"Don't you have your usual people to go with?" I asked, mostly wondering why he asked me to come along. "Not for some time. Not since the incident," Barney said with a kind of far off look on his face. "Did somebody die!" I blurted out without thinking. "No, she just left," Barney said with lots of melancholy. I didn't push him any further, nor did I know what to say to break the mood.
We ate in silence, as silent as a cafeteria could be at least. I came back to my lucky number 13 home. Lisa was already there. "Did you have a good time out?" she asked me, just after I walked in. "It was fine. A few patches of gray, but nothing that we couldn't unhitch," I answered, while searching the fridge for something to wash the taste of that horrid burrito out of my mouth.
"You do know he only brought you along, so you could feel better. So do you?" Lisa told me. I thought about it for a bit, and I realized I had felt better. Somehow, downing a few of the animals around here, did make me feel better. I suppose I needed to prove to myself that I could handle them. "I think I do," I said, and got myself a glass of orange juice. Later, I took a stroll around the perimeter of Home Tree. This place isn't really so bad, once you get used to it.
Day 7
I hate it, when I wake up about 10 minutes before my alarm goes off. I just don't think it's fair. I turned my radio off and headed downstairs for the morning. As usual Lisa was already down there sipping on some coffee, but this time with a almost depressed look on her face. "What's wrong?" I asked a little concerned, and took a chair next to her. "I found out Buck isn't going to be the biggest reptile ever," she blurted out. I should have hit myself then and there. I thought there was a real problem with her, but now I am stuck with this.
"How do you know that?" I asked attempting to sound interested. "Well, we found this case from a few years back, when a group of park rangers fed some super-steroids to some everglade alligators and a few pythons. The gators grew to over a hundred feet long. Buck won't ever be able to get that big," Lisa cried. "At least he is the biggest caiman ever," I tried to make her feel better. "What kind of a prize is that?" she said still sad. There is no reasoning with this woman. I decided to make a quick exit and head to work early. I didn't even have breakfast. I went over to the gate and met a guard named Fred, who needed a buddy to get over to the Fern. With nothing to loose I accompanied him. We talked a little on the way. He turned out to be a nice guy. I said my good byes at the Fern's entrance.
I eventually found my boss, and she sure was pissed at me. I was off at such a good start. "How could you take off work at a moments notice. You could have at least given a week's notice," she protested. "It was a spawn of the moment sort of thing. I couldn't just reject Barney, and it's not like I was out on vacation," I argued attempting to keep my cool. "I don't care what you and that hill billy were doing. This is a lab, not some volunteer station. Because of your indiscretion, you are going to be the one to get the blood sample from Meg the snake enclosure. I want you there now!" she ordered me. "But.." I tried to say. "OUT!" She yelled at me, and I hurried off.
I was at the entrance once again. I had not a clue where the snake enclosure was, and I had no idea who Meg was. This is not going to be a good day. I found Fred at the entrance, and I figured I would ask him. "Do you have any idea where the snake enclosure is?" I asked him. "Yeah, sure. Do you have a map with you?" He responded. What luck I was in, maybe today was not going to be so bad after all. I took out the map I always had on me, so I didn't get lost along the paths. He showed me exactly where the place was. I marked it so I would not forget, which I would if I had not.
"Hey Michael. We need another escort over here," he called at one of his buddies. Another guard across the compound called back, "If it across the island again. Tell him to F### off. I did that yesterday." "No it's just upstream," Fred called back. "Give me a F###ing minute," Michael answered. Apparently, this guy has some mouth on him. The guy looked like any other standard guard. "The man here needs to get to the snake enclosure, and rules are rules," Fred delegated. "Yeah, yeah. F###ing rules. Fine, but you have ta do the next one," Michael agreed, and trudged off.
Michael only seemed interested in grumbling about everything. We got to the snake enclosure just fine, but I was outright sick of the guy. When we go to the entrance of a big building at the enclosure's center, Michael said, "I will wait here, but don't take all F###ing day." I went in without a second thought to the guy.
The place was like the Fern, but smaller and without a receptionist. I asked the first scientist I saw, "where is Meg around here." The man told me where it was and skittered off. I went to where the guy told me, and I found a viewing area with a three more people in it. "Where is Meg?" I blurted out as soon as I busted in. One guy who was lounging on a chair pointed to the window. I looked out, and I was in awe. Outside the window was a large white washed room and two circular glass cages. They have thick metal yellow tops connecting to the ceiling and the same for the bottom. Inside one of the tanks was the largest snake I have ever seen. It is a dirty yellow with brown spots all over it, and it must have been as thick as a tire.
"What the heck is that?" I asked the people. A rather plump woman with curly hair and big glasses explained, "Meg is short for Mega Python. The name was originally big P, but that just made everyone laugh." "That thing looks like it could eat you whole," I commented. "It can, indeed," the man in the chair added. "Mrs. Sanchez said she wanted a blood sample from that thing," I finally reported in to the right people. A tall, very thin black woman said, "Again, she should not need so much. The stuff goes pretty for since it's a reptile." I only shrugged. I was following orders from my boss nothing else.
"I will put it to sleep again, but I won't be the one getting the sample," the man said. He pushed a few buttons on a computer and handed me a huge syringe. A burst of gas flowed into the tanks, soon the giant snake was asleep. The guy accompanied me into the room. We went through a door on the side and down some stairs to another door, this one was of plated metal and opened automatically.
The room was nothing but tile. My shoes made a soft squeaking sound on the hard floor. The man quickly hurried over to the occupied tank. He waved over to the girls, who have him a thumbs up. A door so perfectly fitting into the tank it was invisible, until it opened. The guy stood adjacent to the door and motioned for me to go inside. I really did not want to be next to a giant snake, so I shook my head. That angered the man a little. He grabbed my arm and shoved me into the tank. The floor inside was of dirt and dried up leaves. I very carefully made my way around the coils of the sleeping giant.
This thing is almost too big to be real. I stuck the large needle into its side. When it twitched, I nearly jumping a foot into the air. I filled the tube up with blood and hurried out. The door immediately closed, after I leapt out. I feel to the floor in my attempt to get away from the snake, but I had in hand the reason for risking my life. The scientist helped me up, and we began to leave the giant, while it still slumbered. What concerned me the most was the empty tank.
"The only way to get near the big guy is to see him face to face. We have to put him to sleep for this much," the man commented. "Yeah, I can see why. I have seen some big snakes, but that one takes the cake, the truck the cake came in, and the truck driver," I added. "Megs are as big as they come. I am more surprised you aren't frozen like most first timers," the guy said. "I did have a run in with Dinocroc. Things went a little over my head, and he almost took that too," I explained.
"Mr. Anderson, right?" the guy asked. I nodded. "Heard about you over the radio. Don't try that with the Megs they are double trouble," the man told me. "What do you mean?" I asked, as we entered the viewing room. "Why don't you lovely ladies explain to me why we have only one Meg," the guy referring to the two female scientists, and he sat back down in his chair. The squat woman gave the guy a sharp look. I guess he does this a lot. At least he is not asleep on the job. Wait, I spoke too soon. He is now asleep on the job.
"From another lab in Florida grew some other truly giant Mega Pythons, using an experimental kind of steroid. The company procured some of their eggs, and from them grew two Mega Pythons. Although they did not have as large of a dose of the drug as their parents, they still grew to the size you see the one we have here. We however are still in the process of extracting the drug from the snakes. We put them under for the transferal, but one did not have a high enough dose and escaped. All thanks to Mr. lazy pants for not checking the sleeper toxin levels," the plump woman informed me. "I did check. They were fine," the man, who came out from his nap, argued. "Whatever, I am going to get this blood back to the Fern, and you guys can go find that big snake of yours," I said and left. Some people really cannot work together at all and I did not want to be around for that one. Honestly, there is a giant snake on the loose and all they can do is point fingers at whose fault it is.
I met up with Michael at the entrance. He was taking a smoke, while he was waiting for me and just now decided to snuff it out. Dang, he really smelled bad. He smelled worse then two week old omelet, which I will not say how I know what that smells like. "You know that stuff is outright bad for you," I told him. "Did I ask for you F###ing permission?" he barked at me. "Well at least I don't have to outrun any monsters we might happen to meet. I just have to outrun you," I added. I don't know how this guy passes his physicals. If my lung capacity was any worse then I would loose my head literally.
"Enough cracks. Lets get the F### out of here," Michael said. As soon as we started walking to the Fern, we heard a loud gun shot some distance away. "Who was that?" I asked not expecting an answer. "Probably a misfire. Wouldn't be the first time. F###ing idiots," Michael answered my more or less rhetorical question. I felt a little uneasy, as we continued through the forest. Sort of like that nagging thought in the back of my mind, but could not quite think of what it was. I finally figured it out. We are being watched. I looked around, but did not see nor hear anything.
"Do you think there is something out there?" I was too almost to frightened to a ask. "Are you F###ing stupid or something," Michael said, sounding a little more then irritated. I still had my wits about me, and spotted something just in time. It was two glassy orbs in the bushes, that reminded me of tennis balls.
I jumped and tackled Michael to the ground, right before a snake's head as thick as a tie struck at where Michael's torso was. I was petrified with fear, and Michael was face flat on the ground. The Mega Python reared its head at us, mouth wide open. I could see all the giant fish hook teeth. A single shot whizzed right over the snake's head and struck a nearby tree. It was accompanied by barney yelling, "get over here ya wanker!" The snake fled in a flash. Even something that large was afraid of Barney.
I rolled over to hide in the bushes, while I could, and Michael got to his feet and pointed his gun in the direction the snake slithered off to. Barney almost ran into us, while running after the snake. He was a little out of breath, but looked like he could go for a few more miles.
"Dang, snake is too fast. Easy enough to track and get up from under there. You look like a mole rat," He said mostly to me. I crawled up from my hiding place and brushed most of the dirt off of me. "You came just in time. We were just about to be on the menu," I told Barney, as he reloaded. "You didn't hear him at all did you?" he sort of asked us. "No. I didn't even know it was there, till the last second," I answered. "Snakes are real quiet like that, best get out of here. I may just track this bloke till dawn," Barney suggested. "Come on let's get out of here before anything else happens," Michael said. We walked away, and Barney continued his chase for the escaped Mega Python. We managed to get back to the Fern without incident, except when Michael had to go into the bushes to take a leak. Once inside the Fern's gates Michael happily left me on my own. My boss was still peeved at me, when I got back. I gave her the blood sample, which she whisked away. She gave me another dumb ask to do. Even though she was being really unfair to me, I could not be mad at her.
My shift ended, and went home with a group of people. I felt like snoozing on my beanbag chair, when I got home, which I did. I was watching something. I don't remember, and chowed down on some ramen and soda. I love ramen, but not spicy ramen. Lisa came home plopped down on the couch and completely ignored me. I didn't mind I was just tired. I ended up sleeping in that beanbag chair.
Day 8
I woke up with a jolt, when Lisa splashed me with a lot of water. "Wakey, wakey. Sleeping beauty," she said. I was so tired if I was not soaked I would have gone strait back to sleep. I rubbed my eyes awake and stood up. The first thing I noticed was that I was standing on an empty can. The next thing was that I had no pants on. "I thought I went to sleep with my pants," I said to Lisa. "You did. I took them off. They smelled like old soda," she explained.
I looked around there must have been some ten empty cans of soda littering the floor. I picked them up and tossed them into the recycling. What was I doing last night? I don't remember. Then I remembered that I was in front of my roommate in my underwear. I rushed up stairs and took a cold shower, mostly because all the hot water was already used up, but I think I needed it. I put on a pair of clean pants, and greeted Lisa like nothing had happened. She in return burst out laughing. She is a real confidence booster.
"Real nice and I suppose your night was any better," I said in my own defense. "Yeah, I wasn't zoinked out enough to have cans thrown at me," Lisa told me and held back some more laughter. I ate my breakfast and walked out into the morning air. Everything was damp from the recent rain. How dose anybody expect me to keep my shoes clean around here.
There was a truck at the gate. Its engine had broken down, and one of the guys was fixing it, so it would not be a problem later. Luckily enough it decided to break down on the inside of the parameter. I saw John the guard standing watch for anything not invited. "Say, John what caused the truck back-up?" I asked him. "Some wise achier thought he would race the thing backwards. He almost ran right through the fence," John informed me.
"Great, I hope Rich gave him some talking," I thought out loud. "Nope, he couldn't. Rich took a boat ride just yesterday, and he won't be back till much later tonight," John told me. "When is the next troop gonna get away from here?" I asked. "No can do. Didn't you hear the news?" John said. I shook my head. "Well, there was another breakout in the snake enclosure. There are now two Mega Pythons roaming loose, and that is enough for all the gates to be closed down. Barney already has more then he can handle right now. A squad is out there right now. Don't worry. The fences are all secure. There is no way they are going to get past our defenses," John explained.
More rejected then anything else, I wondered away. Two Megs, I thought one was really bad. The gruesome twosome are out there somewhere. Just the thought makes my skin crawl. I headed right back home and found Lisa lounging on the couch. I took off my shoes and went right over to her. "Why didn't you tell me there was a lock down in place?" I questioned her. "I didn't think it was necessary. Snakes are severely misunderstood creatures," she responded. "Right like the one I met yesterday just wanted to greet me with its mouth," I added. Lisa got kind of mad at that remark. "Why are you so bent on snakes? What did they ever do to you?" Lisa asked me. There was no getting through to her on that one. I decided to outright drop it. I departed with one last thing to say, "Those snakes of yours. They are killing people." I have no clue what is with these people. I hardly think these monsters should exist in the first place, beneficial to medical science or not. On the other hand what are they going to do with them just put them down like some rabid dog. I hardly think that is fare.
I headed for the rec room. As it turned out a lot of other people decided to have the exact same idea. I grabbed some soda and lazed around on a chair, watching some of the guys play pool. Sometimes I think they are playing by their own rules. The field was much too muddy to play anything in, but that did not stop four crazy guys.
"Terrible day for this sort of thing, right buddy," a very short man who happened to be sitting next to me said. "Could be worse. It could be raining," I said. "But it will later today. We get a lot of weather around here whether you like it or not," the little guy continued. He sounded strangely familiar. "If anything I need a vacation from this vacation," I said.
"Good one. I haven't seen you here before. You are one of the green horns, right. Good to meet you anyways. The name is Andrew," Andrew introduced himself and gave me a good handshake. "People call me David," I also introduced myself, trying to keep a little distant from the little Andrew. "The same David with Barney?" Andrew asked, growing a little excited. "I guess," I answered a little confused. "You have quite the reputation around here, but not much of much. You wouldn't happen to know anything of interest around here?" the little guy prodded me. Now, I know where I have heard him before. He is the voice on the radio. The Dingo guy. I thought I would have a little bit of fun with him.
"Sure. I heard the snakes have already swallowed two dozen people already," I mildly told him. He just glared at me. "Sure and they probably ate some gun powder and are shooting people. I can spot a farce, when I hear one. Do you know what else is a farce. The lock down thing. They just said it was the Mega Pythons for a cover up. Even I don't know what's going on," Andrew explained to me. "Who said that?" I pried, trying to get this guy to go away. "I don't know. I know everybody on the island. Either nobody is talking or nobody knows. I can't do anything if I can't confirm it," Andrew said.
Then I walked away. I have had enough about conspiracy theories. Why can't I just drink my soda in peace? I was drinking my beverage and doing my best impression of a wall flower, then a girl came up to me. What is with people today? She had brown hair up in a bun, big round glasses, and denim all over. "I seem to have a problem, and I heard you were the sort of person to help," she said, she was nice enough. I tried not to be a jerk, even though I was very much tempted.
"I have a feeling I can't help, but I will listen anyways," I responded. She leaned on the wall and said, "I am one of the electricians around here. Yeah, I know a female electrician. I have heard it all. Anyway I couldn't finish up my work, and there is a small chance there might be a problem with one of the transponders. I would have done it today, but the whole place is locked down. I just don't want to be responsible for a sector to loose power." "I don't see how I can help," I sated with more interest in my can then her.
"You can help me get out of Home Tree. I can't do squat as is. Rich is gone, Barney left to get the beasts, and all the guards are supposably needed for their posts, but I heard you could do something," she explained. "I don't know what I could do for you," I told her, and it was the truth. I am not some sort of armed guard. The only person I know around here like that is Barney. She gave me a puppy dog eyes, and asked me, "could you please check for me." I caved in, "fine, but you are buying me the next round if I can't do anything, and I am going to get my cohort." By cohort I meant Lisa.
She had been prissy about how good snakes since forever and I wanted her to put her money where her mouth is. I lead the electric girl to my home and found Lisa still on the couch all in a huff. "I have a good idea," I started my proposition. "What is it now?" she asked. "I say twenty bucks that we could get through the jungle with some problems, considering the Mega Pythons on the loose," I said waving a 20 bill in front of her face, "that and what are you watching? This is just commercials. Come on, you are getting up, and this girl really needs us." She came with us, but she did not say a single word. I think she was still mad, but I really could not tell.
We got to the gate, and John was guarding it for the afternoon. "Hey, John. We need to get a pass for here," I told him. John did not budge. "Come on John. Preeeaty please. Come on I reeeeally neeeed this," the electric girl begged him, but he would not move. Lisa told him in a very demeaning voice, "listen John. Either we pass through here or you will get a kick in the nuts. Don't think I won't do it." Yup, she is still mad. John jumped away at what Lisa said, and he used his gun to protect his crotch.
"Thanks Johnny," the electric girl sweetly thanked John. "I never bothered to ask, but what is your name?" I asked the girl. "I though I told you already. It is Emma," Emma told me. "And why are we out here in the first place Emma?" Lisa asked. "Well, the is a electrical problem I need to fix, and I could not fix it before, cause my boss is a ball buster," Emma explained.
Andrew was right about one thing it did rain, and none of us came out with a umbrella. It was not that bad. It was only light wispy rain, but it was very annoying. I kept my gun at ready the whole time. I was not going to get surprised by a giant snake again. We made it half way through the jungle to a weird outcrop of metal. Emma opened it up and immediately began working and for some reason she was using a blow torch. I'm not an electrician, but I didn't think they used blow torches.
I was soaked from the rain constantly pelting me. The cloudy had made it so I could hardly see anything in the brush. I was ever so thankful when the rain had finally stopped, and a few beams of sunshine came through. The problem is that I had that strange feeling again. I looked back at Emma happily working away, and Lisa using a nearby tree to lean on. I was relieved, when Emma said she was done and the systems are fine now. The feeling would not go away. "Lisa get over here," I quietly suggest to her. "Well, I don't want to," she flat out said and walked off into the jungle. Emma gave me a concerned look. I could only shrug. I heard a scream come from where Lisa trudged off to.
I saw Lisa in the coils of a massive python. Lisa's gun was thrown somewhere. I shot off a few rounds at the snake, but they did not pierce the hide deep enough to have an effect. The snake tightened its grip on Lisa. Caught in the moment I leapt onto the snake and continued firing tranq darts at its head. The snake reveled its many pointed teeth. With the shots being completely ineffective I tried to mash the snake's head with the gun instead. It easily wavered away from my blows and squeezed Lisa tighter. She was no longer screaming just holding onto what little breath she had left.
The snake struck at me like lighting. Its huge mouth wrapped around my shoulder and the teeth dug into my flesh. I had to do something quick or we would both be dead. I did the only thing I could think of. I matted by hand into a fist and punched one of its large green eyes. The surprise was enough to let the snake go of me. The snake almost immediately struck again, but I was ready for him this time.
I don't know if it was smarts or foolishness, but I raised my gun at it once again. The impact was enough to send me flying off the giant, and the python gripped onto my arm with its fangs. The pain was almost unbearable, but I did not let my gun go. My hand was stuck halfway down its throat. It gashed at my arm in an attempt to swallow me whole. Hanging mostly in the air I fired off a few rounds into the snakes stomach. Its jaw softened and fell to the ground along with me. Lisa was unconscious, but still alive.
I tried to remove my arm from the snake's mouth, but the fish hook teeth would not allow me to budge an inch and only dug further into my skin. The next sound scared me the most. The hiss of the second Mega Python from above me. I was more helpless then a baby. The snake leaned in mouth open wide, and then I could hear the rattle of a machine gun and tons of darts stuck into the second snakes side. It slumped to the flood with a resounding thud. I was luck enough that it did not land on me.
Emma came over to check on me machine gun in tow. She must have run back to get it, while I was fending off the first snake. I was glade enough to be alive. She pried the snake's jaw open and released my hand. We then pulled Lisa out of the clutches of the snake. Barney and his team was upon us in a short while. Barney took a glance at the two snakes and then at me. He came over to me, looked me in the eye, and said, "you have just gone past your limit. Next time you do this, you may just end up dead. Remember that."
Barney's squad split up into two teams. Most of them were instructed to bring the snakes back to the snake enclosure, before they wake up. They others were to help me and the girls back to Home Tree. Barney came along with us. Barney wrapped my arm up in some leaves to prevent it from bleeding anymore. Two other guys had to gently carry Lisa back, and Emma let me use her as a crutch. It was a nice gesture, but unnecessary. We were taken to the small hospital and the doctor.
First checked on the most wounded, me. I felt like such and idiot. The nurse gauzed my arm and shoulder, while the doctor checked on passed out Lisa. She turned out to be fine, except for a few burses. I guess a snake's bite is worse then its bark, but most don't come away from the bark part. The doctor had to check on Emma, but it was totally unnecessary. I had could go home, and Lisa was able to as soon as she woke up. I felt a little bit worried about Lisa that night at home. I still slept fine. She is a tuff girl.
If you like or hate the writing write a review. Do you really want to know what happens next? Guess you will just have to wait for the next chapter. I will give you a hint. It has something to do with the beach.