A/N:

Thanks for the reviews.

Chapter 6

Crushing

Everyone was rested but not 100% because of the lack of sleep as they all looked up the steep incline and were going to have to climb in order to get out of the gorge they were in. They did not have enough material to make a raft and after what occurred with Piper, none of them wanted to go near the river. Piper skinned the caiman and made sure to get off all the meat she could. She placed it over the fire while they gathered some water to turn it into some kind of jerky, but without the proper spices that was a difficult task. She had a huge hole on the back of her pants where it grabbed her and pulled her in, so Paige grabbed leafs and used some vine she found to seal it. They also used vine around their ankles to make sure nothing could crawl up because of the bullet ant incident. Prue's leg was extremely sore and knew the climb was going to be excruciating as she made a walking stick to help. They made some kind of walking stick to help them dig in to the mud as Piper remembered when she had to climb out of the gorge and it helped greatly. Paige put the backpack on and put some of the overcooked meat in a leaf to keep it as fresh as possible as they were going to need it.

"Ok guys lest get going," Prue said and took her first step up the slope and cringed as a sharp pain went through her leg.

"Prue we can carry you up," Phoebe said as she noticed.

"No its ok, I just need to work it out," Prue replied and they started the climb. They would use the short sticks and thrust them into the ground to give them leverage as they did so.

"I really hate this gorge," Piper said as this was the second time climbing out of it.

"You know this is burning a lot of calories which normally I would be happy about," Phoebe said as she checked her footing before continuing.

It took almost 2 hours to get to the top and was now back where they started at the camp.

"Why do I feel like we are going in circles?" Paige asks as a line of caterpillars was crossing right in front of her. "Why do they do that?"

"Wind resistance," Piper replied.

"Yeah because their are moving at such a fast speed," Phoebe said and laughed.

"Talk about tailgating," Prue said as they just kept coming and they just watched them cross and could not help but be a little amazed at how organized they were.

"They are brightly colored, so my guess is that they are poisonous," Phoebe said noticing the bright yellow spikes coming off the back.

"We have another climb to make and we need to get up there before it rains," Prue said as the thunder was rolling in. they used Piper's marker that located the Beacon from the previous night and the compass to get their bearings. After taking a sip of water they started the climb once more. Their muscles ached and none of them smelled very good as they made their assent. Piper at least was not covered in mud as she took an unwanted dip in the river but she was still feeling pretty disgusting. Prue put her underwear back on her head as Paige used her bra while Phoebe and Piper both refused at the moment.

"Hay can someone tire my hair up, "Piper said as it was sticking to her neck and face. Paige used a vine to do it and Piper could feel a little coldness on her neck for only a second, but it felt good. They all put their hair up to help with circulation and so they could see while walking. They finally arrived at the top and took a brake as Piper pulled out some meat and gave each of them a strip to give them energy.

"Are you sure this is ok to eat?" Paige asks before taking a bite.

"Yes Paige its been cooked," Piper replied and ate her strip.

"Well we made it and now we can make real progress," Prue said as she grabbed her leg.

"Prue are ok?" Piper asks.

"Yeah every now and then I get a sharp pain and am still a little nauseous, but its ok," Prue replied as she started to feel raindrops and closed her eyes and lifted her head to the sky. "Oh that feels good."

"Do you think it will stop soon?" Phoebe asks while sticking her tongue out to taste the clean water.

"Be careful its poisonous," Piper said and started laughing as Phoebe put her tongue back and quickly and then smacked her on the arm playfully.

"I don't know but we need to find a clearing before it gets dark and set up camp, because I refuse to sleep on the floor tonight," Prue said while rolling her neck to get out the kinks.

"We should keep going," Piper said and started walking into the dense forest. Prue took the lead again but she was slow moving as her leg hurt and she was afraid of those little ants. Piper was behind her and was thankful for the slow movement as her leg was sore as well. Phoebe and Paige followed as they would go over and under difficult terrain.

"Does anyone know any good jungles songs?" Phoebe asks.

"Besides George, nope," Piper replied.

"God these mosquitoes are relentless, hay do you think they will get our powers if they drink our blood?" Phoebe asks.

"That would be something, exploding, orbing, telekinesis and levitating mosquitoes," Piper replied as she giggled.

"I could just see their little arms stick out as they blew up a leaf or something," Phoebe said and now they were all laughing mostly because of being slaphappy. Phoebe was not paying attention were she put her hands and the next thing she knew she felt a sharp pain in her left hand as a grabbed a tree. They all stopped and ran to her.

"Phoebe what happened?" Prue asks as she looked over her hand. There were three black long spikes that went into her hand.

"Shit!" she yelled while bending over as the pain was rushing to her body.

"Oh god it's not poisonous is it?" Piper asks nervously she got a good look at the tree that was covered in black spikes.

"No it's the give and take tree," Paige said and started scraping away the spiky bark to reveal a mushy inside.

"What?" Prue asks as she pulled out the spikes from Phoebe's hand.

"Here put this on the wounds," Paige replied and after cleaning off the blood with her shirt sleeve that was a little clean she rubbed the pulp into the wounds. Phoebe wrinkled her face in pain as her body shook. Piper made her sit on a log because she looks so pale and was afraid she would pass out.

"Hay doesn't hurt that bad anymore," Phoebe said as Paige went to get more.

"That's why it's called the give and take tree, its bark works like a numbing agent and stops the bleeding," Paige said and put more on.

"Piper get some clean water so we can take care of this," Prue said and her younger sister did what she asked. She ran the water over the punctures and then put some more of the bark on it. Paige grabbed a good handful and put some in a leaf just in case they needed it for later. Phoebe was rocking slightly trying to get over the nausea and lightheadedness as they dressed her wound.

"Is everything out here trying to kill us?" Phoebe asks.

"It seems that way so far," Piper replied as she sat next to her.

"We need to keep a close eye on that," Prue said as she was worried about infection.

"It should be ok as long as we keep it clean and I will look for more spider webbing along the way," Paige said and they took a small brake so Phoebe could get her strength back. Paige tore off a part of her sleeve so she could rap it, after cleaning it as best she could with the water without wasting it.

"God my feet hurt," Phoebe said and all them could feel blisters forming as they were not used to this kind of walking.

"All we need to do is find a clearing guys and we can get camp ready and rest," Prue said and helped Phoebe up making sure to check her eyes for sings of dizziness.

"I'm good that stuff is amazing," Phoebe said as the pain was more like a pinprick then a complete go through.

"I put some in the backpack for later," Paige said and Phoebe hugged her.

"You rock sis," Phoebe said and Paige smiled.

They continued their walk for at least another two hours as it rained on them. The ground was getting muddier but the coolness that the rain brought was a relief from the heat and humidity. Unfortunately it also made them cold and making fire when it's raining is pretty much impossible. It was also washing away the natural morphine that Phoebe had on her hand and the pain was starting back up. Prue was having issues with her leg being so stiff and it just got worse as it got colder. Piper's leg was also aching along with her feet and the lack of sleep was making it hard to pay attention to her surroundings. After seeing that tree from hell, she tried not to use any trees for leverage and just used her walking stick. They finally came to a clearing and tried to use some large leafs over their heads to keep the rain off, but they were already soaked to the bone.

"We can't do anything until this stops," Prue said and pulled out the canteen and left the lid off so it would fill with water.

"I could start cutting down some large branches," Piper said as she did not want to stop moving afraid she would not be able to start again.

"Are you sure?" Prue asks.

"Yeah trust me I am sure," Piper replied and looked around the little clearing for ways to get off the ground tonight and maybe even make a roof in case a continued raining. It was only midday and for once they were ahead of the game when it came to setting up camp, unfortunately it was raining. Paige decided to help Piper out while Phoebe and Prue rested their injuries while sitting next to each other for warmth.

"The first thing I am doing when I get home is taking a nice hot bath," Piper said while helping Paige cut down a tree. The trunks were only about 4 inches in diameter but it still took a lot of work to get them to brake off at the base. Prue showed them how to do it with little effort as possible, by doing it with diagonal cuts. Most of the time the they did not fall to the side because they were stuck in any thick brush above them and they had to pull them down and away from it.

Piper found large ferns that were taller than she was and began to look at the leafs on them. They were long individual and can caved leafs that when she put at a diagonal, the rain water just went down them like a channel. She smiled a bit and began to layer them making sure to use another fern in between the gaps of the other. The got under it and could not believe how efficient it was at keeping the rain off. She looked at the stem and used her machete to clean one side while leaving the other completely intact. Prue watched her sister work and grinned proudly at what Piper was doing, she was problem-solving and liked what she come up with. Paige was also impressed with the potential of a roof over their head tonight to keep the rain off.

"Do you feel bad about making them do all the work?" Phoebe asks Prue.

"Nope not today I don't, I'm still a little groggy from the bite."

"I should probably try to find something for fire, but everything is soaked," Phoebe said.

"Yeah but we should probably try to get some material and dry it out. We could use our body heat to dry the small stuff, just don't put it on your skin," Prue said and put the leaf down she was using for an umbrella.

"See now you're going to make me work," Phoebe said and did the same.

Paige found two trees that were a good distance apart from each other and had natural breaks between the limbs that would be a good starter for a platform. She would like it if they could all sleep together on one and because they had some time, she decided to try to make one big one. While Piper was gathering the roofing material and other branches they would need, Paige started the process of creating their little tree house for tonight. She would split the vines to make them easier to manage and with all the moisture it made them more pliable to work with. She started the platform that came to her chest but she had to ask Prue on occasion how to assemble it. Prue would periodically stop looking for firewood and help her out while Phoebe continued looking. She did find some small pieces and then put them in her pants pocket in hopes her body heat would dry them out, unfortunately her pants are also soaked and felt it was futile for the most part. She then started gathering medium to larger pieces and putting them under some large leafs to keep the rain off of them. She was starting to get a whole new appreciation for the indigenous people who lived here on a regular basis and for her ancestors. Living off the land was not easy to say the least but it did bring her closer to the earth and that is something she truly appreciated. It took over five hours of hard work to get the platform done and Piper was excited to try out her roofing solution. They had to make a frame to hold the weight of the ferns as they need to stack them off center from each other. Paige found some stuff that looked like straw; even though it was soaked it would make a good insulator between the layers of ferns. She could also use it for bedding once it dried out a little. Once the roof was up the all climbed a makeshift ladder up into their new shelter in got close to each other for warmth. The ferns did their job of keeping the rain off of them and Phoebe pulled out the stuff from her pocket and spread it out, to get it to dry. Making a fire at this point was not possible but hoped they could before it became night time. From what Prue could tell they still had at least three hours of daylight left and was happy that the shelter was done and they could relax for a bit. They still had some meat left over from the Cayman but it was only enough for a few bites for each of them.

"How can it be so hot and then so cold?" Paige asks as she had her hands wrapped around herself.

"Hay what about some of that parachute?" Phoebe asks.

"It might work as a blanket but I don't think it's going to be all that warm," Prue replied while pulling it out. There was not that much left of it as it was mostly destroyed by the rain forest over the years. But she wrapped it around them mostly around their backs and it did a little in keeping in the body heat.

"Do you think I should try?" Phoebe asks as she pulled out the flint that was attached to a small knife.

"Why not it's not like we have plans or anything," Piper replied and Phoebe got the starter ready as they all used their bodies to keep the wind at bay. "Please work," she said as Phoebe started using the back of the knife and scraped it across the flint to make sparks. She kept doing it and it took over an hour to get something to catch. They all got excited when they saw the red glow and were very cautious not to put it out by piling too many things on top of it. Finally the fire was going but would need constant vigilance as the moisture in the wood made it difficult for to stay lit. Paige jumped down and went to get some more wood as they had their hands over the fire and could feel its welcomed heat.

"Oh god this feels so good," Piper said.

"Too bad we don't have a turtle to cook it on," Phoebe said and got a stern look from Piper.

"Dam thing is evil," Piper said.

"You know that story about the turtle and the hare right?" Prue said.

"I don't care I will kill the little fucker," Piper replied and then they heard a piercing scream coming from behind them. They all jumped off the platform and could see movement in the bushes.

"Paige!" Prue yelled and ran towards it with the rest following close behind. Once she got there she pulled out her machete as Paige was being squeezed by a very large snake. The others stopped in their tracks as it looks like something from a horror movie. Paige was on the ground and was struggling to breathe as it constricted every time she did.

"Help!" she screamed while its teeth went deeper into her shoulder but its head was covered by its massive body. Phoebe also pulled out her machete and they started cutting whatever they had access to.

"Paige hold your breath," Prue said as she heard a cracking noise and Paige screamed in pain as something broke. Paige was starting to see white sparkles everywhere and it was like having a car drive onto your chest and stop there. She tried to hold her breath but her panic was making that impossible. Prue cut at the large snake's body with Phoebe doing the same as Piper held Paige's head and tried to comfort her baby sister that was losing consciousness.

"Paige stay with us," she said trying to stay calm but inside her heart was pounding. She has seen pictures like this on the Discovery Channel of anacondas killing their pray and this one was the size of a limousine in length and the body was her mass. Prue manage to cut the snake in half's along with Phoebe but it was still constricting as a natural instinct. Paige's eyes closed and Piper was now using her machete to cut it up. It took over 2 minutes to get the snake off of her and then they had to pry the mouth open to get its head off her shoulder. Paige started coming to and when she took a deep breath it was queasy and she grabbed her sides and pain. Her shoulder was bleeding from the teeth and Piper put pressure on it to stop the blood loss.

"Paige can you hear me?" Piper asks as her sisters were getting the rest of the snake off and could not believe it was still moving and how much it weighed in chunks.

"I think she broke some ribs," Phoebe said remembering the cracking noise.

"Ok lets get her to the shelter and take care of her there," Prue said and they carried her and then laid her down on the bedding they made earlier. Prue took off Paige's shirt so she could get a good look at her ribs. They were red and one did not look right." We need to rap this," she said and grabbed some large leafs and vine while Phoebe helped sit her up.

"What if there is a puncture?" Piper whispered not wanting to frighten Paige as she was crying and shaking as her body was being affected by shock.

"We won't know until," Phoebe said not wanting to finish the rest of that sentence. Piper closed her sheeyes tight trying to keep in her outrage at the situation and to keep from just breaking down. Prue put the large leafs on gently and then used the vine to keep in it place. There was nothing they could truly do about broken ribs except keep them wrapped and pressure to reduce the pain. Piper grabbed the canteen and gave her some water but she was too out of it to drink.

"It was going to eat me," she said with a shaky voice.

"No honey I think you just scared it," Prue said as these snakes normally don't eat people because we are hard to digest.

"She scared it?" Phoebe asks and almost wanted to laugh at that statement.

"Its ok sweetie, you're ok," Prue said while stroking her dark red hair and laid her down so she could get her more comfortable. Paige brought her knees up as the pain was subsiding just a little because of the wrapping but it still hurt like hell.

"Will that bark work for this?" Piper asks.

"No it only works on open wounds, so we should put some on her shoulder" Phoebe replied as she tended the fire while Prue put some of the mushy bark on Paige.

"We need to keep her warm tonight, so she will be in the middle of us," Prue said and put Paige's shirt near the fire to dry it and used the parachute as a blanket. The fire helped keep her warm but body he was better and Prue got close to her and took her shirt off as well to generate it without hurting her side.

"Phoebe we should go and get some of that snake for dinner," Piper whispered.

"Yeah we should but I don't want to scare her anymore, so we need to cut it out there," Phoebe replied and they started to get off the platform.

"Where are you guys going?" Prue asks nervously.

"To get dinner," Piper replied and they went and got some of the large snake pieces. Piper guts a piece that was the size of her leg and took the meat. There was enough left over to feed a small village but it was getting dark and they needed to get back to the shelter even though it was only a few feet away. Phoebe tossed the remaining pieces that weight over 85 pounds a piece as far away as she could just in case larger predators came sniffing around. Piper tried to hide as much of it as she could from Paige who was still shaking as Prue tried to calm her and used sticks to put it on the fire. Phoebe went back down to get more wood but made sure to stay in view as she just went straight across from the shelter. The last thing she wanted to do was try to get wood at night. They all sat there silently as the meat crackled over the fire and the rain just kept coming. Piper finally broke down and placed her head between her knees while Phoebe rubbed her back.

"I know – I know," Phoebe said and was crying as well. This scared Piper more than the river incident and Phoebe huddled up close to her. Night finally did come and she could see the Beacon in the distance but had no idea how far away it was. She grabbed the compass and marked its location with a twig on the shelter that stuck out on the end. Prue tried to get Paige to eat something but she refused as she could not even look at the meat. The rest of them ate their fill and made sure to save some for her in case she got hungry enough. They all cuddled up next to each other after taking off their boots to let their feet dry. They would take turns again to keep an eye on the fire but left Paige out of the rotation as she needed to rest. Prue kept a vigilant eye on her throughout the night, making sure there was no puncture. She was thankful that there was not and that she probably just broke a rib, but traveling with that was going to be excruciating. She decided that she would talk to them in the morning about staying another night as the shelter was a good one and they could use it for a while if need be. Sometime in the middle of the night the rain did stop and then the mosquitoes came out. They covered themselves with the parachute whenever they slept but the person who had to stay awake to attend the fire, was at their mercy. Prue was up and could hear something chewing in the distance and knew that the rest of the snake was something else's meal and could only think of that would be, as she had to wake Paige from her nightmares periodically.

To be continued...

A/N:

What will be Phoebe's frightening experience as they make it out of thick jungle and onto the wetlands as they make their way to the beacon. Now food will become scarce and shelter even more so. There are many parts to the Amazon and it's not just dense jungle we need to worry about. Stay tuned.

Prue and Piper will also have a lot more to deal with as will all of them. Will the turtle get the best of Piper?